Create Dissertation Templates to Meet Grad School Formatting

It’s submission week. You’ve spent three years researching, writing, and revising your dissertation. Your committee approved your defense. You’re done, right? Wrong. The graduate school rejects your submission because your table of contents is formatted incorrectly. Your page numbers restart in the wrong section. Your heading styles don’t match the required hierarchy. Your margins are 0.1 inches off on three pages. None of these problems have anything to do with the quality of your research or writing. They’re purely technical formatting issues. And they’re going to delay your graduation by weeks or months while you fix them and resubmit. This happens to students all the time. They spend years on their dissertations, then get blindsided by formatting requirements they didn’t know about or couldn’t implement correctly. Most dissertation rejections during the final submission process aren’t about content—they’re about formatting. Here’s what makes this particularly frustrating: these formatting problems are completely avoidable if you set up your template correctly at the beginning of the process. But most students don’t think about formatting until the end, when fixing problems is much harder. Setting up a proper dissertation template saves you hours of frustration during submission week. More importantly, it prevents the soul-crushing experience of having your submission rejected for technical reasons after you thought you were finished. Your university has specific formatting requirements. They’re usually documented in a dissertation manual or ETD (Electronic Thesis and Dissertation) guidelines. These requirements cover margins, spacing, fonts, pagination, heading hierarchy, front matter pages, and dozens of other technical details. Most of these requirements are not intuitive. You won’t accidentally format your dissertation correctly just by writing in Word or Google Docs with default settings. You need to actively configure your document to meet the specifications. And here’s the thing: once you set up the template correctly, you can use it for all your chapters. Every heading will be formatted consistently. Your page numbers will work correctly. Your table of contents will update automatically. You won’t have to think about formatting again until final submission—when you’ll just need to do a final check rather than fixing hundreds of formatting errors. I’ve watched students waste entire weekends reformatting dissertations that were almost finished because they didn’t set up templates correctly from the start. I’ve seen graduate schools reject submissions over formatting details that students didn’t even know were requirements. So let me walk you through how to create a dissertation template that actually meets your graduate school’s guidelines. This takes a few hours upfront, but it saves you dozens of hours later—and it prevents the nightmare of a rejected submission when you thought you were done.

Understand Your University’s Formatting Manual

Before you create any template, you need to know exactly what your university requires. Every university has different formatting specifications, and you need to follow yours precisely. Find your university’s dissertation manual or ETD guidelines. Most universities publish these documents on their graduate school website. Search for terms like:

“[Your University] dissertation formatting guidelines”
“[Your University] ETD manual”
“[Your University] thesis and dissertation handbook”
“[Your University] graduate school formatting requirements”

Some universities have comprehensive manuals that specify every detail. Others have shorter guidelines that cover just the basics. Some provide sample pages or templates. Some don’t provide much guidance at all and expect you to figure it out. If you can’t find clear guidelines on your graduate school website, email your graduate school’s dissertation coordinator. Don’t assume you can wing it or that “standard” formatting will be acceptable. What’s standard at one university might violate requirements at another. Download the manual or guidelines and actually read them. I know this sounds obvious, but most students don’t do this until they’re submitting, then they discover requirements they didn’t know about. Read them now, before you start writing or before you’ve written too much. Key elements covered in formatting manuals include: Margins. Most universities require specific margin measurements. Common requirements are 1 inch on all sides, or 1.5 inches on the left (for binding) and 1 inch on the other sides. Some require different margins for different sections. This matters because if your margins are wrong, the graduate school will reject your submission. And fixing margins after you’ve written 200 pages with tables and figures is a nightmare because changing margins shifts everything and breaks your pagination and figure placement. Spacing. Usually double-spaced body text, but requirements vary for different elements. Block quotes might be single-spaced. Front matter pages might have different spacing requirements. Footnotes and bibliography entries often have specific spacing rules. If you set up spacing correctly in your styles at the beginning, you won’t have to manually adjust spacing throughout your document later. Pagination. This is where most students screw up. Dissertation pagination is complex:

Front matter pages (abstract, acknowledgments, table of contents) use lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii)
Body pages use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) starting with the introduction
Some universities require specific pages to be unnumbered
Page numbers might need to be in different positions for different sections

Setting this up correctly requires section breaks and understanding how Word or Google Docs handles page numbering across sections. Get this wrong and you’ll spend hours fixing it later. Heading hierarchy and formatting. Your dissertation has multiple heading levels: chapter titles, major section headings, subsection headings, etc. Your university specifies exactly how each level should be formatted. For example:

Chapter titles: centered, all caps, bold, 14pt
Level 1 headings: left-aligned, title case, bold, 12pt
Level 2 headings: left-aligned, title case, italic, 12pt
Level 3 headings: indented, title case, italic, 12pt

These specifications vary by university. Some use APA heading styles. Some have custom requirements. You need to follow yours exactly. Font rules. Most universities specify acceptable fonts and sizes. Common requirements are Times New Roman 12pt or Calibri 11pt for body text. Some universities allow multiple options. Some have specific font requirements for headings versus body text. Whatever fonts your university allows, pick one and use it consistently throughout. Don’t mix fonts unless specifically required for different elements like code samples or mathematical notation. Front matter requirements. Your dissertation front matter includes specific pages in a specific order:

Title page (with specific formatting for your title, name, degree, date, etc.)
Copyright page (if required)
Abstract (with specific word count limits)
Dedication (optional)
Acknowledgments (optional)
Table of contents (with specific formatting)
List of tables (if you have tables)
List of figures (if you have figures)
List of abbreviations (if required)

Each of these pages has formatting requirements. The title page especially has very specific requirements about placement of text, margins, spacing, and what information must be included. Other technical requirements. Depending on your university, there might be requirements for:

Running headers or footers
Chapter starts (must start on odd-numbered pages)
Blank pages (whether they’re allowed and whether they count in pagination)
Landscape pages (how to handle tables or figures that don’t fit portrait orientation)
Copyright statements
Institutional review board approval documentation

The more of these details you catch upfront, the less pain you’ll have later. Make notes of all the specific requirements that apply to your dissertation. You’ll need these notes when setting up your template. Common areas where students miss requirements:

Abstract word count limits (often 250-350 words, but varies)
Specific wording required on the title page
Whether page numbers appear on chapter title pages
Spacing before and after headings
Indentation requirements for paragraphs versus block quotes
Citation format requirements (which might differ from what your advisor prefers)

Read through the guidelines with a highlighter and mark everything that seems specific or unusual. These are the things you’ll need to implement in your template.

Setting Up Your Template in Microsoft Word or Google Docs

Now that you know what your university requires, let’s set up a template that implements those requirements. I’ll cover both Word and Google Docs since those are the most common tools students use. Start with a clean document. Don’t try to retrofit an existing draft. Start fresh so you’re not fighting with existing formatting. You’ll copy your written content into this template once it’s set up correctly. Create and save paragraph styles for each heading level. This is the most important step and the one most students skip. Styles ensure consistency and let you update formatting globally later if needed. In Word:

Go to the Styles gallery on the Home tab
Right-click on “Heading 1” and select “Modify”
Configure it to match your university’s Level 1 heading requirements (font, size, alignment, spacing, etc.)
Repeat for Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.
Also modify the “Normal” style for your body text

In Google Docs:

Format a heading the way your university requires
Click on “Normal text” dropdown and hover over the heading style
Click the arrow and select “Update ‘Heading 1’ to match”
Repeat for all heading levels

Create custom styles if needed. For example, if you need a special style for figure captions or block quotes, create those as custom paragraph styles. Name them clearly: “Figure Caption,” “Block Quote,” “Abstract Text,” etc. Configure paragraph formatting in your body text style. This includes:

Line spacing (usually double-spaced)
Paragraph spacing (space before/after paragraphs)
Indentation (first line indent, usually 0.5 inches)
Alignment (left-aligned, not justified, for most dissertations)
Widow/orphan control (prevents single lines at the top or bottom of pages)

In Word, all of this is in the “Modify Style” dialog under “Format” → “Paragraph.” In Google Docs, use Format → Line & paragraph spacing and Format → Align & indent. Set up your page layout with correct margins. In Word, go to Layout → Margins → Custom Margins and enter your university’s requirements. Set these as default for the document. In Google Docs, use File → Page setup and set your margins. Important: if your university requires different margins for different sections (like binding margin only on certain pages), you’ll need to use section breaks and handle this carefully. This is one area where Word is more powerful than Google Docs. Insert section breaks for different pagination zones. Your dissertation needs at least two sections: front matter (Roman numerals) and body (Arabic numerals). Maybe more if you have appendices with different formatting. In Word:

Place cursor where you want the section break (after front matter, before Chapter 1)
Layout → Breaks → Next Page (under Section Breaks)
This creates a new section that can have different formatting

In Google Docs, section breaks are limited. You might need separate documents for front matter and body, then combine them as a final step. This is a significant limitation of Google Docs for complex dissertations. Set up automatic page numbering correctly. This is tricky and where many students mess up. In Word:

Double-click in the footer area to enter header/footer editing
For front matter section: Insert → Page Number → Bottom of Page → Plain Number (or your university’s style)
Right-click the page number → Format Page Numbers → Number format: i, ii, iii (Roman numerals) → Start at: i
Move to body section (after your section break)
Insert → Page Number → Bottom of Page (same position as front matter)
Right-click → Format Page Numbers → Number format: 1, 2, 3 (Arabic) → Start at: 1
Important: uncheck “Link to Previous” in the Header & Footer Tools so each section has independent page numbers

In Google Docs, you can insert page numbers (Insert → Page numbers) but you can’t do Roman versus Arabic in different sections. This is a serious limitation. You might need to add Roman numerals manually to front matter pages. Use consistent fonts throughout. Apply your chosen font to all your styles—body text, headings, captions, etc. This ensures consistency when you write. Times New Roman 12pt is the most common requirement and the safest choice if your university allows multiple options. It’s boring but it’s what graduate schools expect and it meets readability standards. Set up hyphenation and justification correctly. Most universities require left-aligned text (not justified) and prefer hyphenation to be turned off. Check your specific requirements. In Word: Layout → Hyphenation → None In Google Docs: Format → Text wrapping → Wrap (hyphenation is automatic and can’t be fully disabled) Configure header/footer requirements. Some universities require running headers with chapter titles or your name. Most require page numbers in footers. Set this up in your template. If your university requires different headers/footers for chapter title pages versus body pages, you’ll need to use “Different first page” options in your section settings. Save this as your master template before adding content. In Word, save as a .dotx template file (File → Save As → File type: Word Template). In Google Docs, you can make a copy of this document for each chapter. Now you have a clean template that implements your university’s requirements. When you start writing each chapter, you’ll use this template so everything is formatted correctly from the start.

Creating Placeholder Pages for Front Matter

Your dissertation’s front matter includes several specific pages that must be formatted according to your university’s guidelines. Set these up in your template now with placeholder text. You’ll replace the placeholders with actual content later. Title page. This has very specific formatting requirements that vary by university. Typical elements include:

Your dissertation title (centered, specific capitalization rules)
“A dissertation submitted to [University Name]”
“In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of”
“Doctor of Philosophy in [Your Field]”
Your name
Month and year of defense
Committee chair name(s)

Check your university’s manual for exact wording and spacing requirements. Some universities provide title page templates. Use them. Create this page in your template with [PLACEHOLDER TEXT] for the elements you’ll fill in later. Format all the spacing and alignment correctly now so you just need to replace text later. Abstract page. Usually starts with the word “Abstract” as a heading, followed by your abstract text. Universities typically specify:

Maximum word count (often 250-350 words)
Spacing (often single-spaced, even if body text is double-spaced)
Whether it gets a page number

Create the page with the heading formatted correctly and placeholder text that’s approximately the right length. Note the word count limit in the placeholder so you remember it when writing. Acknowledgments page. Optional at most universities but common. Simple format: “Acknowledgments” as a heading, then your text. Table of contents. This needs to list all your chapters and major sections with page numbers. DO NOT create this manually. Use Word or Google Docs’ automatic TOC generation based on your heading styles. I’ll cover this in detail in the next section since it’s important enough to warrant its own explanation. List of tables. If your dissertation includes tables, you need a list of them. This should be auto-generated from table captions, not manually created. List of figures. Same as list of tables but for figures (graphs, charts, images, diagrams). Create placeholder pages for these now with the heading formatted correctly. You’ll set up the automatic generation later when you have actual tables and figures. Copyright page (if required). Some universities require a copyright notice page. Format: “© [Year] [Your Name]” centered on the page. Check if your university requires this. Order of front matter pages. The typical order is:

Title page (page i, but number usually not displayed)
Copyright page (if required)
Abstract (continues numbering)
Dedication (optional)
Acknowledgments (optional)
Table of contents
List of tables
List of figures
Chapter 1 starts (switch to Arabic numerals)

Confirm this order with your university’s requirements—some universities have different orders. Formatting consistency across front matter. All front matter pages should use the same:

Margins
Font
Heading format
Page number position

But spacing might vary (some pages single-spaced, some double-spaced) so check your guidelines carefully. Having all these placeholder pages set up in your template means you don’t have to remember what goes where or how it’s formatted when you’re finishing your dissertation. You just fill in the blanks and generate the automatic elements.

Automate the Tedious Stuff

The real power of a proper dissertation template comes from automation. Once set up correctly, Word and Google Docs can handle formatting tasks that would take hours manually. Table of contents automation. This is huge. Do not manually create your TOC by typing chapter titles and page numbers. It will become out of date immediately and you’ll waste hours updating it. Instead, use heading styles consistently throughout your dissertation, then generate the TOC automatically. In Word:

Place cursor where you want your TOC (usually after acknowledgments)
References tab → Table of Contents → Custom Table of Contents
Configure: Show levels (usually 2 or 3), Tab leader (usually dotted), Page numbers
The TOC will include all text formatted with Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.

To update: right-click the TOC and select “Update Field” → “Update entire table” In Google Docs:

Insert → Table of contents
Choose a style (with or without page numbers)
This creates an auto-updating TOC based on your heading styles

The key is using heading styles consistently. Every chapter title must be Heading 1. Every major section must be Heading 2. Then your TOC will be correct automatically. List of tables and figures automation. Similar concept. Don’t manually type your table titles and page numbers. In Word, use captions:

Click on a table → References → Insert Caption
Choose “Table” as label type
Enter your table title
This creates a numbered caption (Table 1, Table 2, etc.)
To create list of tables: References → Insert Table of Figures → Select “Table” from Caption label dropdown

For figures, same process but select “Figure” as label type. The numbering updates automatically if you add or remove tables. The list of tables/figures updates automatically when you update fields. In Google Docs, this feature is limited. You’ll need to use a workaround or create lists manually. This is another area where Word is superior for complex documents like dissertations. Cross-references for internal consistency. When you refer to “Table 3” or “Figure 5” in your text, use cross-references rather than typing the numbers manually. In Word:

Type “see Table ” (with space after)
Insert → Cross-reference
Reference type: Table
Select which table you’re referencing
Insert reference to: “Only label and number”

This inserts “3” (or whatever number) that updates automatically if you add/remove tables. If Table 3 becomes Table 4 because you added a table earlier, all your cross-references update automatically. This prevents the nightmare scenario where you have 47 references to tables and figures scattered throughout 200 pages and the numbering changes late in the process. Automatic cross-references update when you update fields. Automatic figure and table numbering. When you use the Caption feature in Word, numbering is automatic. Table 1, Table 2, Table 3. If you delete Table 2, the old Table 3 automatically becomes the new Table 2. This saves massive amounts of time if you revise your dissertation structure. Without automatic numbering, you’d have to manually renumber every table, then find every reference to tables throughout your text and update those numbers too. With automation, it’s one click to update everything. Headers and footers automation. If your university requires chapter titles in running headers, don’t type them manually on each page. Use field codes. In Word:

Double-click header area
Insert → Quick Parts → Field
Select “StyleRef”
Select “Heading 1” to pull chapter titles automatically

This makes the header display whatever the current chapter title is, updating automatically as you move through chapters. Automatic bibliography/references. If you’re using a citation manager (Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote), they plug into Word or Google Docs and can generate your reference list automatically in the required format. If you’re not using a citation manager, start. Managing hundreds of citations manually for a dissertation is misery. Citation managers:

Store all your sources in a database
Insert citations in your text
Generate formatted reference lists automatically
Update everything if you change citation styles

This is separate from your template but integrated with it. Set up your citation style to match your university’s requirements (usually APA 7th edition for social sciences). The power of “Update Fields.” In Word, once you have auto-generated elements (TOC, lists of tables/figures, cross-references, page numbers), you update them all at once:

Ctrl+A (select all)
F9 (update fields)

This updates every automatic element in your document. Do this before final submission to ensure everything is current. Why automation matters for dissertations specifically. Dissertations are long documents that get revised extensively. You’ll add chapters, reorganize sections, delete content, move tables around. Every change can affect page numbers, table numbers, figure numbers, TOC entries, cross-references. Without automation, you’d need to manually check and update hundreds of elements every time you make any structural change. With automation, you press F9 and it’s done. This is the difference between spending 20 hours formatting your final dissertation versus spending 20 minutes. The template setup takes a few hours upfront, but the time savings over the course of writing your dissertation are enormous.

Save as a Reusable Template File

Once you’ve set up your template with all the correct formatting, styles, and placeholder pages, save it in a way that preserves it for reuse. In Microsoft Word: Save as a template file (.dotx):

File → Save As
Choose location (ideally in your Templates folder)
File type dropdown: select “Word Template (*.dotx)”
Name it something clear like “Dissertation_Template_[YourUniversity].dotx”

Template files work differently from regular documents. When you open a .dotx file, Word creates a new document based on the template rather than opening the template itself. This prevents you from accidentally modifying your master template. To use your template:

File → New
Look for your template in “Personal” templates
Click it to create a new document based on the template

Or just double-click the .dotx file in your file system. In Google Docs: Google Docs doesn’t have a formal template system for personal use, but you can work around this: Option 1: Make a copy for each chapter

Keep your master template in your Google Drive
Name it clearly: “TEMPLATE – Dissertation – DO NOT EDIT”
When you need to write a chapter, make a copy
File → Make a copy → Name it “Chapter 1” or whatever

Option 2: Use Google Docs template gallery

If you’re part of a Google Workspace organization (through your university), you might be able to submit your template to your organization’s gallery
This is complex and may not be worth it for individual use

The make-a-copy approach works fine for most students. Just be disciplined about never editing the master template directly. Always work in copies. Share your template with others (optional). If you’re in a cohort or writing group, you might want to share your template with other students. This is fine—formatting templates aren’t proprietary. For Word, just share the .dotx file. For Google Docs, share the template document with “View” or “Comment” permissions (not “Edit”) and instruct people to make copies. Version control for your template. You might discover errors in your template or need to update it based on feedback. Keep versions:

Dissertation_Template_v1.dotx
Dissertation_Template_v2.dotx

Include the date in the filename if you’re making frequent updates. If you’ve already written content using an older version of your template, you can update it to match a newer template version by copying the styles from the new template into your working document. In Word, this is done through the Organizer (Developer tab → Document Template → Organizer). Back up your template. Store it in multiple places: your computer, cloud storage, a USB drive. You don’t want to lose this after spending hours setting it up. Document what’s in your template. Create a simple text file or document that lists:

What formatting requirements your template implements
Any specific university requirements you built in
What styles exist and what they’re for
Any quirks or things to remember

This documentation helps if you return to your dissertation after time away, or if you share your template with others. Test your template before using it extensively. Before writing 50 pages in your template, test it:

Create a few chapters with headings
Add some tables and figures with captions
Generate the TOC and lists
Check that page numbering works across sections
Print or PDF a test version

Make sure everything works as expected. It’s easier to fix template issues when you have minimal content than after you’ve written your entire dissertation. When to update your working documents with template changes. If you discover a formatting error in your template after you’ve already written content, you need to decide: update existing documents or just fix going forward? For minor changes (a font size adjustment, spacing tweak), update existing documents by copying the corrected styles from your updated template. For major structural changes (complete reorganization of sections), it might be easier to fix going forward and manually update older content only if required for final submission. Using your template across multiple documents. Some students write each chapter as a separate document, then combine them later. If you do this, make sure every chapter document is based on your template so formatting is consistent across all chapters. In Word, you can combine documents while preserving formatting, but it’s tricky with complex elements like page numbers and TOCs. Test this process before you’re on a tight deadline. In Google Docs, combining documents means copying content between documents, which can break formatting. This is a pain point of using Google Docs for dissertations. Professional help with template setup. If all of this sounds overwhelming, or if you’ve tried to set up a template and can’t get the page numbers or TOC to work correctly, it’s worth getting help. A few hours with someone who knows how to configure Word or Google Docs properly can save you dozens of hours of frustration.

Don’t Let Formatting Delay Your Graduation

Formatting requirements are tedious. They’re not intellectually challenging. They don’t test your research skills or contribute to knowledge. But they’re mandatory, and getting them wrong can prevent you from graduating. The difference between students who breeze through final submission and students who spend weeks fixing formatting problems is almost always whether they set up their templates correctly at the beginning. Students who start with proper templates format as they write. Their dissertations are 90% compliant before they even think about submission. They just need a final check and minor corrections. Students who ignore formatting until the end face massive cleanup jobs. Hundreds of pages of inconsistent formatting. Page numbers that don’t work. TOCs that are out of date. Tables and figures that aren’t numbered correctly. This becomes a nightmare when you’re also trying to implement committee feedback, prepare for your defense, and meet submission deadlines. Set up your template correctly now. Yes, it takes a few hours. Yes, it’s boring. But it prevents much bigger problems later. If you’re not confident in your technical skills with Word or Google Docs, get help. Your university might offer workshops on dissertation formatting. Your graduate school might provide templates or formatting services. Some universities have dissertation formatting specialists you can consult with. Or work with people who’ve been through this process many times and know exactly how to set up templates that meet graduate school requirements. At Real Professors, we’ve helped students with formatting issues for years. We know the common problems and how to fix them efficiently. Because here’s the thing: your committee won’t help you with formatting. That’s not their job. Your advisor probably doesn’t know the technical details of Word’s section breaks and page numbering. The graduate school will reject your submission if formatting is wrong, but they won’t teach you how to fix it. You’re on your own for this technical stuff. Unless you work with people who actually know how to do it. Need a ready-to-use dissertation template customized for your university? Request a formatting setup session with a Real Professor. We’ll configure a template that meets your graduate school’s specific requirements, teach you how to use it effectively, and save you hours of formatting frustration. Get it right from the start instead of fixing problems at the end.