Introduction
Please read this manual carefully before preparing your thesis/dissertation. Staff in the Enrolled Student Office of The Graduate School is available to assist you in preparing and submitting your thesis/dissertation. You are encouraged to call the office at (919) 962-6313 (last names A-G) or (919) 962-6316 (last names H-Z) or stop by Bynum Hall if you have questions about these guidelines.
This Guide is not meant to be an exhaustive manual. For specific questions of style, consult the most recent edition of the style manual used in your disciplinary field (e.g., Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations; The MLA Style Manual; and the American Psychological Association (APA) Style Manual). When using a style manual, follow the specifications for published documents, but do not include typesetting notations often used when submitting manuscripts to a publisher. For assistance formatting your document in Microsoft Word, UNC ITS offers online searchable assistance at help.unc.edu, various workshops posted at learnit.unc.edu , plus a standard formatting document at: http://help.unc.edu/?id=202.
If there is a discrepancy between a style manual and this guide, the regulations set forth in this Graduate School guide take precedence. Please do not use another thesis/dissertation as a model for your work since a particular style or example in a previous year may not meet current guidelines. Also, certain commonly used software packages may require format modifications in order to comply with Graduate School guidelines.
