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London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Ph.D. Thesis Formatting Guidelines

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

Governing Body: PhD Academy & LSE Library Services (London, UK)

Degree Scope:🎓 Ph.D. / Doctoralℹī¸ Master's / M.Tech. format requires departmental / DPGC confirmation unless a central handbook is cited
Official Handbook:
LSE PhD Academy: Formatting and binding your thesis
View Official Handbook ↗
Paper Dimensions
A4 (210 mm × 297 mm)
Binding Margins
40 mm Left / 20 mm Right
Standard Typography
Times New Roman (12pt)
Line Spacing
1.5x

1. Page Setup & Geometry

Page dimensions, binding margins, and print/digital alignments

A4
Top: 20 mm
Binding: 40 mm
[Header]Page 1
[Front matter]
Right: 20 mm
Bottom: 20 mm
Left (Binding Gutter)
40mm
Right Margin
20mm
Top Margin
20mm
Bottom Margin
20mm
Margin Specification: Margins at the binding edge must not be less than 40 mm; all other margins must not be less than 20 mm.

2. Typography & Spacing Hierarchy

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

Times New Roman
Body Font
Times New Roman
Font Size
12pt
Line Spacing
1.5x
Paragraph Indent
0.5 in
Approved Typefaces:Times New RomanArialCalibri
Spacing Exceptions: Single spacing may be used for indented quotations or footnotes.

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
    Requirement: Must state: thesis title, candidate name, 'A thesis submitted to the Department of... of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy', and date.
  2. 2
    Declaration of AuthorshipMandatory
    Pagination: roman visible
    Requirement: Must certify work is candidate's own and include explicit disclosure of any AI assistance.
  3. 3
    AbstractMandatory
    Pagination: roman visible
  4. 4
    AcknowledgementsOptional / If Applicable
    Pagination: roman visible
  5. 5
    Table of ContentsMandatory
    Pagination: roman visible
  6. 6
    List of FiguresOptional / If Applicable
    Pagination: roman visible
  7. 7
    List of TablesOptional / If Applicable
    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

LSE PhD Academy requires explicit disclosure of any computational/AI tools used during thesis preparation; unacknowledged AI text constitutes academic misconduct.

Chapter Opening & Print Setup

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

Layout
Printing Format
Single-Sided

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  • Margins at the binding edge must not be less than 40 mm; all other margins must not be less than 20 mm.
  • Double or 1.5 line spacing for main body text; single spacing for indented quotations and footnotes.
  • Electronic deposit via LSE Theses Online.
  • Corrected 2026-10-13 against primary sources: LSE PhD Academy Formatting and Binding Guidelines v1.2. Single-sided printing strictly required ('Only one side of the paper may be used'). Continuous Arabic numbering from title page onwards. Binding edge margin minimum 40 mm, other margins minimum 20 mm. Line spacing 1.5x or double. Header/footer margins unstated in handbook and set to null.