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Full Formatting Service

Michael Done - owner and manager of Format My Thesis
Michael Done
Owner and Manager of Format My Thesis
Thesis Formatting Specialist

Welcome to Format My Thesis.

    • Are you a PhD or Masters candidate struggling to format your thesis or dissertation?
    • Are you burning up precious time trying to get it right but still can’t achieve the quality results you want?
    • Are you running out of time with submission deadlines looming but still lots of other loose ends to tie up?

Then you’re in the right place.  I can definitely help you … 

Introducing my Full Formatting Service.

Let me do all the hands-on formatting for you in a fortnight or less!

This is how it works: 

Week 1 of the fortnight:

    • By Mon 9am (Perth, Western Australia time): You provide me with the latest draft of your thesis.
    • By Thu 5pm: I provide you with a fully formatted version of your thesis as a PDF for you (and/or your supervisors) to review.

Week 2 of the fortnight:

    • By Tue 9am: You send me feedback from your formatting review, identifying any adjustments you want me to make.
    • By Wed 5pm: I provide you with the adjusted thesis so you can check that I’ve applied your feedback the way you want.
    • By Thu 5pm: You let me know if there are any remaining formatting tweaks required (which I immediately apply).
    • By Fri 5pm: I provide you with the fully formatted thesis as a Word document so you can apply your final content updates.

After that, at an agreed and mutually workable date and time:

    • You … send me your updated, 100% finalised thesis.
    • I … check the thesis for any formatting disruptions arising from your changes, correct them, then send back a PDF for you to inspect.
    • We … work together to iron out any minor issues arising from your inspection.
    •  I … provide you with the finalised thesis, both as a PDF (for submission) and a Word document (for later editing if the Examiners require it).
    • You ... submit your thesis!

To ensure my formatting aligns exactly with your requirements, it’s likely that I’ll need occasional clarification or decisions from you along the way.  This means you’ll need to be available to respond promptly (within 4 business hours of my calling, texting or emailing you) throughout the formatting period.  From this point of view, the formatting process is an active collaboration.  Of course, from the point of view of the hands on formatting, you can leave everything to me.

Book NOW ▲

Use the calendar below to select a commencement date for your formatting.  It’s advisable to book at least 2-3 months ahead, as my calendar often fills up very quickly.

If you’re not 100% sure of your timetable, or if your preferred start date is showing as unavailable, book anyway.  Choose a date based on your best guess or your second preference.  But do book!  Once you’re in my calendar, I can generally find ways of flexing my schedule and moving your booking to a different date if needed.  But it’s much more difficult, usually impossible, to squeeze you in or rearrange my schedule at short notice.   

FREEZE ON UPDATES DURING THE FORMATTING PERIOD:  During our formatting fortnight, there is a freeze on content updates.  It’s impractical for me to accommodate content changes while I’m formatting.  So if you’re still needing to work on content during that fortnight, you’ll have to apply changes to your own copy of the thesis, then manually re-apply them to my ‘master copy’ after I’ve completed the formatting. 

What will happen next?

  • After placing your booking, you’ll receive an automated email acknowledging that your booking has been received.
  • Within the following day or two, I’ll call you by phone for a initial 15-minute chat where you can tell me about your thesis and your formatting requirements, and I can tell you about my process and answer any questions you might have.
  • I’ll then email you a requirements questionnaire asking you for more precise details about your thesis and your formatting preferences.
  • Based on the information you send me, I’ll provide you with a cost estimate comprising the Core Services Fee plus any applicable Extended Service Fees (see details below).
  • You’ll then have up to 2 weeks to decide if you wish to proceed.  If you choose to go ahead, then within that 2-week period you’ll pay a non-refundable deposit to confirm your booking.  Bookings automatically lapse after two weeks unless the deposit has been paid.
  • On receipt of your deposit, I’ll lock your booking date into my calendar and we’re all set to go.

 

 Fees ▲

All prices quoted on this site are in Australian Dollars ($AUD).
If you are living in Australia, the prices quoted include GST.

  • Core Services Fee: $2,200

Core Services cover the complete formatting of a thesis with up to 80,000 words (total across the whole document, including front matter, bibliography and appendices), 10 chapters, 10 appendices, 10 figures, 10 tables, 10 equations, 5 imported publications, and 20 additional pages imported from up to 10 external documents, typically for appendices (e.g. approval letters, forms, brochures, questionnaires). The thesis content can be supplied to me in up to 20 separate files (chapters, appendices, abstract, references, acknowledgements, etc.).

Details of all included services are set out in the Core Services section below.

  • Extended Services Fees 

If your thesis is over 80,000 words long, has unusually large numbers of chapters, appendices, tables, figures, imported documents, source files, or has other special formatting requirements, you may require services that extend beyond the Core Services.  In these cases, additional fees apply, details of which are set out in the Extended Services section further down this page.

  • Itemised cost estimate 

Prior to confirming your booking and paying your deposit, I’ll provide you with an itemised cost estimate based on your detailed requirements.  It will include the Core Services fee and, if relevant, any Extended Services fees that might apply in your case.
Note: I provide a cost estimate, not a firm quote.  My estimates are generally very accurate, but occasionally there are formatting complications which don’t emerge until I’m actually working on the document (much like the unexpected under-the-bonnet issues that sometimes emerge when you get your car serviced).  If this happens, I’ll advise you and await your approval before taking any action that will result in extra costs.

Core Services: What will you get? ▲

A fully formatted, university-compliant thesis document – structured, styled and stable

    • I deliver to you a robustly structured, submission-ready document which meets your university’s requirements for structure and layout, and which follows standard academic publishing practices.
    • I apply consistent page layout throughout the thesis, e.g. margins, line spacing, page numbering (Roman and Arabic), page headers and footnote positioning and numbering.
    • I apply a consistent, distinctive style to every type of content element in your thesis, i.e. headings, subheadings, main text, quotes, footnotes, tables, captions, etc.
    • I implement stabilising “smart” features (see below) to your headings, captions and cross-references – e.g. “see Figure 1.3″ – which maintain numbering integrity throughout the thesis, even if you later add, remove or reposition sections, figures or tables.  These also enable me to auto-generate a 100% correct Table of Contents, List of Figures and List of Tables.
    • If you require it, I ensure the thesis complies with APA formatting guidelines – insofar as they can be applied to a thesis. Specifically this covers: heading styles/indentation; running heads (on a chapter-by-chapter basis); body text, quotation and list styles/indentation; caption, footnote and table note styles/spacing; data table styling. 
      Note: This does not include checking or ensuring compliance with APA referencing or writing standards. I classify these as editorial matters, and they need to have been attended to before you send your thesis to me. (See Other Terms and Conditions below.)

Flexibility in how you deliver your source files to me

    • I’m happy for you to send your thesis to me as either (i) a single consolidated Word document, or (ii) multiple separate files, e.g. individual chapter files.  You don’t need to copy/paste separate files into a consolidated file.  I’ll do this for you.
      Note: The Core Services Fee covers your sending me up to 20 separate files.  If you have more than this, there will be a modest Extended Services Fee applied to cover the extra file management at my end.  
    • You don’t need to include a Table of Contents, List of Figures or List of Tables.  I’ll generate these for you.
    • If your total file size is below 20Mb, you can send files to me as email attachments.  Alternatively, we can set up a shared folder on OneDrive, DropBox or Google Drive to exchange files.  There is also a 3rd-party free file transfer sevice that we can use. 

“Smart” headings and automated Table of Contents

    • I apply self-adjusting “smart” numbering to every chapter title, appendix title and numbered section, guaranteeing automatic and 100% correct labelling and numbering throughout your thesis.
      Note: The Core Services Fee covers up to 10 chapters and 10 appendices.
    • I generate an automated Table of Contents (TOC) based on these titles and headings.

“Smart” captions and automated List of Figures and List of Tables

    • I apply auto-numbering and self-adjusting “smart” captions to your figures and tables, guaranteeing table and figure captions will be labelled correctly. even if you later add, remove or reposition figures or tables.
      Note: The Core Services Fee covers up to 10 tables and 10 figures.
    • I generate an automated List of Figures and List of Tables based on these captions.

“Smart” cross-references

    • I convert internal cross-references (e.g. “see Figure 1.3″)  to “smart” cross-references.  A “smart” cross-reference hot-links to its target object, i.e. if the reader clicks on a cross-reference, they’re taken straight to the referenced target object.  Also, if the target heading number or caption number ever changes, a smart cross-reference will auto-adjust to match the change.

Figures

    • I resize, reposition, crop and (if requested) apply borders to up to 10 simple figure graphics (e.g. charts, photographs, jpeg images).
      Note: Some figures are complex. These are typically either: (i) composite graphics that have been assembled inside Word using multiple shapes and images; or (ii) image galleries where multiple images need to be presented as a grid or matrix. These sit outside the Core Services and incur an Extended Services fee.

Tables

    • I format up to 10 simple tables, i.e. standard grid structures using no merged cells (except for tiered column headers).  I apply a consistent, elegant, APA-compliant table style to all your tables.
      Note: Some tables are complex. These typically: (i) are unusually long, i.e. span more than 2 full pages; (ii) make use of merged data cells; (iii) have an irregular row/column structure; or (iv) have multiple paragraphs of text or multiple data values inside individual cells. These sit outside the Core Services and incur an Extended Services fee.
    • I ensure that wherever tables span multiple pages, their column headers are automatically re-displayed at the top of the second and subsequent pages.

Equations

    • I correctly position and sequentially number up to 10 equations.

Page imports from external documents

    • I import up to a total of 5 publications (from publishers’ PDF files) for inclusion within chapters, .
    • I import up to an additional 20 pages (as single page images) from up to 10 external documents, e.g. approval letters, questionnaires, brochures and forms (Word or PDF) for inclusion in apendices.
      Note: To ensure that the original formatting of external Word documents is perfectly preserved, I don’t copy/paste these documents directly into your thesis, as this nearly always distorts the original formatting.  Instead I  convert them to page images (the equivalent of scanning each page) then pull those page images into your thesis as perfect replicas of the originals.

Page Layout Optimisation

    • Page Layout Optimisation enhances the readability and overall aesthetic of your thesis, giving it a discernible “professional edge”.  I scrutinise and optimise the layout of every page of your thesis. Where needed, I adjust the positioning of page-breaks and subtly (but indiscernibly) compress images, tables and text in order to:
    • Minimise gaping white space at the bottom of pages,
    • Minimise ragged ends of paragraphs, e.g. where there’s just a single word on the final line,
    • Minimise ragged ends of chapters, e.g. where there are just 2-3 lines on the final page,
    • Maximise flow and continuity for the reader, i.e. a smooth, “easy read”.

PRE-SUBMISSION BONUS

Two free hours to deal with any formatting disruptions arising from content changes you make after my formatting is done.

    • After I’ve completed the formatting, you may need to make late changes to your thesis content (most people do).  No problem.  I set aside two free hours of my time to correct any formatting disruptions resulting from your late changes.
    • Unless you make fairly substantial changes (unusual at such a late stage), this 2-hour free allowance is normally plenty of time.
    • If more than two hours are needed, the first two hours of additional time (i.e. hours 3 and 4) are charged at a 33.3% discounted rate of $100/hr.  Any further additional time is charged at $150/hr.

POST-EXAMINER BONUS

Two discounted hours to deal with any formatting disruptions arising from changes requested by Examiners.

    • If your Examiners require you to make changes after their assessment, you may need follow-up formatting services to rectify any formatting disruptions arising from those changes.  Your first two hours will be charged at a 33.3% discounted rate of $100/hr.  Typically, two hours is enough to deal with the formatting impacts of Examiner-requested changes.  In the unusual event that more than two hours are needed, the additional time is charged at $150/hr.

PRINT EDITION – a version of your thesis optimised for physical printing and binding

Nowadays, universities don’t generally ask you to provide bound physical copies of your thesis.  However, most candidates still like to produce a few bound copies as mementos for themselves and/or their supervisors.  They typically do this after their thesis has been returned from the Examiners and any final content updates have been applied. 

But there’s a problem:  The thesis you submit to Examiners will usually have been set up with on-screen reading in mind.  It will typically have equal left and right margins, centred headers and footers, and there should be no blank pages anywhere in the document.  If you print and bind this file, you’ll most likely be very disappointed with the result.  Why?  Because it won’t have taken into account the special layout requirements needed for bound copies.  To deal with this, I have developed a process to generate a Print Edition of your thesis, optimised for physical printing and binding. 

    • In the Print Edition, I ensure each page has a wider margin on the spine edge to offset the amount ‘swallowed’ by the binding.  Page headers (running heads) and footers (page numbers) are justified against the outer margin, giving the document more of a ‘book’ look.  And blank pages are inserted where needed to ensure new chapters, appendices and front/back matter sections start on an odd-numbered (right-hand) page — an almost universal publishing convention.
    • The optimal left margin width for binding is 4.5cm, and for a balanced look a 2cm right margin is best. So the total required margin width (left + right) is 6.5cm. If your total margin width is less than this, then I reduce the print area width for each page in your thesis accordingly.  However, this means that figures and tables will need to be resized to fit in the narrower space (and font size reduced in tables). This involves time-consuming manual adjustments to every affected figure and table, as well as numerous other width-related adjustments elsewhere in the thesis (e.g. the Table of Contents).
    • The fee for a Print Edition starts at $200. It is calculated on an hourly basis (charged at a 33.3% discounted rate of $100/hr, minimum 2 hours). However, depending on your initial margin settings (and therefore the amount of resizing I need to do throughout the thesis), the cost will increase according to the time required.  This varies greatly from thesis to thesis.  Typically, where resizing is involved, the cost rises to around $300, but can go up to (and in rare cases even beyond) $500. 
    • So my practice is first to review your thesis and provide you with a price estimate based on my assessment of what will be involved. You can then decide if you’d like me to proceed.  

Extended Services and related fees ▲

If your formatting requirements fall outside the standard Core Services parameters, some Extended Services Fees will apply.

Extended Services (costs determined by quantity):

    • Additional words (Core Services cover up to 80,000 words)
      Cost: $25 for each additional 1,000 words above 80,000
    • Additional chapters and appendices (Core Services cover up to 10 Chapters and 10 Appendices.)
      Cost: $25 for each additional chapter or appendix
    • Additional tables (Core Services allow for up to 10 tables)
    • Cost: $10 per additional table
    • Additional figures (Core Services allow for up to 10 figures)
      Cost: $10 per additional figure
    • Additional numbered equations (Core Services include formatting of up to 10 numbered equations)
      Cost: $10 per additional equation
    • Additional source files (Core Services allow for you to send your thesis content to me in up to 20 source files)
      Cost: $10 per additional source file
    • Additional imported publications for chapters (Core Services allow for up to 5 imported publications)
      Cost: $25 per additional publication
    • Additional imported external documents for appendices (Core Services allow for up to 10 imported external documents)
      Cost: $25 per additional exernal document
    • Additional imported pages from external documents for appendices (Core Services allow for up to 20 pages imported from external documents)
      Cost: $10 per additional page from an exernal document

Extended Services (costs determined by time taken):

The prices shown for the various items below are indicative only.  They are based on the typical time taken, charged at my standard hourly rate of $150/hr.  Given that every thesis is unique, actual prices may vary above and below these amounts.

Complex Tables

    • Formatting complex tables, i.e. long tables (extending over 2 full pages); tables with merged data cells; tables with multiple paragraphs of text or multiple numerical values inside individual cells; tables comprising multiple joined tables; tables with coloured or shaded cells
      Typical cost: $25 per complex table
    • Re-structuring/resizing tables to fit wide tables within page boundaries, manipulating positioning of data elements or paragraphs of text to achieve correct horizontal alignment of related data across columns.
      Typical cost: $25 per corrected table
    • Creating a customised table design, e.g. a special colour scheme for text or borders, or decorative features such as alternating colours (‘banding’) between adjacent rows or columns. Note: This is a very unusual requirement.  Normally my standard table style does the job perfectly.
      Typical cost: $50 per new table design.

Table data imports from Excel

    • Importing table data from Excel spreadsheets then reformatting/restructuring them to match the style of other native Word tables in the thesis.
      Typical cost: $25 per table import (simple tables); $50 per table import (complex tables)      .

Complex (multi-element) Figures

    • Converting multi-element complex graphics (that you’ve built within Word) into simple scalable images.
      Typical cost: $25 per complex graphic
    • Formatting image galleries (i.e. a grid or matrix of images).
      Typical cost: $25 per gallery (up to 12 grid cells); $50 (above 12 grid cells)  
    • Redesigning or enhancing graphics.
      Note: This is a labour-intensive activity.  I’m very happy to do it for you, but economically it’s to your advantage to have your graphics well-designed and finalised before they come to me.
      Typical cost: $50-$100 per enhanced graphic

Figure imports from PowerPoint

    • Importing slides from PowerPoint files.
      Typical cost: $10 per imported slide (provided no redesign or graphics enhancement is required)

Numbered Equations

    • Positioning and numbering extra equations. (Core Services include positioning and numbering of 10 equations.)
      Typical cost: $10 per additional equation

Multi-volume thesis

    • A multi-volume thesis (an very rare occurrence in most disciplines) introduces numerous structural and formatting complexities that are likely to significantly increase workload and and cost. These include heading and caption numbering conventions across volumes, assembling a single composite bibliography, and creating tables of contents (as a single composite or as multiple volume-specific tables).  
      Indicative cost: $450 per additional volume, though this can vary greatly from one thesis to another, depending on the exact requirements. 

Other Terms and Conditions ▲

Exclusions

Please note that I do not provide any of the following services:

    • Editing, proof-reading, spell-checks and grammar-checks.  I classify these checks as editorial tasks, not formatting.
    • Checking, correcting or manipulating the syntax or structure of citations within your text.
    • Checking, correcting or manipulating the syntax or structure of references within your bibliography.
    • Generating a bibliography, either manually or using referencing software.  This has to be taken care of (generally using a product like EndNote) before you send your thesis to me.
    • Formatting manual tables of contents, tables of figures, etc.  I always replace these with automated tables based on “smart” headings and captions, to ensure 100% accuracy and zero manual maintenance.
    • Checking, correcting or manipulating any aspect of your content to achieve compliance with particular writing standards or policies. For instance, APA 7 offers writing guidelines on the use of digits (e.g. “1”) and words (e.g. “one”) for numbers appearing in the main body text. I classify these checks as editorial tasks, not formatting.
    • Checking, correcting or manipulating your use of upper/lower case and punctuation in titles, headings and captions. Again, I classify these checks as editorial tasks, not formatting.

Timeframe and deadlines

    • Unless we have agreed otherwise, normal turnaround is 10 business days from our agreed commencement date.  This, of course, assumes your timely review (in Week 1) of the first fully formatted version of the thesis, and your timely application (in Week 2) of amodest number of late content changes. 
    • You must deliver all your source files and other requested information to me by 9am on our agreed commencement day.  Any time spent working on files that arrive late will be taken out of the free 2-hour allocation for late changes.  Time required beyond this allocation will be charged at $150/hr.

Rescheduling your booking

I realise things can change unexpectedly at your end, so you’re welcome to request an amendment to your booked commencement date if needed.  Provided I’m available at your preferred alternative date, we can move the booking up to 6 months beyond your original booking date.  

    • There is no charge for changing your commencement date provided you give me at least 2 weeks’ notice of the change. 
    • If you give me less than 2 weeks’ notice, a late change fee of $100 will apply.  This will be added to your closing invoice.
    • If you need to delay beyond 6 months from your original booking date, your current booking will lapse and you’ll need to re-book closer to the time.  Any deposit paid on your current booking will be forfeited.
    • Provided your new formatting date is within 3-months of the date on which you made your initial booking, your price will continue to be based on the fees in effect at the time of your booking.  However, if your new formatting date extends beyond that, your final invoice will be adjusted (as applicable) to reflect any pricing changes that have come in to effect since the initial booking was made.  

Urgent jobs

For urgent jobs, I may be able to shorten the normal 10 working day turnaround time if my schedule and commitments at the time allow for it.  You must also be readily available (within an hour of my calling, texting or emailing) at all times throughout the formatting period to respond to any questions or issues that arise.  

    • The minimum turnaround I will ever commit to is 5 business days, provided you can also commit to being available .
    • There is an additional fee of $300 for each working day that you ask me to take off the normal turnaround time. 
    • If your deadline requires me to work on a weekend or public holiday, then (i) there is an additional fee of $300 for each weekend day or public holiday on which I work, and (ii) time that I work on those days will be charged at a rate of $150/hr.

Jobs I won’t take on

There are some rare circumstances where I may decline a request to format a thesis. Whatever the reason, I’ll always do my best to recommend alternative options or other service providers.

I generally won’t undertake work on a thesis if:

    • The vertical structure requires more than 9 numbered levels (maximum is 6 for chapters plus 3 for appendices). I decline these requests because Word supports only 9 numbered levels. It’s possible that other programs (e.g. Adobe InDesign) will be more suitable for your requirements, but you’ll need to engage a different service provider if this is needed.
    • You require your final thesis to be managed as multiple files under the control of a Word “Master Document”. I decline these requests because the Master Document feature is known to be susceptible to document corruption. I will only accept work where the final thesis is to be a single, self-contained document.
    • My workload or other factors make it impossible for me to deliver to your requirements or within your timeframe. 

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