Preparing Your Thesis

Find important information about preparing your master's thesis at Hunter's School of Arts and Sciences. Learn about filing deadlines, publishing requirements, formatting guidelines and more.

Thesis Deadlines

All approvals by advisors and readers must be completed by the dates indicated below via CUNY Academic Works.

  • Fall Semester: January 3, 2025
  • Spring Semester: May 2, 2025
  • Summer Semester: August 1, 2025

CUNY Academic Works is the online research repository for the City University of New York. By depositing your work in Academic Works, it will receive wide visibility via search engines such as Google, Google Scholar, and Bing. You will receive a permanent URL to include on your CV, as well as monthly download reports telling you how often your work has been downloaded and read.

For any specific questions regarding the deadlines dates set by the Dean’s Office, you may contact our main office at 212-772-5121.

Thesis Requirements

The following are the general requirements for the School of Arts and Sciences master’s theses submitted electronically through CUNY Academic Works. Candidates should check with their departments for information about any additional requirements specific to their degree program.

Thesis Topics and Drafts

  • Choosing the best thesis topic: The degree candidate should consult her/his graduate advisor for the requirements of the graduate program with regard to choosing the thesis topic and submitting the first and final drafts.
  • Submitting drafts: Readers will review only final approved thesis drafts through the online CUNY Academic Works portal.

For more details, see Step by Step Guide for Students.

Approval of the Thesis

  • The thesis should be read by at least two readers (the thesis sponsor and a second reader).
  • At least one of readers must be a full-time faculty member.
  • Readers’ approval of the thesis should be certified by their typed signatures on the title page of the thesis.
  • When both readers have electronically approved a thesis through CUNY Academic Works, it will be electronically forwarded to the department graduate advisor.
  • If the advisor is satisfied that the thesis has met the departmental and school requirements, she/he electronically approves the thesis.
  • Once the program adviser and readers approve the thesis via CUNY Academic Works, the degree candidate may not make any revisions.
  • When the thesis has been accepted by the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, the thesis approval will be noted as a “Milestone” on the student’s CUNYfirst transcript. Students should look at their transcripts for any new updates.

For more details, see Step by Step Guide for Readers.

Thesis Guidelines

Formatting

  • Thesis text should be typed using a legible font such as Arial, Courier or Times New Roman.
  • All margins of both text and illustrations must be one inch.
  • The text is to be double-spaced, except for quotations of more than four lines, which will be set apart (single-spaced and indented).
  • Footnotes and bibliography will be single-spaced, with double spacing between notes and entries.
  • Pages, including pages of illustrative material, bibliography and appendices are to be typed or scanned and numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals.
  • No ink insertions are allowed. Striking over or crossing out an error is not permitted.

Graphics

  • Illustrations, graphics, charts and photographs must be scanned or produced with an appropriate computer program.
  • Graphic materials must include a descriptive caption that includes the author and original source.
  • Generally, all graphic materials should be scaled to fit the electronic page size of 8 1/2 by 11 inches. If and when appropriate, other sizes can be accepted.
  • The graduate program and the library liaison for CUNY Academic Works, Iris Finkel  should be consulted for technical guidance on uploading illustrations and permissions for copyrighted materials.

Content

The content of the thesis should include the following, when applicable, in order as listed:

In addition, for all electronic submissions, degree candidates should be prepared to upload into the online repository an informative abstract of no more than 50 words, a list of ten keywords, and a CUNY Academic Works submission agreement.

Editorial Style

  • The degree candidate should consult her/his graduate advisor for the style guide preferred by the discipline.
  • All thesis deposited in the online repository must conform to an accepted style guide for publication and writing.
  • References sections and in text citations must follow an acceptable style consistently and correctly.
  • The Modern Language Association, American Psychological Association and the University of Chicago Press publish widely accepted style guides.