Format or Reformat Dissertation in an Hour or Less!

How to Format your Dissertation in an Hour?

Writing a dissertation can be a very tough process for most people. They take it as if they have to write a whole book. In some ways this relation might actually be true. But by definition, dissertation is a self-directed process. It is not like the other assignments that you have to do in your graduation studies. Your professors do not give you deadlines that you have to meet every week. You do not discuss your work with your classmates daily and there is no one bossing you around telling you how to do your work. You are at a liberty to do what you want and writing something that has to be extraordinary. For some this freedom to write independently can be welcoming while for others it is a frightening journey. For all, it is a time in which you start to think seriously about all of your college life and think about your future too. This dissertation marks the ending of your graduate life. After finishing your dissertation, you will enter a new world filled with new experiences and new things to learn about. Whether you have thought about the future yet or not, writing a professional dissertation which is properly formatted is a tricky business. These guidelines written down below will help you to format your dissertation in an hour. They are simple steps and should be followed in order to get a perfect dissertation.

• Keep your margins to a minimum of one inch on each side of your page.
• Your text should be readable. It should have a professional look to it and the font should be proper and precise. The size should minimum 12 and can be smaller for tables, footnotes or other material outside of the main text. Using black text is most appropriate but for figures, tables, etc you can use color too.
• Line spacing is a significant formatting procedure. It should be 1 ½ or twice with the barring of tables, lists, quotations, footnotes/endnotes, figures, table legends, captions and bibliographic entries. These ought to be single-line spaced.
• The first page of every segment (Acknowledgements, Table of Contents, Lists, etc.), part and addendum should begin on a fresh page and should contain a two inch top margin.
• Bibliography or Reference part(s) are required to come at the conclusion of every chapter or at the very end of the dissertation. They must be in the arrangement favored by the regulation.
• If you want to incorporate additional figures, tables, illustrations, appendix, etc., create separate lists of all items that consist of the figure/table number, caption/legend and page number on which it starts.
• Tables, figures, illustrations, etc. must be exclusively and successively numbered all the way through.
• Chapter numbers, chapter titles, and page numbers (on which chapters begin) should be listed in Table of Contents. The word “Chapter” must become visible earlier than each chapter number (or as a heading) in the Table of Contents and on the first page of the chapter.
• Front matter page numbers should be lowercase Roman numerals, starting with page ii (preferably centered at the bottom of the page). Dissertation text starts with page 1.
• Front matter should be in the following order (first numbered page must be page ii) and so on.
• The Title page is obligatory but there should not be any page number on it.
• The Frontispiece is elective but it should also have no page number on it.
• The Copyright page is not obligatory and it should have no page number on it.
• The Dedication is non-compulsory but it must have a page number on it. (lowercase Roman numerals start here)
• The Acknowledgements are voluntary and must have page number.
• The Preface is optional and must have a page number.
• The Table of Contents is compulsory and must have a page number.
• The List of Tables, List of Figures, etc is mandatory when there is more than one item. This list should also have a page number.
• The List of Appendices is mandatory when there is more than one. They must have a page number.
• The List of Abbreviations, List of Acronyms, List of Symbols is optional but if included must have a page number.
• The Abstract is optional but must have a page number.

Dissertation writing should be done when you are completely focused and concentrated. When you find the will to start it, you can come up with excellent ideas and these formatting techniques will help you to complete the whole package in no time.