BYU Graduate Studies has updated the policy with respect to final thesis and dissertation submissions. In the past many specific formatting requirements have been articulated both through official and unofficial communications. This updated policy communicates a simple set of BYU Graduate Studies dictated requirements for included sections and overall formatting and the flexibility that is given to each College to dictate thesis and dissertation formatting.

BYU Graduate Studies will no longer dictate style standards for the chapters of a thesis or dissertation (e.g. line spacing, fonts, pagination).

Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Policy

BYU Graduate Studies requires that a title page, abstract and table of contents be included in each thesis and dissertation. The format of the title page must comply with University style standards as communicated here. Formatting of the abstract and table of contents is at the discretion of the college style standards. If needed, default formatting guidelines for each of these pages, the thesis body, and sample documents are available here.

BYU Graduate Studies Requirements

Formatting

To ensure that each thesis and dissertation is legible and accessible in printed and digital format, BYU Graduate Studies requires:

• US Letter sized pages (BYU Print and Mail suggests margins of at least ¾” to ensure quality of printed and bound documents)
• all fonts embedded in the PDF
• bookmarks for each chapter and heading that is present in the table of contents section in the PDF

Article-based Chapters

BYU Graduate Studies is supportive of article-based formatting of chapters in theses and dissertations when consistent with disciplinary norms and College style standards. If applicable, accepted, or published articles on which the student is a primary author may be inserted as chapters in the thesis or dissertation. Submitted articles are subject to college formatting requirements. Article-based chapters using accepted or published articles must include a complete citation and the following statement: “I hereby confirm that the use of this article is compliant with all publishing agreements.” 

BYU Graduate Studies will examine theses on a regular basis to ensure reasonable levels of quality and consistency.

College Requirements

In addition to the requirements stated above, each thesis and dissertation must meet standards for content and formatting that is consistent with national/international disciplinary norms, as determined by the graduate program and the College. The program and College are responsible for establishing and enforcing adherence to their standards.

If you have any questions, please contact Alexandra or Denise

Alexandra Dewey, Advisement Intern                                                                                                           Email: gsadvisementintern@byu.edu                                                                                                  Phone: 801-422-1677

Denise Stanton, Advisement Manager                                                                                                      Email: denise_stanton@byu.edu                                                                                                              Phone: 801-422-4541