Thesis & Dissertation Formatting Convention

Contract

Enforces the structural, word-count, numbering, citation, and unit conventions of a formal thesis/dissertation submission guideline. Apply whenever drafting or formatting any thesis or dissertation section (abstract, acknowledgements, keywords, body chapters, tables/figures, references) — these are arbitrary house rules a general writing default does not follow.

Rules

1. Word counts and section lengths

• Abstract: 300–500 words. Not a 150–250-word summary. Must cover four things in order:

objectives, methods, results, conclusions.

• Acknowledgements: 300–500 words. Tone is sincere, optimistic, and rigorous — never casual or

jokey. Name the specific people (supervisor, colleagues), the department, and any funding body.

• Keywords: exactly 3–5, no more and no fewer. Each is a core noun or noun phrase drawn from the

research topic. Placed immediately after the abstract.

2. Abbreviations and acronyms

• No abbreviations or acronyms in the title or the abstract. Spell every term out in full there:

write "polymerase chain reaction", never "PCR"; "magnetic resonance imaging", never "MRI".

• In body text, define each abbreviation at its first use — full term followed by the abbreviation in

parentheses — then use the abbreviation thereafter. Standard SI units are exempt.

• Include a dedicated List of Abbreviations in the preliminary pages (front matter).

3. Table and figure numbering

• Number per chapter as Chapter.Sequence in Arabic numerals. The first table in Chapter 3 is

Table 3.1, the second Table 3.2; the first figure in Chapter 5 is Figure 5.1.

• Never number globally as "Table 1, Table 2" or "Figure 1, Figure 2" across the whole document.
• Every table and figure must be referred to in the body text before it appears (e.g. "as shown

in Table 3.1").

• Tables get a brief descriptive title and abbreviated column/row headings; non-standard

heading abbreviations are explained in a footnote. Figures get a legend/caption.

• A reproduced or adapted table/figure must cite its source beneath it (e.g. "Source: Smith et

al. 2019").

• Confine each table/figure to one page; if it must span pages, repeat the title and column headings

on each page.

4. References and citations

• Use Harvard style (author-date). In-text citations are parenthetical (Surname Year) —

never numbered [1] and never superscript.

• The reference list is ordered alphabetically by the first author's surname.
• Include no fewer than 10 references, spanning journal articles, books, and papers.

5. Units of measurement

• Use metric units (m, kg, L — capital L for litre, never lowercase "l") and Celsius (°C).
• Prefer SI concentration units (mmol/L, g/L); conventional units (mg/dL, mg/mL) are acceptable.
• Use one unit convention consistently for a given analyte — do not switch between mg/dL and g/L

for the same compound.

Worked examples (BEFORE = the base's wrong default → AFTER = conforming)

Abstract length & content. BEFORE: a tidy 180-word paragraph that just summarizes the topic. AFTER: a 300–500-word abstract whose sentences walk through objectives → methods → results → conclusions in that order.

Abbreviation in the abstract. BEFORE: "We used RT-PCR to detect HBV in serum." AFTER: "We used reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to detect hepatitis B virus in serum." (No acronym anywhere in the abstract.)

Keyword count. BEFORE: a comma list of 8 keywords, some full phrases. AFTER: exactly 4 — "coral reef bleaching; ocean acidification; thermal stress; calcification" — placed right after the abstract.

Acknowledgements length/tone. BEFORE: "Thanks to everyone who helped, you know who you are." AFTER: a 300–500-word passage naming Dr. Patel (supervisor), the lab colleagues, the National Research Council (funding), and family, in a sincere, rigorous tone.

Table numbering. BEFORE: "Table 1 shows enzyme activity… Table 2 shows protein yield." (Chapter 3). AFTER: "As shown in Table 3.1, enzyme activity… Table 3.2 reports protein yield." Each referenced before it appears; each has a brief title.

Figure numbering. BEFORE: "Figure 1: survival rates… Figure 2: tumor growth." (Chapter 5). AFTER: "Figure 5.1 plots survival rates by treatment group… Figure 5.2 shows tumor growth over time." Each has a legend; each is cited in the text first.

Adapted figure source. BEFORE: a reproduced metabolic-pathway figure with no attribution. AFTER: the figure numbered Figure 4.1, with "Source: adapted from Garcia and Lee (2021)" beneath it and a legend.

In-text citation style. BEFORE: "Soil microbial diversity declines under monoculture 12]." AFTER: "Soil microbial diversity declines under prolonged monoculture (Okafor 2020)."

Reference list. BEFORE: 6 sources in numbered order of first mention. AFTER: ≥10 sources ordered alphabetically by first author's surname, each in Harvard author-date form.

Units. BEFORE: "glucose ranged from 90 mg/dL to 5.0 g/L." AFTER: "glucose ranged from 5.0 to 7.8 mmol/L" — one consistent unit, capital L.

Edge cases & exceptions

• Standard units in body text (kg, mL, °C) do not need definition on first use, even though

other abbreviations do.

• Original vs. adapted tables/figures: only reproduced or adapted items need a source line;

your own original data does not. When in doubt about "adapted," cite.

• A single table in a chapter still uses chapter.sequence: the lone table in Chapter 4 is

Table 4.1, not "Table 4" or "Table 1".

• Mixed tables and figures in one chapter keep independent sequences: a chapter can have both

Table 3.1 and Figure 3.1 — figures and tables are numbered separately.

• Acronym defined in the body may still appear in the body, but it must be spelled out at first

use; the prohibition is specifically on the title and abstract.

• Keyword phrases count as one keyword each ("ocean acidification" is one of the 3–5, not two).

Do / Don't

• Do write the abstract at 300–500 words covering objectives→methods→results→conclusions.

Don't stop at a 150–250-word teaser.

• Do spell out every term in the title and abstract. Don't let a single acronym (PCR, MRI,

HBV) slip into them.

• Do number as Table/Figure Chapter.Sequence. Don't number globally (Table 1, Table 2).
• Do reference each table/figure in the text before it appears. Don't drop a table in with no

textual call-out.

• Do cite reproduced/adapted exhibits beneath them. Don't paste a borrowed figure with no

source.

• Do cite in-text as (Surname Year). Don't use [1] or superscript numbers.
• Do order references alphabetically by first-author surname with ≥10 entries. Don't order by

citation appearance or list fewer than 10.

• Do keep one unit convention per analyte with capital L. Don't mix mg/dL with g/L or use

lowercase "l".

Common mistakes (the base's wrong defaults)

• Writing a short 150–250-word abstract because that "reads cleanly".
• Using PCR/MRI/HBV in the abstract because acronyms are conventional in science writing generally.
• Numbering tables and figures 1, 2, 3 across the whole document.
• Forgetting to mention a table/figure in the running text before it appears.
• Defaulting to numbered [n] or Vancouver-style citations instead of Harvard author-date.
• Listing references in order of first appearance instead of alphabetically.
• Giving fewer than 10 references for a literature review.
• Providing more than 5 (or fewer than 3) keywords.
• Mixing unit systems (mg/dL and mmol/L) for the same analyte, or writing "l" for litre.

Quick checklist

• ] Abstract 300–500 words, objectives→methods→results→conclusions, zero acronyms.
• ] Acknowledgements 300–500 words, sincere tone, named people + funder.
• ] Exactly 3–5 keyword nouns/phrases after the abstract.
• ] Tables/figures numbered Chapter.Sequence (Table 3.1, Figure 5.1), never global.
• ] Each table/figure cited in text first; tables titled, figures captioned; sources for adapted.
• ] In-text citations (Surname Year); reference list alphabetical; ≥10 entries.
• ] Metric/SI units, capital L, one convention per analyte; List of Abbreviations in front matter.