The preliminary pages of the work must be comprehensive and concise enough to significantly impact the research to be accepted by your research supervisor. The writings before Chapter one of any research paper are called preliminary pages. Every university specifies dissertation formatting guidelines for preliminary pages, which students must follow. Preliminary pages must be formatted as per the academic guidelines, and if you do not know how to format the preliminary pages, you have come to the right place. We will provide a comprehensive overview of dissertation formatting for preliminary pages.
Dissertation formatting: An Overview of Contents of Preliminary Pages
Dissertation formatting guidelines encompass specifying the following things:
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Statement of Declaration/Authenticity
- Abstract
- Dedication (Optional)
- Table of Contents
- Lists of Tables
- List of Figures
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements (Optional)
- Preface (Optional)
The preliminary pages are in sequential order and counted sequentially, excluding the copyright page, which is not counted. Pages which include the title, abstract, list of contents etc., are not numbered. Lowercase Roman numbers are placed inside the dissertation margins and counted from the bottom of the page for the pages, including the abstract, table of contents, lists, and acknowledgements.
Dissertation formatting: Title Page
The dissertation’s title is written in upper case letters. The font style size should be consistent with all of the other major headings throughout the dissertation. There should be double spacing in the title text and appropriately balanced on the page if it exceeds four and a half inches. For the sake of indexing and retrieval of information, the title should provide a brief yet thorough summary of the contents. Signatures, abbreviations, figures, formulae, super- and subscripts, and symbols should all be utilised carefully to ensure readability and improve search results for potential readers. If in doubt, contact the dissertation formatting editors at dissertation editing services.
After the title, the author’s full name should be stated after double spaces. The name should not be stated entirely in the upper case but only in the first alphabets of name and surname. The name is accompanied by the statement asserting,” A dissertation submitted to the faculty of humanities of the University of California, Berkeley in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of”. This statement should be placed in the centre of the title page, and it should be single-spaced. After the statement on the title page, mention your degree program. The spacing between the name, statement and degree program remains consistent. Also, mention the department under the degree program name. The title page ends with the date specifying only the month and year, and there should be no punctuation.
Dissertation formatting: Copyright Page
The copyright page is the second page as per the dissertation formatting guidelines. The copyright page is an uncounted and unnumbered page on your dissertation. The copyright page informs the readers that the particular work belongs to a particular student. It should be placed at the centre of the page. For example:
Copyright © Susan Montana 2022
All Rights Reserved
Dissertation formatting: Statement of Declaration/Authenticity
Statement of authenticity stipulates that the author specifies the work is his or her original work and there is no plagiarism in the dissertation. The declaration statement certifies that the department chairperson, and the graduate school Dean, have approved the dissertation. Any committee members’ names who did not digitally sign or endorse the dissertation are not dated. The dates you enter should coincide with the day you were informed that a committee member had electronically signed the document.
Dissertation formatting: Abstract
The dissertation’s contents are briefly and skillfully summarised in the abstract. The author explains the issue, describes the study strategy or methodology and presents the findings and recommendations in the abstract. The abstract lacks any diagrams, pictures, subsections, or citations. The abstract can only be 350 words long. The term ABSTRACT is written in upper case letters 2 inches from the top of the page. The abstract text follows a header space, with the first line indented with the same amount of space as the paragraphs in the rest of the work. There should be double spacing in the abstract’s text.
Dedication
The dedication is optional, which often comes after the abstract. The dedications should be brief and concise, comprising only one or two lines.
Dissertation formatting: Table of Contents/List of Figures and Tables
Table of Contents comes after the abstract section in the preliminary pages of the dissertation. The table of contents is the outline of the dissertation. You can also generate a table of content automatically in MS Word. A list of figures and a list of tables specify the tables and figures used in the dissertation. A list of abbreviations is also provided where applicable. The list of abbreviations includes the extended forms of the abbreviations used throughout the dissertation.
Acknowledgements
The acknowledgements section in a dissertation is optional. The acknowledgements section includes information about all those people whose support was crucial in completing the dissertation. However, it is important to keep it brief and provide acknowledgements to those people whose support was crucial. You cannot possibly acknowledge everyone, so keep it confined to a few people. There should be double spacing in the acknowledgements text. The acknowledgements text must be double-spaced. Students may want to acknowledge specific panel members, friends, or family members who may have assisted with the research, writing, or functional parts of the dissertation in the acknowledgements. Giving credit where credit is due is appropriate for any research money, grants, or copyright waivers is appropriate.
Preface
A preface is also an optional entry in a dissertation. The PREFACE heading is in uppercase letters. There should be double spacing between the preface’s text. The preface encompasses the rationale for undertaking the current study, research design and methods, and further acknowledgements. It also provides readers with a brief background or historical information on the subject matter.
Conclusion
Preliminary pages must be structured appropriately and as per the academic standards. The recommendations mentioned above are standard academic practices; however, you must always consult your department before writing the preliminary pages of your dissertation.
