Prefatory Material

The prefatory material, also known as the prefatory pages, consists of the following sections:

• Title page
• Disquisition Approval page (Copy 2)
• Abstract
• Acknowledgments
• Dedication
• Preface
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables, Figures, Schemes, etc.
• List of Abbreviations/Symbols
• List of Appendix Tables, Figures, Schemes, etc.

Except where noted, prefatory material must adhere to the same General Requirements for Formatting and Construction as the rest of the disquisition, such as for fonts and margins. Prefatory material should be organized in a specific order.

The Title page, Disquisition Approval page, Abstract, and Table of Contents are required for all disquisitions. The Lists of Tables, Figures, Schemes, etc. and their appendix counterparts are required if any of the corresponding items are present in the document. A List of Abbreviations, List of Symbols, List of Equations, or List of Listings (wild) may be included at your discretion if you have any of the corresponding items in your document. The Acknowledgements, Dedication, or Preface may be included at your discretion.

Related Pages

1. Title Page
2. Disquisition Approval Page
3. Abstract
4. Acknowledgments
5. Dedication
6. Preface
7. Table of Contents
8. List of Tables, Figures, Schemes, etc.
9. List of Abbreviations/Symbols
10. List of Appendix Tables, Figures, Schemes, etc.

Title Page

The Title page is the first page of your disquisition, and has specific requirements for spacing, alignment, and phrasing. Title pages in our templates use square brackets to indicate text that you should edit; text outside of brackets shouldn't be changed.

See the entry on our knowledge base for our full guidelines on Title pages, including special considerations for displaying your major department or program and tips on filling out your Title page.

Disquisition Approval Page

Do not include Copy 1 of your Disquisition Approval page in your disquisition, which contains personally identifying information. Instead, fill out the Copy 2 already in your template. You can find several versions of Copy 2 on our Templates and Forms page if you don't have a Copy 2 in your template. If you have a co-chaired committee, download the appropriate template, fill it out, and replace it in your disquisition.

See the entry on our knowledge base for our full guidelines on Disquisition Approval pages, including tips on filling out Copy 2.

Abstract

The abstract is a brief summary of the content of your disquisition, including your research question or argument and your conclusions. It's also the first numbered page in your disquisition. Master's papers and theses should have Abstracts with less than 150 words; doctoral dissertations may use up to 350 words. If you are formatting published papers into your disquisition with their own abstracts, those don't need to meet our word limits.

See the entry on our knowledge base for our full guidelines on Abstracts, including special considerations for word limits and tips on writing a compelling Abstract.

Acknowledgments

The Acknowledgments is an optional section that you can use to thank your mentors, friends, family, and loved ones for their support.

See the entry on our knowledge base for our full guidelines on Acknowledgements, including how to spell it correctly.

Dedication

The Dedication is an optional section used to write a personal note to a person or people who have influenced them in a significant way. Follow the General Requirements for font, spacing, and page numbers for prefatory materials, except that the text in the Dedication should be centered (and not indented).

See the entry on our knowledge base for our full guidelines on the Dedication.

Preface

The Preface is an optional section that can be used to provide an autobiographical account of how the disquisition came to be or include a significant quote that drove your research. Follow the General Requirements for font, spacing, and page numbers for prefatory materials.

See the entry on our knowledge base for our full guidelines on the Preface.

Table of Contents

The Table of Contents is a required section that lists the headings in your disquisition and where to find them. Entries should be identical to their respective headings in the chapters, except for the use of bold, italics or underlining; don't bold or underline text in the Table of Contents and use italics only when it is part of a name or phrase, such as italicizing a binomen.

See the entry on our knowledge base for our full guidelines on the Table of Contents, including special considerations for entries and tips on repairing or replacing a broken TOC.

List of Tables, Figures, Schemes, Etc.

These lists, and their appendix counterparts, are often referred to collectively as the "prefatory lists". If you use tables, figures, schemes, or other non-text items in your disquisition chapters, then you must also include a list of those items in the prefatory material. A prefatory list should only include items of its type, and it should include all the items of its type. Equations, listings, or other non-text items may be included in a prefatory list at your discretion; for items like equations that do not normally have a title, you will need to write one in its list.

See the entry on our knowledge base for our full guidelines on prefatory lists, including special considerations for maintaining alignment between entries and tips on formatting entries after it's been updated.

List of Abbreviations/Symbols

These lists are optional, but if you use many abbreviations or symbols, you should consider including a List of Abbreviations or List of Symbols; abbreviations, acronyms, initialisms, and symbols can be impenetrable to a reader who is unfamiliar with them. We commonly refer to them together because they share formatting, but do not combine abbreviations and symbols into a single list. Note that although they are lists in the prefatory material, they are not granted the rank of prefatory list.

See the entry on our knowledge base for our full guidelines on Lists of Abbreviations/Symbols, including special considerations for maintaining alignment between entries and tips on setting up tab stops.

List of Appendix Tables, Figures, Schemes, Etc.

These lists, and their chapter counterparts, are often referred to collectively as the "prefatory lists". If you use tables, figures, schemes, or other non-text items in one or more appendices, then you must also include a list of those items in the prefatory material. A prefatory list should only include items of its type, and it should include all the items of its type. Equations, listings, or other non-text items may be included in a prefatory list at your discretion; for items like equations that do not normally have a title, you will need to write one in its list.

See the entry on our knowledge base for our full guidelines on prefatory lists, including special considerations for appendices with only a single non-text item.