Guidelines for Preparation of a Dissertation

Office of Graduate Studies Author

09/20/2013 Added

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This screencast presents the guidelines to prepare your dissertation for final approval by the Office of Graduate Studies. For more information, consult the Dissertation Guidelines document (http://go.unl.edu/DegReqs), or contact the doctoral degree specialist in the Office of Graduate Studies.

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[00:00:01.459]Your dissertation serves as a permanent published record
[00:00:04.529]of the research or creative work performed during your
[00:00:07.625]doctoral degree program. It's important to submit
[00:00:11.129]a dissertation that is formatted correctly and has a
[00:00:13.962]consistent appearance throughout. This screencast
[00:00:17.082]presents the guidelines to prepare your dissertation for
[00:00:19.907]final approval by the Office of Graduate Studies.
[00:00:23.857]The doctoral degree specialist checks the text formatting and
[00:00:26.777]document layout of your dissertation, not its content.
[00:00:30.451]For the body of your dissertation, including references and
[00:00:33.257]appendices, work with your committee and consult the
[00:00:36.017]style manual used by your academic discipline.
[00:00:39.609]Let's begin by addressing Document Layout and Formatting…
[00:00:42.926]the guidelines that apply to the dissertation as a whole.
[00:00:46.314]Your dissertation will be transmitted electronically but
[00:00:49.050]it may also be printed and bound one-sided, so margins
[00:00:52.025]on the top, bottom, and right should be one inch.
[00:00:55.290]Set left margins to one and one-half inches. Margins
[00:00:58.921]should be the same on every page of your dissertation.
[00:01:03.314]You should also number every page in your dissertation
[00:01:05.626]except the title page and abstract. Place page numbers
[00:01:09.249]in the upper right-hand corner one inch from the top
[00:01:11.993]and right-hand edge. Do not include any other information
[00:01:16.330]in a running header.
[00:01:18.513]Set the entire document in a 12-point block style font.
[00:01:22.609]A serif font, like Times New Roman, is generally preferred.
[00:01:26.178](Sans serif fonts are acceptable.) Do not use script or
[00:01:28.626]ornamental fonts. You may use italics, but only for
[00:01:31.370]non-English words, quotations, and emphasis.
[00:01:35.601]Left-justify the body of your dissertation, leaving a
[00:01:38.529]ragged edge in the right margin. The body of your
[00:01:41.802]dissertation should be double-spaced. However, footnotes,
[00:01:45.097]literature cited, and lists in appendices may be single-spaced.
[00:01:51.201]The dissertation itself consists of three major parts:
[00:01:54.641]front matter, body matter, and back matter.
[00:01:58.170]Let's take a closer look at the required elements
[00:02:00.482]in each part. The front matter includes several
[00:02:03.682]required elements and may also contain one or more
[00:02:06.865]optional elements. Page numbers in this part will be
[00:02:10.073]lower-case Roman numerals.
[00:02:13.401]The title page is page 1 of your dissertation, but there is no
[00:02:15.938]page number on this page. The text on the title page is
[00:02:19.282]centered both horizontally and vertically, and
[00:02:21.874]should be double-spaced. The title page includes:
[00:02:25.969]1. The full title of your dissertation, in upper-case
[00:02:29.377]2. the word "by," which does not need to be capitalized
[00:02:33.107]3. the name of the author, which is you—you alone are
[00:02:35.698]the author of your dissertation. Do not include
[00:02:38.866]a degree title after your name.
[00:02:41.937]4. The words "a dissertation" (in upper-case) comes next.
[00:02:45.961]If you are a D.M.A. student write "A Doctoral Document" instead.
[00:02:51.361]5. Every dissertation (or doctoral document) also
[00:02:54.162]includes the language: "Presented to the Faculty of
[00:02:57.289]the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska
[00:03:00.139]In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the
[00:03:03.115]Degree of"—followed by the name of your earned degree.
[00:03:08.394]Note that the official name of the University is
[00:03:11.985]the "University of Nebraska." Don't add the word "Lincoln"
[00:03:14.898]and don't abbreviate as "UNL."
[00:03:17.833]6. Next include the official name of your major. A list
[00:03:20.802]of approved majors can be found on the UNL website.
[00:03:24.945]You may also list your official specialization in parentheses
[00:03:28.292]double-spaced below your major.
[00:03:31.321]7. Write the name of your committee chair after
[00:03:33.184]the words, "Under the Supervision of Professor."
[00:03:36.836]If you had co-advisors, list both of their names
[00:03:39.313]after the word, "Professors."
[00:03:42.370]8. The next line is where you specify Lincoln, Nebraska.
[00:03:45.625]Spell out the city and state; do not abbreviate.
[00:03:49.290]9. Finally, list the date of your dissertation. Type the month
[00:03:52.681]and year of your defense date, or your official graduation.
[00:03:56.618]Don't forget the comma (between month and year).
[00:04:00.218]The Abstract page is page 2 of your dissertation but,
[00:04:03.482]like the title page, does not have a page number.
[00:04:07.049]Begin with your title, again in uppercase. Make sure
[00:04:10.386]that your abstract title matches exactly the one
[00:04:12.898]on the title page. Following the title, list your name
[00:04:16.657]and degree, the university name and year of graduation,
[00:04:21.276]and your advisor's name or names.
[00:04:23.698]The information above the Abstract should be set at
[00:04:26.953]1.5 line spacing. The body of the Abstract must be
[00:04:31.065]approved by your dissertation committee. It is limited to
[00:04:33.963]350 words, and should be double-spaced. However,
[00:04:38.042]1.5 line spacing is acceptable if it helps the
[00:04:41.035]abstract fit on one page.
[00:04:43.554]The next required element of your dissertation's front
[00:04:45.658]matter is the table of contents.
[00:04:48.474]However, after the abstract page and before the Table of
[00:04:51.969]Contents, you may choose to include one or more pages
[00:04:54.705]for copyright notice, dedication, acknowledgments, and
[00:04:58.898]grant funding information. See the Dissertation
[00:05:01.899]Guidelines document (http://go.unl.edu/degreqs)
[00:05:04.625]for details.
[00:05:06.122]The Table of Contents should be a neat and orderly list
[00:05:08.801]of titles and numbers for your dissertation Chapters
[00:05:10.762]and Sections, together with the page on which each
[00:05:13.306]chapter or section begins.
[00:05:16.418]If your dissertation contains tables, graphs, diagrams, or
[00:05:20.313]other multimedia objects, include a list of multimedia
[00:05:23.833]objects immediately following the Table of Contents.
[00:05:27.682]List the number and the title of each object and
[00:05:30.577]the page on which it occurs.
[00:05:32.682]Body Matter is the content of your dissertation, and is
[00:05:36.459]not reviewed by Graduate Studies except for compliance
[00:05:39.369]with document layout and text formatting. Page
[00:05:42.258]numbers in this part are Arabic numerals.
[00:05:45.849]We recommend that each chapter begin with the word
[00:05:48.234]“chapter,” the chapter number and title, all in upper-case.
[00:05:53.042]Simple multimedia objects like tables, images, or graphs
[00:05:57.625]can be embedded in your dissertation. Give each
[00:06:00.570]object a concise, descriptive title and number each
[00:06:04.098]object type according to its position in the chapter.
[00:06:07.785](for example, in Chapter 5 you may have
[00:06:11.193]Table 5.1, Figure 5.1, and Figure 5.2).
[00:06:15.841]Label each object with its number and title.
[00:06:18.842]Place labels above tables and below figures.
[00:06:23.762]You should display all multimedia objects in portrait
[00:06:26.338]orientation. If you must display an object in landscape
[00:06:30.466]the object should face to the right. Regardless of which
[00:06:33.442]way objects are facing, page numbers must remain in
[00:06:36.658]portrait orientation at the top right-hand corner.
[00:06:41.058]Incorporating complex multimedia objects requires
[00:06:43.002]special identification, storage and submission
[00:06:46.858]procedures. See the Guidelines Document for details.
[00:06:50.591](http://go.unl.edu/degreqs)
[00:06:53.154]The Back Matter contains your list of references and
[00:06:56.506]any appendices. Page numbering in this part is
[00:06:58.346]continuous with the Body Matter, using Arabic
[00:07:00.618]numerals. Consult your department or discipline-specific
[00:07:04.377]guidelines for the standard forms of citation.
[00:07:08.641]Appendices should be identified alphabetically from A
[00:07:11.393]to Z and then, if necessary, AA, BB, and so on. Begin
[00:07:16.530]each appendix with the word APPENDIX, its letter, and
[00:07:20.018]its title (all in upper case).
[00:07:23.161]If you have any questions about these requirements, consult
[00:07:26.065]the Dissertation Guidelines document (http://go.unl.edu/degreqs)
[00:07:28.770]or contact the doctoral degree specialist in the Office of
[00:07:31.115]Graduate Studies (402-472-8669 or graduate@unl.edu).

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Guidelines for Preparation of a Dissertation

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