Styles Guidelines for Graduate Capstone Projects
The word "document" is used throughout to refer to the following:
- Doctoral Final Project (all DM majors except piano and composition)
- Doctoral Piano Essay
- PhD Dissertation (see also the University Graduate School's guidelines for the preparation of theses and dissertations)
- DME Dissertation
- MME Thesis or Practicum
Composition majors should refer to the Styles Guidelines for DM Composition Dissertations and MM Composition, Computer Music Composition, and Music Scoring for Visual Media Theses.
Except where noted, the guidelines on this page are the same whether the document is submitted electronically or in bound paper format.
Document Style Guidelines
When documents are submitted, the doctoral clerk reviews it for conformance to the following guidelines. Students are strongly encouraged to check their document against these guidelines before submitting the document to the committee and again before submitting the final copy. These items are explained in detail below.
The checklist includes details relating to:
- Documentation Style
- Organization of the Document
- General Appearance of the Page
- Musical Examples
- Figures and Tables
- Symbols, Terms, and Abbreviations
Here is a sample document that can be used as a reference to see examples of the items in the checklist or as a template for your own document.
- Sample Doctoral Document (Word doc)
PhD Students: Use the Graduate School's web page on formatting doctoral dissertations as your guide.