Thesis Format Guide
This guide presents the standard format for a doctoral or
master’s thesis in the School of Theology. Candidates
should follow this format beginning with the proposal stage
and then through all drafts of the thesis. The first
full draft should be submitted to the Thesis Coordinator for
review of format issues, and a revised version should be reviewed
at the time of the oral examination. The final copies
submitted to the Library must follow the format described
and are subject to format approval before final acceptance
of the Thesis.
Style Manual
The approved style manual is Kate L. Turabian's A
Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations,
6th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). This
book is available in the School of Theology Library, Mugar
Library, and is on sale in the Barnes and Noble Bookstore
at Boston University and other local bookstores.
Contents
The following order for the parts of the thesis
must be followed:
1. Title page
2. Approval page
3. Copyright page
4. Table of Contents
5. List of Illustrations
6. List of Tables
7. Preface
8. Acknowledgements
9. Abstract
(except Master's Thesis)
10. Text (Chapters)
11. Appendixes
12. Bibliography or Reference
List
(Boldface sections are required.)
Please note that the standards presented throughout this
document are within the capability of good word-processing
programs, but not the smaller programs. The student must find
adequate computer resources to meet these standards. Exceptions
will not be made for inadequate word-processing resources.
Margins and Pagination
The School of Theology requires 1.5 inches on the
left side of the paper, which is greater than the default
on most word-processing programs. The bottom and right
margin should be one inch, and the top margin should be one
inch to the page number and 1.5 inches to the first line of
text. EXCEPTION: If the page begins a major section
as listed on page one, the top margin should be 2 inches (Turabian
14.10). This margin rule applies to ALL pages, including
any appendix materials and any pages with charts, graphs or
other illustrations. Carefully consider this margin
rule for all materials to be included. Letters, questionnaires,
etc., may need to be reduced to meet the margin requirement.
The thesis should be numbered in only two divisions: preliminary
pages (lower case roman numerals) and main text (arabic numerals,
Turabian 14.6-14.8). Begin assigning numbers with the
title page, but do not print numbers on the title page, approval
page, or copyright page. Arabic numerals begin with
Chapter One. A substantive Introduction outlining the
thesis should be called Chapter One. Once you begin
using arabic numerals, number all the pages to the end--through
the text, the appendixes, and the bibliography--in one number
sequence.
In the preliminary section, page numbers appear at the bottom
of the page, centered, 1 inch above the bottom of the paper
(Turabian 14.7). For the text portion of the thesis,
page numbers appear in the upper right corner of the paper,
1 inch below the top of the paper and 1 inch from the right
edge (Turabian 14.8). EXCEPTION: If the page begins
a major section listed on page one, the page number is centered
1 inch above the bottom of the page (Turabian 14.8 and 14.9).
The first page of every major section probably needs to be
formatted as a separate division with its own page setup in
order to place the page number at the bottom.
With some word-processors, the page number position is considered
outside the print area, so your margins may need to be adjusted.
Spacing and Indention
Pages should be printed on one side only. In
general, all text for the thesis proper is double-spaced (Turabian
14.5). Major exceptions are preliminary sections (Preface,
Acknowledgements), Table of Contents (subheadings within chapters),
footnotes (though there is a blank line between entries),
block quotations and the bibliography/reference list (again
with a blank line between entries). Any word-processing
system you use must be capable of printing both single- and
double-spacing on the same page.
The first line of a paragraph should be indented 0.5" from
the left margin, which is the default in most word processing
programs (Turabian 14.4).
All block quotations within a paragraph are indented 3
spaces (or 0.3") from the left margin (Turabian 5.30), thus
not at the same indention as the first line of a paragraph.
(This is an example of margins only: proper block quotations
must be at least eight lines long.)
The first line of footnotes should be indented the same as
the first line of a paragraph. For the bibliography entries,
you should use the hanging indention, so the first line is
at the left margin, but all subsequent lines are indented
the same as the first line of a paragraph. (Turabian 14.13).
Quoted poetry (hymns) may be centered on the longest line
of text then given an even left margin (Turabian 14.4).
DO NOT RIGHT JUSTIFY the text (Turabian 14.3). The
trend is away from hyphenation also, as some automatic programs
do not correctly hyphenate (Turabian 3.37). The ragged
right edge is preferred.
Headings
All major section headings (see page one) are centered,
in all capitals and begin two inches below the top of the
page. No subheadings within chapters are in all capitals.
Chapter and Appendix headings with appropriate numbers are
followed by a blank line, then the title proper, centered
and capitalized. If the title is longer than four inches,
it must be broken into multiple lines: the first must be longer,
and the lines are single-spaced (Turabian 14.10). General
style today is puts these headings in boldface. Always
have two blank lines after the section title.
Subheadings within chapters follow the patterns set in Turabian
1.36. The first two levels are centered, the next two
are left-justified, and the fifth level is the first item
in a paragraph. The first centered or left-justified
heading is boldface, the second centered or left-justified
heading is not boldface. The fifth level is boldface.
All these headings are in upper and lower case. A centered
subheading (first or second level) more than four inches long
is broken into multiple lines, the first longer; the lines
are single-spaced. Left-justified headings (third or
fourth level) more than half the page width are broken into
multiple lines, single-spaced; each line begins at the left
margin (Turabian 14.11).
All subheadings have two blank lines above them (Turabian
14.12). EXCEPTIONS: If the first subheading comes
immediately after the chapter title, you have two blank lines,
not four. When two subheadings occur together, the two
blank lines occur above the grouping with one blank line between
the headings (Turabian 14.12).
Fonts
In general, stick to one simple font, like this,
which is Times New Roman (Turabian 13.27). The font
size should be 12 pt, though 10 pt may be used for footnotes
and block quotations. Do not use larger or smaller fonts.
Be aware that proportional fonts place minimal spaces between
characters, particularly noticeable in the ellipsis marks
(. . .) which are supposed to have blank spaces between each
dot. It may be necessary to insert several spaces between
each period in order to have the proper visual impact.
Boldface is used for section headings and some sub-headings.
Underlining, previously used with typewriters, has been replaced
by either boldface or italics. Use italics for book
and journal titles, and for emphasis within text. If
a book title is in a heading, it may be both boldface and
italics. Check to make certain your font has both boldface
and an italic option.
Quotations
Note that copyright laws do not permit unlimited
quotation of copyrighted material, even if properly cited.
Publishers vary in their interpretation of the law, but in
general you may not quote an entire verse of a poem (hymn)
or more that 250 continuous words of text from a copyrighted
source without seeking permission of the copyright holder.
It is your responsibility to contact the copyright owner to
see if permission is required for the quotations you wish
to use, and formally to acknowledge any permission granted
in an Acknowledgement section and at the site of the quotation.
If you skip over sections within a quotation, you must use
the ellipsis ( . . . ). Please read Turabian 5:18-29
carefully on the use of the ellipsis! Do not use the
ellipsis at the beginning or ending of a quotation (Turabian
5.27).
Regardless of the citation style, biblical references may
be given within parentheses in the text proper and do not
require a footnote. Provide the version if the quoted
material is not from the King James Version.
Citations
The thesis is to be fully annotated and documented;
every statement for which the student is not fully responsible,
whether it is in the form of a direct or indirect quotation,
is to be supported by a reference citation. Turabian
gives the option of using either traditional
footnotes or the parenthetical (author/date)
system similar to APA style. You may not use both in the same
paper! The method used must be selected by the student in
consultation with the faculty advisor and followed consistently.
See Turabian Chapter 8 for details on Footnotes, and Chapter
10 for details on Parenthetical References. Note that
endnotes are not acceptable (Turabian 1.46,
8.2).
Turabian Chapter 11 gives samples in both formats.
Footnote and accompanying bibliography formats are shown in
the examples N. (footnote) and B. (bibliography). Parenthentical
reference formats are shown in examples PR. (parenthetical
reference) and RL. (reference list). You cannot mix entries
from these two different styles. The major differences between
Turabian's parenthetical format and that of APA is that Turabian
requires author's first names, and Turabian does not put the
publication date in parentheses in the Reference List.
Bibliography/Reference List
Sources are listed in the bibliography at the end
of the thesis alphabetically by the author's surnames, or
by corporate body or title in the absence of a personal author.
It is generally preferred to have only one section in the
bibliography, but if extensive material in a special format
or from manuscript sources is used, sections may be created,
using the same subheading style as in the main text.
It is important to remember that all major publications cited
in the text must be found in the bibliography.
Printing
The final two copies submitted to the Library should
be on a white, 8.5x11 inch, 20-pound, bond paper. Crane,
Southworth and Eaton, and others, make this kind of paper.
It is permissible for one copy to be original printer output,
with additional copies being neatly photocopied onto the proper
paper. Printing must be done with a high-quality laser
or ink jet printer. If you change printers for the final
copies, run a test printout first, as printer profiles affect
the output, and changes may occur in the output.
Format Review
The candidate and faculty advisors are responsible
for the content of the paper; format requirements are monitored
by the Thesis Coordinator. A first full draft of the
doctoral dissertation, with preliminary formatting, must be
submitted for format review three months before the anticipated
date of graduation. Corrections should be made and another
draft delivered at the time of the oral examination.
This should serve as a final format review copy before printing
the official version. The Master’s thesis is normally
written during the semester and should be reviewed as soon
as a full draft of the thesis is available.
Submitting Final Copies
Final copies of all theses are due three weeks prior
to graduation. Doctoral degrees require two copies to
be deposited in the Library, with payment for associated costs
(binding and microfilming). The Library will send the
theses to the bindery and to microfilming vendors. The
Master’s degree requires only one copy to be deposited in
the Library, with payment of the binding costs.
Signature requirements vary by degree: the Master's
Thesis requires one signature from the Thesis Director, while
the Doctoral degrees require two signatures (occasionally
more). The student is responsible for obtaining the
faculty signatures whenever possible, however the Library
will attempt to obtain the necessary signatures for out-of-town
students.
Please call Robyn Kinch at (617) 353-3045,
or email her at rkinch@bu.edu, for
more information or for an appointment
with our thesis coordinator.
Sample Pages
Sample pages (requiring Acrobat Reader) are available
for the various degree programs:
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