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 the UMSL Technology Support Center for assistance.
- All master’s theses must be submitted to IRL@UMSL- http://irl.umsl.edu