Producing a Thesis or Long Document in Word - Docs.is.ed.ac.uk ...

4Appearance and LayoutSome hints• Keep it simple. Avoid ‘special effects’ like shadow and underline.• If using columns, have no more than two on a page (when presenting academictext).• Avoid justified text, especially with more than one column as it will contain largespaces and hyphenations – making the text difficult to read.• Don’t be afraid of blank space on the page: large blocks of dense text are lesseasy to read.FontsThe University regulations state that the size of body text should not exceed 12ptsor be less that 10pts. There are approximately 72 points/inch: point is usuallyabbreviated to pt.A serif font (Times/New Roman or Palatino) should be used for the body text. Seriffonts help the eye to travel through the words and from one word to the next. Forheadings and labels, a sans serif font (Helvetica or Arial) should be used. Thesefonts have straight lines that stand out in headings, especially when emboldened.For an attractive, readable document, designers recommend using not more thanthree fonts in one document, and not more than two per page.Page layoutUniversity regulations state that the thesis can be printed single-sided or doublesided. If double-sided is chosen, a new chapter must begin on the right-hand page.If you are planning to print in a school or departmental lab, check whether doublesidedprinting is available. When introducing a new topic, it is usually better to forcea new page by adding a page break so that new topics start on a new page.For the main body text, line spacing should not be less than 1.5 spacing (or 18ptsleading). However, quotations should be single-spaced.MarginsUniversity regulations specify the size of margins for a thesis or dissertation: 4cmbinding margin, 2cm head margin, 2.5cm fore-edge margin, 4cm bottom margin. Ofparticular importance is the left hand margin which has to be larger than the right toaccommodate the binding area. The framework file is set with the required margins.NotesProducing a Thesis or Long Document in WordNotes must be positioned consistently throughout the document, i.e. either at thefoot of the page, end of chapter or end of document. They must be in single spacingand that includes the bibliography. All separate sections, notes, figures, tables,bibliographies etc, must be identified in the table of contents.Remember to check with your department for their regulations and to check theUniversity website for the latest information.