Thesis and Dissertation Template: UQAM

UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal) has a very detailed presentation guide, hosted at guidemt.uqam.ca. This guide is the essential reference for any graduate student who has to prepare a master’s dissertation or a doctoral thesis. Here is a practical summary of the key standards, the available templates and the official resources.

Official formatting requirements

ParameterRequirement
Paper sizeLetter (215.9 × 279.4 mm)
Margins2.5 cm on all sides
FontUniform throughout the document (e.g. Times New Roman 12 pt or Calibri 11 pt)
Line spacing1.5 for body text
Front matter numberingLowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii…)
Body numberingArabic numerals (1, 2, 3…) starting from the introduction
Page number positionBottom centre or top right, depending on the style chosen

Typographic layout

  • First-line paragraph indent: 1.25 cm (do not use a blank line between paragraphs in this case)
  • OR space between paragraphs: if no indent, use a space after each paragraph (the “Block” style)
  • Chapter headings: centred, uppercase, bold, same font
  • Long quotations (> 5 lines): indented 1 cm on both sides, single line spacing, reduced size (10 or 11 pt)
  • Footnotes: single line spacing, reduced font (10 pt)

Available templates

Word (.dotx)

The official template is available directly on guidemt.uqam.ca:

  • Link: guidemt.uqam.ca: Template and layout
  • File: Gabarit_recto-verso-A2021-1.dotx
  • Preconfigured with the UQAM styles (headings, body, quotations, footnotes)
  • Double-sided version available (fall 2021 term and later)

LaTeX

Required document structure

The order of sections according to guidemt.uqam.ca:

Front matter (Roman numbering):

  1. Cover page (not numbered)
  2. Title page (not numbered or i)
  3. Abstract (short summary): 200 to 300 words
  4. Table of contents
  5. List of figures (if applicable)
  6. List of tables (if applicable)
  7. List of abbreviations, acronyms, symbols (if applicable)
  8. Dedication (optional)
  9. Acknowledgements (optional)
  10. Foreword (optional)

Body text (Arabic numbering starting from 1): 11. General introduction 12. Chapters (numbered) 13. General conclusion 14. Bibliographic references 15. Appendices (if applicable)

Article-based format

UQAM accepts the article-based format (article-based thesis). In this case:

  • Each article-chapter must be preceded by an introduction and followed by a discussion
  • The author’s role in each co-written article must be specified
  • The whole must keep the coherence of a thesis (general introduction and conclusion)

Citations and bibliographic style

UQAM recommends following the style prescribed by the program or the faculty. Common styles:

  • APA (social sciences, education, psychology)
  • Chicago (humanities, history)
  • Vancouver (health sciences)

Use bibliographic management software (Zotero is recommended by the UQAM libraries).

Official resources

Common mistakes to avoid at UQAM

  1. Incorrect margins: 2.5 cm on all sides, without exception.
  2. Font inconsistency: use a single font throughout the document.
  3. Numbering that starts before the introduction: Arabic numerals always start at the introduction.
  4. Incomplete table of contents: all level 1, 2 and 3 headings must appear with the correct page numbers.
  5. Poorly formatted long quotations: quotations longer than 5 lines must be indented and single-spaced.

Format your UQAM thesis with Uniformat

Uniformat knows the guidemt.uqam.ca standards and generates Word and LaTeX documents that comply with UQAM requirements. Focus on your research: Uniformat takes care of the formatting.

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Sources: guidemt.uqam.ca (accessed March 2026). Last updated: March 2026.