Fonts and Desktop Publishing

Features that should stand out in the thesis include the quality of the
scholarship or research, the soundness of the logic, the originality of ideas, and the
lucidity of the prose, but not the size of the headlines. The use of headers or chapter
titles larger than 3/16" is discouraged and the use of excessive italics or bold print is
discouraged.
Any easily readable font (e.g. Arial, Tahoma, Cambria, Courier, and Calibri)
is acceptable, but Times New Roman is preferable. Generally, the same font must be
used throughout the manuscript, except tables and graphs may use a different font.
The font size should be 12 points throughout the manuscript, except the research title
and chapter titles may use 14 points.
Spacing
Use 1.5 or double spaced text. Only footnotes, long quotations, bibliography
entries (double space between entries), table captions, and similar special material
may be single spaced.
Paper Size
The thesis should be formatted to be printed on 8.5 x 11 inch paper within
your PDF. Students in the School of Architecture and the Shepherd School of Music
may format their theses to be printed on larger paper.
Margins
We recommend a left margin of 1.5" and a top, bottom, and right margin of 1"
if the thesis is to be bound. Page numbers do not need to meet the 1" margin
requirement. If you do not follow the appropriate margin guidelines that are included
here, you might lose content if your thesis is bound. Some students may wish to
extend their work beyond the margin requirement for aesthetic reasons, this is
acceptable.
Title Page
All text on the title page is centered vertically and horizontally. The title page
has no page number, and it is not counted in any page numbering. Note which items
are in all upper case and which are not. Note the approximate size of print. The degree
must be shown as Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of
Music, or Master of Architecture.
The month shown on the title page should be that in which the final copy is
submitted to the Office of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies or the month in which the
degree will be conferred (May or December). The month of the oral defense should
not be shown unless the thesis is actually presented to the Office of Graduate &
Postdoctoral Studies during that month.
The titles (i.e., faculty rank) of committee members should be typed below the
signature lines with their names and departments. For example, John Smith, Associate
Professor of Biology. The word chair or director should appear after the faculty title
as appropriate. All signatures on the title page must be original signatures. No
electronic or proxy signatures may be taken at the time of thesis submission on the
two original title pages or the original Approval of Candidacy form. Please make
arrangements in advance if one or more of your committee members will be
unavailable to sign. You may also review specific signature requirements.
Once the committee has signed the title page, you will scan this title page as a PDF
and merge into a single document with the PDF of your thesis. Original signature
documents must be delivered to the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies after
you have uploaded the PDF of your thesis at http://thesis.rice.edu.
Abstract
An abstract is to be included with the thesis. Particular care should be taken in
preparing the abstract since it will be published in Dissertation Abstracts or Master's
Abstracts and the length is limited by the publisher. The abstract may not exceed 350
words for a doctorate or 150 words for a master's. In style, the abstract should be a
miniature version of the thesis. It should be a summary of the results, conclusions or
main arguments presented in the thesis.
The heading of the abstract must contain the word Abstract, and must show the title of
the thesis and the writer's name as indicated here.
Hyperlinks
Hyperlinks are not to be used as a substitute for complete bibliographic citations.
Assembling the Thesis
Your thesis should be assembled as a PDF. In some cases a thesis might be created as
multiple documents; these must be merged into a single document. The thesis must be
assembled in this order:
1. Title page
2. Copyright Notice (if applicable; for information on copyright, see the thesis
FAQ page.)
3. Abstract
 4. Acknowledgments
5. Table of Contents
6. List of Tables, etc., if any
7. Preface, if any
8. Text (the first page of the text is the first Arabic-numbered page)
9. Notes (unless they appear on pages of text or at end of chapters)
10. Bibliography or list of references
11. Appendices, if any, may follow 8, 9 or 10
Page Numbering
Page numbers should be placed in the upper right corner of the page. Only the
number should appear, not "page 9" or the abbreviation "p. 9." On the first page of
each chapter, the number may be placed at the center bottom, one double space below
the last line of type (the conventional placement), or at the top right corner.
Page numbers should not be shown on the Title Page, the Abstract, or on the first page
of the Acknowledgments, Table of Contents, List of Tables or the Preface. However,
the following pages (e.g., the second and succeeding pages) of each of these sections
should be numbered using Roman numerals. The count for these preliminary pages
should start with the title page. For example, if the thesis has a two-page abstract, then
the second page of the acknowledgments should be the first page showing a number,
and it should be numbered with the Roman numeral v.
Pages of the text itself and of all items following the text (i.e. the notes and
bibliography) should be numbered consecutively throughout in Arabic numbers,
beginning with number 1 on the first page of the first chapter or introduction (but not
preface). Please number every page to be bound, including pages on which only
illustrations, drawings, tables, or captions appear. The page numbers do not need to
meet the 1" margin requirements.

All pages are numbered at the top right, except the first page of each chapter

whose page number is put at the bottom center. There should be 3 cm of white space

from the top of the page number to the top of the paper, and 2 cm of white space from

the bottom of the page number to the bottom of the paper for the first page of each

chapter. Numeric page numbering begins with the first page of Chapter 1.
Drawings
Please note that when a graph, map, etc. is oversized, there is a limit on how
much of this can be handled by the archiving process with ProQuest/UMI. All figures
should appear within the text at the point where reference to them is first made.
Footnotes
In presenting footnotes and bibliography, use a consistent form acceptable in
your discipline, the MLA or APA Style Sheet, Electronic Styles: A Handbook for
Citing Electronic Information (Information Today, Inc.) is helpful for noting
electronic information. There are style guides for almost every discipline. Check with
the library for further information.
Extra Copies
You may also choose to bind copies of your thesis for personal use. Extra
copies of your thesis may also be ordered at the time of submission. There is a one-
time only author discount offer form in the ProQuest Publishing Agreement packet.
Please note that these will not be available for several months after the summer
following your commencement. If you choose to use this service, please do not
include your credit card information when uploading your agreement form to
thesis.rice.edu.
If you would like a copy of your thesis in book form you can order through UMI once
your thesis is processed and appears on their website. If you do this you may need to
make adjustments to your margins, page size, and fonts