Your proposal is where the whole dissertation begins — and where a surprising amount of time disappears into margins, headings, and "wait, what goes in Chapter 3 again?" This template gives you the structure so you can spend your hours on the thinking.
Built to APA 7 from the first page: one-inch margins, Times New Roman 12-point, double spacing, a title page, and an auto-updating Table of Contents that reads real Word heading styles (not hand-formatting that breaks the moment you edit it).
Inside, all three proposal chapters are already laid out in order:
Chapter 1 — Introduction: background, problem statement, purpose, research questions, framework, significance, definitions, assumptions/limitations/delimitations.
Chapter 2 — Review of the Literature: framework, thematic sections, synthesis and gap — organized by idea, not by author, with a MEAL-plan reminder built in.
Chapter 3 — Methodology: design, questions and hypotheses, participants and sampling, instrumentation, procedures, analysis, trustworthiness/validity, and ethics — with headings for both quantitative and qualitative studies.
Every section carries a short guidance note — what it's for, how to write it, and the common mistakes to avoid — in a color you simply delete before you submit. It's like having an editor's margin notes from the very first draft. And because a proposal describes a study you haven't run yet, the guidance keeps you in the future tense, so your language is right from the start.
Made by Dr. Jennifer Hill — a PhD-level academic editor and Routledge author who has formatted and edited hundreds of dissertations. If you'd rather hand the whole thing to a professional when the writing is done, that's what my editing services are for.
You get: one editable .docx template (works in Microsoft Word). Replace the placeholders, follow (then delete) the guidance notes, update the Table of Contents, and submit.
APA 7 gives you a correct foundation; your university may add its own rules (title-page layout, approval page, section order). Where they differ, follow your institution — the template is built to adapt.
Pair it with:
Building the full dissertation next? Get the APA 7 Dissertation Template — Full Edition for all five chapters.
New here? Start with my free academic resources
Want a person, not just a template? See my dissertation editing services
Your proposal is where the whole dissertation begins — and where a surprising amount of time disappears into margins, headings, and "wait, what goes in Chapter 3 again?" This template gives you the structure so you can spend your hours on the thinking.
Built to APA 7 from the first page: one-inch margins, Times New Roman 12-point, double spacing, a title page, and an auto-updating Table of Contents that reads real Word heading styles (not hand-formatting that breaks the moment you edit it).
Inside, all three proposal chapters are already laid out in order:
Chapter 1 — Introduction: background, problem statement, purpose, research questions, framework, significance, definitions, assumptions/limitations/delimitations.
Chapter 2 — Review of the Literature: framework, thematic sections, synthesis and gap — organized by idea, not by author, with a MEAL-plan reminder built in.
Chapter 3 — Methodology: design, questions and hypotheses, participants and sampling, instrumentation, procedures, analysis, trustworthiness/validity, and ethics — with headings for both quantitative and qualitative studies.
Every section carries a short guidance note — what it's for, how to write it, and the common mistakes to avoid — in a color you simply delete before you submit. It's like having an editor's margin notes from the very first draft. And because a proposal describes a study you haven't run yet, the guidance keeps you in the future tense, so your language is right from the start.
Made by Dr. Jennifer Hill — a PhD-level academic editor and Routledge author who has formatted and edited hundreds of dissertations. If you'd rather hand the whole thing to a professional when the writing is done, that's what my editing services are for.
You get: one editable .docx template (works in Microsoft Word). Replace the placeholders, follow (then delete) the guidance notes, update the Table of Contents, and submit.
APA 7 gives you a correct foundation; your university may add its own rules (title-page layout, approval page, section order). Where they differ, follow your institution — the template is built to adapt.
Pair it with:
Building the full dissertation next? Get the APA 7 Dissertation Template — Full Edition for all five chapters.
New here? Start with my free academic resources
Want a person, not just a template? See my dissertation editing services
