Critical Qualitative/Quantitative Inquiry Lab (C-QuIL)

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Use APA publication guidelines for how to cite and reference text, design tables and figures, and use special terms (abbreviations, hyphenatiions, capitalization, italics, etc.).

Use the UAB Format Manual for guidelines concerning the physical appearance of your thesis/dissertation:

• Font - 12-point Times New Roman or other common serif font for all text
• Margins - 1.5" left, 1" other three sides
  • Pay close attention to spacing at the top of page when beginning a new section. Most of them should begin 2" from the top of the page. See information below about specific sections.
  • Pay close attention to any images inserted, including in the appendices. ALL pages must adhere to these margin guidelines unless otherwise indicated below.
• Double spacing throughout except long quotations, references, headings, subheadings, and figure captions if your style guide says to single space

Section Formatting

• Page numbers:
  • Preliminary pages - lowercase Roman numerals in the bottom center of each page except the title and copyright pages
  • Body pages, references, and appendices - Arabic numerals in the upper right OR bottom center of each page beginning with 1 and following all the way through the appendices
• Preliminary Pages
  • Title Page - include title centered 2" from top margin in all caps and year of degree conferral at 1" bottom margin
  • Copyright Page - include year at 1" bottom margin
  • Abstract - include label at 1" top margin. Be sure the program name matches your approval form. Your abstract may include up to 350 words and 6 keywords.
  • Dedication Page - This is an optional page. The label for this section should appear 2" from top of the page.
  • Acknowledgments - This is an optional page. The label for this section should appear 2" from top of page.
  • Table of Contents - The label of the first page in your ToC should appear 2" from the top of the page. Subsequent pages for this section should use 1" top margins. Begin your ToC with the Abstract, but don't include the Table of Contents itself. IMPORTANT: Use dot leaders (NOT a row of periods) to connect page numbers on the right margin. Find out how to set up dot leaders in Microsoft Word here.
  • List of Tables - Use this section if you have tables embedded in your paper. DO NOT include tables that appear only in your appendices. The label for this section should appear 2" from top margin. Subsequent pages in this section should use 1" top margins.
  • List of Figures - See formatting for Lists of Tables.
  • List of Abbreviations - This is an optional section. The section label should be centered 2" from top of the page. Alphabetize the abbreviations.
• References - The first page of your references should begin with the label 2" from the top of the page. Subsequent pages will begin 1" from the top.
• Appendices - Each appendix begins on its own page with all material fitting inside the required margins.
  • If IRB and/or IACUC approval was required for your research, those completed forms must appear in your appendices.

Headings

• 1st level headings (the 1st page of sections/chapters) should appear 2" from top of the page.
• Subheadings should be separated from the previous paragraph by an extra double space.
  • Do not include an extra space after the heading/subheading.
  • If a subheading appears at the bottom of a page, move it to the top of the following page unless there is room for the subheading + 2 lines of text.