Guide to Writing Your Thesis in LaTeX
Step 2: Download the Template Files
Now that both LaTeX and an appropriate editor are available, you will need the files that are specific to the University of Rhode Island thesis/dissertation format.
Download the template
Download the archive thesis.zip, then extract it somewhere on your system.
What the Template Consists of
The downloaded zip archive contains nine files. Four of these files are style files which define the structure of the thesis and ensure that it conforms to the Graduate School’s Guidelines for the Format of Theses and Dissertations. In general, these style files should not need to be modified, they just need to be in the same directory as your main .tex file.
These files are:
- urithesis.cls – the main LaTeX class
- uribib.bst – the style for the bibliography
- uriref.bst – the style for the list of references in IEEE format, like [3]
- uriapa.bst – the style for the list of references in APA format, like (Toolan, 2006)
The template also contains some example files to get you started. You will need to edit these files while writing your thesis, and add some additional files as well, but in their current form they will produce this thesis. These files are:
- thesis.tex – the top level .tex file, and the only file that LaTeX is run on
- abstract.tex – an example of the preliminary material
- chapter1.tex – an example chapter
- references.bib – an example bibliographic database
- thesisbib.tex – a dummy file for generating the bibliography (never edit or include this file)