Changes in the 2009 Edition of the
Style Guide for the Applied Dissertation
The following list shows the significant changes in the latest update of the Fischler School’s Style Guide for the Applied Dissertation, published in August 2009. This summary does not include the expansion or clarification of guidelines from the 2004 edition that may be found in the 2009 guide.
- Times New Roman and Courier New are the only typefaces allowed for the dissertation manuscript (with the exception of figures and, where appropriate, appendix material). The 2004 guide indicated that the two typefaces were “preferred.”
- Single-spacing in block quotations is now required (the 2004 guide allowed a choice between single- and double-spacing); in multiparagraph block quotations, double-spacing between each paragraph is required (with no extra indent for the first lines of second and subsequent paragraphs).
- In the Abstract, the student’s name is no longer typed with the surname first.
- In the Abstract, the list of ERIC descriptors is preceded by “ERIC Descriptors:”; descriptors are separated by commas rather than slashes.
- Above the list of appendix items in the Table of Contents, the new APA-preferred spelling has changed from “Appendixes” to “Appendices.”
- Headings and subheadings will follow the new style shown in the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (i.e., boldface, no italics).
Please note that the new APA style guideline for two spaces after sentence-ending punctuation will not be followed for the applied dissertation. One space after sentence-ending punctuation continues to be the rule.
