Section-Specific
References
Examples: First Page | Continuing Pages | References as a Subsection of a Chapter
About
All theses/dissertations contain references. These references provide detailed information on the published material (books, journals, websites, etc.) cited within the manuscript. Your reference style will be specified by the style guide or journal style being used by your discipline and should be consistent throughout the manuscript.
The most common ways to list references include:
- References for the entire manuscript are listed in a separate chapter as a main section. (This is typically the last chapter before the Appendices.)
- References are listed as the last subsection of a chapter. (The references section will be a 2nd order heading and will follow the text of the previous sections. It will not begin at the top of a new page.)
Format
General Formatting
- Line Spacing: May be single-spaced or double-spaced.
Reference Formatting (As a Major Section)
- References (First Order) heading is spaced 2" from the top of the page.
- The style and location of the References heading matches those of all other first order headings.
- Continuation pages are flush with the top 1" page margin.
- References are listed in one consistent style.
- The page numbers are typed in Arabic numerals and numbered consecutively from the body of the manuscript.
Reference Formatting (As a Subsection of a Chapter)
- Heading formatted as other secondary (2nd level) headings.
- Section does not begin at the top of a page unless the previous section ends at the bottom of the previous page.
- Continuation pages are flush with the top 1" margin.
- References are listed in one consistent style.
- The page numbers are typed in Arabic numerals and numbered consecutively from the body of the manuscript. The location of the page number is the same as others throughout the document.