Download the latest version here: LUThesisTemplate.zip
This is a version of the thesis template created by Kayla Friedman and Malcolm Morgan. See that page for instructions and background; it also has a good PowerPoint presentation by Malcolm Morgan on using Word for thesis writing.
This is a template. Using the Word styles it defines makes it easy to make changes throughout the document. It’s quite possible that your department may have different rules about style, content and formatting than the default here. If so, just change the styles accordingly.
We have made the following changes for Lancaster University use:
- Changed filenames;
- Changed font styling (Lancaster makes less use of small caps);
- Changed fonts, removed extra lines and added alt text for accessibility;
- Put in Logo according to LU brand guidelines; removed college, etc.;
- Changed declaration to include papers written; and
- Added advice on master documents, image placing, and document updating.
Click on the link above to download a ZIP archive containing these files:
- LAN Thesis Template.dotx - A Template to act as a basis for your thesis. It provides Lancaster University styling, all the appropriate tables of contents and similar, and gives examples of embedded images and tables..
- README.docx - These instructions in Word format.
There is also a Word plug-in available here that you may find helpful for adding and laying out images and tables.
Details on how to submit your thesis are available from the Lancaster Library site here . The Manual of Academic Regulations and Procedures gives word counts and detailed submission requirements.
Word is not good at handling very large files, so for a practical thesis you may want your thesis to be a master document with sub-documents for each chapter. That works fine with this template. See this excellent HowToGeek site for instructions - the instructions are for an old version of Word, but still work well. Note that Mendeley and the various tables of contents support master documents as well.
You can find examples of successful theses from your department following the instructions on the Lancaster Library site here. Look for ones with Online Access, as you can get these easily.
Create a new document from the template. Either double click on the template file in Windows Explorer / Apple Finder, which opens a new file based on the template. Or, in Word, use File - New - New from template and select the template file.
A word document will open containing the basic structure of the PhD Template and instructions. Replace all the highlighted text with your own versions and continue from there.
Simply copy your existing document content into a new document created as above. Here's step by step instructions:
- Create a new document from the template as above.
- Find the 'Introduction' heading. Select all the text after and including that, and delete it.
- Now go to your existing document and copy all the text, if you have existing front matter such as cover pages, tables of contents, do not copy those.
- Go back to the new document
- Paste your copied text in place of the text you deleted.
- Select All (Ctrl + A) and then press F9 to update all the automatically generated content. If prompted select Update Whole Table.
- Modify the title, abstract, credits and other start material as required. You may need to make additional changes to your document such as formatting appendix titles to the appendix style, fixing headings, checking that styles have been correctly applied and repositioning images.
To upgrade the template, download the new version of the template, then use these instructions to update the document to use the new styles.
This thesis template is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 'Attribution' means you should credit Charles Weir, Kayla Friedman and Malcolm Morgan in the thesis if you use the template.
We're delighted to be able to help you with this one aspect of creating your thesis. Good luck!