Consultations

  • A pre-submission consultation gives you a preview of the formatting revisions that will be required for your manuscript before your official submission. Most students who set up pre-submission consultations have far fewer corrections to make once they have officially submitted their manuscripts.
  • Each student is allowed one pre-submission consultation per semester.
  • A pre-submission consultation is not a formal review and there is no guarantee that all formatting errors will be addressed during a pre-submission consultation.
  • Pre-submission consultations can cover a broad range of formatting topics and problems. If you have a few specific questions, you can call or email any time and we will be happy to help you.

  • Fall 2024: September 19-October 3

 

  • Send an email to thesis@csulb.edu with your manuscript as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. If you have specific questions about formatting or any problems you've encountered in formatting your manuscript, be sure to include those questions in your email.
  • The attachment you sent to the Thesis and Dissertation Office will be returned to you with comments about formatting rules and revisions. 
  • You can send your entire manuscript or just parts of it. Generally, people send their preliminary pages, their introductory chapter and literature review chapter, some tables or figures, and the references list or bibliography. Since this is not a formal review of your manuscript, it does not have to be the final version approved by all committee members; however, it should be formatted to the best of your ability with a chapter structure.
  • Once you've received the attachment with comments, please email us with any further questions or if any of our comments need clarification. However, due to workload issues, we cannot read through your manuscript again once you make the corrections we've noted (until it's officially submitted to the ProQuest site).

  • Before setting up a consultation, review the formatting information on our Formatting Resources webpage, particularly the CSULB Format Manual (PDF) and the Mini Manuscript (PDF). The answers to many of your questions can be found there.
  • Have specific formatting questions ready. Include them in your email for online consultations or make a prioritized list for walk-in consultations to be sure your most important questions are answered.
  • Prepare the preliminary pages (abstract, title page, table of contents, etc.) for us to read through. These pages have very specific formatting and can be challenging.
  • You do not have to have the complete document or one that has been approved by all the members of your committee; however, it should be formatted to the best of your ability. If you can provide examples of your preliminary pages, a few tables and/or figures, at least one chapter, one appendix, and your references list or bibliography, we should be able to advise you about any major formatting revisions needed that you can apply to other parts of your manuscript.