Dissertation and Thesis Formatting Spring 2015

Before we begin… This is not a formatting workshop Contact me for specific questions and problems with formatting All this information is available on the Graduate School’s formatting page

Overview of today’s presentation I.Dates and deadlines II.How to submit your manuscript for a format check III.The format check process IV.Common formatting problems V.Notes and recommendations for copyediting

Dates and deadlines

Key Deadlines *Because hard copies can only be received during office hours, these dates may change depending on weekends and holidays. Check the website. December Conferral August 1:Last day to file an application for degree conferral October 1:Deadline for format check submissions November 1:Deadline for final electronic copy submissions November 15*:Deadline for final hard copy submissions May Conferral December 1:Last day to file an application for degree conferral March 1:Deadline for format check submissions April 1:Deadline for final electronic copy submissions April 15*:Deadline for final hard copy submissions August Conferral February 1:Last day to file an application for degree conferral June 1:Deadline for format check submissions July 1:Deadline for final electronic copy submissions July 15*:Deadline for final hard copy submissions

How to submit your manuscript for a format check 1.Create an account in Loyola’s ETD Administrator 2.Upload your manuscript in PDF form to the ETD Administrator 3.Complete all steps to fully submit your document

Start at the Graduate School’s home page:

Enter the ETD Administrator

The ETD Administrator:

The Submission Checklist: ETD will walk you through each of these steps. They are all required, but your selections can be changed later. Nothing will be published or sent to ProQuest before your actual degree conferral.

Questions about ETD: I haven’t defended yet; is that okay? Yes! Should I you my submission? No! Should I make a new account for my final copy? No! Use the “Revise” option. Do I need to submit the whole thing? Not necessarily:

What is required in your electronic submission All front matter: Title page, Copyright page, Table of Contents, Preliminary Lists At least two chapters All back matter Bibliography/list of references, Vita Approval Sheet

How your format check is conducted

Overview of the process After you submit your manuscript, I get an . You will not receive a confirmation . Do not be alarmed; if ETD tells you that your manuscript has been submitted, then, barring the Zombie Apocalypse, I received your submission. I review your submission to check the formatting I send you a list of corrections to make

Things I check and how I check them Spacing – Paragraph spacing – Footnotes/references – Spacing around headings Margins – Measurable space, not settings Grammar, accuracy, and style – Acknowledgments, preface dedication, abstract, vita Citations and citation style – Irregularities are red flags: I start sleuthing – Meet with a librarian for help Table of Contents – Accuracy – Consistency – Spacing and indentation Subheadings – Follow the Manual or your style guide

Margins I measure the space around the text, NOT your settings.

Heading Hierarchies These samples are taken from the Manual. If your style manual does not have a preferred heading hierarchy, it is almost always best to adopt one of these.

After the Format Check: I you the results of your format check, including a checklist of corrections to be made I attach extra information – Library and copyright information – Thesis/dissertation checklist – Information about the NORC survey (dissertation only) I note that you have fulfilled the format check requirement in my spreadsheets

After the Format Check: Contact me via phone or to ask questions or set up an in-person meeting. If I have time, I’m happy to evaluate your revisions. ETD doesn’t always send a notification about revisions, though, so me after you’ve submitted it to make sure I know it’s there. If you need extra help with proofreading, I recommend visiting the Writing Center, joining a peer editing group, or hiring a copyeditor.

Questions?

Common Formatting Problems Managing default settings, which are terrible and make life difficult Margins and page numbers Landscaped pages Putting chapters together

Your defaults hate you and want you to die: General Tips Switching between different computers (Don’t, basically. Nothing good ever comes of it.) PC vs. MAC: We see fewer technical issues from PC users, particularly with PDF conversion. Make each chapter a separate document. This makes everything easier.

Your defaults hate you and want you to die: Specifics Paragraph settings: make sure before/after values are set to 0 pt. Header/footer from edge: set to 1 inch, but you might need to adjust You can use templates but you’ll have to edit them to meet the Grad School’s requirements.

Top margins and page numbers Format margins and page numbers together Do the first page of a chapter before moving on to the second page Remember to break the “links to previous” in both the header and the footer!

Landscaped pages The top margin will become your left margin, so it must be set to 1.5 inches. The page number must be placed so that when the document is collated, it is positioned as for portrait pages. Use a text box to place your page number. Do not insert visible borders around your text box. 1.5” top margin. Incorrect! The text should look like this: Table 4. Table of Results and Calculations

Collating the manuscript Convert each Word document to PDF Use Adobe (or a web service) to merge the PDFs into one PDF

Questions?

Copyediting Your Own Work

is really, really, really, really hard.

Tools for Self-Editing Save each chapter separately Create outlines of each chapter before and after you’ve written them Use full citations when writing drafts and shorten them later Use a style sheet

The Style Sheet Used by copyeditors to keep track of stylistic, typographical, and formatting decisions Record your decisions while writing and editing each chapter, then use it as a checklist when editing your final product Keeps all your decisions on one page, so you can be consistent about where you use “Abe Lincoln,” “Abraham Lincoln,” and “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.”

Using the Style Sheet

Beyond the Style Sheet You should be using a style manual while writing your dissertation The style manual you use should be appropriate to your field Consult your advisor and major journals in your field for guidelines if you manual doesn’t cover something

Questions?