I assume when you say thesis paper you are asking about a Senior Thesis—written by a

college senior or about a Master’s Thesis in fulfillment of a Master’s degree—not the thesis
of an essay.

Typically, in my experience, Senior Theses are about 50 pages (excluding references and
appendixes). Master’s Theses tend to be longer—100–150 pages (excluding references
and appendixes). Most disciplines have guidelines for how theses should be organized
and formatted. For instance, IEEE, MLA, APA, CBE, and Harvard guides all have
thorough descriptions. University libraries usually contain copies of theses defended by
their Masters candidates and may have Senior theses. Reference librarians can assist in
identifying recent theses in specific disciplines. They are well worth looking at to see what
is standard at your institution.

 If based on research such as experiments, ethnography, surveys, analysis of US

Census, etc., theses frequently take the form:
o Cover Page containing only the title. If the thesis is hard-cover bound, it
generally has the title on the spine rather than a cover page.
o Title Page,
o Table of Contents,
o Abstract,
o Introduction,
o Literature Review (sometimes blended into the Introduction and Methods,
as relevant),
o Methods,
o Results,
o Discussion,
o Conclusion,
o Works Cited (also called References or Reference List), and
o Appendix (optional).
 If based primarily on analysis of secondary sources, they frequently take the
form:
o Cover Page containing only the title. If the thesis is hard-cover bound, it
generally has the title on the spine rather than a cover page.
o Title Page
o Table of contents
o Abstract
o Introduction
o 2–3 chapters with distinct titles
o Conclusion (which contains the Discussion that brings the chapters together)
o References (also called Works Cited or Reference List)
Notes:
1. Note that in the second organization there is no Literature Review. There can
be one between the introduction and first body chapter if the thesis committee
requires one; however, it is more standard to present discussions of material that
would appear in a literature review section as appropriate in the theses
introduction and body chapters.
2. Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page.
3. Master’s theses may have an Acknowledgement preceding the Abstract and a
Preface following, but not always. Acknowledgements and Prefaces usually
appear in the longer dissertation written by PhD candidates.
4. If you’re doing a Coursework Thesis or a thesis which presents 2–3 published
articles preceded by an introduction and completed with a conclusion, consult
your department for its requirements (becoming more common in some
scientific and engineering disciplines).