Theses

Warning: Are you sure you want to do this? It's not too late to turn back...

So you're thinking about writing up your thesis, huh? If you're that far, you've probably run across LaTeX a few times already ("Ha! Try hundreds!") A thesis looks like a huge pain to TeX, but don't freak---a lot of the work has been done for you already. The University distributes a style file with all the specifics demanded by the Library hard-coded.

Of course this means you shouldn't change things!

So, in fact, there's not a lot of LaTeX tricks and hints specific to writing theses that don't apply to any old LaTeX document.

One thing in particular you should look at is the example thesis distributed along with the style file. Here's a few other things about LaTeX'ing theses:

• example thesis
• bibtex
• headers with chapter titles, current date, etc. (Good for Drafts)
• changing Table of Contents, List of Figures, List of Tables
• List of Notation
• Title page (IAM reference)
• Final Oral Exam Programme

An Example Thesis

Warning: (and I'm serious this time!)

The style file thesis.sty and the example thesis were generated in 1989, so it claims. The very specific format demanded by the Library may have changed between then and now! Use thesis.sty and the example thesis to get things up and running and edited, but before you get your thesis signed and submitted, check with the Library and read Instructions for the Preparation of Graduate Theses available from Graduate Studies.

Abstract [view]

Check with the Thesis Style Guide for where to put Abstract and how to number its page(s).

Acknowledgements [view]

Check with the Thesis Style Guide for where to put Acknowledgements and how to number the page. Check with your supervisor for the politics of whom to mention...

Appendix [view]

The \appendix command does all sorts of weird and wonderful things, like resetting the \thechapter counter (see Numbering, Table of Contents), changes the word "Chapter" to "Appendix", and so on. Just call \appendix once---after that, all \begin{chapter}'s will give Appendix B, Appendix C and so on. You might want to change the headers in the appendices, too.

References (not BibTeX'd) [view]

This Bibliography example does things the one-time-only, hard way. Since you're probably gonna wring a bunch o' papers out of your thesis, too, you're better off using BibTeX to get your List of References.

Chapter 1 [view]

This file shows some of the more common LaTeX features like figures, tables, and sections.

Chapter 2 [view]

Same as Chapter 1.

Table of Contents, Lists of Figures, Tables [view]

Don't trust the order these Lists are called in. Check the Thesis Style Guide for the correct order. The Guide also mentions what to do with a List of Notation.

Release Form [view]

The \authorizepage hard-coded into the thesis.sty file is obsolete! You can get the correct form from the Library.

A root file [view]

You don't want to "re-compile" your whole thesis just to check the spacing around equation 4.3.8. It's better to break it up into pieces that you \include piece by piece. This root file (called thesis.tex just so you can type latex thesis and impress the people around you...) is where you set the order of all the sections of the thesis. Want your Appendices after the List of References? Just \include{bib} and then \include{appendix}.

Title Page [view]

Ahh, the Title Page. Here's where using LaTeX pays off big. This sample title page shows the fields you need to fill out. Notice the double slash \\ in the \previousdegrees field to list more than one degree. Also, you may want to use

\department{Department of Mathematics}

IAM Students: You need to mention the IAM on your title page. Try it like this:

\department{Department of Mathematics \\ Institute of Applied Mathematics}

Honestly, the order of these two is a bit mysterious. You might want to check the politics with your supervisor...

Finally, don't forget the one little command \titlepage which does all the formatting and returns an awesome looking title page!

Changing the Table of Contents, List of Figures, Tables

So here's what to do:

1. latex thesis.tex
2. latex thesis.tex (the usual gotta-LaTeX-twice...)
3. Edit the thesis.[toc|lot|lof] files
4. late... AHH! But if I run latex again, it will over-write my edited files! Exactly! So, you can:
   • cp the edited files elsewhere and then mv them back, or
   • insert a \nofiles command in the preamble of the source file. This suppresses the output of new files.

List of Notation

You can generate a List of Notation describing all your variables and where they first appear. It's not totally automated like, say, \listoffigures but it's a whole lot better than doing it by hand. (courtesy of Sue and James)

If you have one of these lists, it is supposed to go just after the main body of the thesis, just before the Bibliography. But you might want to check with the Library before you make a final copy...

How to make a List of Notation

First you make a new file symbols.tex, say, with lines having this format:

\addnotation \alpha: {some variable that means something to me}{alpha}

\addnotation

a TeX command you need to have

\alpha:

the LaTeX code for the symbol. You don't have to add $...$ around math stuff. Non-math symbols? Try it out. Be sure to add a trailing colon : to separate the entries.

{some variable that means something to me}

the description of the variable, enclosed in curly brackets {}

{alpha}

a label that you'll use to tag the first occurance of the symbol. See the example source .tex file below.

In the preamble of the main LaTeX file, add these lines:

\def\listofnotations{\input symbols.tex \clearpage}
\def\addnotation #1: #2#3{$#1$\> \parbox{5in}{#2 \dotfill  \pageref{#3}}\\}
\def\newnot#1{\label{#1}}

\markboth{List of Notation \hfill}{List of Notation \hfill}
\listofnotation

...
\end{equation}
where $\alpha$ \newnot{alpha} is some variable that means something to me.