Unofficial CSM Thesis Template |
Welcome to the home of the Unofficial CSM Thesis Template, a package for users of LaTeX and LyX. Please be aware that I have my own responsibilities. So, while I will do whatever I can to help you get your thesis to render properly, I provide no guarantee that I will fix any particular issue you might have in a timely fashion (see legaleze below). If you do have an issue then feel free to contact me by email via ehoover at mines dot edu.
This template is provided “AS IS” without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the template is with you. Should the template prove defective, you assume the cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction.
Download the latest version of the template (~1.29 MiB)
For Windows users that do not already have gzip-compatible archive software it is recommended that you download 7-Zip.
Should the current version of the template not suit your needs, it is easy to upgrade to a new version without changing your document. Simply download the new version of the template, extract all of the style files (*.sty), and use those files to replace the style files from your existing version.
LyX users may also wish to extract the LyX layout file and either install-lyx-layout.bat (Windows) or install-lyx-layout.sh (Linux/Mac) and re-run the install script in order to update the layout file. This step is not critical as the LyX layout does not need to be updated regularly, all the brains behind the template are in the LaTeX portion of the package.
Either should work fine, provided that you use the appropriate type of figures for the document compiler you have chosen.
You can use the convenience function "\abbrvcaption". Alternatively, you can use the LaTeX command "\caption[short]{short long}". Please note that it is important to have the short caption actually appear at the beginning of the caption within the main document, otherwise your thesis will not comply with the OGS guidelines:
Each list entry must have exactly the same wording, capitalization and punctuation as the titles and headings in the text. In the case of long figure captions, the text in the list may be abbreviated (while retaining the sense of the whole caption).
Provided that you are using a BibTeX-compatible reference file, the best way to cite a URL in a reference is to use the "miscellaneous" reference type with the "howpublished" keyword and the "\url{}" command (eg. "\url{http://example.url/to/cite}"). Many applications (such as JabRef, zotero, and Papers) export BibTeX files and support this type of reference. If you are writing your BibTeX document by hand then you can see how to do this from the example provided with the template:
@misc{ref:Wikipedia,
author = {Wikipedia},
title = {{S}trong {B}ad --- {W}ikipedia{,} {T}he {F}ree {E}ncyclopedia},
howpublished = {\url{http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Strong_Bad&oldid=274899439}},
year = {2009}
}
Provided that you are starting with the newest version of the template (which uses the "natbib" package for citations), it is easy to use "author-date" citations instead of numbered citations. Instructions are provided below for your convenience.
LyX Instructions:
LaTeX Instructions:
NOTE: If you are using an old document you need to change the "\bibliographystyle" to "authordate1". In LyX this can be done by performing the following steps:
This happens when you upgrade an old document to the newer LyX layout file. The new layout file adds support for proper numbering of figures, tables, and sections in the appendices. This feature can be enabled on your old document by clicking where the appendices start:
%%% Parts of a Thesis - Back Matter - Appendices (if applicable)
and then chosing "Document -> Start Appendix Here" from the menu. Once you've activated the feature all of the numbering you would expect in the rendered document should be visible within LyX.
There are two options, to disable displaying labels in the main body of the text you can pass the "nolabel" option to the csm-thesis package (ie. \usepackage[nolabel]{csm-thesis}). However, it is good to keep in mind that the thesis guide requires the label in the text to match the label on the figure/table. These labels can be changed globally by renewing the built-in LaTeX labels in the document preamble, for example:
\renewcommand{\figurename}{Fig.}
\renewcommand{\tablename}{Tbl.}
Your abstract contains <X> words, a dissertation (PhD thesis) may not exceed 350 words. If you are submitting a dissertation you may alternatively submit a shorter summary to OGS that adheres to the 350-word limit.
This warning indicates that you have an excessively long abstract. So, if you want to submit your thesis to the Office of Graduate Studies then you will either need to shorten your abstract or submit a summarized abstract (extra paperwork). Please note that this restriction does not apply to Masters theses, however, there is currently no way for the template to tell the difference between a Masters thesis and a PhD thesis.
OGS Incompliant Document: You have an empty section on input line <X>.
This error means that you have a section (or chapter, or subsection!) right after another section (or chapter, or subsection) with nothing in-between. In order to comply with the Office of Graduate Studies guidelines you must have at least a paragraph between each section:
[DocOpen("%bm.pdf")][FileOpen("%bm.pdf")] Cannot execute the command.
This error results from a bug in some older versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader. This issue can be permanently fixed by manually updating to the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader or temporarily fixed (sometimes) by rebooting.
If your documents are all in the same folder you can just use "\input{file}". However, should you have your documents in separate folders then it is may be necessary to use the "import" package. By using the import package you can ensure that the working directory of your document is preserved when importing sub-documents. To include a sub-document, while properly changing the working folder, insert "\usepackage{import}" in the preamble and include the sub-document like so:
\subimport{./Chapter1/}{Content.tex}
Should you wish to render your sub-document separately from your thesis you can do so the same way as using the template for other documents.
You're probably using a version of MiKTeX that does not auto-install packages, try going to the MiKTeX Package Manager and installing the missing package(s). For older MiKTeX installations the packages that will be required are: setspace, natbib, listings, subfig, caption, and mptopdf.
There are two options, for a generic label you can use the \addpocketcontents command, for example:
\addpocketcontents{CD-ROM}
If you would instead like to label the supplementary material as an additional appendix then you should use the \addpocketappendix command:
\addpocketappendix{MATLAB Code}
The newest version of the template includes the "insane" option for disabling the the format review checks. However, be warned that you should not use this option for rendering your actual thesis document, as it will allow you to produce a non-compliant document. Taking this warning into account, you can use the "insane" option by including the csm-thesis package like so:
\usepackage[insane]{csm-thesis}
As of this writing, the most recent version of the guide is the Fifth Edition (revised in Spring of 2009). To the best of my knowledge the current version of the template complies with the requirements set forth in the guide, or at least warns the user of possible incompatibilities (see legal disclaimer).
This question should be directed at the OGS, in general you need to fill out several forms.
You need to convert the EndNote database into a BibTeX database. Many thanks go to Emily Lesher for documenting this difficult process.
Yes, I actually have a new Automatic Journal Title Abbreviation package. This package is currently in a "beta" state, so any comments on it are greatly appreciated.