Cultural Studies Masters thesis presentation and format
Thesis Format
Three copies of the Masters thesis must be submitted for examination to Arts Research and Postgraduate Studies Office by the expected completion date. The thesis copies should be secured in temporary binding; thermal binding is ideal. Two copies are sent to the examiners and the third copy is retained for the Chair of Examiner’s reference at Faculty.
The format required for a Masters Thesis submitted in the Arts Faculty complies with Statute 12.5 of the University's Standing Resolutions, as follows:
- The thesis should be on International Standard Paper Size A4 (measuring 297mm x 210mm).
- Pages should be numbered consecutively and clearly; interpolated sheets should be marked distinctly - eg. 99 (a) or as the case may require.
- Folding diagrams or charts should be arranged so as to open out to the top and right.
- Margins must be 3cm. uniform on all sheets.
- The thesis should be typed in double or 1 1/2 line spacing.
- The thesis may be printed double-sided with a size 10 font (please check with your school on any other typographical or font settings and preferred bibliographical formatting).
The thesis must contain:
- A title page including the full title of the thesis; full name and qualifications of the author; degree for which the thesis is submitted; name of the school and Faculty to which the thesis is submitted; name of the University; month and year the thesis was submitted for the degree; a statement of whether the thesis is submitted in total or partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree, as follows:
- "Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts (by Thesis only)"; or
- "Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts (by Advanced Seminar and Shorter Thesis)".
- The title page must be followed by an abstract of 300-500 words in English.
- The abstract must be followed by a declaration, signed by the student, as follows:
"This is to certify that the thesis comprises only my original work except where indicated in the preface; due acknowledgment has been made in the text to all other material used; the thesis is 30 000 words in length (or 20 000-22 000 for Shorter Thesis), inclusive of footnotes, but exclusive of tables, maps, appendices and bibliography."
- The remainder of the thesis should be formatted as follows: Acknowledgments; Table of Contents; List of Tables, figures and illustrations (not necessary if less than ten list items); Main text; Bibliography; Appendices.
- The name of the author, the title (abbreviated if necessary), degree and the year of submission must be on the spine for the final bound copies only.
Masters students are welcome to seek advice on format and presentation of theses from the Arts Research and Postgraduate Studies Office. Further information about thesis format requirements may be obtained from the University of Melbourne Postgraduate Association publication, Practical Aspects of Producing a Thesis. This publication is kept on the shelves in the reference section of both the Baillieu Library and the ERC Library. Other style manuals are also on the library shelves in the 808.02 area, or for sale in the Melbourne University Bookroom.