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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ph.D. Dissertation & Master's Thesis Formatting Guidelines

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

Governing Body: MIT Libraries & Office of Graduate Education (MA, US)

Degree Scope:🎓 Ph.D. / Doctoralℹī¸ Master's / M.Tech. format requires departmental / DPGC confirmation unless a central handbook is cited
Official Handbook:
MIT Specifications for Thesis Preparation
View Official Handbook ↗
Paper Dimensions
Letter (8.5 in × 11.0 in)
Binding Margins
1 in Left / 1 in Right
Standard Typography
Times New Roman (12pt)
Line Spacing
Double Spaced (2.0x)

1. Page Setup & Geometry

Page dimensions, binding margins, and print/digital alignments

Letter
Top: 1 in
Binding: 1 in
[Header]Page 1
[Front matter]
Right: 1 in
Bottom: 1 in
Left (Binding Gutter)
1in(2.54 cm)
Right Margin
1in(2.54 cm)
Top Margin
1in(2.54 cm)
Bottom Margin
1in(2.54 cm)
Margin Specification: 1.0 in on all sides (may increase left to 1.5 in if bound). All text and notes must fit within margins.

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
Double Spaced (2.0x)
Paragraph Indent
0
Approved Typefaces:Sans Serif
Spacing Exceptions: Abstract, biography, notes, bibliography, and acknowledgments should be single-spaced. Text may be single-, double-, or one-and-a-half-spaced.

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 continuous. Preserves native MathML and Word equation blocks.

Archival Preservation

Library ETD guideline: PDF/A-1 (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: page 1
  2. 2
    AbstractMandatory
    Pagination: continuous
  3. 3
    AcknowledgementsOptional / If Applicable
    Pagination: continuous
  4. 4
    Biographical NotesOptional / If Applicable
    Pagination: continuous
  5. 5
    Table of ContentsMandatory
    Pagination: continuous
  6. 6
    List of FiguresOptional / If Applicable
    Pagination: continuous
  7. 7
    List of TablesOptional / If Applicable
    Pagination: continuous
  8. 8
    List of Supplemental MaterialOptional / If Applicable
    Pagination: continuous
  9. 9
    Notes and Bibliographic ReferencesMandatory
    Pagination: continuous
  10. 10
    AppendicesOptional / If Applicable
    Pagination: continuous

6. Academic Integrity, Similarity & AI Policy

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

Policy & Disclosure
Generative AI Policy
Disclosure Statement Required

Governed by the MIT Mind and Hand Book and IS&T Generative AI guidelines; unacknowledged AI generation of research outputs violates academic integrity.

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

Title page must include specific copyright license text: 'The author hereby grants to MIT a nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license...'
Title page fields must be centered, except for Authored by, Certified by, and Accepted by sections which are left-aligned.
Title must use word substitutes for formulas/symbols for searchability.
Embedded links must be self-descriptive; full URL in footnote/bibliography.
Institutional Policy: Bachelor's theses are not always sent to MIT Libraries; check department requirements.
Institutional Policy: Graduate theses (Master's/PhD) are required to be submitted to MIT Libraries.
Institutional Policy: Thesis must be submitted as a PDF/A-1 file.
Institutional Policy: Submit thesis information to Libraries before graduation date.

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*ScholarSpec is a pre-submission formatting assistant. Output is calibrated to official university graduate handbooks.
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  • Verified 2026-10-13 against primary sources: MIT Specifications for Thesis Preparation mandates continuous Arabic numerals starting on title page (page 1), 1.0 in margins on all sides, single or double sided printing, and abstract limit of 500 words for Ph.D. dissertations.