FRONT MATTER

The format for pages containing front matter is shown in the appendixes of this document. Prepare those pages exactly as shown. The month and date appearing on the title page and abstract should correspond with the date on which the degree is conferred (not the date of the defense of the thesis or dissertation).

Organization of Front Matter

The front matter must be presented as follows:

1. Title Page (page i, page number does not appear)
2. Signature Page (page ii, page number does not appear)
3. Table of Contents (page iii, numbered in sequence)
4. List of Figures (numbered in sequence)
5. List of Tables (numbered in sequence)
6. Preface, including Acknowledgments or Acknowledgments alone if there is no Preface (numbered if applicable)

Title Page

The title page must be prepared as shown in the appendix. Note that all material is centered and that the title of the thesis or dissertation is presented in uppercase letters.

Signature Page

A paper Approval page is no longer required. Approval pages are now done as a DynamicForms document. 

The forms can be located on the College of the Arts website, Graduate Students, “Thesis and Dissertation Forms”: https://www.kent.edu/artscollege/information-graduate-students. Please be sure that you have the formal name and email for your advisor and committee members along with your school director. While the DynamicForms document has taken the place of the paper approval page, a blank approval page is still included within the actual document. The approval page should contain one signature line for each member of the thesis or dissertation committee. The names of each person must be typed a single space below the signature line without their credentials. See Appendices for a Sample Thesis Signature page or Sample Dissertation Signature page. The approval page must also provide a signature line for the director of the School in which the thesis or dissertation was completed. The name, without credentials, of the school director signing the thesis or dissertation must be typed a single space below the signature line. It is the student’s responsibility to begin the Approval Page DynamicForms document using the appropriate signature and title. Please be very careful when adding the email address to the DynamicForms document. If this is incorrect, it will halt the document's flow. In the event that changes are required, please contact Dr. Kim Hahn, khahn6@kent.edu with any questions you have.

Dissertations and theses must be submitted electronically at www.ohiolink.edu/etd by the deadline established by the College. A list of important dates for the semester, including final upload dates, can be found at https://www.kent.edu/artscollege/information-graduate-students .

Table of Contents

All parts of the thesis or dissertation, except the title page and signature page, are listed in the Table of Contents. The titles of major divisions (acknowledgments, list of figures, list of tables, titles of chapters, appendixes, and references) should be presented in the Table of Contents in capital letters. If more than one level of heading is used in the Table of Contents, each level should be indented three spaces (or one standard tab) to the right of the preceding higher level. Each level of heading used in the Table of Contents must appear in the order of its rank.

As shown in the Appendices of this document, page numbers in the Table of Contents should be right justified and aligned vertically. A line of leader dots should be used to guide the reader's eye from each entry in the Table of Contents to the corresponding page number. Candidates who are unable to vertically align material and page numbers in the Table of Contents may hire a typing service for assistance.

Figures

Any type of illustration, photograph, drawing, chart, or graph is referred to as a figure. All figures must fit inside the regular margins of the paper. Oversize materials should be reduced to conform to the margins.

If more than three figures are used, a List of Figures should follow the Table of Contents. Wording of entries in the List of Figures should agree exactly with the captions and the wording used in the body of the document. A sample List of Figures is provided in the appendixes.

All full-page figures must have page numbers in the upper right corner. Each figure should be labeled as "Figure 1," "Figure 2," and so on, consecutively throughout the document, including the appendix. The figure number and caption should appear below the figure. Authors should follow the style guide designated for their discipline when preparing figure captions.

Tables

Tables are any organized arrangement of facts or data in rows and columns. Every table in the document should be referred to in the text. If more than three tables appear in the paper, a List of Tables must follow the List of Figures in the Table of Contents. The List of Tables is arranged on a page in the same way as the List of Figures.

Tables must be labeled as "Table 1," and so on, consecutively throughout the document, including the appendix. Each table must also have a title set above the body of the table. Authors should follow the style guide designated for their discipline for guidelines on centering and capitalization. The wording of entries in the List of Tables should agree exactly with the wording used in the table titles. The general instructions regarding margins of figures also apply to tables.

Acknowledgments

An Acknowledgments page is used to thank individuals or institutions that have helped the writer carry out the project. The generic heading ACKNOWLEDGMENTS should be centered one and a half inches from the top of the page. Margins for the text of this section should be the same as for the body of the thesis or dissertation.