Preparing and Submitting Your Thesis: Information Resources

This guide will help you find library and campus resources for the preparation and submission of your thesis, extended essay or project.

Note: "Thesis" also includes projects and extended essays, as publication standards are the same for all these types of graduate degree work.

Quick Links

Reviewing, completing and submitting your thesis, extended essays or project

Always obtain the newest editions for the current academic term.

  • Deadlines 2009-2010. Library deadlines only. New and important changes in 2009-2010 academic year. For earlier, department-based deadlines, consult the Graduate Assistant in your department.
  • Review guidelines and checklist
  • Last Steps
  • Reviewing Your Own (7663 K)
    • PDF too large for a quick download? Trouble opening on your computer? Try these:
    • Part 1 General guidelines, added documents and preliminary pages - 2676 K
    • Part 2 Main body pages - Chapters 1-5 - General set-up and headings -  2125 K
    • Part 3 Main body pages - Chapters 6-11 - Paragraph, line spacing, fonts, tables, graphics, colour, paper, printing, and more, plus Endnotes and Bibliography 1605 K
    • Part 4 Appendices and further details: Summary checklist of requirements, inclusion of documents with signatures, landscaped pages, placement of landscaped pages, frontispiece, CD/DVD appendix, etc. - 1844 K
  • Thesis Checklist for LaTex Users. Quick guide to the few issues specific to preparing SFU theses in LaTeX
  • Debugging Differential Page Numbering. Correcting that disastrous MSWord glitch if it occurs
  • Final Tidying. Cleaning up those formatting glitches and frustrations
  • Problems printing from PDFs. Shrinking, scaling and A4 paper defaults in PDFs (LaTeX and MSWord)
  • Keywords. How to select the best search terms for library catalogue and internet searches
  • Saving your document as a PDF. Several quick ways to access a PDFmaker to create a PDF of your thesis.
  • Extra copies of your thesis. For personal, supervisor, departmental use. Library no longer handling "discretionary" copies
  • Dean of Graduate Studies. Regulations governing completing a thesis, including use of an editor.
  • More help below.

Contact Information

  • For further assistance with thesis format and submission questions, contact Penny Simpson, Assistant for Theses, email to thesis_assistant@sfu.ca. Tel: 778.782-4747 (cannot return long distance calls).
  • To find the Thesis Office, click here. To find Bennett Library, SFU Burnaby campus map, click here.

Topics:

Early Assistance in the Thesis Process (click here)

  • Resources at the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies
  • Research, library, and other skills
  • Writing and editing skills
  • Using a template from the start for any paper can save 1/3 the labour of writing
  • Bibliographies, reference lists and citation styles
  • Early considerations in using copyrighted materials
  • Access to databank of freely publishable images

Official Regulations, Forms and Licences (click here)

  • Deadlines
  • Regulations
  • Copyright
  • Approval pages, guidelines, and their variations
  • Licences required for submission of theses, projects, extended essays
  • Postponement of publication / Withhohlding from the Online Institutional Repository: information and forms


Help with Formatting Skills in MSWord (click here)


Helpsheets by Topic (click here)

  • General features
  • Specialized formats
  • Preliminary pages
  • Fonts, graphics, and graphic quality
  • Footnotes and referencing
  • Specialized and large pages
  • Printing tips, including LaTeX and PDFs

Templates in MSWord, LaTeX and OpenOffice (click here)

  • FAQ
  • PC templates
  • Mac templates
  • Specialized templates for essays, journal article style, and specific programs
  • LaTeX and OpenOffice

 

For the Curious: