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Formatting & Technical Assistance


The Learning Commons located in the W.E.B. Dubois Library can help with technical problems such as converting the manuscript to PDF.

Your dissertation must be formatted as prescribed by the Graduate School in the Guidelines for Master’s Theses and Doctoral Dissertations and electronically submitted through ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst, the university's permanent digital archive for scholarly materials.

Doctoral Dissertation and Master's Theses Formatting Checklist: Make sure your dissertation or thesis has this required content in this order:

  1. Title page
  2. Copyright page (required in doctoral dissertations, optional in master’s theses)
  3. Signature page (signatures aren’t required)
  4. Abstract page
  5. Table of Contents
  6. List pages (required when one or more table, figure, image, etc. is present)
  7. Dissertation/thesis body pages comprised of a minimum of at least one chapter (students in the English MFA program may be exempt)
  8. Comprehensive bibliography/references/works cited section

Submit your manuscript in PDF format: Be sure to proofread your work before converting to PDF and recheck formatting after converting to ensure that all images and tables are properly positioned. For help with PDF conversions, visit the Learning Commons in the DuBois Library.

Document Accessibility: Consider the global nature of your readership. People who cannot distinguish colors accurately on screen or who have more severe visual impairments need to be able to understand all of your content. Do not let simple formatting choices create barriers for some members of your audience. Producing accessible works for online publication adds to your professionalism and begins with a few simple techniques to apply as you compose your document. Review six quick tips for making your document accessible

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Formatting & Technical Assistance

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