Dissertation formatting conventions

Contract

Enforces the formatting, structural, and stylistic conventions of a science dissertation/thesis. Apply whenever drafting, formatting, or reviewing any thesis section — front matter, chapters, references, tables/figures, abbreviations, or reported units. These rules override the model's common defaults (global figure numbering, numbered citations, lowercase liter, citations in the abstract).

Rules

Numbering of tables and figures

• Number tables and figures per chapter, not globally: Table 3.1, Table 3.2, Figure 3.1.

The first number is the chapter; the second restarts at 1 in every new chapter.

• Use Arabic numerals only — never Roman numerals or letters (Table 3.1, not Table III.A).
• The count never carries across chapters: Chapter 5's first table is Table 5.1 regardless of how

many tables preceded it in Chapters 1–4.

• Tables and figures keep separate sequences: a chapter can hold both Table 4.1 and Figure 4.1.

Captions and placement

• A table caption goes ABOVE the table.
• A figure caption/legend goes BELOW the figure.
• Captions are brief; column and row headings are short and abbreviated.
• Every table and figure must be referred to by its number in the running text before it appears

(as shown in Table 3.1). An unreferenced object is not allowed.

• A table/figure is confined to one page; if it must span pages, repeat the title and headings on

each continued page.

• For a reproduced or adapted object, end the caption with a source line: Source: Smith, 2019

(verbatim copy) or Adapted from Smith, 2019 (modified).

• Non-standard abbreviations used inside a table are explained in a footnote to that table.

Citations and references

• In-text citations use Harvard author-date form: (Johnson and Lee, 2018).
• For three or more authors use et al.: (Garcia et al., 2021) — do not list every surname.
• For a single author: (Patel, 2017).
• Never use numbered or superscript citations ([1], ¹, (1)).
• Order the reference list alphabetically by the first author's surname — never by order of

appearance, and never numbered.

Abstract

• A single paragraph, 500 words maximum.
• Covers, in this order: objectives, methods, results, conclusions.
• Contains no in-text citations.
• Contains no abbreviations — spell every term out in full.

Abbreviations (body text)

• Never use an abbreviation in the title or the abstract.
• In the body, define the full term at first use, then introduce the abbreviation in parentheses:

high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Use the abbreviation alone thereafter.

• Use only generally accepted abbreviations.
• Collect every abbreviation in a "List of Abbreviations" in the front matter. Standard units

of measurement (kg, mL, °C) are exempt and are not defined or listed.

Units of measurement

• Report in metric / SI units; temperature in degrees Celsius with the symbol: 37 °C.
• Write liter as a capital L: mL, L, mmol/L, g/L, U/L — never lowercase l

(ml, mmol/l, u/l are wrong).

• Prefer SI (mmol/L, g/L); conventional clinical units (mg/dL, mg/mL) are acceptable.
• Use one unit per analyte consistently throughout — do not switch between mg/dL and mmol/L

for the same compound.

Front matter and structure

• Front matter includes a Table of Contents, a List of Tables, and a List of Figures —

the lists of tables and figures each carry page numbers per entry.

• Title page carries the title, candidate's full name, the submission statement, supervisor names, and

a centered footer (department, faculty, submission date).

• A Declaration of originality follows the title page, signed by the author and countersigned by

the supervisor(s).

• Chapter 1 is a comprehensive, up-to-date literature review that ends with the research

rationale/gap and a list of general and specific objectives.

Worked examples

Numbering (per-chapter).

• BEFORE: Chapter 3's two tables and one figure labeled Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1.
• AFTER: Table 3.1, Table 3.2, Figure 3.1.

Numbering does not carry across chapters.

• BEFORE: Chapter 5's first table, following eight earlier tables, labeled Table 9.
• AFTER: Table 5.1 — numbering restarts at 1 in the new chapter.

Caption placement.

• BEFORE: data-table caption placed below the table; bar-chart legend placed above the chart.
• AFTER: table caption ABOVE the table; figure legend BELOW the chart.

Reproduced figure.

• BEFORE: a diagram copied from Smith (2019) pasted with caption Figure 1. Pathway diagram.
• AFTER: Figure 4.1. Pathway diagram. Source: Smith, 2019. placed below the figure, and referred to

in the text (see Figure 4.1).

In-text citation form.

• BEFORE: "This effect was first reported by Johnson and Lee in 2018 1]."
• AFTER: "This effect was first reported (Johnson and Lee, 2018)."

Three-or-more authors.

• BEFORE: (Garcia, Smith, Wong, Ahmed and Rossi, 2021).
• AFTER: (Garcia et al., 2021).

Reference ordering.

• BEFORE: list kept in citation order — Zhang (2020), Adams (2015), Müller (2018), Brown (2019).
• AFTER: alphabetical by surname — Adams (2015), Brown (2019), Müller (2018), Zhang (2020).

Abstract length and content.

• BEFORE: a 720-word abstract that ends …consistent with the key prior study (Lee, 2017).
• AFTER: a single paragraph ≤ 500 words ordered objectives → methods → results → conclusions, with the

citation removed.

Abbreviation in the abstract / title.

• BEFORE: title "Detecting marker X by ELISA"; abstract mentions "(HPLC)".
• AFTER: title "Detecting marker X by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay"; abstract spells out

"high-performance liquid chromatography" with no parenthetical abbreviation.

Abbreviation in the body.

• BEFORE: first body mention written as "HPLC".
• AFTER: "high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)" at first use, "HPLC" thereafter, and HPLC

added to the List of Abbreviations.

Units — capital L.

• BEFORE: "5 mg/ml", "2 mmol/l", "50 u/l".
• AFTER: "5 mg/mL", "2 mmol/L", "50 U/L".

Temperature.

• BEFORE: "incubated at 37 degrees" or "98.6 °F".
• AFTER: "incubated at 37 °C".

Unit consistency.

• BEFORE: glucose reported as mg/dL in one table and mmol/L in another.
• AFTER: glucose reported in a single chosen unit (e.g. mmol/L) everywhere.

Front-matter lists.

• BEFORE: "Contents" only.
• AFTER: Table of Contents, plus a List of Tables and a List of Figures, each entry with its page number.

Edge cases & exceptions

• Standard units are exempt from abbreviation rules — kg, mL, °C are used directly, never

defined at first use, never placed in the List of Abbreviations. Only non-standard term abbreviations (HPLC, ELISA) are defined and listed.

• Units inside the abstract — numeric quantities with standard unit symbols (5 mL) are allowed;

the no-abbreviation rule targets term abbreviations, not unit symbols.

• Multi-page table — when an object genuinely cannot fit one page, repeat its title and column

headings at the top of each continued page rather than splitting silently.

• Adapted vs. copied — use Adapted from … when you changed rows/values, Source: … for a

verbatim reproduction. Both still get a per-chapter number and a body reference.

• Two-author works keep both surnames joined by "and" (Johnson and Lee, 2018); et al. starts

only at three authors.

• Same surname / same year still sorts alphabetically by surname in the reference list; the

in-text form stays author-date, never a number.

Do / Don't

• Do number per chapter (Table 3.1). Don't number globally (Table 1, Table 7).
• Do put table captions above and figure captions below. Don't place them uniformly.
• Do write (Author, Year). Don't write [1] or a superscript number.
• Do order references alphabetically by surname. Don't order by appearance or number them.
• Do keep the abstract ≤ 500 words, one paragraph, no citations, no abbreviations. Don't cite

or abbreviate inside it.

• Do spell terms out in the title. Don't put abbreviations (ELISA, HPLC) in the title.
• Do write liter as capital L. Don't write lowercase l (ml, mmol/l).
• Do pick one unit per analyte. Don't mix mg/dL and mmol/L for the same compound.
• Do reference every table/figure in the text. Don't leave one unmentioned.

Common mistakes

• Defaulting to global table/figure numbers (Table 1, Figure 2) instead of per-chapter.
• Reaching for numbered citations [1] (IEEE/Vancouver habit) instead of Harvard author-date.
• Keeping the reference list in citation order rather than alphabetical by surname.
• Writing liter lowercase (ml, mmol/l) — the convention requires capital L.
• Letting citations or abbreviations leak into the abstract, or exceeding 500 words.
• Using an abbreviation in the title (…by ELISA).
• Placing a figure caption above it, or a table caption below it.
• Adding a table/figure but never referring to it in the running text.
• Mixing units for the same analyte across tables.

Quick checklist

• ] Tables/figures numbered per chapter, Arabic (Table 3.1, Figure 3.1).
• ] Table caption above, figure caption/legend below; each referenced in text.
• ] Reproduced/adapted objects carry a Source: / Adapted from line.
• ] In-text citations Harvard author-date; et al. for 3+; never [1].
• ] Reference list alphabetical by first-author surname, unnumbered.
• ] Abstract ≤ 500 words, one paragraph, objectives→methods→results→conclusions, no citations, no abbreviations.
• ] No abbreviations in the title; full term + parenthetical at first body use; all listed.
• ] Liter as capital L; temperature in °C; one unit per analyte.
• ] Front matter has List of Tables and List of Figures, with page numbers.