20xx-master-template

Guidelines

Chapters - Sections - Subsections

Make sure to use the provided commands for chapters, sections, and subsections:

\chapter{}      % New chapter
\label{chap:}    % Prefix your label with 'sec:'

\section{}      % New section
\label{sec:}    % Prefix your label with 'sec:'

\subsection{}   % New sub section
\label{sec:}    % Prefix your label with 'sec:'

Whenever there is a reference to a logical structure of your document, the name of the structure must be capitalized and followed by the full number of the section (e.g., in Chapter 1). This can be achieve by writing in Chapter \ref{chap:introduction}.

References to chapters, sections, and subsections should follow this schema:

structure	naming convention	reference
chapter	Chapter	[...] in Chapter 1
section	Section	[...] in Section 1.1
subsection	Section	[...] in Section 1.1.1
subsubsection	Section	[...] in Section 1.1.1.1

Note: Please avoid using subsubsection if not strictly necessary.

Numbering

The numbering of logical structures follows this schema: chapNumber.secNumber.subsecNumber.subsubsecNumber

Figures, Tables, Listings, should always be numbered per chapter.

Using \autoref{}

You can use the command \autoref{chap:introduction} instead of writing in Chapter \ref{chap:introduction}. This command can automatically detect which logical structure is referencing an creates the reference accordingly.

Autoref needs to be configures, i.e.:

\addto\captionsenglish{
  \def\chaptername{Chapter}
  \def\sectionname{Section}
  \def\subsectionname{Section}
}

\addto\extrasenglish{%
  \def\chapterautorefname{Chapter}
  \def\sectionautorefname{Section}
  \def\subsectionautorefname{Section}
}

Common Style Tips

Acronyms

The first time an acronym occours write the extended name followed by the acronym in parenthesis, e.g., Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite (ONU). In the rest of the document you will write the acronym.

Note: the abstract is not part of the main body of your document. If an acronym appears in the abstract, the first time it appears your should write it in its extended form. Then in the body of your document you will repeat this process.

Abstract

In the abstract avoid using:

• references
• citations

Emphasis: Bold or Italics?

Avoid using \textbf{} (bold) if you need to emphatize a word. You should use \textit{} (italics).

Terms in another language

Use \textit{} (italics) for foreign terms, e.g., My kid is going to \textit{scuola media}.

Do not use \textit{} (italics) for terms commonly used in english, e.g., I have a dejà vu.

Citations

All citations must be followed by a reference to the corresponding source (i.e., \cite{}).

Quotations

Short quotations (1-2 lines) should be integrated in the text with quotes, e.g.:

Gallidabino et al. define this guideline as ``very long and hopefully useful''~\cite{gallidabino2022}.

Long quotations (2+ lines) should define their own quotation environment, e.g.:

\usepackage{csquotes}

Andrea Gallidabino claimed in his thesis~\cite{gallidabino2020}:
\begin{displayquote}
[...]
\end{displayquote}

Figures and Floats

All figures should be referenced in your thesis. Avoid referencing figures without referencing them, e.g.:

In the next figure you will see a platypus.

A good way for referencing the same figure is:

In \autoref{fig:platypus} we show a platypus.

You should add your figure environment immediately after the paragraph that references it. Latex layouting will internally decide a good place to insert your figure. You can override Latex decision by prefixing the float with a bang ! (e.g., !t, !b).

\begin{figure}[t]                        
  \centering                              % Centers the content of the environment (in this case 'figure')
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{}    % Please organize your project, do not include images directly from the root (e.g., create folder 'figures')
\end{figure}

If your figure is displayed on a page you do not expect check the Tricks section.

Captions and References

Be consistent with the captions of your figures and tables. Either you put them all at the top or at the bottom.

Note: Some editors/publishers follow different conventions

• Figures:

  \begin{figure}[t]                         
    \centering                              
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{}    
    \caption{}
    \label{fig:}                            % Prefix your label with 'fig:'
  \end{figure}

• Figures and SubFigures

  \usepackage{subcaption}
  
  \begin{figure}[t]
    \centering
  
    \begin{subfigure}[t]{0.4\textwidth}       % Width of the subfigure
      \centering
      \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{}
      \caption{}                              % Caption of the subfigure
      \label{fig:}		
    \end{subfigure}
    % WARNING: If you leave an empty line in here images will not be displayed on the same line (new paragraph)
    % You are encourage to use '\hfill' here
    \begin{subfigure}[t]{0.4\textwidth}       % Width of the subfigure
      \centering
      \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{}
      \caption{}                              % Caption of the subfigure
      \label{fig:}
    \end{subfigure}
  
    \caption{}                                % Make sure to have a caption for the whole figure
    \label{fig:}
  \end{figure}

• Tables:

  \begin{table}[t]                        
    \begin{tabular}{}
    \end{tabular}      
    \caption{}                               
    \label{tab:}                              % Prefix your label with 'tab:' 
  \end{table}

Tricks

Float appears at the end of the document / Float is too big

Possible problem:

Latex is not able to find a good position for your floats because its width is bigger than the \textwidth of your document or it is too long. In this case all subsequent floats are moved at the end of your document.

Solutions:

• Set the width of the float to \textwidth
• Set the height of the float to \textheight

Floats do not appear on the page I reference them, but it appears some pages later

Possible problem:

Usually this is a symptom that you have too many figures and too few words explaining them.

Solutions:

• Write more text explaining the images
• Remove some images
• If you are 100% sure that you need all the images and you do not need to write more text, you can flush all images on a page using this command \afterpage{\clearpage}. This command inserts a new page after the current page is full, meaning that all floats that need to be inserted can be inserted in this new page.