THESIS STYLE AND PERMISSIONS

The Honors Committee expects all Honors candidates to present their work for evaluation in a format suitable for publication within the field of study. Wesleyan's tradition for Honors theses is to require uniformity of style only for the title page and the binding. You are responsible for adhering to title page and margin format requirements.

Style:

• Set up your margins to match the requirements from the day you start to write your thesis
• Follow the conventions of the field in which you write. (example:  if writing a film screenplay, follow standard screenplay format).
• Ask your tutor how he or she sets up an article to be submitted for publication.
• Check style sheets for articles in journals in your field.
• See A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations by Kate L. Turabian, University of Chicago Press (a classic).

Consult with your department regarding the use of copyrighted materials in your thesis. In most cases, fair-use laws allow the use of materials as long as credit is clearly given (on the same page) to the owner of the copyrighted work you are referencing. If you ever expect to publish your thesis, be aware that you will most likely need to get permission from the owner(s) of the copyright, and possibly pay a fee.

A computerized template is available for download from this site. It is recommended that you print out your title page in a campus computer lab to protect against any differences in the template program and your own computer program.

Spelling:

Do not forget to run a spell checker on your thesis, including the title page. Also, proofread for typos involving similar words not noticed by a computerized checker.

Back to JellyBean papers