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University of Waterloo

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

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

Governing Body: Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA) (ON, CA)

Degree Scope:🎓 Ph.D. / Doctoralℹī¸ Master's / M.Tech. format requires departmental / DPGC confirmation unless a central handbook is cited
Official Handbook:
University of Waterloo Thesis Regulations and Formatting Guide
View Official Handbook ↗
Paper Dimensions
A4 (210 mm × 297 mm)*
Binding Margins
25 mm Left / 25 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: 25 mm*
Binding: 25 mm*
[Header]Page 1
[Front matter]
Right: 25 mm*
Bottom: 25 mm*
Left (Binding Gutter)
25mm*
Right Margin
25mm*
Top Margin
25mm*
Bottom Margin
25mm*

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-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
    Author's 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. 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
Standard Academic Policy

Checked 2026-10-13: the cited source does not make a declaration compulsory. Brief deadUrl (.../graduate-studies-postdoctoral-affairs/current-students/thesis) is 404; the GSPA content now lives under uwaterloo.ca/current-graduate-students/. The thesis-formatting page links IST Word/LaTeX templates (WatIAM login for Word) that may carry exact margin/font values, but they are behind login or on an IST site and were not inspected. The claimed 1.0 in / 12 pt / 2.0 spacing values therefore have no confirming official text. AID Framework page: https://subjectguides.uwaterloo.ca/AIDFramework (HTTP 20

8. Institutional & Departmental Policies

Author's Declaration is mandatory as the second preliminary page (page ii).
Page numbers must be visible and centered at the bottom of each page.
Uploaded PDF must follow the exact file naming convention: LastName_FirstName.pdf.
Electronic submission to UWSpace requires Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Non-Exclusive License.

Notice a discrepancy in this 2026 handbook?

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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 Waterloo guidelines in seconds.

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✓High-Confidence A4 Margin & Gutter Setup
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*ScholarSpec is a pre-submission formatting assistant. Output is calibrated to official university graduate handbooks.
Editorial Tutorials & Standards

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* Provisional ScholarSpec layout used where the cited handbook does not specify this value. Confirm with your thesis office before submission.

  • At least 1.0 in on all sides; 1.25 in allowed on left for binding margin.
  • All page numbers must be centered at bottom of page.
  • Page ii must be the Author's Declaration.
  • Corrected 2026-10-13 against primary sources: Brief deadUrl (.../graduate-studies-postdoctoral-affairs/current-students/thesis) is 404; the GSPA content now lives under uwaterloo.ca/current-graduate-students/. The thesis-formatting page links IST Word/LaTeX templates (WatIAM login for Word) that may carry exact margin/font values, but they are behind login or on an IST site and were not inspected. The claimed 1.0 in / 12 pt / 2.0 spacing values therefore have no confirming official text. AID Framework page: https://subjectguides.uwaterloo.ca/AIDFramework (HTTP 200; library guide, not a thesis requirement).
  • Downgraded to partial 2026-10-13: the public official sources cited here state no paper size, margins, spacing or typeface (the formal guide is behind a login or set by faculty/school). Geometry is left null rather than guessed.