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How to Write a Thesis in LaTeX (Part 1): Basic Structure

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Author: Josh Cassidy (August 2013)

This five-part series of articles uses a combination of video and textual descriptions to teach the basics of writing a thesis using LaTeX. These tutorials were first published on the original ShareLateX blog site during August 2013; consequently, today's editor interface (Overleaf) has changed considerably due to the development of ShareLaTeX and the subsequent merger of ShareLaTeX and Overleaf. However, much of the content is still relevant and teaches you some basic LaTeX—skills and expertise that will apply across all platforms.

Your thesis could be the longest and most complicated document you'll ever write, which is why it's such a good idea to use L a T e X instead of a common word processor. L a T e X makes tasks that are difficult and awkward in word processors, far simpler.

When writing something like a thesis its worth splitting up the document into multiple .tex files. It's also wise to organise the project using folders; therefore, we'll create two new folders, one for all the images used in the project and one for all the .tex files making up the main body of the thesis.

• 1 The preamble
• 2 The frontmatter
• 3 The main body
• 4 The endmatter
• 5 All articles in this series

The preamble

In this example, the main.tex file is the root document and is the .tex file that will draw the whole document together. The first thing we need to choose is a document class. The article class isn't designed for writing long documents (such as a thesis) so we'll choose the report class, but we could also choose the book class.

We can also change the font size by adding square brackets into the \documentclass command and specifying the size—we'll choose 12pt. Let's also prepare the document for images by loading the graphicx package. We'll also need to tell L a T e X where to look for the images using the \graphicspath command, as we're storing them in a separate folder.

The start of our preamble now looks like this:

Now we can finish off the preamble by filling in the title, author and date information. To create the simplest title page we can add the thesis title, institution name and institution logo all into the \title command; for example:

This isn't the best way to alter the title page so we'll look at more elaborate ways of customising title pages later on in the series, but this will suffice for now.

This is what the \maketitle command now produces for us:

The frontmatter

After the title page we need to add in an abstract, dedication, declaration and acknowledgements section. We can add each of these in on separate pages using unnumbered chapters. To do this we use the \chapter command and add an asterisk. After these sections we'll add a table of contents using the \tableofcontents command:

The main body

Now for the main body of the document. In this example we will add-in five chapters, one of which will be an introduction and another will be a conclusion. However, instead of just composing these chapters in the main .tex file, we'll create a separate .tex file for each chapter in the chapters folder. We can then fill in these chapters with text remembering to split them up into sections and subsections.

Then to add these chapters into the document, we use the \input command in the root document. Remember to add in chapters/ before the file name so that L a T e X knows where to find it.

The endmatter

We will now add in an appendix at the end of the document. To do this we use the \appendix command to tell L a T e X that what follows are appendices. Again We'll write the appendix in a separate file and then input it.

If we now compile the document, all our chapters will be added to the document and the table of contents will be automatically generated.

Now we have a basic structure for a thesis set up. In the next post I will show you how to change the page layout and add headers.

All articles in this series

• Part 1: Basic Structure ;
• Part 2: Page Layout ;
• Part 3: Figures, Subfigures and Tables ;
• Part 4: Bibliographies with BibLaTeX ;
• Part 5: Customising Your Title Page and Abstract .
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Writing a thesis in latex.

Writing a thesis is a time-intensive endeavor. Fortunately, using LaTeX, you can focus on the content rather than the formatting of your thesis. The following article summarizes the most important aspects of writing a thesis in LaTeX, providing you with a document skeleton (at the end) and lots of additional tips and tricks.

Document class

The first choice in most cases will be the report document class:

See here for a complete list of options. Personally, I use draft a lot. It replaces figures with a box of the size of the figure. It saves you time generating the document. Furthermore, it will highlight justification and hyphenation errors ( Overfull \hbox ).

Check with your college or university. They may have an official or unofficial template/class-file to be used for writing a thesis.

Again, follow the instructions of your institution if there are any. Otherwise, LaTeX provides a few basic command for the creation of a title page.

Use \today as \date argument to automatically generate the current date. Leave it empty in case you don’t want the date to be printed. As shown in the example, the author command can be extended to print several lines.

For a more sophisticated title page, the titlespages package has a nice collection of pre-formatted front pages. For different affiliations use the authblk package, see here for some examples.

Contents (toc/lof/lot)

Nothing special here.

The tocloft package offers great flexibility in formatting contents. See here for a selection of possibilities.

Often, the page numbers are changed to roman for this introductory part of the document and only later, for the actual content, arabic page numbering is used. This can be done by placing the following commands before and after the contents commands respectively.

LaTeX provides the abstract environment which will print “Abstract” centered as a title.

The actual content

The most important and extensive part is the content. I strongly suggest to split up every chapter into an individual file and load them in the main tex-file.

In thesis.tex:

In chapter1.tex:

This way, you can typeset single chapters or parts of the whole thesis only, by commenting out what you want to exclude. Remember, the document can only be generated from the main file (thesis.tex), since the individual chapters are missing a proper LaTeX document structure.

See here for a discussion on whether to use \input or \include .

Bibliography

The most convenient way is to use a bib-tex file that contains all your references. You can download bibtex items for articles, books, etc. from Google scholar or often directly from the journal websites.

Two packages are commonly used to personalize bibliographies, the newer biblatex and the natbib package, which has been around for many years. These packages offer great flexibility in customizing the look of a bibliography, depending on the preference in the field or the author.

Other commonly used packages

• graphicx : Indispensable when working with figures/graphs.
• subfig : Controlling arrangement of several figures (e.g. 2×2 matrix)
• minitoc : Adds mini table of contents to every chapter
• nomencl : Generate and format a nomenclature
• listings : Source code printer for LaTeX
• babel : Multilingual package for standard document classes
• fancyhdr : Controlling header and footer
• hyperref : Hypertext links for LaTeX
• And many more

Minimal example code

I’m aware that this short post on writing a thesis only covers the very basics of a vast topic. However, it will help you getting started and focussing on the content of your thesis rather than the formatting of the document.

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16 comments.

8. June 2012 at 7:09

I would rather recommend a documentclass like memoir or scrreprt (from KOMA-Script), since they are much more flexible than report.

8. June 2012 at 8:12

I agree, my experience with them is limited though. Thanks for the addendum. Here is the documentation: memoir , scrreprt (KOMA script)

8. June 2012 at 8:02

Nice post Tom. I’m actually writing a two-part (or three) on Writing the PhD thesis: the tools . Feel free to comment, I hope to update it as I write my thesis, so any suggestions are welcome.

8. June 2012 at 8:05

Thanks for the link. I just saw your post and thought I should really check out git sometimes :-). Best, Tom.

8. June 2012 at 8:10

Yes, git is awesome. It can be a bit overwhelming with all the options and commands, but if you’re just working alone, and probably on several machines, then you can do everything effortlessly with few commands.

11. June 2012 at 2:15

That’s what has kept me so far. But I’ll definitely give it a try. Thanks!

8. June 2012 at 8:08

What a great overview. Thank you, this will come handy… when I finally get myself to start writing that thesis 🙂

8. June 2012 at 14:12

Thanks and good luck with your thesis! Tom.

9. June 2012 at 4:08

Hi, I can recommend two important packages: lineno.sty to insert linenumbers (really helpful in the debugging phase) and todonotes (allows you to insert todo-notes for things you still have to do.)

11. June 2012 at 0:48

Thanks Uwe! I wrote an article on both, lineno and todonotes . Here is the documentation: lineno and todonotes for more details.

12. June 2012 at 15:51

Thanks for the post, i’m currently writing my master thesis 🙂

A small note: it seems that subfig is deprecated for the subcaption package: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Floats,_Figures_and_Captions#Subfloats

12. June 2012 at 16:05

Hey, thanks for the tip. Too bad they don’t say anything in the documentation apart from the fact that the packages are not compatible.

1. August 2012 at 21:11

good thesis template can be also found here (free): http://enjobs.org/index.php/downloads2

including living headers, empty pages, two-sided with front and main matter as well as a complete structure

2. August 2012 at 11:03

Thanks for the link to the thesis template!

15. November 2012 at 22:21

Hi Tom, I’m writing a report on spanish in LaTex, using emacs, auctex, aspell (~170pags. ~70 files included by now) and this blog is my savior every time because I’m quite new with all these.

The question: Is there anyway (other than \- in every occurrence) to define the correct hyphenation for accented words (non english characters like é)? I have three o four accented words, about the subject of my report, that occur near 100 times each, across several files, and the \hyphenation{} command can’t handle these.

20. November 2012 at 3:47

I was wondering what packages you load in your preamble. For a better hyphenation (and easier typing), you should use these packages:

See here for more details.

If this doesn’t help, please provide a minimal working example to illustrate the problem.

Thanks, Tom.

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Overleaf for Scholarly Writing & Publication: LaTeX Theses and Dissertations

• Reference Managers and Overleaf
• Adding Graphs, Tables, and Images
• Using Templates on Overleaf
• LaTeX Theses and Dissertations

LaTeX Theses and Dissertatons

Tips and tools for writing your LaTeX thesis or dissertation in  Overleaf, including templates, managing references , and getting started guides.

Managing References

BibTeX  is a file format used for lists of references for  LaTeX  documents. Many citation management tools support the ability to export and import lists of references in .bib format. Some reference management tools can generate  BibTeX  files of your library or folders for use in your  LaTeX  documents.

LaTeX on Wikibooks   has a  Bibliography Management  page.

Find list of BibTeX styles available on Overleaf   here

View a video tutorial on how to include a bibliography using BibTeX  here

Collaborate with Overleaf

Collaboration tools

Every project you create has a secret link. Just send it to your co-authors, and they can review, comment and edit. Overleaf synchronizes changes from all authors, so everyone always has the latest version. More advanced tools include protected projects and integration with Git.

Collaborate online and offline with Overleaf and Git

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Getting Started with Your Thesis or Dissertation

How to get started writing your thesis in LaTeX

Writing a thesis or dissertation in LaTeX can be challenging, but the end result is well worth it - nothing looks as good as a LaTeX-produced pdf, and for large documents it's a lot easier than fighting with formatting and cross-referencing in MS Word. Review this video from Overleaf to help you get started writing your thesis in LaTeX, using a standard thesis template from the  Overleaf Gallery .

You can  upload your own thesis template to the Overleaf Gallery   if your university provides a set of LaTeX template files or you may find your university's thesis template already in the Overleaf Gallery.

This video assumes you've used LaTeX before and are familiar with the standard commands (see our other  tutorial videos   if not), and focuses on how to work with a large project split over multiple files.

How to Write your Thesis/Dissertation in LaTeX: A Five-Part Guide

Five-Part LaTeX Thesis/Dissertation  Writing Guide

Part 1: Basic Structure   corresponding  video

Part 2: Page Layout   corresponding  video

Part 3: Figures, Subfigures and Tables   corresponding  video

Part 4: Bibliographies with Biblatex  corresponding  video

Part 5: Customizing Your Title Page and Abstract   corresponding  video

Link Your ORCID

Link yo ur  ORCiD  account  to your  Overleaf account  via the  ORCID @ CMU Portal

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Overleaf for LaTeX Theses & Dissertations: Home

• Using Templates on Overleaf
• Reference Managers and Overleaf
• Adding Tables, Images, and Graphs

Tips and tools for writing your LaTeX thesis or dissertation in Overleaf, including templates, managing references , and getting started guides.

Managing References

BibTeX is a file format used for lists of references for LaTeX documents. Many citation management tools support the ability to export and import lists of references in .bib format. Some reference management tools can generate BibTeX files of your library or folders for use in your LaTeX documents.

LaTeX on Wikibooks has a Bibliography Management page.

Find list of BibTeX styles available on Overleaf here

View a video tutorial on how to include a bibliography using BibTeX  here

Collaborate with Overleaf

Collaboration tools

• One version of your project accessible to collaborators via a shared link or email invitation
• Easily select the level of access for collaborators (view, edit, or owner access)
• Real-time commenting speeds up the review process
• Tracked changes and full history view help to see contributions from collaborators
• Labels help to organize and compare different versions
• Chat in real time with collaborators right within the project

How to get started writing your thesis in LaTeX

Writing a thesis or dissertation in LaTeX can be challenging, but the end result is well worth it - nothing looks as good as a LaTeX-produced pdf, and for large documents it's a lot easier than fighting with formatting and cross-referencing in MS Word. Review this video from Overleaf to help you get started writing your thesis in LaTeX, using a standard thesis template from the Overleaf Gallery .

You can upload your own thesis template to the Overleaf Gallery if your university provides a set of LaTeX template files or you may find your university's thesis template already in the Overleaf Gallery.

This video assumes you've used LaTeX before and are familiar with the standard commands (see our other tutorial videos  if not), and focuses on how to work with a large project split over multiple files.

Add Institutional Library contact info here.

Contact Overleaf   or email [email protected]

5-part Guide on How to Write a Thesis in LaTeX

5-part LaTeX Thesis Writing Guide

Part 1: Basic Structure corresponding  video

Part 2: Page Layout corresponding  video

Part 3: Figures, Subfigures and Tables   corresponding video

Part 4: Bibliographies with Biblatex corresponding video

Part 5: Customizing Your Title Page and Abstract corresponding video

ShareLaTeX Joins Overleaf!

Read more about Overleaf and ShareLaTeX joining forces here

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Link your ORCiD account to your Overleaf account.

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• Last Updated: May 18, 2021 1:57 PM
• URL: https://overleaf.libguides.com/Thesis

Graduate Education

Office of graduate and postdoctoral education, thesis templates.

The following thesis format templates should help you get started with formatting your thesis or dissertation. Georgia Tech provides free Overleaf Professional accounts for all students, faculty, and staff who would like to use the collaborative, online LaTeX editor for their projects.

• LaTeX Template (.zip) - updated May 2020
• Featured LaTeX templates on Overleaf
• Word Thesis Template (.docx) - updated August 2016
• Georgia Tech Engineering Reference Management System (GTERMS)

LaTeX Resources

• LaTeX Project
• Set the Quick Build command configuration to: “PdfLaTeX + Bib(la)tex) + PdfLaTeX (x2) + View Pdf”.
• Use the Quick Build command to compile and view your .pdf file.
• If you decide to use a “build” subdirectory for output files, you must point BibTeX to the proper subdirectory.

LaTeX is a powerful text processing and formatting tool that produces clean, consistent results. This high-quality typesetting system is a free service provided by Georgia Tech. It is available on many platforms and can be used with the editor of your choice. LaTeX is the de facto standard for the communication and publication of scientific documents.

Although Graduate Education does not offer direct technical support, Tech does provide help via campus partners such as the Library and Overleaf (online LaTeX editor). Please check the Library events page for courses on LaTex, or contact Overleaf directly.

Many students have also found useful tips for dealing with specific problems by entering keywords such as "LaTeX formatting table captions" in their favorite search engines.

Most Common LaTeX to PDF Problem

The most common problem we see with Electronic Theses & Dissertations (ETDs) created in LaTeX is the altering of the page size, particularly an increase of the bottom margin to more than one inch, and sometimes an accompanying decrease in the top and/or right margins to less than the requisite one inch. Less frequently, there will also be problems with figures disappearing or changing appearance. The sizing error may be introduced inadvertently during the conversion from .dvi to .pdf or .ps when the program doing the converting defaults to the A4 European page size. Always check your PDF file after conversion, even if your source file looked perfect.

The following fixes have been found by your fellow Tech graduate students and passed along to the Graduate Thesis Office. We hope they help you:

• First, before converting the .tex file to .dvi, make sure the class header file in your .tex file says something like "\documentclass[12pt, letter]{article}".
• If you are converting the resulting .dvi file to a .ps file, be sure the dvips options specify "-P pdf -t letter".
• When you are converting to .pdf from either the .dvi file directly or from a .ps file, locate the C:\texmf\dvipdfm\config\config\ or analogous folder for PDFs in your system. Replace the line "p a4" with "p letter".

Check our frequently asked questions (FAQ) to see if your question has already been answered. Else, contact Graduate Education at [email protected] .

Accessibility Information

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Research Guides

Submit and publish your thesis.

• The Graduate Thesis: What is it?
• Thesis Defences
• Deadlines and Fees
• Formatting in MS Word

Formatting in LaTeX

• Making Thesis Accessible
• Thesis Embargo
• Review and Release
• Your Rights as an Author
• Re-using Third Party Materials
• Creative Commons Licenses for Theses
• Turning Thesis into an Article
• Turning Thesis into a Book
• Other Venues of Publication

For formatting instructions and requirements see the Formatting section of the School of Graduate Studies website. The thesis style template for LaTeX ( ut-thesis ) implements these requirements. You are not required to use the template, but using it will make most of the formatting requirements easier to meet.

►► Thesis template for LaTeX .

Below are some general formatting tips for drafting your thesis in LaTeX.  In addition, there are other supports available:

• Regular LaTeX workshops are offered via the library, watch the library workshop calendar at https://libcal.library.utoronto.ca/
• With questions about LaTeX formatting, contact Map and Data Library (MDL) using this form
• There are also great resources for learning LaTeX available via Overleaf

Many common problems have been solved on the TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange Q & A Forum

LaTeX Template

To use the LaTeX and ut-thesis , you need two things: a LaTeX distribution (compiles your code), and an editor (where you write your code). Two main approaches are:

• Overleaf : is a web-based platform that combines a distribution (TeX Live) and an editor. It is beginner-friendly (minimal set-up) and some people prefer a cloud-based platform. However, manually uploading graphics and managing a bibliographic database can be tedious, especially for large projects like a thesis.
• A LaTeX distribution can be installed as described here . ut-thesis can then be installed either: a) initially, with the distribution; b) automatically when you try to compile a document using \usepackage{ut-thesis} ; or manually via graphical or terminal-based package manager for the distribution.
• The LaTeX distribution allows you to compile code, but provides no tools for writing (e.g. syntax highlighting, hotkeys, command completion, etc.). There are many editor options that provide these features. TeXstudio is one popular option.

Occasionally, the version of ut-thesis on GitHub  may be more up-to-date than the popular distributions (especially yearly TeX Live), including small bug fixes. To use the GitHub version, you can download the file ut-thesis.cls (and maybe the documentation ut-thesis .pdf ) and place it in your working directory. This will take priority over any other versions of ut-thesis on your system while in this directory.

LaTeX Formatting Tips

Here are a few tips & tricks for formatting your thesis in LateX.

Document Structure

Using the ut-thesis document class, a minimal example thesis might look like:

\documentclass{ut-thesis} \author {Your Name} \title {Thesis Title} \degree {Doctor of Philosophy} \department {LaTeX} \gradyear {2020} \begin {document}   \frontmatter   \maketitle   \begin {abstract}     % abstract goes here   \end {abstract}   \tableofcontents   \mainmatter   % main chapters go here   % references go here   \appendix   % appendices go here \end {document}

►►  A larger example is available on GitHub here .

You may want to consider splitting your code into multiple files. The contents of each file can then be added using \input{filename} .

The usual commands for document hierarchy are available like \chapter , \section , \subsection , \subsubsection , and \paragraph . To control which appear in the \tableofcontents , you can use \setcounter{tocdepth}{i} , where i = 2 includes up to \subsection , etc. For unnumbered sections, use \section* , etc. No component should be empty, such as \section{...} immediately followed by \subsection{...} .

Note: In the examples below, we denote the preamble vs body like:

preamble code --- body code

Tables & Figures

In LaTeX, tables and figures are environments called “floats”, and they usually don’t appear exactly where you have them in the code. This is to avoid awkward whitespace. Float environments are used like \begin{env} ... \end{env} , where the entire content ... will move with the float. If you really need a float to appear exactly “here”, you can use:

\usepackage{float} --- \begin{ figure}[H] ... \end {figure}

Most other environments (like equation) do not float.

A LaTeX table as a numbered float is distinct from tabular data. So, a typical table might look like:

\usepackage{booktabs} --- \begin {table}   \centering   \caption {The table caption}   \begin {tabular}{crll}     i &   Name & A &  B \\     1 &  First & 1 &  2 \\     2 & Second & 3 &  5 \\     3 &  Third & 8 & 13   \end {tabular} \end {table}

The & separates cells and \\ makes a new row. The {crll} specifies four columns: 1 centred, 1 right-aligned, and 2 left-aligned.

Fancy Tables

Some helpful packages for creating more advanced tabular data:

• booktabs : provides the commands \toprule , \midrile , and \bottomrule , which add horizontal lines of slightly different weights.
• multicol : provides the command \multicolumn{2}{r}{...} to “merge” 2 cells horizontally with the content ... , centred.
• multirow : provides the command \multirow{2}{*}{...} , to “merge” 2 cells vertically with the content ... , having width computed automatically (*).

A LaTeX figure is similarly distinct from graphical content. To include graphics, it’s best to use the command \includegraphics from the graphicx package. Then, a typical figure might look like:

\usepackage{graphicx} --- \begin {figure}   \centering   \includegraphics[width=.6 \textwidth ]{figurename} \end {figure}

Here we use .6\textwidth to make the graphic 60% the width of the main text.

By default, graphicx will look for figurename in the same folder as main.tex ; if you need to add other folders, you can use \graphicspath{{folder1/}{folder2/}...} .

The preferred package for subfigures is subcaption ; you can use it like:

\usepackage{subcaption} --- \begin {figure} % or table, then subtable below   \begin {subfigure}{0.5 \textwidth }     \includegraphics[width= \textwidth ]{figureA}     \caption {First subcaption}   \end {subfigure}   \begin {subfigure}{0.5 \textwidth }     \includegraphics[width= \textwidth ]{figureB}     \caption {Second subcaption}   \end {subfigure}   \caption {Overall figure caption} \end {figure}

This makes two subfigures each 50% of the text width, with respective subcaptions, plus an overall figure caption.

Math can be added inline with body text like $E = m c^2$ , or as a standalone equation like:

\begin {equation}   E = m c^2 \end {equation}

A complete guide to math is beyond our scope here; again, Overleaf provides a great set of resources to get started.

Cross References

We recommend using the hyperref package to make clickable links within your thesis, such as the table of contents, and references to equations, tables, figures, and other sections.

A cross-reference label can be added to a section or float environment using \label{key} , and referenced elsewhere using \ref{key} . The key will not appear in the final document (unless there is an error), so we recommend a naming convention like fig:diagram , tab:summary , or intro:back for \section{Background} within \chapter{Intro} , for example. We also recommend using a non-breaking space ~ like Figure~\ref{fig:diagram} , so that a linebreak will not separate “Figure” and the number.

You may need to compile multiple times to resolve cross-references (and citations). However, this occurs by default as needed in most editors.

The LaTeX package tikz provides excellent tools for drawing diagrams and even plotting basic math functions. Here is one small example:

\usepackage{tikz} --- \begin {tikzpicture}   \node [red,circle]  (a) at (0,0) {A};   \node [blue,square] (b) at (1,0) {B};   \draw [dotted,->]   (a) -- node[above]{ $ \alpha $ } (b); \end {tikzpicture}

Don’t forget semicolons after every command, or else you will get stuck while compiling.

There are several options for managing references in LaTeX. We recommend the most modern package: biblatex , with the biber backend.  A helpful overview is given here .

Assuming you have a file called references.bib that looks like:

@article{Lastname2020,   title = {The article title},   author = {Lastname, First and Last2, First2 and Last3 and First3},   journal = {Journal Name},   year = {2020},   vol = {99},   no = {1} } ...

then you can cite the reference Lastname2020 using biblatex like:

\usepackage[backend=biber]{biblatex} \addbibresource {references.bib} --- \cite {Lastname2020} ... \printbibliography

Depending on what editor you’re using to compile, this may work straight away. If not, you may need to update your compiling command to:

pdflatex main && biber main && pdflatex main && pdflatex main

Assuming your document is called main.tex . This is because biber is a separate tool from pdflatex . So in the command above, we first identify the cited sources using pdflatex , then collect the reference information using biber , then finish compiling the document using pdflatex , and then we compile once more in case anything got missed.

There are many options when loading biblatex to configure the reference formatting; it’s best to search the CTAN documentation for what you want to do.

Windows users may find that biber.exe or bibtex.exe get silently blocked by some antivirus software. Usually, an exception can be added within the antivirus software to allow these programs to run.

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The MIT thesis template in LaTeX

The latex template.

The current MIT thesis template was developed in 2023, using up-to-date LaTeX coding, to meet the current formatting requirements of the MIT Libraries. The title and abstract pages are automatically laid out from information provided by the user. This template includes options to use a variety of fonts, and it is compatible with either pdfTeX or unicode engines such as luaLaTeX. When using LaTeX formats dated November 2022 or later, the resulting pdf file meets the PDF/A-2b archivability standard. A standard TeX Live installation includes all other packages required by the template.

This template was written by John Lienhard at the request of the MIT Libraries.

• Documentation: Documentation for the template is available in pdf format here .
• Download: The most current LaTeX files for this template are distributed through the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN): https://ctan.org/pkg/mitthesis Download
• Overleaf.com: A copy of the thesis template is also present in Overleaf.com's template gallery, here . Overleaf includes all the packages in TeX Live, so no additional downloads are needed. Learn more about Overleaf at MIT .

Specifications for MIT theses

The formatting requirements for MIT theses are set by the MIT Libraries, as described at this url: http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/thesis-specs/ . Questions regarding these specifications should be directed to [email protected] .

The original LaTeX 2.09 template was written by Stephen Gildea in the late 1980s (also in CTAN, here ). That template was edited by many later students, leading to the files archived here.

LaTeX has changed greatly since the original MIT thesis template was written. LaTeX 2.09 was replaced by LaTeX2e in 1994. New engines were developed, particularly pdfTeX during the 1990s and Unicode-aware engines in the decades that followed. Many packages and fonts were developed to accompany the original platform, particularly after 2000; and major updates to the LaTeX kernel began in 2018. Over the years, the MIT Libraries have changed the required format several times, especially as electronic thesis submission has become the norm. The original template served MIT well; but by the early 2020s, it was substantially out of date. That situation motivated the creation of this new template.

An academic thesis, also known as a dissertation, is a substantial work produced by a graduate student to communicate their research and earn a degree. A thesis will typically include a review of the current state of research in the field of study followed by a central hypothesis to be investigated. The bulk of the thesis will then focus on the methods and results of the research performed, followed by a discussion on how the results add to the field in general. Theses are long, highly structured and include a lot of advanced document elements.

This template is designed for writing books and graduate-level theses and provides numerous examples and documentation to enable complex requirements. The design features a relatively narrow main text column with an adjacent wide margin to house notes, figures, tables, citations and captions.

• View Template Information

Masters/Doctoral Thesis

This template provides a full framework for writing a graduate level thesis. It is carefully structured and separated into multiple parts for easy editing. Included are the following pages/sections: a cover page, declaration of authorship, quotation, abstract, acknowledgements, contents page(s), list of figures, list of tables, abbreviations, physical constants, symbols, dedication, example chapter, example appendix and bibliography.

Classicthesis Typographic Thesis

This template has been designed as a homage to the Elements of Typographic Style. As such, it has an air of efficiency and optimal design. It is suitable for any high-level degree thesis such as for a PhD, Masters or Honors. Sections within the thesis are clearly separated in a consistent way, as are sections within each chapter. The default structure of the thesis proceeds in the following order: title page, dedication, abstract, publications, acknowledgements, contents, list of tables/figures/listings, acronyms, content chapters, appendices, bibliography, colophon and declaration.

Maggi Memoir Thesis

This template uses the memoir document class to beautifully typeset a thesis. It is suitable for any high-level degree thesis such as for a PhD, Masters or Honors. The layout of the content is in a thin format to promote easy reading and the template features advanced specification of margins and trimming. The thesis boasts a professional look which is immediately obvious from the title page itself and carries through the design of the rest of the document. Three custom fonts are used in the template to match the design and beautifully display your content.

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• Updated: July 18, 2019

Using LaTeX for your thesis at the University of Washington

• Find package documentation and sources on our UWThesis github repository.
• This thesis package is licensed under the terms of the Apache License 2 . You are free to copy, use, and modify it to your needs according to the terms of that license.
• Documentation

© 1983-2017, University of Washington

Frequently Asked Question List for TeX

Formatting a thesis in LaTeX

Thesis styles are usually very specific to your university, so it’s usually not profitable to ask around for a package outside your own university. Since many universities (in their eccentric way) still require double-spaced thesis text, you may also need separately to set up double spacing .

If you want to write a new thesis class of your own, a good place to start is the University of California style, but remember that it’s often difficult to produce a thesis that both looks good and conforms with the style that your university demands.

FAQ ID: Q-thesis Tags:  classes

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LaTeX/BibTeX Templates

Under "Support for Formatting Theses and Dissertations", there are some handy LaTeX thesis and dissertation templates:

• https://graduate.ku.edu/etd-formatting-and-working-multimedia-files

LaTeX/ BibTeX Libguide

Do you have a general question about how to use LaTeX? Here is a link to the KU libguide:

• https://guides.lib.ku.edu/LaTeX/BibTeX
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Master's thesis latex template.

"LaTeX is a document preparation system. When writing, the writer uses plain text as opposed to the formatted text found in WYSIWYG ("what  you see is what you get") word processors. The writer uses markup tagging conventions to define the general structure of a document (such as article, book, letter, or thesis), to stylise text throughout a document (such as bold and italics), and to add citations and cross-references. A TeX distribution such as TeX Live or MikTeX is used to produce an output file (such as PDF or DVI) suitable for printing or digital distribution. Within the typesetting system, its name is stylised as L a T e X ." — Adopted from Wikipedia. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX )

• Linux/Unix — sdsu-thesis-latex.tar.gz
• Windows — sdsu-thesis-latex.zip
• Note: The generated sample pdf is available because many people asked for it, not because it is a good idea to use it as a reference. The style file and sample LaTeX document contain instructions and comments on why/how certain things were done in a certain way...
• Note: Official Unofficial Guide for Thesis Chairs
• Note: Official LaTeX format approval form; this is an official SDSU form — Do Not Edit .
• Peter Blomgren ( [email protected] , webpage ) reviews LaTeX theses for the Department of Mathematics and Statistics; the Department of Computer Science; and the Computational Sciences program; thus bypassing the review by Montezuma Publishing
• Fedora >> sudo yum install texlive* texmaker
• Ubuntu — help/community/LaTeX
• Texmaker (editor, recommended)
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• Overleaf (Tested)
• Typeset.io (Untested, Looks Promising)
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A LaTeX template for Bachelor and Master thesis

mbredel/thesis-template

Folders and files, repository files navigation, a thesis latex-template.

This LaTeX-template might be used to write a bachelor or master thesis at the Computer Science department at h_da University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt. It is based on the fabulous ClassicThesis style template of Andre Miedé . It is adapted to the current style guide for bachelor and master theses in the computer science department of h_da, as outlined in Empfehlungen zur Erstellung wissenschaftlicher Abschlussarbeiten

Table of contents

Two-sided vs. one-sided, bibliographies, table of content, figures, tables, listings, and acronyms, personal data, classicthesis-config.tex, writing abstracts, adding content, changing the citation style, compiling the latex source code, using docker, known issues, configuration.

The LaTeX template can be modified and configured easily using a very limited number of files, namely classicthesis-config.tex , hdathesis-config.tex , and thesis.tex . Only use these three files to modify your LaTeX thesis. Please DO NOT modify the actual LaTeX code for your thesis (as this becomes quite complex and consumes a lot of time). Please find a brief description of the various configuration options below:

The thesis.tex file contains the basic structure and all the chapter-files that contain the actual content of your thesis. Thus, you have to modify this file in order to configure some basic stuff like the language of your thesis. The subsequent section "Adding content" explains how to add content.

The default output of the LaTeX thesis template is a single-sided style that also has to be printed that way. In case you want to print two-sided, you have to add the twoside option in the \documentclass definition at line 35:

You may also adapt the paper size ( paper=a4 ) and the font size ( fontsize=11 ) if necessary.

By default all bibliographies that can be referenced in the thesis are put into the bibliography.bib file in the root directory of the LaTeX sources. However, if you want to use additional bibliography files, you may add them to the bibliograph section (starting at line 47) in thesis.tex

The default language of your thesis is German. If you want to switch to English, you have to modify the language selection from ngerman to american at line 63.

While this thesis template supports umlauts, i.e. ÄÖÜäöüß, in the main text of the thesis, there are some issues regarding umlauts on the title page (configured in the personal data at hdathesis-config.tex ). Please see the umlauts section for further details and possible solutions.

By default, the thesis templates prints a lot of table of content, i.e. for figures, tables, listings, and acronyms. You may want to remove such tables if you only have a very limited number, i.e. less than 3-5, of figures, tables, listings, and acronyms. Simply comment the related line in thesis.tex starting at line 81.

hdathesis-config.tex

The hdathesis-config.tex -file allows to configure the usual stuff needed for a thesis at h_da. Namely, you can configure the title of your thesis, your name, the names of your supervisors, dates, etc. Thus, you MUST touch this file and configure it accordingly.

This is where you have to place all the personal stuff of your thesis, starting at line 7.

This thesis template supports German umlauts in the main text. However, if you need umlauts on the title page, say in your title, your name, and your professor's name, you have to use the native LaTeX way of writing umlauts. Please see the following table:

To write the Title "TOR - Schießen mit Füßen" you have to write "TOR - Schie{\ss}en mit F{"u}{\ss}en".

The classicthesis-config.tex -file allows you to configure stuff that comes with the classic-thesis style, like LaTeX packages used by classic thesis. This is quite advanced stuff already. Thus, you should touch this file only if you know what you are doing. Usually, you can leave the file as it is.

In the following, we explain how to actually use, i.e. add content and compile, the thesis template to create a nice and shiny PDF file that will please your supervisor.

Every thesis has to have two abstracts; one in German and one in English. Thus, there are two abstract files included in the thesis.tex -file. Boths files, called AbstractDE.tex for the German abstract and AbstractEN.tex for the English abstract, are located in the ./frontbackmatter/ directory.

You have to modify both these files and place your abstract text in AbstractDE.tex and AbstractEN.tex respectively.

By default, the thesis template, i.e. the thesis.tex -file, contains (includes) some default content files for chapters and appendix from the ./chapters/examples/ -directory (starting a line 94). You have to remove those includes and include your own files. Please note that it is best practice to put all your content in separate files.

You may also want to have a look at the part(...) section at line 93 and 103. You may want to change the titles of the part(...) -sections. Alternatively, you remove the part(...) section and the corresponding cleardoublepage the line before.

By default, this template uses the IEEE Alphabetic style for citatons. The IEEE citation style includes in-text citations in square brackets, which refer to the full citation listed in the reference list at the end of the paper. The reference list is organized alphabetically.

However, if you prefer to uses the old IEEE Numeric style for citations you can do so. To this end, you have to change lines 90 and 91 of classicthesis-config.tex :

You may compile the hda-thesis template using the pdflatex and the bibtex command. In addition, the thesis template repository contains a Makefile that allows you to compile the thesis template using the make tool available on most Unix and Linux systems. Simply type:

to compile the LaTeX code into a PDF-file. Moreover, you may use

to remove all temporary files, which are produced during the compilation process. Finally,

generates a bz2-package file, which contains all the source files of your LaTeX code. In case you need to create a PDF-version with embedded fonts you may use

The h_da thesis template ships with two Dockerfiles that create Docker container used to compile the LaTeX code. One container - built by the Dockerfile.ci Docker file - is used by the CI to compile the thesis template and check its integrity at every commit. The other one - created by the Dockerfile.local Docker file - might be used to build the Docker container that allows to compile the LaTeX code on your local machine without the need to install any LaTeX files.

In order to build the Docker image you have to type the following command:

Creating the image requires a working (and hopefully fast) Internet connection. It may take several minutes to download the required base-images as well as all needed dependencies. You only have to create the image once. Once the image is created, you can run the Docker container by running the following command

inside the root directory containing the LaTeX code. The command mounts the current directory into the Docker container, runs the "publish" make target, and thus compiles the LaTeX code into a PDF file. Finally, the command removes the container again, as it is not needed anymore. You may re-compile the LaTeX code by re-running the "docker run ..." command again.

For more information on Docker, please take a look at the Docker documentation .

• It has not been tested for MiKTeX and MacTeX yet. Any input on these LaTeX distributions is very welcome.
• The LaTeX template only supports bachelor theses (by default)
• The thesis only supports German and (American) English

The h_da computer science department LaTeX thesis template is licenced under GPL v3.0

Acknowledgements

• Many thanks to Sebastian Jung for his hints on the local Docker approach for compiling the LaTeX code.

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One thesis, two supports, three months

Completing a thesis within 12 weeks may seem impossible, but by combining AI and your supervisor’s expertise, it can be done. Mariam Shadan shows how

Mariam Shadan

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A completed thesis is the pinnacle of academic accomplishment, demanding rigorous research, critical analysis and a compelling argument. However, anyone undertaking such a commitment may face challenges in time management, resource utilisation and feedback integration. Drawing from my own experiences, I am confident that harnessing the combined power of human expertise, embodied by your supervisor, and the efficiency of AI technology holds the key to streamlining the process and achieving completion within just three months.

The task:  Writing the thesis

Time frame:  Three months

The first tool: the supervisor

Recognising the pivotal role that supervisors play in guiding and supporting students throughout their academic journey is crucial. They serve as mentors, providing direction, constructive criticism and encouragement throughout the thesis journey. Yet students are often hesitant to fully engage with their supervisors.

• Developing academic writing skills to boost student confidence and resilience
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Acknowledge that honest communication about your challenges and limitations can lead to constructive feedback and tailored support during the thesis writing period. Since supervisors are well acquainted with the intellectual standard required to pass a PhD in your discipline and have access to resources both within and outside the institution, their advice is crucial for completing a high-quality thesis efficiently. It’s understandable to be worried about admitting your inadequacies to supervisors, but embracing open communication and leveraging their expertise can be incredibly beneficial. Respecting the deadlines and milestones set by the supervisor and reaching out for help when needed are key to staying focused and on the right track.

The second tool: artificial intellgence (AI)

Artificial intelligence is a game changer for PhD students working on their theses. By using AI tools and technologies, students can supercharge the process. AI-powered writing assistants can help refine their writing, offering suggestions for improving sentence structure, fixing grammar mistakes and enriching their vocabulary. It also comes in handy for combing through and analysing numerous research articles, saving students valuable time and ensuring that they don’t miss any important sources. It can even pinpoint areas for discussion in a research paper and create a summary. What’s more, AI can assist with data analysis and visualisation, delivering quick and accurate results.

Through AI tools, PhD students can manage administrative tasks such as scheduling meetings, transcribing, preparing agendas and even translating meetings with supervisors. Furthermore, AI software can be employed to analyse meeting notes and comments on drafts to identify key tasks, helping students to effectively translate feedback into action points.

By tapping into AI, students can save time, keep track of their progress, manage references and enhance the quality of their research. Plus, AI-driven peer review and plagiarism detection software help uphold the quality and integrity of the thesis. While AI-generated data has its limitations, the powerful collaboration between supervisors and AI technologies creates a thriving environment that accelerates thesis completion.

The plan: master progressive milestones, one step at a time

Dividing our writing journey into smaller tasks is a highly effective strategy when working under strict time frames. Instead of submitting an entire thesis for review, submitting chapters regularly allows for continuous feedback and helps to prevent repeating mistakes.

For instance, my supervisor pointed out that my university required UK English for dissertations and deducted marks for any other style, which I promptly corrected in future submissions. Grouping similar tasks together also reduces the workload. When in doubt, seek advice from your supervisor.

Additionally, embracing AI solutions fosters a collaborative and inclusive environment, driving productivity, innovation and academic excellence.

Embrace the absurdity, share your struggles and remember that even in the darkest depths of academic despair, there’s always a punchline waiting to lighten the load. The collaborative interplay between supervisors and AI technologies holds immense potential to expedite thesis writing endeavours. By capitalising on the complementary strengths of human mentorship and technological innovation, scholars can navigate the academic landscape with greater efficiency, efficacy and scholarly rigour.

Here’s the sample weekly timeline, including AI tools that can assist in each stage. This timeline was also created with AI assistance.

Week 1: planning and outline

• Zotero for organising research materials and references.
• Trello for setting goals and tracking progress.

Week 2: literature review

• Connected Papers for exploring related research papers and mapping connections.
• Mendeley for managing and annotating PDFs.
• Grammarly for initial revision and refinement.

Week 3: methodology

• Overleaf for writing and formatting the methodology in LaTeX (if applicable).
• Grammarly for refining the text.

Week 4: data collection and analysis

• NVivo for qualitative data organisation and analysis.
• Excel or R for quantitative data analysis and visualisation.
• Canva or Tableau for creating figures and charts.

Week 5: results

• SPSS for statistical analysis and results presentation.

Week 6: discussion

• Chat GPT for outlining the discussion section.
• Grammarly, Jenni.ai for initial draft writing and grammar checking.
• Hemingway Editor and Writefull for improving readability and style.

Week 7: conclusion and recommendations

• Grammarly, Hemingway Editor and Writefull for final revisions and readability.

Week 8: introduction

• Grammarly, Hemingway Editor and Writefull for improving clarity and coherence.

Week 9: abstract and title

• Grammarly, Hemingway Editor and Writefull

Week 10: full draft review

• Grammarly for a comprehensive grammar check.
• EndNote for reference and citation management.

Week 11: feedback and revisions and formatting

• Zotero for ensuring all citations and references are correct.
• Grammarly and ProWritingAid for a final proofreading pass.

Week 12: buffer period

Mariam Shadan is assistant professor of biomedical sciences at Dubai Medical College for Girls.

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