Formatting your Thesis
- All Theses must have a 1 ½ inch margin on the left side. This is to accommodate any future binding of the thesis.
- All Theses must follow the convention in the sample title page. A thesis may have a second title page that follows the writing style used.
- Signatures may not be on the title pages submitted to the Graduate School.
- In matters of style and documentation, the custom of the discipline shall be followed.
- The three most commonly used at UMSL are:
Abstracts
Abstracts are required for all theses submitted to the Graduate School. The abstract for the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation site must be no longer than 350 words.
- Creative theses should include:
- The type of work (i.e. novel, collection of poems)
- Description of theme, genre, style, or plot
- Research theses should include:
- The objective (research question)
- Methods
- Results
- Conclusion
1.Appoint the Thesis Committee
- Your thesis committee must be approved with the M2 form before you submit your thesis for review.
2.Submit Preliminary Copy to the Graduate School
- The M3 [with committee member signatures] must accompany the PDF version of the thesis.
- The email, with two separate attachments - the M3 and the thesis - should be sent to GradSchoolForms
- Consult the Graduation Deadlines for the last possible dates each semester.
3.Approval of Thesis by the Committee
- The thesis committee will complete the M2 Committee Report [bottom portion].
- A completed M2 indicating “pass” must be on file in the graduate school before the thesis will be reviewed for final approval.
4.Final Copy Submission
- All master’s thesis must be converted to a PDF for final submission. If you need to edit the PDF to accomplish things such as inserting pages with tables or scans, please consult the Faculty Resource Center for assistance.
- All master’s theses must be submitted to IRL@UMSL- http://irl.umsl.edu
