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University of Nottingham

Ph.D. Thesis Formatting Guidelines

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

Governing Body: Researcher Academy & Student Registry (Nottinghamshire, UK)

Degree Scope:🎓 Ph.D. / Doctoralℹī¸ Master's / M.Tech. format requires departmental / DPGC confirmation unless a central handbook is cited
Official Handbook:
University of Nottingham Quality Manual: Regulations for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
View Official Handbook ↗
Paper Dimensions
A4 (210 mm × 297 mm)
Binding Margins
50.8 mm Left / 38.1 mm 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

A4
Top: 38.1 mm
Binding: 50.8 mm
[Header]Page 1
[Front matter]
Right: 38.1 mm
Bottom: 38.1 mm
Left (Binding Gutter)
50.8mm
Right Margin
38.1mm
Top Margin
38.1mm
Bottom Margin
38.1mm
Margin Specification: Left margin 2 in to allow for binding; other margins at least 1.5 in.

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
12.7 mm
Approved Typefaces:Times New RomanArialCalibri
Spacing Exceptions: Single-space block quotes, footnotes, tables, and bibliography items.

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
    Declaration of AuthorshipMandatory
    Pagination: roman visible
    Requirement: Must certify original work and include explicit declaration of any AI assistance or collaborative contributions.
  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

University of Nottingham Quality Manual treats unacknowledged AI content as false authorship; declaration required in preliminary pages. Checked 2026-10-13: no thesis front-matter AI declaration is stated; the Academic Misconduct Code of Practice s.2.3.2 covers undeclared GenAI use.

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

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  • Left margin 40 mm (approx. 1.5 in) for binding; top, bottom, and right margins 20 mm.
  • General body text in double-spacing (2.0x); single-spacing for footnotes, block quotes, and bibliography entries.
  • Word count limit of 100,000 words is inclusive of appendices, footnotes, tables, and bibliography.
  • Corrected 2026-10-13: margins now the stated minimums (2 in binding edge, 1.5 in others). Line spacing is not stated university-wide (School of Physics allows single or 1.5).