Below are the sections of a master’s thesis, with required or optional following the section titles.
Title Page - Required
The title page should be a separate page and no longer than one page. All content on this page should be centered horizontally and vertically. Keep in mind that the title must be able to fit on the spine of a bound manuscript.
To see a sample title page, click here.
Acceptance Page - Required
This page confirms the committee’s approval and acceptance of your thesis. The acceptance page should be a separate page and no longer than one page.
The Acceptance statement should be centered at the top of the page: Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of [Arts or Science].
The words “Master’s Committee” immediately follow the Acceptance statement and are left-justified.
Your Research Committee members’ names and signature lines follow and are fully right-justified. Behind each name, place the appropriate post-nominal initials for that individual (Ph.D., M.F.A., O.D., etc.)
After the names is the date of your defense, left-justified.
The page remains unsigned for inclusion in your thesis.
To see a sample acceptance page, click here.
Copyright Page - Optional
If you choose to copyright your thesis, you should include a copyright page. The copyright page should be a separate page and no longer than one page. All content on this page should be centered horizontally and vertically.
Copyright © [year]
[Student’s Name]
To see a sample copyright page, click here.
Dedication, Acknowledgments, or Preface - Optional
Depending on your personal inclination, you may wish to include a dedication, a set of acknowledgments, or a preface. The acknowledgments are designed to recognize people or agencies to whom you feel grateful for any academic, technical, financial, or personal aid in the preparation of your thesis. As a matter of courtesy, you would ordinarily mention the members of your committee here, as well as institutions that provided funding or anyone else who helped. On the dedication page, all content should be centered horizontally and vertically. Only the dedication itself should be on the dedication page; no page heading should appear. Acknowledgments and Preface pages should have a page heading.
Abstract - Optional
As many people will learn about your work through your abstract published in the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Database, you should spend a lot of effort in the composition of both the abstract and the title of your work. Try to convey the flavor of your work, not just the bare bones of your findings. It would be best if you also worked to phrase your title so that it truly describes the contents and will be easily found in the index of the database. The index is based on keywords, so be as specific as you can be about your subject.
The abstract page should start with your name, centered, followed on the second line by the title of your thesis, centered and in either all capital letters or underlined. The content of the abstract itself should be double-spaced and limited to 350 words. The paragraph(s), layout, indention, and line spacing should match the formatting of the rest of your thesis.
To see a sample abstract, click here.
Table of Contents - Required
Include a table of contents to guide the readership of your thesis.
Add an entry/entries (as appropriate) for the reference/bibliography page/pages to the table of contents. Every thesis must have at least one reference section.
Add an entry for your curriculum vitae (CV) to the table of contents. The CV should be the last item in your thesis and listed last on the table of contents. Since CV pages should not have a page number, the table of contents entry for it should note only the presence of the CV at the end with no page number indicated.
Supplemental Materials - Optional
Include lists of tables, figures, appendixes, abbreviations, or other supplemental materials, if appropriate.
Curriculum Vitae (CV) - Required
Include a resume/curriculum vitae at the end of your thesis, after the main content. Do not add any page number(s) to the resume/curriculum vitae.
Your CV should be in the same font and have the same margins as the rest of your dissertation and should not contain your home address, phone number, or any page number. It is not common or recommended to list personal references on the CV within a dissertation. Please list your master’s degree as completed in the same month as listed on the title page. The master’s major and concentration listed on your CV should be the same as the master’s major and concentration that is displayed on your official transcript.
