Canada - Graduate thesis

University of British Columbia thesis formatting guidelines

This page helps University of British Columbia students check Word/PDF formatting risks before submission. It summarizes what to verify and links back to the official source.

Official source

UBC formatting requirements

Rules can change. The final audit uses the official guideline uploaded by the student or the current university source.

Official-source checkpoints

UBC separates dissertation and thesis preparation into official sections for component order, title page, preliminary pages, table of contents, fonts, headings, page layout, margins, page numbering, tables, figures, end pages, multimedia material, and editing.

Confirm text-based thesis pages use U.S. letter size and a single page-wide column.
Check margins: left 1.25 inches recommended for binding with 1 inch minimum; right, top, and bottom 1 inch recommended with 0.75 inch minimum.
Check preliminary pages use lower-case roman numerals, with the title page counted as i but not displayed, committee page ii, and first abstract page iii.
Check body page numbering starts at Arabic 1 on the first text page and continues through tables, figures, bibliography, appendices, and index.
Confirm every page except the title page has a page number and there are no blank pages.

Audit focus for this university

front matter order, committee page, abstract, lay summary, preface, and table of contents
roman-to-Arabic pagination and page-number placement in the exported PDF
tables, figures, landscape pages, captions, and generated navigation lists
PDF structure against the current UBC source before any ready-to-submit claim

Formatting points to verify

Source: Verify the current official guideline before final repair.
Font and size: Check body font, heading styles, captions, and footnote styling.
Spacing and margins: Compare margins, line spacing, indents, and page setup against the guide.
Navigation: Check TOC, list of figures, list of tables, captions, and internal links.
Page numbering: Check front matter, body start, appendices, footer/header placement, and PDF output.
Delivery: DOCX is preferred for repair; PDF is useful for audit and comparison.

Common risks before submission

Table of contents is empty, too deep, or not clickable.
List of figures or list of tables is handmade instead of generated from captions.
Margins, spacing, captions, or footnotes vary across sections.
Page numbering restarts or changes after PDF export.
Official guideline is missing or partial, requiring human review.