UAF Thesis Format Explained: Margins, Fonts, Page Numbers and Binding

Which margin do I leave for binding? Does the declaration page get a number? Should Results and Discussion be one chapter or two? And which colour should my hard-bound copy be?

These questions stall many students in the last weeks before submission. The University of Agriculture, Faisalabad sets its own rules in a postgraduate formatting manual from the Directorate of Graduate Studies. It applies to MS, MPhil, MSc (Hons), MBA and PhD theses. Undergraduate reports may follow separate departmental instructions, so ask your department before using the manual for a BS project.

The UAF thesis format in short

The UAF thesis format asks for A4 paper, 1.5 line spacing, Times New Roman 12 and a 1.25 inch left margin, with 1 inch on the other three sides. Front pages carry lower-case Roman numerals, and the numbering switches to Arabic at Chapter 1. Hard binding is blue for MS, MPhil, MSc (Hons) and MBA, and maroon for PhD.

Item	UAF requirement
Paper	White A4, at least 75 g, printed on one side only
Line spacing	1.5 for text and tables; single for long quotations, footnotes, table captions, figure legends and individual references
Margins	1.25 in (3.175 cm) on the binding edge; 1 in (2.54 cm) on the other sides
Font	Times New Roman 12 for text; size 10 allowed for footnotes in figures and tables
Headings	Level 1: 16 bold; level 2: 14 bold; level 3: 12 bold
Page numbers	Roman numerals for front pages, starting at the contents; Arabic from Chapter 1, bottom centre
Abstract	Normally up to 300 words; up to 500 for PhD
Minimum length	75 pages for MS, MPhil, MSc (Hons) and MBA; 150 pages for PhD
Binding	Blue with silver lettering (MS, MPhil, MSc (Hons), MBA); maroon with gold lettering (PhD)
References	Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences (PJAS) style

Position correct as of October 2026; check the Directorate of Graduate Studies at UAF for the current manual, because older copies circulate online.

Page setup

Paper and printing

Print the final copy on white A4 paper of at least 75 g, on one side only. All text must be black. Print quality matters, because the manual says smudged, blurred, faint or broken lettering will not be accepted. Do not use correction fluid. Reprint the page instead. Colour images must be printed properly, since pasting photographs into the thesis is not permitted.

Line spacing

Use 1.5 spacing for the text and tables throughout. However, long quotations, footnotes, table captions, figure legends and individual references stay single-spaced. The manual describes the gap between references in two ways, as 1.5 spacing and as 6 pt before and after. Pick one setting and apply it to every entry.

Margins and alignment

The left margin is 3.175 cm (1.25 inches) so the thesis can be bound. All other margins are 2.54 cm (1 inch). Text sits in a single column, and section titles such as Abstract and Acknowledgement are centred. Set the margins once in the document’s page setup, so every chapter inherits them.

Fonts, headings and small details

Body text uses Times New Roman 12 (Palatino 12 is also named). Headings stay in Times New Roman bold, at 16 for level one, 14 for level two and 12 for level three.

A few smaller rules catch students out:

• Footnotes should be few. Number them consecutively with Arabic numerals, and place them at the bottom of the page, table or figure.
• Report statistics with proper symbols. For example, write χ² = 4.3, not “chi-squared = 4.3”.
• Use international (SI) units, or the standard units of your discipline.
• Write mostly in paragraphs. Bullets and long quotations should be rare.
• Indent the first line of each paragraph, or leave a larger gap between paragraphs than between lines.

Page numbers

Page numbering is where most formatting errors happen, so it helps to split the thesis into three zones.

First, the title page, declaration, acknowledgement and dedication carry no number. Second, the contents, list of tables, list of figures and similar front pages use lower-case Roman numerals, and the contents page is page i. Third, the main body is numbered consecutively in Arabic at the bottom centre, at least 12 mm from the page edge. This includes pages with illustrations, tables, references and appendices.

The chapter formatting checklist adds that the first page of Chapter 1 is page 1. The page number uses the same font and size as the text.

Order of the front pages

The manual lists the front part in this order: title page, declaration, acknowledgement, dedication, contents, list of tables, list of figures, list of abbreviations and abstract. It also provides templates for a supervisory committee certificate and, for PhD, a certificate for approval. Place those where your department’s approved sample shows them, because the manual does not fix their position.

Title pages

The first title page has the thesis title in block capitals, Times New Roman 16 bold, centred, followed by the university monogram (1.7 by 1.7 inches). Below it come the candidate’s name and registration number (14 bold), the degree (16 bold), and the department or institute, faculty, university and country (16 bold), then the year.

The second title page repeats this without the monogram. It adds “by” before the name and the line “A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of” in 12 bold.

Declaration and certificates

The declaration states that the thesis is the student’s own research, that no part was copied from a published source except references and standard models or formulae, and that the work has not been submitted for another degree. The student’s name and registration number sit on the right for signature.

The supervisory committee certificate is addressed to the Controller of Examinations. In it, the committee confirms that the content and form are satisfactory and recommends the thesis for external examination. PhD theses also carry a certificate for approval, signed by the external examiners, the supervisor and the Dean or head of department.

Contents, lists and abstract

The contents heading is in block capitals, 14 bold, centred. Chapter names are 14 bold and left-aligned at 1.5 spacing, or single spacing in the research paper style. The lists of tables, figures and appendices each give a number, title and page.

The abstract heading is uppercase, 16 bold and centred. The abstract is written in the past tense, states the objectives, methods, results and main conclusions, and carries no citations. It normally stays within 300 words, and a PhD abstract may run to 500.

Chapter layout

Every chapter starts on a new page. The label (“CHAPTER 1”) and the chapter name are both 16 bold uppercase. The chapter title must match the contents entry exactly, and an extra line follows the title. The reference list takes no chapter number.

Conventional structure

The manual approves two conventional layouts. Both open with Introduction, Review of Literature and Materials and Methods (called Methodology in the social sciences). They then differ in how they handle findings:

1. Results and Discussion together as Chapter 4, followed by Summary as Chapter 5.
2. Results as Chapter 4, Discussion as Chapter 5, and Summary as Chapter 6.

Both end with References or Literature Cited, then appendices. Choosing between them is flexible, so agree on one with your supervisor. For help deciding what each chapter should argue, see the guide to thesis structure.

Research paper style

The Graduate Studies and Research Board also approved a paper-based thesis, where each paper or experiment becomes its own chapter. There is no separate methods chapter. After Introduction and Review of Literature, each paper chapter has an abstract, introduction, materials and methods (or methodology), results and discussion, and conclusions. A Summary closes the thesis.

The manual sets a minimum of two research papers for MS, MPhil, MSc (Hons) and MBA, and four for PhD. It notes that this format mainly suits PhD programmes. Doctoral students weighing this route can also look at PhD thesis support for planning and feedback.

What each chapter has to do

Introduction

The manual asks the introduction to show why the field matters and what earlier work has done, with citations. Then it should point to a gap or research question, and state the objective and hypothesis. Avoid repeating the abstract, adding needless background, exaggerating importance, or claiming novelty without a proper literature search.

Write in the simple present tense. Explain abbreviations at first use in the Introduction, because explanations in the summary do not count. Prefer recent, reputable sources from roughly the last ten years.

Review of literature

Everything cited must appear in the reference list. Use one organising order, either thematic or chronological, across the whole chapter. Cite by author and date, and use “et al.” for three or more authors. Personal communication is not accepted, and recent research from the last 10 to 15 years is preferred. The guide on how to write a literature review covers the writing itself.

Materials and methods

Name the location of the study or the source of the data. State the design, the data with units, the statistical or laboratory methods, the comparison test and the statistical reference. Skip flow diagrams that add nothing. Social science students use the heading Methodology, and the guide on choosing a research methodology helps with the decisions behind it.

Results, discussion and summary

Present the analysis clearly, in tables and figures numbered by chapter. The summary is a condensed write-up of the whole thesis. Unlike the abstract, it has no word limit, and it also carries no citations.

References in PJAS style

The manual names the Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences format for references. In the text, cite by author and date in date order, for example (Ashraf, 1999; Bashir et al., 2000). The list is alphabetical, in Times New Roman 12, single-spaced, with no duplicates. Journal names are abbreviated as PJAS does, and each entry follows the pattern of authors, year, title, journal and volume with page range.

Then check both directions. Every in-text citation must appear in the list, and every listed source must be cited, with matching spelling and year. If your supervisor wants a different style, ask your department to confirm it in writing before you reformat.

Binding, copies and length

These rules apply to the finally approved copies, submitted after the viva voce.

• MS, MPhil, MSc (Hons) and MBA: two copies go to the Main Library, which issues a submission slip for the Controller of Examinations. The binding is blue hard cover with silver lettering on the front and spine.
• PhD: two copies go to the Controller of Examinations, together with a CD holding a PDF soft copy for HEC. The binding is maroon hard cover with gold lettering on the front and spine.
• Length: at least 75 pages for the master’s level degrees and at least 150 for PhD.

Formatting is only one gate before submission. Similarity checking is another, and the HEC similarity index guide explains how that report works.

Where the manual leaves room for doubt

Some instructions in the manual do not fully agree with each other. Three are worth settling early:

• Alignment: the margins section says text is left-justified, while the chapter checklist says to justify the body text.
• Chapter heading: the sample shows “CHAPTER 1” aligned left and the chapter name aligned right, but the written checklist only mentions right alignment.
• Reference spacing: as noted above, the gap between references is described in two ways.

In each case, follow the most recently approved thesis from your own department, and ask your supervisor or the Directorate of Graduate Studies if the samples differ.

Mistakes that cost the most time

• Applying 1.5 spacing to captions, footnotes and references that should be single-spaced.
• Numbering the title, declaration, acknowledgement or dedication pages.
• Letting a chapter title differ from its contents entry.
• Citing sources that are missing from the reference list, or listing sources never cited.
• Typing statistical symbols as words, or pasting photographs instead of printing them in place.
• Submitting a thesis with a spelling or grammar error that a final read would have caught.

A last check before printing

Read the whole manual once against your draft, then print one chapter and check the margins, spacing and page numbers on paper. If you want a second pair of eyes, our team offers proofreading and feedback on your draft, and you can request a quote through Order Now. You can also read what students say in the reviews. Any support is meant for reference and learning, so use it within your institution’s policy.

More practical thesis guidance is available on the blog.