A new Senate-approved thesis format took effect at UNIMAS on 1 January 2026. Its full text sits behind a student login. The newest guideline the public can read is from November 2021 — and on two basic points it contradicts the university’s own regulations.
This page sets out the UNIMAS thesis format requirements in force at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, read from the Centre for Graduate Studies (CGS)’s own documents rather than from a template passed between students. The margins below are drawn to scale, and the Word settings are listed so you can set them before you write another paragraph.
The UNIMAS thesis page, drawn to scale
Margins are where most format rejections start, because a wrong one is invisible on screen and obvious the moment someone measures it. Here is what a UNIMAS page actually looks like:
Drawn from the November 2021 guideline: 3 cm on three sides, 2.5 cm on the right. Note there is no extra binding allowance here — the left margin is the same as the top and bottom, which is unusual and worth confirming before you print.
Set this up in Word before you write another page
Changing margins on a finished thesis moves every table, figure and page break you have already positioned. Doing it first costs five minutes; doing it last can cost a weekend.
| Paper size | A4, 80 gsm, single-sided |
| Top margin | 3 cm |
| Bottom margin | 3 cm |
| Left margin | 3 cm — see the warning below |
| Right margin | 2.5 cm |
| Font | Times New Roman, 12 pt |
| Line spacing | Double, everywhere |
| Captions and table keys | Single spacing |
| Page numbers | Bottom centre, 20 mm from the edge |
How long the thesis should be
These are word counts for the main chapters. References, appendices, tables and figures sit outside the count at every university on this list — which is worth knowing before you start cutting a chapter you did not need to cut.
The similarity limit
Cover and binding
What catches UNIMAS students out
Your abstract must be in English and Bahasa Malaysia
Both, whatever language the thesis is in. The translated abstract carries the translated title and is set in italics.
British or American English — not a mixture
Explicitly stated and explicitly checked. Pick one and run a consistency pass before submitting.
Double spacing really does mean everywhere
Footnotes, long quotations, appendices, headings and subheadings all take double spacing. Only captions and table keys are single.
The new covers are black for Master’s, maroon for PhD
White lettering, effective 1 January 2026. The old scheme used faculty colours with stripes — two for Master’s, three for PhD. Do not use it.
Depositing in the repository is a graduation gate
Upload to ir.unimas.my, wait for library verification, then paste the generated URL back into the submission system. Missing this stalls graduation.
The submission system changed in September 2026
New submissions use PG-Thesis. Anyone who submitted through MyViva before 15 September must finish their corrections there.
Publication is required before you graduate
PhD: two papers. Master’s: one. Scopus-indexed or higher.
Before you submit
Read your own faculty’s supplementary notes as well as the university guideline. Several UNIMAS requirements are set at faculty level rather than centrally, and the faculty version wins. If anything on this page conflicts with what your supervisor or graduate office tells you, follow them — guidelines are revised more often than pages like this one are.
Source documents:
- UNIMAS Thesis Guidelines, November 2021
- Graduate Studies Regulation — Research Programmes
- CGS guidelines page and current cover templates
Related guides
- UiTM thesis format requirements
- IIUM thesis format requirements
- UTAR thesis format requirements
- MMU thesis format requirements