University format guidelines for Engineering students submitting a master's thesis to California State University, Long Beach

1. A Guide for CSULB Master’s
Degree Candidates

2. Contact us any time. We’ll get back to you by the
next business day!

3. Research Help
For help with doing research, contact the
librarian/subject specialist in Engineering
Hema Ramachandran
(562) 985-5749
http://www.csulb.libguides.com/ENG
hema.ramachandran@csulb.edu

4. Role of the Thesis and Dissertation Office
We’re here to help you prepare
your manuscript according to
the University Guidelines Manual
and the formatting style guide
approved by your department.
Please call or email us whenever
you have questions or problems
regarding your manuscript.

5. Electronic Submission—First Time Ever!
We are happy to announce that
students can now submit their
manuscripts via a website set up by
ProQuest, the database company
that has maintained electronic theses
and dissertations for CSULB since
2008.
 You can submit documents and
revisions any time from anywhere
 You save time and money since no
printing of documents is needed

6. Submission Process—Get Ready!
Have your signature page fully
signed with all signatures
AND
Have your manuscript formatted
to the best of your ability and
complete in one PDF file

7. Submission Process—Get Set!
Deliver your signature
page to the Thesis Office
by 5 p.m. of deadline date
AND
The Thesis Office will
email you the Internet
address to use to upload
your PDF manuscript

8. Submission Process—Go!
You must upload your PDF within
5 business days of the date that
the email is sent
AND
A fee of $95 is required for Open
Access Publishing at the time of
upload
AND
Make a note of your User Name
and Password so you can access
PDFs for revisions

9. Revision Process—First Evaluation
Formatters read through PDFs on a
first come first served basis as they
are uploaded. Corrections are
added to the PDF. The student is
emailed when read-through is
done. The annotated PDF can be
downloaded from the ProQuest
website

10. Revision Process—First Corrections
Using a version of the manuscript
that’s easy to revise (usually a
Microsoft Word version), the
student makes revisions based on
the annotated PDF. After making a
PDF of the revised manuscript, the
student uploads it to ProQuest
website. Setting a 2 week
turnaround time for this initial
revision ensures completing the
submission process within the
term deadline

11. Revision Process—Second Corrections
Formatters read through revised
PDF and contact the student
within a week. There are three
possibilities:
 Second correction—another PDF
is uploaded with notes about
corrections needed
 Cleared pending—Email is sent
with list of a few (15 or fewer)
corrections still needed
 Cleared—No further corrections
needed

12. Clearance Letter
Once the formatting of a student’s PDF
manuscript is cleared, meaning there are no
more corrections needed, the Thesis Office
releases the PDF for publication on the
ProQuest database.
The student will receive an email “clearance
letter” from the Thesis Office to confirm that
the submission process is complete. A copy
of the email is also sent to the student’s
committee chair, the department graduate
advisor and Enrollment Services.

14. University Guidelines Versus
Departmental Style Manuals
The formatting rules in the
CSULB University Guidelines
Manual ALWAYS take precedence
over the style guide (APA, MLA,
Chicago, etc.) or other citation
format styles (IEEE, AAA, etc.)
required by your department

15. Current Engineering Style Guides
Use the style approved by your department or committee:
Civil–ASCE; http://www.asce.org/Audience/Authors,--
Editors/Books/General-Book-Information/Quick-Guide-to-
Common-Types-of-Referenced-Material/
Computer Science—IEEE Computer Society; http://www.computer
.org/portal/web/publications/styleguide
Electrical—IEEE; http://www.ieee.org/documents/style_manual
.pdf
Mechanical & Aerospace—ASME; https://www.asme.org/shop
/proceedings/conference-publications/references?cm_re
=Author%20Guidelines-_-Left%20Navigation-_-References

16. Thesis Office Web Pages
 University Guidelines Manual (revised version in progress)
 Mini-Manuscript (samples of formatting for all pages of document)
 Templates for signature page, title page and much more
 PowerPoints about formatting rules
 Go to http://csulb.libguides.com/thesisformat or click through
from University Library home page

17. Font Requirements
Font Style
Times Roman
Times New Roman
Courier
Courier New
Font Size = 12 point
Exceptions:
Within a table, font style must
match text but font size may be 10
to 12 point
Within a figure, font style is
unrestricted and font size must be
legible
Within the appendices, font style
and font size are unrestricted
Times New Roman is the
most widely used font
style.
Courier New comes
in second.

18. Margin Requirements
 1 ½ inch left margin is used
throughout the manuscript
 1 inch bottom and right
margins are used throughout
the manuscript
 1 inch top margin is used for
most pages of the manuscript
 2 inch top margin is used for
the first page of the sections
listed on the right
 The easiest way to create a
2 inch top margin is to space
down from the existing 1 inch
top margin. Hit ENTER key 3
times (using double line
spacing) or 5 times (using
single line spacing) for the
extra inch of blank space
Use 2 inch top margin for the first
page of these sections:
ABSTRACT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES**
LIST OF FIGURES**
LIST OF WORKS**
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS*
EACH AND EVERY CHAPTER
REFERENCES LIST
*This section is not required.
**This section is only required if numbered
items (tables, figures, etc.) are part of
manuscript.

19. Spacing Within Text Requirements
 Within the text of the abstract,
acknowledgements and all
chapters, use two (2) spaces
after punctuation at the end
of sentences; commonly this
is a period, but it could be a
question mark or exclamation
mark
 Also, two (2) spaces are
required after colons in text,
titles or subheads
 This rule does not apply to
citations in footnotes or
references list
2 SPACES RULE

20. Paragraph Format Requirements
 All text should be
formatted as paragraphs
with consistent indentation
for the first line and left
justification only
 Bullet points are not
allowed
 Numbered items use
paragraph format with NO
uniform left indentation
FORMAT NUMBERED ITEMS LIKE
PARAGRAPHS
1. Microsoft Word automatically
formats numbered items with
uniform left indentation.
2. The University Guidelines
Manual requires paragraph format.
3. University Guidelines Manual
wins! Indent the first line of each
item, including the number, like a
paragraph, and start all other lines at
the left margin.

21. Uniform Double Line Spacing Requirements
Spacing between lines of
text should be uniform with
no extra blank space
between paragraphs or
before and after titles and
subheads.
For instance, the line
spacing in this sentence is
not uniform.
To create uniform double
line spacing, select text
above and below the gap in
the text.
Then click on the Page Layout tab
and click on the little arrow
underneath the spacing settings to
bring up the Paragraph
dialog box.
In the Paragraph dialog box, set
Line spacing to “Double” and set
the Spacing boxes (marked Before
and After) to “0 pt”

22. Page Number Placement Requirements
Page numbers are centered at
the bottom of the page and
positioned just above the one
inch bottom margin.
To change the position of page
numbers, go to the Insert tab
and click on Footer.
Then click on Edit Footer near
the bottom of the dialog box
that pops up.
A new menu bar, “Header &
Footer Tools,” will appear at
the top of the screen. Look for
the Footer from Bottom setting
and change setting to 0.9 inch.
While in the Header & Footer
Tools mode, you can select a
page number and right click
for a dialog box to change the
font style or font size of the
page number (which should be
the same as the text).

23. Order of Elements and Page Numbers Required
Abstract—If only one page, do NOT use a page number;
otherwise use Arabic numerals (1, 2) for page numbers
Title Page—NO PAGE NUMBER
Copyright Page (optional)—NO PAGE NUMBER
Acknowledgements (optional)—Use lowercase Roman numerals
(begin with iii) for page numbers
Table of Contents—Use lowercase Roman numerals (begin with iii
if there is no acknowledgements page)
List of Tables, List of Figures, List of Works, and so on (as
needed)—Use lowercase Roman numerals
Chapters—Use Arabic numerals for page numbers from here to
the end of the manuscript (Chapter 1 starts with page 1)
Appendices (optional)—Each one begins with a title page. Use
title page with APPENDIX and its title for one. If there are two or
more appendices, begin with a title page with APPENDICES
centered on the page followed by title page for APPENDIX A
References List or Bibliography—Begins with a title page with
REFERENCES or BIBLIOGRAPHY or WORKS CITED centered on page

24. Much, Much More!
These are only the fundamental
formatting rules that must be used in
your manuscript. There are specific rules
for every section of the document. Be
sure to go online and check out the
other PowerPoint slideshows with
formatting rules. Don’t forget the Mini-
Manuscript, templates and the University
Guidelines Manual itself. All of them can
be accessed from:
http://csulb.libguides.com/thesisformat

25. (562) 985-4013
lib-thesis@csulb.edu