From: Council of Directors, Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology
Re: Dissertation Formatting Issues
Effective January 1, 2002 all students in the VIRGINIA CONSORTIUM will prepare their dissertations according to the 5th edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual in conjunction with the ODU Guide for Theses and Dissertations. Students should pay special attention to the material in Chapter 6 (pp. 321-326) on dissertation preparation. The APA Publication Manual will provide guidance on headings, format of references, and citations. Students will also find information on the preparation of the various sections (chapters) of a dissertation and presentation of statistical information. Students will also be able to find models for tables and figures in the manual. Important aspects of the new manual include use of italics vs. underlining for headings and in references, placement of tables and figures within the document rather than at the end as is usual for manuscripts, and use of the “hanging indent” in the Reference section. Please note that students will continue to use left justification only in the document. Students will indicate that the 5th edition of the APA Publication Manual is their “journal model.”
