Thesis and Dissertation Instructions

Students must have committee approval of their thesis or dissertation prior to scheduling their final oral exam.

• The department will schedule the final oral examination (defense of the dissertation or thesis) after the student and all committee members have collaborated to identify an available time.  
• To pass the final defense (with or without qualifications), students must demonstrate a sound understanding of their work and its implications. 
• Student defenses are held in person with the student, chair, and committee members in attendance. In extenuating circumstances (not just inconvenience, but to avoid real hardship), the committee chair may request that the graduate program manager initiate a petition for an exception to this standard, using the existing petition platform and approval flow. 

All graduate students who are writing a thesis or dissertation must submit it as an ETD as part of the graduation requirements. The ETD will be made available worldwide through the BYU library.

After the oral exam, students will need to make any changes discussed at the exam. Once the document is approved, students create the ETD and upload it to GradProgress for formatting approval. Graduate Studies reviews the preliminary pages and general formatting. Then it is reviewed by the department and the college, both of which can add comments requesting necessary changes. Once the department and college have approved the document, it will be sent to Graduate Studies for final approval and released to the library.

Below are the ETD formatting requirements and guidelines for Graduate Studies approval. Students should check with their department for potential additional formatting requirements.

1.) ETD 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 communicated below. Formatting of the abstract and table of contents is at the discretion of the college's style standards. If needed, default formatting guidelines for each of these pages, the thesis body, and sample documents are available below. BYU Graduate Studies does not dictate style standards for the chapters of a thesis or dissertation (e.g., line spacing and fonts).

2.) Preliminary Pages

 
Preliminary pages are sections of the ETD prior to the introduction or main content. They include the required title, abstract, table of contents, list of figures (where applicable), and list of tables (where applicable) pages, as well as the optional acknowledgments, statement on the use of AI, description of the structure, nomenclature, or other pages. The ETD preliminary pages should follow the order of the instructions below.

Title Page (Required)

Please use the following template to format the title page: Title Page Template

Note:

• The title of the ETD must be placed at the top of the page in inverted pyramid format and double-spaced.  
• The top and bottom margins should be one inch. 
• There must be an equal amount of space between each section of the title page.  
• In the section beginning with “A thesis/dissertation submitted to the faculty…”, there must be one full line of space between the third and fourth lines.  
• The bottom two sections containing department and copyright information must be double-spaced. 

Abstract Page (Required)

If the student’s college requires a unique format for the abstract page, please follow their template. Otherwise, please use this template for formatting the abstract and other preliminary pages: Preliminary Pages Template

Note:

• “ABSTRACT” should be written in upper-case. 
• The title of the ETD should be placed beneath the word “ABSTRACT” in inverted pyramid format, exactly as it appears on the title page, but single-spaced. 
• Following the department name, use the acronym “BYU” instead of the full name.  
• There should be one full line of space following “ABSTRACT”, the last line of the title, and the name of the degree.  
• Paragraphs in the abstract page should be indented, single-spaced, and separated by one full line of space.  
• The “Keywords:” section should be placed at the bottom of the page, above a one-inch margin. The “K” in “Keywords:” should be capitalized and followed by a colon. Each keyword should be lower-case, separated by commas. Only keywords that are proper nouns or acronyms should be capitalized. The keywords section should be single-spaced. “Keywords:” should not be italicized or bolded.  

Acknowledgments Page (Optional)

If the student’s college requires a unique format for the acknowledgment page, please follow their template. Otherwise, please use this template for formatting the acknowledgment page: Acknowledgment Page Template

Table of Contents Page (Required)

If the student’s college requires a unique format for the table of contents page, please follow their template. Otherwise, please use this template for formatting the table of contents page: Table of Contents Page Template

Note:

• Hyperlinking sections in the table of contents to other ETD pages is optional.  
• Ensure there are no errors stating: “Error! Bookmark not defined”.  

List of Figures Page (Optional)

If the student’s college requires a unique format for the list of figures page, please follow their template. Otherwise, please use this template for formatting the list of figures page: List of Figures Page Template

List of Tables Page (Optional)

If the student’s college requires a unique format for the list of tables page, please follow their template. Otherwise, please use this template for formatting the list of tables page: List of Tables Page Template

Graduate Studies does not provide template formatting for other optional preliminary pages, such as statements on the use of AI, descriptions of the structure, and nomenclature pages. If additional optional preliminary pages are used, please match the general format of other ETD pages.

3.) Page Numbers, Running Headers, and Fonts

 
Preliminary pages should use Roman numeral page numbers. However, on the title, abstract, and acknowledgment pages, page numbers are not displayed; they are only included in the table of contents with Roman numerals. For example, in an ETD with one-page title, abstract, and acknowledgment pages, those pages would not display any page numbers, and page “iv” would begin with the table of contents page following the acknowledgment page. The title, abstract, and acknowledgment pages would be listed as “i, ii, iii” in the table of contents (see preliminary page templates).

Following the preliminary pages, regular numbers are used, beginning with page “1”, through the end of the paper. The page number placement throughout the paper should be consistent, and the page number font should match the rest of the paper. If an ETD uses landscape orientation on some pages, page numbers should be properly formatted and consistent with those on other pages.

Please embed all fonts in the PDF. To embed fonts in Microsoft Word, select File > Options (or Word > Preferences on a Mac). Select Save on the left menu. Then, under Font Embedding, check Embed fonts in the file.

4.) PDF Bookmarks

 
ETDs must contain PDF bookmarks for each preliminary page section, each chapter or section of the main content, and reference sections. To add PDF bookmarks in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat, please see the instructions below:

Word: https://support.microsoft.com/en-US/Word/add-or-delete-bookmarks-in-a-word-document-or-outlook-message

Adobe: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/page-thumbnails-bookmarks-pdfs.html

5.) Article-Based Chapters

 
BYU Graduate Studies supports article-based chapter formatting in theses and dissertations when it is 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.

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.”

6.) Accessibility

 
BYU has developed Digital Content Accessibility Guidelines to be used in the design and enhancement of Digital Content on university-affiliated platforms. Before submitting the ETD in GradProg, please complete the following Adobe Acrobat Pro accessibility checks: Adobe Acrobat Pro Accessibility Check Instructions

Students may use computers with Adobe Acrobat Pro in the BYU Library. Passing these accessibility checks is required for Graduate Studies ETD approval.

Once students have successfully defended and formatted their thesis or dissertation, they submit their ETD by logging into GradProgress here. Select the “ETD” milestone and enter the thesis or dissertation title. Following the instructions displayed in GradProgress, enter the publication details using information from the ETD. The “Author Name” field is the name that matches the BYU account, and the “First Name”, “Middle Name”, and “Last Name” fields should match the name used in the ETD. The “Abstract” section should not be indented.

After completing the “Publication Details” section, select the “Document” tab. After reviewing and agreeing to the acknowledgment section, select “Upload ETD”. Select the PDF file of the ETD. After uploading the document, students monitor their BYU email for requested edits from Graduate Studies, the department, or the college.

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

Taylor Adams, Assistant Dean of Advisement
Email: taylor_adams@byu.edu
Phone: 801-422-4245