Guidelines for the Preparation of the Archival Copy of the Honors Paper

Your final paper will be bound, catalogued, and retained permanently in the College Archives in Barret Library, where it may be consulted by general readers and scholars. Creative Honors projects may be recorded through more appropriate media, e.g., photographed or taped and stored in the Archives, as deemed appropriate by the department involved and the College Archivist.

Submission of the Honors Paper

Once all corrections made and the final paper has been approved, a clean copy is submitted to the Office of Undergraduate Research and Service in a clamp binder. Do not submit your paper in any type of binder that requires you to punch holes in the paper. The Honors paper must be accompanied by a statement signed by the department chairperson, the sponsor, and the other designated reader(s) indicating that it has been approved for Honors, by those persons. Papers that are late, incomplete, or that do not fulfill the form outlined in these instructions may not be considered in time for recognition on the Commencement program or on your transcript.Formatting the Honors Paper

1. Paper and Printing

  • Cream colored 8 ½ by 11 inch 20 lb. bond paper is to be used for the final copy of the paper. Bond paper is provided to the student by the College Archivist.
  • Use a letter-quality printer; photocopies are unacceptable.
  • Printing should be on one side of the paper only.
  • There should be no obvious marks of editing and no use of correction fluid or tape.
  • Printing should be in black or gray scale; color inks should be avoided.
  • Figures are to be drawn neatly in ink or other suitable medium.

2. Font Style and Size

  • Select a font that is easy to read, such as Times New Roman, Garamond, Verdana or Courier.
  • The body of text should be 12 point.
  • Font size of captions, titles and other headers may fluctuate, but none should be overly large, nor should any text be smaller than 10 point.
3. Page Layout and Spacing
  • Margins at the top, right and bottom of the final copy must be 1".
  • The left margin must be 1 ½" to allow for binding.
  • Text should be double spaced, except for: Table of Contents, List of Figures, List of Tables, Block quotations, notes, captions, footnotes and long headings which should be single spaced.
  • Footnotes, tables, maps, or illustrations should fall within the limits of the page margins.
  • A variety of style manuals are available in the Reference Collection of the Library as well as on-line: http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/cite/within.htm.
  • Text should not be right justified.

4. Page numbering

  • Page numbers do not appear on the preliminary pages (i.e. "Title Page, Abstract Page through "List of Appendices") that precede the text pages.
  • Beginning with the first page of the text, which may be the introduction or the first page of chapter one, Arabic numerals are to be entered starting with page 1 and continuing consecutively through the remainder of the work including illustrations, bibliography, appendices, etc.
  • Page numbers are positioned in the upper right hand corner in line with the right text margin. The number stands alone without "page" or any phrase or punctuation.

Arrangement of the Honors Paper by Page and Section

The sections and pages of the paper should be arranged in the following order:

1. Permission to copy page

The permission to copy page must be signed and dated by the student. It will be bound with the paper and includes the following statement:
"I give permission for public access to my Honors paper and for any copying or digitization to be done at the discretion of the College Archivist and/or the College Librarian." (see Appendix D)
Since the paper is submitted in satisfaction of a part of the requirement for honors and the act of depositing these materials in the College Archives indicates a willingness by the author to share her/his work with the Rhodes community and with the general public, the College Archivist will permit public access to it.

2. Title page (see Appendix A) Information on this page includes:

  • Title
  • Name as it appears in official College records
  • Department Name
  • The statement: "Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts (or Science) degree with Honors in [Department]"
  • Rhodes College
  • Date (Year of graduation)

3. Signature Page (see Appendix B) The Signature Page includes the following statement:

"This Honors paper by ________________________ has been read and approved for Honors in Department ________________"

followed by the signatures of those who approved your paper:

    • Project sponsor
    • Second reader
    • Extra-departmental reader
    • Department Chairperson

4. Acknowledgment Page

Because an honors paper is a normal requirement for a degree with honors, acknowledgment of help received from members of the department concerned is seldom necessary. In general, acknowledgments should be restrained statements of thanks for aid from outside or unusual sources. Dedication pages are not considered appropriate in an academic paper and their inclusion is discouraged.

5. Contents

All sections following the content page are included in the Contents.

6. List of Illustrations or List of Tables, Figures or Diagrams

When tables, figures, illustrations are included in the text there will be a list included as a section in the table of Contents.

7. Abstract Page

The abstract, a brief summary of your work, should be no longer than 250 words and double spaced (see Appendix C). It will be reviewed, approved and edited along with the whole paper. The abstract page follows the title and signature page. It will be bound with the Archival copy and will be printed in the Commencement Program.

8. Main text and Footnotes (if not included in text)

  • The text may be divided into chapters or sections with headings consistent with the Table of contents.
  • Each chapter should begin on a new page.
  • The form and location of footnotes will be determined by the Style Manual that is being followed.
  • This link provides instruction for inserting either footnotes or endnotes in your paper using Microsoft word.

9. Tables, Illustrations, and Figures

All figures should be drawn neatly in indelible ink or other suitable medium.

10. Appendices

11. Glossary

All drafts and the final copy of the Honors paper should also include, if appropriate, a glossary of technical terms. The Glossary should be placed after the text and appendices and before the bibliography.

12. List of Symbols and/or abbreviations

13. Bibliography

Head this page as "Bibliography". Every work cited in the text must appear in the bibliography.