Dissertation Format
Acceptable Formats
The Departments of Biology and Chemistry and Biochemistry recommend that the text be organized into one of two formats that differ mainly in whether the information is arranged in a form publishable in scientific journals or in a more traditional thesis style. In either case, there should be uniformity to the text, which should appear as one column, with a single font and a single size of font. The style, however, may be different if there is more than one manuscript included.
Regardless of format, be sure to pay attention to copyright issues when including portions of previously published work, whether your own or someone else's.
Dissertations prepared using this format should generally conform to the style required for submission to the prospective journal.
The literature cited section may be collected in one section at the end of the thesis or at the end of each manuscript. In addition, figures and tables should be numbered (Figure 3.1 etc.) to conform to chapter numbers.
Manuscripts included as chapters may be review, theoretical or data papers organized as required by the appropriate journals. The general introduction should outline the subject and background for the research and indicate how the manuscripts are related to one another in addressing the subject of the thesis. Manuscript titles can be used as chapter titles. The general introduction and literature review may be combined and it should have a broader perspective than the data chapters themselves.
The general discussion should briefly discuss the contributions to the field made by this work, highlighting the major findings and tying the chapters together. In this discussion, a short section must be included outlining the link of the thesis research to other research done in the supervisor’s lab, in other labs at Laurier or even in labs elsewhere. This section should be written in the context of the cross-disciplinary nature of the PhD program.
The summary (usually one or two pages) should list, numerically, the main subject and findings from the thesis research.
The student must be first author on the majority of manuscripts included in the thesis. Manuscripts on which the supervisor or another person is first author may be included in the thesis. Theses containing manuscripts that are included in another individual’s publication or thesis, or co-authored, must include a detailed statement in the general introduction stating the student’s contribution to the work.
Dissertations in this format should consist of:
- Title page
- Abstract (350 words max.)
- Co-authorship (if necessary)
- Acknowledgements
- Table of Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures and Illustrations
- Ch.1: General Introduction
- Ch.2: Literature Review (may be included in intro.)
- Ch.3-n: Manuscripts
- Ch.n+1: General Discussion
- Summary (may be in chapters)
- Literature Cited
- Appendices
Dissertations in this format should consist of:
- Title page
- Abstract (350 words)
- Co-authorship (if necessary)
- Acknowledgements
- Table of Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures and Illustrations
- Ch.1: General Introduction
- Ch.2: Literature Review (may be included in intro.)
- Ch.3: Materials and Methods
- Ch.4-n: Results
- Ch.n+1: Discussion
- Summary
- Literature Cited
- Appendices
(Name of Author) 201_©
Dissertation Style and Format Guidelines
Regardless of the format chosen, the student must follow the guidelines below, established by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
- The dissertation must be double-spaced throughout.
- Print size: standard throughout and not less than 11 point.
- All margins must be a minimum of one inch.
- The first line of every paragraph should be indented five spaces.
- Abbreviations may be used (if conventional in the particular discipline) but must be defined the first time they are used.
- If there are alternative correct spellings of a particular word, either form may be used, but such use must be consistent throughout the thesis.
- The thesis pages should be numbered in consecutive order with Arabic numerals, starting with the first page of text and continuing through to the last page of the entire thesis, including
- endnotes/footnotes, appendices and references.
- Pages preceding the text, starting with the first page of the abstract should be numbered consecutively with lower case Roman numerals.
- The title page of the thesis must contain the Universal Copyright Notice (©).
Note: Hard copies of the dissertation will no longer be printed for binding, as your dissertation will be electronically submitted to Scholar’s Commons. Students are still responsible for providing two copies to the department – one for the external examiner and one for the chair.