How to write a thesis in word 2007

This document was written by Ramy Fishler from the Technion- Israel

institute of Technology. It is destined for graduate students who want to write their

thesis using Word 2007 or a later version. A video tutorial can be found on YouTube

under the name "How to write a thesis (dissertation) using word 2007 or 2010" in the

notes below the video you can find links to thesis templates.

Please send any comments, questions, corrections, suggestions or templates

designed for your institute to Thesis.word7@gmail.com

Quick start:

The easiest way to start writing your thesis is to use a template (found on the

YouTube page) or saving this document with a different name and erasing all the text

that comes before the words "Thesis Title". Simply change the title, name etc. and

add your text in the different chapters. Add or remove chapters as you like.

Here are the few most important things you should know when you write.

All other additional options are described in The following pages.

1. If you don't wish to use the suggested template it is still very

important to use this document for setting the right defaults. If

you've already written a part of your thesis then copy and paste it to

this document. It is not as much work as you think.

2. To create a heading press the correct Heading Style (Chapter, Section,

Subsection, Subsubsection or Appendix) On the Home tab, in the Styles

group. and write the text of the heading.

3. The table of contents is created automatically according to the headings

that you create. To update the table of contents right click on it and press

"update field".

4. Press Tab in the beginning of each paragraph.

5. After a period, at the end of a sentence, press the Space Bar TWICE!!

Some supervisors are very strict on this rule. However, others don't mind.

So you may want to ask your supervisor about that.

6. In the end of each chapter, create a page break by pressing the "page

brake" button on the left side of the "insert" tab. The new chapter will

then start at the following page.

7. When you enter figures or tables create the text below them by the option

"Insert Caption" in the "References" Tab. The lists of figures and tables

are created automatically according to the text of these captions. (see

section 2.2).

8. To enter numbered equations use MathType. It is not recommended to

use word's equation editor. (see section 2.2.3).

9. To enter citations it is recommended to use the program "end note" or the

online version available to all technion students called "EndNote Web"

10. Many times Word seems to whimsically prevent you from putting things

where you want them. Pressing the button (Home tab, Paragraph

section) reveals the hidden text and helps in solving the mystery.

Table of contents

1 Setting the defaults.............................................................................................1

1.1 Changing the appearance of the text by modifying the Normal style..........1

1.1.1 Changing the font and font size............................................................1

1.2 Setting the Headings format.........................................................................4

2 While you write...................................................................................................5

2.1 Important rules for writing............................................................................5

2.2 Inserting numbered items.............................................................................6

2.2.1 Inserting a figure...................................................................................7

2.2.2 Inserting a table.....................................................................................9

2.2.3 Inserting an equation.............................................................................9

3 Adding a table of contents................................................................................12

4 Adding a table of figures..................................................................................13

5 Adding page numbers.......................................................................................14

6 Adding references.............................................................................................15

Appendix I An appendix about how to add an appendix.........................16

Appendix II Troubleshooting...................................................................17

7 Thesis template....................................................................................................I

8 Introduction.........................................................................................................3

8.1 First Section..................................................................................................3

8.1.1 Subsection.............................................................................................3

8.1.2 Subsection.............................................................................................3

8.1.2.1 Subsubsection..................................................................................3

8.2 Second Section..............................................................................................3

8.2.1 Subsection.............................................................................................3

8.2.2 Subsection.............................................................................................3

9 research objectives..............................................................................................4

1 Setting the defaults

To set the right defaults in Word 2007 save this document (the document that

you are reading right now) with a new name and delete the text. It is highly

recommended to set the defaults in this manner since sometimes it solves bugs that

can't be solved otherwise. The defaults would then be exactly identical to this

document. You can also use the end of this document as a template. If you wish to

do so, save this document with a new name and delete all the pages before the one

with the words "Thesis title". If you want to change the style of the headings or text

follow the instructions bellow.

1.1 Changing the appearance of the text by modifying the Normal

style

The Normal Style is automatically used when you press enter after creating a

heading. So, in order to change the font or line spacing in your text you have to

change the normal style.

1.1.1 Changing the font and font size.

First put the curser somewhere in the body text (not on a heading). Now, on

the Home tab, in the Styles group, right click the Normal style, and choose "Modify".

(If you don’t see the "Normal" style expand the quick style gallery by pressing .

If it's still not there, press the little arrow on the right bottom side of the Styles group,

a Styles window appears below, right click the "Normal" style and click "Add to

quick style gallery").

1

Open the "Format" button at the left bottom corner in the Modify Style window and

pick "Font". Set the desired font options in the "Latin text" section.

2

1.1.2 Changing line spacing and other paragraph options

Same as for changing the font, place the curser on the body text, go to the

"Home" tab, and in the "Styles" group right click the "Normal" style, choose

"Modify", and open the "format" option. Now pick "Paragraph" and Set the desired

paragraph options such as line spacing, and press O.K twice. It is recommended to

leave zeros in "indentation" "spacing before" and "spacing after".

3

1.2 Changing the appearance of the HeadingsSame as for changing the appearance of the text, go to the "Home" tab, and in

the "Styles" group right click the "Chapter", "section", "subsection", "subsubsection"

or "Appendix" style. To change the font, open the "Format" button and pick "Font"

change the font and font size in the "Latin text" section. Press O.K twice.

Note that when the "automatically update" option is picked in the Modify

Style window, you can modify the style by highlighting the words of a heading in the

text, and changing its appearance. Otherwise, changing the appearance of one

heading does not affect the rest of the headings and the style should be changed as

described in section 1.1

4

2 While you write

111Equation Chapter (Next) Section 1

2.1 Important rules for writing

2.1.1 Headings

Create the headings by pressing the correct Heading Style at the "Styles"

group on the "Home" tab and writing the heading. (you can also write first the

heading and then press the Heading Style). For example, press the "Chapter

Heading" and write the name of your first chapter (usually "Introduction") in the

same way, create the sections, subsections, subsubsections and appendices by

pressing the corresponding style buttons. If you didn't use this document to set the

defaults the heading are called "heading 1, heading 2 etc. To create the numbering

press ("multilevel list") in the Home tab. And choose this option.

2.1.2 Tabs

In the beginning of each paragraph, press the Tab button. It is also possible

to define an indentation before text by right clicking the Normal Style then

Modify=>Format=>paragraph. However, this would mean that if you insert a table

or a figure or equation you have to do so without pressing Enter, otherwise when you

continue the paragraph Word will assume that you started a new paragraph. I

recommend simply using the tab in the beginning of each paragraph.

Important! Word sometimes changes the indentation of the paragraph

automatically when you press tab. In this case a small icon appears next to the

paragraph. Press the icon and choose "stop setting indents on Tab and backspace".

Then press backspace and start writing again by pressing the Tab at the beginning of

the paragraph.

5

2.1.3 Page brakes and section brakes.

At the end of each chapter, create a page break by pressing the "page brake"

button on the left side of the "insert" tab. The new chapter will then start at the

following page.

To add a section break open the "Page Layout" tab and in the "Page Setup"

section choose ("insert page and section Breaks") and under "Section breaks"

pick "Next page". Text that comes after this section break will appear in the next

page. You only need section breaks to separate regions with different headers or the

numbering. Don't use it at the end of chapters. If you press button (Home tab,

Paragraph section) you can see the hidden text of the section breaks. Be sure not to

write anything in the line of the section break since this causes problems with the

alignment.

2.1.4 Double space after periods

After a period, at the end of a sentence, press the Space Bar TWICE!! Some

supervisors are very strict on this rule. However, others don't mind. So you may want

to ask your supervisor about that. Of course, this nasty rule is impossible to get used

to. So- there's a trick to help you remember: press office button=> word

options=>proofing. In the third section change the writing style to "grammar and

style" and press the "settings…" button. Change the "spaces required between

sentences" to two. Now each time you forget to press the Space Bar twice, a green

line will appear.

2.2 Inserting numbered items

Word allows you to number figures and tables using Captions. This allows

you to refer to them using a cross-reference – a number that changes when the

number of the figure or table changes. If you changed the normal style from what

6

used in this document, change the Caption style to match the settings of the Normal

style but with bold font.

2.2.1 Inserting a figure

2.2.1.1 Pasting the figure

To insert a figure, put the curser after the text that comes before the figure

press Enter, and paste your figure. For example:

Figure 2.1 a crazy professor is explaining how a relativistic yoyo works.Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla

Important! It is not recommended to insert Excel graphs as Excel items since this

causes much trouble, especially if you are tempted to change their appearance. (the

program can get stuck) Instead, pick on the left side of the "Home" tab and

then "paste special". Choose one of the options for picture files ("enhanced metafile"

usually gives best results). If you have several graphs that should appear in one

figure select them all together in excel, and paste them as a picture.

2.2.1.2 Adding a number and text to the figure

To insert the number of the figure and accompanying text below the figure,

select the figure (or put the curser below it), then press the "References" tab. In the

"Captions" group pick "Insert Caption" choose the label: Figure (if there isn't one

press "new label" write "Figure" and press O.K). Make sure that the box "exclude

7

label from caption" is NOT checked. Press the "numbering" button and change it as

follows:

Press OK twice. Add the title of the figure after the number.

Usually you'll want to add text to the figure after the title of the figure ("bla

bla bla" in the picture above). But you only want the title of the figure to appear in

the list of figures. Unfortunately Word will put in the table of figures all the text that

appears after the caption. I recommend the following: press Enter after the title of

the figure, and write the text that explains the figure. Then, right click on the title of

the figure and choose "Paragraph", change the "Spacing" - "After" to zero and press

O.K. Now highlight the explanatory text, right click it, choose "Paragraph" and

change the line spacing to "Single". This way, it will appear as a part of the figure

and not as a part of the body text.

2.2.1.3 Referring to a figure

To refer to the figure in the text, put the curser in the place where you want

the cross-reference to appear, press the References tab, and in the Captions section

pick the "cross reference" option. Then, in the "reference type" box choose "Figure"

and in the "Insert reference to" box choose "only label and number", select the

desired figure in the "for which caption" box and press "Insert". The number and

label will appear. For example: Figure 2.1. Note that the word "Figure" will appear

with the number.

8

After you make changes you can update the numbering by selecting a part of

the text, right clicking on it, and choosing "Update Field".

This method is not perfect since the word "Figure" should appear with a

capital letter under the figure and without a capital letter in the reference when it's

not at the beginning of a sentence. You can't make a reference with only a number.

So it seems that the easiest solution is to write the word "Figure" with a capital letter,

and change the words in the text that should appear without a capital letter when your

thesis is done.

2.2.2 Inserting a table

Inserting a table is done the same way as inserting a figure (see above) but

with picking the "Table" label when inserting a caption or a reference.

Table 2.1 An example for a table

2.2.3 Inserting an equation

Don't enter an equation number with a caption! Instead, I recommend using

MathType to write the equations, number them, end insert cross-references to

equation numbers. If you only have a few equations and you don't have to number

them you might want to use the Insert=> equation option. Creating numbered

equations with Word's equation editor and a caption is a horrible choice, if you try to

do so it helps to create an invisible table (one row three columns no border) and put

the number as a caption (choose "exclude label from caption") inside a textbox at the

right cell.

If you have MathType 6 or a later version a tab of MathType appears in Word

(you can download a trial version from the web).

Go to the MathType tab and at the Equation Numbers section press the little

triangle beside the "Insert number" button Choose "format" and select as follows:

9

In this manner, the equation numbers you add contain the number of the chapter and

the number of the equation. (If you don’t care about the number of the chapter

appearing in the equation number simply don’t check the "chapter number" option.

And ignore the next paragraph)

Go to the first chapter heading, put the curser one line below the heading and

press Chapters & Sections => Insert Break. (it is important not to do this in the line

of the heading itself, otherwise the invisible text will be added to the table of

contents). In the resulting window select "new chapter" and write 1 next to the

words "chapter number" you don't need to change the section. Each time you add a

new chapter (using the "chapter" Style) put the curser one line below it and press

"Chapters & Sections" => "Insert next chapter break"

10

To add an equation press the button write your equation in the MathType

window and close the window. This will add a centred equation with a right aligned

number like so:

212\* MERGEFORMAT (.)

To refresh the numbering press . To refer to an equation number for example-

"as written in equation 12" press then double click on the desired equation.

11

3 Adding lists of contents/figures/tables and page numbers

If you used the end of this document as a template, you don't have to read

this chapter, since you already have page numbers, a table of contents, and lists of

figures and tables. Simply update them as you write. However, if you want to create

them yourself or edit them, here is how to do it.

312Equation Chapter (Next) Section 1

3.1 Adding a table of contents

3.1.1 Adding the table

To add a table of contents just go to references and press the "table of

contents" button on the left side. Press "insert table of contents" in resulting window.

(don’t pick the "automatic table 1,2 or 3" options, or an annoying number will appear

next to the title of the table) Change the "show levels" box to 5. This adds the fourth

level into the table of contents, and also the 5 th level, which is the Appendix in this

document.

Note that many frustrating errors occur while using the normal defaults of

word in Israel. I don't know how to set them correctly but using this document to set

the defaults as I explained in the beginning can help overcoming these problems.

3.1.2 Changing the appearance of the table

To change the appearance of the table, select a whole line, and change the

font or font size from the "Font" group in the "Home" tab. This will change all the

entries of the same type in the table of contents. To change other features of the text

in the table of contents you can edit the TOC 1 - TOC 5 styles.

12

3.1.3 Adding a title to the table of contents

If your table of contents fits in one page you can simply write the words

"table of contents" above the table and change its appearance as you like.

If your table of contents is longer than one page, the words "table of contents"

should appear in the beginning of each page. This can be done by creating the title

as a header (this is header not "heading"). Separate the table of contents from the

rest of the document by inserting section breaks before and after the table: Put the

curser after the table. Open the "Page Layout" tab and in the "Page Setup" section

choose ("insert page and section Breaks") and under "Section breaks" pick

"Next page". Text that comes after this section break will appear in the next page.

Repeat this procedure with the page that comes before the table of contents. (you can

see the section breaks by pressing in the "Home" tab. (this is the icon without a

triangle beside it). Now, double click at the top of the page or pick

Insert=>Header=>Edit header. Make sure that the button ("link to previous") in

the "Navigation" group on the "Design" tab is not pressed when you click inside the

header in the page of the table of contents and in the page that comes after the table

of contents (otherwise you'll get the words "table of contents" on all your document).

Now you can write the words "table of contents" in the header of one of the pages of

your table of contents (Note that all the pages in the same section get the same

header).

3.2 Adding a list of figures/tablesTo add a list of figures or tables go to the Reference tab and in the Captions

section press "insert Table of Figures". In the resulting window choose "Figure" or

"Table" in the "caption label" box. If you wrote the title of the table of contents

using a header, do the same here. Don't forget to separate the list of figures/tables

from the rest of the text with a section break, and to check that the section of the list

and the next section are not "linked to previous".

13

3.3 Adding page numbersPage numbering should usually start at the page of the abstract. If you have

page numbers in your document but they don't start at the right page, double click on

them and erase them. Make sure there is a section break before the abstract. To add

a section break open the "Page Layout" tab and in the "Page Setup" group pick

("insert page and section breaks"), and under "Section breaks" pick "Next page".

Then make sure that when you double click at the bottom of the page of the abstract

(or click Insert=>footer=>edit footer) the (link to previous) button on the design

tab in the navigation group is NOT pressed. On the "Insert" tab in the "Header &

Footer" group press "page number"=> "bottom of page" and select the second option

with numbers at the middle. Now press "page number"=>"format page numbers"

and select "start at" - 1.

14

4 Adding references

To add references I recommend the program "End Note" you can download a

trial version from the web and then ask your supervisor to buy it.

With EndNote citing is very easy: in the site where you found the article look

for "download to citation manager" or "export citation" this will add the reference to

End note. If you use google scholar to browse for articles you can open the "Scholar

Preferences" at the top of the page and then at the bottom select- Show links to

import citations into . Next, select the citation in EndNote and in

the EndNote tab in word select insert citation=>insert selected items.

15

EndNote

Appendix I An appendix about how to add an appendix.

If you used this document as a template than to add an appendix all you have

to do is write the title and press the Appendix style. If this style doesn't appear in the

table of contents press References=>Table of contents=>Insert table of contents and

change the "Show levels" to 5.

To create an appendix style from scratch: write something. Press any heading

style (like chapter or section) then rightclick the number next to what you wrote,

choose "numbering" and then "change list level" pick the level which is one after the

last that you use for sections (if you use subsubsections pick the 5 th level for the

appendix). Now click the number next to what you wrote and click in the

paragraph tab. Choose "define new multilevel list". In the "enter formatting for

number" box write "Appendix" and change the "number style for this level" box to

the style that you want (usually roman numbers). Now simply change the

appearance of this style as explained before.

16

Appendix II Troubleshooting

Problem Solution

OH NO! All my thesis is suddenly full

with gibberish like this:

Don’t panic!

Press Alt+F9. Magic…

My Table of contents shows weird text that doesn't

belong there

If the section breaks of MathType appear

in the same line as the heading they are

included in the table of contents. Press

(this is the big button on the right,

not the little one with the triangle next to

it that turns to right-to-left writing). Now

you can see the Hidden text that

MathType added. Cut and paste it to

either one line above or under the

heading.

When I enter a cross-reference the text of all the caption

appears

After pressing the "cross reference"

button be sure to select in the "insert

reference to" box the option "only lable

and number" anyway the word "figure"

or "table" will always appear in the cross-

reference.

My table of contents doesn't include the fourth level and

the 5th level (appendix in this document)

Press References=>Table of

contents=>Insert table of contents and

change the "Show levels" to 5.

Press "Yes" in the pop up window to

allow replacing the table of contents.

I pressed Tab and Word changed my paragraph to include

indents.

a small icon appears next to the

paragraph. Press the icon and choose

"stop setting indents on Tab and

backspace" now press backspace and

start over again.

I pressed Tab and Word changed my paragraph to include Don’t panic! choose Office button =>

17

indents. AND THERE IS NO LITTLE ICON WHAT

THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!

Word options => proofing => autocorrect

options. And in the "autoformat as you

tipe" tab erase the V in the box next to

"set left- and first- indent with tabs and

backspaces". press O.K twice. Now click

anywhere in the paragraph and pick the

Normal Style in the Styles tab. You can

now create an indent using a tab and the

indentation of the paragraph will stay

zero.

My table of contents appears aligned to the right. And

when I highlight it and change the direction of the

document, it is aligned to the left but the numbers are not

aligned to the right.

The only solution I know is to save the

document that you are reading right now

with a new name, delete the text, and cut

and paste your whole thesis to this

document. You'll have to make some

adjustments after doing so, but it's not as

much work as you think it is.

The words "table of contents" appear in all my thesis Make sure there is a section break before

and after the table. And that all the

sections are not "linked to previous".

Then delete the unwanted text in the

headers.

I don't have numbering next to the headingsTo create the numbering press

("multilevel list") in the Home tab. And

choose this option.

18

5 Thesis template

Thesis Title

Your Name (First name, Family

name)

Thesis Title

Research Thesis

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

degree of Master of Science in (the name of the department for exapmle-

physics)

Or

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the

Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (without department name)

Your Name (First name, Family name)

Submitted to the Senate of

the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

Hebrew month 5770, Haifa, Month 2010

(Hebrew tanscript of the months: Tishrei, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shebat, Adar,

(aleph, bet), Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, Elul)

The research thesis was done under the supervision of ….. in the

department of ….

Thanks to supervisers and anyone else come here, but only in

the version submitted to the library after the exam. NOT in the

version submitted to the senate.

The generous financial help of the Technion- Israel Institute of

Technology (if you have other financial support add it here)

is gratefully acknowledged.

Table of contents

1 Introduction.........................................................................................................3

2 Setting the defaults.............................................................................................1

2.1 Changing the normal style.............................................................................1

2.2 Setting the Headings format...........................................................................4

3 While you write...................................................................................................5

3.1 Important rules for writing.............................................................................5

3.2 Inserting numbered items...............................................................................6

3.2.1 Inserting a figure....................................................................................7

3.2.2 Inserting a table......................................................................................9

3.2.3 Inserting an equation..............................................................................9

4 Adding a table of contents................................................................................12

5 Adding a table of figures..................................................................................13

6 Adding page numbers.......................................................................................14

7 Adding references.............................................................................................15

Appendix I An appendix about how to add an appendix..........................16

Appendix II Troubleshooting....................................................................17

List of figures

Figure 2.1 a crazy professor is explaining how a relativistic yoyo works.....................7

List of tables

Table 2.1 An example for a table..................................................................................9

ABSTARCT

1

List of symbols and abbreviations

2

6 Introduction

6.1 First Section

6.1.1 Subsection

6.1.2 Subsection

6.1.2.1 Subsubsection

6.2 Second Section

6.2.1 Subsection

6.2.2 Subsection

3

7 research objectives

4

5