Managing Embedded Media and Appendices for Institutional Submission

Appendices and embedded media occupy a specific and frequently misunderstood place in the dissertation submission process. They are treated by many authors as supplements to the main document — material that is attached rather than integrated, and therefore subject to different or looser formatting standards. They are not. Every page of the dissertation, including every page of every appendix and every frame of every embedded media file, is subject to the same margin, pagination, and formatting requirements as the body chapters. Institutional reviewers and ProQuest apply the same standards throughout.

Appendix formatting. Each appendix begins on a new page with a heading that identifies it — "Appendix A," "Appendix B" — in the same heading style used for the body chapters. If the appendix has a title, the title appears on the same page as the heading, either on the same line or on the following line, according to the institutional template. Page numbering continues unbroken from the body of the dissertation through all appendices. Authors who restart pagination at the appendices, use a different numbering format, or insert appendix pages without page numbers are making errors that will require correction before the document is accepted.

Tables and figures within appendices. Tables and figures that appear in the appendices follow the same formatting rules as tables and figures in the body chapters — the same caption placement, the same numbering conventions, the same requirements for notes and source attribution. The numbering convention for appendix tables and figures is typically A1, A2 for Appendix A; B1, B2 for Appendix B — distinct from the sequential numbering used in the body chapters. This convention must be consistent and must be reflected accurately in the List of Tables and List of Figures in the front matter.

Landscape pages. When an appendix contains a table or figure that requires landscape orientation, the page is formatted in landscape but the page number remains in the same position it would occupy on a portrait page — which means it appears on the short edge of the landscape page, rotated so that it reads correctly when the page is turned. Authors who place landscape page numbers in the standard header or footer position for a portrait document are placing them at the top or bottom of the landscape page, which is incorrect. This is a small and persistent error that institutional reviewers consistently flag.

Embedded media files. ProQuest accepts supplemental files — audio, video, datasets, and other media — as separate uploads accompanying the main PDF. The main PDF should contain, at the point where the media is referenced, either an embedded still image representing the media file with a caption identifying it, or a text placeholder that describes the media and indicates that it is available as a supplemental file. Authors who embed video or audio directly into the PDF — rather than uploading them as supplemental files — frequently produce a PDF that exceeds ProQuest's file size limits or that does not render correctly in the ProQuest viewer.

IRB documentation in appendices. Dissertations involving human subjects research typically include IRB approval documentation as an appendix. The IRB approval letter should be reproduced as received, without reformatting. If the original document does not meet the dissertation's margin requirements — which is common, since IRB letters use institutional letterhead that often extends to the edge of the page — the author should consult with the institutional reviewer about the accepted convention for handling this specific type of document before submission.

The appendix is not where the argument lives, but it is where the evidence and the instruments live — and a submission that is rejected because the appendices are incorrectly formatted is a submission that delays the degree for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the research.