Student Responsibility

PhD and master’s students are responsible for meeting all requirements for preparing theses and dissertations. They are expected to confer with their advisors about disciplinary and program expectations and to follow Graduate School procedure requirements.

Graduate School Role

The Graduate School certifies that theses and dissertations have been prepared as required. Graduate School staff members are available to provide information and to review documents at any stage of the planning or writing process. The Graduate School will not accept documents if required items are missing. The Graduate School will not extend deadlines because of miscommunication between the student and the advisor.

Required Format Features

Ohio State dissertations and theses must contain the following format features, which must be identified with a major heading that is centered below a two-inch top margin.

• Title page 
• Copyright 
• Abstract 
• Vita 
• Table of Contents 
• List of Figures 
• Bibliography 
• List of Tables (if applicable) 
• List of Illustrations (if applicable) 
• Appendices (if applicable)

Optional features 

• Frontispiece (if used, no heading is included on this page) 
• Dedication 
• Acknowledgments

Sample pages

Detailed guidelines for formatting

More information about format review and submission

Dissertation formatting tips and tricks