University Guidelines Manual Formatting

Rules: Chapters, Appendices, and References Lists

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:

http://www.csulb.edu/library/guide/serv9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday

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: Front Pages

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. A template for formatting the signature page is available on the Thesis Office web pages.

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

Chapters—General Rules Two inch top margin for first page of

each chapter and one inch top margin for all other pages

Chapter 1 begins with page 1 (Arabic numerals) and all pages that follow have page numbers, numbered in sequence, to the end of the document

Paragraph format throughout chapters Uniform double line spacing in text,

chapter titles and subheads All uppercase letters for lines indicating

chapter number and chapter title If URLs are used within text, break URLs

to fill line with text before continuing to a new line (depending on style guide being used, hyperlink may also need to be removed)

Be consistent with capitalization and use of hyphens within words or phrases

Block quotes can use single line spacing or double line spacing with line spacing consistent for all block quotes

Chapters—SubheadsSubheads are not required, but they are often used to create divisions and then subdivisions within chapters. They help the reader keep track of the topic being covered in each division and subdivision

FIRST LEVEL SUBHEAD Underlined Headline Style of Capitalization On a line by itself Centered

SECOND LEVEL SUBHEAD Underlined Headline Style of Capitalization On a line by itself Begins at left margin

THIRD LEVEL SUBHEAD Underlined Sentence style of capitalization Paragraph indentation On the same line as text Ends with a period

SPACING For first or second level subheads,

subheads of two or more lines are single line spaced

Chapters—Numbered Items1. Microsoft Word automatically formats

numbered items with uniform left indentation as the first three numbered items illustrate.

2. The University Guidelines Manual requires paragraph format.

3. University Guidelines Manual wins! Indent the first line of each item, including the number, like a paragraph, and start all other lines at the left margin. The highlighted lines to the left and items 4 and 5 below illustrate numbered items formatted like paragraphs.

4. One way to create numbered paragraphs is to type in the text of the numbered items without the numbers and indent the first line of each item. 5. Start with the last item in the numbered list and add a number, a period and two spaces before the first word. Add a number, a period and two spaces to each item, working in reverse order and ending with 1.

Chapters—Big No-Nos

No bold font

No font color other than black

No highlighting or shading

No contractions

No outlines

No bulleted lists

No right justification

Chapters—Other Common Mistakes Use 12 point font size for

text, page numbers, footnotes, table titles and table notes, and figure captions

Periods and “commas,” inside “quotation marks.”

Use two dashes—with no space before or after dashes—to create “em” (long) dash

Widows and orphans (single lines at top or bottom of page) are not allowed; move subheads at bottom of page to the top of the next page

The first time each acronym (or abbreviation) is used in text, write out the complete term followed by the acronym in parentheses; after that, the acronym can be used in all text that follows without the term being written out

Use consistent style for quotation marks: "straight" versus “smart” (curved)

For ellipsis . . . use 3-4 period dots with a space before and after each dot

Tables Table titles are placed ABOVE

the table Each line of the table title begins

at the left margin. The table title begins with the header TABLE (all uppercase letters) then the number of the table, a period and two spaces

The wording of the table title uses Headline Style of Capitalization (first word and all significant words capitalized). Multi-line table titles are single line spaced

Align all numbers in each column of a table by decimal or assumed decimal and use commas in numbers 1,000 or more

Material within tables can be single line-spaced or double line-spaced

Tables—Continued to a Second Page Do not box tables; omit lines on

the left and right edge Notes are placed underneath

tables. Each line of a note begins at the left margin. Use single line spacing for table notes

Font style within a table matches font style of text, but a slightly smaller font size (10 or 11 point font) can be used

Tables must fill a complete page before continuing to another page. For subsequent pages of a table, include the column headers used on the first page of the table and use the title:

TABLE [# of table]. Continued Use spanner line only at the end

of a table. Omit spanner line at bottom of page if table continues to another page

Figures

Figure captions are placed BELOW the figure

Each line of the figure caption begins at the left margin. The caption begins with the header FIGURE (all uppercase letters) then the number of the figure, a period and two spaces

The wording of the caption uses Sentence style of capitalization (First word capitalized plus any word that would be capitalized in a sentence such as California). Multi-line figure captions are single line spaced

A figure must be complete on one page

3-4 blank lines (singleline-spaced)

3-4 blank lines (singleline-spaced)

Figures—Landscape Orientation

Different font styles and font sizes and can be used in figures as long as text is legible

Color and shading can be used in figures

Figure captions end with a period but do not have to be grammatically correct sentences

To simplify the list of figures, begin captions with a short descriptive phrase ending with a period and then add as much information as needed. In the list of figures, you only need to include the words of each caption up to the first period

Landscape orientation can be used for figures or tables. A text box is used to insert a page number to match location of page number on other pages

Use 1 ½ inch top margin

Use text box to insert page number

Placement of Tables and FiguresOPTIONSTables and figures can be placed in an appendix OR on pages by themselves (one, two, or three on a page) OR on pages with text OR any combination of these options

IN APPENDIXPlacement of tables or figures in sequence with no text simplifies formatting of tables and figures and makes them easy for readers to locate

ON PAGE WITHOUT TEXTIf a table or figure appears on a page without text, center the table or figure on the page; that is, use the same amount of blank space above and below the table or figure

ON PAGE WITH TEXTIf a table or figure appears on a page with text, there should be extra spacing—3 to 4 blank single line-spaced lines (from ½ to ¾ inch of blank space)—between the text and the table or figure. Add extra spacing above if text appears above the table or figure, add extra spacing below if text appears below the table or figure, and add extra spacing above and below if text appears above and below the table or figure

Mind the Gap Extra blank space cannot be left at the bottom of a page of text to

accommodate placement of a table or figure Figures cannot be split onto two pages and tables can only continue

to another page if the table is long enough to fill more than one page If more text remains in the chapter following a table or figure, that

text should be moved forward to fill blank space at the bottom of a page that has text on it

Text should be moved forward even if that means separating a table or figure from text that describes it or even if that text includes a new subhead

Include the required blank space (1/2 inch or 3-4 blank single line-spaced lines) below a table or figure

If only one line of text or a subhead and one line of text can fit below the space below the table or figure, then that text can be moved to the next page

As a rule of thumb, there should not be more than an inch of blank space on a page below the text or below a table or figure on a page with text

WRONG PLACEMENT

OPTION ONE—Page filled with text and figure placed on next page with text

OPTION TWO—Page filled with text and figure placed on next page with no text

Single Appendix

Use appendices for material that cannot be formatted with paragraph structure such as flyers, computer code, or instruction manuals

Title pages are used to introduce appendices. Titles use all uppercase letters and double line spacing and are centered on the page

For appendix titles, fill line with text before continuing to another line

If there is only one appendix, use the word APPENDIX as the first line and then the title of the appendix on the next line

In the table of contents, refer to the page number of the title page; for a single appendix, there is only one listing in the table of contents

APPENDIX: TITLE OF APPENDIX

and then dot leaders and page number

Multiple Appendices For more than one appendix, begin

with a separate APPENDICES title page followed by the title page for the first appendix which contains the words APPENDIX A then the appendix title

In the table of contents, refer to the page number of the title pages

APPENDICES……………...……… 45

A. TITLE OF APPENDIX …… 46

Each page of the material within appendices (as well as all title pages) must have page numbers in sequence following the last page of the text

All material within appendices must maintain the 1 ½ inch left margin and 1 inch top, right, and bottom margins

Consider blocking out or omitting personal email addresses and phone numbers if included on flyers or forms

References List Each department has designated a

style guide to use for formatting the citations in the references list (style guides listed on the Thesis Office web page)

A separate title page comes before the references list with a title like REFERENCES or BIBLIOGRAPHY (in all uppercase) centered on the page. The page number of this title page is the page number listed in the table of contents

Begin the first page of citations with a title (such as REFERENCES or BIBLIOGRAPHY) in all uppercase letters and centered on the first line; use a two inch top margin for the first page

Format each citation with a hanging indent. The first line begins at the left margin with subsequent lines indented; both numbered and unnumbered citations use hanging indent

References List Use single line spacing within

the citations and leave a blank line between citations

Do not break up a citation onto two pages. Move a “broken” citation to the top of the next page if needed

All sources cited in your manuscript must be included in the references list

Be consistent with spacing within citations: single spacing following periods and colons is acceptable in the references list; use one space or zero space consistently between initials

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