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TCD

Trinity College Dublin

Ph.D. Thesis & Master's Thesis (M.Litt., M.Sc. by Research) Formatting Guidelines

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

Governing Body: Graduate Studies Office & Trinity Library (Leinster, IE)

Degree Scope:🎓 Ph.D. / Doctoralℹ️ Master's / M.Tech. format requires departmental / DPGC confirmation unless a central handbook is cited
Official Handbook:
Trinity College Dublin Calendar Part III: Research Degrees Thesis Format
View Official Handbook ↗
Paper Dimensions
A4 (210 mm × 297 mm)
Binding Margins
35 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: 35 mm
[Header]Page 1
[Front matter]
Right: 20 mm
Bottom: 20 mm
Left (Binding Gutter)
35mm
Right Margin
20mm
Top Margin
20mm
Bottom Margin
20mm
Margin Specification: Left binding margin not less than 35 mm (Calendar Part III § 1.34); other margins not 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 for quotations, footnotes, tables, and bibliography.

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
    DeclarationMandatory
    Pagination: roman visible
  3. 3
    AbstractMandatory
    Pagination: roman visible
  4. 4
    AcknowledgementsOptional / If Applicable
    Pagination: roman visible
  5. 5
    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

College Statement on Artificial Intelligence and Academic Integrity Policy require students to transparently disclose and document any generative AI tools used in thesis preparation.

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

Statutory Declaration:

Statutory signed declaration of authorship conforming to Calendar Part III section 1.34.

Abstract Limit:

Abstract must not exceed 300 words.

Binding Spine:

Gold-embossed spine lettering (degree, author name, year).

Repository Deposit:

Mandatory deposit in TARA open access institutional repository.

Institutional Policy: Calendar Part III unified regulations govern Ph.D., M.Litt., and M.Sc. by Research theses.

Notice a discrepancy in this 2026 handbook?

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*ScholarSpec is a pre-submission formatting assistant. Output is calibrated to official university graduate handbooks.
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  • Downgraded to partial 2026-10-13: the verification block cites a landing page without a page-level formatting source. Re-verify margins, typography, and pagination against the institution's thesis handbook before marking verified.