Formatting Your Dissertation

Every university and academic institute has its own rules about the format of dissertations. The idea is that they should all conform to a standard to make them easier to read and understand. Using an accepted format style also eliminates any possibility of accidental plagiarism by standardizing citation styles. A poorly formatted dissertation will be judged negatively before it has even been read and may even fail its format review.

Our expert dissertation writers are familiar with the most important formatting standards in common use and will make sure that your dissertation or thesis is formatted correctly.

The way you lay out your dissertation, format the pages and write out your references depends on the formatting standard your university adheres to. The most important formatting standards are:

APA Research Paper Format

This follows the guidelines laid out by the American Psychological Association in its Publication Manual. It is used mostly for dissertations and theses in the field of social sciences, such as journalism and psychology. An APA formatted paper must have a title page, an abstract, an introduction, a literature review, a results section, a discussion, a reference list and, if needed an appendix.

MLA Research Paper Format

A MLA research paper is formatted using the Modern Language Association guidelines laid out in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. It is used for humanities papers.

Chicago/Turabian Research Paper Format

The Chicago or Turabian format style is used mostly in the humanities but is also used in the sciences. The standards are to be found in The Chicago Manual of Style.

The key to formatting is consistency throughout. A well formatted dissertation will have the correct line spacing, consistent use of spaces after punctuation, correct page numbering and margin widths and consistently formatted headings, subheadings and tables.

If you are confused by the formatting requirements of your institution, or worried that you don’t have time to format correctly, DissertationToday.com offers a bespoke formatting service for dissertations and theses. Our formatting service focuses on the areas of formatting that most often confuse students:

Preliminary Pages: We make sure that your title page, table of contents, acknowledgements and copyright page are all formatted consistently and in accordance with academic standards.
Tables and Graphics: To ensure your results and graphics are easily understood we format them all to the same standards and ensure that all tables and figures are referenced correctly throughout. We check to ensure that every source in your reference section is cited correctly in the text.
Headings: To make sure your dissertation reads smoothly and makes sense we format all headings and subheadings in accordance with university standards.
Page Numbering: Different universities have different rules about pagination and page numbering. Our experienced writers remove the need to worry about small details such as pagination from undermining your hard work.
References: Our experienced academic writers make sure that all your citations and references are formatted to the standard that you specify.

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DissertationToday.com's guide to writing the perfect dissertation; the format

APA Research Paper Format

MLA Research Paper Format

Chicago/Turabian Research Paper Format