1. Standards for Preparing Theses and Dissertations Mississippi State University
Damen Peterson
Serials Specialist
Supervisor - T/D Format Review
James Nail
Library Associate
T/D Format Review
Technical Services
Mitchell Memorial Library

2. Where to get the Standards
T/D webpage
Graduate Studies website
Thesis and Dissertation link

3. Margins Page margins Page numbers 1.5” left 1” right 1” top 1” bottom
Make sure your page numbers are not “in” the margin.
Set your bottom margins to 1”
Set your footer margin at 1”
MS Word
Page setup
Layout tab

4. If title is more than one
Title page
All text is centered
Title must be in all CAPS
No other formatting options
Title must be in inverted-pyramid style
Identification of degree statement
Must exactly match the wording given in the Standards
Location is always Mississippi State, Mississippi
Date should be month/year
May, December, August
If title is more than one
line, it should
look like
this.

5. Optional pages Copyright page Dedication page Acknowledgements
To whom you want to dedicate your work
Family
Friends
Acknowledgements
Acknowledge anyone who may have helped along the way
Thank you’s for contributions, help, etc
Professors
Committee members

6. Signature/Committee approval page
Must meet the margin requirements
The title should match your title page
Signature lines
Major professor/Director
Graduate advisor (if different from major professor)
Each committee member
Department Graduate Coordinator
Dean of School/College
Names
Do NOT include degree designations before or after the person’s name, i.e. John Smith, Ph.D. or Dr. John Smith

7. Abstract page Top margin should be 1” Follow example in Standards
Date of degree
Exact date of your graduation ceremony
Title must be in all CAPS
Pages in Study
Must match the number of your last page
Length – Strictly enforced
Dissertation = 350 words or less
Thesis = 150 words or less

8. Table of Contents
Follow instructions and example on pages of the Standards
Top margin is 2”
Format using dot leaders (not the . key)
This will line up your dots
MS Word
Format – Paragraph
Tabs button in the left, bottom corner
Right tab stop at 6.0
Choose #2 for the dot leaders
Page numbers must be right aligned.

9. TOC cont. Indent second level headings by at least 3 spaces
Indent each subsequent level by at least 3 spaces
Add one blank line (double space) between chapters.
A heading should not exceed the dot leaders
Indent the second and any subsequent lines by 0.5”.
Headings in the TOC must match exactly the wording, punctuation, capitalization, etc. of the headings in the body.
Page number is lower case Roman numerals

10. List of Tables and List of Figures
Top margin is 2”
Format using dot leaders (same as TOC)
Must be Arabic numerals
Numbers must be aligned by the decimal (.)
Page numbers must be right aligned.
A title should not exceed the dot leaders
Indent the second and any subsequent lines by 0.5”
Titles in the LOT/LOF must match exactly the wording, punctuation, capitalization, etc. of the titles in the body.
Add one blank line (double space) between titles

11. First page of each chapter
Top margin is 2”
Chapter heading and title must be all CAPS, centered, no other formatting options
If chapter title is more than one line, use double spaced, inverted-pyramid style.

12. Headings and subheadings
Each level of heading/subheading must be formatted differently.
Use bold, italics, underline, and alignment as formatting options
Can’t use all CAPS as formatting option
exception: numbered subheadings may use the same format for each level of subheadings.
Example on next slide:

13. Mississippi State University
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Agricultural Economics
Agribusiness Major
Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics Major
Agricultural Law and Policy Concentration
Environmental and Resource Economics Concentration
Food Marketing Concentration
Production Economics Concentration

14. Body Consistent font and size
Type size of 10 – 12
Standard font must be used
Spacing issues – use of “blank lines” in the Standards
No blank lines = single space
One blank line = double space
Two blank lines = triple space
Three blank lines = quadruple space
All headings/subheadings must have 2-3 blank lines above.
All headings/subheadings must have only 1 blank line below (between it and the text)

15. Body cont. All paragraphs must be indented No widows/orphans
All equations must be numbered
Consistently use left or full justification
Excessive white space should be avoided if at all possible
If two tables will fit on the same page, don’t use separate pages resulting in excessive white space.

16. Reference material
May be at the end of each chapter or at the end of the document.
If at the end of each chapter, the References page must start on a new page.
Top margin is 2”
Single space each entry
Double space between entries
Use a consistent style
Talk to your major professor or graduate coordinator for advice on which style guide to use.

17. Appendices Each appendix must have a divider page with
Appendix heading, i.e. A, B, etc.
All CAPS
Appendix title
If more than one line, use double spaced, inverted-pyramid style
Double space in between Appendix heading and title
Must be centered both vertically and horizontally.
Appendices must remain inside the required page margins.

18. Tables Arabic numerals are used to number tables.
May not appear in bold
Table titles appear above table
Spacing
Leave 2 or 3 blank lines between bottom of text and table number.
Leave 2 or 3 blank lines between bottom of table and next paragraph.
Leave 1 blank line between table title and table.
Use one of two styles
Centered
Left-aligned
Examples on next slide

19. PARAMETERS FOR OPTIMAL INDIVIDUAL FORECASTING MODELS
Table 4.1
PARAMETERS FOR OPTIMAL INDIVIDUAL FORECASTING MODELS
FOR SIMULATED DATA
Individual
Case #1
Case #2
Case #3
Case #4
Composite
Forecasting
Positive correl.
Negative correl.
Models:
Parameters
Low variance
High variance
MAVG
n = 6
SES
a =
0.37
0.05
0.03
Holt’s
0.40
g =
Winter’s
b =

20. ** Weekly return based on February – December 1978.
Table 2 Weekly Rates of Return of Selected International Stock Markets by Year
Year
Australia
France
Germany
Hong Kong
Japan
Sing./Mal.
Spain
Sweden
U.K.
U.S.
World
*1978
5.264
11.610
2.846
3.047
8.024
8.046
1.822
1.901
3.790
2.037
3.606
1979
5.654
4.234
-1.632
9.616
-3.115
4.308
-1.471
-0.763
2.589
1.472
1.229
1980
7.252
-1.536
-2.897
10.409
4.210
9.099
-1.631
2.247
5.092
3.961
3.633
1981
-5.163
-8.218
-2.730
-3.396
3.109
2.825
0.450
5.673
-2.961
-1.835
-1.413
1982
-5.887
-1.716
1.200
-0.309
-4.019
-9.351
3.389
0.628
2.691
1.109
1983
7.507
43468
3.569
-1.698
3.806
4.788
-3.201
7.440
2.009
2.960
3.230
1984
-3.073
0.451
-1.531
5.823
2.763
-6.230
4.393
-5.221
-0.091
0.086
0239
1985
2-565
10.348
15.480
7.345
6.514
-5.956
6.380
7.763
7.006
4.445
5.794
1986
6.244
12.115
5.939
7.720
13.196
7.242
14.437
9.636
3.824
3.093
6.706
1987
0.972
-3.504
-5.576
-1.006
6.596
0.203
5.930
0.250
6.02
-0.155
2.459
1988
5.880
5.542
3.292
4.022
5.986
5.300
1.708
7.442
0.014
2.169
3.762
1989
1.120
5.896
7.122
1.032
0.391
6.583
1.544
4.984
2.958
4.324
2.625
1990
-4.778
-3.453
-2.292
0.589
-8.838
-2.962
-4.159
-5.219
1.193
-1.047
-4.044
NOTE: All weekly returns are converted in U.S. dollars and, for improved readability, are multiplied by 1,000.
** Weekly return based on February – December 1978.

21. Figures Arabic numerals are used to number tables.
May not appear in bold
Figure titles appear below figure
Spacing
Leave 2 or 3 blank lines between bottom of text and table number.
Leave 2 or 3 blank lines between bottom of table and next paragraph.
Leave 1 blank line between table title and table.
Use one of two styles
Centered
Left-aligned
Examples on next slide

22. Modular Neural Network Training Procedure
Figure 4.6
Modular Neural Network Training Procedure

23. Figure Risk/Return Characteristics of Selected International Portfolios: January December 1994