Dissertation structures vary between colleges. Some colleges require strict APA or MLA formatting for dissertations, while other colleges focus on developing dissertations in other formats based on the needs of the college. A common change found between APA formatted dissertations is the changes in margins or changes in bulk quote formatting. The structure of your dissertation is important to the successful completion of the project because you can drop entire letter grades for incorrect formatting of a dissertation – or worse, in colleges where there is only pass or fail for a dissertation – your dissertation could be denied if the structure is incorrect.

Dissertation structure most often refers to how the pages are setup and which formatting styles you will use inside the paper. Remember, there is a format, if your school requires bold printed titles for chapters; this is the way your paper must appear. Continue reading →