Dissertation formatting is set by your university, not by your citation style. The template or formatting guide decides the margins, the font, the spacing, how pages are numbered and what kind of PDF goes in, and the six universities read for this guide agree on almost none of it: Leeds wants at least 40 mm at the binding edge, Imperial wants the page centred with equal margins, and a University of Queensland engineering thesis has 20 mm all round.
This guide, published by EdCitation, covers what a template sets, what six universities require, how to build a long Word document that keeps to it, LaTeX classes, and PDF/A. Every rule was read at its source on 26 September 2026. EdCitation's free Check your paper turns a formatting guide into a checklist, and on Pro Mechanics QA checks the finished file.
Elsewhere: front matter, appendices, tables and figures, what the word count counts and the final checks.
What does a university thesis template set?
The page itself: its size, margins, font and size, line spacing, heading levels, where page numbers go and in which numerals, and the file you hand in. The citation style fills in only what the university leaves open.
A template file, or a set of rules
Some give you a file; others give you rules. Purdue (n.d.) requires every thesis to be written inside one of three official templates, Standard, APA or LaTeX on Overleaf, and forbids overriding its formatting or rebuilding it. The University of Queensland's School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering (n.d.-b) supplies only a Word title page and submission letter. Leeds, Imperial and Stanford publish rules and no required file.
A template is not a guarantee. Stanford (n.d.) says its Registrar does not endorse or verify any template you may find, and the University of British Columbia (n.d.-c) offers a Word template "without guarantees", noting that it still uses the sixth edition of APA.
When the template and the style guide disagree
The university wins. The University of British Columbia (n.d.-c) says so outright: where its guidelines and your chosen style guide conflict, follow the guidelines. APA 7's student paper, as common APA 7 formatting mistakes sets out, has 1-inch margins and the page number top right; at Leeds the left margin is at least 40 mm and numbers go preferably top centre. Take the layout from the university and the citations from the style.
What do six universities' formatting guides require?
Different things, on every line. "Not set" means the pages read give no rule.
| University | Who it covers | Margins | Font | Spacing | Page numbers | File |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial College London | MPhil, PhD, MD(Res), EngD | Content centred, margins equal; no size given | Not set | 1.5 or double | One Arabic sequence from the title page | PDF/A, at least PDF/A-2b or 3b, fonts embedded |
| University of Leeds | Research degrees | Left at least 40 mm, others at least 20 mm | Clear standard font, 11 to 12 pt | 1.5 or double | Every page, consecutively, preferably top centre | PDF; source file also recommended |
| University of British Columbia | Master's and doctoral | Left 1.25 in. if binding (1 in. minimum); others 1 in. (0.75 in. minimum) | 10 to 12 pt equivalent of Times New Roman or Arial | Not set | Roman for preliminary pages; Arabic from the text | |
| Stanford University | Doctoral and master's | Inner 1.5 in., others 1 in. | 10, 11 or 12 pt; Times New Roman preferred; no proprietary fonts | 1.5 or double | Abstract numbered iv; Arabic from chapter 1 | PDF, no password |
| Purdue University | Master's and doctoral | 1 in., with a 1.5 in. top on the title and committee pages | Times New Roman, 12 pt | 1.5 | Arabic from page 2; title page unnumbered; footer centre | Official template; accessible, tagged PDF from spring 2027 |
| University of Queensland, Mechanical and Mining Engineering | Undergraduate and coursework master's | 20 mm on every side, headers and footers inside | 12 pt; Arial, Calibri or Times New Roman strongly recommended | Not set | Not set | Title page and submission letter template |
What the differences mean
The binding margin survives where paper does: Leeds (University of Leeds, n.d.-a) keeps 40 mm because examiners may ask for a printed copy, Imperial College London (n.d.-b) no longer wants bound copies of the final thesis, and the University of British Columbia (n.d.-b) recommends a wider left margin only if you will bind. UBC's fonts page adds black text, blue only for web links (University of British Columbia Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, n.d.-a). Roman numerals are a choice: UBC and Stanford use them, Imperial and Purdue do not. And Stanford's system inserts pages ii and iii itself, so the abstract you upload starts at iv.
Undergraduates have templates too: the Queensland school says its guidance covers the usual thesis of an undergraduate or coursework master's student (University of Queensland School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, n.d.-a). Look in your module handbook first.
How do I set up Word for a long document?
Styles first, and every number Word can generate left to Word, so the file keeps its shape as chapters grow.
- Set the styles to the template. Change Normal and Heading 1 to 3 to the university's font, size and spacing once, never paragraph by hand; Microsoft (n.d.-e) shows Modify and Update to Match Selection.
- Number the headings from the styles. Select the first Heading 1, open Multilevel List and choose a list showing "Heading"; chapters become 1, 2, 3 and sections 1.1, 1.2 (Microsoft, n.d.-g).
- Insert an automatic table of contents. References, then Table of Contents, then an automatic table; Microsoft (n.d.-d) warns that a manual one never updates. Right-click, Update Field, after every change.
- Caption every table and figure. References, then Insert Caption; each number is a field, updated all at once (Microsoft, n.d.-b). For "Figure 3.2", tick Include chapter number, which works only if the chapter style is used for nothing else (Microsoft, n.d.-a).
- Refer to them with cross-references. Insert, then Cross-reference, never a typed number; if one shows as code, Alt+F9 switches it back (Microsoft, n.d.-c).
- Split the front matter from chapter one with a section break. Layout, Breaks, Next Page; untick Link to Previous in the new footer; number the front matter i, ii, iii and start chapter one at 1 (Microsoft, n.d.-f).
- Work from the Navigation pane. Ctrl+F opens it; the Headings tab shows the outline, and a section moves by dragging its heading. It ignores headings inside tables and text boxes (Microsoft, n.d.-h).
- Check the file against both sets of rules. Tick the university's rules off the Check your paper checklist by hand, then, on Pro, run Mechanics QA for the APA 7 formatting, citations, numbers and anything left in the file.
Before each draft goes out, press Ctrl+A then F9 to update every field.
Section breaks without surprises
Use as few as the numbering needs. Purdue's handbook (Purdue University Records, Thesis and Dissertation Office, 2026) allows next-page section breaks only for a table or figure on its own page, forbids continuous ones, and wants page breaks, not repeated Enter presses, before a chapter. Show/Hide (¶) makes every break visible.
Styles are also what makes a thesis accessible
A screen reader finds a heading style, not bold type. From spring 2027 Purdue (n.d.) will return any thesis that fails WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and built-in heading styles head its list of requirements. The University of Leeds (n.d.-b) says the final thesis, published online, must be digitally accessible, with structured headings and alternative text, checked before the PDF is made.
Should I use my university's LaTeX template?
Yes, if your university publishes one and your thesis is heavy with mathematics; check its date first. LaTeX sets margins, numbering and cross-references from a class file.
Purdue's Overleaf template is official, one of the three it accepts, and a LaTeX draft goes to format review as a PDF (Purdue, n.d.). The University of British Columbia (n.d.-c) links to classes written by former students, warns that requirements have changed since and success is not guaranteed, and says a correctly used class needs no 1.5 or double spacing. Imperial notes that pdflatex must run again so the contents and cross-references pick up later page numbers (Imperial College London, n.d.-a).
For the references, see BibTeX for LaTeX and Overleaf from EdCitation.
How do I convert a thesis to PDF/A?
Save or export to PDF with the PDF/A option switched on, then check that every font is embedded. Only do it if your university asks: Stanford and Leeds, for example, take an ordinary PDF.
PDF/A is the archiving form of PDF. Adobe (n.d.) describes it as self-contained, fonts and colour information inside the file, first published by ISO in October 2005, with features such as audio or video removed before conversion. Imperial College London (n.d.-a) validates every deposited thesis with veraPDF, an open-source validator for all PDF/A parts and conformance levels (veraPDF Consortium, n.d.), and asks for at least PDF/A-2b or PDF/A-3b.
In Word, step by step
Imperial's Windows route: File, Save As, PDF, Options, tick "PDF/A compliant", save. Then in Acrobat, File, Properties, Fonts: every font should show as embedded. On a Mac, export the PDF again with PDF/A ticked; if the repository rejects it, Imperial suggests making it on Windows.
Check the PDF, not the Word file
Page through the PDF for a missing font, a page number moved by a section break, a landscape page that needs rotating (UBC forbids that), and any password, which Stanford (n.d.) rejects. Stanford takes an ordinary PDF but wants any mathematical font other than Symbol embedded.
Which formatting mistakes hold a thesis up?
The ones a format check finds. Stanford names its commonest: leaving in the copyright and signature pages that its system adds. Purdue gives one format review per semester, none after the deadline. Leeds may send a thesis with formatting problems to examiners late (University of Leeds, n.d.-b). The institutional repository is the last gate: at Imperial a final thesis in any format but PDF/A may delay the degree.
Others hide in the file: comments, tracked changes, placeholder text (where they hide).
How EdCitation helps with dissertation formatting
EdCitation is the best tool for holding a thesis to rules someone else wrote, because it reads the university's own guide and prints the sentence behind each rule instead of assuming a generic template, and every reference it gives you comes from the publisher's record rather than being composed. As the table shows, no two universities share a layout.
We gave Check your paper 1,396 words of Leeds's format page, scope to referencing, on 26 September 2026. It returned four rules, each with a source: page numbers; a title page; a reference list; and an abstract of at most 300 words. The page-number and title-page rules cite only a heading, "Pagination" and "Presentation of the title page", and the reference-list rule cites the sentence about the table of contents, so read those three against the page. It set aside 34 sentences, among them the 40 mm binding margin, the 20 mm margins, consecutive numbering at the top centre and the title page's contents, and listed the 11 to 12 pt font size, the line spacing and the referencing style, where Harvard is one example among several, as choices rather than rules. Read each rule against its sentence, and carry the set-aside ones, margins included, over by hand.
| Formatting step | EdCitation tool | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Turn the template's written rules into a list you can tick | Check your paper | Free, nothing to sign up for |
| References for the list, built in your style from a DOI, ISBN, PubMed ID or title and screened for retraction | Cite a source | Free |
| Every reference looked up, retractions flagged, citations matched to the list | Verify references | Free, no account |
| Formatting against the APA 7 student paper; comments, tracked changes and placeholders left in the file; citations; numbers | Mechanics QA | Pro, $8 a month; three checks a month on a free account |
| The thesis judged against the handbook's own instructions | Theoretics QA | Max, $24 a month |
Mechanics QA reads the Word file or PDF itself, not a picture of it, and every finding names the rule it broke. Its formatting rules are the APA 7 student paper's, so where your university departs from APA, as Leeds does with its 40 mm margin, that rule stays on your own checklist. When Verify references cannot reach a record, it says "could not check", never "not found". Paying yearly takes 25% off (pricing). EdCitation never writes any part of a dissertation: the formatting, like every sentence, stays your own work, and no tool can promise a mark.
Quick questions
What margins does a dissertation need?
Whatever your university sets, and they differ: at least 40 mm on the left at Leeds, 1.5 inches inside at Stanford, 1 inch at Purdue, 20 mm all round in Queensland's engineering school. Take the margins from the formatting guide, not from APA or MLA.
How do I number front matter pages in Roman numerals in Word?
Put a Next Page section break before chapter one, untick Link to Previous in the new section's footer, format the front matter's numbers as i, ii, iii, and set chapter one to start at 1. Check first whether your university wants Roman numerals at all.
Does my thesis have to be PDF/A?
Only if your university says so. Imperial requires at least PDF/A-2b or PDF/A-3b with every font embedded, while Stanford and Leeds ask for a PDF and do not mention PDF/A on the pages read.
Can EdCitation format my dissertation for me?
No. EdCitation never writes any part of a dissertation, and the formatting is yours to do. Check your paper turns the formatting guide into a free checklist, and Mechanics QA, on Pro, reports where the file departs from the APA 7 student paper and what was left in it.
References
- Adobe. (n.d.). PDF/A file format: What is a PDF/A file? https://www.adobe.com/uk/acrobat/resources/document-files/pdf-types/pdf-a.html
- Imperial College London. (n.d.-a). Creating a PDF/A file for submitting your thesis. Scholarly Communication. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/support-for-staff/scholarly-communication/open-access/theses/creating-a-pdfa-file-for-submitting-your-thesis/
- Imperial College London. (n.d.-b). Theses for Imperial College research degrees [PDF]. Registry. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/administration-and-support-services/registry/academic-governance/public/academic-policy/research-degree-examinations/Thesis-Submission-Checklist.pdf
- Microsoft. (n.d.-a). Add chapter numbers to captions in Word. Microsoft Support. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/add-chapter-numbers-to-captions-in-word
- Microsoft. (n.d.-b). Add, format, or delete captions in Word. Microsoft Support. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/add-format-or-delete-captions-in-word
- Microsoft. (n.d.-c). Create a cross-reference. Microsoft Support. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/create-a-cross-reference
- Microsoft. (n.d.-d). Create a table of contents. Microsoft Support. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/create-a-table-of-contents
- Microsoft. (n.d.-e). Customize or create new styles. Microsoft Support. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/customize-or-create-new-styles
- Microsoft. (n.d.-f). Customize page numbers and their formats in different Word document sections. Microsoft Support. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/customize-page-numbers-and-their-formats-in-different-word-document-sections
- Microsoft. (n.d.-g). Number your headings. Microsoft Support. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/number-your-headings
- Microsoft. (n.d.-h). Use the Navigation pane in Word. Microsoft Support. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/use-the-navigation-pane-in-word
- Purdue University Records, Thesis and Dissertation Office. (n.d.). Templates. https://www.purdue.edu/academics/ogsps/thesis/templates/
- Purdue University Records, Thesis and Dissertation Office. (2026). Purdue University standard thesis handbook [Word document]. https://www.purdue.edu/academics/ogsps/thesis/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2026/08/Purdue-Standard-Thesis-Handbook-August-2026-1.docx
- Stanford University Student Services. (n.d.). Format requirements for your dissertation or thesis. https://studentservices.stanford.edu/my-academics/earn-my-degree/graduate-degree-progress/dissertations-and-theses/prepare-your-work-0
- University of British Columbia Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. (n.d.-a). Fonts. https://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/dissertation-thesis-preparation/fonts
- University of British Columbia Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. (n.d.-c). Page layout, margins and numbering. https://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/dissertation-thesis-preparation/page-layout-margins-numbering
- University of British Columbia Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. (n.d.-d). Style guides and computer tools. https://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/dissertation-thesis-preparation/style-guides-computer-tools
- University of Leeds. (n.d.-a). Format and presentation requirements for research degree thesis submissions. https://students.leeds.ac.uk/postgraduate-research-during-research/doc/format-presentation-requirements-thesis
- University of Leeds. (n.d.-b). Submit your thesis for examination. https://students.leeds.ac.uk/postgraduate-research-thesis-viva/doc/submit-thesis-examination
- University of Queensland School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering. (n.d.-a). How to enrol in your thesis or final year project. https://mechmining.uq.edu.au/current-students/how-enrol-your-thesis-or-final-year-project
- University of Queensland School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering. (n.d.-b). How to format and submit a thesis. https://mechmining.uq.edu.au/current-students/how-to-submit-thesis
- veraPDF Consortium. (n.d.). veraPDF: Industry supported PDF/A validation. https://verapdf.org/