Writing & Style Guide (Luther Seminary): Templates

Download the correct template for your project. Be sure to read & follow the instructions found in the help documents.

Once your thesis has been approved, check with Graduate Theological Education staff for instructions on binding.

Template Benefits

Word Templates conform to the Writing & Style Guide. Concentrate on writing your thesis—do NOT worry about spacing, page numbers, or other style details. The Help Document shows you how to use and apply the correct styles.

If you use the thesis template the following will MAGICALLY occur:

• Your entire thesis will be in one document.
• Your table of contents will be created automatically.
• The styles will take care of: correct spacing, appropriate bolding (headings) and indentations (block quotes).
• You will have one complete bibliography of all your works cited.
• You do not have to insert page numbers. The page numbers will line up correctly for you (bottom center for first pages of chapters, top right for all other pages).

Read the Help Document - for Mac, for PC. FOLLOW the DIRECTIONS. Save often.

Choose a Template

Choose the appropriate template for your program or project. The Research Paper Template applies to all degree programs. It can be used for your thesis proposal.

Download the Help Document for your operating system. This explains how to:

• use the templates
• work with page numbers
• use section breaks to create new chapters (page numbers will be accurate)
• generate a table of contents
• build a table of figures and illustrations.

Download a Template

Use your personal computer or a campus lab computer.

1. Download the template you need from the list at left. Save the template on your computer (either your desktop or your Documents folder).
2. Start writing your paper/thesis. Create a back up version. Save it in your Google Drive. Develop a workable naming process for your files. Keep track of all versions and revisions as you write your thesis.

Don't worry about setting margins, page numbers, correct spacing, which font to use or any of the other formatting issues that confound you.

Concentrate your energy on research and writing. Jennie Bartholomew covers the basics of how to use a template in this February 12, 2015 Tech Talk.

http://download.luthersem.edu/media/techtalk/templates.mp4

Brief videos for template help.

Getting Started with the Templates: Where and How to Download

Watch the video by clicking this link.

Styling Your Text

Watch the video by clicking this link.

Using the Document Map and Table of Contents

Watch the video by clicking this link.

Creating a List of Tables and Figures

Watch the video by clicking this link.