These Graduate College Thesis/Dissertation guidelines provide uniform standards for material included in theses and dissertations that are submitted by graduate students in partial fulfillment of the requirements for masters and doctoral degrees.

Since all theses and dissertations at OSU are submitted electronically, the Graduate College no longer requires strict adherence to the margin requirements for the body of the document. However, it is strongly recommended that the margin guidelines in the accompanying templates and description be followed if there is a need or desire to print and/or bind a copy of the document now or in the future.

The author is strongly encouraged to use the available templates when he/she begins the formation of the thesis/dissertation. The templates are format approved for both online submission and bound printed copies. Approved template formats are available in Microsoft Word® and LaTex. They can be found at:

Thesis and Dissertation Templates

The Graduate College recognizes that style varies from discipline to discipline, and the author is encouraged to follow the accepted style used in publications in his/her discipline. In the event the department does not have a suggested style to follow, students should maintain style consistency throughout their document.

Additional submission requirements

• Signature (approval) page - One approval page, with original advisory committee signatures on plain white paper, must be submitted to the Graduate College. (Because there are no committee signatures on the electronic document this page serves as the documentation of the research committee's approval of the thesis/dissertation.) This paper should have the Student Name and CWID number typed at the top of this paper copy in 14 point font.
  Thesis Approval template
  Dissertation Approval template
  
  
• Abstract - Two abstracts, printed on OSU thesis bond paper and signed by the thesis/dissertation advisor, must be submitted to the Graduate College. The format must adhere to the approval OSU guidelines. These abstracts will be used for the university's records. OSU thesis bond paper is available at the OSU Bookstore in the Union. (template)