Follow this page order when outlining your thesis/dissertation. The most common mistake is following a fellow (or previous) student’s example. Read the current guidelines carefully!
Please note: the numbering structure is only an example and will change depending on how many pages each of your sections contain. However, the title and copyright pages are always i (number not displayed) and ii. The first page of your main content begins with page 1.
Preliminary Pages
Body of Manuscript
Preliminary Pages
All preliminary pages should be numbered with lower case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, etc.). There should be no blank pages except where explicitly indicated. These pages should NOT be referenced on the Table of Contents.
Title Page (required)
The title page is always the first page, and it is not numbered but is counted as page i.
- Reference the forms under "Thesis, Dissertation, and Manuscript Related" for the appropriate title page for your degree.
- Students should not use their own title page.
- Your name (as it is listed in your student portal) only - no honorifics or courtesy titles. If you would like to update your name, please see guidance on the Registrar's website.
- All committee members’ signatures must appear on the DocuSign title page. NOTE: You should first make sure that the committee on file with UCSF is still accurate. You can do so by going to your completed Advance to Candidacy petition or the Change of Committee petition in your Student Portal. If updates are needed, please make them ASAP, as this is extremely time sensitive! The chair and committee members on your title page must match those we have on file at UCSF.
Copyright Page (required, double-spaced)
The copyright page is always page ii, whether or not you are filing a copyright.
- If you are planning to register a copyright, a statement of copyright and Roman numeral must be included on this page. The format should be (centered), with appropriate line breaks (double spaced), as follows:
Copyright 2022
by
Albert Einstein(double spaced)
(no copyright symbol and the current year)
(lower case)
(your name as it is listed on your title page) - If the work is not copyrighted then this page will be blank – except for the Roman numeral (ii).
Dedication and Acknowledgments (optional, double-spaced)
You may wish to acknowledge the help and support from particular people during the course of your work.
This is also where you would place statements informing readers of any work authored by someone else and any necessary permissions you received to include such work.
This page should be double-spaced and numbered "iii."
Contributions (optional, double-spaced)
If you are using previously published materials, you may need to include a reference to the publication in which the material originally appeared, including co-authors, multiple published papers, or copyrighted material. This page should be double-spaced.
Epigraph (optional, double-spaced)
The epigraph is a short quotation or a poem, which usually serves to link the book to other, usually well-known, published works. The source of the quotation is given on the line following the epigraph and is usually right-aligned, often preceded by a dash.
Abstract (required, double-spaced)
The abstract always appears directly before Table of Contents.
The title of your dissertation, your name (as it is listed in your student portal and without any special/honorary titles), and the word "Abstract" should appear at the top center of the page. Do not include a listing of your committee since they are already listed on your title page.
The abstract should include a brief statement of the problem, a description of the methods and procedures used to gather data or study the problem, and a condensed summary of the findings. This page should be double-spaced.
Table of Contents (required, double-spaced)
The table of contents should consist of the chapter titles/references and page numbers only. Preliminary pages and the UCSF library release page should not be listed on the table of contents. At the least, the table of contents must include a listing of chapters and the references page(s). At the very least, it should include chapters/headings, sub-headings, and reference page(s).
This page should be double-spaced. Include separate pages for list of figures and tables.
Chapter titles/headings should not overlap with the page numbers. Please be sure to adjust tab stops accordingly. (See an example of an incorrectly formatted ToC, and examples of correctly formatted ToCs: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4)
See our Table of Contents FAQs for more formatting information.
List of Figures (required if applicable, double-spaced)
The list of illustrations, if used, should use the same format as the table of contents, giving the figure or illustration names/numbers and corresponding page numbers. This page should also be double-spaced.
Figure titles/captions should not overlap with the page numbers. Please be sure to adjust tab stops accordingly. (See an of an incorrectly formatted LoF, and examples of correctly formatted LoFs: 1 | 2)
The List of Figures should begin on its own page, separate page from the Table of Contents, and it should be separate from the List of Tables.
See our List of Figures FAQs for more formatting information.
List of Tables (required if applicable, double-spaced)
The list of tables, if used, should be in the same format as the table of contents, i.e. the names/numbers of the tables, and corresponding page numbers. This page should be double-spaced.
Table titles/captions should not overlap with the page numbers. Please be sure to adjust tab stops accordingly. (See an example.)
The List of Tables should begin on its own page, separate from the List of Figures.
See our List of Tables FAQs for more formatting information.
List of Abbreviations (required if applicable, double-spaced)
If you have used a lot of abbreviations in your dissertation, it’s a good idea to provide an alphabetical list of their definitions. This improves the readability of the document, allowing readers to easily look up unfamiliar abbreviations.
List of Symbols (required if applicable, double-spaced)
If you have used a lot of special symbols in your dissertation, it’s a good idea to provide a list of their definitions. This improves the readability of the document, allowing readers to easily look up unfamiliar symbols.
You may present this in the same way you did your Table of Contents (with a definition and page number for each symbol), or you can simply list each symbol on a separate line with the accompanying definition.
Body of Manuscript
Main Body
Chapter 1 or introduction is page 1. Pages should be numbered sequentially thereafter.
There should be no running headers throughout the thesis or dissertation, even in cases where the manuscript is compiled from multiple papers.
Refrain from underlining text. Only links should be underlined, which happens automatically. Use hierarchical heading styles (H1, H2, H3, etc.) and/or bolded/italicized font for text. This complies with ADA accessibility guidance. View this resource regarding creating hierarchical headings and the importance of using them. Additionally, making use of hierarchical headings will simplify building the table of contents and list of figures/tables.
Figures and Tables
All figures and tables must be titled. Figure titles/captions should be placed below the figure, whereas table titles/captions should be placed above the table. Both must be single spaced.
Tables that span across multiple pages must include repeating column headers so that readers know which column contains which data.
Figure/Table references (i.e. Fig. 1.1 or Table 1.1, etc.) should be bolded. The entire title does not necessarily need to be bolded. Figure legends/table captions should NOT be bolded.
Figure legends should be placed in close proximity to the figure and should not be incorporated with a list of legends for multiple figures.
References (required, double-spaced)
References must be listed on the Table of Contents. References may appear at the end of each chapter or at the end of the manuscript. Either way, references should be placed on their own page(s). If you choose to place references at the end of the manuscript, this section should simply be titled "References". Do not assign a chapter number to this section, but do include it in your table of contents.
To retain clarity, references should always be double-spaced and should be listed alphabetically, except in cases where sources are referenced by number within the manuscript. If numbered, use Arabic numbering instead of Roman numerals.
References should remain consistent throughout the manuscript, even in cases where sections of the entire manuscript have been parsed from different publications/papers. Theses and dissertations, if derived from multiple sources, should be reformatted and presented as one cohesive manuscript.
The following are examples of correctly formatted reference pages:
- Example 1 (numbered, no indent)
- Example 2 (ordered alphabetically, hanging indent)
- Example 3 (numbered, hanging indent)
UCSF Publishing Agreement (required)
The publishing agreement, is the last page, signed and dated by the student (via DocuSign), and should be numbered. This page does not appear on Table of Contents. The agreement may be electronically generated via DocuSign. Students should not use their own version of the publishing agreement.
The publishing agreement is a required condition of graduation for all University of California campuses. As a public institution, it is the policy of the University of California to make scholarly and research works available to the public and the release enables us to take the necessary steps to ensure that UCSF dissertations remain available. Derivations of your work are not included in the release, only various forms of reproduction and distribution, and you retain the copyright. More specifically, a digital copy is transferred to California Digital Library, via eScholarship, for in perpetuity storage. You may request an embargo on the initial release date of up to one year.
Continue to additional things to consider in advance of ProQuest submission.
