TH

HESIS MAN
NUAL
L FOR
R THE
E M.T
TECH
H. PRO
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Ind
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I tute of
o Teechnoologyy Patn
na


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 CONTENTS

1. GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING AND SUBMITTING M. TECH.

THESIS 3
1.1. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 3
1.2. TITLE OF THE THESIS AND TITLE PAGE FORMAT 3
1.3. STATEMENT OF THESIS APPROVAL PAGE 4
1.4. BODY OF THE THESIS 6
1.4.1. References 6
1.5. TABLES AND FIGURES 6
1.5.1. Order of Tables and Figures 6
1.5.2. Table and Figure Placement 7
1.6. PAGE NUMBERING 7
1.7. TIPS FOR GOOD WRITING 7
1.7.1. Continuity of Ideas 7
1.7.2. Proper Usage of Verbs and Tenses 7
1.7.3. Mathematical Symbols 8
1.7.4. Units of Measurement 8
1.7.5. A Sample of Common Mistakes 10
1.7.6. Common Errors in Writing 10
1.8. THE OVERRIDING RULE 12
2. GENERAL INFORMATION AND INSTITUTE REGULATIONS 13
2.1. OBJECTIVES 13
2.2. FEATURES 13
2.3. INSTITUTE REGULATIONS 14
2.4. TOPIC APPROVAL 14
2.5. PUBLICATION OF THESIS INVOLVING PUBLICATION, PATENTS AND
RESTRICTED DATA 14
2.6. APPROVAL REQUIREMENT 14
2.7. COPYRIGHT 14
2.8. AVOIDING INFRINGEMENT 15
2.9. CITATION OF WEB-ACCESSED INFORMATION 15
3. CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THESIS TEXT 16
3.1. THESIS SIZE 16
3.2. PAPER QUALITY 16
3.3. PAPER SIZE 16
3.4. DOUBLE-SIDED PRINTING 17
3.5. NON PAPER MATERIAL 17
3.6. PAGE NUMBERING 17
3.7. BINDING 18
3.8. FONT 18
3.9. MARGINS 18
3.10. LINE SPACING 18

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 3.11. EQUATIONS 18
3.12. HEADERS AND FOOTERS 19
3.13. THE APPENDIX OR APPENDICES 19
4. THESIS TEMPLATE: DOCUMENTATION AND WRITING STYLE
20
4.1. ABOUT THE DOCUMENT THAT FOLLOWS 20
Template for Thesis Title 21
Template for Dedication page 22
Template for Acknowledgements 23
Template for Certificate 24
Template for Declaration 25
Template for Table of Contents 26
Template for List of Tables 28
Template for List of Figures 29
Template for List of Symbols and Abbreviations 30
Template for Abstract 31
Template for first page of Chapter 1 32
Template for first page of Chapter 2 33
Style for References 35
List of Publication(s) of M. Tech. student 36
5. PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF THESIS 37
5.1. SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE AND FINAL READING APPROVAL FORMS 37
5.2. CURRICULUM VITAE 37
5.3. CHECKLIST BEFORE SUBMITTING THE FINAL COPIES OF YOUR THESIS 37
6. INDEX 39
7. SUGGESTIVE GUIDELINES 41

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 Chapter 1

Guidelines for Preparing and Submitting M. Tech. Thesis

1.1. General Instructions

1. The thesis must be printed on A4-size paper for distribution. The total number of
pages of the thesis should not exceed 60-70 pages. This excludes the title page.
2. Hardcopy of the thesis must be submitted to the department at least a week prior to
the probable date of examination. Softcopy and Hardcopy both are to be sent to the
external examiner as well as the examiner internals within the same time frame.
3. After incorporating the suggestions made by the examiners on the day of
examination, a copy of the modified thesis must be submitted with a certification
from the advisor. This final copy of the thesis must be submitted to Academic
section (Assistant Registrar, Academics) through the M. Tech. program
Coordinator/Advisor. A soft copy of the thesis on a Compact Disk must also be
submitted along with the hard copy of the thesis.
1.2. Title of the Thesis and Title page format

1. The title of a thesis should be a meaningful and a concise description of the

research done by the student.
2. The title should be short (word limit - 10-15 words, in no case exceeding 20 words)
and typed in block letters (All Caps). If title is longer than four inches, then title
should be arranged in an inverted pyramid with double line spacing.
3. Formatting:
Font style : Times New Roman/Arial
Font size : As indicated in sample page
Margin : 1.5 inches (from top, bottom, left and right)
Justification : Centre
4. Thesis title should not contain symbols (including Greek symbols such as π, α,
etc.), initials, formulas (including chemical formulas), subscripts, superscripts,
numerical characters, acronyms or even abbreviations in brackets. Redundant words,
such as "An investigation of .....", "A Study of .....", "Theory of ....", "Some ....", "An
Experimental Investigation of ...", and "Toward a ....”, should be avoided.

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Examples
"The Effects of Ion Implantation and Annealing on the Properties of GeSi2 Films on
Silicon Wafer Substrates" should be written as "The Effects of Ion Implantation and
Annealing on the Properties of Germanium Silicide Films on Silicon Wafer
Substrates."
"TEM" should be written as "Transmission Electron Microscopy" and should not be
written as "Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)."

1.3. Statement of Thesis Approval Page:

This page indicates that thesis has been approved by all DPPC members, who sign
above their full legal name. The template for this is available in subsequent pages (pg
– 5).

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 Certificate of Approval
Date: ……………

Certified that the thesis entitled

__________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

submitted by ______________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

to Indian Institute of Technology Patna, for the award of the degree of

M.Tech has been accepted by the examination committee and that the

student has successfully defended the thesis in the viva-voce examination

held today.

(Supervisor) (External Examiner) (Internal Examiner)

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1.4. Body of the Thesis

The student is responsible for the way the text is organized. However, it should have
title of all sections (e.g. Introduction, Review of Literature, Objectives and Scope,
Results, Discussion of result, Conclusion, Contributions made by the scholar, and
References) in capital letters and center justified. The text (in each section) begins
after a triple space.
If the thesis contains text that is a reprint of a previously published report, a credit line
“Reprinted with permission from” followed by source must be placed on the page.
Use MS Word Times New Roman/Arial (or LaTeX) with font size 12 and 1.5 line
spacing for the text.

1.4.1. References
Use number reference citation system where numbers in the text are in superscript
only. If several references are cited at once, then numbers are separated by comma.
If reference number is to be mentioned at the end of a sentence, then the superscript
number is placed outside the punctuation marks.
e.g. Many researchers6, 7, 11-19 disagree with the conclusions drawn by Feynman.20
The reference list is compiled (under reference section) in numerical order. No
spacing between lines within a particular entry is present. However, a double space
separates two references.
1.5. Tables and Figures

When data are compiled in rows and columns, these are referred to as a “Table”.
Tables should be used only when absolutely necessary. Figures include the diagrams,
schemes (including chemical reactions), photos, maps, plots or other
schematic/graphical representation.
The guideline for ordering, placement, numbering and assigning title (for tables) or
caption (for figures) is same as that mentioned in the same as that for thesis. For
reference, please consult the “Guidelines on the Preparation of a Thesis”.
1.5.1. Order of Tables and Figures
Tables and figures also must be referenced in order (i.e., Table 1, Table 2, Table 3,
not Table 1, Table 3, Table 2). It is not acceptable to refer to Table 3 in the text before
referring to Table 2. However, once a table has been referred to in the main text, it can

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be mentioned again out of its sequential order. Each figure or table appears only once
and cannot be repeated.

1.5.2. Table and Figure Placement

A large table or figure is placed by itself on the page, centered within the
thesis margins. Although it is not necessary for large tables or figures to be centered
precisely between the top and bottom margins of the page, tables and figures should
be placed so that they look balanced on the page. Full-page tables or figures must be
placed on the page immediately following the textual reference. Other guidelines
pertaining to placement of tables and figures are same as that mentioned for writing
the thesis manuscript (refer to pg 34 of this document).

1.6. Page Numbering

The title page should not have a number printed on it. The page next to the title page
should bear the page number 1. Page numbers should be printed centered at the
bottom of each page.

1.7. Tips for Good Writing

1.7.1. Continuity of Ideas

It is very important that there is a continuity of idea in your thesis. Few suggestions in
this regard are mentioned below:
A particular paragraph should elaborate only one theme/idea. If there is a need to
emphasize multiple themes, then it is suggested to name them in a single paragraph
and subsequently discuss them in separate paragraphs.
There should be a smooth transition from one paragraph to the next paragraph. In
order to do so, the first paragraph mentions the theme of the next paragraph.

1.7.2. Proper Usage of Verbs and Tenses

In order to have continuity, it is essential to use verb tenses judiciously and properly.
Following suggestions may be useful in this context:

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 a. Past tense (e.g., "Bergman showed ... ") or present tense (e.g., "Newton has
shown . . .") is appropriate for the literature review. This usage of verb tense
may be applied for discussion on the past events.
b. Results are best described by using past tense. e.g., "Expenditure increased at
the rate of 10% per year.").
c. Inorder to discuss results and draw conclusions, it is apt to use present tense.
e.g., “The results of the experiment indicate ...”

1.7.3. Mathematical Symbols

Mathematical expressions must italicize all symbols used in them. A distinct look (to
the mathematical expression) may be imparted by separating them from the text (both
preceding and following it) by larger line spacing and an indentation should be given.
Each equation must appear only after it has been referenced in the text.

1.7.4. Units of Measurement

Always use International System of Units (SI) units. Follow the guidelines given
below while using the SI units

 Symbols for units do not have an appended period/full stop (.) unless they
appear at the end of a sentence. e.g., The length of the cube is 500 m and the
breadth is only 0.01 m.
 Symbols for units are written in upright Roman type (m for meter, g for gram),
so as to differentiate them from the italic type used for mathematical variables
(m for mass, g for acceleration due to gravity).
 Symbols for units are generally written in lower case, except for symbols
derived from the name of a person. e.g., the SI unit of frequency is named
after Heinrich Hertz, so its symbol is "Hz" whereas its unit is "Hertz". Another
common example is SI unit of measurement for temperature - Kelvin named
after Lord Kelvin. It is denoted by unit symbol K. Other exceptions include
petametre (1015 m; symbol = Pm) where the symbol has the first alphabet in
upper case to differentiate it from picometre (10−12 m; symbol = pm).
 The SI rule for pluralizing units is that symbols of units are not pluralized, for
example "600 kg" (not "600 kgs").

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  The number and the symbol of the SI unit are separated by a space (e.g.,
"32.451 kg", "9.3x104 m3”, "22 K"). Some notable exceptions are the symbols
for plane angular degrees, minutes and seconds (o, ‘, and "), which are placed
immediately after the number with no intervening space.
 Spaces (or commas) may be used as a thousands separator (1 000 000 or
1,000,000). Spaces are preferred to avoid confusion resulting from the
different convention used in different countries.
 Symbols for derived units that are obtained from multiple units by
multiplication are joined with a space or center dot (·) (e.g. "N m" or "N·m ").
 Symbols for derived units obtained by division of two units are joined with a
solidus (/), or given as a negative exponent. For example, the "meter per
second" can be written "m/s", "m s-1", or "m·s-1". A solidus should not be used
if the result is ambiguous, i.e. "kg·m-1·s-2" is preferred to "kg/m·s2" to avoid
misinterpretation.

Many units in everyday and scientific use are not derived from the seven SI base units
(meter, kilogram, second, ampere, Kelvin, mole, and candela). Some examples which
can be used are as follows:

 Many units of time ― minute (min), hour (h), day (d) ― in use, besides the SI
unit “second” are specifically accepted for usage.
 The "year" is specifically not included in SI units, but its use is accepted.
 Electrical energy is often billed in kilowatt-hours instead of megajoules.
 The nautical mile and knot (nautical mile per hour) are used to measure travel
distance and speed of ships and aircraft. In addition to these, convention on
International Civil Aviation permits the "temporary use" of foot for altitude.
 Astronomical distances are measured in astronomical units, parsecs (an
abbreviated form of a parallax of one second; symbol: pc), and light-years
(symbol: ly) instead of, say, petametres (1 petametre = 1015 m; symbol = Pm).
 Atomic scale units used in Science and Engineering are: ångström,
electronvolt, atomic mass unit, and barn.
 A sphygmomanometer measures and reports blood pressure in in mmHg
instead of Pa.

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See the following website for details of Rules and style conventions, as far as SI
Units are concerned.
http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/rules.html

Indian Units of Measurement

"Lakh or Lac" is not understood by many non-Indian examiners. There are two ways
to deal with this problem. Avoid using it; instead express it as 1 00 000.

Example: The sentence "The car was sold to 5 lakh persons last year" could be written
instead as "The car was sold to 5 00 000 persons last year".
Alternatively, when "Lakh/Lac" is used for the first time, explain its equivalence to "1
00 000" in a footnote.

1.7.5. A Sample of Common Mistakes

Some words and expressions, commonly misspelled by the scholars, are the
following:
Correct Incorrect
et al. etal, et. al, et al (The word is "et alia")
whereas where as
Literature Literatures
Equipment Equipments
kWh KWH, KWh (K stands for Kelvin.)
million tons (106) MT (M stands for Mega.)
10 kg 10kg (A space separates the value from the
unit of measurement.)

1.7.6. Common Errors in Writing

Writing a dissertation could be tiring process. This may lead to loss of attention that
may lead you to common errors in writing. The following write up gives you an idea
about some of these common errors. Keeping them in mind will make your work
impressive.
In most writing, common mistakes include:
(1) Incorrect use of punctuation, including commas, semicolons, colons, and
dashes, etc.

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 (2) Misusing articles and prepositions
(3) Mistaking one word for another (envelope and envelop, stationary and
stationery, affect and effect, complement and compliment). The spell-checker
won't detect these errors.
(4) You may want to keep your sentences small.
(5) Confusing "then" and "than," "its" and "it's," "affect" and "effect," and "lay"
and "lie"
(6) Advice versus Advise:
Advice is a noun, something that you give. It is a thing. Say, "Please give me
some advice."
Advise is a verb, something that you do. It is some action. Say, "Please advise
me."
(7) Affect and Effect:
(8) As verbs, they differ. To affect some thing is to have some influence upon it.
To effect some action is to cause it to happen. As nouns, they also differ.
Affect is like affection, related to emotion. Effect is a result.
(9) Apart and a Part:
One is a single word; the other includes two words. "Apart" means two things
are separate or away from each other. A "part" means one thing is a portion or
an element of another.
A wall is usually seen as a "part" of a house, for example, while a fence is seen
as "apart" from the house.
(10) Complement and Compliment:
The change from an "e" to an "i" makes a big difference in these two words.
The word "complement" is related to the word "complete." If one thing
complements another, then the two together make a whole.
In contrast, the word "compliment" is an observation of some good quality in a
person. It is considered more sincere than flattery.
(11) In Spite: There is no such word as "inspite." Make sure you use the two words
separately, "in" and "spite."
(12) Isn't it?
When you make a statement, then immediately ask if it is not true, you can use
"isn't it" only if the question used the verb "to be" (ie "is" or one of its forms),

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 the original question was positive, and if the subject of the sentence is third
person singular (it). It is correct to say, for example, "It is coming, isn't it?"
(13) Loose and Lose: The two words, "loose" and "lose," look similar, especially to
those who speak English as a second language. It is easy to mix them up. The
word, "loose," means something is not tight or securely fastened down. It might
easily fall apart or fall off. The word "lose," in contrast, means to have
something go away and become lost.
(14) Passive Voice: Using the passive voice is a common way to say less than
people want to read or hear. In the passive voice you say, "The orange was
eaten." That way you hide the subject and so do not reveal who ate the orange.
If you use the active voice, you must reveal the subject. "Aziz ate the orange."
The active voice is simpler, and it always identifies the subject, i.e. who did the
action. Nothing is hidden.
Always use the active voice in writing an academic paper or dissertation.
(This is compiled from various sources).

1.8. The Overriding Rule

The text in the thesis should be clear in its meaning. To ensure the clarity of
presentation, the best method is to ask your friend, who is not in your area of work, to
read through your thesis. If he ( or she) is confused with your writing, it means that
the sentence/paragraph/ should be rewritten for clarity.

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 CHAPTER 2

General Information and Institute Regulations

This handbook is prepared by Indian Institute of Technology Patna to aid the students
in writing M. Tech. thesis. This handbook must be used in conjunction with the
student’s department for references, figure and table format and other stylistic
considerations. It is the student’s responsibility to be familiar with the rules and
regulations governing thesis submission and subsequent requirements for graduation.
The following is a general outline for preparing a thesis for approval by the student’s
department and the Institute.

2.1. Objectives

For all M. Tech. students, completing a research thesis is a mandatory requirement.

A thesis is documentation of a research of a student- a record of the original research

done by the student during his M. Tech. program. It provides information on the
student’s research work to future researchers. The Institute is committed to preserve a
paper copy of the student’s thesis for archiving and cataloging it in the central library,
making it available to others for academic purposes.

The objective of this document is to provide a set of guidelines for research students
to prepare a thesis to satisfy the above mentioned criteria for M. Tech. research.

2.2. Features

The main criteria for M. Tech. research is that it should provide a useful educational
experience for the student emphasizing creativity, independent action and learning,
research methodology, and scholarly approach. The research should possess the major
characteristics of the scientific method, namely objectivity and reproducibility.
Assumptions should be clearly stated in both experimental and theoretical research.
The thesis should reflect a level of competence indicative of significant achievement
beyond the master's level. Thus, the research is expected to draw directly upon

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advanced learning in the student's major field and demonstrate mastery of that
knowledge.

2.3. Institute Regulations

Guidelines for “Evaluation of M. Tech. Project/Thesis” is mentioned in M. Tech.

ordinance of IIT Patna.

2.4. Topic approval

The advisor approves the topic/title of the thesis.

2.5. Publication of thesis involving Publication, Patents and

restricted data

Written permission (hardcopy, facsimile or electronically signatured) has to be

obtained from Journal for reproducing data published in the journal. An article or
articles that are accepted by journals but have not yet been published may be used as
part of a thesis or dissertation. The student should check with the specific journals if
there is any requirement regarding obtaining permission for such unpublished yet
accepted manuscripts. In case of sponsored projects, funding agency has to be
mentioned and the data usage should be in accordance with the guidelines of the
funding agency. Data from patents can be incorporated in thesis only after relevant
permission and adherence to the patent guidelines.

2.6. Approval requirement

The student has to make sure whether all requirements have been fulfilled as
mentioned in the Ordinance.

2.7. Copyright

Copyright protection is obtained by placing notice of copyright on the thesis . The

copyright notice should be placed in the Thesis Title page and no separate page is
required. The copyright notice shall consist of the following:

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 a. The encircled symbol “C” ©
b. The year of the award of the degree
c. The name of the owner of the copyright
d. The words “ All rights reserved”

Example
Copyright © Your Name 2011
All Rights Reserved

2.8. Avoiding infringement

Obtaining permission to quote copyrighted material is Government law. Students

should obtain written permission (hard copy, facsimile, or electronic signature) for
any figure or table in its entirety. Students should also use the credit line specified by
the copyright owner and place it where required by the owner.
All sources must be cited whenever use is made of the material of others, even if the
use is limited and no copyright permission is necessary. Direct use of the work of
others without citing the source is plagiarism considered as a severe academic
offence.

2.9. Citation of Web-accessed Information

Web citations must include name of author, title of publication, and date of
publication. These items are formatted according to the style guide selected. In
addition, the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) must be provided in the following
form:
• protocol or access-mode identifier (i.e., http, https), followed by a colon and two
forward slashes (e.g., http://)
• host name, always typed in lower case (e.g., http://www.ieee.org/)
• pathway to the document, including file name, typed exactly as it appears, including
upper and lower case and punctuation
• A sample URL is: http://www.ieee.org/Policy/Submis/Abstract/pabs587.cfm
URLs may be broken only after a slash or double slash or after a period. Never insert
a hyphen, and never break a URL at a hyphen.

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 Chapter 3
Content and Organization of Thesis Text

Proper organization of the thesis is extremely important that enable the readers to
view and understand the contents of the thesis. In this chapter, each component of the
thesis is listed to help the students in organizing their thesis properly.

3.1. Thesis size

A thesis should not exceed 60-70 pages (excluding prefacing material of the thesis).
Some tips to reduce the size of a thesis are given below.
a. Do not unnecessarily repeat definitions and texts.
b. Proper referencing may save writing details of literature surveyed.
c. Be precise in your description, conclusions and interpretations.
d. Do not leave blank space on a page after a table or a figure.
e. Students might consider including a CD for details computer program listing and
just include the flow of the logic and its other distinguishing features in the text of the
thesis.

3.2. Paper Quality

The copy of the thesis to be submitted to the central library should be durable. To
ensure durability, paper should be acid neutral or acid-free as mentioned in the packet.
Thesis-quality paper (Acid free Bond Paper) is available in the market and typically
weighs greater than 85 GSM (gram per square meter).

3.3. Paper size

The standard size of paper of a thesis is 21.5 cm (8.5 inches) wide and 28 (11 inches)
long, commonly known as A4 sized paper.
Oversized figures and tables if any should be reduced appropriately to fit with the size
of the paper. Care should be taken not to compromise the clarity of the contents while
reducing. If required, you may consider folding oversized papers to fit with the thesis
size.

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3.4. Double-sided printing

The copies of the thesis at the time of submission should be printed double sided. The
final copy of the thesis to be submitted to the central library only may be either single
sided or double sided. In case of double sided printing, care must be taken to choose
paper quality so as to ensure opaqueness of the paper and good readability under
normal lighting conditions.
In a double sided thesis, new chapters always starts on an odd numbered page. If a
chapter ends on an odd numbered page, the next even numbered page is to be kept
blank to ensure start of the next chapter on an odd numbered page.

3.5. Non paper material

Digital or magnetic materials, such as CDs and DVDs, may be included in the thesis
as a supporting material. They have to be given in closed packet in the back cover
page of the thesis. Proper label should be given to non paper material that should
include name of student, date of submission and copyright notice. However,
preservation and use of such material is not guaranteed from the central Library, since
rapid technology changes may render the format obsolete.
Students can also include important samples they have produced, e.g., Polymer films
and others provided they are non toxic and clearly labelled and packeted at the back
cover page.

3.6. Page numbering

Page numbers for the prefacing materials of the thesis should be in Roman numerals
and should be centered or right cornered at the bottom of the pages.
Page numbers of the body of the thesis should be in Arabic numerals and start with
the page of Chapter 1. It should continue throughout the thesis and same trend of
centering or right cornering the numbers as the Roman numerals be followed.
In double sided thesis, the odd numbered pages are always on the right and even
numbered pages are on the left.

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3.7. Binding

Initial copies of the thesis submitted for examination have to be softbound and printed
on both sides. Final copies of the thesis, after incorporating the changes, corrections
and modifications suggested by the doctoral committee members, have to be
hardbound and preferably printed on one side.

3.8. Font

Preferred font size of normal text in the thesis is 12 point. However, minimum
acceptable font size of material within a table/figure/pictorial representation is 8 point.
The font type should be Times New Roman or Arial.

3.9. Margins

A margin of 3.75 cm (1.5 inch) is to be given on the binding edge while on the other
side it is to be 2.5 cm (1inch). The text of the thesis, including headings, figures,
tables, and notes, but excluding page numbers, must be accommodated within the
page area.

3.10. Line Spacing

The line spacing in the main text should be one and a half (1.5). Single line spacing
should be given for abstract, declaration, thesis approval, figure captions, table titles,
figure legends, foot notes and references.
Two consecutive paragraphs should either be separated by spacing larger than
the line spacing adopted for the text or the paragraph is started with an initial tab
space.

3.11. Equations

Format of equations is dictated by the style guide the student is following. Short
equations are centered within the thesis margins. All equations are set off from
preceding and following text by a triple space. Spacing must be uniform and
consistent. In general, equations should be numbered at the right margin of the thesis

18
manuscript with the number either in brackets or parentheses. Equations may be
numbered consecutively or locally. If figures and tables are numbered locally,
equations also must be numbered locally. If they are locally numbered, the main
divisions of the manuscript must be numbered with Arabic numerals. Local
numbering of equations never exceeds one decimal place (i.e., equations are never
numbered according to the number assigned to a subheading). Equation numbers must
be aligned with each other throughout the manuscript.

3.12. Headers and Footers

Headers and footers may be used to provide chapter name/number or any other
relevant information. However, author should be consistent in the use of
header/footers throughout the entire thesis.

3.13. The Appendix or Appendices

If used, an appendix follows the text but precedes the references or bibliography. The
pages of the appendix are numbered consecutively with the rest of the text. There is
considerable flexibility in the kind of material that may be placed in appendices:
computer programs, tables of raw data, questionnaires, letters, original historical
source material, etc. Each appendix should be sequenced with upper-case letters of the
alphabet (APPENDIX A, APPENDIX B). If there is only one appendix, no letter is
used; one appendix may or may not have an explanatory title. If there is more than
one appendix, each has an explanatory title. The appendix title(s) must be listed in the
table of contents in all upper-case letters. Subheadings in an appendix, however, are
not listed in the table of contents. Subheads in an appendix follow the same subhead
scheme selected for the text.

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 Chapter 4
Thesis Template: Documentation and Writing Style

4.1. ABOUT THE DOCUMENT THAT FOLLOWS

This “template” is a very basic “starter kit” for formatting your thesis in Microsoft
WORD. It does not incorporate WORD’s Autogenerate capability for the Table of
Contents, List of Tables, Figures etc.

It has the margins and page numbering set up, the formatting of the front pages (often
the area with the greatest number of formatting errors) correctly set up, chapter and
section headings in acceptable formats and heading and subheading styles set up
through subheading level 4.

It also offers some tips, usually in blue text boxes that can be easily deleted before
you print. IMPORTANT: you must be in the Page Layout View (under the View
menu) to see or delete these blue text boxes (also called “help boxes” or “instructional
text boxes” herein).

It is our intention to develop a template that allows the user to take advantage of
WORD’s auto-generation of Table of Contents, Lists of Tables and Figures, etc.

20
 [THESIS TITLE GOE
ES HERE]

This TEMP PLATE is veery basic. On

O this pagee and the neext few pages, where you
y see
greyed-in text
t surrounnded by bracckets, selectting the greey text will open a Texxt
F
Form Field dialogue boox where yoou can enteer your text.. DELETE THIS HEL LP
TEXT BOX X AND ALL L OTHER INSTRUCT
I TIONAL TE EXT BOXE ES BEFORE E
P
PRINTING G. The text will
w disappeear along with
w the box..

A Thesis
Presented
P too
The Academic
A Faculty

by

[Studennt Name Goes Here]

In Paartial Fulfilllment
of thee Requiremeents for the M. Tech. Degree
D

Indian
n Institutte of Tecchnology
y Patna
[
[MONTH Y
YEAR of VIIVA VOCE
E]

Cop
pyright © Chandan
n Kumar 20xx
2

21
 [To my beloved parents]

This is the [optional] Dedication page. If your thesis contains a

Dedication, it would replace the text above. The text should be
centered both vertically and horizontally on the page and should
be single-spaced. The Dedication page does not have a heading
or a printed page number, but the page does count in the page
numbering. Note that Dedication bears no heading or page
number and it should not be listed in the Table of Contents.

DELETE THIS INSTRUCTIONS TEXT BOX BEFORE

PRINTING.

DELETE THIS WHOLE PAGE IF YOUR ARE NOT

INCLUDING A DEDICATION IN YOUR THESIS.

22
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

[Start typing here.] I wish to thank Dr. Issac Newton, my supervisor, for his

invaluable guidance and support. I would also like to thank …….[Delete this

paragraph.]

Acknowledgements must be written in complete sentences and in the

third person. i.e. not “Thanks, Mom and Dad!” but “I would like to
especially thank my mother and father, without whose guidance and
support I would not be here.”

The Acknowledgements page is the first page to bear a printed page

number (in Roman) and be listed in the Table of Contents.

DELETE THIS INSTRUCTIONS TEXT BOX BEFORE PRINTING.

23
 Certificate

This is to certify that the thesis entitled “THE TITLE OF THE THESIS”, submitted
by NAME OF THE STUDENT to Indian Institute of Technology Patna, is a record of
bonafide research work under my (our) supervision and I (we) consider it worthy of
consideration for the degree of Master of Technology of this Institute. This work or a
part has not been submitted to any university/institution for the award of
degree/diploma. The thesis is free from plagiarized material.

________________________________
________________________________
Supervisor Date: ______________

24
 Declaration
I certify that
a. The work contained in this thesis is original and has been done by myself under the
general supervision of my supervisor/s.
b. The work has not been submitted to any other Institute for degree or diploma.
c. I have followed the Institute norms and guidelines and abide by the regulation as
given in the Ethical Code of Conduct of the Institute.
d. Whenever I have used materials (data, theory and text) from other sources, I have
given due credit to them by citing them in the text of the thesis and giving their details
in the reference section.
e. The thesis document has been thoroughly checked to exclude plagiarism.

Signature of the Student

Roll No:

25
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES #

LIST OF FIGURES #

LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS #

SUMMARY/ABSTRACT #

CHAPTERS

1 [Click here and type CHAPTER 1 TITLE] 1

[Click here and type Subheading] #

This TABLE OF CONTENTS IS SET FOR YOU TO MANUALLY INPUT

YOUR INFORMATION. If you need more chapters or subheadings in any

chapter, simply go on adding keeping the source formatting same.

This also applies if you need more tables or figures in the respective lists. Note

that all subheadings in the Table of Contents should be in the same font size and

plain style as the body of the thesis.

DELETE THIS BOX after reading.

[Click here and type Subheading] #

2 [Click here and type CHAPTER 2 TITLE] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

3 [Click here and type CHAPTER 3 TITLE] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

26
 [Click here and type Subheading] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

4 [Click here and type CHAPTER 4 TITLE] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

5 [Click here and type CHAPTER 5 TITLE] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

6 [Click here and type CHAPTER 6 TITLE] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

[Click here and type Subheading] #

7 [Click here and type CHAPTER 7 TITLE] #

APPENDIX A: [Click here and type APPENDIX A TITLE] #

APPENDIX B: [Click here and type APPENDIX B TITLE] #

REFERENCES #

27
LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 1.1: [Click here and type table title.] #

Table 2.1: [Click here and type table title.] #

Table 2.2: [Click here and type table title.] #

Table A.1: [Click here and type table title.] #

Table A.2: [Click here and type table title.] #

Table B.1: [Click here and type table title.] #

A Note on Table and Figure Numbering

Tables and figures numbers should restart every chapter, in which the numbering
takes the form “chapter number.table number”, e.g. Table 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 4.1…4.16.
In the latter case, table in appendices will be numbered “appendix
letter.tablenumber”, e.g. Table A.1, A.2, B1, C.1…C.16.

DELETE THIS HELP TEXT BOX WHEN FINISHED.

28
LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1.1: [Click here and type figure title.] #

Figure 2.1: [Click here and type figure title.] #

Figure 2.2: [Click here and type figure title.] #

Figure A.1: [Click here and type figure title.] #

A Note on Table and Figure Numbering

Tables and figures numbers should restart every chapter, in which the numbering
takes the form “chapter number.table number”, e.g. Table 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 4.1…4.16.
In the latter case, table in appendices will be numbered “appendix
letter.tablenumber”, e.g. Table A.1, A.2, B1, C.1…C.16.

DELETE THIS HELP TEXT BOX WHEN FINISHED.

29
 LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Symbol-1 What it means

Symbol-2 What it means

Abbrev1 What it means

Abbrev2 What it means

[OPTIONAL]

If you have a full page or more of either Symbols or Abbreviations, they should
be broken into separate lists, i.e. a LIST OF SYMBOLS and a LIST OF
ABBREVIATIONS.

When typing the NOMENCLATURE, or THE LIST OF SYMBOLS AND

ABBREVIATIONS, definitions that continue on two or more lines should be
single spaced. 1.5 space between definitions.

DELETE THIS BOX AFTER READING.

30
 ABSTRACT

Start typing the abstract here.

DELETE THE ABOVE TEXT.

The Summary is the last of the Preliminary pages.

The Abstract may have the same content as the Extended Abstract but the

format is different. The Abstract is part of the body of your work and so

the Abstract must have the same spacing as the body of the thesis.

Abstract should contain your name and your supervisor/s name at the

bottom.

DELETE THIS INSTRUCTIONAL TEXT BOX WHEN DONE.

31
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This is the first chapter of your thesis manuscript. Often it is titled,

'INTRODUCTION' but otherwise you may use any title that suits your purpose.

1.1. Replace this Text with Yours [This is a First-Level

Subheading]

This template file has been set up to meet the formatting requirements for a
thesis. It is not magic, but it does get some of the confusing stuff taken care of: the
margins are correct; the table of contents is formatted correctly; the necessary parts
are in the right order; the page numbers will appear in the right place and in the right
form; it has an acceptable font face and size.

1.1.1. Replace this Text With Yours [This is a Second-Level

Subheading]

It will be pretty obvious when you need to get rid of some text in this
template. For example, this part of the introduction needs to go before you start
typing.

Things to be Careful of
 Figure and Table numbering
 Numbering of references (superscript, Arabic numerals and in order)

32
 CHAPTER 2

TITLE OF THE CHAPTER GOES HERE

How do you begin a new chapter using this template? What must you do to get

the page numbers to act correctly? Below are the steps for making a new chapter.

2.1. Replace this Text with Yours [This is a First-Level

Subheading]

To move to a new chapter, you must tell MS Word that you are moving on to a

new page. You do this by inserting a page break. A page break forces the next line of

text to appear at the top of a fresh page.

2.1.1. How to Insert a Page Break [This is a Second-Level

Subheading]

1. Go to the end of a chapter. That means put your cursor after the very last

character of that chapter.

2. Hit Return to move to a new paragraph.

3. From the Insert menu, choose Break. Click the button Page Break, and

click OK.

If you are in Normal View (see View menu), you'll see a dotted line across the

screen. That marks the end of the previous page. If you are in Page Layout view,

you'll just see the top of a new blank page.

Begin typing. If you are in Page Layout view, when you get to the end of the

first page, your text will skip to the next page. A page number will appear at the

bottom center of the new page. The number will be gray, and you can't edit it. That's

OK; that is the way it's supposed to look on the screen.

33
Figure and table Placement
It is highly recommended that figures and tables be placed in the same page as much
as practicable wherever they are mentioned in the text for the first time. Tables and
figures may be landscaped or placed broadside. For a landscaped table or figure, the
title or caption is also landscaped the title or caption is on the same page as the table
or figure. Few examples are shown below.

Figure 4: Bar Graphs

See Figure 4
5 6

See Figure 5
in Table 3
in Table 4

Figure 5: Absorbances
Table 3: Variation of size Table 4: Conductivity values

7 8

Figure 6: Design
See Figure 7

See Figure 6
Figure 7: Title

9 10

34
 Style for References
The following style should be used since citations in the text are numbered
sequentially and the “References” list is ordered numerically. This is the only
acceptable format.

(Note the style: Full surname followed by abbreviated first and middle name,
separated by semicolons, The abbreviated Journal Name in italics, the year of
publication in bold followed by the volume and starting page of the article.)

The following is the list of various type of references that you might cite. The format
for a particular reference type is shown as an example below.

 Citation of Journal article/communication/letter/note/review

(1) Shah, S.; Rangarajan, S.; Friedman, S. H. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2005, 44,
1328−1332.

 Citation of Books
(52) Austin, G. T. Shreve’s Chemical Process Industries; McGraw−Hill: New York,
1984; Vol. 5.

 Citation of Patents
(25) Cramm, N.T., A Device to Simplify the Conversion of Bibliographic Information
into Citation Format. U.S. Patent 7,005,423, Sep 13, 2005.

 Citation of Conference Publication

(13) Zhao, H.; Yuman, C. Energy Analysis of a Steam Power Plant with Direct Air-
Cooling System in China. In Asia-Pacific Power and Energy Engineering Conference
2009 (APPEEC 2009); IEEE Press: Piscataway, NJ, 2009; pp 1−4.

 Citation of Web-accessed Information

For citing websites please see page 15.

35
 List of Publication(s) from M. Tech. research work

 Papers Published in Peer Reviewed Journals

1.
2.
3.

 Papers Published in Conferences

1.
2.
3.

 Book chapter

1.
2.
3.

 Patents

1.
2.
3.

Format should be as mentioned in Reference section.

36
 Preparation and Submission of Thesis

5.1. Supervisory Committee and Final Approval Forms

Some forms are included in this document. Other forms are available in the intranet of
IIT Patna website. Updated forms are to be used only. Some important forms are
available in this manual also. Please consult your respective faculty advisor in case of
any query. You may also contact Asst. Registrar (Academics) in this regard.

5.2. Curriculum vitae

This is optional. The student might wish to add his/her curriculum vitae limited
strictly to one page and without any photographs. This can be incorporated at the end
of the thesis.

5.3. CHECKLIST before submitting the final copies of your

thesis (NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THESIS)

Is the author’s full name on the title page and the abstract?

Are the correct names and titles of the thesis supervisor(s) and program head(s) on
the title page?

Does the title on the title and abstract pages agree with the title given to the
Program Coordinator?

Is the publication date correct on the title page?

Does the title page carry the appropriate copyright notice (or separate copyright
page whatever applicable) and, in cases where the student owns copyright, the
appropriate copyright permission statement?

Is the supervisor’s name mentioned on the abstract page?

Is the page-numbering sequence complete and correct?

If you are printing double-sided (which is highly recommended), are page numbers
placed either in the center or on the outside edge of every page?

Have you obtained permission to use previously published material?

37
Are you printing the thesis, including the title page, on the correct paper?

Are you printing the correct number of copies?

Are all necessary signatures on the title page of each copy?

Has each copy been correctly collated? Are any pages missing or are out of order?

Are you submitting the correct number of copies?

Ensure that the thesis is completely free of plagiarism.
IPR declaration in case part of the thesis work carried out at the industry.

38
 INDEX
A Good Writing 9
Guidelines for Preparing and Submitting the
Abbreviations 31, 35 Thesis of a Thesis 3
Academic Section 3 Guidelines on the Preparation of a Thesis 3, 8
Acknowledgement 27
Appendix 7, 22 H
Approval Page 4
Approval Requirement 17 Handbook 15
Hard Copy 3, 15, 17
B Headers and Footers 22

Binding 21 I
Body of the Thesis 7
Infringement 17
C Institute Regulations 15, 16
International System of Units 10
Caption 8, 39 Introduction 37
CD 3, 20
Certificate 28 L
Checklist 41
Citation 7, 8, 18, 40 Line Spacing 3, 7, 10, 21
Common Errors 12
Common Mistakes 13 M
Content and Organization of Thesis Text 19
Contents 31 Margin 21, 22
Continuity of Ideas 9 Mathematical Expressions 10
Coordinator 3, 41
Copyright 5, 17, 24 O
Curriculum Vitae 41
Objectives 7, 15
D Overriding Rule 14

DC 3, 4 P
Declaration 29
Dissertation 12, 14, 16, 17 Page Numbering 9, 20
Evaluation Committee 3, 4, 5, 6, 16, 21, 25 Paper Quality 19
Documentation 23 Paragraph 9, 14, 21, 27, 38
DVD 20 Printing 20, 42
Publication of Thesis Involving Publication,
E Patents and Restricted Data 16
Publications 17, 30
Equations 22
Examiner 3, 16 R
Reference 3, 7, 8, 9, 15, 21, 22, 29, 30, 37, 40
F
Features 15 S
Figure 9, 15, 17, 19, 21, 34, 37, 39
Font 7, 21, 37 SI unit 10, 11, 12
Foreign Examiner 3 Size 3, 4, 7, 19, 21, 37
Formatting 3 Soft Copy 3
Forms 41 Abstract 31, 36
Supervisory Committee 41
G Symbols 4, 10, 11, 31, 35

General Information 15

39
 T Topic Approval 16

Table 8, 9, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 33, 37, 39

Tables and Figures 8, 9, 23
V
Template 4, 23, 37, 38 Verb 10
Tenses 10
Thesis Template 23 W
Title 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 16, 18, 21, 22, 37, 39, 41, 42
Title of the Thesis 3 Website 12, 41
Title Page 3, 4, 17 Writing Style 23

40
Suggestive Guidelines (NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN
THESIS)

M.Tech. students are expected to adhere to the following suggestive guidelines:

1. Introduction (Chapter 1)
The introduction must contain a general overview about the topic of interest citing
all important breakthroughs in the field, describing them adequately keeping in
view the scopes and limitations. This will be a preamble to the scopes and
objectives of the study.

2. General Experimental/Theoretical Techniques and Instrumentation

The general experimental (instruments, parameters, etc.) and theoretical
(published methods, programs etc.) methods must be mentioned and justified.
This should be followed by adequate description of the necessary instrumentation
involved to carry out the present investigation.

3. This chapter shall describe the actual work in the present study. The chapter
must outline the current related literature about the subject of interest along
with a specific objective, description of results, discussions derived from
them, conclusions derived, experimental procedure and references. Like this
chapter, there may be others needed to meet the general objectives described
in the introduction. The extent of work is solely the prerogative of the advisor.

4. An executive conclusion based on the results that justify all the objectives
described in the introduction.

5. Glossary

41