[Tex/LaTex] Is a4 = a4paper

geometrypaper-size

\documentclass[12pt,
               a4,
               twoside,
               openright]{book}

Above is from my university master thesis template, I checked other schools templates, they all use a4paper, is a4=a4paper?
And I do not find geometry in my template, does it mean my template uses default a4 size? Is there a standard(or widely accepted) size for thesis?

Best Answer

The "short" options a4, letter, a5, ... are not defined, neither in standard classes like article, book etc., nor in the package geometry. The proper options are a4paper, letterpaper, a5paper, ...

If this is the template your university proposed, then your university have obviously quite small knowledge of LaTeX.

For the standard paper size, this is something your university has to set up, I've seen theses on A4, Letter, B5 and maybe other paper sizes as well.