IMPORTANT! The Guidelines take precedence over other style guides or department handbooks and example theses provided to you by your instructor. If there seems to be a serious conflict, check with the Library and have your manuscript advisors do the same.
Manuscript front matter, margin, pagination, and document structure requirements are specified throughout this guide, and must be observed as stated, no matter what other guidelines dictate. Remaining format issues are governed by standard publication manuals and/or standards of publication in your discipline.
Because a manuscript or project is usually an objective, unbiased investigation based upon the author's scholarly work, it should be written in a formal scholarly manner appropriate to academic publications. It is important to be consistent in matters of style, usage, and punctuation. Consistency with the style, punctuation, headings, the use of capitalization, and the placement of figures and tables and their corresponding captions should be observed. The presentation of data should be clear and clutter-free, utilizing a legible font and size.
Some manuscripts from the MFA in Creative Writing are creative works and may require minor deviation from the Guidelines in order for creative expression. You are still responsible for creating a document that meets accessibility standards.
Observe the Guidelines as closely as possible and use the formatting tools in your word processing applications for creative styling. Meet with the Scholarly Communications Librarian if you need help with creative formatting.
Word is a robust application that, like Google Docs, allows for shared documents and shared editing. With the desktop version of Word you can do all the formatting required for your manuscript.
If you need help the Library has created an ever growing suite of tutorials that specifically address formatting requirements.
Available to all students via their University Gmail account, Google Docs is an excellent word processing tool, especially if working on group projects. As good as Google Docs is, it is a simpler word processing application that cannot handle the formatting requirements for your thesis.
If you opt to use Google Docs to write the bulk of your manuscript, you will at some point need to download it as a MS Word document and finish the formatting in Word. It’s recommended that you wait until you are finished with writing your manuscript.
Also an excellent word processing application, but the Library does not support Pages and cannot advise you regarding the formatting of your manuscript using Pages.
If you have any questions about Word or Google Docs contact us at dominican.scholar@dominican.edu.
| Page | Page Number | Page Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Title Page | i | Required. Page number is not visible |
| Copyright Statement | ii | Required. |
| Abstract | iii | Required. 250 - 300 words. One page. |
| Acknowledgements | iv | Optional. |
| Table of Contents | v | Required. |
| List of Tables | vi | Required if any table appear in your paper |
| List of Figures | vii | Required if an images appear in your paper |
| List of Abbreviations | viii | Optional |
| The Body | 1 | Required. The main content of your manuscript |
| Bibliography | numbers continue | Well formatted citations |
| Appendices | numbers continue | Appendix titles appear in your Table of Contents |
The title page has 3 sections:
You automatically own the copyright to your work and no one may legally copy any part of it without your permission. You also may choose to use a Creative Commons copyright to give readers more flexibility with what they can do with your manuscript or sections of your manuscript. If you have questions about copyright options please contact The Scholarly Communications Librarian
An acknowledgments page includes a short paragraph acknowledging those people who helped and supported you through the manuscript process. People have included instructors, advisors, parents, siblings, significant others, pets, etc.
Your manuscript must include a Table of Contents listing all major headings that appear including the Abstract, Acknowledgements, List of Tables, and List of Figures.
Page numbers listed in the table of contents correspond with the material presented in your manuscript. If you are asked to make revisions within your manuscript, make sure to check that the page numbers listed in the Table of Contents, List of Tables, and List of Figures are still correct. Any headings, subheadings, or captions listed in the front matter must match exactly with those that appear within the manuscript.
MS Word
The body of your thesis is the main portion of your manuscript. Follow the general formatting as described under the General Formatting tab
IMPORTANT! The Guidelines take precedence over other style guides or department handbooks and example theses provided to you by your instructor. If there seems to be a serious conflict, check with the Library and have your manuscript advisors do the same.
Manuscript front matter, margin, pagination, and document structure requirements are specified throughout this guide, and must be observed as stated, no matter what other guidelines dictate. Remaining format issues are governed by standard publication manuals and/or standards of publication in your discipline.
An online citation manager to organize your research and create bibliographies to help you avoid plagiarism. RefWorks can format in 900+ styles including APA, MLA, Chicago, AMA. Learn more about using RefWorks and what it can do for you.