MS Theses and PhD Dissertations

A full outline of the review and submission process for MS Theses and PhD Dissertations can be found here. 

To facilitate the research productivity of master's and doctoral candidates, the following format rules were adopted by NJIT for theses and dissertations. The following provides detailed examples of abstract pages, title pages, proper document format, etc. These format standards have been developed to ensure a degree of consistency in the written presentation of research and should be followed by all students.

The Graduate Faculty at NJIT guidelines are followed for the composition of M.S. thesis and Ph.D. dissertation committees.

Time Frame

Students must submit their MS thesis or PhD dissertation document, that includes their advisor's final changes, to the thesis/dissertation committee members about three weeks before your defense. The committee members must be given at least two weeks to review the document before the defense. Also, the public defense announcement must be submitted to GSO after GSO's second review of the document which must occur at least two weeks before the defense date. The second review of the thesis or dissertation with GSO cannot be scheduled if the embargo form hasn't been submitted to GSO.

Note: Thesis and Dissertation review for format by the Office of Graduate Studies must occur prior to defense and final submission.

• Avoiding Format Problems in the Document (.PDF)
• Proper Order of Thesis and Dissertation Pages (.PDF)
• Steps for Page Numbering for Thesis and Dissertation Document (.PDF for 2013)
• Steps for Creating a Table of Contents (.PDF) | (.DOC)
• List of Correct Combinations of Graduate Degrees and Departments or Interdisciplinary Programs at NJIT: Title Page Documentation

Approval Page Signature Process

1. The student brings a printout of their unsigned Approval Page to be signed at the Final Defense.
2. All committee members present at the Defense sign the Approval Page. 
3. The student scans the signed Approval Page and: 
If they are a PhD candidate, the student will upload it to ProQuest 
If they are an MS candidate, the student will email it to Graduate Studies (graduatestudies@njit.edu)
4. (Optional/Dependent) If any committee members did not sign the Approval Page at the defense, the student will scan and email the signed Approval Page to Graduate Studies, where it will be sent to whichever members have not signed yet, via Docusign, for electronic signature. 
At this point, if the student is a PhD candidate, Graduate Studies will send the signed Approval Page (when ready) to the student for uploading to ProQuest

Please note that the dissertation/thesis committee must have previously been approved by Dr. Ziavras. 

Style Guides

(DISCLAIMER: these templates may not be a 100% match to thesis/dissertation formatting standards due to potential version differences of general-purpose word processors and typesetting systems; additional changes may be needed after use)

• LaTeX Template for UNIX (2023)
• Microsoft Word Template (2024)

Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Examples

The following formatting examples can be used as samples.

NOTE: though these examples are not templates, the above disclaimer still applies to them. 

• Front Matter (.PDF with comments)
  → Includes Abstract, Title (List of Correct Title Pages), Copyright, Approval Page, Biographical Sketch, Dedication, Acknowledgments, Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Figures, and List of Symbols or Definitions (optional).
• Document Body (.PDF with comments)
  → Includes Introduction, Body, Figures, and Tables.
• Appendices (.PDF with comments)
  → Includes Survey Documents, Questionnaires, Permission Forms, additional Figures or Tables.
• References (.PDF with comments)
  → Includes References according the preferred style for academic discipline, which subject specialists at the Robert Van Houten Library can help to determine. A list of these specialists can be found at: https://library.njit.edu/staff

Embargo Form

• For ALL MS and PhD students doing their final thesis or dissertation submission, complete the Thesis and Dissertation Embargo Request and Approval Form at this link 

Information for Doctoral Students

• For ALL PhD students doing their final dissertation submission, complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates at this link 
• For PhD students who have submitted their final dissertation, information for requesting a completion letter is available at this link