dissertation template uf

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On this webpage, you will find the basic format requirements for theses and dissertations at the University of Florida. All UF thesis and dissertation students must follow these requirements. The links to samples on this webpage show examples of what pages within your thesis or dissertation should look like.

Questions? Consult the Guide for Preparing Theses and Dissertations or email [email protected] . If you would like your thesis or dissertation reviewed ahead of your submission to our office, please reach out to our partners at the UFIT Help Desk’s Thesis & Dissertation Support Center .

THESIS/DISSERTATION DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION

Your thesis or dissertation should be integrated into a single document. Your document is allowed to have only one abstract, table of contents, and reference list. There must be an introductory chapter, a main body (including tables and figures), and a closing summary chapter of conclusions or findings. Generally speaking, Chapter 1 will be the introductory chapter (often titled “Introduction”), followed by the supporting main body chapters, and wrapped up with the closing summary chapter (usually titled something like “Conclusion”).

The UFIT Help Desk’s Thesis & Dissertation Support Center maintains templates for MS Word and LaTeX which you must use to format your thesis or dissertation to make adherence to our formatting requirements easier.

• Thesis & Dissertation Templates

BASIC FORMAT REQUIREMENTS

• Margins: One inch (1") all around (top, right, bottom, left) on all pages
• Font: 12-point Times New Roman or Arial throughout, including tables and figures
• Alignment: Left-aligned text with ragged right-hand margin — do not justify text
• Page Numbering: Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3, and so on) centered at bottom of each page
• Page Order: Arrange pages in this order:
• Copyright page
• Dedication (if any)
• Acknowledgements
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables (if any)
• List of Abbreviations (if any)
• Academic abstract
• Appendices (if any)
• List of References
• Biographical Sketch
• Spacing: Double-space paragraph text. Indent the first line of each paragraph. Single-space headings, table titles, and figure captions. The reference list is single-spaced with one blank line in between the references.
• Text Flow: Text must be continuous throughout the chapter. It’s best to place all tables and figures at the end of their chapter. Avoid inserting them into the chapter’s text unless you can do so without leaving blank gaps at the bottom of text pages.
• Headings: Format headings with this styling:
• All major division headings are in uppercase (capital) letters, not in bold: preliminary pages, chapters, appendices, reference list; and biographical sketch.
• All subheadings and paragraph headings are bold.
• First-level subheadings are centered and in title case.
• Second-level subheadings are flush-left and in title case.
• Third-level subheading are flush-left and in sentence case.
• Paragraph subheadings are indented and in sentence case.
• Paragraph headings end with a period or colon. Start the text on the same line as the paragraph heading.
• Paragraph headings also can be used with bulleted lists.
• Copyright Page
• Acknowledgments Page
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• Academic Abstract
• Block Quotes
• Short Bulleted List
• Long Bulleted List

For more helpful resources to complete and submit your thesis or dissertation, click here:

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Electronic thesis and dissertation support.

ETD Technical Support is provided by the Application Support Center at the UF Computing Help Desk. We provide formatting support for UF graduate students while they prepare and submit their dissertation or thesis to the Graduate School Editorial Office. This is accomplished by providing informational seminars, formatting templates, online tutorials and one-on-one consultation (walk-in as available and by appointment). We're located with the UF Computing Help Desk in Hub 132. To contact us (or to make an appointment for consultation), please submit a ticket here or call us at 392-HELP (option 5) and ask for an appointment to review thesis or dissertation formatting.

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Electronic Thesis & Dissertation Formatting Help

The UFIT Help Desk provides campus with a variety of technical support services, including electronic thesis and dissertation support. The Electronic Thesis and Dissertation team (ETD) assists graduate students through the formatting process of their thesis or dissertation in accordance with the Graduate Editorial Office’s guidelines. Their services are available for free to all UF graduate students.

Meg Renard, a lead ETD staff member, joined the team in 2019. She encourages graduate students to reach out as early as possible.

“If you look up the template before you start writing, or if you’re at least aware, the process is going to be much easier,” Renard said. “People spend so long writing these things and gathering material. Then, they get to the end, and they have no idea that the submission had requirements.”

Whether you need finishing touches or a full reformat, the ETD team will meet you wherever you are in the formatting process, Renard said. The team’s primary three services are one-on-one appointments, document reviews via email, and free template and formatting tutorials. The only templates accepted for thesis and dissertation submissions are in MS Word and LaTeX, both requiring specific formatting that is difficult to recreate. Faculty can also arrange for an ETD staff member to present to their classroom by contacting the ETD team directly.

Visit https://it.ufl.edu/helpdesk/graduate-resources/ to book an appointment, email your document for review, or view the templates and tutorials. Appointments and email queue spots fill quickly as submission deadlines approach, so it’s best to contact the team as soon as you can. Although the UFIT’s ETD team supports students through the formatting process, the Graduate Editorial Office is a separate office and sets the submission standards and deadlines. Students can view thesis and dissertation deadlines, checklists, and further requirements on the Editorial Office’s website .

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Electronic Thesis and Dissertation: LaTeX

Are you preparing your thesis or dissertation for electronic submission?

The UF Computing Help Desk provides LaTex template at LaTex Template . For more information visit Electronic Thesis & Dissertation (ETD) Technical Support . 

Related Training

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation: Microsoft Word

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FAQ for theses, dissertations, and other projects required to complete degrees: Home

Questions and answers, guidance on the university of florida electronic theses and dissertations collection, https://ufdc.ufl.edu/ufetd.

The questions and answers below are based on questions sent to our Ask-A-Librarian service or directly to the IR@UF. No FAQ can cover all possible questions, so please do not hesitate to reach out to the Mediated Submissions team at [email protected] .

What are all these thesis/dissertation acronyms about?

• ETD: Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
• Final approvals from the Graduate School then transfer to the Libraries for custodianship and sharing
• Includes traditional ETDs (born-digital, transmitted to us by Graduate Editorial), RTDS items, born-digital and digitized OTPs
• RTDS: Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Scanning project
• TD: thesis or dissertation
• Graduate projects not from the Grad School
• Includes items resembling traditional ETDs, projects that include multiple files, audio and video recordings, and computer code
• Sub-collection of UFETD
• Includes some multimedia projects

Are there instructions for graduate students who want to submit their OTP to the Libraries/IR@UF?

The short answer is, “no.” We do provide some descriptive information and reference links on https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/etds/pilots , but the academic units are responsible for setting formatting standards for the works and defining their internal submission process. We receive the works, permission agreements, and a handoff inventory directly from the program offices, not from individual students.

Can a anyone ask for digitization of a bound TD or OTP?

Yes. We are happy to digitize on request.

We can make almost all dissertations available on the public web. Other items need to remain behind the UF firewall unless we have permission from the author. If the patron has contact information for the author, we can request permission from them.

Turnaround time for a request is usually about two weeks but can take longer if Digital Services have a large, high-priority project underway

Can ETD authors get a copy of the signature page for their work?

Some very traditional institutions, particularly in other countries, ask applicants for a bound copy of their thesis or dissertation that includes the signature page(s). The ETDs in the IR@UF do not have signature pages; the choice was made to reduce chances for identity theft. Graduates who need their signature pages can contact the Graduate Editorial Office, [email protected] , for an electronic signature page. If you must have a copy of the ink-on-paper signatures, you will need to contact their former departmental/program office where a copy should be on file.

How can I lift, change, or extend the restriction on my thesis or dissertation?

If you are a graduate student and want to change a restriction, please send email to [email protected] . If you are an Honors student, please email [email protected] .

What do I do if I can't find a digital copy of an ETD or OTP that I'm sure should be there?

Please reach out to [email protected] . Many factors can lead to the absence of a digital item. If you can see a bound copy of a title in the catalog, you can ask us to digitize it.

What about digitized TDs that are in the catalog but inaccessible?

Short answer.

A few hundred dissertations from early in our long-term digitization project predate current visibility policy and are Dark/Secret. We have a cleanup project planned to make all those titles permanently campus-restricted. In the meantime, you can email [email protected] make a Dark title campus-restricted.

What are the different access (restriction) levels for content in the Electronic Theses and Dissertations and Undergraduate Honors Theses collections?

Dissertations are legally considered published while master’s theses are not. * This means that no dissertations can be kept offline permanently. Theses from the RTDS project should all be public or campus-restricted. We have around 257 currently Dark dissertations that need to be made campus-restricted. Theses and dissertations from the Graduate School can have various restrictions that always end on specific dates:

Authors of Honors theses/projects are also able to choose a permanent campus restriction and a permanent full embargo (Dark item). All authors are also entitled to lift a restriction early or ask for extensions on their restrictions. Very few do so.

* The Libraries’ policy was inspired by the following article: Clement, Gail, and Melissa Levine. “Copyright and Publication Status of Pre-1978 Dissertations: A Content Analysis Approach.” Portal: Libraries and the Academy 11, no. 3 (2011): 813–29. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2011.0031 .

What do I need to do when I want to make a published journal article a chapter of my TD or vice versa?

Based on guidance from the Graduate School: Candidates often plan to publish the results of their research as journal articles. For example, a thesis or dissertation chapter might later become a journal article, and, with permission from their committee, previously published journal articles by the author can be included as part of the student’s thesis or dissertation. Please note that:

• Students must follow Graduate School guidelines (not those of the journal) when formatting the ETD.
• All copyright considerations must be addressed; the student and the committee must ensure this.
• Material produced by coauthors should be so noted and cited appropriately (and only by permission).

You may not present coauthored work as your own scholarship, including presenting a chapter in your document that directly duplicates another’s work. The dissertation chapters must vary to indicate the your direct contribution to the studies. You must also obtain copyright permission from the journal and any other coauthors before republishing the work as part of the ETD and ensure that an unnumbered footnote on the chapter heading indicates that the chapter has been adapted from the full citation (as it appears in the reference list). If you are the sole author of the work, you can state that the chapter is being reprinted with permission from the journal with the full citation noted.

What does it mean when an ETD’s title begins, “Record for a UF dissertation/thesis?”

Most of these items are born-digital ETDs and are scheduled to have their Secret for 2 years (Dark item) restriction lifted on the first business day after the date given in the placeholder title. If you find an item where the expiration date given in the placeholder title is more than a few weeks ago, please email the UFDC link to [email protected] .

What happens to a bound copy of a TD after digitization?

If there is a bound copy in the University Archives, we disbind the former circulating copy to sheet-feed scan it and then recycle the pages. If a book is the only known copy of a work, we scan it intact and then transfer it to the Archives.

What if a TD is still unavailable after the restriction has expired?

Sometimes it can be a few days after an expiration date before our IT team can run the release automation. It should be available in a week or less. If you are still unable to access the work 7-10 days after the restriction expired, reach out to [email protected] . We can investigate and and resolve the problem or provide some context about why this particular cycle is late.

I am a thesis or dissertation student. What should I do if I want to add supplemental materials to the IR?

The current recommendation from the Graduate School and the Libraries is to use Zenodo to host supplemental materials, https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/etds/supplemental . This change is because self-submissions will be deprecated, probably in the next year or two. Using Zenodo will also give you lasting direct control of the materials and a free DOI for easy reference.

However, as of summer 2023, graduate students can still add items to the IR on their own. If you are already in the process of doing that and are having problems, please contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] .

What should I do when there is no PDF for a thesis or disseration that I'm interested in?

Some older items might not have a PDF attached; you can email [email protected] to request generation of a PDF.

If the item is restricted to campus, you will need to be able to log onto the UF VPN or visit campus to use one of the public computers in the Libraries to access the PDF.

I need to know when a thesis/dissertation/other terminal project was available online.

The Mediated Submissions unit ( [email protected] ) can almost always answer any questions about when a digital thesis, dissertation, or other terminal project was first made available on UFDC. If the question is about a dissertation, we can also find when it was sent to ProQuest to be added to their system. We are also able to estimate when the subset of dissertations scanned by Internet Archive were online there.

Why are there so few publicly available digitized master’s theses?

First, we have not begun putting master’s theses in the regular digitization workflow. Theses should start regular production when we are down to the last few hundred difficult to digitize dissertations, e.g., ones where the only known copy is on microfilm.

Unlike dissertations, master’s theses are not considered published works under the law. We cannot make them public without a formal grant of permission from the author. When we lack permission from the author, we can only make the thesis available to computers physically connected to the UF network or connected to the UF VPN. Many of the theses that we digitize on request are in this category.

Why are thesis and dissertation students charged a Library Fee?

Currently $12.80, the Library Processing Fee goes to the Institutional Repository (IR@UF) to support the costs of loading, managing, and archiving electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) and final projects from other graduate-level degree programs.

Why can’t I find a UF thesis or dissertation at ProQuest?

UF does not send master’s theses to ProQuest. Any that you might find there were individually submitted by the authors and are not official copies.

When you can find a dissertation in our catalog but not at ProQuest that can mean either the title is still under a campus-only or secret restriction, or it is ‘stuck’ somewhere in the shared UF/ProQuest process that eventually makes UF dissertations, or just their abstracts, appear in the ProQuest system. If you are confident that the work should be live at ProQuest, please refer email [email protected] .

• Last Updated: Jan 23, 2024 10:37 AM
• URL: https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/theses_dissertations_projects_FAQ

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  Where will I get the template?

You can find the templates on the UFIT Help Desk’s Thesis & Dissertation Support Center’s website: https://it.ufl.edu/helpdesk/graduate-resources/

If you made a figure all by yourself (For example, causes of climate change), but by reading many sources. How should the reference be given in the General note under the Figure?

In the figure caption, after the description, you should reference every source that you used to get this data or information. Ex: Figure 1-1. Climate Changes. (Adapted from https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/stories/ , https://data.worldbank.org/ , https://climatedata.imf.org/ )

  Can two chapters have subheadings that are titled the same? Examples: A subheading called "motivation" (or something like that) in two chapters to emphasize the background. 

Yes, you can do this. The main thing you need to avoid is a repetition of the same title for the chapter name and subheadings within the chapter.; EX: Introduction

  For references, is it okay to group references that are for different chapters? For instance, at the end, I provide "References" and put Chapter 1 and references for that chapter, and then Chapter 2 and related references, etc.

 No, the List of References is a cohesive alphabetical or numerical list of the references used in the entire dissertation or thesis.

Is there a minimum number of chapters required?

 Yes, 3 chapter are the minimum.

What is the maximum number of chapters for the dissertation?

There is no maximum set by our requirements, this is a discussion you would have with your dissertation chair.

Is there an option to attach digital supplementary materials for your dissertation?

The UF Libraries recommend using Zenodo as the repository for supplemental content. Information on uploading supplemental materials can be found here: https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/etds/supplemental

  Where can I get the transmittal letter form from?

The transmittal letter is found in GIMS, but only the department can submit the form. It is required before first submission for doctoral students

  Does the first submission need to be a complete draft of the dissertation? Or could it be 4 out of 5 chapters, for example?

We expect 75-80% completion (approximately) formatted in the provided template for the first submission.

Can I just have the three chapters for the first submission and then add additional chapters later for the final submission?

For Ph.D. students, yes—we expect some changes after your defense. Master’s students should submit the first submission document without missing chapters since they have already had an oral defense.

For the first submission, do all chapters which are planned to / intended to be in the final draft need to be there? Or can I have just the minimum number of chapters: Introduction (Chapter 1) - Technical (Chapter 2) - Conclusion (Chapter 3)

You do not need to include blank chapters or "placeholders" with your first submission.

Can the Ph.D. oral defense happen after the first submission acceptance?

Yes, for Ph.D. students only.  For a master's thesis, they must have completed a successful oral defense before the first thesis submission deadline.

If I am doing a master’s, do  I have to do my oral defense before the first submission deadline?

Master's students must complete their oral defense before the First Submission Deadline for thesis students.

What would be the recommended date for the first submission in order to allow time for the Editorial Office to review and, in the case of rejection, allow enough time to resubmit?

We review them in the order that they are received.  If you are ready to submit ahead of the deadline, we strongly encourage that.  If the extra days are helpful to you, then wait until you are ready (but by the deadline).

What happens if my first submission is rejected? Is that the end until next semester?

Please plan ahead and work with UFIT Help Desk’s Thesis and Dissertation Support Center to avoid your first submission being rejected. If you are rejected, we will try to give you an opportunity to work with UFIT Help Desk’s Thesis and Dissertation Support Center to get the formatting issues corrected and resubmit again for the first submission deadline. If the issues are too numerous for you to resolve in a timely manner, then you may need to consider a future term. But our goal is to help you finish everything on time.

What are some potential reasons for rejection at first submission?

The document will get rejected if it is not formatted correctly, not in template, hyperlinks are not working, missing parts such as Acknowledgments, Abstract, References, and the Biographical Sketch.

If the first submission is rejected, will I still need to resubmit it before the first submission deadline?

If the final submission is made ahead of time to the final submission deadline (let us say 5 days ahead), and if the document is not accepted due to some issue, do I get a chance to make the necessary changes and resubmit within the timeline (before the deadline)?

Yes, you would. We review documents in the order they are received.  We suggest that students submit early whenever possible. This gives us time to review it and either accept it early or return it to you for any further corrections we need. Once your document is accepted from your Final Submission, you are not able to continue to make further changes or updates though, so this version of your document should be publish-ready.

What happens if I cannot submit the final version of the ETD before the deadline?

If you do not meet the final submission deadline, then you are no longer eligible for current term graduation. Your next opportunity for graduation would be the Clear Prior option. If you do not wish to Clear Prior, then you move ahead to the next semester and must meet the Final Submission and Final Clearance deadlines for the upcoming term.

UFIT HELP DESK’S THESIS AND DISSERTATION SUPPORT CENTER

  Is an appointment required?

Yes. You can contact them here: https://it.ufl.edu/helpdesk/graduate-resources/

  If I am having difficulties with the formatting of the Table of Contents. Is it best to contact the Editorial Office or the UFIT Help Desk’s Thesis and Dissertation Support Center?

Contact the UFIT Help Desk’s Thesis and Dissertation Support Center for formatting issues or see the online tutorials: https://it.ufl.edu/helpdesk/graduate-resources/

  Is it possible that I can have a one on one session to go over the document and get feedback? If so, please provide the information to have an in-person meeting.

Yes, UFIT Help Desk’s Thesis and Dissertation Support Center will review a document or have a one-on-one Zoom meeting.

 INCLUDING JOURNAL ARTICLES IN THESIS/DISSERTATION

  Do I need copyright permission from the journal where my article was published already to make it a chapter for my dissertation?

We always tell students to get permission from other publications.  Typically, they will provide this via email to you upon your request. Particularly when this is an educational document. (There is a sample letter request for permission to use it in the thesis/dissertation template).

What is the suggested format of a dissertation that consists of different papers?

The dissertation is one body of work. Each article can be a chapter or part of a chapter. There should be one Abstract, one Table of Contents, one List of Tables, one List of Figures, one Reference List, and one Biographical Sketch. The dissertation should also include an introduction chapter and a conclusion chapter.

If I am using an article I published as a chapter in my thesis/dissertation, how do I cite it?

The article should be cited on the first page of the chapter in an unnumbered footnote with a full article citation and listed in the List of References.

I have published an article as the first co-author, and I am planning to include it as a chapter,  should I ask for the approval from other co-authors?

Yes, please make sure to acknowledge any work that your co-authors have done for you.

  Can I include content from published papers in my chapters as a whole? If yes, do I need to cite my own work?

While you can do this, you must still format it within our UF thesis/dissertation template.  Yes, you would need to include citations.

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How to write a University of Florida dissertation in Latex

I’ve recently dabbled in Latex to revamp my CV. Now I’m starting the process of putting together my doctoral dissertation in Latex. Here I’ll detail, step-by-step, how I’ve done it and any tips or tricks I encounter along the way.

Download the Latex dissertation template. You can find this on the UF “Application Support Center” website ( https://helpdesk.ufl.edu/application-support-center/etd-technical-support/ms-word-and-latex-templates/ ). This will contain all of the files you’ll need to get started. The contents will look something like this. It’ll contain *.tex files (aka what you’ll edit with your dissertation content), as well as a *.cls file (aka what contains a lot of the important formatting information–you shouldn’t need to change this at all!).

Download a Latex editor & compiler. You’ll need this to compile the dissertation files into one PDF and see what it looks like, all put together. In my case, I’m using a Mac, so I’ve downloaded MacTeX ( https://tug.org/mactex/ ). This can serve as both a compiler and editor. It took surprisingly long to download on my machine (~30 min?), but that could’ve been my Internet connection.

Problem #1 : My Mac isn’t updated enough to install MacTex.

Instead of going through the process to update my Mac here, it looks like an option is to download an older version of MacTex that’ll play nicely with my current macOS ( https://tug.org/mactex/faq/3-4.html ). This lists links for places to install old MacTex versions. As recommended by this tug.org link, the link that worked best for me was: http://www.math.utah.edu/pub/tex/historic/systems/mactex/ . Here I clicked on 2016 and downloaded mactex-basictex-20161009.pkg . This ran super quick, especially compared to the 30 minute download of the newer MacTex installer. I double clicked on this *.pkg file and it automatically opened a downloaded, so I was able to start the MacTex download right away. The installation was successful!*

*However, now I’ve realized that ‘basictex’ is not the package I need. I need MacTex (duh!). Back to the download page to download MacTex: mactex-20161009.pkg . This makes a bit more sense… this installation says it’ll take 45 minutes… buckle in!

Also- for MacTex installation, I didn’t need the steps here: http://www2.kmd.keio.ac.jp/~kato/mactex/ , but it also looked like a helpful link.

Problem #2 : So, I was able to get the Latex programs installed on my Mac. However, I’m running into a TON of problems getting anything to compile. E.g., I’ve been able to open all of the files in the editor TeXShop, which seemed liked it would’ve been a good space to work on editing the code (i.e., inputting in all of my dissertation text). However — although I really didn’t try super hard — I was unable to get a PDF of the whole dissertation to compile. There’s a file in the UF dissertation download called exampleMasterFile2.tex, which essentially called all of the other files (e.g., dedication, abstract, & the chapters). I could not compile this file into a “big,” complete PDF, which is what we’d need to get the dissertation working. I decided instead to change gears, instead of spending a lot more time digging into these issues. I’m not sure if the issues were related to my lack of Latex experience (other than using overleaf.com to revamp my CV), or if issues were due to my older macOS + my lack of understanding of how to install / compile Latex files on my Mac (honestly, it was probably all of the above X_X).

One alternative option would’ve been to re-try getting this set up on a Windows computer; in my case, I really like writing on my Mac better–so I wanted a Mac-friendly option. I decided to Google if overleaf.com (which, as I said before, I’ve recently used to revamp my CV) had a UF dissertation template. If it didn’t, I still would’ve considered working with Overleaf anyhow & tried to upload the UF dissertation files to it. This is because I am confident that Overleaf has all of the necessary infrastructure to write text and compile it (whereas with my Mac, I was more than a bit lost on the numerous compiling errors I was producing).

Alas, when I googled ‘overleaf University of Florida dissertation template,’ the Internet gods answered me. There is indeed a UF thesis template, already set up on Overleaf! https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/university-of-florida-thesis-template/dfrmfbrvznsc . Thus, my next steps are going to ditch the idea of running all of this locally; instead I will focus on using Overleaf for UF dissertation writing.

Starting an Overleaf project with the UF thesis template. I clicked the above link to access the UF thesis template on Overleaf. The screenshot below shows what my screen looked like when previewing this template.

Add the thesis template to your Overleaf projects. Since I was already logged in to my Overleaf account, clicking to open the template automatically added it as one of my “projects.”

Compile the PDF to see the Overleaf magic. When you open the template (double click on it from your ‘projects’ tab), you’ll already see the compiled PDF. This is what I could not get to work on my Mac; locally, I could see all of the files, but I could not figure out all of the errors that were preventing my PDF from compiling. On the far left you’ll see the different thesis components. On the left page, you’ll see the text & code you currently have the opportunity to edit. On the right, you’ll see (huzzah!!) the final compiled PDF. Right now, it contains all of the template info, like example name, acknowledgements, dedication, etc. You’ll be able to edit all of that with your info.

Click thru the different code sections to orient yourself. I describe briefly my initial understanding of each of the folders that comes with the UF Overleaf template.

• Bib / bst: I’ll dig into these later as I figure out what is needed regarding citation entry & bibliography formatting.
• Images: Looks like they’ve included some example images to show how to integrate figures within your dissertation. More on this later as well.
• Tex: This has the bulk of everything you’ll need! For instance, the abstract.tex file is where you’d enter the text of your dissertation’s abstract, chapter1.tex is where you’ll input all of the Chapter 1 text, etc etc. Pretty straightforward! Note that many of the files contain extra information about formatting & content needed to meet UF’s dissertation guidelines. Read through this all carefully. I’ll post here on anything unusual, or any useful tips I encounter along the way. Note also that the .tex files contain helpful info on things like formatting section headings, etc. Keep this in mind as you browse through all of the files.
• bibliography.tex: Again, I’ll have more on this once I’ve dug into the best way to make a bibliography for a UF thesis.
• bio.tex: Looks straightforward, put your bio here.
• main.tex : Enter the applicable personal info at the beginning. Then, note that this is the primary organizational file. This is where you organize adding and removing chapters, order of everything, etc. Know that this is e.g., where you need to go to add or remove a chapter.
• packages.tex, ufenumerate.sty, ufthesis.cls, usersetcommands.tex : These should all be formatting settings that you do not need to touch . I will note in this post if I encounter any instances where I have needed to alter anything in these files.

Check that there aren’t any differences between this Overleaf template and the current (right now: 2020) thesis formatting requirements. This is an important one. There’s so many super super specific formatting requirements by the Graduate School. Now, I’m going to compare side-by-side my Overleaf compiled PDF file with the most updated UF Latex template from the Application Support Center website ( https://helpdesk.ufl.edu/application-support-center/etd-technical-support/ms-word-and-latex-templates /). I’m also going to compare my Overleaf compiled PDF file with the most updated Graduate School requirements for formatting a thesis ( http://www.graduateschool.ufl.edu/media/graduate-school/pdf-files/Guide-for-ETDs.pdf) .

So far, so good. Although the Overleaf template looks like it was from 2014 (with updates in 2016), but the most up-to-date template on the APS website is from 2019, they look like the same cover page formatting.

Huzzah! Nothing jumps out to me as a difference between the two PDFs. Also, nothing jumps out to me as being incorrect based on the thesis guideline document (although I will continue checking back with it as I move forward!). It looks like I am set to run with this UF thesis template on Overleaf.

Misc. Overleaf Tips:

• Jump to source code from PDF. If you are scrolling through the complied PDF (the right panel), and you double click on any text, it’ll automatically open (in the left panel) the source code for that spot in the PDF. This is SUPER useful if e.g. you’re scrolling through the PDF and notice something funky; it’ll get you right to that source code, instead of you needing to dig around through all of the *.tex files to find the right file / line.
• Track changes in Overleaf. I’m really not sure I’ll end up using this much. I think it’ll still be easier & more natural for my advisor and I to work through editing documents using our normal avenues of Word or Google docs. Then, I’ll add myself to Overleaf once text is finalized. For bigger edits (which I’m anticipating for some sections), I think this track changes won’t be as useful as Word’s track changes. Another option would be to compile as a PDF and have my advisor provide feedback on the PDF. Adobe has updated its track changes features to be better, but they’re still not great; still much easier to work with in Word or Google docs “suggesting” mode. I will post here if I find a better alternative, however.

*I will continue updating this page as I learn more and complete the dissertation process*.

UPDATE: I have successfully defended my dissertation, started a new postdoc, and run out of time! I will not continue updating this page. However, I am happy to share a copy of my Overleaf project for anyone who might like to use it as a starting point or comparison point for formatting their dissertation. In general, I was able to work with the UF template available online. There were, however, several things I had to play around with and fix, like setting up my table formatting and the table of contents to match UF guidelines. Please email me at: [email protected] if you’d like to get in touch and receive a copy of my Overleaf project.

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