F) Dissertation Structure: Guidance re.

writing dissertations

1. General Regulations

The Senate Assessment Regulations for Taught Programmes of Study are available at:
https://intranet.cardiff.ac.uk/students/study/your-rights-and-responsibilities/academic-
regulations

A dissertation by literature review should demonstrate that you have:

 Defined a substantial body of literature on a dermatological topic

 Established the relevance of the topic to the historical development, theory or
clinical practice of dermatology in an evidence based manner
 Conducted a systematic and comprehensive review of the literature
 Sustained a critical, reflective and ordered approach throughout the study
 Provided a balanced and coherent discussion that contributes to knowledge and
understanding of the topic
 Produced an outcome from the review in the form of a framework for further
study

2. Dissertation Structure

 Front page
 Acknowledgements
 Declarations
 Table of contents
 List of abbreviations
 Abstract (250 words)
 Introduction (2000 – 3000 words)
 5 Cases; approx. 3000 words per case (include a minimum 1000 words literature
review)
 Discussion (including reflection, limitations, conclusions and recommendations)
–2000 - 3000 words
 References (minimum 40)
 Appendices (if there are any)
N.B.
Please see the “Dissertation Layout” below to familiarise yourself with how the dissertation
should be structured and the contents that should be covered in each section.
 3. Identifying the Cases

Please note: This MSc is not original research (i.e. you do not require approval from your
local Research and Development Committee, no need to draw a study design or assign a
placebo group, no outcome measures should be implemented (e.g. DLQI, surveys,
questionnaires, etc). That is, no intervention or change of your normal routine practice is
needed for the sake of this dissertation writing.

It is important that during the 10 week teaching block you discuss with your supervisor the
aspect you would like to focus on in your dissertations and the type of cases you are
considering. Although you will need to present five cases in your dissertation, we would
advise you to identify between 6-8 relevant cases to select the most suitable ones.

4. Dissertation Layout

a) Front Cover

The front page should include the title of the dissertation, your name, the academic degree
(MSc in Practical Dermatology - year), department of dermatology and wound healing,
Cardiff University. Please note: the word count MUST be mentioned.

b) Acknowledgements

Following the title, an acknowledgements page should be included. This should mention
those people who have helped you in either carrying out your research, making your
research possible, or have given you advice and support during the project – please do not
forget the patients you wrote about (or your supervisor!).

c) Declarations

This form can be found on LC (MET600) under ‘Module Information’ tab.

d) The Contents Page

The table of contents is a list of all the chapters, heading, subheadings, etc with their
corresponding page numbers in the order they appear in the dissertation. This should
include the reference section and the appendices (if there are any). Please note: a template
of a word document has been placed for you on the website to use so the list of contents
can be generated automatically, which should save you a lot of time.

NB: Page numbering starts with the first page of the first chapter. All pages before that
(with the exception of the facing page which is not numbered) are identified using small
Roman Numerals, e.g. i, ii, iii.
 e) List of Abbreviations

This should include all abbreviations used in the dissertation listed with what they stand for
(e.g. QoL: Quality of Life). Abbreviations should be listed in alphabetical order, and NOT
based on the order of their appearance in the dissertation.

f) Abstract (250 words)

The first section should be an abstract, although this is always written last. This should be a
summary of the topic area and the concepts covered in the project, the aim of the project, a
statement on your method, a sentence or two on your main findings and a statement on
your recommendations. The abstract should be presented as one block of prose (i.e. in one
paragraph). The whole point of an abstract generally is for the reader to assess whether the
work is relevant to them or worth reading – to do this well, you need to provide concise yet
precise information for a decision to be made. On the other hand you should aim to be as
brief as possible (approximately 250 words and at an absolute maximum 300). This section
should be written in the past tense.

g) Introduction (2000 - 3000 words)

The introduction should outline the focus of the project and ‘set the scene’ for the reader.
This section should include a brief summary of your practice (e.g. in which part of the world,
what level, how often you see and manage dermatological problems, etc), a description of
the ‘problem’ to be examined and present the concepts which relate to the problem. There
should be a rationale of why you have decided to study this topic area and so provide a
justification for this aim. The introduction should explain why the thesis topic is important
and relevant to our understanding of practical dermatology appropriate to the working area
of the candidate. State the justification for presenting the cases and the objectives you are
going to address or the situation you are going to describe which will apply to clinical
practice.

Also, the introduction should include the method of literature search e.g. search engines
used (COCHRANE, MEDLINE, PUBMED, EMBASE, etc), the timescale chosen for your search
(e.g. from 1990 to 2014) and the keywords used in the search.. This may be one of the last
things that you write.

h) Five Cases with Review of the Literature Relevant to Each Case (3000 words per
case, including at least 1000 words of relevant literature review)

You will write each case individually. For each case, you need to state the aspect(s) you will
discuss in the case, provide detailed history of the case and management.

Each case will be composed of:

 1. Case Presentation:

 Motives and reasons for presenting the case: “Why are you reporting this?”
case choice should be justified clearly
 Definition of the topic: problem, disease, clinical activity.
 General context of the topic: relevant knowledge, present clinical situation and
challenges e.g. skin cancer common in Australia so a huge economic problem,
etc.
 Detailed description of the case history in a systematic manner (i.e. history of
presenting complaint including duration, onset, progression,
aggravating/relieving factors, previous treatments, impact on QoL, etc), followed
by past medical history, drug history, family history, social history, etc.
 Describe accurately all the clinical features using dermatological terminology
 What are the differential diagnoses? Give the reasons why it could not be one of
these by the clinical picture, and investigations results if applicable – this will
demonstrate your knowledge and safe practice.
 How did you diagnose the case? (Obviously if you are talking about acne this is
not necessary)
 Disease severity assessment - For example in acne cases – discuss the grading of
the acne and match the recommended management of the acne to the grade, if
you are using scoring systems you need to include information about the scoring
systems and their strengths and weaknesses
 What treatment did you initiate with dose and duration – provide the evidence
and reference to support your management.
 How did you arrive at that decision – what advice did you give the patient
regarding the side effects? did you offer the patient alternative treatment
options? This demonstrates your knowledge and ability to offer the patient all
the information. (e.g. previous treatment failure, you opted for a once daily
preparation over a twice daily, it might be related to patient occupation or
lifestyle).
 How long did you give this treatment for - provide the reference from the
literature to support the length of time
 When and how often did you follow up the case – according to the literature and
what you actually do in clinical practice?
 What information did you give the patient about the course of treatment –
when do you expect to see the treatment work – do you expect to clear/ cure or
maintain the condition - this demonstrates that you manage patient
expectations of how treatments work?

2. Case Discussion

a) Critical literature review: 1000 words

The introduction should be followed by a critical review of the literature (up to 1000 words)
that should be linked to the particular aspect(s) you are discussing in this case by comparing
and contrasting definitions, methods, statements or results used by various authors, rather
than simply describe who has said what. Utilised literature should be referenced
throughout. At the end of the section you should discuss and summarise the main points
covered by the review which relate to your case. If you are focusing on one particular area
of dermatology in all your five cases, the literature should cover different aspects for each
case and not reproduce the same literature for each case.

This review of the literature should not be simply a series of abstracts or précis of the
papers that you have read. It should be a critical review of the literature demonstrating an
appropriate breadth and depth of enquiry and the rigour and consistency of your approach.
There should be clear evidence in this section of your ability to effectively analyse the
literature and synthesise a review by using a range of published resources.

There are several dangers to avoid in the literature review:

 Do not leave things out! Ask library staff and colleagues to keep their eyes open
for relevant studies
 Read widely, think laterally and draw on a wide range of studies in order to
support your arguments
 Be current! Continue reading through the research process. Don’t complete the
literature review and leave it standing
 Be organised! Arrange the literature in a logical order that lays a coherent
foundation upon which your study rests and record your literature findings in
your blog or e-portfolio
 Avoid plagiarism. You must acknowledge the ideas of other authors and any use
of other’s words should appear in quotation marks with a reference of the
original page
 You may start writing parts of this section once you have finalised your topic but
you will need to revise it after you have completed the analysis and discussion to
ensure that you have given appropriate weight to the various sections and that
you have covered all the necessary areas
 Be prepared to throw out material which you originally thought would be
relevant but turned out not to be. Remember that critical appraisal is the key to
a successful literature review.

The literature review serves the following purposes in research:

 Distinguishing what has been done from what needs to be done

 Relating management ideas and theory to practice
 Supporting the way you managed the case
 Provide a balanced approach to a range of treatment options
 Discovering important variables relevant to the topic
 Synthesizing and gaining a new perspective
 Identifying relationships between ideas and practice
 Establishing the context of the topic or problem
 Rationalising the significance of the problem
 Enhancing and acquiring the subject vocabulary and terminology
 Identifying the main methodologies and research techniques that have been
used
b) Reflection

This should be brief and in your own words to outline the key findings in relation to the
literature you reviewed for this case.

Reflect how the case progressed – what went well with the course of treatment – what did
not go well?

Reflect on your practice (i.e. after reviewing the literature do you think the patient was
managed properly or there is anything that you should have done differently, how would
the data you have found in the literature which may benefit your practice in the primary
health care).

Any gaps (paucity of data) in the literature in this area for which you would recommend
further studies and research.

i) Discussion, Recommendations and Conclusions (2000 - 3000 words for all 3

headings combined)

1. Discussion
Present a reflection of all five cases; explain what the lessons learnt were, what the cases
demonstrate which is slightly broader than simply repeating the conclusion of each case
(e.g. patient experience, policy, training needed), and how the dissertation adds to the
discipline. Highlight major gaps or deficiencies in the literature. Identify any emerging
themes and bind the cases together e.g. the role of general practice in surveillance of skin
cancer.

2. Recommendations
The recommendations should again emerge from your experience and supported by the
literature. If recommendations are addressed to different levels/areas (e.g. practitioners;
policy makers) then it is useful to organise the recommendations under related
subheadings.

3. Conclusions
This section should be written in one paragraph that contains the key learning points from
the dissertation and should not include fresh information, discussion points or references.

This should be followed by the “List of References” and then the “Appendices”, if there are
any. Please note: those are not included in the word count.