Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University

Guideline for Preparation of Thesis/Dissertation/Reports

For

Ph.D. / M.Tech. / B.Tech. / M.Sc. / M.B.A. / B.A. / B.B.A.

/ B.Com. (Hons.) / M.A. students

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 General guidelines in brief

Following are the guidelines for the preparation of the Ph.D. / M.Tech. / B.Tech. / M.Sc. / M.B.A. /
B.A. / B.B.A. (Hons.) / M.A. / B.Com. (Hons) Thesis / Dissertation / Project report to be submitted
to this University for the award of the respective degree.

THESIS COVER COLOR:

Thesis (PhD): Maroon with golden color texts
Dissertation (Masters): Black with golden color texts
Report (Bachelors): Blue with golden color text

BINDING:
80 gsm white bond paper with black printing (as per format given Annexure) should be used for
outside cover page of the thesis/dissertation and should be laminated in plastic sheet and should be
hard/soft bound as specified below:
Thesis (PhD): Hard bound
Dissertation (Masters): Hard bound
Report (Bachelors): Soft bound

PAPER : Use A4 (210 mm x 297 mm) bond un-ruled paper (80 gsm) for all the copies to be
submitted. Use both side of the page for all the printed/ typed matters.

MARGINS : Margins for pages including the regular text should be as given below :

Left : 1.3 inches ( 3.30 cm)

Right : 1.3 inch ( 3.30 cm)
Top : 1.0 inch ( 2.54 cm)
Bottom : 1.0 inch ( 2.54 cm)

CONTENTS : Following should be the order of contents for the thesis/ dissertation. Sample copy
for each is given in Annexure.

1. Outside Cover Page

2. Inside Cover Page
3. Dedication Page ( if any)
4. Approval sheet
5. Student declaration
6. Certificate by supervisors
7. Preface
8. Acknowledgement
9. Abstract
10. Table of Contents
11. List of Tables ( if any)
12. List of Figures ( if any)
13. Abbreviations ( if any)

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 14. Notations ( if any)
15. Chapters
16. Appendices ( if any)
17. References
18. Papers published/ submitted based on the research work ( if any)

NUMBERING:

All the pages in the thesis/dissertation except the cover pages, dedication and certificate must be
numbered. All the page numbers should be located at the bottom center of the page (17-20 mm
from the bottom edge).

The page numbering starting from acknowledgement up to the beginning of the Chapters, should
be numbered in small roman letters, i.e. i, ii, iii, iv ......

The page numbering starting from the beginning of Chapter 1 up to the end of the
thesis/dissertation, should be numbered in Arabic numerals, i.e. ,1,2,3, ........

PREPARATION OF CHAPTERS:

Colour : All the texts including Tables should be Black prints. However, Graphs and Figures
can have colour prints.
Font :

Chapter Heading : Times New Roman 15 pts, bold print all capitals
Section Heading : Times New Roman 12 pts, bold print all capitals
Subsection Headings : Times New Roman 12 pts, print leading capitals
(only first letter in each work will be capital)

Regular text Times New Roman 12 Pts, normal prints

Special text Time New Roman Italics 12 pts ( for foot notes, symbols,
quotes, mathematical notations....)

Spacing / Alignment:

Use double spacing between lines of regular texts.

Use triple spacing between:
1. Paragraphs
2. Chapter title and section headings
3. Section headings and paragraphs
4. Paragraphs and Tables/ Figures

Use single spacing between:

1 Table title and Table
2 Figure title and Figure
3 Text corresponding to bullets, listing and quotes in the main body of text.

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 All the paragraphs in the thesis/ dissertation are to be fully justified from the first line to last line
and should start from left with out any hyphenation/indent. Text corresponding to bullets, listings
and quotes in the main body of text should be indented. At the beginning and end of the page, a
paragraph should have at least two lines.

Section/ subsection Numbering:

Section numbering should be left justified using bold print with Arabic numerals and decimals.

Section numberings: <Chapter.Section number> <3 blanks> Section heading Example 1.1, 2.1,
3.3, 4.5

4.5 CLASSIFICATION OF REACTORS

Subsection numbering : <Chapter, Subsection number>

Example 1.1.1,2.1.3,3.3.4,4.5.6,5.6.2.1,3.5.3.1 etc.
5.6.2 Input Multiplicity in Batch Reactors
Subsection levels beyond fourth levels should be avoided.

Equations/Formulas

Use equation for typing/writing equations/formulas using italics for variables in the equation.
Equation are to be single indented.

Numbering for each equation should be done in the following format:

(Chapter number, Equation serial number)
Example:
y=ko + k1x1 + k2x2 +......+ knxn + e (3.1)

Figures:

Figures should follow immediately after they are referred to for the first time in the text. Figure
headings should be given at the bottom of the figure. All the figures in landscape format must be
placed in such a way that their top portions are near the binding. However numbering should be at
the bottom of the thesis/dissertation for landscape page (similar to text page). All the figures are to
be aligned to the page.

Fig. <blank> Chapter number. serial number <3 blanks> Figure title (center aligned, leading caps)

Fig. 6.13 A Typical Component Event.

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Photos:

Use colour photos if they are necessary. Insert color print of the photo in photographic or glossy
paper and should be numbered and referred to as Figures only.

More than two authors:

At the end of statement:
Statement.....(Hogan et al., 1978).

At the beginning of statement:

Hogan et al. (1988) have carried out.....

If more than one references are to be cited, then each reference is to be separated with semicolon.
A stable process does not mean that the product produced or services provided are satisfactory
(Kangari and Boyer, 1989; Tiong, 1975; Edward and Cling, 1999).

If same author(s) have more than one paper in same year use a, b, c to identify each.
Example: Tiong (2002a), Tiong (2002b)

Drawings :
Drawings which are larger than A4 size is not encouraged. If larger sizes are absolutely necessary, it
should be folded to A4 size. Each drawing is to be numbered and referred to as Figures. Drawing
titles should be similar to figure titles.

Tables :
Table should follow immediately after they are referred to for the first time in the text. Splitting of
tables should be avoided as far as possible. Table headings should be given at the top of table. All
the Tables in landscape format must be placed in such a way that their top portions are near to the
binding. However numbering should be at the bottom of the thesis/dissertation for landscape page
(similar to the text page). All the Tables are to be central aligned to the page.

Format of Table heading :

Table<blank>Chapter number. Serial number<3 blank> Table title(left aligned, leading caps)

Table 5.6 Percentage of Samples with Discredited Priority

References inside the text

The references should be cited inside the text in the following format :

Single author:
At the end of statement :
…..often subservient to economic and political factors in the context of large Construction projects
(Webster, 1992).
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At the beginning of statement :
Webster (1992) has carried our research in the area of…..

Two authors:
At the end of statement :
A stable process does not mean that the product produced of services provided are satisfactory
(Kangari and Boyer, 1989).

At the beginning of statement:

Kangari and Boyer (1989) has concluded that…

3. Books :

Levin, I.R. and Rubin, D.S. (1998) Data Analysis for Management, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd.,
New Delhi.

General guidelines for references : Journal name/Conference names and Book names should be in
Italics and leading capitals. Use single spacing in reference and double spacing between references.
Arrange reference in alphabetical order and number them in that order.

COVER PAGE FORMAT:

Title of thesis, Student’s Name and Degree Name, Institute Address : 15 pts Times New Roman, all
capitals
Month/year : 12 pts Times New Roman, all capitals
All other matters : 12 point Times New Roman, italics

NUMBER OF COPIES

The students should submit initially two copies of the thesis/dissertation for necessary evaluation &
after the viva-voce two with the correction/modification if any directed by the referees.

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 Artwork guideline for
Dissertation/Thesis/Report
As the structure of the Ph.D. / M.Tech. / B.Tech. / M.Sc. / M.B.A. / B.A. / B.B.A. (Hons.) / M.A. /
B.Com. (Hons) Thesis / Dissertation / Project report are essentially similar; a single format is being
suggested for all these reports.

1 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
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.

2 Organization of the Thesis/Dissertation/Report

This 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 precise title reflecting the contents
of the chapter. A chapter can be subdivided into sections, subsections and sub-sub-section 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.

2.1 Introduction

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

2.2 Review of Literature

This shall normally from the 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.

2.3 Report on the present investigation

The reporting on the investigation shall be the presented in one or more chapters with appropriate
chapter titles.

Due importance shall be given to experimental setups, procedures adopted and techniques
developed, methodologies developed and adopted.
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  While important derivations/formulae should normally be presented in the text of these
chapters, extensive and long treatments and information, detailed results in tabular and
graphical forms may be presented in Appendices. Representative date 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.

2.4 Results and Discussions

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.

2.5 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.

2.6 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.

2.7 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/publisher, volume,
number, page(s) and year of publication.

Citation from websites should include the name(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.

The referencing style suggested is "Harvard Style".

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Overall arrangement of the total references / bibliography should be in alphabetical order

Eg of Published Paper

Sarkar, D and Dutta, G. (2010) "Design and Application of Risk Adjusted Cumulative Sum for
Strength Monitoring of Ready Mixed Concrete" Journal of Construction Engineering &
Management , ASCE , Vol. 136, No. 6, pp 623-631.

Eg of Book

Nicholas, J. M. (2012) Project Management for Business and Technology: Principles and Practice,
Second Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, New Delhi.

Web site

http// www. amazon.com 02.08.14

2.8 Publications by the candidate

Articles, technical notes etc. on 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.

3 THESIS FORMAT
3.1 Paper
3.1.1 Quality
The thesis shall be printed / Xeroxed on white bond paper, whiteness 95above, weight 70 gram or
more per square meter.

3.1.2 Size
The size of the paper shall be standard A 4; height 297 mm, width 210 mm.

3.1.3 Type-Setting, Text Processing and Printing

The text shall be printed 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.

3.1.4 Page Format

The printed sheets shall have the following writing area and margins:
Top margin 15 mm
Head height 3 mm
Head separation 12 mm
Bottom margin 22 mm
Footer 3 mm
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 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 30 mm
Right margin 20 mm

 Double sided even numbered page,

Left margin 20 mm
Right margin 30 mm

3.1.5. 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”.

 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”.

3.1.6 Header & Footer

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 number pages headers and Chapter title or Section title
on the odd number page header.

Footer: When the footer style is chosen, the footer can have the “PDPU” at left hand side and Page
No. (1/total pages) at right hand side of the page.

3.1.7 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 12 mm. A
candidate may, however, choose not to indent if (s) he has provided sufficient paragraph separation.

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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.

3.2 Chapter and Section format

3.2.1 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 75 mm. Chapter number (in Hindu- Arabic) and title shall be printed
at the center of the line in 6 mm font size (18 pt) in bold face using both upper and lower case (all
capitals or small capitals shall not be used). A vertical gap of about 25 mm shall be left between the
Chapter # and chapter title lines and between chapter title line and the first paragraph.

3.2.2 Sections and Sub- sections

A chapter can be divided into Sections, Sub-sections and Sub-sub-sections so as to present different
concepts separately. Sections and sub-sections can be numbered using decimal points, e.g., 2.2 for
the second Section in Chapter 2 and 2.3.4 for the fourth Sub-section in third Section of Chapter 2.
Chapters, Sections and Sub-Sections shall be included in the Contents with page numbers flushed to
the right. Further subsections need not be numbered or included in the contents.

The Sections and Sub-sections 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 sued for the titles flushed left or centered. These shall not feature in the contents.

3.2.3 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 in 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 Table 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]).

3.2.3 Equation Format

Equation numbering

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Equations should be numbered sequentially throughout the text (i.e., (1), (2), (3),…) or numbered by
section (i.e., (1.1), (1.2), (2.1), …) depending on your preference. In articles with several appendices
equation numbering by section is useful in the appendices even when sequential numbering has been
used throughout the main body of the text: for example, A.1, A.2,…,B.1, B.2,…. When referring to
an equation in the text:
For example, the fourth equation in Chapter 3 will bear the number Equation 3.4 or Eq. 3.4.
 Always put the equation number in brackets—e.g. ‘as in (2)’ or ‘as in (2.1)’;
 It is not normally necessary to include the word ‘equation’ before the number.
Miscellaneous points
 It is important to distinguish between ln, loge and lg log10.
 Braces, brackets and parentheses should be used in the following order: {[()]}. The same
ordering of brackets should be used within each size. However, this ordering can be ignored
if the brackets have a special meaning (e.g. if they denote an average or a function).
 Decimal fractions should always be preceded by a zero: for example 0.123 not .123 (note, do
not use commas, and use decimal points).
 Equations that are referred to in the text should be numbered with the number on the right-
hand side.
Present simple formulae in the line of normal text where possible and use the solidus (/)
instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to
be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number
consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to
explicitly in the text).
4 Auxiliary Format
4.1 Binding
The evaluation copies of the thesis / dissertation / report may be spiral bound or soft bound.
The final hard copies to be submitted after the viva-voce examination will be accepted during
the submission of thesis / dissertation / report with the following colour specification:
Doctoral Thesis Maroon
Masters Dissertation Black
Bachelors Project Report Blue
4.2 Front Covers
The front cover shall contain the following details:
 Full title of thesis in 6 mm 22 points size font properly centered and positioned at the top.
 Full name of the candidate in 4.5 mm 15 points size font properly centered at the middle of
the page.
 A 40 mm dia replica of the Institute emblem followed by the name of the Department, name
of the Institute and the year of submission, each in a separate line and properly centered and
located at the bottom of the page.

4.2.1 Lettering
All lettering shall be embossed in gold.
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4.2.2 Bound back
The degree, the name of the candidate and the year of submission shall also be embossed on the
bound (side) in gold.

4.3 Blank sheets

In addition to the white sheets (binding requirement) two white shall be put at the beginning and end
of the thesis.

4.4 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 Ph.D.
/ M.Tech. / B.Tech. / M.Sc. / M.B.A. / B.A. / B.B.A. (Hons.) / M.A. / B.Com. (Hons) Degree, the
name and Roll No. Of the candidate, name (s) of the supervisor and co-supervisor (s) (if any),
Department, Institute and year of submission (sample enclosed).

Sample copy of the “Title Sheet” is appended (Specimen ‘A’)

4.5 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 page number.

4.6 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 footer.
The top line shall be

1. Thesis Approval for Ph.D.

2. Dissertation Approval for M.Tech./ M.Sc./ M.B.A./ M.A.
3. Report Approval for B.Tech./ B.A./ B.B.A. (Hons.)/ B.Com. (Hons).

The approval sheets are to be included only in the hard bound copies which are submitted
after the successful Ph.D. viva-voce examination.

Sample copy of the approval sheet is appended (Specimen ‘B’).

4.7 Course work sheet

As the quantum of courses taken by a candidate is different for different postgraduate degrees, a
statement of the courses taken with assigned credits is to be included after the approval sheet. This
shall not be required in the case of B.Tech or M.Sc. Project Reports. This should be provided by the
Academic office in a standard format.

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4.8 Abstract
The 1000 word abstract shall highlight he important features of the thesis / dissertation / report and
shall correspond to the electronic version to be submitted to the Library for inclusive 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.

4.9 Contents
The contents shall follow the Abstract and shall enlist the titles of the chapters, section and sub-
section using decimal notation, as in the text, with corresponding page number against them, flushed
to the right.

4.10 List of Figures and Tables

Two separate lists of Figure caption and Table titles along with their numbers and corresponding
page numbers against them shall follow the Contents.

4.11 Abbreviation Notation and Nomenclature

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.)

Auxiliary page 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 both the cases shall not bear a page number).

4.12 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”

Title of the thesis/dissertation/report

THESIS/DISSERTATIONS/REPORTS
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement of

<Full name of the Degree>

by

Name of the student

Roll no. XXXXXXX

Under the guidance of

Supervisor (s):

School of XXXXXX
Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University
Gandhinagar – 382007. Gujarat - INDIA
Month – Year

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 (Keep Blank)

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 Specimen ‘B’ Approval Sheet

This thesis / dissertation / report entitled (title) by (Author name) is recommended for the degree of
_________ (Degree details)

Examiners

______________________

______________________

______________________

Supervisors

______________________

______________________

______________________

Chairman

______________________

Date:_______________

Place: ______________

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 Specimen ‘C’ Student Declaration

I _______________________________ hereby declare that this written submission represents my

ideas in my own words and where others’ idea 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
honestly 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 PANDIT DEENDAYAL PETROLEUM UNIVERSITY and can also evoke penal
action from the sources which have thus not been properly cited or from whim proper permission has
not been taken when needed.

__________________
(Signature)

__________________
(Name of Student)

__________________
(Roll No.)

Date: ________

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