Writing a UIowa Masters Thesis in Latex

To write a thesis in Latex one only needs a decent computer and Latex installed. The following files constitute the basic framework for writing a masters thesis in Latex:

• msthesis.tex (Main Thesis File)

• uithesis.cls (Class file for specifications conforming to UIowa thesis guidelines)

• ack.tex (File containing Acknowledgement text)

• samplechapter1.tex (A sample chapter containing some Latex constructs)

• references.bib (Bibliography file)

• msthesis.toc (Table of Contents generated by Latex)

• msthesis.toc.bk (Manually Edited Table of Contents, read note in msthesis.tex for explanation)

• psfig.tex (Class file required to insert postscript images)

• figure1.eps (Sample image file)

All these files contain comments that should help you. If any of them are unclear of if you have any other question then email me at sehgalATcsDOTuiowaDOTedu

There are quite a number of resources available for Latex, on the web. I found the following to be quite helpful:

1. The Not-So-Short Introduction to LaTeX 2 [PDF]

2. The Not-So-Short Guide to LaTeX [HTML version of 1]

3. LaTeX help 1.1 [HTML]

4. Hypertext Help with LaTeX [HTML]

Writing a thesis in Latex can be hard. Most graduate students come to know about and learn Latex only when they start writing their thesis. This can be taxing on a student, since you have to think of the content of your thesis as well as learn Latex. Hopefully, the material on this page will make your job a little easier.

Best Wishes!