Page History

We strongly recommend that you use one of our templates, which come with many of these formatting styles programmed and ready to use. Please see the Drew Dissertation Templates page for more information and the templates themselves.

• Keep in mind that copying and pasting text from one file (or web page) to another can cause interesting, and sometimes complicated, formatting issues.
• Pay attention to the notes in the templates. You may also want to come back to these instructions for more information. 
  • Formatting Instructions: https://tinyurl.com/DrewFormatting (this link will bring you back to this page)
  • Templates: http://bit.ly/DrewTemplates

This is the most important step! Focus on the content of your work - the research, the creative elements, your unique perspective.

Guidelines for Dissertations

These documents are current to the best of our knowledge. Always confer with the director of your program if to be certain you are uncertainfollowing the most recent guidelines.

• DMIN Publication Procedures - a PDF outlining the formatting guidelines for the Doctor of Ministry program
• GDR Dissertation Guidelines - a PDF outlining the style guidelines and structure for the Graduate Division of Religion program
• CSGS Guidelines for the Preparation of Doctoral Dissertations - a PDF with information on the dissertation for the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies programs

Order of Materials

Helpful Drew Resources

• The University Library is your go-to for assistance in finding primary and secondary sources, as well as more information about citation managers.
  • Research Resources
  • Citation Information Handout - another handy resource from the Library Reference desk
  • Endnote Online aka Endnote Web Bibliographic Software

  • Zotero Bibliographic Management Software

    Note
    If you are having trouble with installation of the Endnote software, please call the UT Service Center at 973-408-4357.If you are having trouble managing citations, please visit the Research Help Desk in the Academic Commons.

    
    

• The University Writing Center (UWC), part of the Center for Academic Excellence, is an excellent resource for those who have questions about the writing and editing process. Please visit http://libguides.drew.edu/writingresources/home or http://www.drew.edu/center-academic-excellence/about-us/writing-support/graduatesupport/ for more information.The CAE also offers a helpful PDF about How to Hire a Freelance Copyeditor, with a list of some editors in the area.
• Formatting a Dissertation in Word: Workshop Handout
• Resources for Current Theo Students - a webpage on the Drew Theological School's site
• Resources for Current Caspersen Students - a webpage on the Drew Graduate School's site

A Note about Google Docs

Google Docs is a wonderful place to work for a wide variety of reasons. Unfortunately, those reasons do not cover some of the basic formatting required of a thesis or a dissertation (most importantly, the page numbering). Google has made recent strides in offering some of the formatting required, but not all of it. If you work primarily in Google Docs, we recommend that you plan time to move your work into Microsoft Word (either by downloading the Doc as a Word file, by copying and using Paste > Keep Text Only - which will require formatting adjustments, or by doing both to see what method requires the least amount of adjusting work for your particular document).