Republic of the Philippines

MINDANAO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City 9000 Philippines
Tel. No.: +63-88-856-1739 loc. 151; Fax: +63-88-856-4696
______________________________________

GUIDELINES FOR THE ORGANIZATION AND FORMAT/STYLE OF THESIS IN

CIIT UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

I. Organization of the Manuscript

The manuscript should be arranges in the following sequence:

A. Front Matters

Preliminary Pages Required Optional Page Number

Page i, but number does
Title Page 
not appear
Page ii, but number does
Approval Sheet 
not appear
Abstract  Begin numbering with iii
Dedication  Continue numbering

Acknowledgment  Continue numbering

Table of Contents  Continue numbering

List of Tables  Continue numbering

List of Figures  Continue numbering

B. Text

 The text is divided into chapters and sections.

 The first chapter begins with page number 1, in Arabic numerals, but unmarked.
 Except for the first page of each chapter which is not printed, all other pages are printed on the
upper right-hand corner of the page (refer to margin settings under technical specifications).
 Each chapter must begin on a new page.

C. Back Matters

Pages Required Optional Page Number

Continue numbering in
Bibliography  Arabic numerals following
the text

Appendix/Appendices Continue numbering

Curriculum Vitae  Continue numbering

II. Detailed Description of Each Section of the Manuscript

A. Front Matters

1. Title Page

 This page contains six blocks of words, as follows: (1) the research title, (2) Author/s
classification of research, i.e., research project, thesis, etc. (uppercased), (3) Program of Study
(Degree), (4) Department where the program belongs, College, University, City and (5) Date
(Month and Year) of Publication (See attached SAMPLE: TITLE PAGE).
 Block (2) is separated from block (3) by a single space. The remaining blocks are balanced within
the page, with block (1) on the top line/s, and block (5) on the last two lines.
 The title page is counted as page i (lower-cased Roman numeral), but unmarked. Pagination is
reflected in the Table of Contents.
 The research title should be in uppercase and centered. It should be presented in descriptive words
that will ensure electronic retrieval.
 The final line of the title page is the month and year in which the Thesis is submitted.

2. Approval Sheet

 The purpose of the Approval Sheet is to enable the student’s adviser, the members of the Oral
Examination Panel, the Chair of the Department and the Dean of the College to indicate that the
work satisfies the requirements of the degree.
 Signatures of all members of the Oral Examination Panel, Chair of the Department and the Dean
of the College are affixed. Dates for affixing the signatures are likewise indicated.
 This is Roman page number ii, but unmarked. Pagination is reflected in the Table of Contents.
 See attached SAMPLE: APPROVAL SHEET

3. Abstract

 The heading for this page is ABSTRACT in uppercase and bold attributes, centered without
punctuation. (See attached SAMPLE: ABSTRACT)
 The body of the abstract, printed in double or one-and-one-half spaces, begins on the fourth line
below the heading.
 An abstract is a general overview of the research. It is a summary of the study; a statement of the
experiment or problem, the procedure followed the results and the conclusions.
 It should be a succinct account that allows readers to make an accurate decision as to whether the
full contents will be beneficial to him/her.
 The maximum length for a thesis abstract is 200 words.
 Diagrams, charts and tables, or other illustrated materials and formulae or equations are not
included in the abstract.
 Symbols, as well as foreign words and phrases, must be clearly and accurately displayed.
  Use present form in all sentence construction, if possible.

4. Dedication

 The heading of a one-paged DEDICATION need not appear on the dedication page, and the text
may be centered.
 This contains names of special people, e.g., family and friends, who are close to the author and
who have inspired him/her to completing the work.

5. Acknowledgement

 The word ACKNOWLEDGEMENT in uppercase and bold attribute should be centered.

 This page expresses the student’s recognition of, and appreciation for, any special assistance
made by individuals or institutions that are not mentioned in the manuscript but have made an
important contribution to the study.

6. Table of Contents

 The heading for this page is TABLE OF CONTENTS in uppercase and bold attribute, centered
without punctuation. (See attached SAMPLE: TABLE OF CONTENTS)
 The titles of chapters or sections must be listed and worded exactly as they appear in the
manuscript.
 Titles for the preliminary pages and for all chapters, except sub-chapters, are in uppercase.
 The page number for the starting page of each part is listed flush at the right margin.
 Any space between the last word of the title and the page number can be filled with a dot leader.

7. List of Tables / Figures / Symbols/ Abbreviations

 The headings for these pages are in uppercase and bold attributes, centered without punctuation.
(See attached SAMPLES)
 All tables and figures are arranged in increasing Arabic numeral.
 symbols and abbreviations are arranged alphabetically.
 Greek-lettered symbols are placed before Roman/English-lettered symbols
 Each acronym / symbol is indented and separated from the definition by a dash.

 Consistency in the inclusion of tables and figures must be observed; if tables from one chapter are
included in the list, then tables from all the other chapters and the appendix must be included.
 Each entry must list the same caption or title used for a table/figure.
 The most common mode of presentation is to single-space within each entry and to double-space
between entries.

B. Text

 Although the detailed organization of the text may vary according to the nature of the work, the
formatting of the text must be followed consistently throughout.
 All headings and sub-headings should be presented in the same way in each chapter or major
section, in terms of capitalization, placement on the page, and kind of typeface used.
 No headers or footers giving the titles of chapters, other sections, or the thesis are allowed.
1. Body of the Text

 The manuscript is organized into logical chapters and sections as may be shown below:

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Significance of the Study
CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY (or METHODOLOGY)
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

 Numbering for each chapter is in Arabic numeral.

 The above chapters are just recommendatory.
 Chapters and sections other than those stated above may be added.

2. Chapters and Sections

 The heading for each chapter should be centered on the first line of the page without punctuation
and printed 1.8” below the top of the page. On the third line is the title of the chapter.
 The section title starts on the fourth line below the title of the Chapter.
 The section heading is flush to the left margin.
 The first page of each chapter is counted, but unmarked. All other pages are marked at the upper
right hand margin, 1.25” below the top page, using Arabic numerals.
 All major chapters must begin on a new page; sections/sub-sections need not.
 Whenever the heading of a section or subsection appears near the bottom of a page, it must be
followed by at least one line of text, or the heading should be forced to the top of the next page.
 Entries between sections/sub-sections are separated by a double space.

3. Tables and Figures

 Table designates tabulated numerical data used in the body of the manuscript and in the
appendices. Figure designates all other non-verbal materials such as illustrations, charts, graphs,
maps, photographs, drawings, diagrams, and the like.
 All tables and figures should be located right after the text that is referring to it and, if possible,
should be located such that they do not run over into the next page. If this happens, subsequent
pages of the illustration must include at least the illustration number and the notation that it is
continued, e.g., Table 1, contd.
 Illustrations may be presented horizontally or vertically. In either case, illustrations must fit within
the required margins, and page numbers must be placed consistently throughout the entire
manuscript.
 Table captions are typed with one blank line above the table and figure captions are typed with a
blank line below the figure. If an illustration is rotated, the coordinating caption must also be
rotated.
 For tables and figures copied from other sources, the caption of such should include the source.
 The captions for tables and figures must be identical with those used in the LIST OF TABLES and
the LIST OF FIGURES in the preliminary pages.
  Illustrations must be numbered consecutively throughout the entire manuscript. A straight
sequence (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) or a decimal approach (1.1 , 1.2 , 1.3….2.1, 2.2, 2.3,… , etc.) where the
first digit is the chapter number, and the digit after the decimal point is the illustration number,
may be used.
 Photographs, as a figure, must be scanned and converted to an electronic format for simultaneous
printing with the page.
 Oversized illustrations should be reduced; however, legibility must be maintained. If this is not
possible, a folded, oversized page may be included, which may be accordion-folded, so that it may
be bound with the rest of the document. In this case, the page number must appear in a manner
consistent with the rest of the document.

 Below is a sample of a table and a figure; note that the left and right border lines of the table are
centered between the left and right margins.

Table 1. This is the title of the first table in Chapter 1. If the title is long such that it runs down the
next line, the first word of the next line must be flush with that of the previous line as
shown by this example.

Column 1 Column 2 Column 2

Row 1
Row 2

You can put any figure (caricature,

graphs, photographs, illustrations,
maps, charts, drawings, diagrams, etc.)
in this frame

Figure 1. This is the title of the first figure

of Chapter 1.

C. Back Matters

1. Bibliography

 Theses must have a bibliography. This must be in the same font type and point size as the rest of
the manuscript.
 Entries are listed alphabetically by the author’s last name or by the title of the article/book if there
is no author or editor given.
 The first line of each entry starts at the margin; the second and third lines are indented five spaces
(one tab). (Format > Paragraph > Hanging indentation in Microsoft Word)
 Single-space each entry and leave a single space between entries.
 Use the latest publishing date for the book or encyclopedia and the complete date for newspapers,
magazines or the Internet.
 See attached SAMPLE: BIBLIOGRAPHY which illustrates the correct setup including appropriate
punctuation and underlining.
 2. Appendix or Appendices

 The appendix provides a place for a supplementary material that is not necessary for inclusion in
any of the chapters. Tables that are too detailed for the text presentation, figures, technical notes,
raw data, computer programs, sample questionnaires, schedules, case studies are common
appendix materials.
 Appendices, presented in alphabetical order (A , B , C , D , …), and may be single-spaced, appear
at the end of the manuscript only; they do not appear at the end of each chapter.
 The font type and point size for the main heading, sub-headings, and illustration captions of an
appendix must match that of the text, but the font type and point size of the materials in the body
of the appendix may be different.

3. Curriculum Vitae

 This is a professional biography of the author that may include place and date of birth, educational
institutions attended (starting from high school), degrees and honors awarded.
 It should be short, concise, written in the third person and in the same font type and point size as
the rest of the manuscript.
 It must be double-spaced.

III. Technical Specifications

A. Paper Size and Quality

 8 ½" × 11" short-sized (letter), white, substance-20 book papers must be used.

B. Paper Layout
 Paper must be printed in portrait mode. Landscape mode is not allowed except for purposes of
accommodating unusually large tables, illustrations and the like.

C. Margins

 To provide allowance for trimmings during binding and later ease in microfilming and copying,
every page of the manuscript must meet these minimum margin standards:
Top margin: 1.8 ” ( note: pagination is at header 1.25” from top of page)
Bottom margin: 1.25”
Right margin: 1.25”
Left margin: 1.75” (binding edge)
 All manuscript materials must fit within these margin requirements (including tables, figures and
graphs).

D. Fonts and Font Size

 Any legible font, except script, italic or ornamental, is acceptable for the body of the text.
 A 12-point font size is recommended for Times New Roman; if Arial, Helvetica, or Century
Gothic fonts are used, the manuscript must be 11- or 12-point font.
 A consistent font and size must be observed throughout the manuscript.
 Italics may be used for quotations and words in a foreign language.
E. Spacing

 The manuscript, including the abstract, acknowledgement, vita, must be double-spaced or one-and-
one-half-spaced. This should be used consistently throughout the manuscript.
 Footnotes, endnotes, bibliographic entries, long quotations, items in lists, table of contents, and
appendices may be single-spaced, i.e., if that style is recommended by the discipline.

F. Pagination

 Each page of the entire manuscript must be numbered except for the title page, and the approval
sheet page.
 Preliminary pages are numbered consecutively in lower-cased Roman numerals; the first page to
be numbered is the Abstract page which is marked iii.
 The text and back matters are numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals, beginning with 1
(unmarked) on the first page of the text.
 Page numbers must appear in the same location (upper right hand corner 1.25” below the top edge
and 1.25” from the right edge) on each page except on the first page of each Chapter where the
page is counted but unmarked.
 Page numbers must be consistent with the text in font size and style.

G. Text Citations of References

 Citation practices differ among disciplines. Students should follow the practice most commonly
used in their discipline.

 References may be cited by giving the last name(s) of the author(s) and the year of publication of
the reference.
Example ….. was discovered (Longuet and Fox, 1977)

H. Equations

 Equations must be numbered consecutively from (1.1), (1.2),…, (2.1), (2.2),…, etc., up to the end
of the paper, including any appendices. The equation number is used when referring to equations.
The first number refers to the chapter; the second number refers to the nth occurrence of the
equation within the chapter.
Example:
D(uv)w = αudw,v + αvdw,v + β du,v + τABS(dw,u - dw,v) (3.1)

I. Corrections and Errata

 No correction in the form of correction tape or fluid, erasures, crash-out, and the like must be made
on the final copy.
J. Printing

 All print should be letter quality with dark black characters that are consistently clear and dense.
 Dot matrix printing is not acceptable.
 Ink jet, laser jet or a similarly high-quality printer should be used.

K. Binding and Labeling

 The manuscript is bound using a SOFT cover (soft bound), in dark blue color.
 The cover contains four blocks of words, viz., (1) the title (2) name of the authors, (3) ,
department, college, university, place, and (4) date (month and year) of submission, all of which
are stamped in gold foil.
 All the blocks are balanced within the page with block (1) occupying the first line(s) and block (4),
the last line of the hard cover, applying the same margin settings as in the manuscript.
 Fourteen (14)-point Times New Roman font with bold attribute for all elements is used. (See
attached SAMPLE: SOFT COVER)