PART 1: OFFICE OF
GRADUATE EDUCATION GUIDELINES
1. Printed Copy
and Supporting Paper Work
File Formats for the Thesis or Dissertation and
Optional Additional Files
PART 2: PREPARING
YOUR MANUSCRIPT
C.
Organization of the Thesis or Dissertation
Every doctoral candidate must submit a doctoral
dissertation, and except in the non-thesis option for the masters degree, every
masters candidate must submit a thesis or project.
This manual explains the guidelines for writing and submitting a thesis,
project, or dissertation. The Office of Graduate Education, in response to
changing technology, revises the manual on an as-needed basis and places the
revisions on this website (http://www.rpi.edu/dept/grad/). You should
be sure to use a current manual. Product names mentioned in this manual are
used for illustration purposes only and are not intended as endorsements or
requisites. You can consult the
The subject of the dissertation or thesis is selected in consultation with the department member designated as the candidate's thesis adviser or thesis research professor.
The Office of Graduate Education approves the final dissertation or thesis, and reserves the right to reject documents that vary from the guidelines in this manual or an approved alternative guideline. Please read this manual carefully, paying close attention to the sample pages. In additional to structural formatting, you are also responsible for assuring that your manuscript follows conventional rules of grammar, punctuation, and spelling. For entries not mentioned in this manual, you may consult a standard style guide. The Rensselaer Library maintains a file of style guides sponsored by professional societies and of instructions for authors issued by professional journals in your discipline. Ask at the Library Reference Desk for more information.We also recommend that you seek assistance from your advisor for any formatting requirements that may be unique to your discipline. We encourage you to bring your unfinished manuscript to the Office of the Graduate Education staff for formatting advice.
The Office of Graduate Education certifies deposit of the dissertation or thesis for degree eligibility.
Beginning with the fall 2006 semester for doctoral candidates and the spring 2007 semester for masters candidates, electronic submission is required. This is in addition to the submission of one printed copy. After passing the final examination and no later than the published submission due date, you must submit one paper copy and one electronic copy to the Office of Graduate Education. OGE will review both print and electronic copies and release them to the Library.
Note that electronic
submission does not affect your personal copyright.
Electronic submission or publication of a doctoral thesis on microfilm does not affect its publication in whole or in part as a book or in a journal. You are urged to seek conventional publication in a recognized technical or scientific journal. Consult your research professor for assistance.
Note that your department may require copies of your thesis
– please be aware that their submission requirements are separate from those of
the Office of Graduate Education. If you need additional copies bound for your
department, you must make these arrangements individually. (See the
Masters candidates must submit the thesis to the advisor or advisory committee for review at least two weeks before the final copy is due in the Office of Graduate Education. For due dates specific to your intended semester of graduation, check the Academic Calendar in RPInfo.
Bring the following items to the Office of Graduate Education in paper form, no later than the published submission due date. These items are separate from and in addition to the electronic submission of your dissertation.
Candidates in Architecture are required to deposit their original drawings or photo-reproductions of them with their theses. The term "photo-reproduction" excludes the blueprint process, which is not acceptable.
Doctoral candidates must submit a copy of the dissertation in a final form and an abstract to the thesis adviser at least one month before the end of the term in which it is expected that the degree will be awarded. You must furnish each doctoral committee member with an individual copy of the dissertation and the abstract at least one week before the dissertation defense. For due dates specific to your intended semester of graduation, check the Academic Calendar in RPInfo.
Bring the following items to the Office of Graduate
Education in paper form, no later than the published submission due date. These items are separate from and in
addition to the electronic submission of your dissertation.
Candidates in Architecture are required to deposit their original drawings or photo-reproductions of them with their theses. The term "photo-reproduction" excludes the blueprint process, which is not acceptable.
Electronic submission is required as of Dec. 2006 for doctoral dissertations and May 2007 for Masters
theses.
You should
submit the electronic copy after the title page of the printed copy has been
signed and before you bring the signed copy and the other items listed above to
the Office of Graduate Education.
If you filed for degree completion by the current semester’s deadline line, a record has been created for you in Research Libraries’ digital depository. Before actually submitting your thesis, be sure to read the detailed instructions to preview the submission procedure. When you are ready to submit, go to the following web page, which contains a link to start the submission process: http://library.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=1072 . The websites of both the Office of Graduate Education and the Research Libraries also contain a link to the above page.
The dissertation or thesis must be PDF (Portable Document Format). During the submission process you will be asked to submit two (2) PDF files.
File 1: For
doctoral candidates, a PDF file consisting of the abstract title page and the
abstract (not more than 350 words). Note that the abstract title page
is not the same as the title page for the dissertation. See the sample
pages.
For masters candidates, a PDF file consisting of the thesis title page
and the abstract.
File 2: A PDF file
containing the complete thesis or dissertation.
Embedded files
may be used for illustrative purposes in the body of a thesis and may use standard
proprietary viewing formats such as
Apple or Windows QuickTime, Macromedia Flash, Windows MediaPlayer etc. Each embedded file, like other
illustrative material, should be identified with a caption where it occurs in
the text. The caption should identify the
file format, required application, and a brief summary of content.
Keep in mind that embedded files may not be
reliably preserved in the future, especially proprietary formats such as Apple
Quick Time (.mov) and Microsoft Audio Video (.avi). To aid in future migration, embedded files essential to the text
should also be submitted as supplemental files, preferably in a non-proprietary
format.
Supplemental files may have value independent of the text; for example a complete musical performance, a video work, or a dataset. Examples of possible file types include spreadsheets, flash and video files. If preapproved by your thesis committee, you may submit one or more supplemental files. Supplemental files must be listed and described in an appendix of the thesis and identified by name, file type, size, disk number (if more than 1 disk), required application software, and any special hardware requirements.
Currently accepted file types are listed below. If you have a file type that is not in the list, please contact ETD Support.
File formats marked with an asterisk (*) are proprietary.
|
Images: |
|
Audio: |
|
|
GIF (.gif) JPEG (.jpg) PDF (.pdf) TIFF (.tiff) |
|
Aif * (Macintosh and Silicon Graphics) CD-DA, CD-ROM/XA .snd * (Macintosh) .wav * (Microsoft) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Video: |
|
Other: |
|
|
.mov * (Apple Quick Time) .avi * (Microsoft AudioVideo Interleaved) MPEG (.mpeg .mpg .mp2 .mp3) |
|
.csv .xls *(Excel) .swf *(Flash) .midi (for electronic instruments) |
|
All supplemental files must also be
submitted on optical disks (e.g. DVDs, CDs) and accompany the
print version of the thesis in addition to electronic submission. Optical Disks should be numbered “Disk 1,” “Disk 2” etc. and l
Note: A
maximum of 7 supplemental files can be submitted electronically. If your thesis includes more, you need to advise OGE
that additional files will have to
be copied from an accompanying optical disk for the electronic version of your
thesis to be complete.
This section will help you meet the formatting and
appearance requirements for your thesis or dissertation.
We suggest that you produce your thesis or dissertation
using MicroSoft Word or LaTeX, since they are used most commonly, and support
is more widely available. LaTeX is particularly well-suited to formatting a long
and complex document with tables of contents, cross references, tables, and figures.
It also produces very high-quality mathematical expressions. Academic and
Research Computing (ARC) in the
Notes on electronic submission:
The PDF files you submit must have all fonts embedded and must be text searchable.
If you prepare your thesis in LaTeX, there are straightforward (and free) methods of conversion to pdf. See Creating a PDF File from a LaTeX Thesis for detailed instructions.
If you use Word, a current version of the Adobe Acrobat program (e.g. for 2006-7 versions 6 and 7 are current) is the recommended method for conversion. For detailed instructions, see Creating a PDF File from a Microsoft Word Thesis. You can obtain Acrobat Pro from the Campus Computer Store at a very favorable student price. Or you can use Acrobat Pro in the Sage 4510 PC Lab and on the machines in the VCC north lobby with the Sage 4510 image. Both the Folsom and Architecture Libraries have several machines (the ones connected to scanners) with Acrobat Standard. Adobe provides free conversion at http://createpdf.adobe.com/index.pl, but this may not be practical for large manuscripts.
The specifications for printed and electronic manuscripts are the same with respect to margins, line spacing, pagination, tables of content, footnotes, etc.
1. Paper – Use 8 1/2 by 11 inch, acid-free archival bond paper with a 25% rag content.
2. Printing – Print in black ink, single-sided.
3. Graphs, Charts, Tables, etc. – For theses and dissertations - (all
documents)-- Graphs, charts, tables, diagrams, and all "non-verbals"
should be prepared especially for the thesis or dissertation. Tables must be
printed. Equations and labels used in charts and graphs must be printed.
Handwritten items are not acceptable.
4. URLs may appear as references in the Bibliography.
However, the body of the thesis should contain no URLs to external resources that
are critical to the text because of the impermanence of such links. External
resources, if important, may be documented by
including a
printed screen shot of the main page in an Appendix.
5. Type Style and Spacing – all documents -- The text should be spaced
no closer than four lines per inch. Use the same font throughout the text and
main body. This print should be no smaller than 10 point. You can use a
different font for titles of figures, formulae, or to meet a specific need of
the thesis, e.g., use of italics for quotes.
6. Margins: all documents.
Page numbers in the upper right hand corner should be in
line with the right hand margin with a minimum clearance of 1/2" from the
top of the page. Page numbers appearing at the bottom of the page should be
centered, again with a minimum 1/2" clearance between the number and the
bottom of the page.
7. Pagination – all documents.
8. Footnotes – all documents - Cite all
sources in an appropriate "References Cited" section(s) at the end of
the manuscript. Apply this formatting even if you have elected to also footnote
at the end of each chapter.
9.
Reproductions – all
documents -Reproductions, typically used in figures, tables, or appendices,
must be placed within the normal margins.
10. Use of Copyrighted Material – all documents -When
copyrighted material (beyond brief excerpts) is included in the thesis, the
author should obtain written permission authorizing use of the material from
the copyright holder. Ownership of the copyright can be determined by
inspecting the copyright notice which by law must be on the backside of the
title page. Proper acknowledgment should be made in the thesis of any work done
by others.
|
Title Page |
Required |
|
Copyright Notice |
If Used |
|
Table of Contents |
Required |
|
List of Tables |
Required* |
|
List of Figures |
Required* |
|
Preface, Foreword, Acknowledgments |
|
|
Abstract |
Required |
|
Introduction** |
Required |
|
Historical Review** |
Required |
|
Theory |
|
|
Method of Procedure |
|
|
Materials and Apparatus |
|
|
Results |
|
|
Discussion*** |
Required |
|
Conclusions*** |
Required |
|
Summary |
|
|
Literature Cited or References |
Required |
|
Appendix |
|
|
Index |
|
* Required if tables or figures are present.
** These parts may be combined as "Introduction and Historical Review," and may include the review of the literature and/or the current state of the art.
*** These two parts are frequently combined and titled "Discussion and Conclusions."
Please click on sample
pages to view examples of formatted pages in PDF format. Adobe Acrobat Reader
can be downloaded free of charge.
1. Title Page
Please note that you must format the title page exactly as it appears in the sample.
· The title page does not receive a number, although it is considered page i of the document,
· Beginning with the first page of the able of Contents, or Copyright page, if applicable, use small Roman numerals for all prefatory pages,
· Original signatures, not photocopies, are required on the masters thesis and doctoral dissertation title page,
· The signatures should be written in black ink using a medium point pen,
· Substitute "DOCTOR OF ENGINEERING" for "DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY" for the Doctor of Engineering degree.
If the thesis is submitted at an irregular time, mid-semester, for example, write the actual month and year of completion at the bottom of the title page, (do not use the day of the month,) and under it in parentheses the exact month and year in which the degree is to be conferred (For Graduation May 2007).
2. Copyright Notice
· Candidates who intend to file a copyright application with the U.S. Copyright Office must include a copyright notice as the second page of the thesis.
· The notice consists of three parts: the copyright symbol '©' and/or the word copyright, the name of the copyright owner, and the year of publication.
· The copyright notice, if included, is always page ii.
· Doctoral students wishing to copyright their dissertation may make arrangements through University Microfilms to have a copyright filed on their behalf.
· Complete the optional copyright section of the UMI Microfilm Agreement, available in the Office of Graduate Education or on-line at http://www.rpi.edu/dept/grad/docs/UMI_Dissertation_Agreement_Form.pdf .
· The Office of Graduate Education collects the copyright fee, payable to UMI, on Money Order only.
· Masters degree candidates desiring to copyright their thesis or project must make their own arrangements to file the correct papers with the U.S. Copyright Office.
3. Table of Contents
The first page of CONTENTS is numbered ii (iii if a copyright notice is included), centered in the bottom margin, and subsequent pages are similarly numbered to end of CONTENTS.
All numbering and lettering of
titles of parts and sections of the document must correspond identically to
their placement within the document.
4. List of Tables
Number this page(s) consecutively in lowercase Roman numeral page
continuing from the last numbered page of CONTENTS.
All numbering, lettering, and captions in the LIST OF TABLES must correspond
identically to their placement within the document.
5. List of Figures
Number this page(s) in lowercase Roman numeral page consecutively from the
page preceding it.
The term Figure includes graphs, photographs, plates, and all other types of
illustrations.
All numbering, lettering, and captions in the LIST OF FIGURES must correspond
identically to their placement within the document.
6. Foreword, Preface, Acknowledgments
These are optional references which may describe how your study started
and evolved, how the material has been organized and presented, or who assisted
you throughout your studies.
Continue to use lowercase Roman numerals consecutively from the preceding page.
7.
Abstract
An abstract contains a statement of the problem, describes procedures or methods used, and briefly reviews results and conclusions. Continue to number these pages consecutively from the preceding page using lowercase Roman numerals.
· For the masters thesis, there is no limitation on the length of the abstract,
· For the doctoral dissertation, the abstract submitted to University Microfilms International for publication in Dissertations Abstracts International is limited to 350 words or a maximum of 2,450 characters,
· If desired, you may exceed 350 words in the abstract contained within the dissertation. A separate abstract would then have to be written to meet the above specifications,
· The separately submitted abstract, (the one intended for publication in Dissertations Abstracts International), should be consecutively numbered in Arabic numbers, with the title page counting as page one, but not numbered.
University Microfilms enters the abstracts into a database. They do not accept figures or diagrams that include graphics in this copy. For example, a chemical formula may be used, but a diagram depicting chemical bonding is not acceptable. UMI will not publish abstracts that do not conform to these rules and will return them to their authors.
8. Abstract Title Page
An abstract title page is required only for the abstract of the doctoral dissertation. It differs from the title page in three ways:
a) "An Abstract of ..."
b) "The original of the complete thesis is on file in
the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Library."
Note: for the Doctor of Engineering degree, substitute "DOCTOR OF
ENGINEERING" for "DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY".
c) The committee members do not sign the Abstract Title Page.
9. Introduction
This section is the beginning of the main body of the thesis.
Note that the INTRODUCTION begins the Arabic page numbering, 1, 2, 3, etc.,
through to the last page of the thesis, including the separate tables and
figures inserted at the appropriate points in the text and any appendices at
the end.
10. Literature Citation and Footnotes
References to relevant literature should follow the commonly accepted practice in the candidate's field. Your advisor will assist you with the proper form of citation.
· Where the use of footnotes is accepted practice, these may appear at the bottom of a page, at the end of the thesis, or at the end of long chapters.
· Footnotes are indicated by superscript numbers inserted in the text at the appropriate point.
· Footnotes may include references to pertinent literature, or may simply consist of parenthetical elaboration.
· In any case, a section containing a list of all cited material and all references consulted but not cited must be included.
· If references are not cited by number, this list must be alphabetical by the first author's last name.
· If footnotes are not used, citations in the body of the text may be identified by a number corresponding to the number of the cited source in this list.
· Journal names may be abbreviated when this is common practice in a particular field.
· Check the library for examples of scholarly publications in your field.
Thesis Binding
The binding fee paid to the Cashier’s Office covers the cost
of having your thesis bound for permanent archiving at the Folsom Library. The Office
of Graduate Education arranges to have your thesis bound – do not submit a
bound copy to us. These copies are not returned to you. However, as a courtesy
to the
The
The