Most of what governs your La Trobe thesis lives in the policy library rather than on a student-facing web page. The document to bookmark is Graduate Research Examinations Schedule B, which sets out formatting and contents, and the Thesis Requirements, Submission and Retention procedure, which governs the process around it. This guide follows the order you will meet them.
Word limits depend on your mode of submission
La Trobe recognises two modes of submission: thesis mode and practice-based mode. Your word limit follows from which one you are in, and the numbers are quite different.
| Degree | Mode | Maximum word length |
|---|---|---|
| Doctor of Philosophy | Thesis mode | 100,000 words |
| Doctor of Philosophy | Practice-based mode | 50,000 words |
| Professional doctorate | Thesis mode | 60,000 words |
| Professional doctorate | Practice-based mode | 30,000 words |
| Master's by research | Thesis mode | 40,000 or 50,000 words |
| Master's by research | Practice-based mode | 25,000 words |
Two things matter here.
First, the exclusions are generous. Schedule B states that word counts do not include quotations, footnotes, appendices, or the bibliography or references. If you have come from an institution that counts everything, you have more room than you are used to.
Second, the Master's by research figure is genuinely two numbers. Schedule B gives 40,000 or 50,000 and tells candidates to verify the course requirements as published in the Handbook. Do that early rather than assuming the higher figure.
These are maximums, not targets. Schedule B says your thesis should be written as concisely as possible and that typical length is heavily influenced by discipline. Nobody has ever been penalised for coming in under the limit.
Formatting
Your thesis is submitted online as a PDF, but one or more examiners may ask for a printed copy. Schedule B is explicit that you will not necessarily know that when you are preparing the final version, so you must format for both from the start.
| Element | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Paper size (printed copy) | A4, 297 mm x 210 mm |
| Line spacing | At least 1.5 |
| Font size | Minimum 11 point, in a clear font |
| Left margin | At least 38 mm |
| Right margin | At least 19 mm |
| Top and bottom margins | At least 19 mm |
| Footnotes | May be single spaced, clearly separated from the text |
| Printed copies | Your responsibility to provide; may be soft-bound |
The 38 mm left margin is wider than most Australian universities ask for, and it is a binding allowance. Set it before you write rather than reflowing a finished thesis.
Contents and arrangement
Schedule B calls these sections compulsory, so treat the list as a specification rather than a suggestion.
Title page. In this exact order: the full title in title case; your full name; your qualifying degrees including year of award and awarding institution; the degree being submitted for, with a statement of total or partial fulfilment; the name of your school; "La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia"; and the month and year the thesis was first submitted for examination.
The fulfilment wording is prescribed. Use "A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
The title page must contain no illustrations, images, logos or embellishments, and you should not name your campus.
Table of contents. Listing chapters (including bibliography and appendices), plates, tables, figures, illustrations, symbols and abbreviations, and supplementary materials.
Abstract. No more than 300 words. If your thesis is written in a language other than English, you must also provide an English synopsis of 2,500 to 5,000 words for a Master's by research, or 5,000 to 10,000 for a doctorate, including an introduction, chapter outline and conclusion.
Statement of authorship. Schedule B gives the wording verbatim:
"Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma. No other person's work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis. The thesis has not been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution."
Beneath it, add your printed name and the date in day month year format. Do not include a signature. That instruction is unusual and easy to miss.
Acknowledgement of financial support, where applicable. Wording is prescribed per scholarship type. Holders of a Research Training Program Fees Offset Scholarship or RTP Stipend must use: "This research was supported by the Commonwealth through an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship [DOI: https://doi.org/10.82133/C42F-K220]." If you hold an RTP award and have an ORCID, that DOI also goes into your ORCID record. Separate statements exist for La Trobe Graduate Research Scholarships, Full Fee Research Scholarships, Industry Scholarships and the National Industry PhD Program. Check Schedule B for your exact one rather than paraphrasing.
Additional requirements where they apply: the extent of collaboration by others, details of any publications reproduced, details of practice-based work, confirmation that research procedures were approved by the relevant ethics or safety committee, and the extent of any other assistance received.
Then the main text, appendices, bibliography or list of references, an optional index, and any supplementary material.
A thesis containing publications
La Trobe allows any thesis or exegesis to contain work submitted or accepted for publication during candidature. There is one hard rule at the front: under the thesis requirements procedure, you may not include papers submitted or published before your candidature began, unless you transferred in from a degree at the same level at another university.
Where others contributed, you are expected to have made a significant and leading contribution. You must state the extent and nature of your own contribution and that of each co-author for every article or chapter, either in the body of the thesis introducing each chapter, in a preface, or in an appendix. The thesis may also include a statement of your percentage contribution attested by a supervisor.
Verification happens through the Authority to Submit form. Where a supervisor is your co-author, your principal supervisor verifies your contribution on that form. Where a co-author sits outside your supervisory team, your supervisor must confirm on the form that they have sighted written confirmation from that co-author or the coordinating author. Start collecting those confirmations well before submission week.
At examination, examiners may recommend changes to unpublished or framing material, but may not recommend changes to accepted or published work. They may ask for additional framing material to address matters arising from the published articles.
If you are still deciding whether to structure your work around publications or as a single argument, that decision shapes everything downstream. Our thesis writing support is built around that stage.
Editing, AI and research integrity
La Trobe's position is set out in the thesis requirements procedure and it treats professional editors and AI tools under the same rule.
- Theses must be edited according to the Guidelines for Editing Research Theses, which form part of the Australian Standards for Editing Practice.
- Professional editorial intervention or the use of digital assistance tools such as large language models should be restricted to copyediting and proofreading. Where advice touches structure, examples only should be given.
- You must consider whether to accept each suggested change.
- Any intervention beyond copyediting and proofreading may be treated as a breach of research integrity and managed under the Research Higher Degree Student Misconduct Procedure.
- The name of the editor or digital assistance tool, and a brief description of the service rendered, goes in the acknowledgements or other prefatory matter.
There is a further caution worth heeding: where your thesis contains culturally or legally sensitive material, intellectual property agreements, or commercial-in-confidence agreements with industry partners, consult your principal supervisor before engaging an editor or using an AI tool at all.
Schedule B also notes that iThenticate text-matching software is available to you for reviewing a draft. It is offered as a self-check rather than as a submission requirement.
Ethics
Schedule B requires a declaration that all research procedures reported in the thesis were approved by the relevant Ethics Committee, Safety Committee or authorised officer. Human research ethics is governed by La Trobe's Research Human Ethics Procedure, with parallel procedures for animal ethics and biosafety.
Approval has to be in place before you collect data. Record your approval numbers as you receive them, because you will need them for that declaration and you will not enjoy reconstructing them from email at the end.
Notice of Intention to Submit and Authority to Submit
Two forms, in this order.
Notice of Intention to Submit (NOI). Endorsed by your principal supervisor and your School Director of Graduate Research, submitted to the Graduate Research School with your anticipated submission date and a summary of the thesis.
- Thesis mode: normally completed no later than one month before your planned submission date.
- Practice-based mode where examiners will attend an exhibition or event: no later than three months before the event.
The NOI is what triggers examiner recruitment under the Appointment of Examiners procedure. Lodging it late delays your examination start, not your ability to submit.
Authority to Submit (ATS). Normally sought from your principal supervisor one week before submission. In signing it, your supervisor is not predicting an outcome. They are confirming that they have seen a final copy, that in their opinion it is ready for examination, and that it complies with Schedule B. For doctorates with coursework, they also certify the coursework is complete.
All doctoral candidates must supply a 50 word citation summarising the thesis in lay terms on the ATS form. It goes into your graduation documentation whether or not you attend a ceremony. Write it deliberately.
If your supervisor declines to certify, they must give written reasons to you, authorised by the Director of Graduate Research, and you may ask the Board of Graduate Research to accept the thesis for examination anyway. Each such application is assessed on its merits by the Chair.
Examination
Your degree rests on assessment by a minimum of two independent expert examiners, plus completion of any coursework or placement.
Once you upload your thesis, your status changes to "under examination". From that point you are no longer enrolled and incur no further fee liability, but you keep access to Information Services and the Library. International candidates need to sort any visa implications with the Department of Home Affairs themselves.
You and your supervisors must have no contact with the examiners about the examination until the Board of Graduate Research has recommended an outcome, or you are invited to make contact by an Examination Panel.
There is normally no viva
The Graduate Research Examinations Policy states that there is normally no provision for oral examinations at La Trobe. Some cotutelle and joint award degrees require one under their inter-institutional agreement.
Write accordingly. Without a viva, the thesis has to justify every methodological choice and acknowledge every limitation on the page. There is no later conversation in which to explain a thin section.
The four recommendations
| Recommendation | What it means | Time allowed |
|---|---|---|
| (a) Passed | Degree awarded without amendment, beyond typographical corrections | Not applicable |
| (b) Passed with minor amendments | Typographical, grammatical, formatting, minor rewriting of sentences or paragraphs, referencing errors | Up to 4 weeks |
| (b) Passed with major amendments | The above plus substantial changes to the structure or content of chapters, tables or figures | Up to 12 weeks |
| (c) Deferred | Re-enrol and revise for resubmission under the Revise and Resubmit procedure | Up to 12 months full-time equivalent |
| (d) Fail | Degree not awarded | Not applicable |
Amendments are made to the satisfaction of your principal supervisor and the Director of Graduate Research or Dean of School.
For a Master's by research, examiners also provide a grade. Where the two grades differ by fewer than ten, the final grade is normally the average; where they differ by ten or more, the Director of Graduate Research makes a recommendation or convenes an Examination Panel.
Timing
Examiners are asked to return reports within six weeks, and the Graduate Research School sends reminders during that period. If either of the first two examiners does not respond in time, the reserve examiner is invited in on the same terms.
You will get a status update after two months have elapsed since the thesis was dispatched, and you can request an update at any point. Recommendations are not normally communicated during the process.
Where the two reports diverge beyond the straightforward combinations, a third examiner is brought in, and depending on the pattern of recommendations the Director of Graduate Research may recommend an outcome or convene an Examination Panel.
Final submission and the repository
After any amendments, you submit the final version with an Access to Thesis Consent form to the Graduate Research School. All theses for which a degree is awarded are deposited electronically with the University Library.
The default is open access: theses in the repository are normally indexed by search engines and freely available.
You or your supervisors may apply for an embargo for pending publications or patents, public interest, copyright, commercial-in-confidence or intellectual property considerations, or ethical sensitivities. Approval comes from the Chair of the Board of Graduate Research and is normally given for up to two years, extendable only by a further approved request. During an embargo the thesis sits in a dark archive and cannot be perused, loaned or copied.
If you could not get permission to use third-party copyright material, you submit two versions: the original, stored securely with restricted access, and a redacted version for public exposure. Where a chapter has been removed from the redacted version, put the citation for the omitted paper in its place.
Decide on access before submission day, not when the form lands. If you intend to publish a book from the thesis, raise it with your supervisors early.
Pre-submission checklist
- Length is within the maximum for my degree and mode, excluding quotations, footnotes, appendices and bibliography.
- Master's candidates: confirmed whether my course limit is 40,000 or 50,000 words in the Handbook.
- Left margin at least 38 mm; right, top and bottom at least 19 mm.
- Line spacing at least 1.5; font at least 11 point in a clear face.
- Title page follows Schedule B order exactly, with the correct total or partial fulfilment wording, no logos or images, and no campus named.
- Abstract is 300 words or fewer.
- Statement of authorship uses the prescribed wording, with printed name and date and no signature.
- Correct financial support acknowledgement included, with the RTP DOI added to my ORCID if applicable.
- Ethics, safety or authorised officer approval declared for all research procedures.
- Contribution statements provided for every co-authored chapter, with co-author confirmation available for the Authority to Submit form.
- Copyright permissions listed, with a redaction plan where permission was not granted.
- Any professional editing or AI use restricted to copyediting and proofreading, and named in the acknowledgements.
- Notice of Intention lodged one month ahead, or three months ahead for a practice-based event.
- 50 word lay citation drafted for the Authority to Submit form.
- Access and embargo decision discussed with supervisors.
Where La Trobe does not publish a rule
Referencing style. Schedule B does not name a required style. Your discipline and supervisors decide, and consistency in one current edition of one style is what matters.
Thesis title length. Schedule B prescribes title case and an English title for theses written in another language, but sets no word limit for titles.
PDF file size. Schedule B states no maximum file size for the online upload. Follow the instructions the Graduate Research School gives you, and ask in advance if your thesis carries a lot of high-resolution images.
Total examination duration. La Trobe publishes the six week examiner reporting window and the two month status update, but not an expected end-to-end time from submission to outcome. Plan on longer than six weeks and do not tie a job start date to it.
The short version
Read Schedule B once properly, early, with a highlighter. Set the 38 mm left margin and the 11 point minimum before you write a chapter. Copy the statement of authorship wording exactly and resist the urge to sign it. Get co-author confirmations while everyone is still in the same building.
Then put two dates in your calendar: the Notice of Intention one month out, and the Authority to Submit one week out. Everything after that runs on the examiners' timetable rather than yours.
