Common Dissertation & Abstract Format Errors
Abstract Problems
- Abstract title and Dissertation title do not match each other
- Abstract student name and Dissertation student name do not match each other
- Abstract and Dissertation student and chair names do not match the student’s Unofficial Transcript
- Abstract more than 350 words
Title Page Problems
- Title page degree information paragraph is not formatted correctly (e.g. upper/lower case, year, program and degree, single lined spaced)
- “Program in” or “Department of” place in front of the program name
- Doctoral committee member names do not match the committee member names on the student’s Unofficial Transcript
Page Number Problems
- Pages not numbered correctly, i.e. consecutively
- Landscape page numbers not moved to correspond with the location of page numbers throughout the dissertation
- Roman numeral (i) used in error as a page number
- Front matter Roman numeral page numbers not centered at the bottom of the page
Table of Contents Problems
- Dedication page not listed in the Table of Contents
- Chapter Titles in the Table of Contents do not match Chapter Titles on the first page of each chapter
- “Table of Contents” is listed in the Table of Contents
- Word “Chapter” omitted from the Table of Contents
- Page numbers in the Table of Contents do not correspond with actual page numbers
Tables and Figures, etc. Problems
- List of tables and list of figures combined in error
- Dissertation containing more than 1 table, figure, etc. is missing List of Tables, List of Figures, etc.
- Tables and figures, etc. are not uniquely numbered
Other Problems
- Blank pages
- Missing pages
- Incorrect margins
Downloads
Common Dissertation & Abstract Format Errors is also available as a downloadable PDF.