Theses and Dissertations

To facilitate the research productivity of master's and doctoral candidates, the following format rules were adopted by NJIT for theses and dissertations. The following provides detailed examples of abstract pages, title pages, proper document format, etc. These format standards have been developed to ensure a degree of consistency in the written presentation of research and should be followed by all students.

The Graduate Faculty at NJIT guidelines are followed for the composition of M.S. thesis and Ph.D. dissertation committees.

Time Frame

Students must submit their MS thesis or PhD dissertation document, that includes their advisor's final changes, to the thesis/dissertation committee members about three weeks before your defense. The committee members must be given at least two weeks to review the document before the defense. Also, the public defense announcement must be submitted to GSO after GSO's second review of the document which must occur at least two weeks before the defense date. The second review of the thesis or dissertation with GSO cannot be scheduled if the embargo form hasn't been submitted to GSO.

• Process for Thesis and Dissertation Document Approval (.PDF)
• MS Thesis - Timetable for Document Approval (.PDF)
• PhD Dissertation - Timetable for Document Approval (.PDF)

Note: Thesis and Dissertation review for format by the Office of Graduate Studies must occur prior to defense and final submission.

• Avoiding Format Problems in the Document (.PDF)
• Proper Order of Thesis and Dissertation Pages (.PDF)
• Steps for Page Numbering for Thesis and Dissertation Document (.PDF for 2013)
• Steps for Creating a Table of Contents (.PDF) | (.DOC)
• List of Correct Combinations of Graduate Degrees and Departments or Interdisciplinary Programs at NJIT: Title Page Documentation

Approval Page Templates

The following templates should be used in creating an approval page for your committee to sign at your thesis or dissertation defense. For instructions on how to digitally sign a PDF, click here.

The templates provided contain five signature fields. Alternative templates are available if additional signature fields are required; email gso@njit.edu to recieve one.  

• PhD Dissertation Approval Page Template (.PDF)
• MS Thesis Approval Page Template (.PDF)

LaTeX Style Guide

• LaTeX Template for UNIX (DISCLAIMER: this template may not be a 100% match to thesis/dissertation formatting standards; additional changes may be needed after use)

Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Examples

The following formatting examples can be used as samples.

NOTE: these examples are not templates.

• Front Matter (.PDF with comments) | (.DOC without comments)
  → Includes Abstract, Title (List of Correct Title Pages), Copyright, Approval Page, Biographical Sketch, Dedication, Acknowledgment, Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Figures, and List of Symbols or Definitions (optional).
• Document Body (.PDF with comments) (.DOC without comments)
  → Includes Introduction, Body, Figures, and Tables.
• Appendices (.PDF with comments) (.DOC without comments)
  → Includes Survey Documents, Questionnaires, Permission Forms, additional Figures or Tables.
• References (.PDF with comments) (.DOC without comments)
  → Includes References according the preferred style for academic discipline, which subject specialists at the Robert Van Houten Library can help to determine. A list of these specialists can be found at: http://library.njit.edu/staff/librarian/

Information for Doctoral Students

• For PhD students doing their final dissertation submission, complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates at this link
• For PhD students who have submitted their final dissertation, information for requesting a completion letter is available at this link