Alagappa University PhD thesis format

What does Alagappa University prescribe for PhD thesis format?

The university actually prescribes very little. The layout rules are all in one clause, 12.11. Other points are spread over the appendices, the submission form and a few circulars.

Cite this data: PhD Desk, “Alagappa University PhD thesis format”, last reviewed 1 November 2026, https://phddesk.in/guides/thesis-format-alagappa

The font rule contradicts itself

Clause 12.11 first says the thesis “shall be in computer type-written form, double spaced, with 12 font size of New Times Roman Letter Style”. In the very next sentence it says thesis writing must follow “a book format with double side printing, Times New Roman, Font size 11, 1.15 line spacing with flexible binding”. The August 2026 text carries both these sentences.

Our reading is that the second sentence is the newer rule. The Registrar’s circular of 14 July 2025 shifted theses to both-side book format “to reduce the postal charges and storage constraints”, and 11 pt at 1.15 spacing goes naturally with that kind of layout. But the circular is silent on font size. So please treat this as our guess only, because no document says it. Ask your guide which version the Dean-Research office is checking against. Get that answer before you start formatting 250 pages.

What the documents leave to you

We could not find paper size, margins, heading styles, page numbering or citation style in any document we looked at. Most Indian theses are on A4 with a wider margin on the binding side. In both-side printing, that wider margin comes on the left for one page and on the right for the next. Discuss about these points with your supervisor and fix them early.

Examiners do mark the format also. Under clause 13.1, every examiner is asked to look at “adherence to standard rules with regard to mechanics of thesis writing and format of the thesis”. This is checked along with your methods and findings.

What goes on the Alagappa thesis cover and title page?

For the wrapper and the inside title page, of both synopsis and thesis, the regulations give three models (clauses 12.8 to 12.10). Use the model that fits the way you are registered.

• Appendix I is for scholars working in a University Department or a Constituent College.
• Appendix II is for interdisciplinary research. Here the degree line has “(Interdisciplinary)” in it, and the example given in the model is “Education-Interdisciplinary (Education and Mathematics)”. Supervisor and co-supervisor names are placed side by side.
• Appendix III is for scholars at an Approved Research Centre. In this one you also add the name of the PG Research Centre, and the name and place of the affiliated college or collaborating institution.

The core text is the same in all three. The title comes at the top. After it comes “Synopsis / Thesis submitted to Alagappa University in partial fulfilment for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in” with your discipline. Then your name and register number, then “Under the supervision of” with your supervisor’s name, and then your department. At the bottom you put Alagappa University with its accreditation line, Karaikudi 630 003, India, and the month and year. Under each model a note is there, and it says the italic words are just placeholders. You fill your own details in their place.

Don’t copy the accreditation line from a senior’s thesis, because that line has changed (older circulars still say A+, Third Cycle). Take it from current regulations only.

On the order of the front pages there is just one rule, in the circular of 16 April 2025. It puts the iThenticate similarity report and the Tamil Virtual Academy certificate after the Research Supervisor Certificate page. For the declaration, acknowledgement, contents and lists, we found nothing that fixes the order. So follow whatever order your department is normally using. The usual order is shown in our thesis structure guide.

What similarity limit does Alagappa University accept?

The limit is 10%, checked on iThenticate. As per clause 12.5(d), your guide runs the thesis through iThenticate and gives a certificate at the time of submission. That same clause says similarity with published literature “shall not exceed 10% (revised from existing 20% to 10%)”. References are excluded, and matches with your own papers are also not counted. This change came through the Registrar’s circular of 14 July 2025. If you still have 20% in your mind, that is the old rule.

The 10% figure is the same as the no-penalty band in the UGC’s 2018 plagiarism regulations. At Alagappa, anything above it fails. To see how Alagappa compares with other universities, read our plagiarism limits guide.

The Central Library does the actual check. The procedure is set in the Form for Checking Similarity, which is an Appendix to the regulations.

1. Your supervisor sends the form by email to the Co-ordinator, Plagiarism Detection Software, “well in advance”. In the form you give your register number, your title, the date of your pre-thesis submission presentation and your ORCID iD.
2. Next the thesis goes as one PDF file, full text but without the references and preliminary pages. Attach your registration letter copy with it.
3. The report comes back within one week.
4. Suppose you are above the limit and you resubmit. When you ask for the recheck, you have to explain what you changed.

As per a Dean-Research circular of 31 August 2026, the present contact is [email protected]. Your ORCID iD is compulsory. It has to be printed on the plagiarism report certificate as per the July 2025 circular. And the form mentions you need it for Shodhganga upload also. If you have not created one till now, our ORCID and researcher ID guide explains the setup.

Sometimes examiners send the thesis back for revision. Then a fresh iThenticate report has to go into the revised thesis (April 2025 circular). For the difference between the two tools, see our iThenticate vs Turnitin guide.

What Tamil documents does Alagappa need with the thesis?

Under clause 12.4(a) you prepare a set of documents for the Tamil Virtual Academy portal. At the time of submission they go to both the Central Library and the Dean-Research section. In return you get a certificate, and that certificate is bound into the thesis.

• Doctoral Committee minutes approving your Tamil abstract, synopsis and glossary. The format is Annexure I of the university’s guidelines, and your supervisor, the internal expert and the external expert sign it.
• Abstract, synopsis and glossary in Tamil, along with a profile table in both Tamil and English.
• The same set in English, plus details of the papers published from the thesis.
• Both versions on CD as .doc and .pdf files, with your name as the file name.

The sizes are fixed in the guidelines. The abstract is one page. For the synopsis, four to five pages is the limit. In the glossary you give 30 terms. Use TAU-Marutham 11 pt for Tamil text and Times New Roman 12 pt for English, with 1.5 line spacing for both.

Since the Doctoral Committee must approve the Tamil version, keep it ready by the time of your pre-thesis presentation. Finding proper Tamil words for technical terms take more time than you think.

What are the steps to submit a PhD synopsis and thesis at Alagappa?

Before the synopsis

Publications have to be in place first. If your registration is after 1 May 2025, clause 12.5(c) needs two papers in Scopus or Web of Science journals. For the Faculty of Science that means SCI or SCIE, and for Arts, Management and Education it means SSCI or ESCI. If you joined before that, you are under 12.5(a) or (b), as per your registration date. Over and above this, three more conditions came in the 23 July 2026 circular. Only papers where you are first or corresponding author are counted, so a paper where you are just one co-author will not help. And the papers must show the university’s name and your supervisor’s name.

There is one tricky case. Suppose two research scholars are first author and corresponding author on one paper, and the supervisor is a co-author. In that case only the first author can claim the paper for thesis submission. Other than the papers, the university wants two presentations at conferences or seminars from you.

After that comes the pre-thesis submission presentation in front of your Doctoral Committee (clause 12.4). It can be held only when at least one year has passed since the committee met for the viva that follows your coursework. For preparing that talk and what to do with the committee’s comments, you can read our pre-submission seminar guide.

The synopsis

Two copies of the synopsis can be submitted in the six months before your minimum research period ends (clause 12.3). They are routed through your guide and your head of department or principal. Along with them, your supervisor gives a panel of twelve examiners (clause 13.2). Apart from the wrapper, the regulations don’t fix any length or format for the synopsis. What is usual is covered in our synopsis format guide.

The thesis

Four copies of the thesis go in within six months of the synopsis, and only once the minimum period is over (clause 12.6). The June 2025 submission form gives the list of things to attach. You need two copies of the synopsis, one CD with the synopsis, and one CD with the thesis and the full similarity report. Add an abstract of one or two pages and attested certificates of your qualifying degree. Then there is a demand draft of ₹15,000, which is the ₹12,000 evaluation fee plus ₹3,000 for postage. Take it in favour of “The Registrar, Alagappa University”, payable at Karaikudi. The rest is listed in the 16-item check slip at the end of the form.

Don’t plan on sending the thesis through your guide, because as per an October 2023 circular only the scholar can hand it in. Submission is at the office of the Dean-Research, from 10 am to 5 pm, except the lunch break. So plan to go there yourself.

After evaluation

When examiners want only minor corrections, you give two copies of the corrected thesis within 15 days. Against each change your guide writes the chapter, page and line, and signs it as a certificate (clause 14.7). Clause 20 says the university sends a soft copy to the UGC, for INFLIBNET, within 30 days of declaring your degree. What happens to it after that is in our Shodhganga guide.

Checklist for submitting an Alagappa PhD thesis

We made this list from the regulations, the submission form and the circulars. You won’t see margins or heading styles here because no document fixes them. Sit with your supervisor for those.

• Two papers from your doctoral work where you are first or corresponding author. (If another scholar is first author on a paper where you are corresponding author, the paper counts for that scholar and not for you.) The journals must be of the type set for your date of registration, which means Scopus or Web of Science if you registered after 1 May 2025. Both papers carry the university’s name and your supervisor’s name.
• Certificates for two presentations at conferences or seminars.
• Pre-thesis submission presentation completed before the Doctoral Committee, not earlier than one year after your post-coursework viva.
• Page count stays at 250 pages or fewer (appendices, tables and figures don’t count). It is printed on both sides like a book, with flexible binding and a plain cover.
• Wrapper and title page show the details as in Appendix I, II or III, including your register number.
• iThenticate similarity of 10% or less, with references and your own publications excluded. The report with your ORCID iD is placed after the Research Supervisor Certificate page, beside the Tamil Virtual Academy certificate.
• Tamil and English abstract, synopsis and glossary approved by the Doctoral Committee, and lodged with the Central Library and the Dean-Research section.
• Four copies of the thesis and two of the synopsis, the CDs, an abstract of one or two pages and the ₹15,000 demand draft.
• Submission form, supervisor’s publication certificate and all 16 items of the check slip kept ready, and you are going to submit them in person.

If you want the numbering, tables and references made consistent across 250 pages of double-sided layout, our thesis formatting service can do that work. Our work stays with the layout and consistency only, and your content and argument remain as you wrote them.