Dissertation Spacing Issues

• Odd page breaks and blank pages. Do not leave a blank page or a half-filled page of text in the middle of a chapter; don’t leave a short table/figure without text on the page.
• A dangling line. There must be at least two lines of a paragraph at the bottom or top of a page; in paragraph formatting, this is called widow/orphan control (click on Format > Paragraph > Line and Page Breaks > Pagination).
• A dangling heading. Use a page break to keep a heading from dangling at the bottom of a page. A heading must be followed by at least two lines of text before the page break. Also make sure table titles and figure captions appear on the same page as the table or figure.
• Inconsistency of spacing above headings. Make sure the space above headings is uniform; if you wish, add an extra space above headings to set off new topics on the page.
• Inconsistency of spacing above and below figures and tables. An extra space above and below a table or figure will set it off from paragraphs or other tables/figures on the same page; make the spacing around tables/figures uniform from chapter to chapter.
• Tables and figures in the margins. There must be no text or graphics in the margin areas of the page.