University Guidelines Manual Formatting Rules: Front Pages

A Guide for CSULB Master’s Degree Candidates

Thesis and Dissertation OfficeCalifornia State University, Long Beach

University Library, Room 501email: lib-thesis@csulb.edu

phone: (562) 985-4013web:

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Contact us any time! We’ll get back to you by the next business day!

Get the Complete Picture

This PowerPoint slideshow only covers one segment of the many University Guidelines Manual formatting rules. To get the complete picture, you also need to refer to these slideshows.

Electronic Submission and Basic University Guidelines Manual Formatting Rules

University Guidelines Manual Formatting Rules: Chapters, Appendices, and References Lists

These and other materials that can help you format your manuscript are available on the Thesis and Dissertation Office web pages.

Thesis Office Web Pages

University Guidelines Manual (revised version due in February) Mini-Manuscript (samples of formatting for all pages of document) Templates for signature page, title page and much more PowerPoints about formatting rules Go to http://csulb.libguides.com/thesisformat or click through from

University Library home page

Big News! Signature Page Is Now Separate from Manuscript

The procedure for electronic submission requires that the signature page be printed and signed with all signatures and then delivered to the Thesis and Dissertation Office.

So, the signature page must be created as a separate item from the PDF manuscript that will be uploaded online.

The information on the signature page must match the information on the abstract and title page.

Signature Page Fill page from top margin to

bottom margin Leave enough room for

professors to sign their names The person who signs the last

signature (College Designee) varies by department. The Thesis Office Format Guide web page has a list with names of college designees

Title is centered and in all uppercase letters

Use inverted pyramid format for title (longest line first followed by progressively shorter lines)

Match wording and line breaks of title on signature page with title on abstract and title page

Your name must match on these three pages too

NO page number Template online

University Guidelines Versus Departmental Style Manuals

The formatting rules in the CSULB University Guidelines Manual ALWAYS take precedence over the style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) or other citation format styles (IEEE, AAA, etc.) required by your department

What Are Front Pages?

Front pages, or front matter, is a term used for the part of a manuscript that gives information to the reader about the content of the manuscript. Basically, anything that comes before the first page of the first chapter can be called front pages

Front Pages Used in CSULB Manuscripts

ABSTRACTTITLE PAGECOPYRIGHT PAGE*ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS*TABLE OF CONTENTSLIST OF TABLES**LIST OF FIGURES**LIST OF WORKS**LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS*PREFACE*

*This section is not required.**This section is only required if numbered items (tables, figures, etc.) are part of manuscript.

Abstract Two inch top margin on first page

and one inch top margin for page that follows

Uniform double line spacing in title area and text area

Title is centered and in all uppercase letters

Use inverted pyramid format for title (longest line first followed by progressively shorter lines)

Match wording and line breaks of title on abstract, title page, and signature page

Your name must match on these three pages too

Use Arabic numerals (1, 2) for page numbers ONLY if the abstract is more than one page long. No page number is used for a one-page abstract

No citations or direct quotations Paragraph format Template online

Title Page Fill page from top margin to

bottom margin Use double line spacing within

five blocks of text EXCEPT use single line spacing

between names of committee members

Space blocks of text evenly on the page

Title is centered and in all uppercase letters

Use inverted pyramid format for title (longest line first followed by progressively shorter lines)

Match wording and line breaks of title on abstract, title page, and signature page

Your name must match on these three pages too

NO page number Template online

Copyright Page

This page is not required Text is positioned just

above bottom margin Use double line spacing First line: The word

“Copyright” followed by current year

Second line: Your name Third line: All uppercase

letters—ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

As the author of your manuscript, you own the copyright to your work even if you do not include this page and even if you do not register your work with the Copyright Office

NO page number Template online

Acknowledgements Page This page is not required Use lowercase Roman numeral

(iii) for first page and number all pages that follow in sequence

Two inch top margin for first page and one inch top margin for pages that follow

Title can be spelled ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS or ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Title is centered and in all uppercase letters

A dedication can be included in the acknowledgements, but a separate dedication page is not allowed

Contractions are not allowed Use double line spacing and

paragraph format Use 2 spaces after punctuation

at the end of sentences If you received funding for you

research, you can mention the funder on this page

Table of Contents Two inch top margin for first page

and one inch top margin for pages that follow

Use lowercase Roman numerals for page numbers—begin with iii if there is no acknowledgements page or number in sequence after last page of acknowledgements

List all major sections, all chapter titles and all first level subheads

Match the wording of listings in table of contents with the wording of titles in text

Double check that page numbers match too

If you choose to include even one second or third level subhead in the table of contents, then ALL second AND third level subheads must be included in the table of contents

Table of Contents—Second Page

Include headings—CHAPTER (above column of chapter numbers) and Page (above column of page numbers)

On the first page, the headings are located within the other elements. On all other pages, they are located at the top of the page

Subheads and multi-line chapter titles are single line spaced, but leave a blank line before and after chapter titles and appendix titles as well as other elements using all uppercase letters like LIST OF TABLES and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dot leaders end in alignment 3-4 spaces before the longest page number (programmed as a right-aligned tab)

Page numbers are also right aligned using a right-aligned tab

Template online

List of Tables Two inch top margin for first page and

one inch top margin for pages that follow

Use lowercase Roman numerals for page numbers--numbered in sequence after last page of table of contents

List all numbered tables that appear in text and appendices

Match the wording of listings in list of tables with the wording of table titles in text

Match page numbers in text and list of tables

Headline style capitalization for table titles—Capitalize the First Word and All Significant Words

For each listing, indent 3-4 spaces, then list table number and period, then list table title

Leave blank line between table titles

List of Tables—Second Page Include headings—TABLE (above

column of table numbers) and Page (above column of page numbers)

On the first page, the headings are located under title (LIST OF TABLES). On all other pages, they are located at the top of the page

Use single line spacing for multi-line table titles and increase indentation for lines that follow first line

Dot leaders end in alignment 3-4 spaces before the longest page number (programmed as a right-aligned tab) and page numbers are also right aligned

Template online

List of Figures Two inch top margin for first page and

one inch top margin for pages that follow

Use lowercase Roman numeral page numbers—numbered in sequence after last page of preceding section

List all numbered figures that appear in text and appendices

Match the wording of listings in list of figures with the wording of figure captions in text

In the list of figures, include all words up to the first period in figure caption used in the text

Begin captions with short descriptive phrase and end with a period in the text. This keeps listings in list of figures short—one or two lines

Match page numbers in list of figures and text

Sentence style capitalization for figure captions—Capitalize first word and any word that would be capitalized in a sentence such as California

List of Figures—Second Page Include headings—FIGURE (above

column of figure numbers) and Page (above column of page numbers)

On the first page, the headings are located under title (LIST OF FIGURES). On all other pages, they are located at top of page

For each listing, indent 3-4 spaces, then list figure number and period, then list figure caption

Leave blank line between figure captions

Use single line spacing for multi-line figure captions and increase indentation for lines that follow first line

Dot leaders end in alignment 3-4 spaces before the longest page number (programmed as a right-aligned tab) and page numbers are also right aligned

Template online

List of Works Two inch top margin for first page and

one inch top margin for pages that follow

Use lowercase Roman numeral page numbers—numbered in sequence after last page of preceding section (or use iii if this is first listing section used for School of Art Master of Fine Arts project report)

List all numbered works in text and appendices

Include heading (WORK) above column of work numbers—under title on first page and on first line of page on pages that follow

For each listing, indent 3-4 spaces, then list work number and period, then list title or brief description of work

Leave blank line between items Use single line spacing for multi-line

items and increase indentation for lines that follow first line

Add a two inch divider line and then a footnote at bottom of first page

Footnote is indented and single line spaced

Template online

Text for footnote: DVD images of these works are available as supplemental files to this PDF. (The acronym CD can be used instead of DVD if needed)

List of Abbreviations

This page is not required Two inch top margin for first page

and one inch top margin for pages that follow

Use lowercase Roman numeral page numbers—numbered in sequence after last page of preceding section

No headings are used above columns on the first page or on pages that follow

The column of abbreviations or acronyms is aligned along the left margin

The column of terms is aligned under the word LIST in the title (LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS)

Use one blank line between each item

Use single line spacing for items that continue beyond one line

Template online

Preface This page is not required Two inch top margin for first

page and one inch top margin for pages that follow

Use lowercase Roman numeral page numbers—numbered in sequence after last page of preceding section

The title PREFACE is usually used for a section that precedes the numbered chapters, but the title INTRODUCTION can be used if there is no chapter with that title

There can be only one unnumbered section that precedes the numbered chapters

Use the same formatting for the text in a preface that is used for the text in the chapters

Much, Much More!

This is only one part of a three-part series of slideshows covering the major University Guidelines Manual formatting rules. There are specific rules for every section of the document and fundamental formatting rules that affect the entire document. Be sure to go online and check out the other PowerPoint slideshows with formatting rules. Don’t forget the Mini-Manuscript, templates and the University Guidelines Manual itself. All of them can be accessed from: http://csulb.libguides.com/thesisformat

We love questions!

(562) 985-4013lib-thesis@csulb.edu