How to Format a Master’s or PhD Thesis: The Complete Guide

Formatting a thesis is one of the most tedious — and underestimated — parts of graduate school. You spend years on your research, and then you’re told your submission was rejected because your margins were off by 3mm, your page numbers weren’t in the right font, or your table of contents didn’t match your actual chapter titles.

This guide covers everything you need to know about thesis formatting: the standard requirements, how each section should be structured, the most common mistakes students make, and how to avoid them.

Why Thesis Formatting Matters

Most universities have strict submission guidelines. Formatting errors can result in:

Rejection at the graduate office before your committee even reviews the final copy
Costly delays — resubmission can push your graduation date back by weeks
A poor first impression on external examiners who judge professionalism by presentation

Formatting isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about compliance. And compliance is pass/fail.

Standard Thesis Formatting Requirements

While requirements vary by institution, the following are the most commonly accepted standards for Master’s and PhD theses.

Margins

Left margin: 1.5 inches (38mm) — wider to accommodate binding
Top, right, bottom margins: 1 inch (25mm)

Some universities require equal 1-inch margins on all sides. Always check your institution’s graduate school handbook first.

Fonts

Body text: Times New Roman 12pt or Arial 12pt (serif or sans-serif both accepted at most schools)
Headings: Same font family, 12–14pt, bold
Captions and footnotes: Same font, 10pt

Avoid decorative or display fonts. Consistency matters more than style.

Line Spacing

Body text: Double-spaced throughout
Block quotations (>40 words): Single-spaced, indented
Footnotes and bibliography: Single-spaced, with a blank line between entries
Figure and table captions: Single-spaced

Page Numbering

Preliminary pages (everything before Chapter 1): lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii…), typically starting with the abstract or table of contents
Main body and back matter: Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3…) starting at Chapter 1
Position: Bottom center or bottom right — check your university’s preference
Title page: Counted but not numbered

Front Matter: What Goes Before Chapter 1

The front matter establishes the document’s identity and navigation structure. Each element serves a specific purpose.

Title Page

Required at every institution. Typically includes:

Full thesis title
Your full name
Degree name (e.g., “Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science”)
Department and faculty
University name
Month and year of submission

No page number is printed on the title page, though it counts as page “i.”

Abstract

A concise summary (typically 150–350 words) of your research problem, methodology, key findings, and conclusions. The abstract is indexed by databases like ProQuest and Google Scholar — it’s often the first (and sometimes only) thing people read.

Tip: Write your abstract last, after your full thesis is complete.

Acknowledgements

Optional but common. Thank your supervisor, committee, funding agencies, and personal supporters. Keep it professional — one page maximum.

Lists all chapters and major sections with corresponding page numbers. This must be generated accurately — mismatched page numbers are one of the top reasons theses get sent back.

Tip: Use Word’s automatic table of contents feature, or LaTeX’s \tableofcontents command, so it updates automatically.

List of Figures and List of Tables

Required if your thesis contains three or more figures or three or more tables. Each list mirrors the table of contents format: title of figure/table + page number.

List of Abbreviations or Glossary

Optional. Include if you use five or more discipline-specific abbreviations.

Body: Chapters, Headings, and Citations

Chapter Structure

Most theses follow a standard five-chapter model:

Introduction — research question, objectives, significance
Literature Review — prior work, theoretical framework, research gap
Methodology — research design, data collection, analysis approach
Results and Discussion — findings, interpretation, comparison with literature
Conclusion — summary, implications, limitations, future research

Some disciplines (especially in the humanities or practice-based fields) use a different structure. Always confirm with your supervisor.

Heading Hierarchy

Use a consistent, logical heading system:

Chapter heading (H1): CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Section heading (H2): 1.1 Research Question
Subsection heading (H3): 1.1.1 Scope of the Study

Each level should be visually distinct (through size, bold, or capitalization) and consistent throughout the document.

In-Text Citations and References

Your citation style is typically dictated by your discipline:

Humanities: Chicago or MLA
Social sciences: APA
Sciences and engineering: Vancouver, IEEE, or APA
Law: Bluebook or McGill Guide (Canada)

Use reference management software — Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote — to avoid formatting errors in your bibliography. Never format citations by hand.

Back Matter: Bibliography, Appendices, and More

Bibliography / References

Placed after the final chapter. Every source cited in the text must appear here; nothing in the bibliography should be absent from the text.

Single-space within entries; double-space (or add one blank line) between entries.

Appendices

Supplementary material that would disrupt the flow of the main text: raw data tables, survey instruments, ethics approval letters, code samples.

Label as Appendix A, Appendix B, etc. Each appendix should have a title and appear in the table of contents.

Vita or Biographical Note

Some programs (especially in the US) require a brief professional biography at the end. Typically 100–150 words, written in third person.

Common Thesis Formatting Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

These are the issues most likely to get your thesis returned:

Inconsistent heading styles — headings that look different across chapters due to manual formatting
Page number mismatches in the TOC — generated manually instead of automatically
Wrong margin on bound side — forgetting that the left margin needs extra width for binding
Mixed citation styles — APA in-text with Chicago-style bibliography entries
Figures missing from the List of Figures — forgetting to add new figures after editing
Line spacing errors in block quotes — double-spacing a block quote that should be single-spaced
Widow and orphan lines — a single line of a paragraph stranded at the top or bottom of a page

The root cause of most of these mistakes is the same: manual formatting in a 200-page document is extremely error-prone.

How Uniformat Helps You Format Your Thesis Correctly

Uniformat is built specifically for this problem. Instead of fighting with Word styles or LaTeX templates for hours, Uniformat gives you:

Pre-built thesis templates that meet major university formatting standards out of the box
AI-assisted formatting checks that flag inconsistencies before you submit
Word and LaTeX output so you can work in whichever environment you’re comfortable with
Automatic front matter generation — table of contents, list of figures, and page numbering handled for you

Whether you’re writing your first thesis or revising for resubmission, Uniformat removes the formatting friction so you can focus on your research.

Try Uniformat free →

Quick Reference: Thesis Formatting Checklist

Use this before submitting:

Final Thoughts

Thesis formatting isn’t glamorous work, but it’s consequential. A well-formatted thesis signals professionalism and attention to detail — and more practically, it gets accepted on the first submission.

Use the checklist above before you send anything to your graduate office. And if you want to eliminate the manual work entirely, Uniformat was built to do exactly that.

Have questions about your specific university’s requirements? Leave a comment below or reach us at uniformat.ca.