Download Standards for Preparing Theses and Dissertations at Mississippi

Standards for Preparing Theses and
Dissertations
at
Mississippi State University
Mary Ann Jones
Assistant Professor
Electronic Serials Librarian
Supervisor - T/D Format Review
Technical Services
Mitchell Memorial Library
325-2170
[email protected]
Where to get the Standards

T/D webpage
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
www.library.msstate.edu/etd
Graduate Studies website
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http://www.msstate.edu/dept/grad/
Thesis and Dissertation link
Margins
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Page margins
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1.5” left
1” right
1” top
1” bottom
Page numbers
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Make sure your page numbers are not “in” the margin.
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Set your bottom margins to 1.25”
Set your footer margin at 1”
 MS Word
 Page setup
 Layout tab
Title page
All text is centered
 Title must be in all CAPS
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No other formatting options
If title is more than one
Title must be in inverted-pyramid style
 Identification of degree statement

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line, it should
look like
this.
Must exactly match the wording given in the Standards
Location is always Mississippi State, Mississippi
 Date should be month/year
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May, December, August
Optional pages
Copyright page
 Dedication page
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To whom you want to dedicate your work
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Family
Friends
Acknowledgements
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To whom you want to acknowledge that may have helped
along the way
Thank you’s for contributions, help, etc

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Professors
Committee members
 Guidance
Signature/Committee approval page
Must meet the margin requirements
 The title should match your title page
 Signature lines
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Major professor/Director
Graduate advisor (if different from major professor)
Each committee member
Department Graduate Coordinator
Dean of School/College
Names

Do NOT include degree designations after the person’s
name, i.e. John Smith, Ph.D.
Abstract page
Top margin should be 1.5”
 Follow example in Standards

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Page 36
Date of degree

Exact date of your graduation ceremony
Title must be in all CAPS
 Pages in Study
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Must match the number of your last page
Length – Strictly enforced
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Dissertation = 350 words or less
Thesis = 150 words or less
Table of Contents
Follow instructions and example on pages 42-46 of
the Standards
 Top margin is 2”
 Format using dot leaders (not the . key)
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This will line up your dots
MS Word
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Format – Paragraph
Tabs button in the left, bottom corner
Right tab stop at 6.0
Choose #2 for the dot leaders
Page numbers must be right aligned.
TOC cont.

Indent second level headings by at least 3 spaces

Indent each subsequent level by at least 3 spaces
Add one blank line (double space) between chapters.
 A heading should not exceed the dot leaders
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Indent the second and any subsequent lines at least 5 spaces.
Headings in the TOC must match exactly the wording,
punctuation, capitalization, etc. of the headings in the
body.
 Page number is lower case Roman numerals

List of Tables and List of Figures
Top margin is 2”
 Format using dot leaders (same as TOC)
 Must be Arabic numerals
 Numbers must be aligned by the decimal (.)
 Page numbers must be right aligned.
 A title should not exceed the dot leaders


Indent the second and any subsequent lines at least 5 spaces
Titles in the LOT/LOF must match exactly the
wording, punctuation, capitalization, etc. of the titles in
the body.
 Add one blank line (double space) between titles

First page of each chapter
Top margin is 2”
 Chapter heading and title must be all CAPS, centered,
no other formatting options
 If chapter title is more than one line, use double
spaced, inverted-pyramid style.
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Headings and subheadings
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Each level of heading/subheading must be formatted
differently.
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Use bold, italics, underline, and alignment as formatting
options
Can’t use all CAPS as formatting option
Example on next slide:
Mississippi State University
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Agricultural Economics
Agribusiness Major
Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics Major
Agricultural Law and Policy Concentration
Environmental and Resource Economics Concentration
Food Marketing Concentration
Production Economics Concentration
Body

Consistent font and size
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Type size of 10 – 12
Standard font must be used
Spacing issues – use of “blank lines” in the Standards
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No blank lines = single space
One blank line = double space
Two blank lines = triple space
Three blank lines = quadruple space
All headings/subheadings must have 2-3 blank lines
above.
 All headings/subheadings must have only 1 blank line
below (between it and the text)

Body cont.
All paragraphs must be indented
 No widows/orphans
 All equations must be numbered
 Consistently use left or full justification
 Excessive white space should be avoided if at all
possible


If two tables will fit on the same page, don’t use separate
pages resulting in excessive white space.
Reference material

May be at the end of each chapter or at the end of the
document.

If at the end of each chapter, the References page must start
on a new page.
Top margin is 2”
 Single space each entry
 Double space between entries
 Use a consistent style


Talk to your major professor or graduate coordinator for
advice on which style guide to use.
Appendices
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Each appendix must have a divider page with
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Appendix heading, i.e. A, B, etc.
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Appendix title
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All CAPS
All CAPS
If more than one line, use double spaced, inverted-pyramid style
Double space in between Appendix heading and title
Appendices must remain inside the required page
margins.
Tables
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Arabic numerals are used to number tables.
May not appear in bold
Table titles appear above table
Spacing
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Leave 2 or 3 blank lines between bottom of text and table number.
Leave 2 or 3 blank lines between bottom of table and next paragraph.
Leave 1 blank line between table title and table.
Use one of two styles

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Centered
Left-aligned
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Examples on next slide
Table 4.1
PARAMETERS FOR OPTIMAL INDIVIDUAL FORECASTING MODELS
FOR SIMULATED DATA
Individual
Case #1
Case #2
Case #3
Case #4
Composi
te
Forecastin
g
Positive
correl.
Positive
correl.
Negative
correl.
Negative
correl.
Models:
Parameter
s
Low variance
High
variance
Low variance
High variance
MAVG
n =
6
6
6
6
SES
a =
0.37
0.37
0.05
0.03
Holt’s
a =
0.40
0.40
0.05
0.05
g =
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
a =
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
b =
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
g =
0.40
0.40
0.05
0.05
Winter’s
Table 2
8
Weekly Rates of Return of Selected International Stock Markets by Year
Year
Australia
France
Germany
Hong
Kong
Japan
Sing./
Mal.
Spain
Swede
n
U.K.
U.S.
World
*1978
5.264
11.610
2.846
3.047
8.024
8.046
1.822
1.901
3.790
2.037
3.606
1979
5.654
4.234
-1.632
9.616
-3.115
4.308
-1.471
-0.763
2.589
1.472
1.229
1980
7.252
-1.536
-2.897
10.409
4.210
9.099
-1.631
2.247
5.092
3.961
3.633
1981
-5.163
-8.218
-2.730
-3.396
3.109
2.825
0.450
5.673
-2.961
-1.835
-1.413
1982
-5.887
-1.716
1.200
-12.351
-0.309
-4.019
-9.351
3.389
0.628
2.691
1.109
1983
7.507
43468
3.569
-1.698
3.806
4.788
-3.201
7.440
2.009
2.960
3.230
1984
-3.073
0.451
-1.531
5.823
2.763
-6.230
4.393
-5.221
-0.091
0.086
0239
1985
2-565
10.348
15.480
7.345
6.514
-5.956
6.380
7.763
7.006
4.445
5.794
1986
6.244
12.115
5.939
7.720
13.196
7.242
14.437
9.636
3.824
3.093
6.706
1987
0.972
-3.504
-5.576
-1.006
6.596
0.203
5.930
0.250
6.02
-0.155
2.459
1988
5.880
5.542
3.292
4.022
5.986
5.300
1.708
7.442
0.014
2.169
3.762
1989
1.120
5.896
7.122
1.032
0.391
6.583
1.544
4.984
2.958
4.324
2.625
1990
-4.778
-3.453
-2.292
0.589
-8.838
-2.962
-4.159
-5.219
1.193
-1.047
-4.044
NOTE: All weekly returns are converted in U.S. dollars and, for improved readability, are multiplied by 1,000.
** Weekly return based on February – December 1978.
Figures

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Arabic numerals are used to number tables.
May not appear in bold
Figure titles appear below figure
Spacing




Leave 2 or 3 blank lines between bottom of text and table number.
Leave 2 or 3 blank lines between bottom of table and next paragraph.
Leave 1 blank line between table title and table.
Use one of two styles


Centered
Left-aligned

Examples on next slide
In pu t 4 forecasts
i n to th e gatin g
n etw ork
Ou tpu t 4 w eigh ts
from th e gatin g
n etw ork
Dev elop com posite forecast from
th e 4 w eigh ts an d calcu late th e
error
Yes
Is th e error ‘sm all’
en ou gh ?
A ssign m ore w eigh t to
t h e best in div idu al
forecast an d less w eigh t
to th e oth er forecasts
No
A ssign equ al w eigh t
to th e 4 forecasts
(0.25)
Figure 4.6
Modular Neural Network Training Procedure
18
16
Coefficient of Variation
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Portfoli o
#1
Figure 4.1
Portfoli o
#2
Portfoli o
#3
Portfoli o
#4
Portfoli o
#5
Risk/Return Characteristics of Selected International Portfolios: January 1990
December 1994