York University Dissertation Template

York University’s Faculty of Graduate Studies provides students with a list of formatting guidelines ((If you want the direct PDF link, here it is)) (requirements more like it) to assist graduate students with the preparation of their dissertation or thesis.

The rules and regulations are somewhat convoluted and, in my humble opinion, if left to the last step of preparation, a pain in the ass to integrate with work completed thus far. So follow my lead and begin formatting your chapters as you write them to match the guidelines. This will save a ton of work when you finally integrate all the chapters.

Also saving you a ton of work? A template that is formatted to meet FGS’ guidelines. Surprisingly, FGS does not provide students with such a template. So I’ll provide one:

York University Faculty of Graduate Studies Dissertation / Thesis Template (MS Word Template, compatible with editions 2007+)

Some caveats:

I’ve used the formatting of the document to create my own dissertation. I’ve tried to make sure there are no errors and its completely in line with FGS’ requirements as of September 2010, but you’re using this template at your own risk, so to speak. I’ve heard stories about the thesis secretary measuring margins and throwing 900 printed pages out because the page number was printed too low on the page, so check and double check all the requirements before you print your final version and visit FGS.

And drop a comment below if it proved helpful!