Instructions for using the UCC Thesis Template
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
Instructions for using the UCC Thesis Template
You are welcome to use the UCC thesis template. But note that it is NOT foolproof. You may need to understand some basic functions in MS Word to get the best out of this template. You are free to modify it to suit your specific need within the style specifications of the School. We will need your feedback to make it better. Send your feedback to the School’s e-mail: graduatestudies@ucc.edu.gh. The template was created in July, 2015 using Word 2010 on Windows 7. The specifications used are based on the SGS Guidelines for preparing and presenting project work, dissertations and theses (2015).
The template set up
This is how the template has been created.
The margins are set 5.08 cm (2-inch) left and 2.54 cm (1-inch) top, bottom, and right margins on all pages to stay within binding and trimming requirements.
Both sides of text, left and right are justified.
The font for all the elements of the template is set to Times New Roman with font size 12.
For pagination purposes, the document is separated into three sections: front matter with no page numbers; front matter with Roman numeral page numbers; and main text with Arabic numeral page numbers in the footer. DO NOT DELETE the section breaks as instructed in the template unless you really know what you are doing.
The table of contents and other various listings (list of tables and list of figures) are set up to be generated automatically. This is done using styles. Read more on how this works.
Copying and Pasting
You may want to copy and paste your own content from one or more other documents into the template. This may give unexpected results because of the way MS Word works. Word stores information on bits of text as hidden metadata – you cannot see metafiles with your eye. When
you copy and paste text from one Word document to another, you are copying and pasting its metadata as well, which will produce undesired results.
If you have thesis write-up in a file outside the template, the safest way to deal with this is to:
copy the text you like to paste
go to the template, and click in the place where you like to paste it
go to the Edit menu and choose “Paste and match formatting”
Please note that any formatting you have done up to that point in the other document, including superscript, italics, bold, etc, will be gone. You will have to recreate it manually.
Working with Styles and Tables of Contents
The three automatically generated lists in the template are the Table of Contents, List of
Tables, and List of Figures. Please note that you will have to create the List of Abbreviations manually. The automatically generated lists rely on styles to build themselves. First, let us consider the Table of Contents (ToC). The ToC builds itself from text designated as Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3. These designations are made using styles.
To designate some text as a style, highlight that text (for example, the word “Dedication” on the page with the dedication) and inside the Styles box click the style “Heading 1” —
use the right and left arrows in that box to find it, if you don’t see it. Chapter headings should be designated as “Heading 1.” Section and subsection headings are Heading 2 and Heading 3, respectively. Changing the text of your headings will not automatically update the ToC. To update it, right-click anywhere in the ToC and choose “Update Field.” Then choose “Update entire table.” Your ToC should update automatically.
The other automatically generated lists are built on the same principle, with one style
per list. List of Tables uses the style called “UCC Table Caption”; List of Figures uses “UCC Figure Caption” You can update these two lists the same way as you update the ToC: right-click anywhere in the list, choose “Update Field,” then choose “Update entire table.”