Doctoral Research & Writing Guide

Click on the links below to go to the portion of the finalizing your dissertation video addressing:

Click on the links below to go to the portion of the finalizing your dissertation video addressing:

Click on the links below to go to the portion of the finalizing your dissertation video addressing:

Click on the links below to go to the portion of the finalizing your dissertation video addressing:

The dissertation cover page must match the formatting of the template (see below). The most common mistakes made on the cover page is failing to properly list the committee chair/members. The proper format is Last Name, First Name, Title, Committee Chair/Member. NOTE: do not list the committee chair/member's degree. 

Here's the template for you to follow:

The table of contents must be double spaced and include all level 1, 2 and 3 headings, along with references and appendices.

The main chapter headings are designated as level 1 headings. The first level of subheadings in the chapter are designated as level 2 headings, and subheadings under level 2 headings are level 3 headings.

Each level of heading should be indented 1/2 inch under the previous in the table of contents. For example (the example below is for illustration, because it is an image, and the spacing may not match the original):

Tables and figures must be formatted according to APA requirements. 

• They should be numbered consecutively throughout the document (Table 1, Table 2, etc. and Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.).
• The word "Table" or "Figure" followed by the table/figure number in bold should be the first line.
• One double spaced line below that should be the table/figure title, using Initial Capitalization and italic font.
• The table or figure should be below that
• Blank lines above or below the table (as necessary) are appropriate to separate the table/figure from the text.
• Figures must include alt text (see the Digital Accessibility Requirements). If tables are inserted as images, they will also require alt text (tables created using the word table format do not require alt text)

For additional information, see:

Chapter Headings

The first level headings (Chapter headings) must be titled as follows:

• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature Review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Findings
• Chapter 5: Discussion of Results, Implications, and Recommendations
   

Formatting Requirements

Headings must be formatted as follows:

Using Styles to Format Headings

You can use styles in Microsoft Word to set the formatting for your headings. Each time you create a heading of a certain level, using Microsoft Word styles will let you automatically apply the correct formatting for that heading level. For information, on using styles in Word, see:

You must include your IRB approval letter as an Appendix to your dissertation. You can download a copy from Cayuse. You can either paste the text of the letter in the appendix, or use an image. However, if you paste an image of the IRB approval letter, alt text is required (as discussed in the "How to Meet the Digital Accessibility Standards" box below.

You can find information about how to identify and access your IRB approval letter from:

To ensure digital accessibility of dissertations, Franklin University requires that dissertations submitted to the OhioLINK ETD meet the following requirements:

1. Are submitted as a pdf file which includes full text;
2. The PDF accessibility permission flag is checked;
3. The text language of the pdf is specified;
4. Figures and images include alternate text;
5. The PDF document properties include the title, author, keywords, and subject;
6. At least one heading level is included in the text and the document has appropriate headings;
7. If color is used, it must not be the only means of conveying information and the text contrast of colors must not trigger a hard to read text contrast error.

Alt text (alternate text) exists to help individuals who use a screen reader because of difficulties seeing a screen understand the visual content in your dissertation. Alt text should be a sentence or two explaining what the image does or shows (i.e. the purpose of the image in the dissertation). Imagine you are reading the dissertation out load to someone: how would you describe the image to them?

Alt text should not just be the title of the image. If the image is a graph or chart, the alt text should not just say "this is a chart of my research's values", but should indicate the important values or the concept you want readers to take from seeing the chart. Alt text should be your explanation of the purpose/meaning of the image in your dissertation. Do not auto-generate the alt text in your dissertation.

To add alt text in Word,

1. right click on the figure or image;
2. select "edit alt text";
3. enter one or two sentences of alternate text which describes the figure or image, but is not just repeating the text around the image, or saying "an image of" X;
4. after entering the alt text, click on the x at the top of the alt text box and save your document.

For more information about creating alt text, on this guide:

• The screenshots below in this box show the steps for adding alternate text.
• If you want to see examples of alt text for different types of images, see the "Alt Text Examples" tab of this box.

You can also see the following external information about creating alt text:

Image: Right click on the image or figure, and select "edit alt text" to enter your alternate text

Image: Enter the alternate text in the box under Alt Text on the right side of the page and click on the x at the top. then, save your document.

Example of Alt Text -- Image

Alt text: Recruitment flyer with an African American male student in a collared, short-sleeve blue and white plaid shirt resting his head on a stack of school books next to text that is inviting New York City middle school teachers with two years of teaching experience to participate in a Franklin University doctoral study on African American male academic disengagement.

From: Murphy, S. A. (2023). Academic Disengagement of African American Male Students in Classroom Settings: A Qualitative Descriptive Study [Doctoral dissertation, Franklin University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center.

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=frank1693223681767092, used with permission.

Example of Alt Text -- Graph

Alt text: The bar graph illustrates the Overall, U-term, and Q-term response rates (RR) for each of the anonymous lab surveys; the graph shows that RRLab 1 > RRLab 2 > RRLab 4 for the Overall, U-term, and Q-term data.

From: Wagner, A. M. (2023). Perceived Usability Evaluation Of Hands-On And Virtual Science Laboratories: Using The System Usability Scale (SUS) To Determine Adult Learners’ Preferred At-Home Laboratory Experience [Doctoral dissertation, Franklin University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center.

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=frank1690890441790308, used with permission.

Example of Alt Text -- Diagram

Alt text: The flow diagram shows the use of the PRISMA method for this study. The flow diagram included four steps: identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion of literature sources. In the end, the author of this study reviewed 56 full-text articles, which included 11 chapters from two books. Each chapter was counted as one source.

From: Arriola, V. (2023). The Emotional Impact of Registered Nurses in Virginia and Maryland During the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic in Early 2020: A Qualitative Study [Doctoral dissertation, Franklin University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center.

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=frank1679433902513126, used with permission.

Example of Alt Text -- Word Cloud

Alt text: Collection of words that were most commonly found in the data analysis process. The main themes of work collab, program shortcomings, diversity are most prominent, while words like reunion date are much smaller, indicating a smaller significance to the themes.

From: Kent, N. R. (2023). A Qualitative Inquiry Into a Community College Leadership Development Program [Doctoral dissertation, Franklin University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. 

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=frank1695662241162219, used with permission.

According to the DAS, “The PDF document properties include the title, author, keywords, and subject”

These items are all entered in the document properties in Word:

1. Select “file” from the top menu bar, then look at the “info” tab;
2. On the top of the right column is a dropdown menu for properties. Click on the arrow next to properties to bring up an option for "advanced properties";
3. Click on advanced properties. Select the "summary" tab to input the document properties, as discussed below;
4. Title: Copy the title of your paper from the title page.
   1. Subject The “subject” is the subject of the degree you are receiving – just the subject, not the whole thing. For example, if you are receiving a “Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership”, the subject is just “Organizational Leadership.” See the table below for subjects.

      Degree	Subject
      Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)	Business Administration
      Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Instructional Design Leadership	Instructional Design Leadership
      Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in Organizational Leadership	Organizational Leadership
      Doctor of Healthcare Administration (D.H.A.)	Healthcare Administration
      Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.) in Instructional Design Leadership	Instructional Design Leadership

5. Author: Your name should appear as the author.
6. Keywords: Enter your keywords separated by comma. Use the same keywords for your document properties and your submission of keywords in the OhioLINK ETD submission.
7. After updating the properties, click on OK, then click on the arrow in the upper left to return to your document.
8. Save the document.

The screenshots below show how to edit the document properties in Word.

Image: Set Document Properties

Image: Set Document Properties

The dissertation template may already include heading information. However, to ensure compliance with the standard, use document styles from the home tab in Word to select headings.

The document must include at least heading level 1. If additional heading levels are used, they must be used in order, without skipping a level (i.e. you cannot use heading level 3 unless it is a subhead of heading level 2). Additionally, headings must be unique. Do not repeat headings, because that will make navigation of your document more difficult.

Use document styles from the "home" tab to apply your headings. First, format the heading to meet the formatting requirements for your dissertation. Then, with the cursor in the line of your heading (example: Chapter 1: Introduction), right click on "heading 1" and select "update heading 1 to match selection."

After you have formatted heading 1, go to the next item you want to mark as heading 1 (such as "Chapter 2: Literature Review." Click so the cursor is in the line of that heading, and then click on "heading 1" from the styles menu in the home tab to apply heading 1.

For more information, see the Microsoft Word guideline to improve accessibility with heading styles.

Manually review your document for uses of color and make sure that you have not used color alone to convey information. While use of color is permitted to enhance your document, it cannot be the sole means of providing information. If you see that your dissertation uses color alone to convey information, provide a textual alternative.

Use of color must include sufficient contrast. Run the accessibility checker in Word by going to “review” from the menu bar. Click on the “check accessibility” icon. If you get a “hard to read text contrast” error, change the text contrast and run the report again to make sure that the new color chosen resolved the error.

If you are using Word for Windows: When you are ready to create a PDF of your Word file to upload to the OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertation Center, select “file” from the top menu bar, then select “export” and click on the option to “Create PDF/XPS Document.” Note: These instructions are for computers running Word for Windows. If you are using a Mac, please contact the tech help desk (see the "tech support" tab of this box) for instructions on how to properly export your Word doc to PDF.

Before saving, click on the “options” button. Make sure that the options under “include non printing information” for “document properties” and “document structure tags for accessibility” are selected. Also make sure that the option for “create bookmarks using:” is selected with “headings” selected underneath it. Then select “ok” and click “publish.”

The image below shows the options to select when exporting to PDF.

Image: Select these settings when exporting to PDF

If you are using Word for Mac: the Franklin University Help Desk has created instructions on how to export your Word document for accessibility (see the link at the bottom of this box titled "Using OneDrive to Export a Document to PDF for Accessibility). If you have questions/issues, you may need to contact the tech help desk (see the "tech support" tab of this box) for instructions on how to properly export your Word doc to PDF.

There are two possible methods to export for accessibility on a Mac. Note that both of these options may cause your dissertation to repaginate, and cause a mismatch with the table of contents. Please check your page numbers before submitting your dissertation. You can also help alleviate this problem by using page breaks instead of hard returns to start new pages in Word as explained in the "Microsoft Word: Insert or remove a page break" link below.

Option 1:

When you are ready to create a PDF of your Word file to upload to the format check assignment, select the option that states "Best for electronic distribution and accessibility (uses Microsoft online service)."

Option 2:

You can follow the Franklin University Help Desk instructions below, and upload your Word document to OneDrive, then use Microsoft Word Online to export your dissertation to PDF. 

If you run into technical issues with satisfying the DAS, such as when exporting your PDF, creating alt text or any of the other requirements, you can contact the Franklin University Help Desk for support.

The Franklin University Help Desk is available during the following hours:

Monday through Thursday: 8AM - 8PM (EST)
Friday: 8AM - 5PM (EST)
Saturday: 9AM - 1PM (EST)
Sunday: 1PM - 5PM (EST)

The Franklin University Help Desk can be reached:

Chat with the Help Desk on their website: helpdesk.franklin.edu
Email: helpdesk@franklin.edu
Phone: 614.947.6222

For the copyright selection, you have three options:

1. Copyright, all rights reserved. My ETD will be available under the "Fair Use" terms of copyright law. This may be required by third-party publishers you work with to publish your paper commercially.
    
2. Copyright, some rights reserved. My ETD may be copied and distributed only for non-commercial purposes and may not be modified. All use must give me credit as the original author. [This is the Creative Commons "Attribution – Noncommercial –No Derivative Works" license.]
    
3. Copyright, some rights reserved. My ETD may be copied and distributed only for non-commercial purposes and may be modified only if the modified version is distributed with these same permissions. All use must give me credit as the original author. [This is the Creative Commons "Attribution – Noncommercial –Share Alike" license.]

Which option you pick depends on what permissions you’d like to give people who want to use your work. The first option is the most restrictive option. If you select this option, anyone who wants to use your work will have to seek your permission, unless their use falls within a copyright exception such as fair use. This is a good option for students who plan to publish their work in other forms later because some publishers require authors to retain this level of copyright in order to publish with them. Another reason students might pick this option is that they want control over whether people can copy, distribute, or modify their work. 

The other two options make your work available under what is known as a Creative Commons license. These licenses let you tell others who want to use your work, up front, the conditions you are placing on their use of your work. You might choose one of these two options if you don’t plan to publish, or plan to publish with a publisher that does not require restrictive copyright. A reason many authors choose a Creative Commons license is that they want people to be able to use and share their work more openly. 

The second option applies a CC-BY-NC-ND license. This license means anyone using the work must attribute it to you, cannot use the work for commercial purposes, and cannot modify the work.  

The third option is less restrictive than the second one. It applies a CC-BY-NC-SA license. Under this license, anyone using the work must attribute it to you and cannot use the work for commercial purposes. However, they are allowed to modify your work as long as they make the work available under the same Creative Commons license you applied.

Whichever of these options you select, you still retain the copyright of your work. You will be able to use your work as you want, and will be able to grant others the right to make use of your work in whatever way you want., Your work will be available through the OhioLINK and Proquest dissertation databases, as well as the University’s Institutional Repository, FUSE. Selecting a license simply lets users know how they can use your work.

For additional information, see the following pages of our Copyright Research guide:

• Fair Use
• Publishing / Author Rights
• Publishing / Creative Commons Licenses