University Technology provides these instructions to Drew Graduate and Theological School students as help for formatting theses and dissertations. The instructions here do not replace nor supersede any requirements or instructions provided by the Graduate or Theological Schools or by individual faculty members. If you require someone to do the formatting for you, please hire a trained thesis/dissertation editor. If you have suggestions about or corrections for these instructions, please email helpdesk@drew.edu.
The dissertation templates provided for students by University Technology are recommended as a means for alleviating some of the issues commonly related to formatting. Using the template will take care of many of the standard formatting necessities such as margins, font spacing, alignment, page numbers, Table of Contents format, etc.
This page explains how to best utilize the template as you write.
The template file comes with instructional text. You will need to read some of this text to avoid deleting formats that enable things like page numbers on the bottom center of the first page of each chapter.
Available Templates
Click on the appropriate link below to see a preview of the file. Find the download button (slightly different placement depending on the browser you are using) and save the file to your computer. We recommend that you save a copy of the template, renaming the file so that you know it is your working copy and not the original template.
Word 2016 (PCs)
Word 2011 (Macs)
Introductory Video
If you prefer watching a video to reading how-to instructions, here is a 12 minute long introduction to working with the Drew dissertation templates: Dissertation Templates Video
Drew Formatting Styles
All formatting is based upon a Drew dissertation standard. Most formatting matches for all three schools, but small details may vary. Check with your professor, or consult your specific style guide to verify formatting details.
All templates have a default margin setup of the following:
Top=1", Left=1.5", Right=1", Bottom=1"
For more information about the Styles used in the templates above, please click the link below to expand this section of information.
Title for Title Page
This style is set to center alignment, double spaced, and the text is all caps.
Important note: This style reverts to regular left-aligned, lowercase text when you hit Enter. If you have more than one line in your title, apply this format to each line.
Dissertation
This is the default style for your dissertation. This is the style you will use for most of the text in your dissertation, the content of your abstract, etc.
It is set up with size 12 Times New Roman font, double spaced, with a 0.5" indent of the first line of new paragraphs.
Chapter Title
This style, used for the titles of your chapters, is centered and in all caps.
If you use the automatically generated Table of Contents in the template, it will pull in all titles with this style applied.
Title Not for TOC
This style can be used for titles that you do not want to appear in the automatic Table of Contents (TOC). For example, the front matter that comes before the TOC - and the title Table of Contents! - should not appear in the TOC list. Use this style for those titles. Like Chapter Title, it is size 12 Times New Roman, centered and in all caps.
If you're using the automatic Table of Contents in the template, this style can also be used for the second line of a chapter title.
Dots for Table of Contents
Please use this style instead of manually pressing the period key over to the right margin in your Table of Contents or lists of figures.
If you are using an automatic Table of Contents and do not have a list of figures, you will not need this style. The dot leader format is already set up in the automatic TOC.
To build your TOC manually:
- Type the titles you want listed.
- Highlight the list of titles.
- Apply the Dots for Table of Contents style by clicking on that option in the Styles section of the ribbon.
- Press the Tab key on your keyboard. This will insert dot leaders that extend all the way to the right margin.
- Finally, type in your page number at the end of each line.
Footnote Text
This style will apply automatically when you go to References > Insert Footnote. It is set to size 10 Times New Roman font with a 0.5" indent on the first line. It is single spaced and will add a space between footnote entries.
Block Quote
This Style is to be used when you need to insert a block quote (check your guidelines for guidance on using block quotes).
The font is size 12 Times New Roman.
However, this style is single spaced with the entire passage having a 0.5" indent on the left side.
Bibliography (Dissertation)
This Style is set up with size 12 Times New Roman font. The first line of each entry is aligned flush left, while any of the lines afterwards have a hanging indent of 0.5".
While each individual entry is single spaced, there is a double space between one entry and the next. 
It is recommended that you type up the bibliography, then apply the Style.
Heading 1 and 2
These styles can be used for sections within your chapters. If you prefer, you can apply your own formatting style to section headings, if you use them; the most important thing is to be consistent.
These section titles will not be added to the automatic Table of Contents in the template.
More About Templates and Styles
For more information about using Templates and Styles in your document, visit our Using Microsoft Word Templates page.
Reviewed June 5, 2023