There are certain formatting steps for every dissertation. No matter which formatting pattern the students are following, they must do it the right way. Students must ensure that they do not make any mistakes as teachers quickly catch up on these mistakes and grade students accordingly. Dissertation writing is about following instructions and guidelines that the teachers have specified. The students who write their dissertations according to the given specifications can work on their dissertations in a better way and enjoy good grades. One important thing that the teachers specify is double line spacing in their documents. If the students are asked to give double line space in their papers, they need to do so. Going with the required format ensures the students’ success in dissertations.
Why Double Line Spacing?
Since the old ages, when there was no internet and computer to work, it was considered standard practice for the teachers to require dissertations to be double-spaced when they were typed. Even now, when we live in the age of word processors, this question has been raised several times why this practice of using double line space in dissertations persists. It would not be wrong to call it a legacy from when dissertations were typed and written. The students were allowed to make corrections in that copy rather than re-print. Word processors have helped the students in getting rid of this problem.
- Double-spacing might also be suitable for drafts that need annotation for editing. Still, final copies of dissertations are not used, and modern techniques such as commenting do this job. Despite all this, most educational institutes still require their students to submit their dissertations in double line space.
- One reason for this is that many people can increase the readability this way. It has also been expressed as the sole reason why double line spacing is needed. Researchers Kruk and Muter reported that “single spacing produces a reading that is 10.9% slower than that produced by double spacing” on a ‘video’ screen. Another researcher, Weller, also reported on a study that “It was discovered that single spacing of text requires more eye fixations per line and therefore fewer words are read per fixation, which increases reading time”.
- Many educational institutes have begun to accept single-spaced printed copies. However, ProQuest (an online dissertation repository) still requires double-spacing for the electronic copy. It still claims that this helps to improve online readability. In contrast, many have also rejected this. The reality is this practice still runs. The students and the teachers favour using double line spacing dissertations and regard it as necessary to get good results in assessment.