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University of South Carolina

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

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

Governing Body: The Graduate School Formatting Office (SC, US)

Degree Scope:🎓 Ph.D. / Doctoralℹī¸ Master's / M.Tech. format requires departmental / DPGC confirmation unless a central handbook is cited
Official Handbook:
University of South Carolina Thesis and Dissertation Format Guidelines
View Official Handbook ↗
Paper Dimensions
Letter (8.5 in × 11.0 in)
Binding Margins
1.25 in Left / 1.25 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: 1.25 in
[Header]Page 1
[Front matter]
Right: 1.25 in
Bottom: 1 in
Left (Binding Gutter)
1.25in(3.17 cm)
Right Margin
1.25in(3.17 cm)
Top Margin
1in(2.54 cm)
Bottom Margin
1in(2.54 cm)
Margin Specification: Left and right margins must be 1.25 in on every page. Top margin 1.0 in (2.0 in on chapter opening / major heading pages). Bottom margin 1.0 in. Running headers prohibited.

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
0.5 in
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

ETD / ProQuest Ready
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
    AbstractMandatory
    Pagination: roman visible
  3. 3
    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

UofSC Graduate School GenAI Guiding Principles and Policy ACAF 2.03 require transparency, accuracy, and independent scholarship.

Chapter Opening & Print Setup

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

Layout
Chapter Start
New Page

Top margin is 2.0 inches on the first page of any major section or chapter.

Chapter Drop
+25.4 mm Top Margin

First page of each chapter drops down 25.4 mm from the normal margin.

Printing Format
Single-Sided

Notice a discrepancy in this 2026 handbook?

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  • Verified 2026-10-13 against primary sources: University of South Carolina Formatting Guide for Electronic Theses and Dissertations mandates 1.25 in left and right margins, 1.0 in top and bottom margins (2.0 in on chapter openings), page numbers centered 0.5 in from bottom edge, and running headers prohibited.