Periyar University PhD thesis format

What thesis format does Periyar University prescribe?

Most of the format rules come in section 20.7 of the regulations, titled “Guidelines for the Preparation of Thesis”. We have collected them in the table here.

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

The 250 pages are counted “from the front page to the last page”, so think about this limit before you write even the first chapter. Certificates, contents, references and the first pages of your papers all count. Suppose you have 30 preliminary pages and 25 pages of references. Then only about 195 pages are left for the five chapters. If theses in your field mostly run to 300 pages, decide early itself what you will cut.

Spacing of 2.0 was allowed only from the 2025 amendment. In the original 2024 text, 1.5 was the only option. Double spacing add pages very fast. When you are close to the limit, better to stay with 1.5.

No margin size is given. Clause 20.7.4(b) says “margins, text formatting, font, title, work cited and other similar parameters” should go as per the latest MLA Handbook or APA manual, or else your discipline’s usual style. Mostly the supervisor decides which one. Use that one style in the full thesis and don’t mix two. Font is different, because clause 20.7.1 has already fixed Times New Roman (or LaTeX) at 12 pt. Whatever font your style manual shows, you still use Times New Roman.

What is the order of pages in a Periyar PhD thesis?

Clause 20.7.3 gives a fixed sequence of 16 parts, as below.

• Cover page and title page
• Certificate by the supervisor (Annexure 10)
• Declaration by the candidate (Annexure 11)
• Plagiarism certificate (Annexure 14)
• Certificate from the Tamil Virtual Academy
• Acknowledgement
• Table of contents
• List of symbols and abbreviations
• Abstract (maximum two pages)
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Review of Literature
• Chapter 3: Materials and Methods (marked “suggestive”)
• Chapter 4: Results and Discussion
• Chapter 5: Conclusion and Summary
• References, in alphabetical order
• Copy of publications (first page of each published paper only)

See that both the certificates are placed before the acknowledgement. When the binder gives you the proof, check this order in it. A list of tables or figures is not in the sequence. The regulations don’t forbid it also, and most supervisors will ask you to put those lists after the contents.

Take the five chapter titles as a model only. Even the amended regulations mark Chapter 3 (Materials and Methods) as “suggestive”. Social science and humanities theses will name chapters differently. One thing the regulations do insist on is references in alphabetical order. In IEEE or Vancouver the reference list goes by number, so it won’t be alphabetical. If your field uses them, better take the guide’s okay on paper. What each chapter usually contains is explained in our thesis structure guide.

The cover and title page

For university departments, the specimen is Annexure 12. Annexure 13 is for affiliated colleges, and it adds the college name and address below the supervisor’s department. Both specimens use Arial with 1.15 line spacing, and the emblem is 3.65 cm x 4.1 cm. Title is in 16 pt bold. Your name in capitals and your supervisor’s name come in 14 pt bold. The connecting lines and the designation of the supervisor are 13 pt regular. Then the degree line, the month and year, and the university address are again 14 pt bold.

The Downloads page still links the July 2024 specimen PDF. In that file, arts theses have a pink cover (#FFBCDA). Don’t go by that pink. After the November 2025 amendment it is blue for every scholar.

What is the plagiarism limit at Periyar University?

The limit is 20%. That number comes from the certificate you bind into the thesis, because clause 21 itself gives no figure. Clause 21 says every thesis must have a plagiarism certificate in the Annexure 14 format, with your signature and your supervisor’s. The same clause says similarity “shall not exceed the limit prescribed by the Periyar University”. The Annexure 14 form then prints the line “Acceptable limit: 20%”.

Some more details are asked in the same form.

• similarity of your title with theses already uploaded on Shodhganga, if there are any
• how much percentage of similarity was found in the content of the thesis
• the software used for the check, and the date it was run
• University Librarian’s signature, and the similarity report attached with the form.

No software name is given in the regulations. They are also silent on whether references, quotes or your own published papers are excluded from the 20%. So discuss about the software and settings with the university library before you check the thesis yourself. Another tool, or other settings, will give a number that does not match theirs.

Our suggestion is not to scrape through at 19%. Examiners see the report, and in our view a lower figure is easier to defend. If you see the UGC’s 2018 plagiarism regulations, up to 10% similarity is counted as minor there. A few nearby universities are stricter than Periyar (Manonmaniam Sundaranar accepts 10%). Our plagiarism limits guide compares Periyar with other universities. Many scholars from this region are comparing Periyar with Bharathiar. Bharathiar’s rules are in the Bharathiar thesis format guide.

Do you need a Tamil Virtual Academy certificate for a Periyar thesis?

Yes, even for a thesis written in English. Under clause 20.3 you have to translate your synopsis into Tamil and send it to the Tamil Virtual Academy. The technical terms used in your thesis go along with it. The certificate the Academy issues is bound into the thesis, and so is the Tamil translation of the synopsis.

How to apply is given in Annexure 9. You mail a single file, in both Word and PDF, to [email protected]. Inside the file there are four parts, in this order.

1. the application form in Tamil and English, with title, subject, register number and year, supervisor, keywords, college and department
2. abstract in Tamil
3. synopsis in Tamil
4. a glossary of English terms with their Tamil terms, minimum 30 words.

Type all the Tamil text in the Marutham font. As per the annexure, it is better to send the file two months before you submit the thesis. A circular of 18 November 2024 tells scholars to take the new format from the Downloads page. Technical Tamil takes time, so start the glossary while you are still writing chapters only.

What are the synopsis and thesis submission steps at Periyar University?

Before the synopsis

Clause 19.2 has been amended, and the same rule is repeated in a Directorate of Research circular dated 24 September 2025. You need minimum two papers where you are the first author and your supervisor is the sole corresponding author. These papers must be in Scopus, Web of Science (SCI, SCIE, ESCI, SSCI or AHCI), or in peer-reviewed journals that have a 10-year archive and meet the UGC’s suggested parameters. A paper without your supervisor’s name will not be counted. You also need certificates for two conference or seminar presentations on your thesis theme. Scholars working in a research centre or an affiliated college have one more rule. Each of their papers must carry the affiliation line “Affiliated to Periyar University, Salem – 636 011, Tamil Nadu, India”, and Annexure 6 shows how to write it.

Before the second doctoral committee meeting, the research section verifies these papers. Our pre-submission seminar guide has more on that meeting.

The synopsis

As per clause 19.3, the synopsis can be 20 pages at most, and the list of publications is counted inside those 20. The title should not go beyond four lines. You number the headings, and references can be maximum 25, put in alphabetical order. Printing is single-sided on A4, 80 GSM paper, in 12 pt Times New Roman or LaTeX with 1.5 spacing. It is soft-bound with a white 250 GSM cover. You are allowed to submit it as early as three months before your minimum period is over. For the writing part, see our synopsis format guide.

The thesis

Your supervisor uploads the thesis on the Research Section Management portal. Then you pay the fee and give the hard copies, all within three months from the synopsis. One extension of three more months is possible, only once, on payment. If six months go by, the synopsis lapses and you have to submit it once again (clause 20.5).

On the number of copies, the regulations contradict themselves. Clause 19.1 talks of two hard copies of the synopsis and thesis going to the research section after the online submission. But clauses 20.1 and 20.7.1 ask for five copies of the thesis, and clause 19.3.2 asks for five copies of the synopsis. Have five of each ready, and before binding, confirm with research section once. Clause 20.1 also says the hard and soft copies “must exactly be the same”. Any typo you catch after printing has to be corrected in the uploaded file also, not only in the printout.

After you submit

Your thesis is evaluated by a board of three examiners, and one of them is from outside India (clause 23.1). The corrections suggested by the examiners are done before the public viva, and your supervisor gives a certificate for them (clause 23.5). A revised thesis has to come back within three months (clause 20.6). After the degree is announced, the university sends a soft copy to the UGC within 30 days, for hosting on INFLIBNET (clause 28). The Shodhganga upload process is not described in the regulations. How it is usually done, you can read in our Shodhganga guide. To bring out the thesis as a book, you need Syndicate permission. You apply within two years and pay ₹5,000 as fee, out of which ₹3,000 is a refundable deposit (clause 27).

What the Periyar regulations don’t say

The points below are not in the regulations at all, so don’t waste time searching for them.

• Margins. The regulations only point you to MLA or APA.
• Page numbering. Most theses use Roman numbers for preliminary pages, but that is just habit and the regulations say nothing on it.
• One-side or both-side printing for the thesis. Single-sided printing is mentioned for the synopsis only.
• Size of headings, captions for tables and figures, or a list of tables and figures.
• Which plagiarism software is used, and what it excludes.
• File format for the soft copy.

On all these points, follow what your supervisor tells you. Ask about all of them early, in one meeting.

Periyar PhD thesis checklist before submission

We took each point below from the amended Ph.D. Regulations 2024.

• Paper is A4, 80 GSM bond. Font is Times New Roman (or LaTeX) at 12 pt, and line spacing is 1.5 or 2.0. Count every page from the cover till the last one, and the total should be 250 pages or fewer.
• All 16 parts follow the order given in clause 20.7.3. The abstract does not go beyond two pages.
• Cover is soft wrapper binding on 300 GSM paper, blue #D6EBFF with black text. For the layout, take Annexure 12 if you are in a university department and Annexure 13 if you are in an affiliated college.
• Your guide’s certificate uses the wording of Annexure 10, and your own declaration uses the wording of Annexure 11.
• Plagiarism certificate (Annexure 14) is signed by you, by your supervisor and by the University Librarian. The similarity report is attached with it.
• Tamil Virtual Academy certificate is bound inside the thesis, along with the Tamil translation of your synopsis.
• In both your journal papers, your supervisor is the sole corresponding author. The first page of each paper is kept at the back. Scholars from a recognised research centre or affiliated college also need the Periyar University affiliation line in these papers (clause 19.2, note iii).
• Five hard copies are printed, every one same as the file uploaded on the Research Section Management portal.
• Three months from your synopsis submission have not passed yet, or you are inside the one-time three-month extension with the fee paid.

Before the second doctoral committee meeting, you may want the numbering, captions and references made consistent across chapters. Our thesis formatting service can do that work. Only the look of the thesis is changed by us, and the content stays yours.