VEERMATA JIJABAI TECHNOLIOGICAL INSTITUTE

MATUNGA, MUMBAI 400 019

April 2011

GUIDELINES FOR PREPARATION OF THESES/DISSERTATIONS/REPORTS

(for Diploma / Degree / Post Graduate / Ph D students)

Preamble

While utmost attention must be paid to the content of the thesis /dissertation/ report (hereinafter
called the 'thesis'), which is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the
respective diploma / degree, it is imperative that a standard format be prescribed.
The same format shall also be followed in preparation of the final soft copies to be submitted to
the Library in future.

1 Organisation of the Thesis /Dissertation /report

The thesis shall be presented in a number of chapters, starting with Introduction and ending with
Summary and Conclusions. Each of the other chapters will have a precise title reflecting the
contents of the chapter.
A chapter can be subdivided into sections, subsections and sub-subsections so as to present
the content discretely and with due emphasis.
When the work comprises two or more mutually independent investigations, the thesis may be
divided into two or more parts, each with an appropriate title. However, the numbering of
chapters will be continuous right through, for example Part 1 may comprise Chapters 2-5, Part
Two, Chapters 6-9.

The report shall be presented in following sequence:

o Title sheet
o Dedication sheet (if desired)
o Statement of the Candidate
o Approval Sheet
o Abstract
o Table of contents
o List of tables (if desired)
o List of Figures (if desired)
o Abbreviations / Notations / Nomenclature (if desired)
o Chapter One : Introduction
o Chapter Two: Literature Review

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 o Chapter/s : Report of the present investigation
o Chapter : Results & Discussions
o Chapter : Summary & Conclusions
o Appendix / Appendices (if any)
o References
o Bibliography
o Acknowledgements (if desired)

1.1 Introduction

The title of Chapter 1 shall be Introduction. It shall justify and highlight the problem posed, define
the topic and explain the aim and scope of the work presented in the thesis. It may also highlight
the significant contributions from the investigation.

1.2 Review of Literature

This shall normally form Chapter 2 and shall present a critical appraisal of the previous work
published in the literature pertaining to the topic of the investigation. The extent and emphasis of
the chapter shall depend on the nature of the investigation.

1.3 Report on the present investigation

The reporting on the investigation shall be presented in one or more chapters with appropriate
chapter titles. Due importance shall be given to experimental setups, procedures adopted,
techniques developed, methodologies developed and adopted.

While important derivations / formulae should normally be presented in the text of these
chapters, extensive and long treatments, copious details and tedious information, detailed
results in tabular and graphical forms may be presented in Appendices.
 Representative data in table and figures may, however, be included in appropriate
chapters.
 Figures and tables should be presented immediately following their first mention in the
text. Short tables and figures (say, less than half the writing area of the page) should be
presented within the text, while large table and figures may be presented in separate
pages.
 Equations should form separate lines with appropriate paragraph separation above and
below the equation line, with equation numbers flushed to the right.

1.4 Results and Discussions

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This shall form the penultimate chapter of the thesis and shall include a thorough evaluation of
the investigation carried out and bring out the contributions from the study. The discussion shall
logically lead to inferences and conclusions as well as scope for possible further future work.

1.5 Summary and Conclusions

This will be the final chapter of the thesis. A brief report of the work carried out shall form the first
part of the Chapter. Conclusions derived from the logical analysis presented in the Results and
Discussions Chapter shall be presented and clearly enumerated, each point stated separately.
Scope for future work should be stated lucidly in the last part of the chapter.

1.6 Appendix
Detailed information, lengthy derivations, raw experimental observations etc. are to be presented
in the separate appendices, which shall be numbered in Roman Capitals (e.g. “Appendix IV”).
Since reference can be drawn to published / unpublished literature in the appendices these
should precede the “Literature Cited” section.

1.7 Literature Cited

This should follow the Appendices, if any, otherwise the Summary and Conclusions Chapter.
The candidates shall follow the style of citation and style of listing in one of the standard journals
in the subject area consistently throughout his / her thesis, for example, IEEE in the Department
of Electrical Engineering, Materials Transactions in Department of Metallurgical Engineering and
Materials Science. However, the names of all the authors along with their initials and the full title
of the article /monogram / book etc. have to be given in addition to the journals / publishers,
volume, number, pages(s)and year of publication. Citation from websites should include the
names(s) of author(s) (including the initials), full title of the article, website reference and when
last accessed. Reference to personal communications, similarly, shall include the author, title of
the communication (if any) and date of receipt.
Publications by the candidate, articles, technical notes etc. in the topic of the thesis published by
the candidate may be separately listed after the literature cited. This may also be included in the
contents. The candidates may also include reprints of his / her publications after the literature
citation.
Format for Entry in reference / Bibliography:
For paper published in Journal:
Name/s of Author/s, (Year of Publication), “Title of the paper”, Title of the Journal, Volume No,
page no
e.g.
Berny, J. (1889), “A new distribution function for risk analysis”, Journal of the Operational
Research Society, Vol. 40, pp.1121-7
For text/reference book:

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Name/s of Author/s, (Year of Publication), Title of the book, Name of Publisher, Place
e.g.
Canavos, G.C. (1984), Applied probability and statistical methods, Little, Brown & Company,
Boston
For Thesis / Dissertation:
Name of the researcher, (Year of submission), Name of University, Place
e.g.
Dey, P.K. (1997), “Symbiosis of organizational re-engineering for effective implementation of
projects” Doctoral thesis, Jadhvpur University, Calcutta

1.8 Acknowledgements
The acknowledgments by the candidate shall follow the citation of literature, signed by him/her,
with date.

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2 THESIS FORMAT

2.1 Paper
2.1.1 Quality
The thesis shall be printed / xeroxed on white bond paper, whiteness 95% or above, weight 70
gram or more per square meter.
2.1.2 Size
The size of the paper shall be standard A 4; height 297 mm, width 210 mm.
2.1.3 Type, Setting, Text Processing and Printing
The text shall be printed with Portrait orientation employing laser-jet or Inkjet printer, the text
having been processed using a standard text processor. The standard font shall be Times New
Roman of 12 pts with 1.5 line spacing and Justified alignment.
2.1.4 Page Format
The Printed Sheets shall have the following written area and margins:
Top Margin 15 mm
Head Height 3 mm
Head Separation 12 mm
Bottom Margin 22 mm
Footer 3 mm
Foot Separation 10 mm
Text Height 245 mm
Text Width 160 mm
When header is not used the top margin shall be 30 mm.
Left and Right margins
The candidates shall have the options of single or double sided printing.
• Single sided/odd number page (in double sided printing)
Left Margin 30mm
Right Margin 20 mm
• Double sided even numbered page
Left Margin 20mm
Right Margin 30mm
2.1.5 Pagination
Page numbering in the text of the thesis shall be Hindu Arabic numerals at the center of the
footer. But when the candidate opts for header style the page number shall appear at the right
and left top corner for the odd and even number pages, respectively.
Page number “1” for the first page of the Introduction chapter shall not appear in print, only the
second page will bear the number “2”.

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The subsequent chapters shall begin on a fresh page (fresh odd number page in case of double
sided printing). When header style is chosen the first page of each chapter will not have the
header and the page number shall be printed at the center of the footer.
Pagination for pages before the Introduction chapter shall be in lower case Roman numerals,
e.g., “iv”.
2.1.6 Header
When the header style is chosen, the header can have the Chapter number and Section number
(e.g., Chapter 2, Section 3) on even numbered page headers and Chapter title or Section title on
the odd numbered page header.
2.1.7 Footer
The Footer shall contain title, student name and page numbers in following format
Report Title
Page no

2.1.8 Paragraph format

Vertical space between paragraphs shall be about 2.5 line spacing. The first line of each
paragraph should normally be indented by five characters or 12mm. A candidate may, however,
choose not to indent if (s) he has provided sufficient paragraph separation.
A paragraph should normally comprise more than one line. A single line of a paragraph shall not
be left at the top or bottom of a page (that is, no windows or orphans should be left). The word at
the right end of the first line of a page or paragraph should, as far as possible, not be
hyphenated.
2.2 Chapter and Section Format
2.2.1 Chapter
Each chapter shall begin on a fresh page (odd number page in case of double sided printing)
with an additional top margin of about 75mm. Chapter number (in Hindu Arabic) and title shall be
printed at the center of the line in 6mm font size (18pt) in bold face using both upper and lower
case (all capitals or small capitals shall not be used). A vertical gap of about 25mm shall be left
between the Chapter number and Chapter title lines and between chapter title line and the first
paragraph.
2.2.2 Sections and Subsections
A chapter can be divided into Sections, Subsections and Sub-subsections so as to present
different concepts separately. Sections and subsections can be numbered using decimal points,
e.g. 2.2 for the second section in Chapter 2 and 2.3.4 for the fourth Subsection in third Section of
Chapter 2. Chapters, Sections and Subsections shall be included in the contents with page

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numbers flushed to the right. Further subsections need not be numbered or included in the
contents.
The Section and Subsection titles along with their numbers in 5 and 4mm (16 and 14 pt) fonts,
respectively, in bold face shall be flushed to the left (not centered) with 15 mm space above and
below these lines.
In further subdivisions character size of 3 and 3.5 with bold face, small caps, all caps and italics
may be used for the titles flushed left or centered. These shall not feature in the contents.
2.2.3 Table / Figure Format
As far as possible tables and figures should be presented in portrait style. Small size table and
figures (less than half of writing area of a page) should be incorporated within the text, while
larger ones may be presented on separate pages. Table and figures shall be numbered chapter
wise. For example, the fourth figure in chapter 5 will bear the number Figure 5.4 or Fig 5.4
Table number and title will be placed above the table while the figure number and caption will be
located below the figure. Reference for Tables and Figures reproduced from elsewhere shall be
cited in the last and separate line in the table and figure caption, e.g. (after McGregor [12]).
3 Auxiliary Format
3.1 Binding
The evaluation copies of the thesis / dissertation / report may be spiral bound or soft bound. The
final hard bound copies to be submitted after the viva-voce examination will be accepted during
the submission of thesis / dissertation / report with the following colour specification:

Ph.D. Thesis Brown

M.Tech./ MCA / PG Diploma Dissertation /Report Black
B.Tech. Project Report Grey
Diploma / Post Diploma Project Report Maroon

3.2 Front Covers

The front covers shall contain the following details:
• Full title of thesis in 6 mm 22 point's size font properly centered and positioned at the top.
• Full name of the candidate in 4.5 mm 15 point's size font properly centered at the middle of the
page.
• A 40 mm dia replica of the Institute emblem followed by the name of department, name of the
Institute and the year of submission, each in a separate line and properly centered and located
at the bottom of page. 3.2.1 Lettering
All lettering shall be embossed in gold.
3.2.2 Bound back

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The degree, the name of the candidate and the year of submission shall also be embossed on
the bound (side) in gold.
3.3 Blank Sheets In addition to the white sheets (binding requirement) two white sheets shall be
put at the beginning and the end of the thesis.
3.4 Title Sheet
This shall be the first printed page of the thesis and shall contain the submission statement:
the Thesis Dissertation / project Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the
Degree, Ph.D. / M.Tech./ MCA./ B.Tech. / Diploma / PG Diploma, the name and Roll No. of the
candidate, name(s) of the Supervisor / Guide and Co-supervisor (s) / Co-Guide(s) (if any),
Department, Institute and year of submission. Sample copy of the 'Title Sheet' is appended
(Specimen 'A')
3.5 Dedication Sheet
If the candidate so desires(s) he may dedicate his/her thesis, which statement shall follow the
title page. If included, this shall form the page 1 of the auxiliary sheets but shall not have a page
number.
3.6 Approval Sheet
In the absence of a dedication sheet this will form the first page and in that case shall not have a
page number. Otherwise, this will bear the number two in Roman lower case “ii” at the center of
the footer. The top line shall be:
- Thesis Approval for Ph.D.
- Dissertation Approval for M.Tech.
- Project Report Approval for MCA, Diploma, as the case may be.
A sample copy of the Approval Sheet is appended (Specimen `B')
3.7 Abstract
The 500 word abstract shall highlight the important features of the thesis/dissertation/report and
shall correspond to the electronic version to be submitted to the Library for inclusion in the
website. The Abstract in the thesis, however, shall have two more parts, namely, the layout of
the thesis giving a brief chapter wise description of the work and the key words.
3.8 Contents
The contents shall follow the Abstract and shall enlist the titles of the chapters, section and
subsection using decimal notation, as in the text, with corresponding page number against them,
flushed to the right.
3.8.1 List of Figures and Tables
Two separate lists of Figure captions and Table titles along with their numbers and
corresponding page numbers against them shall follow the Contents.
3.9 Abbreviation Notation and Nomenclature

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In general no abbreviations should be used in the text except for Technical terms. A complete
and comprehensive list of all abbreviations, notations and nomenclature including Greek
alphabets with subscripts and superscripts shall be provided after the list of tables and figures.
(As far as possible, generally accepted symbols and notation should be used).
3.10 Pagination of auxiliary pages
Auxiliary pages from dedication (if any) to abbreviations shall be numbered using Roman
numerals in lower case, while the text starting from the Introduction shall be in Hindu Arabic.
(The first pages in the both the cases shall not bear a page number).
3.11 A Declaration of Academic Honesty and Integrity
A declaration of Academic honesty and integrity is required to be included along with every
thesis/dissertation/report after the approval sheet. The format of this declaration is given in
Specimen `C' attached.

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 Specimen 'A':
Title Sheet

(Report / Dissertation / Thesis) Titled

(Title of Report)

Submitted
in partial fulfillment of
the requirements of the degree of

(Title of the degree)

By
(Name of Student)
(Roll No)

(Year of submission)

(Name of Guide / Supervisor)

Guide / Supervisor

(Name of the Department )

Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute
Mumbai 400 019
(Year of submission)

Title of the degree / programme: (examples)

Doctor of Philosophy (Civil Engineering), M Tech (Civil Engineering with Specialization in
Construction Management), Bachelor of Technology (Civil Engineering), Diploma in Civil
Engineering

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 Specimen `B'
Approval Sheet

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that (Name of the student), a student of (Name of the

Programme), has completed the thesis / dissertation / report entitled,
”(Title of Report)” to our satisfaction.

(Name & Signature) (Name & Signature)

Guide / Supervisor Head, (Name of Department)

(Name & Signature) (Name & Signature)

Co-Guide / Co-Supervisor Director, VJTI

CERTIFICATE

The thesis / dissertation / report, ”(Title of Report)” submitted by (Name

of the student) , is found to be satisfactory and is approved for the
Degree of (Name of Programme).

(Name & Signature) (Name & Signature)

Supervisor / Guide Examiner

Date: Place:

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 Specimen `C'

Declaration of the Student

I declare that this written submission represents my ideas in my own words and where
others' ideas or words have been included, I have adequately cited and referenced the
original sources.

I also declare that I have adhered to all principles of academic honesty and integrity and
have not misrepresented or fabricated or falsified any idea / data / fact / source in my
submission.

I understand that any violation of the above will be cause for disciplinary action by the
Institute and can also evoke penal action from the sources which have thus not been
properly cited or from whom proper permission has not been taken when needed.

Signature of the student

(Name of the student)

(Roll No.)
Date:

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