bachelor thesis capital letters

Bachelor Thesis or Bachelor’s Thesis?

The correct term is bachelor’s thesis because you need to show that the thesis belongs to the bachelor. E.g., “Her bachelor’s thesis was on 18 th -century British poetry.” However, the term bachelor thesis , which is viewed as incorrect by some people, is more common.

The difference between the two terms is that the one with the apostrophe shows that the thesis belongs to the bachelor, which in this form is a noun.

• His bachelor’s thesis was on crime statistics in New York City.

In contrast, in the version without the apostrophe, the word bachelor is an adjective that describes the thesis .

• The college rejected her bachelor thesis for plagiarism.

The term bachelor thesis is unacceptable to many people . However, the word bachelor appears as an adjective in the dictionary. Furthermore, there are plenty of examples of people using the term without an apostrophe.

However, although the term bachelor thesis is common, the correct grammar is bachelor’s thesis , with an apostrophe and no capital letter.

Please keep reading the rest of the article to learn more about the different versions and to find out the rules regarding capitalization.

Bachelor’s Thesis

The term bachelor’s thesis is the correct way to refer to a thesis written by a bachelor.

The apostrophe is necessary to show that the thesis belongs to the bachelor.

• He wrote a bachelor’s thesis on the consistency of different types of concrete.

Furthermore, there is no need to use capital letters for a bachelor’s thesis because neither word is a proper noun.

However, if you are writing the full title of a bachelor’s degree, then you should use a capital letter.

• They awarded him with a Bachelor of Arts In French.

Bachelor Thesis

Although many people feel it is incorrect , people commonly use the term bachelor thesis to refer to a bachelor’s thesis .

In this form, the word bachelor is an adjective rather than a noun. Therefore, it doesn’t need an apostrophe.

• I did not do a bachelor thesis , so I didn’t graduate with honors.
• She is writing her bachelor thesis on the causes of poverty.

Please bear in mind that, although this version is common , if you are writing formally, it is best to stick to the correct grammatical version, which is bachelor’s thesis .

Bachelors Thesis

The term bachelors thesis is an incorrect form of bachelor’s thesis.

In this form, with the “s” at the end, the apostrophe is vital because you need to indicate that the thesis is the bachelors .

For example, it is similar to saying:

• The thesis is Johns.
• It is John’s thesis.

Therefore, you must always put an apostrophe in the word order where the bachelor comes first.

• Correct: John wrote a bachelor’s thesis on economic development in Vietnam.
• Incorrect: John wrote a bachelors thesis on economic development in Vietnam.

Bachelors’ Thesis

The term bachelors’ thesis is not correct because the thesis belongs to the bachelor. Therefore, you should always put the apostrophe before the “s.”

As shown in these examples:

• Correct: Her bachelor’s thesis is on river pollution.
• Incorrect: Her bachelors’ thesis is on river pollution.
• Lady’s or Ladies’ or Ladies?
• Saturdays or Saturday’s?
• Secretary’s or Secretaries’ or Secretaries?
• Nicholas’ or Nicholas’s?

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What to Capitalize in a Title: APA Title Capitalization Rules

Which words do you capitalize in a title?

Have you ever been confused about which words to capitalize in the title of your manuscript ? You have probably seen titles where only the first word is capitalized (so-called “sentence case”), titles where all words seem to be capitalized (“title case”), and also titles that look like combinations of the two. And you might have wondered where there is any general rule to all this. 

The answer is that, no, there is not really one general capitalization rule, but there are several style-dependent capitalization guidelines you can rely on, and the journal you plan to submit to will tell you (in their author instructions ) which one they want you to apply to your manuscript before submission. Just like you format your manuscript and reference list following APA or MLA formatting rules, you apply the respective style guide to capitalize your title, headings, and subheadings . In this article, we will first explain the general rules on what types of words to capitalize (e.g., nouns, articles, and conjunctions) and then look at the APA and MLA style guides in particular and their specific variations of those rules.

Research Paper Title Capitalization Rules

According to most style guides, all proper nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in titles of books and articles are to be capitalized. Some elements of titles are, however, never capitalized, such as articles (except articles at the beginning of a title), and some, such as conjunctions, can or cannot be capitalized, depending on the specific style guide variation. In the following, we will outline the general rules for all the different words in your title so that you can orient yourself easily to the different style guides and adapt your title quickly when necessary. 

Capitalizing Nouns and Pronouns in Titles

Nouns (including formal names of people, organizations, and places) and pronouns are easy to format, as all style guides agree that they should always be capitalized using title case capitalization. 

Capitalizing Articles in Titles

The rules for articles are also simple, as all major style guides agree that articles should be lowercase in titles—unless they represent the first and/or last word in the title:

In the latter example, the first “the” is capitalized because it is the first word of the title, while the second “the” is lowercase as articles usually are. Note that the same rule regarding article capitalization applies to subtitles as well.

Capitalizing Conjunctions in Titles

Conjunctions are a slightly more complicated case, as style guides differ on whether to capitalize them or on which conjunctions to capitalize. According to some guides,  conjunctions of three letters or fewer are to be written in lowercase while longer ones should be capitalized. Other style guides, however, state to write all conjunctions in lowercase, or make exceptions for specific conjunctions such as “yet”, “so”, and “as”. It is therefore always necessary to look up the specific rules of the target journal before submitting a manuscript—and have a look at our sections on APA and MLA style below. The following examples are, however, fairly universal:

Capitalizing Prepositions in Titles

Capitalization rules for prepositions are equally ambiguous and depend on the specific style guide you follow. Prepositions of four letters or more are often capitalized, while according to some style guides, all prepositions are written in lowercase, no matter their length. Sometimes, for example, when following the Chicago Manual of Style , capitalization depends on how a preposition is used in a title and whether it does indeed function as a preposition. According to this rule, prepositions are capitalized when they are used “adverbially or adjectivally” in prepositional phrases (as in “How to Back Up a Computer”), but not when used otherwise.

Capitalizing Adjectives and Adverbs in Titles     

Rules for capitalizing adjectives and adverbs , like nouns, are unproblematic, as they are capitalized across style guides. 

Capitalizing Verbs in Titles      

Verbs are another easy case and are also always capitalized, according to all style guides. 

Title Case Rules by Style Guide

Apa title case rules   .

APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used for scholarly articles in the behavioral and social sciences. The APA guidelines on when to capitalize a title include the following rules:

MLA Title Case Rules  

The Modern Language Association (MLA) Handbook , used primarily to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities, promotes the following rules for when to capitalize a title or header:

Additional Rules for Title Capitalization 

As we have stressed several times throughout this article, it is crucial to always check the specific rules of the target journal and/or the rules of the style guide the target journal wants you to follow—note that these can sometimes conflict with each other, in which case the journal rules override the style guide. Apart from the two common style guides we explained here, APA and MLA , there are several others that have their own rules, such as the Chicago Manual of Style , the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style , or the Associated Press Stylebook , an American English grammar style and usage guide originally developed for AP writers but now used widely across journalistic fields. There is even a specific set of rules for the capitalization of titles of Wikipedia articles !

One capitalization rule that might not necessarily be mentioned in such style guides but is relevant for some academic/scientific fields is that when the Latin name of a species is mentioned, the second portion of the name must be written in lowercase, even when the rest of the title follows title case rules.

Another capitalization rule you might need when describing research experiments is that both elements of spelled-out numbers or simple fractions should be capitalized in title case:

Lastly, no matter your personal preference, make sure you always write the titles of books and articles exactly as they are written on the original document/in the original version, even if they do not seem to follow common capitalization rules.

Correct Capitalization in Your Title with Professional Editing    

If you are even more unsure now how to capitalize your title or find the author instructions of your target journal confusing (which can happen, since those sets of rules have often grown organically over a long period of time and, as a result, can lack consistency), then you might want to make use of professional English proofreading services , including paper editing services —your professional academic editor will figure such details out for you and make sure your manuscript is in the correct format before submission.

If you need more input on how to write and perfect the other parts of your manuscript, then head over to the Wordvice academic resources website where we have many more resources for you.

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Writing Style Guide

Capitalization.

In addition to the first word in a sentence, the following are generally the only words which should be capitalized.

Proper nouns —a specific individual name: Kalamazoo.

Proper adjectives —an adjective derived from a proper noun: Romance languages (derived from the proper noun Roman).

Common nouns only when used as part of a specific name: Kanley Chapel, Waldo Library (otherwise lowercase chapel, library).

Common adjectives only when used as part of a specific name: Brown and Gold Room (otherwise lowercase brown and gold).

University exceptions

The following are the only common nouns which should be capitalized in publications and correspondence of Western Michigan University.

Alumni Association —Capitalize only when it refers to the WMU Alumni Association.

Board of Trustees —Capitalize only when it refers to the WMU Board of Trustees.

University —Capitalize only when it refers exclusively to Western Michigan University.

Used in text —In text, titles are capitalized only if they precede the name of the individual. A title following the name of an individual or a title by itself is not capitalized.

Capitalize : ...President Edward Montgomery spoke at the...

Do not capitalize : ...Edward Montgomery, president, spoke at the... The president spoke at the...

In text, it is preferable for the title to follow the name and, therefore, the title would not be capitalized. This is especially true of titles consisting of more than one word. For example, it is acceptable to use either "President Edward Montgomery" or "Edward Montgomery, president." However, "John Doe, director of alumni services," should be used in text rather than "Director of Alumni Services John Doe."

Some words identifying occupations or professions are pseudo titles and should not be capitalized even if they precede the name. Do not capitalize "attorney Jane Doe" or "pianist John Doe."

Titles are not capitalized when used in conjunction with the name of an office, department or program. Do not capitalize the title in "Jane Doe, dean of the College of Fine Arts" or "Jane Doe, College of Fine Arts dean."

Used in a list —When used in a directory listing or other similar situations, the title is capitalized whether it precedes the name, follows the name, or appears in tabular form.

Used in an address —When used as part of an address, the title is capitalized, whether it appears in text or block address form. See addresses .

Examples: For more information, contact John Doe, Director of Alumni Relations, Western Michigan University, 1903 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo MI 49008-5404 USA.

For more information John Doe Director of Alumni Relations Western Michigan University 1903 W Michigan Ave Kalamazoo MI 49008-5404 USA

Offices and departments

The names of offices and departments at WMU are capitalized only when the full, official name is used.

• Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Department of Biological Sciences
• School of Music
• College of Health and Human Services
• Division of Intercollegiate Athletics
• Light Center for Chinese Studies

Do not capitalize

• provost’s office, academic affairs, the office
• biological sciences, the department
• the school, music school
• health and human services, the college
• intercollegiate athletics, athletics, the division
• the center, the institute

Some names of offices, departments, scholarships or programs contain proper nouns and are always capitalized when the proper noun is included. The full name of the alumni center is the Harold A. and Beulah J. McKee Alumni Center. You should also capitalize McKee Alumni Center, because it contains the proper noun McKee. However, alumni center, by itself, is not capitalized.

Majors, academic programs and degrees

Except for languages , such as English, French and Japanese, the names of academic disciplines, majors, minors, programs and courses of study are not proper nouns and should not be capitalized. Example : She majored in integrated supply management and German.

Academic degrees are capitalized only when the full name of the degree is used, such as Bachelor of Arts or Master of Social Work. General references, such as bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree, are not capitalized. Use an apostrophe (possessive) with bachelor’s degree and master’s degree, but not in Bachelor of Arts or Master of Science. Do not use an apostrophe with associate degree or doctoral degree. Do not capitalize the major specialty.

Examples (all correct)

• Ph.D. in interdisciplinary health sciences, M.S. in computer science, B.A. in English
• integrated supply management program, English program
• Bachelor of Science in mathematics, Bachelor of Arts in English
• bachelor's degree in business administration, master's degree in English, doctoral degree in chemistry, doctorate in chemistry

Special programs

The word "program" is part of relatively few official names at the University. The word program is not capitalized simply because it is preceded by a proper noun. Example: Medallion Scholarship program.

Salutation for form letters

Form letters are addressed to groups. The salutation should, therefore, be plural. Capitalize key words, lower case articles and conjunctions, and end with a colon. Example : "Dear Parents and Family Members:"

• administration, the administration, administrator
• alumna, alumnus, alumnae, alumni
• board, the board
• chair, the chair
• committee, the committee, our committee
• college, the college, our college
• department, the department, our department
• director, directors, the directors
• emerita, emeritus, emeritae, emeriti
• faculty, faculty member(s), member(s) of the faculty
• student, students, student body
• trustee, trustees, the trustees

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Capitalization Of Titles And Headings — The 3 Methods

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When crafting your dissertation , capitalizing chapter and section headings can be approached in three distinct ways: only the first word is capitalized, all words of significance are capitalized, or a blend of the two methods. The choice of method greatly impacts the presentation and readability of academic writing . This article is designed to guide you through these three capitalization strategies.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• 1 Capitalization of Titles – In a Nutshell
• 2 Definition: Capitalization of titles and headings
• 3 Capitalization of titles and headings: The methods
• 4 Capitalization titles and headings: Proper nouns
• 5 Consistency is important
• 6 Why consistency is important

Capitalization of Titles – In a Nutshell

Depending on the style of capitalization of titles, you may capitalize all significant words or only the first word. If you choose the first option, then you should capitalize every word except the following:

• Articles – an, a, the, etc.
• Prepositions – of, in, on, etc.
• Coordinating conjunctions – but, or, and, etc.
• The word “to.”

Also, ensure you understand what the Style Guides, like APA style , MLA and Chicago style , s ay about capitalization before writing your paper.

Definition: Capitalization of titles and headings

The three main methods of capitalizing headings include sentence case, title case, and a combination of both sentence and title case.  All three have specific guidelines you should follow when using them.

It is essential to look out for any inconsistencies while using the different styles of capitalization of titles for your academic writing. Hence, always remain consistent to ensure your audience can easily follow through with your content. You must also understand that all proper nouns appearing in any headings should be capitalized.

Capitalization of titles and headings: The methods

Here is an in-depth look at the capitalization of titles methods you can use:

Method 1 – Title case

When using the title Case, you capitalize every significant word. This capitalization of titles style helps you understand what a powerful word is and what is not.

Generally, significant words are pronouns , nouns, adjectives , adverbs, and verbs; therefore, do not capitalize any prepositions , articles , or conjunctions .

Here is a table that gives examples of this method of capitalization of titles:

Method 2 – Sentence case

If you choose to use the sentence case, you only capitalize the first words. The table below shows examples of this capitalization of titles method:

Method 3 – Capitalization varies by methods

You can combine the two methods above in this capitalization of titles method. Here, you choose when to use a title case and when to format it with the sentence case. For example, you can use method 1 for chapter headings and 2 for lower-level headings and titles.

The table below shows examples of this method of capitalization of titles:

Capitalization titles and headings: Proper nouns

However, theories, models or schools of thought are not proper nouns, so you should not capitalize them in any of the styles of capitalization of titles. It would help if you only capitalized the scholar’s name when necessary.

Wrong: The Realist School

Correct: the realist school

Despite the capitalization of titles style, ensure you follow the grammar rules for using proper nouns. These constitute the name of organizations, people, and places and are always capitalized in headings, regardless of the writing style. For example, when writing the names of a country, like England, you must capitalize it regardless of your writing style.

Consistency is important

If you are wondering which option you should use for the capitalization of titles, we recommend using the title or sentence case for your headings. Both, title and sentence cases, are easier to follow and would not require you to make many choices of the words you should capitalize and those you should not. Additionally, using many capital letters may make it difficult to read the texts and follow through, especially when your headings are longer.

You should also remember the specific requirements for writing headings for the APA, MLA , and Chicago styles. This will ensure you use the method of capitalization of titles as required.

Why consistency is important

Whatever option you choose for capitalization of titles and headings, remember that consistency throughout your document matters. This applies to your main chapter headings and the supporting materials, including appendices , acknowledgements, abstracts, figures and tables, reference lists, or table of contents.

To remove any inconsistency that might result from your preferred capitalization of titles style, carefully analyze your take on the contents. You can use Microsoft Word to automatically generate your list and see all your headings in a list. Looking through headings together without any distractions will pinpoint any anomalies. Also, ensure that other components of your dissertation format and layout are consistent and relate to your headings.

What words should you capitalize when writing a thesis title?

Because a thesis statement is an argument or claims you write to defend your research, do not capitalize it. Only capitalize the words you should capitalize according to the English Grammar.

What can you capitalize on an MLA paper?

All the first words of titles and subtitles are capitalized in MLA format. For example, The Future Fair: A Fair for Everybody.

What is the difference in capitalization of titles and headings between APA, MLA, and Chicago?

In Chicago and MLA, all prepositions appear lowercase, regardless of length. However, in APA style, capitalize all four letters and longer words, even if they are prepositions.

How do you capitalize headings in the AP Stylebook?

Most people use the AP Stylebook to write media, journalism, and corporate communication content. In this capitalization of titles method, capitalize all words of four and more letters, even when they are prepositions.

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Capitalization: Use It Effectively in Your Research Work

Smart use of capital letters can give your paper an edge.

Using capitalization in a research paper can be tricky. It may be tempting to capitalize a word that you want to emphasize, but is it always a good idea to do so? In this post, we help you to figure out exactly where those capital letters should go.

Rules for capitalization

First, let us quickly go through the rules regarding the usage of capital letters. You should use capital letters when:

• You begin a sentence. Example: There was heavy traffic on the road.
• You use a proper noun. Example: Barack Obama, New Zealand, Eiffel Tower
• You use an abbreviation. Example: EU (European Union), IT (information technology), CEO (chief executive office)
• You begin writing a speech. Example: The woman said, ‘My sister will sing the song.’
• You write the name of a day, month or a festival. Example: Wednesday, September, Christmas
• You write a title before someone’s name. Example: Sir Isaac Newton

You can learn more about the correct ways of using capital letters here .

What not to capitalize

• For emphasis At times, you may wish to capitalize an entire word to get your point across. But the rules of grammar do not permit it. Example: The rules of capitalization can be TRICKY. Capitalizing the word ‘tricky’ at the end is incorrect. Plus, it takes away focus from the rest of the sentence.
• Common nouns Researchers often capitalize the initial letters of various common nouns. This is a mistake. Example: The degree programme in Botany is interesting to me. Here, the lowercase (‘botany’) should be used instead. Use capital letters only when providing the official name of the course. Example: The seminar attracted Sales Managers from around the world. There is no need to capitalize ‘Sales Managers’ here, for it is a common noun. Capitalize the initial letters only when you refer to a specific sales manager (e.g. Sales Manager—Berlin).

Indeed, mastering the rules capitalization can benefit your writing. But it can be a confusing tool. Keep these points in mind when you write your next paper and your job should become easier.

• 10 common Germanisms you should avoid when writing in English
• How to Improve your Academic Writing Style
• Grammar checks: Let the computer be your friend
• Active Voice or Passive Voice: Which Should You Choose?
• How to Capitalize Headings and Why It Is Confusing

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What Should I Capitalise? A Guide for the Confused

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• 17th November 2012

At Proofed , a common problem we see in writing is incorrect or inconsistent capitalisation. As such, to help you avoid errors, we have put together this quick guide to when (and when not) to capitalise words in your writing.

What to Capitalise

As well as the first letter of the first word in a sentence, make sure to capitalise proper nouns in your work. These words name a unique person or thing. As such, words you will typically need to capitalise in your writing include:

• People’s names (e.g. Florence, David, Musa, Fatima)
• Roles or titles used alongside a name (e.g. ‘Queen Elizabeth II’ or ‘Professor Davies’, since these are specific people, but ‘a queen of England’ and ‘a professor of neuroscience’)
• Names of places, cities, towns, locations, and the people/languages from them (e.g. America, Chicago, Italy, Italian)
• Organisations, companies, institutions, etc. (e.g. Catholicism)
• Products and brand names (e.g. Colgate, but not ‘toothpaste’)
• Special dates and periods (e.g. Christmas Eve, the Bronze Age)
• Key historical events (e.g. World War II, the Boston Tea Party)
• Names of laws and official documents (e.g. the Bill of Rights)
• Certain religious terms (e.g. the Lord, Allah, the Holy Trinity, God)
• Names of ships or aircraft (e.g. the Enola Gay , HMS Ark Royal)

In addition, it is common to capitalise certain words in titles and subtitles. This will depend on the style of title used, but you should always capitalise the first letters of titles, subtitles, and proper nouns. Many style guides also recommend citing ‘major words’ (e.g. nouns, verbs, pronouns) and using lower case for other terms (e.g. prepositions and articles). For more on capitalising titles, see our post on the topic .

When No Capitalisation Is Required

As a rule, with common nouns (i.e. all nouns other than proper nouns), you won’t need to capitalise a word unless it appears at the start of a sentence.

Common errors in this respect include capitalising:

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• Names of seasons (e.g. spring, summer, autumn, winter)
• Academic subject names (e.g. chemistry, maths)
• Job roles when not used in a title (e.g. chief executive)

These are all common nouns, so do not usually start with a capital letter.

You should also take care when using more than one proper noun in a sentence. In these cases, you may need to drop a capital letter from a shared term. For example, you would say ‘Lake Tahoe and Lake Huron’. But this would change to ‘lakes Tahoe and Huron’ if you grouped them together because ‘lakes’ becomes generic.

You can capitalise other terms and phrases in some cases, but you must apply your judgement to determine whether or not this is necessary.  Regardless, the style adopted must be applied consistently throughout your work.

If you are worried about any aspect of your essay  or dissertation , including the referencing, grammar, or how to present it on the page, why not send it to the experts ? We will even proofread a 500-word sample for free, so you can see what a big difference our service can make to your academic writing!

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• FORMAT  
• STRUCTURE  
• THESIS BY COMPENDIUM OF PUBLICATIONS
• STYLE  
• DOWNLOAD  
• FILES  
• FIND OUT MORE  

 GENERAL

• Length of the thesis: consult the guidelines or your thesis director about a maximum length, and about the necessity of paginating indices or appendices.
• Type of font: 12-point Times New Roman. Alternatives: 11-point Arial; 11-point Calibri; 11-point Georgia; or 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode
• Alignment of text: justified

 TITLES FOR THE SECTIONS OF YOUR THESIS ▼

Indices and other sections before the main body of the thesis

• Type of font for titles: Times New Roman, 14 pt., in boldface and capital letters
• Alignment of the title: centered
• Numbering: if you use a numerical format for chapters, the section must identify the chapter with its first digit, followed by a period.
• Each chapter must begin with a new page and must not have fewer than two pages.

Sections or subchapters

• Type of font for titles: Times New Roman, 12 pt., in boldface
• Alignment of the title: flush left
• Numbering: if you use a numerical format for chapters, the section must identify the chapter with its first digit, followed by a period and the number which corresponds consecutively (3.1, 3.1.1, etc.).

Annexes or apendices

• T ype of font for titles : Times New Roman, 14 pt., in boldface and capital letters
• Alignment of the title:  centered
• Numbering : identify annexes or apendices in capital letters ( Annex A , Appendix B , etc.). Or just  Appendix if there is only one.

 PAGE NUMBERING ▼

• Main body of the thesis: Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3,…), beginning with the first page of the first section, which will be page "1".
• Pages before the main body: Roman numerals (I, II, III,…), beginning with the cover page, whose number will not appear but counts as page “I”.
• Appendices: not numbered
• Alignment of the page number: lower right corner

 TABLES AND FIGURES ▼

Tables: used to present text or quantitative data in rows and columns

• Social Sciences and Humanities: Times New Roman, 10 pt. Table number (e.g., Table 1) in bold font, table title below the table number in italic title case.
• Engineering: Times New Roman, 10 pt., in capital letters
• Social Sciences and Humanities: flush left, above the table
• Engineering: centered, above the table
• Numbering :use consecutive Arabic numerals after the word “Table”. If a numerical format is used for chapters, the number of the table must identify the chapter with its first digit, followed by a period and the corresponding consecutive number (Table 1.1, etc.). In case of tables included in Annexes, a new numbering independent of that of the body of the work will be started (Table A.1.).  
• Type of font for the contents of the table: Times New Roman, at least 8 pt.  
• Intellectual property: You must indicate the original source of the information in the lower part of the table. If you use tables made by other authors, you must include the citation according to the style chosen for the writing of the work and also include the corresponding reference in the bibliography.

Figures: used to present qualitative or semi-quantitative data. The main types are graphics, graphs, maps, drawings and photographs.

• Social Sciences and Humanities: Times New Roman, 10 pt. Figure number (e.g., Figure 1) in bold font, figure title below the figure number in italic title case.
• Engineering: Times New Roman, 10 pt.
• Social Sciences and Humanities: flush left, above the figure
• Engineering: flush left in the lower part of the figure
• Numbering: use consecutive Arabic numerals after the word “Figure” (Fig. for Engineering). If a numerical format is used for chapters, the number of the figure must identify the chapter with its first digit, followed by a period and the corresponding consecutive number (Figure 3.1/Fig. 3.1). If figures are included in appendices, you must start a new numbering different from the numbering used in the main body of the work (Figure A.1/Fig. A.1).  
• Intellectual property: You must indicate the original source of the information in the lower part of the figure, after the title. If you use figures made by other authors, you must include the citation according to the style chosen for the writing of the work and also include the corresponding reference in the bibliography.

 FOOT NOTES ▼

• Type of font: Times New Roman, 10pt.
• Space between lines: 1 pt. (Single)
• Numbering of notes: consecutive Arabic numerals

 MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSIONS ▼

• Alignment: : centered, with an additional space before and after the expression
• Numbering: If a numerical format is used for chapters in the work, the chapter must be identified with the first number, followed by a period and the sequential number that corresponds to the expression (3.1, etc.). For short works, the numbering must be sequential in the order it appears in the text (1, 2, 3…).

• Variables and mathematical parameters: these must be written in italics (except those that use Greek letters and/or Arabic numerals), and algebraic symbols must be used.
• Mathematical functions: these are not written in italics. Avoid using the symbol * to represent the product.

 COVER

• The UC3M Doctoral School states on its web page Thesis Deposit  the template that must be used to create the document in Microsoft Word to present it in PDF format.
• The cover of the thesis must include thesis title, full name of the doctoral candidate, the text “A dissertation submitted by in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in” followed by the name of the PhD program, the text “Universidad Carlos III de Madrid,” the name of the advisor, the name of the tutor and, at the bottom, the month in which the thesis is defended.
• Do not include personal data like your university username, your e-mail address or your ID card number.
• According to the Rules and Regulations of the Doctoral School at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid art. 31 and 32, the thesis will be deposited in the open access institutional repository of the university e-archivo under the license “Creative Commons Attribution -- NonCommercial -- NoDerivatives”. The license will be included on page II in accordance with the template provided.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ▼

The dedication and the acknowledgements are optional elements. If they are included in the thesis, the dedication will be on page III of the introductory pages and the acknowledgements will be on page IV, according to the template provided by the Doctoral School. This is an example:

 PUBLICATIONS AND MERITS ▼

The doctoral thesis template provided by the UC3M Doctoral School indicates among the introductory pages, after the cover page, the license, the dedication and the acknowledgements, the following:

PUBLISHED AND SUBMITTED CONTENT . This is a bibliography of articles and other publications that meet these three conditions:

• the PhD candidate is the author or the co-author
• the documents have been included as part of the thesis
• the documents have been published, submitted for publication, or submitted to obtain a degree or qualification

OTHER RESEARCH MERITS. . The PhD candidate can include research distinctions such as articles and contributions which are not listed in the previous section as part of the thesis.

 SUMMARY ▼

Article 3 of the UC3M Doctoral School’s Code of Good Practice for Managing Plagiarism of Ph.D. Theses states that two summaries of the thesis must be presented in a separate document .

Article 3. Dissemination of doctoral research. To promote the dissemination of the research activity in UC3M PhD programs, a deposited thesis must be accompanied by two summaries: A non-technical summary of between 800 and 1000 words and a technical summary of between 2500 and 3000 words. Summaries will be delivered in a text file separate from the thesis. The word count will not include the title, the name of the doctoral student, or the bibliographic references. The inclusion of bibliographic references is optional. Avoiding their inclusion in the non-technical summary is recommended and, in any case, only those works explicitly referenced in the summary should be included. The summaries cannot include acknowledgments of any kind and will need to focus on the main novel contributions of the thesis.

 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ▼

​ The list of abbreviations is an optional element . It contains the account of abbreviations, acronyms and initials used throughout the thesis and indicates how they are used.

There are generally accepted abbreviations, but abbreviations can also be created according to necessity when writing the thesis. Find here some help about abbreviations use in dissertations.

Abbreviations must be listed in alphabetical order. The list should be presented in the format of a table without edges. The abbreviation should appear in the first column and the full phrase it stands for should appear in the second.

There are some lists of abbreviations that can be used as a reference:

• Common abreviations in Oxford English Dictionary
• ​ European Union main acronyms and initialisms
• Commonly Used Legal Abbreviations

This is an example of abbreviations list:

 TABLE OF CONTENTS ▼

​ The table of contents is an obligatory element in an academic work.

Get automatic tables of contents in Microsoft Word via the following options: table of contents (for the contents index) and table of illustrations (for the list of tables and illustrations)

1. Table of contents

The table of contents is a list of all the chapters, sections, sub-sections, bibliography and annexes produced in the work and includes the name of each section and the page number it starts on.

2. Table of illustrations

We must include a table of illustrations when we use tables, figures or other illustrations in our work.  You should obtain your indices of tables, figures and other kinds of illustrations separately. These lists should be placed after the table of contents and on separate pages .

Table and index examples taken from UC3M Thesis   http://hdl.handle.net/10016/28161

 MAIN BODY OF THE THESIS ▼

IMPORTANT NOTE: Find here some recommendations about the generic structure of a scientific research paper. The PhD candidate should always follow their tutor’s instructions about the structure and contents of their own work. A thesis must be an original research project (Art. 13 Royal Decree 99/2011) and must contain personal contributions and ideas from the PhD candidate, in addition to data analysis and a presentation of results.

The body of the work is the main part of the thesis, and the longest part. It must be divided into chapters or sections, which should preferably be numbered. We use an Arabic numeral for the first page of the Introduction, which indicates that we are in the main part of the work. We recommend following the IMRAD format (Introduction, Materials/Methods, Results and Discussion/Conclusions), the de facto standard for scientific publications adopted, among others, by the APA and the Vancouver Style, and adopted as the standard by the American National Standards Institute as ANSI Z39.16-1979. According to the IMRAD format, the main body of the thesis will consist of:

1. INTRODUCTION. To answer the question “What is being studied, and why?” the introduction must briefly mention the following aspects of the work:

• Motivation or justification (why we chose this subject for the work; why this research is important)
• Specific goal of the study (precedents, current status, premise or hypothesis of the work)

2. MATERIALS/METHODS. To answer the question “How is this studied?” in this section, you must present the essential aspects to understand the results of the research. Also, you must explain the methodological framework and systems of analysis used to obtain data.

3. RESULTS. To answer the question “What are your findings?” in this section, you must describe (not interpret or discuss) the results obtained from the research carried out, as outlined in the previous section. This is done with text and, where appropriate, tables and figures. We stress that the Code of Good Practice of the UC3M Doctoral School states in art. 3 that scientific integrity includes applying standards in the publication of results and considers unacceptable the practices of duplicate publication, the elimination of pertinent data and the inclusion of false data.

4. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS. To answer the question “What does this mean?” the final section of the main body of an academic work must contain the conclusions that respond to the questions posed in the introduction of the work--in particular, the objective, which with the conclusions must be consistent--on the basis of the analysis and interpretation of the data presented in the previous section. This last section must include a section for discussion , which will be a final observation based on the arguments set forth in the work. It will have a personal contribution from the author which will be free of subjectivity--ideological or moral, for example--and will evaluate the results obtained, recognize the limitations and difficulties encountered, and outline a proposal for hypothetical future research.

REFERENCE LIST ▼

The bibliography or reference list must follow the main body of the work. In this section, the details about your previously cited sources of information, in both printed and electronic format, are compiled.

In accordance with Art 4.b of the UC3M Doctoral School’s Code of Good Practices : Bibliographic citations. In research, it is absolutely necessary to acknowledge contributions with precise citations that clearly identify what is one’s own work and what is someone else’s so that there are no doubts about the contribution of the research.

The order of the references will depend on the citation system used in the work:

• In author-date citation system the references are listed in alphabetical order.
• In numeric citation system the references are listed by order of appearance in the text.

References to Spanish and European legal contents (judicial rulings, laws and other regulations) must appear in a section called Legislation and Jurisprudence, which will be included after the bibliography or reference list. In this case, the order of the references will be chronological, with the oldest regulations cited first.

• Annexes or appendices are optional elements of a thesis, and consist of additional or complementary materials related to the thesis, relevant but too long to be included in the main body of the document.
• They can be images, graphics, tables, questionnaires, forms, interviews, etc.
• They will be identified with capital letters (Annex A, Annex B, etc.). Each annex will appear on a page of its own.
• The pages on which the annexes appear do not count in the total number of pages of the thesis, unless your tutor indicates otherwise.

Consult your doctoral program to find out whether it is possible to prepare a thesis of this type and what criteria need to be considered.

 ACADEMIC WRITING

• The academic style in the writing of a thesis is different from styles that are normally used: it must be formal, but at the same time clear and comprehensible.
• The writing must be grammatically correct, in particular the spelling and punctuation.
•  If you use some terms in other languages you must indicate their translation the first time the term appears in each chapter and write the term in italics or between quotation marks .
• Include one idea in each paragraph.
• Avoid sexist language

 CONCISION AND CLARITY ▼

• Don’t include irrelevant information.
• Include only one idea per paragraph.
• The information contained in one section of the doctoral thesis must not be repeated in others, except in the summary.
• Don’t repeat data in a table or a graph if it is already contained in the text.
• Distinguish your own data and ideas from the data and ideas of other authors.
• Differentiate demonstrated facts from hypotheses or speculations.
• Differentiate affirmations from points of view.
• Defend conclusions with data and arguments.

 USE OF TECHNICALITIES ▼

• Be sure to use appropriate terminology for the subject that you are writing about.
• Avoid the use of jargon or highly complex language.
• To avoid ambiguity, when you write scientific or technical terms, it is better to use the same word to denominate the same concept, even if it is repeated, than to use synonyms.
• Define ambiguous or uncommon terms when you use them for the first time in the text.
• If you use acronyms or abbreviations that are not commonly known by non-specialists, explain them the first time that they appear and include them in a list of abbreviations.
• Use standard symbols to represent units of international systems (kg, m, l), chemical elements (Au, Pb), mathematical concepts (+, %), monetary units ($, €) and cardinal points (N, S, E, W).

 QUOTING ▼

• Verbatim citations, or quotes, reproduced within the text should placed between quotation marks without changing the font relative to the rest of the text, except if they are longer than three lines, in which case the quote should occupy a paragraph of its own.
• Avoid plagiarizing: do not copy ideas of other authors into your doctoral thesis without acknowledging them by citing the author’s name and the source of origin. The words of other authors must always be written between quotation marks.
• Use double quotation marks (“”) for textual citations and single quotation marks ('') to quote within a quote.
• Paraphrases (reformulating text from another author in your own words) are not placed between quotation marks, but the idea needs to be acknowledged by citing the author’s name and the source of origin.
• The number of quotes used must be proportional to the text written: do not convert your thesis into a succession of quotes.

 TEMPLATES

 HOW TO NAME FILES

Once the text of your thesis is written, the document or documents must be prepared for submission in the form of files. We recommend following a series of conventions for naming them.

NAME: it must be brief (not more than 25-30 characters), with relevant words that describe the contents, written in lowercase letters. Special characters ($, %, &, *, /, etc.) should not be used, and only the underline character ( _ ) should be used to join words.

DATE OF CREATION: the format YYYYMMDD is recommended.

VERSIONS: avoid calling files “definitive version”, “final version”, etc. and erase old versions.

 PREPARATION OF THE DOCTORAL THESIS

 ACADEMIC WRITING ▼

 CREATING DOCUMENTS WITH LaTeX ▼

Cite your sources

Avoid plagiarism

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Master's Degree and Bachelor's Degree (Correct Format)

How do you write "master's degree" and "bachelor's degree".

More about "Master's Degree" and "Bachelor's Degree"

• John has a master's degree.
• Peter has completed his master's degree in Law.
• My bachelor's degree is in English Literature.

Why Is the Apostrophe before the s in "Master's Degree" and "Bachelor's Degree"?

Why Are "Master's Degree" and "Bachelor's Degree" Written in Lowercase?

Degrees as titles, don't capitalize a term because it's "important".

This page was written by Craig Shrives .

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

A Little Help with Capitals

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This resource details standard capitalization rules.

This handout lists some guidelines for capitalization. If you have a question about whether a specific word should be capitalized that doesn't fit under one of these rules, try checking a dictionary to see if the word is capitalized there.

Use capital letters in the following ways:

The first words of a sentence

The pronoun "I"

Proper nouns (the names of specific people, places, organizations, and sometimes things)

Family relationships (when used as proper names)

The names of God, specific deities, religious figures, and holy books

Exception: Do not capitalize the nonspecific use of the word "god."

Titles preceding names, but not titles that follow names

Directions that are names (North, South, East, and West when used as sections of the country, but not as compass directions)

The days of the week, the months of the year, and holidays (but not the seasons used generally)

Exception: Seasons are capitalized when used in a title.

The names of countries, nationalities, and specific languages

The first word in a sentence that is a direct quote

The major words in the titles of books, articles, and songs (but not short prepositions or the articles "the," "a," or "an," if they are not the first word of the title)

Members of national, political, racial, social, civic, and athletic groups

Periods and events (but not century numbers)

Words and abbreviations of specific names (but not names of things that came from specific things but are now general types)

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Is a Thesis Statement Capitalized? When to Capitalize or not

• by Judy Jeni
• January 27, 2024

What do you know about writing a thesis statement? To start with, a thesis is a claim or argument which you defend through your research. But what is the writing format of the thesis? Is a thesis capitalized?

It’s the first few lines, probably one to three sentences, in the introduction of an essay that clearly states what the reader will read on. Besides, it is what will give your writing focus and direction. For this, the statement is brief, concise, and debatable.

Is Thesis Capitalized?

A thesis is not capitalized because it will not appear professional or academically presentable. Only words that are allowed to be capitalized should be.

Remember, a word can only be capitalized if it falls under the rules of capitalization in English grammar. If you write your thesis in capital letters, it will not look like an academic piece of writing.

Let us guide you on how to write thesis statements in an essay by teaching you the steps to write a good essay. This is important even if it seems obvious.

Can you Capitalize Thesis Statements?

A thesis statement should not be capitalized because it is against basic academic writing standards. You write your thesis statement in typical prose keeping in mind the capitalization rules.

From my experience, capitalizing a thesis statement looks odd and sounds like informal shouting, which is not academically sound.

Instead of capitalizing, just write your thesis statement in a clear way using normal font. You only need to keep in mind that your thesis has clearly stated your topic and the main idea of your topic.

Also, give a reason that supports your opinion and, if possible, include an opposing viewpoint to your main idea.

If you are unsure whether to capitalize or not, always be guided by what your institution has provided—the guide you were given to follow.

In addition, ask yourself if it’s necessary to capitalize.

Another reason why you do not need to capitalize is the length factor. A good thesis statement should be one sentence long , which should fit well into the introduction paragraph. Capitalizing it will make it look odd.

Words to Capitalize in Thesis or Research Writing

By capitalization, we refer to capitalizing the first letter of a word and not every letter of the word. In research and academic writing, capitalization is a controversial topic.

Although there is a general rule of thumb concerning this, there are different opinions for the same.

To be on the safe side, only capitalize when necessary. If otherwise done, capitalization can look awkward. What are the words to capitalize in your thesis or general research writing?

1. The First Word of Each Sentence

A sentence begins with a capital letter, always!

2. Proper Nouns

A proper noun is a naming word—for example, names of people, companies, places, organizations, etc. In a sentence, John and Rachel visited the University of Pennsylvania, the Department of Social Sciences.

3. The First Word in a Quote

Use capital letters for the first word in a quote when the quote is a complete sentence. However, if the quoted sentence is partial, do not capitalize it.

4. Adjectives of Proper Nouns

Capitalize adjective words derived from proper nouns—for example, American writer.

5. Religious Names

These are the names of the Bible, the Quran.

6. Titles before Names

Examples; Mr. Smith, Miss Walter, Mrs. Jones.

7. Planet Names

Even though it is unusual to capitalize sun, moon, and earth, other planets’ names are capitalized. Like Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn.

Instances when to Capitalize Words in Academic Writing

Capitalization is a rule in English grammar, and every rule in grammar has a motive. Capitalization shows the importance of a specific word by distinguishing it from the rest, giving a particular meaning.

The following are instances when you should capitalize words in academic writing

Capitalize Words According to Their Meaning

Capitalize the word Internet when you use it as a noun. For example, “We searched the Internet to write our project.” However, the same word is not capitalized when used as an adjective; for example, “My neighbor is an internet provider.”

The word Department is capitalized when it is used to refer to a specific department. For instance, the English Department, but not when used generally like; the government departments.

Capitalize Days and Months

Use capital letters on days of the week, months, and holidays. However, do not capitalize seasons; they are not proper nouns.

Words in a Title

Capitalize the first word and all other words in titles of books, articles, etc. However, exclude conjunctions and short prepositions.

Titles and Positions

People’s titles and positions are capitalized when they precede their names. Conversely, do not capitalize titles when they are not used to address a person directly. For example, the governor will be in office today to sign the papers.

The Word “I.”

The word “I” is capitalized even when used along with its contractions. Examples include I’ll and I’ve, among others.

Time Periods and Events

Capitalize words depicting periods and events

Signature Line of a Letter

Capitalize the titles of the signature line of a letter. For example, Faithfully, Sincerely. At times, words are capitalized according to personal preference and writing style.

For instance, titles such as chancellor, president, queen, king, and prime minister are not written in the capital letter when used alone. However, when a specific name accompanies such titles, they are always capitalized.

When Not to Capitalize

• Do not capitalize the first word of items in a list following a colon. For example, I have one true love: my only son.
• Do not capitalize when writing plural nouns. For example, “Seven presidents attended the event.”

Check out some examples of social media thesis statements to explore this issue more and get more insights on the tips of writing good thesis statements.

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Capitalize Master's Thesis?

• Thread starter feedback
• Start date Sep 25, 2010
• Sep 25, 2010

Hello Hope all is well. Does anybody know if Master's Thesis needs to be capitalized in a sentence. Example: I decided to write my Master's Thesis on......... Thank you.  

Senior Member

No, I don't think the phrase should be capitalised.  

There is no need to capitalise it. Another thesis might be a doctoral thesis, which to me looks odd in capitals. The word master's is sometimes capitalised.  

Does anybody know if Master's Thesis needs to be capitalized in a sentence. Click to expand...