Imagine having written a valuable dissertation, with original findings and thorough analysis, and losing out on marks because of faulty format. The dejection would be considerable. The strictness, with which the universities across the world follow formatting styles, makes the knowledge about the rules essential. Formatting means much more than having a proper structure. It is necessary to follow the rules regarding language style, citation, font used and pagination style, amongst others.
The dissertation needs to be submitted in three parts, with preliminary documents like proposal being the first to be handed over. This is followed by text or the various chapters of dissertations including literature review chapter, research methodology chapter, Data Analysis Chapter, Discussions Chapter and Conclusions Chapter. The last to go will be the reference list, and the bibliography. The chapters have to be written in the set format. There can be various citation styles like Chicago, APA, MLA, Turabian, and Harvard. The correct style will be explained by the guide or supervisor and the scholar can even take the help of professional editors for checking the format.
As far as the font is concerned, Times New Roman, Arial, Tahoma, and Century gothic are the most recommended ones. The font should not be in italics or decorative style for the main body of text, though it can be so for tables and graphs, foreign language, quotations, and images. The minimum font size 10, and 12 is the most preferred size. There must be adequate margins left for copying, microfilming and binding of the document. A margin of 1.5 inches on top and one inch from bottom of every page is recommended. The paper used must be white, unlined and non-punched. Though these specifications vary and some institutions might need a different paper type or margin space.
Even for paging of the chapters, there are certain rules; and some pages might have roman numbering while others have Arabic. Footnotes must be included properly, and the university must be consulted as to enquire about the number of copies required for submission. Place your order today and feel the difference our dissertation formatting experts would get for your dissertation.