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UGA

University of Georgia

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

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

Governing Body: Graduate School Office of Enrolled Student Services (GA, 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 Georgia Theses and Dissertations Format Guidelines & Style Manual
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 (1.5 in left margin recommended if binding).

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
Standard Academic Policy

Checked 2026-10-13: the cited source does not make a declaration compulsory. Dead URL grad.uga.edu/theses-and-dissertations/formatting-guidelines/ replaced. All three UGA URLs return 200 with a normal browser User-Agent over HTTP/1.1 (default curl was intermittently reset). Style manual front-matter order: Abstract (required), Title page, Copyright, Approval, Dedication, Acknowledgements, TOC, lists, optional Generative AI Use Disclosure. Chapter/section first pages need 1.75 in top margin (two double-spaced blank lines). Fonts must be embedded in the PDF.

Notice a discrepancy in this 2026 handbook?

Help keep University of Georgia formatting standards 100% verified for researchers.

Pre-Submission Baseline Assistant

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Don't spend days manually tweaking Microsoft Word margins, Roman numeral page breaks, and table headers. ScholarSpec prepares your raw draft to official University of Georgia guidelines in seconds.

Format with this Template ➔
✓High-Confidence Letter Margin & Gutter Setup
✓Automated Roman & Arabic Pagination Structure
✓Multi-Page Table Spanning & Header Protection
✓24-Hour Secure Storage & Instant Deletion (Strict Academic Privacy)
*ScholarSpec is a pre-submission formatting assistant. Output is calibrated to official university graduate handbooks.
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* Provisional ScholarSpec layout used where the cited handbook does not specify this value. Confirm with your thesis office before submission.

  • 1.0 in standard margins on all sides; 1.5 in left margin recommended if printing/binding.
  • Header and footer margins are 0.5 in.
  • First page of chapters/major sections uses 1.75 in top spacing.
  • Continuous pagination throughout.
  • Corrected 2026-10-13 against primary sources: Dead URL grad.uga.edu/theses-and-dissertations/formatting-guidelines/ replaced. All three UGA URLs return 200 with a normal browser User-Agent over HTTP/1.1 (default curl was intermittently reset). Style manual front-matter order: Abstract (required), Title page, Copyright, Approval, Dedication, Acknowledgements, TOC, lists, optional Generative AI Use Disclosure. Chapter/section first pages need 1.75 in top margin (two double-spaced blank lines). Fonts must be embedded in the PDF.