Quick Guide for Master’s Thesis Submission
Before You Submit
Review the key dates below. Make sure you’ve submitted your application for degree and Certification of Thesis Acceptance. Early submissions are welcome!
|
Degree Cycle |
Type of Submission |
Deadline |
|---|---|---|
|
February 2020 |
Degree Application |
November 1 |
|
Certification of Thesis Acceptance |
January 14 |
|
|
Electronic Thesis Deposit |
January 15 |
|
|
May 2020 |
Degree Application |
March 2 |
|
Certification of Thesis Acceptance |
April 20 |
|
|
Electronic Thesis Deposit |
April 21 |
|
|
August 2020 |
Degree Application |
June 19 |
|
Certification of Thesis Acceptance |
August 5 |
|
|
Electronic Thesis Deposit |
August 6 |
Margins
Top margin of the first page of each chapter/section of the body of your thesis: 2 inches
Left, bottom, and right margins: 1 inch
Top margin for all other pages of your thesis: 1 inch
Fonts
Times New Roman, Arial, Cambria, and Calibri are recommended fonts
Size 12, but longer quotations, references, and notes can be size 10 or size 11
Title Page, Abstract, and Copyright Page
Follow the templates, exactly, as they are shown.
Where there are parentheses, you will remove the parentheses and replace the text with your own text.
Include permission letters, if applicable, in your thesis.
Check the controlled vocabulary when listing your department or program.
(subheaders for this section as follows):
Spacing
Double-space all text, aside from the following exceptions:
Single space all notes, bibliographic references, and long quotations.
Orientation
No blank pages, all single-sided text.
Moving between and landscape and portrait is fine, but refer to pagination guidelines when doing so.
Pagination
Pay close attention to the transitions from Roman to Arabic numerals. All page numbers should be centered at the bottom of the page, when turned to portrait. Should you have any landscape pages in your thesis, the page number still needs to appear centered at the bottom of the page when in portrait orientation.
|
Section/Page |
Page Numbering |
|---|---|
|
Title Page |
number not printed on the page, but is still considered page i |
|
Copyright Page |
number not printed on the page, but is still considered page ii |
|
Acknowledgements (Optional) |
number is printed on the page, start with iii or ii if no Copyright page is used |
|
Abstract |
Continue with Roman numerals, printed |
|
Preface (Optional) |
Continue with Roman numerals, printed |
|
Table of Contents |
Continue with Roman numerals, printed |
|
List of Tables |
Continue with Roman numerals, printed |
|
List of Illustrations/Figures |
Continue with Roman numerals, printed |
|
Introduction |
Start Arabic Numerals, beginning with page 1, printed on the page |
|
Main Body, Appendices, Bibliography |
Continue with Arabic numerals, printed |
EXPLANATION OF PAGINATION—Printed v. Not-Printed: While page numbers are not printed on the Title and Copyright pages, these pages still count (they are pages i and ii), which is why your Acknowledgements page is page iii.
Submitting Your Thesis
Naming
Name your file with your last name, thesis, and year of degree conferral. Example: PeckThesis2017.PDF
Your file should be a PDF when you submit it to the BIR. Embed all fonts when converting to a PDF.
IR Portal
Once your thesis is in a suitable PDF format for submission, go to http://bir.brandeis.edu and select “login” under My Account. Use your Unet ID and password to log in. Select the Submissions option under My Account. This will take you to the first step of the submission process.
