GUIDELINES FOR THESIS PREPARATION

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF INFORMATICS
MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

CHAPTER 1 (Click here for the appendix.)
GENERAL POLICIES

1.1. Introduction
Every thesis accepted for an advanced degree is a mature piece of original research. Just as the research should be precise and complete to meet departmental standards, the presentation of that research should be equally precise and complete to meet the Graduate School standards.
In addition, each manuscript must meet library and archival standards of permanence. Hence it is essential to use paper of the prescribed quality and to follow directions for the preparation of illustrative materials exactly.
The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure that every thesis that will carry the name of the Middle East Technical University meets the same high standards of presentation. These standards are Graduate School standards and are applied consistently to all departments and programs.
Preparing a thesis with a word processor offers many advantages. However, the limitations of your software or hardware, or your limited knowledge of their capabilities, do not release you from the responsibility of meeting the guidelines. Therefore, it is important that you read and understand the guidelines before preparation of your manuscript. Manuscripts which do not follow these guidelines will not be accepted by the Graduate School.
Do not use previously approved theses as a guide to preparation of your manuscript. The current guidelines will be enforced. It is the responsibility of each student to meet current guidelines exactly.
For all cases not covered by the instructions given in this manual, please obtain the written approval of the Graduate School before presenting the thesis.

1.2 Classified Material
Because all theses are made available to the public, a thesis containing classified material cannot be accepted.

1.3 Theses Containing Potentially Patentable Information
If your thesis contains potentially patentable information, you may request a 90-day hold on the release of your thesis to the public. During this period, the Graduate School will not release your thesis to the public. The hold period begins immediately after the official graduation date.


CHAPTER 2
FORMAT AND APPEARANCE

2.1 Paper and Duplication
To insure durability, permanency, and opacity, all copies must be on good quality white bond paper, of at least 75 g, measuring 21 by 29.7 cm (A4). Only single-sided copies will be accepted.
Submission of the original copy is not required. Photocopies must be made from the original, and all pages must have high contrast with consistently dark print throughout the thesis. The print must be permanent; it must not smudge. All pages must be copied onto acceptable paper, as described above. Inferior copies and copies not made on approved paper will not be accepted. It is recommended that you work with a reputable copying firm or bindery when having your thesis reproduced.

2.2 Type
The type size should be 10-point or larger. Any standard font (e.g., elite, pica, executive, helvetica, Times, Roman, Palatino) is acceptable. Do not use script, or ornamental fonts. The typeface and size must be consistent throughout the thesis. Bold face letters and symbols, and italics may be used for special emphasis and foreign words.
In the body of the thesis, different typefaces and sizes may be used to set chapter titles, section headings, footnotes, endnotes, examples, quotations, tables, and charts from the rest of the text, as long as they are easily readable.
Laser and ink-jet prints are preferred. Dot matrix print is allowed for a thesis, with qualifications. It must be near-letter quality and exhibit the following characteristics: no visible space between the dots of individual characters, smooth and well-defined character shapes, and uniformly dark images. Using the double-strike option on dot matrix printers without near-letter-quality capability is not an acceptable alternative. If you are uncertain about the quality of your printer, bring a sample page to the Graduate School for review. All print must be in permanent black ink and must appear on only one side of each page.
No ink corrections, strikeovers, correction fluid or tape, paste-ups, insertions between lines, and letraset are permitted on the final bound copies. If you must make corrections, do them on the original manuscript before it is copied (but not by ink corrections and strikeovers which are never allowed).

2.3 Spacing
The general text of the manuscript must use either double or one and one-half line spacing, although tables, long quotations, footnotes, endnotes, bibliographies, and captions may be single-spaced.

2.4 Margins
The left margin (binding side) must be at least 4 cm wide to allow for binding; the other three margins must be at least 2.5 cm wide. Narrower margins are not acceptable. Slightly larger margins are advisable, to allow for error during reproduction. Absolutely nothing should appear in the margins. This means that all headings, page numbers, text, tables, illustrations, etc., must be contained completely within the area bounded by the margins.
If right justification is used without hyphenation, right-justified text containing long technical and scientific words may result in unsightly white spaces between words which are not acceptable.

2.5 Centering
All materials must be centered between the text margins rather than between paper edges. After the manuscript is bound, centered material will appear to be centered on the page.

2.6 Word and Text Divisions
Words must be divided correctly at the end of a line and may not be divided from one page to the next. Use a standard dictionary to determine word division. At least two lines of a paragraph must appear together at the top and bottom of every page. A subheading must be followed by at least two lines of a paragraph.

2.7 Pagination
All page numbers of the thesis or dissertation must appear in the same location on the page. You have three choices for this location: the upper right-hand corner, top center, or bottom center of the page. In any case, page numbers must be at least two single spaces above or below the nearest line of text, but within the margin boundaries as stated above. All page numbers must be in the same font and size.
The following pagination plan should be used:
a) For the preliminary pages, use small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, etc.). The Title page and the Approval page do not have numbers but count as pages i and ii, respectively. Actual page numbering begins with iii on the Abstract page.
b) Use Arabic numerals beginning with "1" on the first page of the text and continue throughout the rest of the thesis, including bibliography, appendices, and vita. All pages must be numbered consecutively, including pages containing chapter pages, illustrations, such as tables, figures, plates, and photographs.

2.8 Multiple Volumes
If your finished manuscript exceeds 5 cm in thickness it must be bound in two or more volumes. Volumes are numbered consecutively, using capital Roman numerals. Each additional volume must contain a title page. Title pages are identical except for the notation Volume I, Volume II, etc., just below the title to differentiate the volumes.
Both the Roman and the Arabic numbering systems begun in Volume I continue through Volume II. As with the title page of Volume I, that of Volume II is counted among the preliminary pages but does not bear a number. If "iv" is the last Roman numeral used in Volume I, for example, the title page of the second volume will count as page "v" and will be followed by preliminary pages "vi," "vii," etc. Each volume contains the Table of Contents.

2.9 Binding
All master's theses are to be bound in black??? cloth. All doctoral theses are be bound in red??? cloth. Synthetic, leatherette, or similar cloths are not acceptable. A bound copy of the thesis should measure 21.5 by 28.5 cm.
See Appendix A for the front cover and the spine.
A list of authorized binderies can be obtained from the Graduate School. It is your responsibility to have the pages of the text in correct order when it is submitted to the bindery.


CHAPTER 3

SPECIFIC GUIDELINES FOR THE PARTS OF THE THESIS

Two general rules of thumb should govern the presentation of any thesis: keep the format as simple as possible, and be consistent with the format throughout the thesis.
Every thesis has three main parts or divisions: the preliminary pages, the text, and the reference matter. You must follow the order of items within these parts as listed below. Required sections are marked with asterisk. Further instruction about each section follows this list.
Preliminary Pages
* Title Page
* Approval Page
* Abstract
* Özet
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Preface
* Table of Contents
List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Illustrations
List of Symbols and/or Abbreviations

Text
* Main Body
Reference Matter
* Bibliography or References
Appendices (May be placed before Bibliography or References)
ta (Required only of doctoral candidates)

3.1 Preliminary Pages
3.1.1 Title Page
The title must be single-spaced, in all capital letters, and should begin at 5 cm from the top of the page. The information retrieval systems consulted by many scholars to locate theses and dissertations relating to their own work use the key words in the title. Consequently, the title must not contain chemical or mathematical formulas, symbols, superscripts, subscripts, Greek letters, or other non-standard abbreviations and characters; words must be substituted.
The format of the title page, including spacing and capitalization must be exactly as in the sample title page shown in Appendix B.
3.1.2 Approval Page
A sample Approval Page is provided in Appendix C. It is strongly recommended that the approval page of the thesis be signed in black ink.
3.1.3 Abstract
The abstract gives a succinct account of the thesis or dissertation, including a statement of the problem, procedure and methods, results, and conclusions. It must not exceed 250 words, must not include diagrams, and should not include mathematical formulas unless essential.
A sample Abstract is provided in Appendix D.
3.1.4 Özet
Özet is the Turkish translation of the Abstract. A sample Özet is provided in Appendix E.
3.1.5 Dedication, Acknowledgments, and Preface
If included, each of these items must appear on a separate page. A heading for the dedication is not required, but it must have a page number. If used, the dedication must be brief and centered on the page. A sample Dedication is provided in Appendix F.
Like the dedication, acknowledgments and preface are optional. They must have headings and should use the same spacing as the text (i.e., double spacing or space and a half). The heading ACKNOWLEDGMENTS or PREFACE appears centered between the text margins without punctuation 5 cm from the top of the page; text begins at least three spaces below the heading.
A sample Acknowledgments is provided in Appendix G.
3.1.6 Table of Contents
The table of contents must list the title of each chapter and its parts and sections, references or bibliography, appendices, and vita (if applicable). The wording used for all entries in the table of contents must match exactly with what is used in the text. Each entry must have leader dots which connect it to its corresponding page number.
The heading TABLE OF CONTENTS appears without punctuation centered between the text margins 5 cm from the top of the page. The listing of actual contents begins at the left margin at least three spaces below the heading. A sample Table of Contents is provided in Appendix H.
3.1.7 List of Tables
A list of tables may be included for the convenience of the reader. If included, it will immediately follow the table of contents on a new page.
The heading LIST OF TABLES appears centered between the text margins without punctuation 5 cm from the top of the page; the listing begins at the left margin at least three spaces below the heading.
Each entry should have the same number and the same caption or title used for a table in the text, although a long caption may be abbreviated to the extent of using only the first full sentence. As in the table of contents, each entry must have leader dots which connect it to its page number.
A sample List of Tables is provided in Appendix I.
3.1.8 List of Figures or List of Illustrations
If included, these lists must appear on separate pages and are governed by the same rules as the list of tables. A sample List of Figures is provided in Appendix J.
3.1.9 List of Symbols and/or Abbreviations
If included, you should follow a format consistent with acceptable practice in your discipline.

3.2 The Text
The text, or the body of a thesis, is divided into multiple chapters to help the reader in understanding the subject matter. Although the detailed organization of the text varies among academic disciplines, the formatting of the text must be consistent throughout. All headings and subheadings should be presented in the same way in each chapter, in terms of capitalization, placement on the page and kind of type used. No headers, giving the titles of chapters or other sections, are allowed at the top of the pages.
Chapters are numbered consecutively in Arabic or Roman numerals and capital letters (CHAPTER 1, CHAPTER 2, etc., or CHAPTER I, CHAPTER II, etc.). In addition to general titles like INTRODUCTION, the chapters need substantially descriptive titles as well.
Only chapters should begin with a new page. Within a chapter, the presentation of subsections must be continuous; partially filled pages of text are acceptable only on non-textual pages, such as those presenting tables and illustrations. Subsection numbering must not go beyond three levels (e.g. 1.2.3 Subsection Title) unless absolutely necessary.
The heading CHAPTER 1 in all capitals is centered between the text margins 5 cm from the top of the page; the title goes two spaces below. The text begins at least three spaces below.
In many cases, the main body of the thesis will include certain materials other than ordinary text, such as illustrations, formulas, quotations, footnotes, and endnotes. In such cases, the following guidelines should be observed.
3.2.1 Illustrative Material
Illustrations include drawings, charts, figures, tables, diagrams, plates and photographs. These may be inserted wherever the author feels appropriate, but as a general rule, should appear as near as possible to the part of the text relating them.
Illustrations of one-half page or less in length may appear on the same page with the text, separated from the text above and below by triple spacing; illustrations longer than one-half page are better placed on a separate sheet.
Illustrations that are too large to be placed sideways between the left- and right-hand margins should be rotated counterclockwise 90 degrees so that the of the illustration runs parallel to the left-hand margin of the page. The caption or legend for such an illustration must also be rotated. When illustrations are presented in this manner, the usual margin requirements remain in effect, and page numbers should appear in their normal place.
Illustrations of any kind must be numbered consecutively. This includes appendices, if you have them. You may follow a straight sequence (1, 2, 3, etc.) or preferably use a decimal approach (1.1, 1.2, 1.3,.., A.1, A.2, where the first digit is the chapter or appendix number, and the digit after the decimal point is the illustration number).
Illustrations may run longer than one page. In such cases all subsequent pages of the illustration must include at least the illustration number and the notation that it is continued, e.g., "Table 1 (cont.)" or "Table 1 (continued)."
All headings and captions must be prepared either in the same typeface and point size used for the text, or in the same typeface and point size as every other heading and caption. Choose a point size that can be read easily, especially for tables.
Table numbers and captions are placed one space above the top line of the illustration; figure numbers and captions are placed one space below the last line or bottom of the illustration.
Color may be used in figures and photographs only with prior permission from the Graduate School. Photographic illustrations must be originals or well-done photographic copies of the originals. Standard photocopies of photographs are not acceptable. Wherever required, mounting of illustrations should be done with a technique that ensures durable and good quality result (e.g., dry mounting). With dry mounting, the paper to which photographs are attached will not curl. Other methods, such as library paste, rubber cement, spray mounting, or tape, are not acceptable: such mounting techniques are not permanent, and the adhesives used will eventually destroy both the paper and the photograph. If audio-visual material (e.g., videotape, cassette, etc.) is needed to accompany and supplement the text, it should be adequately described within the continuity of the text. Such material will be submitted only with the Departmental copy.
Stored information in the form of computer discs will be submitted only with the Departmental copy.
Computer print-outs must conform to the margin specifications, must be dark and legible with high black and white contrast, and must be copied on thesis-quality paper.
Authors may treat oversized materials in one of the following three ways: a) Captions may be placed on a separate page, facing the illustration. Consequently, it is the right margin of a facing page, not the left, that must be at least 4 cm for binding purposes. If an oversized illustration is rotated and the caption appears on a facing page, the caption must also be rotated.
b) An illustration may be photo-reduced, but its page number and caption must be the same size and typeface as in the rest of the illustrations.
c) An illustration may be folded and inserted in either of the following ways:
i) Fold the illustration and insert it in a white or manila envelope no larger than 16.5 by 24 cm, which may be mounted on paper of the proper weight for inclusion in the thesis. Each page enclosed in the envelope must be included in the pagination of the thesis; the page on which the envelope is mounted should have a single page number or inclusive page numbers, as needed,
or,
ii) Fold the illustration and mount it on 21 by 29.7 cm sheet.
3.2.2 Formulas
Mathematical and chemical formulas, equations and expressions may be printed, neatly hand-lettered, or both. If reference is made to them, they must carry numerical identification. All hand-lettered pages require prior approval of the Graduate School.
3.2.3 Quotations
Short, direct prose quotations of three typewritten lines or less should be incorporated into the text, enclosed in double quotation marks. Prose quotations which exceed three lines should be set off from the text in single spacing and indented in its entirety at least four spaces from the left margin, with no quotation marks at beginning or end. Quotations of poetry that are two lines or longer should normally be set off from the text, line for line as in the original and centered between the text margins without quotation marks. Quotations of poetry may be double- or single-spaced, following the original as closely as possible. Segments of computer programs may be treated as quotation.
3.2.4 Footnotes and Endnotes
Notes may be in the form of footnotes, placed at the bottom of each page, or endnotes, placed at the end of each chapter or at the end of the thesis before the bibliography.
Footnoting practices differ widely among publications in the sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences. Candidates should consult with their departments regarding accepted footnoting practice in their individual disciplines.
The most common mode of presentation for both footnotes and endnotes is to single-space within, and double-space between, each listing. If placed at the bottom of each page, footnotes must be separated from the text by a complete horizontal line one space above the first line of the footnote.
Arabic numerals, asterisks or small letters should be used for footnotes and endnotes. In either case, the label used may appear either above the line or in parentheses even with the line.

3.3 The Reference Material
The reference material consists of a bibliography or references, which is required, and appendices, which are optional.
3.3.1 Bibliography or References
A bibliography is a selected list of all books, articles, and other source material related to the thesis research and is always in alphabetical order, with the author's last name first.
In some disciplines it is customary to list all of the references at the end of the thesis in a section headed "References," "List of References," or "Literature Cited" instead of "Bibliography." One of these headings should be used if the references in the thesis are cited by year, e.g., Smith (1966), or by number, e.g., Smith [3] or [3]. If numbers are used, the listing should be in numerical order, and the author's last name need not be first.
a) In certain scientific and engineering disciplines, the references may be given at the end of each chapter instead of at the end of the thesis.
b) Do not give the bibliography or references a chapter number, but it must have page numbers written in the same typeface and size used for pagination throughout the thesis.
c) The heading BIBLIOGRAPHY or REFERENCES is centered between the text margins without punctuation 5 cm from the top of the page; the list begins four spaces below.
d) Each bibliographic entry should be single-spaced with double spacing between entries.
e) The candidate's major department should be consulted for a reference style that is appropriate to the discipline and acceptable to the department.
3.3.2 Appendices
Some authors may desire to include certain materials of the thesis in an appendix rather than in the main text. For example, an appendix may contain test forms, detailed apparatus description, extensive tables of raw data, computer programs, etc.
a) If the information to be appended requires more than one appendix, each should be given a letter (Appendix A, Appendix B, etc.). The heading APPENDIX A should appear centered between the text margins 5 cm from the top of the page. The typeface and size should be those used for chapter titles.
b) Spacing need not be the same for each of the appendices. Documents and case studies may be single-spaced, whereas spacing for the explanations of methods and procedures may be similar to that of the text.
c) Each appendix with its title must be listed separately in the table of contents as a subdivision under the heading APPENDICES.
d) All appendices must have page numbers written in the same typeface and size used for pagination throughout the thesis.
e) If an appendix contains photocopied material, the photocopies should be of letter quality.
3.3.3 Vita
The vita is required only for doctoral theses. It is a professional biography of the candidate which includes date and place of birth, educational institutions attended (after high school), degrees and honors won, titles of publications, and teaching and professional experience. It should be short, concise, and written in the third person, although in some departments a resume or curriculum vitae may be substituted.
a) Note the correct spelling: either "Vita" or "Curriculum Vitae."
b) Do not give the vita a chapter number, but it must have page numbers and be included as the last item in the table of contents.
c) The vita must be in the same typeface and size as the rest of the thesis.
d) A sample Vita is provided in Appendix K.


CHAPTER 4

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

A thesis is a formal research presentation. Hence it should be written in a formal style appropriate to the discipline (e.g., active voice, impersonal style). For example, adopt the past tense throughout ("Results of the experiment demonstrated") and avoid slang and colloquialisms. Technical terms should be used where appropriate, but avoid using words and phrases that are difficult to understand when a simpler vocabulary will do just as well.
Because stylistic conventions vary greatly from one discipline to another, you should consult with your supervisor and/or graduate coordinator regarding recommended style manuals. We recommend the most recent editions of the following style manuals:
American Psychological Association, Publication Manual, Arlington.
A Manual of Style, Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
Campbell, W.G. and Stephen, V.B., Form and Style: Theses, Reports, Term Papers, Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co.
Dodd, J.S., Ed., The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors, Washington, D.C., American Chemical Society.
Gilbaldi, J. and Achtert, W.S., MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, New York, Modern Language Association of America.
Turabian, K.L., A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations, Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

Click here for the appendix.

METU Registrar's Office - Academic rules and regulations concerning graduate period of study, examinations and assessment.