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UCR

University of California, Riverside

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

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

Governing Body: Graduate Division Student Affairs (CA, US)

Degree Scope:🎓 Ph.D. / Doctoralℹī¸ Master's / M.Tech. format requires departmental / DPGC confirmation unless a central handbook is cited
Official Handbook:
UC Riverside Format Guide for Theses and Dissertations
View Official Handbook ↗
Paper Dimensions
Letter (8.5 in × 11.0 in)
Binding Margins
1.5 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: 1.5 in
Binding: 1.5 in
[Header]Page 1
[Front matter]
Right: 1 in
Bottom: 1 in
Left (Binding Gutter)
1.5in(3.81 cm)
Right Margin
1in(2.54 cm)
Top Margin
1.5in(3.81 cm)
Bottom Margin
1in(2.54 cm)
Margin Specification: Top: 1.5 in; Left (binding): 1.5 in; Bottom: 1.0 in; Right: 1.0 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
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

UC Riverside Academic Senate requires attribution of AI-assisted drafting or coding.

Chapter Opening & Print Setup

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

Layout
Printing Format
Single-Sided

8. Institutional & Departmental Policies

Format review via ProQuest ETD website is required before final submission.
Signature Approval Page must be digitally signed via R'Grad by all committee members.
Final Defense Form (or waiver petition) must be in Graduate Dean queue by 12:00pm (noon) on the posted deadline.
Deadlines are strictly enforced; final document and paperwork must be in Graduate Dean queue by 12:00pm (noon) on the last business day of the quarter.
Master's students: Only chair signature required on Final Defense form.
PhD students: All committee members must sign Final Defense form.
Institutional Policy: Contact Graduate Academic Affairs (GAA) for format workshops and assistance.
Institutional Policy: ProQuest offers optional bound copies; processing takes 6-8 weeks from end of quarter.
Institutional Policy: Diploma mailed to permanent address in R'Web approx. 2 months after degree conferral.
Institutional Policy: Transcripts ready approx. 4 weeks after degree conferral.

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.