Hi everyone,
can anyone suggest a good source for the quite mundane aspects of physically writing a thesis? I seem to have a lot of questions about correct formatting (for instance order of things like list of figures, list of tables etc etc), whether to put full stops on my abbreviations, how regularly to refer the reader to other parts of the thesis, the best way to organise tables etc. I know of this will be common sense, but I'd like to know if there are conventions on the way that a thesis is written, and I don't feel like these are the questions that I should be taking to my supervisor!
Thank you!
Siwee

Paul Oliver (2004) "Writing your thesis" has a chapter on formatting which includes most of the things you've mentioned. You could also try searching on your university/department website for a style guide as I think generally there should be some rules on things like spacing, margin/font size etc.

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my university has a graduate training office that deals with all these sorts of things - they have a template they send out to help students with this. maybe your uni has something similar? failing that, can you get hold of someone else's thesis (should be in your uni library) and copy their formatting?

Best way is to look at other peoples theses in your uni/area of research. One of the most important things is that it is easy to read. You mentioned how regularly to refer the reader to ohter parts of the thesis - I would say not too often. Imagine reading something where you are constantly having to flick backwards and forwards to understand something. Your examiners will thank you if you make it clear and well layed out in the first place.

i would recommend looking at a collegue's thesis to get a rough idea of the sort of thesis layout. when i was writing my thesis, i had a few pdf files of sample thesis, from friends and collegues. most people are happy to send you their thesis pdf file, cause no one else will be looking at it!

that should give you a good starting point as to how to format your thesis.

also its a good idea to get your margins correct on your word document from the beginning, as when you start inputting figures and diagrams, it will save the hassle of having to redo it