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Format, bind and submit your thesis: general guidance

You no longer need to submit a physical copy of your thesis. Please refer directly to the “Submit Your Thesis” section below.

This information is for research students submitting a thesis for assessment. It tells you how to:

• format your thesis
• submit your thesis
• bind your thesis 
• submit the final copy of your thesis

There are different requirements for students of fine arts, design, architecture or town planning.

Find out more about these requirements

Format your thesis

UCL theses should be submitted in a specific format, this applies to both the viva and final copies of your thesis. 

View the thesis checklist

Presentation

In the electronic version of your thesis, hyperlinks (including DOIs) should be functional and resolve to the correct webpage.

We would recommend using Arial or Helvetica fonts, at a size of no less than 12.

Find out more about the accessibility guidelines

If printed, please present your thesis in a permanent and legible format.

Illustrations should be permanently mounted on A4 size paper and bound in with the thesis; you may not use sellotape or similar materials.

A4 size paper (210 x 297 mm) should be used. Plain white paper must be used, of good quality and of sufficient opacity for normal reading. Both sides of the paper may be used.

Both sides of the paper may be used.

Margins at the binding edge must not be less than 40 mm (1.5 inches) and other margins not less than 20 mm (.75 inches). Double or one-and-a-half spacing should be used in typescripts, except for indented quotations or footnotes where single spacing may be used.

All pages must be numbered in one continuous sequence, i.e. from the title page of the first volume to the last page of type, in Arabic numerals from 1 onwards. This sequence must include everything bound in the volume, including maps, diagrams, blank pages, etc. Any material which cannot be bound in with the text must be placed in a pocket inside or attached to the back cover or in a rigid container similar in format to the bound thesis (see Illustrative material ).

The title page must bear the following:

• the officially-approved title of the thesis
• the candidates full name as registered
• the institution name 'UCL'
• the degree for which the thesis is submitted

The title page should be followed by a signed declaration that the work presented in the thesis is the candidate’s own e.g.

‘I, [full name] confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis.'

Please see the section below entitled ‘Inclusion of published works in doctoral theses’ for more information about how to indicate when you have re-used material that you have previously published.

The signed declaration should be followed by an abstract consisting of no more than 300 words.

Impact Statement

The abstract should be followed by an impact statement consisting of no more than 500 words. For further information on the content of the Impact Statement, please see the Impact Statement Guidance Notes for Research Students and Supervisors on the Doctoral School's website. 

Find out more about the Impact Statement

Inclusion of published works in doctoral theses

If you have included any work in your thesis that you have published (e.g. in a journal) previously, then you will need to insert a completed copy of the UCL Research Paper Declaration Form into your thesis after the Impact Statement. The form, and information about how to complete it is available on the Doctoral School’s website.

Find out more about the UCL Research Paper Declaration Form

Table of contents

In each copy of the thesis the abstract should be followed by a full table of contents (including any material not bound in) and a list of tables, photographs and any other materials. It is good practice to use bookmarking within the PDF of the thesis in electronic form to allow readers to jump to the relevant section, figure, table etc. from the table of contents.

Illustrative material

Illustrative material may be submitted on a CD-ROM. If you wish to submit material in any other form, your supervisor must contact Research Degrees well in advance of submission of the thesis.

Any material which cannot be bound in with the text must be placed either in a pocket inside or attached to the back cover or in a rigid container similar in format to the bound thesis. If it is separate from the bound volume it must be clearly labelled with the same information as on the title page. Each copy of the thesis submitted must be accompanied by a full set of this material.

Submit your thesis

Viva copies.

You must submit an electronic version of your thesis to via the UCL OneDrive . You no longer need to submit a printed copy unless your examiners ask for this. 

Find out more on how to submit via the UCL OneDrive

We will check your status and if your examiners have been appointed we will forward the thesis directly to them. They will then be able to download the copy of your thesis to prepare for your exam. 

If an external examiner requests a hard copy of the thesis you will need to arrange for this to be printed and submitted to the Student Enquiries Centre during their walk-in operational hours. We will collect your thesis and post it on to the examiners. 

If your examiners have not been appointed, your thesis will be held securely until your examiners have been formally appointed by UCL.

Covid-19 Impact Form

We have developed a form for you to submit with your thesis if you wish to declare an impact on your research.   The form is optional and your choice to complete it or not will have no bearing on the outcome of your examination. It is intended to set the context of examination and is not a plea for leniency. Your examiners will continue to apply the standard criteria as set out in UCL’s Academic Manual and the joint examiners’ form. Please see the publication from the QAA on Advice on Doctoral Standards for Research Students and Supervisors for further support.

You must submit this form as a separate Word document or PDF when you submit your thesis via the UCL Dropbox as detailed in our guidance above.   We will only accept the form if you submit it at the same time that you submit your thesis.  This will apply if you are making an initial submission or a resubmission.

Download the Covid-19 Impact Form

Find out more about the Student Enquiries Centre

Your examination entry form must be received and logged by Research Degrees before you submit your thesis.

Find out more about examination entry

Re-submission

If you need to re-submit you must:

• submit a new examination entry form to the Research Degrees office at least 4 weeks prior to the expected submission of the thesis
• you must submit an electronic version of your thesis to via the UCL OneDrive . You no longer need to submit a printed copy unless your examiners ask for this.  Find out more on how to submit via the UCL OneDrive

We will check your status and confirm that your examiners are willing to review your revised thesis. We will then forward the thesis directly to them. They will be able to download the copy of your thesis for assessment. 

If an external examiner requests a hard copy of the thesis you will need to arrange for this to be printed and submitted to the Student Enquiries Centre during their walk-in operational hours. We will collect your thesis and post it on to the examiners.

Submitting as a Non-Registered Student

If you do not submit your thesis by the end of your period of Completing Research Status, your registration as a student will end at that point. Your supervisor will then need to apply for permission for you to submit your thesis in writing to the Research Degrees section, at least 3 weeks before your expected submission date. You will be charged a submission extension fee at the point you submit your thesis.

Bind your thesis

If your examiners have request a printed copy of your thesis, please read the following guidance:

Theses have to be robust enough to withstand the examination process and be easily identified. They will need to have your name on the spine to distinguish them.

All theses (whether soft or hard-bound) must:

• be covered in medium blue cloth (e.g. water resistant material) 
• be lettered in gold up the spine with degree, year, name and initials in the same form as UCL records, with letters 16 or 18 point (.25 inch) - thesis submitted for examination in November and December should have the following year lettered on the spine
• have no lettering on front cover of thesis
• have the spine text inverted if the front cover is facing up

An example of how your thesis should be presented.

Hard-bound theses must have the pages sown in (not punched) and soft-bound theses should have the pages glued in. Theses submitted in any other form of binding, including ring binding, will not be accepted.

You are responsible for making sure that your thesis is correctly bound by the company you select.

Final copies

UCL no longer requires a printed copy of your final thesis and we will award your degree once you have met the academic conditions and the Library have confirmed receipt of your e-thesis, the Deposit Agreement form, and you have cleared any outstanding fees.

You will need to deposit an electronic copy of your final thesis (and a completed E-Thesis Deposit Agreement form) via UCL's Research Publications Service (RPS). Please ensure that you remove, or blank out, all personal identifiers such as signatures, addresses and telephone numbers from the e-thesis. Any photographs that you have taken should not show identifiable individuals without their permission and any you have taken of children should mask their faces.

If you do wish to deposit a hard copy you can do so by sending it directly to the Cataloguing & Metadata department of Library Services by post, or in person at the Main Library help desk.  You will find more information about the process on the existing webpage for e-thesis submission. 

Find out more about depositing an electronic and printed copy of your thesis

Related content

• Research degrees: examination entry
• Format, bind and submit your thesis: fine art, design, architecture and town planning
• Viva examinations: guidance

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Centre for Doctoral Education

Publishing doctoral work

All doctoral students are encouraged to publish their work, and should expect guidance and support from their supervisors in doing so. Publishing is an important part of academic work, and publications provide opportunities for feedback on and development of work from wider communities.

Publications may also demonstrate that the work included in a thesis meets the requirements of a thesis (section 5.1). However, to avoid any doubt, there is no requirement to publish work in order to pass a doctoral examination; and furthermore, having doctoral work published does not oblige examiners to judge the work of constituting an original or sufficiently scholarly contribution.

Developing academic writing

It is important for doctoral students and supervisors to be clear about their expectations around publishing work. Such discussions could include what work to publish; when to publish it; whether it would be best presented as a conference presentation, journal article, book chapter, etc; where to publish it; and how to respond to feedback provided on drafts, for example through peer review.

Students and supervisors are encouraged to think about developing their experience with publishing their work across the whole of the doctorate. It may be helpful to plan this in terms of increasingly specialised audiences, or of moving discussions from relatively closed and supportive audiences (such as departmental work-in-progress seminars) to more open or critical fora (such as specialist conferences or peer reviewed international journals). A possible trajectory for development could involve, for example, contributing to the Institute’s annual poster conference or doctoral summer conference, taking part in the three-minute thesis competition, writing for blogs or magazines, presenting at external conferences, and finally producing work for journals or books.

Students and supervisors may also find it useful to review the support, guidance and materials available from the IOE’s Academic Writing Centre .

Joint authorship

Doctoral work may be published jointly with supervisors – but this is not required in all cases, and it is vital that students and supervisors discuss their expectations around this early in the supervisory process. This is particularly important where different disciplines are involved, since expectations about authorship can vary considerably.

Students and supervisors should be aware of UCL’s policy on publication and authorship . However, this does not mandate any particular model of authorship, instead drawing attention to issues that teams should consider.

More specific guidance is provided by specific scholarly societies or professional bodies, and students and supervisors are advised to consider any such guidelines that might apply to their work. There is variation between these, although there are many points of consistency – for example, that authorship (including the order of authorship) should not be claimed on basis of seniority or status.

For example, BERA’s ethical guidelines include the following:

The authorship of publications is considered to comprise a list of everyone who has made a substantive and identifiable contribution to their generation. Examples of substantive contributions include: contributing generative ideas, conceptual schema or analytic categories; writing first drafts or substantial portions; significant rewriting or editing; contributing significantly to relevant literature reviewing; and contributing to data collection, to its analysis and to judgements and interpretations made in relation to it. Academic status or other indicator of seniority must not determine first authorship; rather the order of authorship should reflect the relative leadership and contributions made by the researchers concerned.

The implication of this is that supervisors who had been active during the period of work covered by the publication would normally, but not always, be included as co-authors.

Similarly, the British Sociological Association’s guidelines state that “Students should normally be the first author on any multi-authored article based on their thesis or dissertation” and that honorary authorship is not acceptable, specifying that:

Everyone who is listed as an author should have made a substantial direct academic contribution (i.e. intellectual responsibility and substantive work) to at least two of the four main components of a typical scientific project or paper: a) Conception or design. b) Data collection and processing. c) Analysis and interpretation of the data. d) Writing substantial sections of the paper (e.g. synthesising findings in the literature review or the findings/results section). Everyone who is listed as an author should have critically reviewed successive drafts of the paper and should approve the final version. Everyone who is listed as author should be able to defend the paper as a whole (although not necessarily all the technical details).

The implication of this is that supervisors would not automatically be included as authors on papers for which they had not made substantive and direct contributions.

The British Psychological Society’s Statement of Policy on Authorship and Publication Credit includes this summary:

Authorship refers to not only the writing up of the work but also scientific contributions (origination and formulation of the research idea and hypotheses, design of the research, designing and conducting major analysis, and interpreting findings). Contributions (such as designing or building research apparatus, recruiting research participants, data collation and entry, and other administrative duties) should not necessarily be considered to constitute authorship, but should merit formal acknowledgement if the nature and extent of the contribution is insufficient to warrant authorship.

This differentiation between authorship and acknowledgement may be helpful in giving options for recognising the contributions of different individuals appropriately. The BPS guidance is that “The authorship of publications arising from doctoral work should, therefore, normally be joint (with the student listed first). The supervisory input provided must, however, justify the inclusion of the supervisor(s) as co-author(s).”

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How can i find a thesis.

UCL PhD theses in digital format can be found in  UCL Discover y, but please note that some theses have restrictions on access, at least for a certain period of time, and UCL's Open Access Team can be contacted with any queries.

Records can also be found in  Explore , and if we have a print copy,  it may be possible to consult it in one of our libraries by filling in a  Store Request Form  in advance of a visit.

Older PhD theses which haven’t been scanned yet can be ordered via the British Library's EThOS service  as they are digitizing them on demand, and for more information on theses generally see our  web page .

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• Some personal data are collected during the deposit process. Please read the full conditions (French) before starting the deposit, or later on through the link located at the bottom of the webform.
• The file(s) that you are about to upload is (are) the official version of your master thesis and will be communicated to the jury as such . If your faculty also requires the delivery of one or more printed copies, those must be printed from the deposited files . Discrepancies between the printed version and the electronic version may lead the jury to decide on an irregularity and to assign a "T" grade (0/20).
• A student can only submit one thesis per examination period (Exception: a student defending in the same examination session 2 thesises for 2 different study programs deposits a first thesis and then addresses the second program manager to fulfill the second deposit.)
• describing the thesis
• uploading the file(s) and restricting access if necessary
• controlling the data and confirming the deposit
• • So be particularly careful to upload the correct versions of your files and with the accuracy of the data. Be aware that the title of the thesis will be printed on the appendix of your diploma exactly as you will have introduced it here.

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