UP College of Science Thesis Format

Rule source

The current checker is based on selected mechanical requirements from the UP College of Science Style and Format Manual, Revised September 2021. This website is not an official University of the Philippines service. It is an independent DOCX formatting helper designed to make routine format checking faster.

The manual remains the authoritative source. If your adviser, institute, or department gives additional instructions, follow those instructions. The checker is useful for finding common document-level mistakes, but it does not replace official review.

Page setup summary

Item	Expected format
Paper size	Letter size, 8.5 by 11 inches
Left margin	1.5 inches
Right margin	1.0 inch
Top margin	1.0 inch
Bottom margin	1.0 inch

Page setup errors are common because Word templates, printer defaults, and copied sections may silently switch page sizes or margins. A document can look acceptable on screen while still having the wrong underlying page setup.

Body text and paragraph summary

Item	Expected format
Body font	Times New Roman
Font size	12 point for body text
Line spacing	Double spacing
Alignment	Justified body paragraphs
First-line indent	0.5 inch for body paragraphs

These rules are simple, but long documents often contain inconsistent paragraphs because sections are pasted from proposals, lab reports, old drafts, or reference managers. The checker inspects paragraph properties directly instead of relying on how the page appears visually.

Heading and reference summary

The checker also looks for selected heading and reference formatting patterns. Chapter titles, section headings, and bibliography entries often use different rules from ordinary body paragraphs. The tool classifies common title page, front matter, heading, body, and reference areas so it does not treat every paragraph as body text.

Reference formatting is especially easy to break when entries are copied from Google Scholar, Zotero, Mendeley, or journal websites. The tool can detect basic indentation and font/spacing issues, but it does not validate citation style accuracy or whether each in-text citation appears in the bibliography.

Use the checker after reviewing the manual

For best results, first read the manual and apply your department template. Then use the UP thesis format checker as a final mechanical preflight. If you need a broader description of current Philippines support, see thesis format checker Philippines. If you are checking Word document properties specifically, see the DOCX thesis format checker.

Common formatting mistakes before submission

The most common problems are not complicated. They come from combining different Word files, copying paragraphs from proposal drafts, or accepting reviewer edits that carry old styles. One section may keep A4 page setup, another may use Calibri instead of Times New Roman, and references exported from a citation manager may have inconsistent hanging indents. These small differences are easy to miss in a long document.

A mechanical checker is useful because it does not rely on visual scanning. It reads the DOCX structure and flags properties that differ from the selected rule set. You can then decide whether the issue is a real format violation, a special case allowed by your adviser, or a rule that your department handles differently.