Submission checklist
Thesis formatting checklist: 34 checks before submission
Use these 34 checks before sending your thesis to a supervisor, jury, printing office, or university submission portal. Review the DOCX first, then confirm that the final PDF preserves the same structure and layout.
Quick answer
Before submitting a thesis, complete all 34 checks below: official university rules, document structure, page setup, body style, headings, contents, figures, tables, footnotes, page numbering, bibliography layout, DOCX health, and final PDF export. Formatting must not change academic content.
Document structure
- Cover/title page follows the university template.
- Dedication, acknowledgments, abstract, and summaries appear in the required order.
- Introduction, chapters, conclusion, bibliography, and annexes are clearly separated.
- Section breaks are intentional and not randomly inserted.
University guideline check
Before final formatting, compare the file with the official university rules. Start from the university guideline pages, follow the seven-step Word thesis formatting workflow, or upload your own guide with the free audit.
First 10-minute formatting check
- Open the official guideline and mark required font, margins, spacing, page numbering, and required front matter.
- Update the table of contents, list of figures, and list of tables.
- Click several navigation entries in the DOCX and exported PDF.
- Compare the first body page, a middle chapter, a table-heavy page, and the bibliography.
- Check whether any PDF page has missing images, broken links, or shifted captions.
Body formatting
- Body text uses the required font and size.
- Line spacing follows the guide, commonly 1.5 for the main text.
- Paragraphs are justified if required.
- Margins match the guideline on every section.
- Arabic, French, or English text uses readable fonts and direction settings.
Navigation pages
- Sommaire, if required, contains only major entries.
- Table of contents contains the required depth.
- List of figures is not empty and points to real figures.
- List of tables is not empty when tables are present.
- Navigation entries are clickable or updateable where required.
Figures, tables, and captions
- Every figure has a caption.
- Every table has a caption or title according to the guide.
- Images are visible in the DOCX and exported PDF.
- Large tables do not overflow page margins.
- Caption numbering is consistent across chapters.
Footnotes and references
- Footnotes are real Word footnotes.
- Footnote font size is smaller than body text if required.
- Website URLs, DOI links, and source details are preserved.
- Bibliography entries are not accidentally converted into footnotes or body text.
- Citation style is consistent if the university requires one.
Final export
- PDF opens without warnings.
- DOCX opens without unreadable-content warnings.
- Page numbers match between DOCX and PDF.
- No page has broken layout, missing image, or overlapping text.
- File name follows the university submission rule.
Common failures this checklist catches
- Table of contents is empty, not clickable, or missing headings.
- List of figures is handmade, empty, or says figures were not found.
- List of tables is empty or missing table captions.
- Margins or line spacing change between sections.
- Footnotes are oversized, missing, or no longer real Word notes.
- Roman and Arabic page numbers restart incorrectly.
Checklist questions before submission
What should I check before submitting a thesis?
Check the official guideline, body style, margins, line spacing, headings, TOC, figures, tables, footnotes, page numbers, bibliography, DOCX integrity, and PDF export.
Is a thesis formatting checklist enough before submission?
It helps, but it is not enough for damaged or complex Word files. If the document has many section breaks, generated lists, footnotes, figures, or PDF export issues, use a guideline-specific audit.