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ETD Guidelines: Formatting Requirements

1. Review Process

The ETD Formatting Review process outlined below can only begin after you have completed all three items on the ETD Submission Checklist. Once the Scholarly Communications Librarian receives all three items, the following process begins:

  1. The Scholarly Communications Librarian goes through your Word document to check for adherence to the formatting guidelines (found below).
  2. The Scholarly Communications Librarian sends you notes and asks you to make changes, if necessary.
  3. You return your edits to the Scholarly Communications Librarian. If there are no other changes needed, the Scholarly Communications Librarian makes a final version of your work and sends it to you for your approval.
  4. You approve the final work (via email). The Scholarly Communications Librarian replaces your submissions (in ProQuest and the DSC) with the final, approved version.
  5. The Scholarly Communications Librarian notifies the registrar that you have finished the ETD review process.

2. Guidelines for the Formatting Review

Front Matter Templates are available: Please use our template. As it is already formatted correctly, you simply need to fill in your information.

Required Front Matter Pages

General Format

  1. The font must be a 12 pt, serif font, such as Times New Roman (headers can be larger; footnotes and endnotes can be smaller)
  2. The front matter must be filled out and correctly formatted
  3. The work must be double spaced
  4. The work must have 1” margins (1.25" allowed on the top and bottom), and all figures, tables, etc. must fit within these margins (wider tables or figures can be put on a landscape page)
  5. Headers must be consistent throughout
  6. Running heads are not allowed in the front matter, but are allowed in the main body of the text
  7. Page numbers should be in the bottom margin, centered and half inch from the bottom of the page
  8. Other formatting rules should be taken directly from the style guide you’re using (APA, Chicago, AMA, MLA, ACS, etc.)

Title Page (required)


The dissertation or thesis title is centered horizontally on the page approximately three lines down in capitalized letters using 12 point font. “A Dissertation” or “A Thesis” should be centered on line 9. On line 17, “the degree of Doctor of Philosophy” or “the degree of Master of (with the appropriate name, such as Science, Music, etc.) should appear. Place the month and year of graduation (not month of submission or defense) on line 22. Make sure that all instances of your title within the document match the title you input into your Duquesne Scholarship Collection and ProQuest/UMI submissions, and that all titles match what was approved by your committee. Titles must match exactly or your approval will be delayed.

Copyright/Blank Page (required)


The copyright page is inserted immediately after the title page. If a copyright notice is not desired, then a blank page must be used. In either case, it is counted, but not numbered. Center “Copyright by” on line 19, followed by the student’s name centered on line 20, and the year on line 22.

Approval/Signature Page (required)
The signature page in the PDF file should NOT contain signatures. A hardcopy of the signed signature page should be filed with your individual School. The date on this page is the date of the final examination or defense. Roman numeral “iii” should be used to number this page. An alternate signature page format is used by some programs in the School of Education. Please check with the School of Education ETD representatives for more information.

Abstract (required)

The page should be numbered “iv” and if necessary additional pages (v, vi, etc.) can be used. ProQuest has removed the traditional length restriction on abstracts; however, UMI continues to print indices that include citations and abstracts of all dissertations and theses published by ProQuest/UMI. These indices are limited to 350 words for dissertations and 150 words for theses. UMI will truncate your abstract if it exceeds these word limits and remove any non-text content. You may wish to limit the length of your abstract if this concerns you. The abstract will not be altered in your published manuscript or in the ProQuest online database.

Table of Contents (required)
The table of contents is NOT listed in the table of contents, even though it will have page numbers assigned to it. Number all table of contents pages with lower case Roman numerals.

Lists of Tables, Figures, Illustrations, Charts, or Graphs (optional)
These lists should only be included in a dissertation or thesis that incorporates five or more tables, figures, illustrations, charts, or graphs. The page(s) should be numbered with lower case Roman numerals. Each list (List of Tables, List of Figures) should begin on a separate page.

List of Abbreviations or Symbols (optional)
If a dissertation or thesis contains specialized symbols and/or abbreviations that have meanings outside of common knowledge, this list should be included in the preliminary pages.

Main Body (required)
Chapter 1 begins the main body of the thesis or dissertation. Pages are numbered consecutively beginning with Arabic numeral 1 and continue to the end of the document.

Note that an introduction, if included, is considered part of the preliminary material. Continue numbering with lower-case Roman numerals.

References/Bibliography (required)
All dissertations and theses must include a list of works cited and/or referenced; format according to the style guide selected by the department or school.

Students are encouraged to choose one of the suggested manuals of style listed below. Resources about each of these styles are readily available at the Gumberg Library Reference Desk and online. It is up to the student and committee to decide which style will work best for a particular project and to adhere to that style.
The following manuals of style are highly recommended:

• APA
• Chicago Manual of Style
• MLA
• ACS
• CSE
• Vancouver / ICJME
• AMA

Students are also encouraged to use a citation management tool, such as EndNote or Zotero, in order to generate and keep track of citations. 

Useful Documents

The following documents and templates may be of use as you prepare your thesis or dissertation for the formatting review.

Front Matter Template: This is the entirety of the required front matter. It is already formatted correctly. You simply need to fill in your information.

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