gw-dissertation-class

This is a modernized rewrite of GW's LaTeX class for PhD dissertations. It is currently a WIP and will be officially finished once I also finish my dissertation.

Class options

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This class is derived from the standard report class, so it accepts all standard report class options. Additionally, there two more class options:

1. debug

   The debug class option will enable background gridlines, layout frames, and also boxes surrounding hyperlinks.

2. font

   Times New Roman is the designated font type by GW. However, we prefer STIX 2 over Times New Roman. So STIX 2 is the default font in this class. Also, STIX 2 is shipped in some modern TeX distributions, for example, the texlive in Linux.

   This class also allows Palatino, URW P052 or TeX Gyre Pagella. To specify the font, use the package option font:

   • STIX 2 (default): \documentclass[font=STIX2]{gw-dissertation}[2021/11/19]
   • Times New Roman: \documentclass[font=Times]{gw-dissertation}[2021/11/19]
   • URW P052: \documentclass[font=P052]{gw-dissertation}[2021/11/19]
   • TeX Gyre Pagella: \documentclass[font=Pagella]{gw-dissertation}[2021/11/19]
   • Palatino: \documentclass[font=Palatino]{gw-dissertation}[2021/11/19]

   These fonts may not be available by default on your system and require installation. For example, in Arch Linux:

   • $ sudo pacman -S tex-gyre-fonts installs TeX Gyre Pagella
   • $ sudo pacman -S gsfonts installs URW P052
   • Times New Roman is not open-source. It is only available in AUR packages, such as ttf-ms-fonts
   • Palatino is not open-source. It is only available in AUR packages, such as ttf-win7-fonts.

The font setting only affects the non-math mode. The math mode is hard-coded to use STIX2.

Usage

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This is a document class, not a package. Use \documentclass{gw-dissertation} to use the class.

Front matter

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To configure front matter:

command	note
\title{<title>}
\author{<full name}
\defdate{<defense date>}
\gradyear{<degree deferral year>}
\gradmonth{<degree deferral month>}
\graddate{<degree deferral date>}
\advisor{<full name>}{<job title>}
\school{<school>}
\prevdegree{<previous degree>}	see note 1
\committee{<name, affiliation, and title>}	see note 2
\dedication{<dedication>}
\acknowledgments{<acknowledgements>}
\disclaimer{<disclaimer>}
\abstract{<abstract>}
\preface{<preface>}

Note

1. This appends the provided degree to a list, meaning this command can appear multiple times, and each time it only needs one degree provided. When rendering the title page, these previous degrees will be present in a first-in-first-out manner.
2. Similar to \prevdegree, this command can be called multiple times.

To control whether to show each page in the front matter, use \show<page name>true to show a page or \show<page name>false to make the page invisible. The following table shows available page names in the front matter:

page name	default	note
title	on
certification	on
copyright	on
dedication	off	auto-turned on if \dedication is called
acknowledgments	off	auto-turned on if \acknowledgements is called
disclaimer	off	auto-turned on if \disclaimer is called
abstract	on
toc	on	table of contents
lof	on	list of figures; required if figures are present
lot	on	list of tables; required if tables are present
los	on	use command \nomenclature from package nomencl to define symbols
glossary	on	through package glossaries-extra
preface	off	auto-turned on if \preface is called

Note

1. The list of symbols (through package nomencl) and the glossary page (through package glossaries-extra) require special settings for compilation. Please see the latexmkrc in the example directory for how to configure them.
2. Don't include \makenomenclature, \printnomenclature, \makeglossaries, \printglossaries, or/and \printglossary in your manuscript. They are already handled in the style definition. Just use the commands to define glossary terms and symbols directly.

Math font

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Math font is handled by package unicode-math. Therefore, it is better to use \symbf, \symit, etc., rather than native commands (e.g., \mathbf, etc.). Also, unicode-math requires math typesetting packages to be loaded before loading it, so amsmath and mathtools are loaded already in the style definition file.

Bibliography

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The class only intervenes the format of bibliography/references when an user uses biblatex and triggers the bibliography with printbibliography[heading=bibintoc, ...]. Otherwise, users have to deal with the reference format manually. As per GW and SEAS guidelines, users are free to choose whatever citation and bibliography styles. This class only ensures 1) single-line spacing within each entry, 2) double-line spacing between entries, and 3) the spaces after heading.

Example

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There's an example TeX file and corresponding latexmk configuration file in the folder example. When using command-line in Linux, simply go to the example folder and execute:

$ latexmk

Many GUI interfaces also have places for users to configure and use latexmk.

Format guidelines

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The major guideline is the example PDF from the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) for Spring 2021:

• Sample PDF

If the SEAS guideline is not clear enough, then the GW university-level guideline (as of Feb. 15, 2022) is used as a supplement. Guideline from GW Library as of Feb. 15, 2022:

• Webpage
• PDF

There's another version of SEAS sample PDF file on the internet. There are some differences between the Spring 2021 version and this version. So this one is not used as a guideline. Just for your information:

• Another SEAS sample PDF

Issues

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This section lists some format issues and discrepancies between the GW library guideline and the SEAS sample PDF.

Title page:

1. Author name: GW uses normal font; SEAS' sample uses bold face.
2. Text: GW says: _"... in partial_satisfaction ..."; SEAS says: "... in partial fulfillment ..."

Certification page:

Letter case: GW says: "... approved form of the dissertation."; SEAS says: "... approved form of the Dissertation."

Dedication page:

SEAS uses an indent of 0.5in for all paragraph; GW doesn't say that (though GW also requires 0.5in indent for all other front pages).

Abstract page:

Dissertation title: GW wants a normal-font title, while SEAS sample uses bold-face font. Space after title: GW says 2 single-line spacing; SEAS sample says one single-line spacing.

Table of Contents:

1. GW uses single-spacing within an entry but uses double-spacing between entries. However, the example PDF from SEAS doesn't seem to use the double-spacing between entries. In SEAS sample PDF, the spacing between entries is something smaller than double-spacing but definitely larger than single-spacing.
2. Both GW and SEAS guidelines do not specified the indents of sections, subsections, etc.~ in the table of contents.

List of Figures:

GW guidelines says: "Use two (2) single spaces between entries." This is probably a typo. Based on the sample figure in the GW guideline, it probably means double-spacing.

List of Symbols:

SEAS adds indices to symbols in the list, which totally doesn't make sense. I removed them in this class.

Normal paragraphs in the body of document:

GW guideline uses 0.5in indent for all paragraphs. GW sample PDF actually uses 0.5in indent for paragraphs in chapter 2 to 5 and appendices. However, in chapter 1, GW sample uses some number less than 0.5in, which I believe it's a mistake.

License

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BSD-3 license.

Other known efforts

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• https://github.com/skulumani/thesis-gwu