Anna University thesis format

Which documents set the rules

For the format, three documents from CFR are important. First one is the R2025 regulations. Clause 17 has the thesis rules, and the guidelines for preparing the thesis are given as an annexure, with sample pages. Second is a circular dated 22 June 2022 about how the pages are counted. The third one is a circular telling scholars to use the thesis template given by CFR, in Word (.dotx) or LaTeX, and not to change its format.

Please use the template. The margins, heading styles and numbering are already set inside it, and the scrutiny team is familiar with how it looks. Take current version from the CFR site, cfr.annauniv.edu. Sometimes the link is moved on that site, and then you can ask your supervisor for it. Copy your chapter text and paste it as plain text only, so that old formatting from your draft file is not carried into the template.

Some scholars are working at an Anna research centre in Coimbatore, Madurai or Tirunelveli. For them also the rules are the same, because all of it comes from Chennai. The other universities in those cities are listed on our Chennai and Coimbatore pages.

Page layout, fonts and numbering

The numbers are in the table above. Some layout points are not in the table.

Chapter headings, and the headings of front pages, begin 50 mm below the upper edge of the page. They are typed in capitals and centred. First you type the word CHAPTER with its number, and the chapter title comes two lines below that. The text starts four lines further down. Section numbers go in the decimal way, like 2.3.4, and they are kept flush left.

Anna wants the page number in the upper right corner, and not at the bottom. You count the title page as page (i), but leave the number off that page. Next page is (ii). Arabic numbers start from the first page of Chapter 1.

For captions also there is a fixed rule. The table caption goes above the table, and the figure caption goes below the figure. Both are numbered chapter-wise. If you take a figure from another person’s paper, give the source under it in Times New Roman 11, like “(Source: Jones et al. 2001)”. When a long table runs over to the next page, start it again with “Table 2.1 (continued)”.

Two more small rules are in section 6.1. When a page is ending, the last word on it should be complete, so no hyphen breaking that word into the next page. And if a sub-heading falls near the bottom, there must be two full lines of text under it, otherwise shift the sub-heading to the next page. Scrutiny checkers look for both these things.

Page order and the 100–400 page rule

The manual gives the order for arranging and binding the thesis. In short it goes like this.

1. Cover page, then the title page
2. Bonafide certificate, typed double-spaced in Times New Roman 13
3. Abstract
4. Acknowledgement
5. Table of contents
6. List of tables, and after that the list of figures
7. List of symbols and abbreviations
8. The chapters, followed by appendices
9. References in alphabetical order
10. List of publications or patents
11. Full papers from CFR-list journals (not more than five)
12. First page of the plagiarism report

Next is the page count. As per the manual the range is 100 to 400 pages, and counting starts from Chapter 1. Earlier some scholars were reaching 100 pages by adding appendices before the references. The 2022 circular stopped this. After that circular, references and appendices are kept out of the count, and only your main content is checked against 100 to 400 pages. Suppose your chapters come to 92 pages. Adding a long questionnaire in the appendix will not help you then.

The supervisor’s certificate has some small informations to get right. Only the academic designation of the supervisor is given there, and posts like “Dean” or “Coordinator” are not written. The word SUPERVISOR is typed in capitals, between the name and the designation.

Citations, your own papers and the abstracts

Anna follows an author and year style for citations. For one author you write Jones (2001). With two authors you put an ampersand, like (Deane & Jones 1991). Three or more authors become Smith et al. (1992). References are listed alphabetically by first author, in single spacing. The manual has worked examples for journal papers, books, conference papers, websites, patents and theses. Copy the pattern from those.

Your own published papers are not mixed with the reference list. They go separately under publications, with the impact factor wherever the journal has one. Up to five of them are bound in the end of the thesis.

Apart from this, two separate abstracts are needed. Along with the thesis you give two printed abstracts of about 400 words, one in English and one in Tamil. Both are uploaded on the CFR site also. This is clause 17.2 of R2025. Many times scholars from outside Tamil Nadu come to know about the Tamil abstract only at the last stage. Fix a translator early, and ask a Tamil-speaking colleague from your own field to check the technical words.

The abstract inside the thesis is a different one. That one is written like an essay, up to four pages long, and it covers the problem, the method and the findings.

From synopsis to submission, step by step

Under R2025 the steps go in this order.

Two seminars. The first seminar is before your provisional registration gets confirmed. The second one comes before the synopsis (clause 15.2). Both are open to faculty and scholars, held on a working day where your supervisor works, and CFR must be told in advance.

The synopsis. You can give the synopsis only after two things, your registration getting confirmed and your minimum period getting over. If you have two full-length papers or patents, you can submit it three months early (16.1). Maximum length is 15 pages, with the publications list included, with 15 references or less. Type it in Times New Roman 13 with one and a half spacing.

The synopsis meeting. This Doctoral Committee meeting happens in person only, and online is not allowed. As per clause 16.6, the full thesis in draft form must be kept before the committee at this meeting. Many scholars think the synopsis is a summary of work which is still going on, but at Anna you need the complete draft by then. When the committee approves, your supervisor sends the synopsis with a panel of eight examiners, four from Indian institutions and four from abroad (16.7).

The thesis. First you upload one PDF, and the printed copy comes after that. You have 90 days from the date your synopsis is approved (17.2). It can go up to six months, but only if the Director (Research) agrees beforehand, and you have to pay a late fee.

Scrutiny. CFR checks the layout, content and presentation. If they find any deviation, you correct it with your supervisor and then submit three corrected copies (17.4).

The similarity check

For plagiarism Anna follows the UGC 2018 levels, which are written into clause 23 of R2025. Up to 10% is Level 0, and there is no penalty for it. If it is between 10% and 40%, you get up to six months to revise. Above 40% means a one-year bar, and above 60% the registration is cancelled.

CFR has its own plagiarism policy, and in that one Level 0 is needed in the report you are submitting. You can’t run this check yourself, it runs from your supervisor’s login only. In the policy the tool named is Urkund (Ouriginal), because that was the tool in use when the policy was written. The national licence moved to DrillBit in 2023. So ask your supervisor which tool opens in the login now.

The policy also lists what is left out of the count. A quotation is left out when you have given proper source of the original author with it. References, contents, preface and acknowledgements are excluded, and standard terms and equations also. Uploading the same file again is not counted against you. Papers you claim in the thesis are excluded, and unclaimed papers which meet the authorship rules of clause 16.2 are excluded too.

In the bound thesis only one page of the report goes, the page showing the index. Still, CFR re-checks theses on its own side. In their list of reasons for returning a synopsis, exceeding the plagiarism level comes first. Try to keep your number well below 10%.

Papers you need before the synopsis

Many Anna scholars get stuck at clause 16.2. To get the synopsis accepted, you need minimum one full-length research article, published after your joining date, in the regular issue of a CFR-listed journal. Your name has to come first in the author list, or second when the first name is your supervisor. The corresponding author can be only you, your supervisor or a joint supervisor. At least one paper should have four authors or less.

Some types of papers are not counted. Short communications, letters, short notes and chapters in collections are not accepted. A paper where a PG student was the corresponding author is also not accepted. One more case is same content coming in two journals. This is treated as self-plagiarism and that paper is not taken. In place of the paper, one granted utility patent can be used, but there are limits on who is the applicant and who are the inventors (16.4).

The paper should be visible on the journal website with its DOI or issue details (16.3). It must also stay in a regular issue till you get the degree. If a paper is retracted during scrutiny, it will not be considered (17.2). Check the CFR journal list before you send a paper to any journal, and check once again before the synopsis, because the list is changed by Research Board decision.

Evaluation and the viva

Two examiners, selected by the Vice-Chancellor, read your thesis (18.1). One examiner is from India and the other is from abroad. Each examiner puts the thesis in one of four groups. It can be accepted as it is, accepted with corrections, revised and sent again to the examiner, or rejected (18.2). When one examiner accepts and the other rejects, a third examiner gives the decision.

After both reports come, the Doctoral Committee meets within three months and suggests three subject experts for the oral board (19.1). The board has the Indian examiner, one outside expert, your joint supervisor if you have one, and your supervisor, who acts as convener.

The viva-voce is an open defence. It is held within 45 days from the date the board is formed (19.3), and it cannot be on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday. The circular is sent out at least three weeks before the date. Apart from the board members, at least ten people must attend. The viva is also in person only, same as the synopsis meeting.

Suppose the board feels the performance is not satisfactory. Then you can appear again within three months, and one more expert is added to the board (19.5). After passing, the corrected thesis has to be uploaded, and your supervisor gives a certificate to go with it. A scanned copy of the board’s minutes is placed after the title page.

If you need help with the template, the page order or the list of scrutiny corrections, our thesis formatting support works from the R2025 manual itself. For the chapters, see PhD thesis help in Chennai. The general checks that every university does are in our thesis formatting checklist.