Duke University Archives

Physical Standards for Honors Papers

Once accepted for honors by your department, these papers are bound and cataloged by the Library and kept permanently in the University's Archives. Through library networks, your work can be made known and available to scholars in the academic world at large, as well as to people here at Duke. The paper is a record of your accomplishment. For all these reasons, honors theses should be printed on good quality paper. The University Archives developed these standards in cooperation with the Library and the Dean of Arts and Sciences. Papers that do not meet the standards will not be preserved in the Archives.

• Use only acid-free thesis paper, or paper of at least 25% rag bond. The Bryan Center carries quality paper stock. Do not use any 'easy-erase' paper, photocopy stock, coated or other treated paper; we will not accept the work. Re-cycled paper is fine, as long as it meets the above standard.
  
  
• Use a laser or letter-quality printer that produces dark and legible characters in an appropriate font. Submit the original printout for binding, not a photocopy. If typed, or printed on a dot-matrix printer, use a fresh ribbon.
  
  
• Leave a left margin of at least one and one-quarter inches (1¼") on all pages, including charts, inserts, and appendices. This space is needed for proper binding. Don't assume that your word processor's print settings are accurate; print out a test page and check it.
  
  
• Do not have your paper privately bound, and do not submit it in binders of the type that require you to punch holes in the paper, or otherwise weaken it in any way.
  
  
• The title page should include at a minimum the following information: title, author, type of paper (e.g., A thesis submitted to the Department of Economics for honors), Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, and the year. It is customary to acknowledge those people who have assisted and guided you in your work. An "acknowledgements" page at least should include your advisor's name.
  
  
• Foldout charts and the like present special problems for the binders. It's hard to be specific about these; come talk to us. For photographs, a photocopy done on rag or thesis paper is preferable to an original mounted print.
  
  
• Naturally, there should be as few erasures and corrections as possible.

Questions? Call 684-5637 or e-mail archives@acpub.duke.edu

Updated on Friday, May 07, 1999