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ANU

Australian National University

Ph.D. Thesis Formatting Guidelines

Official layout specifications, binding margins, and document formatting requirements.

Governing Body: ANU Graduate Research Office & Academic Quality (ACT, AU)

Degree Scope:🎓 Ph.D. / Doctoralℹ️ Master's / M.Tech. format requires departmental / DPGC confirmation unless a central handbook is cited
Official Handbook:
ANU Procedure: Higher Degree by Research - Submission and Examination of Theses
View Official Handbook ↗
Paper Dimensions
A4 (210 mm × 297 mm)
Binding Margins
25 mm Left / 25 mm Right
Standard Typography
Arial (11pt)
Line Spacing
1.5x

1. Page Setup & Geometry

Page dimensions, binding margins, and print/digital alignments

A4
Top: 25 mm
Binding: 25 mm
[Header]Page 1
[Front matter]
Right: 25 mm
Bottom: 25 mm
Left (Binding Gutter)
25mm
Right Margin
25mm
Top Margin
25mm
Bottom Margin
25mm
Margin Specification: Standard digital thesis: 25 mm (2.5 cm) on all sides. Hard copies for examiners may require 40 mm left/odd-left and 20 mm other sides.

2. Typography & Spacing Hierarchy

Font selections, heading styles, line spacing, and paragraph indentation

Arial
Body Font
Arial
Font Size
11pt
Line Spacing
1.5x
Paragraph Indent
0.5 in
Approved Typefaces:ArialTimes New RomanCalibriAptos
Spacing Exceptions: Single spacing used only for indented quotations, footnotes, and bibliographies.

3. Technical & Archival Compliance

ETD ProQuest repository requirements, table spanning, and vector DPI rules

Institute ETD / library deposit
Tables Layout

Table captions: above.

Figures & Graphics

Figure captions: below. Colour photography minimum 300 DPI.

Math & Formulae

Right-aligned equation numbers (chapter.seq). Preserves native MathML and Word equation blocks.

Archival Preservation

Library ETD guideline: PDF/A-1b (Note: ScholarSpec formats submission-ready Word .docx documents; export to PDF/A upon final committee approval).

4. Preliminary Pages Checklist & Order

Strict graduate school ordering, title page numbering suppression, and Roman pagination

Mandatory Sequence
  1. 1
    Title PageMandatory
    Pagination: suppressed counted
  2. 2
    Copyright NoticeMandatory
    Pagination: suppressed counted
  3. 3
    Declaration of Original WorkMandatory
    Pagination: suppressed counted
  4. 4
    AcknowledgmentsMandatory
    Pagination: roman visible
  5. 5
    AbstractMandatory
    Pagination: roman visible
  6. 6
    Table of ContentsMandatory
    Pagination: roman visible

6. Academic Integrity, Similarity & AI Policy

Plagiarism threshold, similarity checking software, and Generative AI disclosure rules

Policy & Disclosure
Generative AI Policy
Disclosure Statement Required

Third-party editorial advice and generative AI usage must be explicitly disclosed and acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section. Candidates must maintain logs of tools and prompts.

Chapter Opening & Print Setup

Chapter start placement, top margin drops, single vs double-sided print, and paper weight

Layout
Printing Format
Single or Double-Sided

8. Institutional & Departmental Policies

Thesis must be ISO A4 size (297mm x 210mm).
First page must state: 'A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor [or Master, as appropriate] of Philosophy of The Australian National University.'
Copyright notice must be centered at the bottom of the first page: © Copyright by [Candidate’s Full Name] [Year] All Rights Reserved.
Second page must contain a statement signed by the candidate indicating the extent of original work and word count.
RTP Scholarship recipients must include specific acknowledgement: 'This research was supported by the Commonwealth through an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship [DOI: https://doi.org/10.82133/C42F-K220]'.
Third-party editorial advice and generative AI usage must be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments.
Electronic abstract must use standard text only.
Bibliographical standards must be consistent with the discipline.
Hard examination copies may require specific margins: 40mm left/odd-left, 20mm top/right/bottom.
iThenticate Similarity Report is required prior to submission.
Institutional Policy: Oral presentation is a required milestone prior to thesis submission.
Institutional Policy: Candidates commencing prior to 1 July 2024 may opt into oral examination.
Institutional Policy: If a Primary Supervisor does not endorse submission, the Delegated Authority reviews the thesis and may recommend examiners on behalf of the supervisor without notifying examiners of the lack of endorsement until the final outcome.

Notice a discrepancy in this 2024 handbook?

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  • Verified 2026-10-13 against primary sources: ANU Procedure ANUP_012812 and ANUP_012814; A4 paper, 25 mm margins (40 mm left for print), 1.5 line spacing, 500-word abstract cap, GenAI and editorial disclosure.
  • Thesis must be ISO A4 size (297 mm x 210 mm). Standard digital submissions use 25 mm margins on all sides.
  • Hard examination copies (if requested) require 40 mm left/odd-left binding margin and 20 mm other edges.
  • Generative AI usage and third-party editorial advice must be explicitly acknowledged.