5 Tips: Formatting your Thesis

5 Tips : Formatting your Thesis

Microsoft Office is one of the most popular office suites out there.
Microsoft Word is our go-to program for formatting books. Learn these key features for efficiency and a consistant professional looking document.

Here are 5 tips you need to know! Setup your document right at the start and the rest will be a breeze.


 

1. PAGE SIZE

Often forgotten about but make sure your page is set as A4 not US Letter, which can be default in some versions of Word.

To set your page size, from the top menu-

  • Select "PAGE LAYOUT"
  • Select "SIZE"
  • Select "A4"

 

Thesis Page Size

 


 

2. MARGINS

Margins are very important when it comes to binding. No margins = Text/images cut off in the binding process.

For single sided printing we recommend a margin of 3cm on the left side and 2.5cms on the other three sides.
For double sided printing we recommend a margin of 2.5cms on all four sides.

To set your page margin, from the top menu-

  • Select "PAGE LAYOUT"
  • Select "MARGINS"
  • Input "top, left, bottom and right" sizes as per requirements

 

Thesis Margin


 

3. STYLES MENU 

The styles menu is an absolute must for any document!
What are styles? Styles is pre-defined formatting that you can use repeatedly throughout your thesis. 
Want all your headers/subheadings/paragraphs to be formatted the same, use the styles menu.
Also, if you use styles, it brings me to my next tip "Automatic TOC"

Here is a great video on how to use "Styles" - How to Use the Styles Menu

 

 

Thesis Styles

 


 

4. AUTOMATIC TABLE OF CONTENTS

If you used styles for your headings, you can now use the Automatic Table of Contents feature.
See our previous post on how to create an AUTOMATIC TABLE OF CONTENTS here > Creating Automatic Table of Contents MS Word

 

 

Thesis Table of Contents

 


 

5. NUMBER PAGES DIFFERENTLY

Every thesis will require roman numerals for the title page/table of contents pages and Arabic numbers from chapter one onwards.
Here is a very useful guide on how to number pages differently > Add different page numbers or number formats to different sections
 
 
 
Thesis Page Numbers

 

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