ULM calls the document an ETD, an Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, and the same guidelines cover field studies too. The guidance is unusually detailed. Where most universities say "follow your style manual", ULM tells you how far to indent a paragraph.
That precision is a gift if you set it up first, and a punishment if you don't. Most of these rules touch every page.
Page setup
| Setting | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Left margin | 1.5 inches |
| Top, bottom, right margins | 1 inch |
| Body font size | 12 point |
| Headings and emphasis | No more than 2 points larger than the body |
| Superscripts and subscripts | No more than 2 points smaller than the body |
| Paragraph indent | 5 spaces, consistently |
| Columns | A single column on every page |
The heading rule deserves a second look, because it contradicts what most style templates do automatically:
Fonts two or more points larger than 12 are not acceptable for headings or emphasis.
Your word processor's built-in "Heading 1" style is usually 16 point or larger. Every one of those has to come down. Fourteen point is the practical ceiling. Bold is allowed but should be used sparingly, and italics replace underlining throughout.
The top margin has exceptions
The one inch top margin holds everywhere except page numbers and a specific list of pages, which instead begin more than two inches from the top:
- Title page
- Abstract
- Dedication
- First page of the Acknowledgements or Preface
- First page of the Table of Contents
- First page of every chapter, including the Introduction
So chapter openings are visually dropped down the page. If you set a uniform top margin and let chapters start at the top, every chapter opening is wrong.
Spacing
The text is double-spaced, with these exceptions single-spaced and separated by a space between items:
- Blocked quotations
- Notes
- Captions
- Legends
- Long headings
Blocked quotations are indented five spaces from both the left and right margins and single-spaced.
The guidelines add a practical note worth heeding: double spacing matters especially if you use superscript or subscript characters, because tighter spacing makes them collide. The spacing must be uniform throughout.
The title page
More prescriptive than most:
- Title centred two inches below the top, in all capitals, in inverted pyramid form
- Your full name centred one inch below the title
- The formal degree statement one inch below your name, within the full margins, also in inverted pyramid form
"Inverted pyramid" means each successive line is shorter than the one above, so the block tapers. That is a manual typesetting job; your word processor will not do it for you, and a long title split at the wrong word looks obviously wrong.
Abstracts
| Document | Limit |
|---|---|
| Thesis abstract or preface | 150 words maximum |
| Doctoral dissertation abstract | 350 words maximum |
Every ETD needs an abstract except the creative thesis, which needs a preface instead.
The 150 word thesis limit is genuinely tight. Write it as its own piece with a clear job rather than compressing your introduction.
Dissertation abstracts are published in Dissertation Abstracts International, and ULM specifies what they must contain:
- A short statement of the problem or area of investigation
- A brief discussion of the methods and procedures used to gather data
- A condensed summary of the findings
- The conclusions reached
- A short statement on the significance of the work
Five things in 350 words is roughly seventy words each. Plan it that way.
Pagination, and the Vita
Arabic numbering begins at the introduction, or at chapter one if there is no introduction. From there everything counts: text, illustrations, appendices, notes, reference lists and bibliography. Pages of visual material must be assigned a number even where the number does not appear.
The Vita has its own rule and it is easy to get wrong:
The Vita must not have a visible page number, although it is counted. A blank page must follow the Vita.
Both halves matter. The number is suppressed but the count continues, and the trailing blank page is a requirement rather than an accident of printing.
The Vita itself is a short account of you: where you were born, what degrees you hold and from where, other accomplishments, organisations you belong to, and your plans.
Figures, printouts and oversize material
Photographs and illustrations must be of professional quality and aligned between the margins. Colour is accepted, but the guidelines note that when reproduced on microfilm it becomes black and white, so a figure whose meaning depends on colour will not survive. Use patterns, labels or shading as well as colour in charts.
Computer printouts in appendices must meet the margin requirements. They need not match the body typeface, but must be clean, clear and legible; small or indistinct print and narrow margins are rejected because they will not read on microfilm. Oversize tables and figures should be scaled to fit.
The review sequence
- Graduate School staff review your candidacy status.
- The ETD is checked against your chosen style manual for margins, type style and format.
- Your comprehensive examination report must be on file.
- Staff perform a comprehensive review.
- The ETD comes back to you for final corrections.
- You return it through the ProQuest link before the deadline published in the university calendar.
A paper or electronic copy must be signed by the committee in black ink. Black specifically; blue signatures have been known to be rejected on documents destined for microfilm.
ProQuest fees are paid by credit card when the pre-approval document is submitted, not at the end, so budget for that at the point of first submission rather than at graduation.
Your official ETD goes to the Graduate School's Thesis and Dissertation Compliance Specialist by the calendar deadline.
On the committee
ULM's committee page describes the shape rather than the size. The chair, or major professor, is explicitly framed as an advocate for the student and must have expertise and interest in your area. The advisory committee consists primarily of graduate faculty in your discipline.
Numbers are not published centrally. Composition is set out in your college and degree program policy manual, so that is where to look rather than the Graduate School pages. The Major Professor Recommendation and Graduate Advisory Committee Form records the arrangement.
What ULM does not publish centrally
- No word or page count for the body of the ETD, only the abstract limits
- No single required citation style; you select a style manual and are then held to it
- No committee size or composition at university level, since that sits with your college
- No stated similarity or plagiarism-check threshold
- No published university-wide policy on generative AI use
- No published embargo durations in the guidelines themselves
One note on reading this document: it still refers to microfilm and to UMI, which dates parts of it. The formatting rules remain the ones enforced, but if something reads as though it belongs to a paper-only era, confirm the current practice with the Compliance Specialist rather than assuming it has lapsed.
Pre-submission checklist
- Left margin 1.5 inches; top, bottom and right 1 inch
- Title page, abstract, dedication, acknowledgements, contents and every chapter opening begin over two inches down
- Body at 12 point, no heading larger than 14, italics instead of underlining
- Paragraphs indented five spaces throughout
- Double-spaced, with quotations, notes, captions, legends and long headings single-spaced
- Block quotations indented five spaces both sides
- Title in all caps, inverted pyramid, centred two inches from the top
- Abstract within 150 words for a thesis, 350 for a dissertation
- Dissertation abstract covers problem, methods, findings, conclusions and significance
- Arabic numbering starts at the introduction or chapter one
- Vita unnumbered but counted, with a blank page following
- Figures legible in black and white
- Committee signatures in black ink
- Comprehensive examination report on file
- ProQuest fees paid at pre-approval submission
Where to get help
The Graduate School's Thesis and Dissertation Compliance Specialist owns formatting and submission. Your major professor and college policy manual own committee composition and everything the university guidelines leave to the discipline.
If it is the writing rather than the formatting that is holding you up, our thesis writing support works through it chapter by chapter with you.
