Bharathiar University PhD thesis format

What Bharathiar prescribes, and what it leaves to you

Before you start formatting, divide the rules into three groups, because then you know which rule CRE will not bend.

• Prescribed by the regulations: the cover and title page, with Annexure I for university departments and Annexure II for affiliated colleges. The wording of the declaration, the certificates and the Certificate of Genuineness of Research Publication(s) is also fixed. Same for the 250–275 page limit, the thin flexible cover and how many copies you give. The similarity certificate, the publication and presentation rule and the thesis language come in this group too.
• Prescribed only for the synopsis: Times New Roman 12, typed on one side of A4 paper, with 6 to 10 pages.
• Not prescribed in any document we found: margins, line spacing, the body font, page numbering, numbering of headings and tables, the order of lists, and the citation style.

Theses from different departments differ most in this third group. The rules does not decide these points for you. So sit with your supervisor early and agree on one style before the chapters pile up.

You will see some Bharathiar terms on every form. The Centre for Research and Evaluation (CRE) is part of the Office of the Controller of Examinations. Doctoral Committee meetings go by the names DC-1 and DC-2. Special extensions are handled by the EGRC (Ethics and Grievance Redressal Committee). And part-time candidates registered under separate rules are known as Category-B.

The cover and title page

In a Bharathiar thesis, the cover and title page have the strictest rules of all. As per the regulations, the cover “should have only Bharathiar University Emblem”. That means your college logo cannot go beside it. The title has to be in Times New Roman, size 16, in blue. From top to bottom, the text blocks come in this order.

1. TITLE OF THE THESIS
2. “Thesis submitted to Bharathiar University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN (Subject Name)”
3. “by”, followed by your name and register number
4. “Under the guidance and supervision of”, followed by your guide’s name
5. The emblem of the university
6. NAME OF THE DEPARTMENT
7. If you are in a university department (Annexure I), BHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY. If you are at an affiliated college (Annexure II), NAME OF THE COLLEGE, followed by AFFILIATED TO BHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY.
8. COIMBATORE – 641 046, TAMILNADU, INDIA, and after that the month and year

Many scholars pick the university-department layout even though the work was done at an affiliated college. Some do the reverse. Check once which annexure applies to you.

Binding

The line in the regulations is “The thesis should not be hard bound and it should have a thin and flexible cover.” For Category-B scholars there is one more line, asking for a “plain (without colour) cover”. Many universities want a hard, coloured cloth binding, and scholars coming from those places mostly expect the same here. At Bharathiar you have to do the opposite of that.

Order of pages

Three front pages are compulsory as per the rules. A full order for the front matter is not given, though. In the CRE’s online-submission instructions, the thesis certificate comes first, the declaration next and the genuineness certificate last. In the table you can see what is fixed and what is just convention.

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

Declaration and certificate wording

In the candidate’s declaration you state that the thesis “is a record of original and independent research work done by me” in the stated period, under your supervisor. You also declare that it has not formed the basis for any other degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or similar title. You put your signature, and then your Research Supervisor countersigns.

The Supervisor’s Certificate is given by your guide. In it your guide states that the research in the thesis was done by you only, while working under him or her. The department and institution are named in it, and the same “not formed the basis” clause comes here also. Countersignature is by the Head of the Department or Director.

The Certificate of Genuineness of Research Publication(s) gives the details of your journal paper, meaning the journal, volume, number and pages. It certifies that the paper “incorporate[s] part of the results presented in” the thesis. Over the years this wording got changed a few times. A senior’s old thesis may have the older lines, so copy from current regulations only. The thesis checklist asks for two copies of the certificate and declaration as well.

Page layout and typography

What is official: the thesis goes on A4 paper. The main text cannot go beyond 275 pages of “A/4 size typed matter”, and bibliography, tables and diagrams are left out of this count. And they are strict on it, saying “exemption from page restriction shall not be entertained under any circumstances.” For the synopsis, Times New Roman 12 is used, typed on one side of A4 paper.

What is convention: beyond this the rules are silent, so go by what your department expects. Most Indian university theses use settings like these.

• Times New Roman 12 for the body text, same as the synopsis, and bigger bold headings
• 1.5 or double spacing for the main text, with single spacing kept for block quotations, tables and references
• a wider left margin for binding, around 1.5 inches (38 mm), and around 1 inch (25 mm) on the other sides
• lower-case roman numerals on the preliminary pages, and arabic numerals starting from Chapter 1

Some formats going around online give other figures. We could not trace any of them back to an official Bharathiar document. If your department has a written style sheet, use that. If your department don’t have one, fix the settings with your supervisor in the first chapter itself. Spacing changes the length a lot, because 275 pages at double spacing hold much less text than 275 pages at 1.5 spacing.

Chapters, tables, figures and references

You will not find a chapter structure, numbering system or citation style in the rules. The university also teaches every kind of subject, from Tamil literature to nanoscience. In practice, scholars mostly go like this.

• Sciences and engineering theses usually number headings in decimal form (1, 1.1, 1.1.1). Tables and figures are numbered chapter-wise (Table 3.2, Figure 4.1). Citations are numbered or in APA, and mostly the main journals of the field decide which one.
• Social sciences, commerce and management theses use APA in most cases. Our APA 7 formatting guide covers it.
• Languages and humanities many times go with MLA or a style the department has set. A thesis in Tamil will mostly cite the way Tamil scholars normally do.

Which style you take is your choice, but keep the same one from first chapter to last. Examiners are quick to catch a reference list where two styles are mixed. Your published papers also have to come into the thesis, since the Certificate of Genuineness states that your paper contains part of the thesis results.

Similarity check: DrillBit, 10% and the 15-day rule

All similarity checks at Bharathiar are done in one place, on DrillBit. The CRE plagiarism-check page gives the rules clearly.

• 10% is the acceptable maximum.
• Send only the chapters for checking. Front matter should not be in that file.
• Once the DrillBit certificate is issued, you get only 15 days to use it, after that it is not valid. Many scholars are getting caught here. They take the certificate, then wait for some signature or a fee receipt, and by then they have to do the check again.
• Four people sign the certificate, namely the Supervisor, the Head of the Department, the University Librarian and the Director in charge of CRE. You submit the original one.

Under the university’s academic-integrity regulations, some material is kept out of the count. Quoted work, references, bibliography, contents, preface, acknowledgements, and generic terms and equations are excluded. Penalty levels are as per the UGC 2018 scheme. If similarity is above 10% and up to 40%, you have to revise and resubmit within six months. Above 40% and up to 60%, the scholar is debarred for one year. Above 60%, the registration gets cancelled. If the DrillBit report is confusing you, our plagiarism limits guide goes through it line by line.

Synopsis, publications and submission

Publications and presentations

Before submission you must have at least two research papers. In the sciences the journals have to be SCI, SCIE or Scopus-indexed, or peer-reviewed and refereed. In arts, humanities, social sciences and languages, they have to be SSCI, AHCI or Scopus-indexed, or peer-reviewed and refereed. On top of that you need two paper presentations at conferences or seminars. A paper in conference proceedings is not taken as a publication. At the synopsis stage, papers which are accepted but not yet published will do.

Pre-PhD presentation and the synopsis

The pre-PhD presentation happens in your department, and all faculty and research students can attend. After it, the Doctoral Committee certifies the quality of the work and of your papers. Only when the Committee recommends can you submit the synopsis. The rules allow 6 to 10 pages, typed on one side of A4 paper in Times New Roman 12. Synopsis title and thesis title must be the same. Along with the synopsis goes the panel of examiners in a sealed cover. That means two panels of four to six examiners each, one foreign and one Indian, with consent letters from them. If the panel is missing, the synopsis will not be accepted.

On the number of synopsis copies, the official papers are not matching. Regulations are saying six copies. The present CRE checklist asks for four soft-bound copies (six for Tamil) and a PDF on CD. When you go to submit, ask CRE which one applies.

The thesis

• The thesis has to be submitted within six months of the synopsis. For every further six months, a late fee is charged.
• Give five hard copies and one soft copy on CD in PDF format. On the CD, write your name, subject, dates and title with a marker.
• You have to upload the thesis online also, and that PDF must be under 10 MB.
• Tamil is allowed as the thesis language, but then an English translation has to go along with it. In all subjects other than languages, English is the normal medium.

Evaluation and open viva

Your thesis goes to one foreign and one Indian examiner, and your supervisor is an examiner too. Once the reports come in, a public viva-voce happens before the Indian external examiner, with your supervisor as Convener. It is held within 30 days of the consolidated report, and at least seven days’ notice is given. The viva is conducted in English, though members of the public may ask questions in Tamil. If the thesis is in Tamil, examiners from outside Tamil Nadu take the place of the foreign examiners. In the CRE documents we read, the CD and the online upload are mentioned but no Shodhganga step is described. Still, Bharathiar theses do appear on INFLIBNET’s Shodhganga, so check with CRE how your thesis will be deposited.

Pre-submission checklist

CRE checks every official rule listed here. For the layout choices the university has left open, get your supervisor’s approval first.

• Cover has only the Bharathiar University emblem on it. The title is in Times New Roman 16, blue colour, and the Annexure I or Annexure II wording matches the place where you did the research.
• Thesis is not hard-bound. It has a thin, flexible cover.
• Main text comes to no more than 275 A4 pages. Bibliography, tables and diagrams are not counted in this, and no exemption is given.
• The Declaration, the Supervisor’s Certificate and the Certificate of Genuineness follow the prescribed wording, and everyone who has to sign has signed. Keep extra copy of the certificate and declaration ready also.
• Thesis title and synopsis title are the same, word for word.
• At least two papers are out in journals with the indexing your faculty asks for. You also have two conference or seminar presentations done. Papers in conference proceedings are not counted as papers.
• Pre-PhD presentation is over, and the Doctoral Committee has certified the quality of your work and of the publications.
• The DrillBit similarity certificate shows 10% or less. All four signatories have signed it, and on the day you submit it is not more than 15 days old.
• Five hard copies are ready, plus a soft copy on CD (PDF). Your name, subject, dates and title are written on the CD. The file for upload is below 10 MB.
• For a thesis written in Tamil, the English translation is attached.
• Submission is happening within six months of the synopsis. If not, you have kept the late fee in mind.

Common mistakes

• Using a hard, coloured binding since other universities ask for it. At Bharathiar the cover has to be thin, flexible and plain.
• Putting the college logo on the cover. Nothing except the university emblem is allowed there.
• Using the wrong annexure for the title page. Some scholars at an affiliated college use the university-department version, and some do the reverse.
• Going over 275 pages and hoping for exemption. As per the rules, no exemption will be given.
• Letting the plagiarism certificate expire. Get it near the end, as 15 days go quickly when signatures are pending.
• Counting a conference-proceedings paper among the two publications you need.
• Copying a senior’s layout and not showing it once to your supervisor. That layout may be based on old rules or on another department’s practice.

Maybe you want someone to look at your formatting, references and front matter before CRE sees them. Our thesis editing and proofreading service does a format review against the current regulations. We touch the formatting and presentation only, your results and arguments we leave alone.