A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, Ninth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2018

General format requirements
Appendix: Paper format and submission

A.1 General Format Requirements

A.1.1 Margins

A.1.2 Font

A.1.3 Spacing and Indentation

A.1.4 Pagination

A.1.5 Titles

A.2 Format Requirements for Specific Elements

A.2.1 Front Matter

A.2.2 Text

A.2.3 Back Matter

A.3 File Preparation and Submission Requirements

A.3.1 Preparing Your Files

A.3.2 Submitting Electronic Files

A.3.3 Submitting Hard Copy

When you are writing a thesis, a dissertation, or a class paper, you must observe certain format and style requirements.¹ For a thesis or dissertation, these requirements are set by your department or your university’s office of theses and dissertations; for a class paper, they are set by your instructor. You may also have to follow specific procedures for submitting the paper, whether in hard copy or electronically. If your paper will be submitted to an electronic repository maintained by a service like ProQuest or by your university, additional guidelines may apply.

Be particularly aware of these requirements if you are writing a thesis or dissertation. You will be judged on how well you follow the academic conventions of your field. Also, many of the rules for format and submission are intended to make the preserved copy, bound or electronic, as accessible as possible for future readers.

The guidelines presented here are widely accepted for the format and submission of theses and dissertations, but most universities have their own requirements, which are usually available from the office of theses and dissertations. Review the current guidelines of your department or university before you submit your thesis or dissertation. Those local guidelines take precedence over the recommendations provided here.

In general, the requirements for a class paper are less extensive and strict than those for a thesis or dissertation. Such papers usually have fewer elements, and since they are not likely to be bound or preserved electronically, there are fewer submission requirements. Even so, you may be expected to follow certain guidelines set by your instructor or department, and those guidelines take precedence over the guidelines suggested here.

This appendix assumes that you will prepare your paper on a computer and submit it as an electronic file, hard copy, or both. A full-featured word processor like Microsoft Word can be used to set margin size, number pages, place and number footnotes, and insert tables and figures according to the guidelines in this appendix. If you are using a different application, make sure it includes all the formatting options that you will need. And if you are following specific guidelines set by your instructor or institution, make sure to check your paper’s format carefully against those guidelines before submitting it; if you are submitting an electronic file and a printout, review the formatting of both.

A.1 General Format Requirements

This section addresses general format issues that apply to your paper as a whole. For discussion of specific elements and their individual format requirements, see A.2. Your instructor, department, or university may have guidelines (or templates) that differ from the advice offered here. If so, those guidelines take precedence.

A.1.1 Margins

Nearly all papers in the United States are produced on standard pages of 8½ × 11 inches, regardless of whether they are submitted electronically or as hard copy. Leave a margin of at least one inch on all four edges of the page. For a thesis or dissertation intended to be bound, you may need to leave a bigger margin on the left side—usually 1½ inches.

Be sure that any material placed in headers or footers, including page numbers and other identifiers (see A.1.4), falls within the margins specified in your local guidelines.

A.1.2 Font

Choose a single, readable, and widely available font (also called typeface), such as Times New Roman or Arial. To ensure your text displays correctly, you may need to embed the font in the electronic file (see also A.3.2). Avoid ornamental fonts, which can distract readers and make your work seem less serious. (For the characteristics of specific fonts, see Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style, 4th ed. [Seattle: Hartley and Marks, 2013].) In general, use the equivalent of at least ten-point Arial or twelve-point Times New Roman for the body of the text. (Some fonts, like Arial, take up more space on a line and appear larger than other fonts at the same point size.) Footnotes or endnotes, headings, tables, and other elements might require other type sizes or fonts; check your local guidelines.

A.1.3 Spacing and Indentation

Double-space all text in papers except the following items, which should be single-spaced:

✵ ▪ block quotations (see 25.2.2)

✵ ▪ table titles and figure captions

✵ ▪ lists in appendixes

The following items should be single-spaced internally but with a blank line between items:

✵ ▪ certain elements in the front matter (see A.2.1), including the table of contents and any list of figures, tables, or abbreviations

✵ ▪ footnotes or endnotes

✵ ▪ bibliographies or reference lists

For single spacing, a setting of up to 1.15 lines may be allowed. And some departments or universities allow or require single spacing or one and a half spaces between lines in the body of the text. Check your local guidelines.

Put only one space, not two, between sentences. Use tabs or indents rather than spaces for paragraph indentation and to adjust other content requiring consistent alignment. Block quotations have their own rules for indentation, depending on whether they are prose or poetry (see 25.2.2).

A.1.4 Pagination

A.1.4.1 NUMBERING. If your only front matter is a title page, do not number that page. Number pages in the body of the paper and the back matter with arabic numerals, starting on the first page of text (page 2 if you count the title page).

If you are writing a thesis or dissertation, number front matter separately from the rest of the text. (You may need to insert a section break in your document in order to accomplish this task.)

✵ ▪ Front matter includes the title page and various other elements (see A.2.1). Number these pages consecutively with lowercase roman numerals (i, ii, iii, etc.; see table 23.1). Every page of front matter except the submission page is usually counted in numbering, but not all of these pages have numbers displayed on them. Departments and universities often provide specific directions for numbering front matter pages; if yours does not, follow the guidelines in this appendix.

✵ ▪ The rest of the text, including back matter (see A.2.3), is numbered consecutively with arabic numerals (usually starting with page 1).

A.1.4.2 PLACEMENT. Page numbers are usually placed in one of four locations: centered or flush right in the footer (at the bottom of the page) or centered or flush right in the header (at the top of the page). For class papers, choose one of these locations and follow it consistently.

Traditionally, page numbers for theses and dissertations have been placed in different locations depending on the part of the paper (as shown in the samples in this appendix).

✵ ▪ In the footer: all front matter pages; pages in the text and back matter that bear titles, such as the first page of a chapter or an appendix

✵ ▪ In the header: all other pages in the text and back matter

Many departments and universities have eliminated these distinctions and now require consistent placement of page numbers throughout a thesis or dissertation. Some specify a location, while others allow you to choose. In any position, the number should be at least half an inch from the edge of the page. Check your local guidelines.

A.1.4.3 OTHER IDENTIFIERS. In some settings you may be allowed or even encouraged to include identifying information besides the page number in the header or footer. For a class paper, your instructor may ask you to include your last name, the date of the paper, or a designation such as “First Draft.” For longer papers, chapter or section titles help readers keep track of their location in the text. The requirements for headers and footers in theses and dissertations vary, so consult your local guidelines.

A.1.5 Titles

Depending on its complexity, your paper may consist of many elements, as listed in A.2, and most of them should have a title.

Use the same font, type size, and formatting style (bold, italic, etc.) for the titles of like elements. In general, and unless your local guidelines say otherwise, titles should appear in bold. A more traditional method calls for full capitalization (LIKE THIS), but this has the undesirable effect of obscuring the capitalization of individual words in a title.

On the title page, center each element and use headline-style capitalization for all, including the title of your paper. (Your local guidelines may require sentence-style capitalization for the title of your paper; see 22.3.1 for the two styles.)

Titles for the front and back matter are also typically centered, as are chapter number designations and chapter titles. For chapter titles, use headline-style capitalization unless your local guidelines specify sentence style.

All such elements may be in a larger type size than the text of your paper. Check your local guidelines. For subheadings within chapters, see A.2.2.4.

If your local guidelines are flexible, you may use different typography and format from those described here for various types of titles, as long as you are consistent. Titles of larger divisions (parts, chapters) should be more visually prominent than subheadings. In general, titles are more prominent when larger or centered (or both), in bold or italic type, or capitalized headline-style than when flush left, in regular type, or capitalized sentence-style.

The most efficient way to ensure consistency in titles is to use your word processor to define and apply a unique style (specifying font, size, bold or italic, position, line spacing, and so forth) for each type of title. See also A.3.1.2.