Formatting Your ETDR

Doctoral students only:

• Abstract title page - Title must be identical to title on title page.
• Abstract – No word limit from 2018 on. This page appears twice for doctoral students. Do not use any type of symbols on this page.
• Continue as listed below

Master and doctoral students:

• Title page – For doctoral students, title must be identical to title listed on the abstract title page.
• Copyright page (Optional)
• Abstract – No word limit from 2018 on. Do not use any type of symbols on this page.
• Table of Contents – All entries in the table of contents must match the text according to wording and page numbering.
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• List of Symbols
• List of Abbreviations
• Nomenclature
• List of Supplemental Files (multimedia objects or files)
• Acknowledgements (Optional)
• Dedication (Optional)
• Preface (Optional)
• Introduction (Optional)
• Text/Chapters –The text should be divided into parts and/or chapters.
• Conclusion –Continue Arabic numbers.
• References and/or bibliography
• Appendix or Appendices, as needed

Table 1. ETDR page numbering requirements

ETDR Section	Page Number Displayed	Page Count
Preliminary pages (all pages before the Table of Contents)	No. These pages are counted, but a page number is not displayed.	Begins with the first page in your document.
From the first page of the Table of Contents up to but not including the first page of Chapter 1.	Lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, etc.).	Continues from Preliminary pages
From the first page of Chapter 1 to the end of the document	Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.).	Begins with "1" on first page of Chapter 1

NOTE: If your ETDR has an Introduction, page numbering should begin with Arabic number 1 on the first page of the Introduction.

Fonts

Standard 12 or 10-point font size is preferred, but non-standard fonts and size may be used if they are fully legible and acceptable to the committee and the Graduate School. The font and size should be consistent throughout the document. The font and spacing should be sufficient for someone reading the document on a computer screen. If the document is printed, the reader needs to be able to see what is shown without difficulty.

Line spacing

Standard double spacing for the text is preferred, 1. 5 is acceptable. Long quotations, footnotes, multi-line captions, and bibliographic entries may be single-spaced. A blank line is required between footnotes and bibliographic entries.

Margins

All margins should be 1". To allow for binding a personal paper copy, the left margin may be set to 1.5".

Title page

You must use the form of your name as it is recorded officially at Kansas State University. The title will appear in sentence case (What is sentence case?). Greek letters, chemical names, and other unusual characters must be spelled out.

Footnotes/Endnotes

Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) or author/year may be used to indicate an in-text citation. Citations may be numbered consecutively throughout the entire manuscript or consecutively within each chapter. References or notes can be placed at the bottom of the page (footnotes), at the end of a chapter, or at the end of the document (endnotes). Numbering and placement must be consistent throughout the document.

The faculties of individual departments or programs may establish policies regarding style for their students. In the absence of detailed specifications, the student's committee is responsible for defining the style used.

Form, organization, and bibliographical style may be that of pertinent professional publications.

Such printed material may be incorporated with supplementary typed or reproduced copy as needed. Any tables or figures in the previously published materials must be numbered in accordance with the rest of the dissertation. It must be paginated consistently with the rest of the document. Only one page number may appear on each page and that is the page number within the final document. Documents must not include material restricted from publication.

Previously published chapters from yourself: If you plan to include in your ETDR a research article authored by yourself and published in a journal, it is likely you will need to obtain permission from the publisher in order to use the article in your ETDR. See the Prior Publication of a Chapter for details and a sample permission request letter.

Registering Your ETDR for Copyright

Your electronic thesis, dissertation, or report (ETDR) is an original work and is protected by copyright laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code). These laws give the copyright owner exclusive rights to (or authorize others to) reproduce, distribute, produce derivative works, display, or perform the work.

The ETDR template includes a copyright page. You can include the copyright page even if you do not register for copyright. Technically, the copyright statement is not required for a work to be legally copyrighted. However, it is generally good practice to include the statement as a reminder that your work is copyrighted.
See Copyright Registration for more information on how to register for copyright.

Using Copyrighted Materials in Your ETDR

If you plan to include copyrighted material in your ETDR, be sure to review general guidelines for use of certain types of copyright materials in your ETDR. For a thorough overview of copyright issues, see the excellent manual, Copyright and Your Dissertation or Thesis: Ownership, Fair Use, and Your Rights and Responsibilities (pdf) written by Kenneth D. Crews. This paper gives a thorough overview of fair use and provides guidelines on when and how to obtain permission.

Additional resources and support are available through the K-State Libraries Copyright Consultation Service.

Students will have the option of choosing to embargo their work when completing the KREx submission. Doctorate students will also need to complete the embargo option when submitting to ProQuest. An embargo should only occur when it is deemed necessary and only for the minimum time required.

To embargo, the student must set an embargo date and complete the justification during the submission of the ETDR to KREx. At the end of the embargo date, the ETDR will be released by the Library and will be available online.

An embargo does not delay the conferral of the degree. The student whose dissertation, thesis, or report has been approved to be embargoed still deposits the ETDR submission fee for graduation.

An embargo is normally limited to two years. Nevertheless, under compelling circumstances that require continued protection, the Dean of the Graduate School may approve further embargo at the student's or major professor's request on a year-by-year basis.

The filing of a patent application opens the door to commercial use, whereas the simple act of disclosing the invention to the public frequently acts as a bar to commercialization. The interests of the public are best served in many cases by the act of obtaining patent protection so that the invention may be developed for public use. The policies of the Kansas Board of Regents provide that all inventions developed under university auspices belong to the university, except as reserved through agreements with outside sponsors. To handle such matters the Kansas State University Research Foundation (KSURF) was established, and it retains counsel for patent prosecution, executes licenses for production, and distributes royalties to inventors. Additional information about Kansas State University’s policies related to Patents and Marketable Software are available in Appendix A of the University Handbook. Those who may have questions about the potential patentability of their work should consult with the KSURF, 2005 Research Park Circle, Suite 105, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66502. The phone number is (785) 532-5720.

See the Supplemental Files for ETDRs page for recommended file formats.