How did the University of Washington decide on the format found in the Policy and Style Manual for Theses and Dissertations ?
As there are many variations in the formatting of a document, the University determined a style that was a fairly standard one to those used by other institutions. Most universities prefer consistency in style of all theses and dissertations regardless of the style typical in individual fields of study. The guidelines described in the Policy and Style Manual have been established so theses and dissertations are presented in a form suitable for library cataloging and shelving. The document takes its place in the library as a product of original thinking and research, and it is, therefore, designed to appear in a form comparable to a published work.
