Writing your thesis
Structuring, presenting and writing your thesis
Consult: Guide du doctorant de l'ABES
Mandatory elements
In addition to the main text, your thesis must include at least the following:
♦ a title page
containing:
- the administrative name of the institution where the defence will take place (possibly supplemented by the common name) and, where applicable, the name of the international co-supervising institution;
- the name of the doctoral school;
- the type of degree (doctoral thesis);
- the disciplinary field in which the thesis is defended;
- the surname(s) [in capital letters] and first name(s) [in lowercase letters] at birth (possibly supplemented by the usual names and first names) of the author of the thesis. Accents and diacritical marks must be included.
- the title of the thesis;
- the surnames [in capital letters] and first names [in lower case] of the thesis supervisor(s). Accents and diacritical marks must be included.
- the date of the defence;
- the surnames [in capital letters] and first names [in lower case] of the members of the jury, as well as their roles (chair of the jury, rapporteurs, examiners). Accents and diacritical marks must be included.
- the name of the laboratory and/or research unit where the thesis was prepared.
♦ one or more pages placed after the title page, or at the end of the thesis, containing at least:
- an abstract in English (maximum 4,000 characters) and an abstract in French (maximum 4,000 characters);
- keywords in English and French;
- a title in English.
♦ a summary and a table of contents
The summary (at the beginning of the thesis) and the table of contents (at the end of the thesis) must be generated and updated automatically.
♦ a list of primary sources
that you have studied or to which you refer
♦ a bibliography
listing the secondary sources that you cite, refer to, or have used in your research
♦ and, as applicable:
- if the thesis is written in a language other than French, it must include a substantial summary in French (several pages), in addition to the traditional summary (maximum 4,000 characters).
- If the thesis includes appendices, these must be listed at the end of the table of contents.
- Footnotes must be generated automatically.
Finally, the thesis may include a general index and/or thematic indexes, which must also be generated automatically.
A few presentation tips
To ensure that your thesis is easy to read, we recommend that you:
- justify your text;
- choose a legible font size 12;
- use single line spacing to allow the jury to take notes;
- leave a margin of 2.5 cm on the left and right, 1.5 cm at the top and 2 cm at the bottom;
- number the pages of your thesis.
Language of writing
The language used in French teaching and research establishments for theses and dissertations is French, as stated in article L 121-3 of the Education Code. However, exceptions may be justified, in particular when the doctoral student or the proposed rapporteurs and/or members of the defence jury are not French-speaking. If you wish to write and/or defend your thesis in a language other than French, you must submit a request to the Director of the Doctoral School.
Collection of articles
Theses can be written in the 'thesis by articles' format, which allows the inclusion of articles published or ready for publication in refereed journals recognised in the subject area of the thesis. However, this format must comply with certain criteria and be structured in a specific way.
