THESIS/DISSERTATION SUBMISSON AND FORMATTING

Updated 8/18/2023

THESIS/DISSERTATION SUBMISSON

AND FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS

It is the student’s responsibility to understand and correctly apply these formatting requirements to their

thesis/dissertation.

This document outlines processes and requirements for the successful submission of a thesis or

dissertation to the Graduate School and completion of an advanced degree at Washington State University.

Additionally, pages 5 – 33 of this document include samples of correctly formatted pages from a

thesis/dissertation.

Before the Final Examination

Students planning to take the final oral defense of their thesis/dissertation should obtain a copy of the

Deadlines and Procedures for Graduate Degrees, available on the Graduate School’s “Current Students”

website. Take care to select the correct deadlines document for your degree.

Prior to the semester in which you plan to graduate:

• Ensure your Program of Study is completed correctly and submitted to the Graduate School no later

than the beginning of the semester prior to when you will take an exam.

o For example, a student planning to graduate in Spring 2025 must submit their completed

Program of Study at the beginning of Fall 2024.

o Due to the time constraints involved, those planning to graduate in summer must submit

the completed Program of Study at the beginning of the prior Fall term.

During the semester in which you plan to graduate:

• Enroll in at least 2 credits of your research course (700, 701, 702, 800).

• Apply for graduation in myWSU before the deadline.

o Candidates must apply for graduation, including paying the associated fee, prior to

submitting a final examination scheduling form.

o Instructions are available at https://gradschool.wsu.edu/graduation-application/

• Submit the Scheduling Exam: Doctoral/Thesis Final, Non-Thesis Final, and Preliminary Exams form found

on the “Forms” page of the Graduate School’s website.

o Completed and signed forms must be submitted to the Graduate School no later than 10

business days before the examination.

• Submit a full draft of your thesis/dissertation to the Graduate School no later than 10 business days

before the examination.

o Navigate to www.dissertations.wsu.edu

and follow the on-screen directions to upload your

draft into ProQuest. Please note that any optional services you elect to receive from

ProQuest must be paid for when uploading your draft.

o Students wishing to delay release of their work may request an embargo of their

thesis/dissertation within ProQuest (see page 4 for details).

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• Submit a full draft of your thesis/dissertation to your department to serve as the “Public Copy” no

later than 5 business days before the examination.

o As a state-funded institution of higher education, you must make a “Public Copy” of your

work available in your graduate program’s main office for visual inspection by any member

of the public. Viewers may not take copies, scans, photographs, or any kind of facsimiles of

“Public Copy” theses/dissertations. Departments are to destroy the “Public Copy”

immediately upon conclusion of the final examination.

Scheduling the Final Examination

Students schedule their final examination through the Graduate School by applying for graduation and

submitting a completed and signed Scheduling Exam: Doctoral/Thesis Final, Non-thesis Final, and Preliminary

Exams form (see above). Final examinations must conform to the following:

• Exams are held during WSU’s regular business hours, Monday – Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00

p.m., excluding holidays.

• Final exams cannot exceed 2.5 hours in length.

• All committee members must attend the exam.

• Students whose research involves human subjects, animal subjects, biohazardous materials,

radioactive materials, and/or recombinant DNA must provide documentation that the appropriate

research review board at WSU reviewed the project. Attach a copy of the approval/exemption notice

from the applicable review board to your final examination scheduling form.

A portion of the exam scheduling process involves a review of your draft thesis/dissertation. Candidates

must consult their committee to determine the particular citation style appropriate for their field of study.

Once determined, follow that style guide carefully and consistently throughout your document.

IMPORTANT: Though students must follow the style guide most appropriate for their discipline, WSU also

enforces a set of formatting requirements to ensure a level of professionalism and consistency across all

theses/dissertations. Wherever a conflict occurs, students must follow WSU’s formatting requirements.

These are described in depth on pages 5 – 33 of this document, as well as in the Thesis and Dissertation

Template available on the Graduate School’s forms website.

Your Final Examination

Specifics of final examinations vary widely across the university. Please refer to your department and your

student handbook for any questions regarding your final examination.

WSU final examinations may be open to the public. In cases where the exam is open, public attendees are

not allowed to ask questions of their own nor to disrupt the exam proceedings in any way. Members of the

public must leave the examination when the committee discusses the exam’s outcome. They may return for

the announcement of the outcome.

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After the Final Examination

Your committee chair will count the individual ballots from the members of your committee and report the

examination’s result to the Graduate School. Meanwhile, you are responsible for completing several

requirements within 10 business days of your final exam:

• Complete the Thesis/Dissertation Approval form and upload it into myWSU.

o myWSU routes your submission to your department and committee chair (and co-chair, if

applicable). Faculty must approve these pages within myWSU and have the document

delivered to the Graduate School within 10 business days of your defense.

• Submit a signed and witnessed Hold Harmless Agreement and Copyright Acknowledgment Form to the

Graduate School.

o You must complete and sign this form in the presence of any permanent WSU faculty or staff

member, who must sign as a witness. If you upload your signed document into myWSU as a

service request or send it to gradscho[email protected] from your wsu.edu email account, the

Graduate School may act as your witness.

• Submit prepared copyright releases from publishers or authors whose copyright material is present

in any part of your thesis/dissertation.

o Many journals include this permission in the publication agreement signed at the time an

article is published. If this is true in your case, provide a full copy of the agreement with the

applicable portion clearly indicated. If this does not apply in your case, contact your

publisher to obtain a copyright release. You may submit this documentation as a service

request in myWSU or send it to [email protected]u

• Doctoral students only: submit the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) completion certificate as a

service request in myWSU or send it to gradschool@wsu.edu. Students may access the SED from the

Graduate School’s forms website at http://gradschool.wsu.edu/forms

• Submit the final, revised version of your thesis or dissertation, including all edits required by the

Graduate School and your committee.

o You must update your original draft submission in ProQuest – DO NOT CREATE A NEW

PROQUEST SUBMISSION.

Follow Through to Completion

Though you have finished your thesis/dissertation submission, you aren’t quite done yet! It is important that

you continue to check your WSU email regularly until your diploma arrives. As the Graduate School works to

finalize your materials, accept your thesis or dissertation, and award your degree, we sometimes run across

issues the student must address. These can range from missing signatures, incomplete forms, further

required edits to your thesis/dissertation, or others. Graduate School staff will communicate any such

problems to you in writing to your wsu.edu email address. YOU MUST ADDRESS THESE ISSUES before we

can confer your degree.

Embargo Option

Students wishing to delay release of their thesis/dissertation for a certain length of time may request an

embargo from ProQuest and the WSU Libraries. It is vital to note WSU will not verify any information about,

Updated 8/18/2023

nor the existence of, an embargoed thesis/dissertation to any party, including other institutions of higher

education, potential employers, nor potential collaborators, until the embargo is lifted. Speak with your

committee chair to ensure you understand the impact this may have on your ability to publish or find

employment in your field before requesting an embargo.

Students requesting an embargo must indicate as such on the “PQ Publishing Options” and “IR Publishing

Options” pages when submitting their thesis/dissertation draft in ProQuest. BOTH sections are required to

embargo your work.

ProQuest Publishing Options

Students must submit their thesis/dissertation to ProQuest for preservation and distribution worldwide.

Once approved by the Graduate School, ProQuest provides a digital copy of the document to the WSU

Libraries and also makes it available via their services in accordance with the student’s publication selection:

• Traditional Publishing: This option is free to all graduate students. Students enter into an agreement

granting ProQuest a non-exclusive right to publish their abstract and distribute their dissertation for

a fee. ProQuest pays the author a royalty on sales of their work. For more information, see

http://www.dissertations.wsu.edu/traditional.pdf.

• Open Access Publishing: This option requires the student to pay a $95 fee to ProQuest. Students

enter into an agreement granting ProQuest a non-exclusive right to publish their abstract and

distribute their dissertation as a free download without accrual of royalties. For more information,

see

http://www.dissertations.wsu.edu/oa.pdf.

Theses/Dissertations in the WSU Libraries

All theses/dissertations are also made available via the WSU Libraries and Research Exchange. Information

is available at http://research.libraries.wsu.edu/xmlui/

Formatting Requirements

An example of thesis/dissertation formatting is attached. Please look over the example and read the explanatory

text carefully. Students must format their theses/dissertation in accordance with these requirements to have their

document accepted by the Graduate School.

THE FLUX CAPACITOR: CATALYST FOR TESTING NOVIKOV’S

SELF-CONSISTENCY PRINCIPLE

BUTCH T. COUGAR

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

Individual Interdisciplinary Program

MAY 2025

Title in ALL CAPS, double spaced,

in an inverted pyramid (each line

is longer the next line beneath it).

CENTER EVERYTHING ON YOUR TITLE PAGE!

5-10 blank lines in each of these

places, depending on the length

of your title.

“By” (capital B and lowercase y), double space,

your name in ALL CAPS.

• You must present your name in the same

format throughout the document. For

example, if you include your full middle

name here, you must do the same in all

other places.

“A thesis” for masters students;

“A dissertation” for doctoral

students; the top line must end

with “of” exactly as shown in

this example; single spaced.

Triple space from degree to

“WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY”

in ALL CAPS.

Single space, name of your degree

granting unit (Ex: Department of

History, School of the Environment,

etc.); contact your department or

the Graduate School if you are not

sure.

Double space, month in ALL CAPS

and year you will graduate (not

when you take your exam).

Official degree name: always

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY for Ph.D.,

always DOCTOR OF EDUCATION for

Ed.D.

All others use the degree name and

field in one line.

Examples:

MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN CHEMISTRY

MASTER OF FINE ARTS

Triple space from date to copyright

symbol and 2-line statement exactly

as shown here, with a capital “C”,

your name in ALL CAPS exactly

matching the name listed above,

the year you will graduate.

with capital “A”, “R”, and “R” letters.

These two lines must match the

same two lines on the title page;

copy and paste here.

No page number is used on the

To the Faculty of Washington State University:

The members of the Committee appointed to examine the dissertation of BUTCH T.

COUGAR find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted.

Tammy D. Barry, Ph.D., Chair

Raymond Herrera, Ph.D.

Greg Crouch, Ph.D.

Arvin Sahaym, Ph.D.

6-10 blank lines, depending on

the number of faculty in your

committee. This example uses

8 blank lines.

Left justified, capitalize “F” in “Faculty”

and use proper capitalization for

“Washington State University”.

Indented, capitalize “C” in “Committee”, use

“thesis” for masters students and “dissertation”

for doctoral students; name in ALL CAPS exactly

as it appears on your title page.

Insert another 6-10 blank lines between the

acceptance statement and the names of your

committee members, depending on the number

of faculty in your committee. This example uses 6

blank lines.

Committee names must be right justified, double

spaced, and include all required punctuation:

• Full name, period if abbreviating middle

names, and comma – ASK YOUR

COMMITTEE MEMBERS to ensure you

provide their correct full name.

• Degree abbreviation and comma – do not

forget the periods in the abbreviation!

• “Chair” for the committee chair and, if

applicable, “Co-Chair” for that individual.

Minimum of 1” margins on all pages.

Page numbers may be either centered in the

bottom margin or placed in the upper-right

corner.

NOTE: You must have a minimum of .5” of cleared

space below and above the page number. This

means .5” between the bottom edge of the page

number and the bottom of the paper, AND .5”

between the top of the page number and the

bottom of the nearest text.

TIP: Set your lower margin to 1.3” and vertically

center the page number in that lower margin.

This will provide enough room for the .5” space

required above and below the page number.

This is the first page number in your

document – it is ALWAYS numbered as

a lowercase Roman numeral 2 – “ii”.

Page numbers must be in the same

font as the rest of your document.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This section should be used if the author wishes to acknowledge assistance they received. Like

the rest of the dissertation, this section must be left justified and double-spaced. There is no limit

to the number of pages in this section. The Graduate School advises students to, at minimum,

thank any individuals or organizations which provided funding for your research.

Section title centered and in ALL CAPS;

double space all lines on this page;

body text is left justified.

Continue lowercase Roman numeral

pagination.

THE FLUX CAPACITOR: CATALYST FOR TESTING NOVIKOV’S

SELF-CONSISTENCY PRINCIPLE

Abstract

by Butch T. Cougar, Ph.D.

Washington State University

May 2025

Chair: Tammy D. Barry

Please place the body text of the abstract here. The abstract must be left justified and double-

spaced. You must take care in the preparation of your abstract since ProQuest will publish this

portion without further editing or revision. No footnotes, references, unexplained abbreviations,

charts, graphs, or images are to be used in your abstract. Remember that the purpose of this text

is to be succinct while still providing an accurate synopsis of significant elements within the

manuscript.

Title in ALL CAPS, double spaced,

in an inverted pyramid (each line

is longer than the line beneath it)

– must match title page EXACTLY,

even down to the words at the

beginning and end of each line.

TIP: Copy and paste your title

from the title page to this

abstract page!

Triple space to “Abstract” with capital “A”.

Triple space to “by” in lowercase, followed

by your name in Regular Case. Name must

match the title, copyright, and signature

pages. Add the new degree’s abbreviation,

with punctuation, after your name.

Single space, “Washington State University”

in Regular Case; then single space to month

and year of graduation in Regular Case.

Triple space to “Chair” – type committee

chair’s name without any titles or degree. If

you have a Co-Chair, type “Co-Chairs” and

list both names without titles.

Double space from the chair’s name to

the body of your abstract. Generally,

researchers decide to read your work

or not based on your abstract. Be

concise and do not include images nor

use unexplained abbreviations. Work

with your committee chair closely.

Continue lowercase Roman numeral

pagination.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGMENT................................................................................................................ iii

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iv

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ vii

LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii

CHAPTERS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................1

Graduate School Formatting Requirements .............................................................1

Using This Guide .....................................................................................................1

CHAPTER TWO: SPECIFIC FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS ...................................2

Chapter Headings .....................................................................................................2

Font Requirements ...................................................................................................2

Professionalism and Consistency .............................................................................2

Additional Formatting Rules: Title Page .................................................................3

Page Margins ...........................................................................................................4

Page Numbers ..........................................................................................................4

Blank Pages and Running Headers ..........................................................................4

Block Quotes ............................................................................................................5

Handwriting .............................................................................................................5

Hyperlinks ................................................................................................................5

Example Image ........................................................................................................5

Section title centered and in ALL CAPS on the first

line of the page.

Entries are left justified and in ALL CAPS with a dot

leader extending to the page number which is right

justified.

Double space between all entries!

“Page” should be right justified to sit above the

column of page numbers; double space between

this word and your first Table of Contents entry.

Subheadings are indented from the

chapter title, in Regular Case, and

double spaced. Do not font effects

(italics, bold, underline, etc.).

CHAPTER THREE: SPECIALTY FORMATTING...........................................................7

Landscape Pages ......................................................................................................7

CHAPTER FOUR: THE ALTERNATIVE FORMAT .......................................................9

CHAPTER FIVE: WARPED HISTORY: A TIME TRAVELLER’S TAKE

ON PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHES ....................................................................................12

CHAPTER SIX: WARPED HISTORY: A TIME TRAVELLER’S TAKE

ON PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHES ....................................................................................14

REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................16

APPENDIX ....................................................................................................................................17

APPENDIX A: EXAMPLE OF THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE FROM CHAPTERS

FIVE AND SIX..................................................................................................................18

APPENDIX B: ADDITIONAL RESOURCES .................................................................19

Entries with a title longer than one line are single

spaced.

You must “break” the line of text and start a new

line BEFORE it enters the column reserved for page

numbers!

Continue lowercase Roman numeral

pagination.

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 1.1: UAO/UFO Sightings, 1945-2016 ...................................................................................7

Table 1.2: Comparison of Absorbency ..........................................................................................24

Table 2.1: Speed and Vector Comparison .....................................................................................33

ALL formatting rules and elements from the TABLE

OF CONTENTS page are repeated for the LIST OF

TABLES, LIST OF FIGURES, LIST OF EQUATIONS, etc.

See above for spacing, capitalization, etc.

Follow the capitalization norms for your style guide

when writing your figure, chart, table names (i.e.,

Screenshot of a Published Article… or Screenshot

of a published article…).

Entries on these pages may be in Regular Case or

ALL CAPS. Whichever you decide to use, you must

be consistent. No font effects are permitted.

Continue lowercase Roman numeral

pagination.

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1.1: Foucault and the Extraterrestrial ...................................................................................7

Figure 2.1: Cougars vs Vandals example figure with a long name to show that these

must also “break” before entering the column reserved for page numbers ...................................14

Figure A.1: Screenshot of a published article, with notation highlighting format changes

Needed to include it in this example thesis/dissertation. ...............................................................18

ALL formatting rules and elements from the TABLE

OF CONTENTS page are repeated for the LIST OF

TABLES, LIST OF FIGURES, LIST OF EQUATIONS, etc.

See above for spacing, capitalization, etc.

Follow the capitalization norms for your style guide

when writing your figure, chart, table names (i.e.,

Screenshot of a Published Article… or Screenshot

of a published article…).

Entries on these pages may be in Regular Case or

ALL CAPS. Whichever you decide to use, you must

be consistent. No font effects are permitted.

Continue lowercase Roman numeral

pagination.

Dedication

Insert your dedication here, and if it is longer than one line,

ensure they are double spaced.

This page is optional. If used, center all text on the

page; the word “Dedication” must be in Regular

Case and bold font; double space to the text of

your dedication.

Double space within the body of your dedication.

Foreign language dedications must include an

English translation.

The dedication page is the last page

using lowercase Roman numeral

pagination.

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Begin the body of your first chapter here. There are a variety of methods for dividing

your dissertation. You might use chapters, sections, or manuscript numbers. Please work in close

consultation with your committee chair to determine the most appropriate means of organizing

your dissertation for your discipline. The most important thing to remember is to be consistent.

Below please find a series of subsections detailing the Graduate School’s formatting

requirements for various aspects of the dissertations.

Graduate School Formatting Requirements

Thesis and dissertation authors must follow Graduate School formatting requirements

exactly. This is particularly true of the title page, abstract, signature page, and table of contents.

There is no allowance for creativity nor derivation on these pages and the Graduate School will

not approve theses/dissertations that deviate from the required formatting.

Using this Guide

Detailed formatting requirements are provided on the sample pages of this document.

Remember: follow these formatting rules precisely. The following sections provide additional

information beyond that given on the sample pages above.

Section title centered and in ALL CAPS on

the first line of the page. The title here

MUST match the entry on your TABLE OF

CONTENTS.

Restart your pagination in Arabic numerals, beginning

with page “1”. Refer to the “Page Numbers” subsection

below for more details!

CHAPTER TWO: SPECIFIC FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS

Chapter Headings

New chapters always begin at the top of a new page within the thesis/dissertation,

regardless of where text ends on the previous page. Chapter titles must be centered on the page

and in ALL CAPS.

Font Requirements

WSU requires theses/dissertations bear a professional appearance to the reader. While we

do not enforce a set font or font size, your choices must align with the following principles:

1. You may use ONE font in your thesis/dissertation. Wherever possible, use the same font

in all graphs, tables, charts, etc., but there is some leeway given if this is not possible.

2. Your font and font size choices must look professional. The Graduate School will instruct

students to change their font and/or font size if the reviewer feels these elements are not

in keeping with the professional appearance requirement.

3. All font must be black – colored font is not permitted.

4. You must be consistent. For example, should you decide to increase the font size of your

chapter titles from 12 (the setting in this example) to 14, you must be sure to do the same

for ALL chapter titles in your document. This principle applies to the use of font effects

as well (bold, underlining, italics, etc.).

Professionalism and Consistency

Authors must use WSU’s formatting requirements for all aspects of the title page,

supplementary lists such as a list of figures), and dedication page. For the thesis/dissertation

Chapter titles always

start at the top of a

new page, regardless

of where text ends on

the previous page.

body, use the formatting and citation style guide that is appropriate for your discipline. Whenever

there is a formatting conflict between WSU requirements and a style guide, authors must adhere

to WSU’s format. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Two primary considerations in formatting the body of your document are professionalism

and consistency. For example, it is perfectly acceptable to bold your subheadings (as seen in this

template) if you treat all subheadings in the entire document in the same manner. You cannot

bold or underline some subheadings and not others. In all cases, be certain that your formatting

decisions convey a sense of professionalism and always be consistent.

Additional Formatting Rules: Title Page

The degree name is strictly “DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY” for all Ph.D. graduates and

“DOCTOR OF EDUCATION” for all Ed.D. graduates. Only masters-level graduate degrees

include the field of study, such as “MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY” or “MASTER OF

SCIENCE IN CHEMISTRY”.

Ensure you list your name consistently throughout your document. If you choose to

include a middle initial, such as “BUTCH T. COUGAR” on your title page, you must be

consistent and include the same name throughout your thesis/dissertation.

The department name must be the official unit’s name that is granting the degree. Some

examples are: “Department of History”, “School of Engineering and Computer Science”,

“Voiland School of Chemical and Biological Engineering”, and “Department of Criminal Justice

and Criminology”. If you are not sure of your department’s official name, contact your academic

coordinator or [email protected] for assistance.

The date on your title page must reflect the month and year of your degree, not your final

exam. Fall graduates always use DECEMBER and spring graduates always use MAY. Those

Minimum of .5” between the top of the page

number and the bottom of the nearest text.

Minimum of .5” between the bottom of the page

number and the bottom edge of the page.

TIP: Set your lower margin to 1.3” and vertically center

the page number within that margin to have enough

room above and below the page number.

graduating in summer generally use JULY; however, there is occasionally a year when degrees

are awarded in AUGUST.

Page Margins

All pages must have at least a 1” side/top margin and a 1.3” bottom margin. The larger

bottom margin allows you to have ½” of clear space above and below the page number (see

below). This is mandatory – please ensure that no text, charts, graphs, images, etc. infringe upon

your document’s margins.

Page Numbers

This template is designed to help with the most challenging aspects of pagination. Please

do not edit these settings. If you need to adjust the pagination, keep the following requirements

in mind. Page numbers must have at least ½” of cleared space on all sides of the number. Page

numbers must either be centered at the bottom of the page or in the upper right-hand corner. If

you decide to move your page numbers to the upper right, you need to reduce the bottom margin

to 1” and increase the top margin to 1.3” to allow enough space around your page numbers.

Page numbers must be in the same font as the rest of your thesis/dissertation. You may

use a slightly smaller size if desired. Each page must include a page number except the title page

and copyright page (the first two pages of your document). Front matter pages (signature page,

abstract, table of contents, dedication, etc.) must be numbered using lower case roman numerals

beginning with ii on the signature page (ii, iii, iv, etc.). All body pages must be numbered using

Arabic numerals and restart at 1 on the first page of your introduction (1, 2, 3, etc.).

Professionalism and Consistency

Authors should use the formatting and citation style guide that is appropriate for their

discipline throughout the body of their thesis/dissertation. Whenever there is a formatting

conflict between WSU requirements and a style guide, authors must adhere to WSU’s format.

There are two primary formatting considerations in the body of your document: professionalism

and consistency. For example, it is perfectly acceptable to bold your subheadings (as seen in this

template) if you treat all subheadings in the same manner. You cannot bold or underline some

subheadings and not others. In all cases, be certain that your formatting decisions convey a sense

of professionalism and always be consistent in how you apply your decisions.

Blank Pages and Running Headers

Blank pages and running headers are not permitted in your thesis/dissertation. Please

ensure that you do not include these in your document.

Block Quotes

You may single or double space for block quotes. Remember: always be consistent with

your formatting choices throughout your document!

Handwriting

Handwriting is not acceptable within a thesis/dissertation. Any graphics, drawings, figure

labels, etc. must be generated by computer.

Hyperlinks

Anytime you include a website, such as www.gradschool.wsu.edu, you must deactivate

the hyperlinks in your text. Your document must be viewable today, next month, next year, in

fifty years, and beyond. In the long term, hyperlinks will no longer point to anything and will not

provide meaning for readers. The Graduate School suggests you incorporate any such referenced

material into your dissertation (or as supplemental files), but we require that you deactivate all

hyperlinks. In Word, right-click the link and select “Remove Hyperlink”.

REMINDER TO REMOVE ALL HYPERLINKS! They will break in 1, 10, 20,

50, or even 100 years, but people may still read your research!

Example Image

Images, charts, graphs, etc. must not enter the mandatory margins (see above). Captions

may be single or double-spaced as long as you are consistent. Additionally, be certain your

reader can tell the difference between your caption and body text of your dissertation.

Figure 2.1: Example Caption: Captions for figures and charts may be single or double-spaced.

Remember to be consistent and format all captions in the same style.

Take care to format figures,

graphs, charts, tables, etc.

so they DO NOT enter the

mandatory 1” side margins.

CHAPTER THREE: SPECIALTY FORMATING

Landscape Pages

Sometimes it becomes preferential to insert a landscape page into your document. In

these cases, you must reorient the page number so, if printed and bound, the page number

appears in the same location as the rest of your page numbers. For instructions on how to make

this change, please proceed to the next page.

Additional Resources

For additional help with thesis/dissertation formatting, please send an email to

[email protected]. Please be aware that we cannot offer specific help with how to use your

word processing program of choice.

This is an example of a page in landscape orientation within a thesis/dissertation. There are many excellent resources

you may search for online to walk you through how to insert these pages into your document. This template used the

directions found at https://guides.lib.umich.edu/c.php?g=283073&p=1886009 to create this example.

Please remember that you are not required to use landscape pages. You could also simply rotate the figure, graph, or

chart by 90 degrees and insert it on a portrait-oriented page if that is easier. Remember to be consistent.

DO NOT FORGET: If you use landscape pages, you must pay special attention

to the page numbers! Rotate them and place them so you still have the .5” of

cleared space around your page number.

CHAPTER FOUR: THE ALTERNATIVE FORMAT

In addition to the standard format described above, graduate students may use the

“alternative format” for their thesis/dissertation. This format uses articles and/or book chapters –

either already published or written with an intent to publish – in place of standard chapters.

Below are details regarding how to use this additional formatting option.

1. The alternative format allows students to use pieces of writing based upon research

conducted at WSU which is either previously published or intended for submission for

publication. These pieces of writing are referred to as “manuscripts” in this document.

2. The alternative format for theses/dissertation shall consist of at least one manuscript for a

masters thesis or at least two manuscripts for a doctoral dissertation. A dissertation with

only one manuscript must include additional chapters of original material to constitute

enough work for a dissertation.

3. The thesis/dissertation must include a title page, signature page, abstract, and table of

contents. These elements must follow WSU’s formatting requirements.

4. The graduate student must preface the manuscript with a manuscript title page, formatted

according to WSU’s requirements (see the example below). If submitted for publication,

the title page must indicate the journal/s to which it is intended for submission. If the

manuscript was previously published, the manuscript title page must include a full

citation.

5. The graduate student must be the major contributor and writer of the manuscript, usually

represented as the sole author. For any manuscript which includes multiple authorship,

the manuscript’s title page must include an attribution section describing the

contributions made by each author (see the example below).

6. The graduate student must provide the Graduate School with a letter of copyright release

for all previously published material. If your work is published under an open access

license, send that information for your copyright release. Email your release to

[email protected] with your name and WSU ID number.

7. All manuscripts shall be formatted to fit within the margins required by WSU’s

formatting requirements, and pages shall be renumbered and paginated consecutively as a

cohesive part of the thesis/dissertation.

8. In the case of a thesis/dissertation composed of multiple manuscripts, the student must

include additional materials which integrate the presentation of these manuscripts into a

single body of research. This could include a General Introduction chapter, or a

Discussion/Conclusion chapter, or both. Furthermore, the student must create a single

title and a single abstract for the thesis/dissertation as a whole. If the manuscript topics

are so disparate as to make this unfeasible, the student may not use the alternative format.

9. Manuscripts may appear as they were originally formatted for publication or submission.

In this case, the student must explain this to the reader on the manuscript’s title page.

Statements such as, “Originally published in the Journal Name and reproduced here in its

original format” or “Written for submission to the Journal Name and reproduced here in

its original format” are sufficient. The manuscripts may then be presented in their original

formatting, except in regard to margins and page numbers as explained above.

10. Students may not alter manuscripts nor combine multiple manuscripts together into

chapters. Each manuscript – if provided in its original format – must constitute one

chapter and be presented exactly as it was for publication. If a student wishes to alter a

manuscript, the entire manuscript must be reformatted to meet WSU’s formatting

requirements.

The next chapters provide examples of how a previously published manuscript should be

presented as part of a thesis/dissertation. Chapter 5 is left in its original format while Chapter 6 is

reformatted to meet WSU’s requirements. Appendix A includes a screenshot of how the article

originally appeared when published.

CHAPTER FIVE: WARPED HISTORY: A TIME TRAVELLER’S TAKE

ON PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHES

Cougar, Butch T., and E.L. Brown, “Warped History: A Time Traveler’s Take on Presidential

Speeches.” Fake Journal of History 54, no. 4 (2022): 106-118. doi: 314159265358979323

Originally published in the Fake Journal of History and reproduced here in its original format.

Attributions:

Butch Cougar used the experimental equipment to travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on

September 19, 1796, and acquired an original copy of the Philadelphia Daily American

Advertiser containing George Washington’s farewell address. He interviewed several

Philadelphians, compiled data, and wrote the text of this article.

E.L. Brown developed the equipment specifically for this research, namely the flux

capacitor, and completed conversion of an automobile into a functional chronological distortion

device. He also assisted in calculations of data points.

Manuscript title in ALL CAPS, double spaced, and centered

on the page; double space to the full citation (if previously

published) which should be single spaced.

Triple space to the statement

indicating this chapter is being

reproduced in its original format.

IF THE MANUSCRIPT INCLUDES MULTIPLE AUTHORS:

An attribution section is required on the manuscript title page if

the manuscript includes multiple authors. This section describes

the contributions made by each author, including yourself.

Triple space to the word “Attributions” which is formatted as a

subheading (bold in this example); contributions should be

organized by name, with primary author first.

If you are not a primary author, the manuscript is not permitted as

part of your thesis/dissertation.

This section is not required if you are the manuscript’s sole author.

Example of a manuscript title page with

citation, statement explaining the

original format, and attribution section.

Example of a manuscript reproduced in its original

format, with edited margins and page numbers as

required. Compare with the original on page 18.

CHAPTER SIX: WARPED HISTORY: A TIME TRAVELLER’S TAKE

ON PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHES

Cougar, Butch T., and E.L. Brown, “Warped History: A Time Traveler’s Take on Presidential

Speeches.” Fake Journal of History 54, no. 4 (2022): 106-118. doi: 314159265358979323

Attributions:

Butch Cougar used the experimental equipment to travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on

September 19, 1796, and acquired an original copy of the Philadelphia Daily American

Advertiser containing George Washington’s farewell address. He interviewed several

Philadelphians, compiled data, and wrote the text of this article.

E.L. Brown developed the equipment specifically for this research, namely the flux

capacitor, and completed conversion of an automobile into a functional chronological distortion

device. He also assisted in calculations of data points.

Example of a manuscript title page with citation and

attribution section. Since this example is NOT in its

original format, the format statement is not included.

Manuscript title in ALL CAPS, double spaced, and centered

on the page; double space to the full citation (if previously

published) which should be single spaced.

IF THE MANUSCRIPT INCLUDES MULTIPLE AUTHORS:

An attribution section is required on the manuscript title page if

the manuscript includes multiple authors. This section describes

the contributions made by each author, including yourself.

Triple space to the word “Attributions” which is formatted as a

subheading (bold in this example); contributions should be

organized by name, with primary author first.

If you are not a primary author, the manuscript is not permitted as

part of your thesis/dissertation.

This section is not required if you are the manuscript’s sole author.

WARPED HISTORY: A TIME TRAVELER’S TAKE

ON PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHES

Friends and Fellow Citizens:

The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the

United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be

employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to

me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I

should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the

number of those out of whom a choice is to be made.

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not

been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which

binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence

in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no

deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that

the step is compatible with both.

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have

twice called me have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty and to a

deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much

earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to

that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do

this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to

you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign

nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon

Example of the same manuscript retyped and

reformatted to meet WSU’s requirements.

Compare with the original on page 18.

REFERENCES

Cougar, Butch T., and E.L. Brown, “Warped History: A Time Traveler’s Take on Presidential

Speeches.” Fake Journal of History 54, no. 4 (2022): 106-118. doi: 314159265358979323

Friedman, John, Michael S. Morris, Igor D. Novikov, Fernando Echeverria, Gunnar

Klinkhammer, Kip S. Thorne, and Ulvi Yurtsever, “Cauchy problem in spacetimes with

closed timelike curves.” Physical Review D 42, no. 6 (September 1990): 1915-1930.

https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevD.42.1915.

Novikov, Igor Dmitrievich. Evolution of the Universe. Translated by M.M. Basko. Cambridge;

New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

——. The River of Time. Translated by Vitaly Kisin. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge

University Press, 1998.

References always start at the top of a new page,

regardless of where text ends on the previous page.

Heading must be in ALL CAPS, centered, matching

the format of your chapter titles.

Follow the bibliography/reference style appropriate for

your field of study (this example uses Chicago Turabian).

Remember to be consistent and use the same citation

style throughout your thesis or dissertation.

You may single space individual citations, but you MUST

double space between entries.

You may include a references section at the end of each

chapter, or at the end of the thesis/dissertation (prior to

any appendix). Be consistent for all chapters.

APPENDIX

You must include an appendix title page to

denote the end of the dissertation’s body and

the beginning of the appendix.

10 blank lines; the word “APPENDIX” in ALL

CAPS, centered on the page. This page does

include a page number, but no other text.

APPENDIX A: EXAMPLE OF AN APPENDIX

Chapters 5 and 6 provided examples of using a previously published manuscript. Compare how

the article originally appeared, and carefully read the notes regarding which formatting elements

needed revision, even when keeping an article in its original format:

Figure A.1: Screenshot of a published journal article, with notation highlighting format changes

needed to include it in this example thesis/dissertation.

Must be repaginated

as an integrated part of

the thesis/dissertation:

deleted page numbers.

No text allowed in

margins: removed

running footer.

No images, charts,

graphs, etc. allowed in

margins: resized image.

APPENDIX B: ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Read the instructions contained in this guide and follow them carefully while formatting

your thesis/dissertation. Graduate School staff are happy to answer any questions you have about

your formatting; however, we cannot assist with questions about how to use your specific word

processing program.

For students interested in using LaTeX for their thesis/dissertation, you may find the

template at the Graduate School’s LaTeX template website: www.gradschool.wsu.edu/latex. The

template’s website also includes contact information if you have any questions or need assistance

with using LaTeX.

You may purchase physical copies of your thesis/dissertation from ProQuest or take your

files to any local printing/binding shop to order copies. WSU imposes no limitations on where

you can obtain physical copies of your work.

Additional Resources:

• Graduate and Professional Writing Center: [email protected]

o Content, clarify, form, flow, organization, writing, etc.

• Professional Editing and Service Center: p[email protected]

o Though offered by WSU, this is a pay service requiring written permission from

your committee chair. Offers help with grammar, proofreading, copy editing, etc.

• ProQuest/ETD: https://support.proquest.com/s/article/Submitting-your-ETD

o Questions regarding ProQuest services (copyright, publishing, etc.), ordering

physical copies, troubleshooting using the ProQuest site.

• Graduate School Forms Website: https://gradschool.wsu.edu/forms

o All thesis/dissertation formatting information is available at this website,

including this guide, a Word template, a dated LaTeX template, checklists, etc.

• Graduate School Programs and Graduations Staff: [email protected]

o Clarifications, unusual problems, deadlines, weird questions, etc.