GREAT LAND COLLEGE

POST GRADUATE COORDINATION OFFICE

GUIDELINES FOR WRITING MBA/MSC THESIS REPORT

THESIS WRITING FORMAT
Formatting Guidelines for MA Thesis Writing

The MA students are expected to strictly follow this formatting guideline in thesis
writing. Violation of this formatting guideline may amount the rejection of the Thesis
report. A sample of the title page and cover page and other formats are presented
here to instruct students and standardize the works of MA students in the department.

A Research Report Should Include the Following Headings

COVER PAGE & INSIDE COVER PAGE

The cover page should include the following information:

 Thesis Topic/Title, 16 font size, bold & italics, and usually center on the page
 The purpose of the thesis or research report (14 font size, italics and center on the page)
e.g.

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Great Land college in

Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master
of **************************

 The Name of the Author/Investigator, 14 font size, bold, all caps, and center on
the page
 Name of the University, 16 font size, Bold, and all Caps usually center on the page
 Name of the College, 16 font size, Bold, and all Caps usually center on the page
 Name of the Department/Program, 16 font size, Bold, and all Caps usually center on the
page
 The Date on which the final report is submitted, e.g. July 2021 and
 The City/Town in which the report is submitted, e.g. Nekemte, ETHIOPIA

As an example, a typical research report cover page is given on the page below:

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Determinants of Financial Performance: A Study on
Selected Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)in Ethiopia.

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of college of

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Great Land college in Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

BY:
CHALA ALEMU KEBEDE

Under the Guidance of

Dr. Hunde Oromo

University Logo

X UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF *********************

MA PROGRAM
June 30, 2020

NEKEMTE , ETHIOPIA

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 DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this thesis entitled “ Human Resource Management challenges and

changes in projects: the case of ***************”, has been carried out by me under

the guidance and supervision of Hunde oromo (PhD)

The thesis is original and has not been submitted for the award of any degree or
diploma to any university or institutions.

Researcher’s Name Date Signature

_______________________ ___________________ ___________________

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 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the thesis entitles “Human Resource Management challenges and
changes in projects: the case of *******************”, submitted to Great Land
College of ****************for the award of the Degree of Master of
**************************** and is a record of research work carried out by Mr.

CHALA ALEMU KEBEDE, under my guidance and supervision.

Therefore, I hereby declare that no part of this thesis has been submitted to any other
university or institutions for the award of any degree or diploma.

Adviser’s Name Date Signature

_______________________ __________________ _____________________

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APPROVAL SHEET 12 font sizes, with the word ‘acknowledgements’ center on the page
with 14 font sizes, and the text usually aligned to both the left & right margins)

DEDICATION 12 font sizes, with the word ‘acknowledgements’ center on the page with
14 font sizes, and the text usually aligned to both the left & right margins)

Acknowledgements: (12 font sizes, with the word ‘acknowledgements’ center on the
page with 14 font sizes, and the text usually aligned to both the left & right margins)

BIOGRAPHY(12 font sizes, with the word ‘acknowledgements’ center on the page with
14 font sizes, and the text usually aligned to both the left & right margins)

Table of Contents :(text 12 font sizes, usually aligned to both the left & right margins
with the word ‘Table of Contents’, center on the page with 14 font sizes)

List of Tables&Figures:(text 12 font sizes, usually aligned to both the left & right
margins with the word ‘List of Tables’ and ‘List of Figures ‘center on the page with 14
font sizes)

ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS :( the word ‘ACRONYMS or ABBREVIATIONS’ center

on the page with 14 font sizes)

Abstract: (12 font sizes, italics, with the word ‘abstract’ center on the page with the
text aligned to both the left & right margins)

CHAPTER ONE (Title, 18 font size, all caps, bold & center on the page)

1. INTRODUCTION (title 16 font size, all caps, bold & center on the page)
1.1 Background of the Study (title 14 font size, aligned to left margin, bold and
title case)
1.2 Statement of the Problem& Research Questions:(title 14 font size, aligned to
left margin, bold and title case)
1.3 Objectives: (General & Specific objectives, title 14 font size, aligned to left
margin, bold and title case)
1.4 Hypotheses: (title 14 font size, aligned to left margin, bold and title case)
1.5 Significance of the Study: (title 14 font size, aligned to left margin, bold and
title case)
1.6 Scope of the Study: title 14 font size, aligned to left margin, bold and title
case)

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 1.7 Limitations of the Study title 14 font size, aligned to left margin, bold and title
case)
1.8 operational Definitions of words and concepts title 14 font size, aligned to left
margin, bold and title case)
1.9 Structure of the Thesis: title 14 font size, aligned to left margin, bold and title
case)

CHAPTER TWO (Title, 18 font size, all caps, bold & center on the page)

2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE(title 16 font size, all caps, bold & center on
the page)
2.1 Theoretical Framework (title 15 font size, bold and title case, aligned to the
left margin)
2.1.1 Sub topic under 2.1 (title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to the
left margin)
2.1.2 Sub topic under 2.1 (title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to the
left margin)

2.1.3 Sub topic under 2.1 (title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to the
left margin)
2.1.3.1 Sub-sub topic (title 12 font size, bold, title case and aligned to the
left margin)
2.1.3.2 Sub-sub topic (title 12 font size, bold, title case and aligned to the
left margin)
2.2 Empirical Reviews: (title 15 font size, bold and title case, aligned to the left
margin)
2.3 Conceptual Model:(title 15 font size, bold and title case, aligned to the left
margin)

CHAPTER THREE(Title, 18 font size, all caps, bold & center on the page)

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY(title 16 font size, all caps, bold & center on the
page)
3.1 descriptions of the study area (title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to
the left margin)
3.2 Research Design/Approach: (title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to
the left margin)
3.3 Source & Type of Data: (title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to the
left margin)

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 3.4 Sampling Design: (title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to the left
margin)
3.5 Methods of data collection: : (title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to
the left margin)
3.6 Data Analysis Techniques: (title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to the
left margin)
3.7 Model Specification and Description of Study Variables: (title 14 font size,
bold, title case, & aligned to the left margin)

CHAPTER FOUR (Title, 18 font size, all caps, bold & center on the page)

4. RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS(title 16 font size, all caps, bold & center on the page)

4.1 Sub topic 1: (title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to the left
margin)

4.2 Sub topic 2:(title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to the left margin)

4.3 Sub topic 3:(title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to the left margin)

CHAPTER FIVE(Title, 18 font size, all caps, bold & center on the page)

5. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS (title

16 font size, all caps, bold & center on the page)
5.1 SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to
the left margin)
5.2 Conclusions: (title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to the left margin)
5.3 Recommendations: (title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to the left
margin)
5.4 Future Research Direction: (title 14 font size, bold, title case, & aligned to the
left margin)

References (title 16 font size, all caps, bold & center on the page)

 The Harvard Referencing System will be uniformly adopted

 The Harvard Referencing style is attached along with this guideline.

APPENDIX

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BRIEF EXPLANATIONS OF THE GUIDELINE ITEMS:

A. Thesis Title
 Titles of the thesis should be brief, attractive and accurate in describing what the thesis
is about. Generally, a title constructed from not more than 22 words is recommended.
 The title should be written in UPPER CASE
B. Thesis length and typing considerations
 The length of the MA thesis should range between 60 to 100 pages including references.
 Thesis out of this page range will be accepted only in exceptional cases with
justifications confirmed by thesis advisors.
 Must be typed on A4 size paper, preferably typing on one side of the page only.
 There must be margin of 3.5 cm on the left hand side of the page to allow for binding,
and minimum margins of 1.5 cm on the right side and 2 cm at the top and bottom of the
pages.
 The pages should be numbered consecutively and the number should appear just below
the center of the lower margin.
C. Abstract
 Abstract should be brief and should not be more than one page.
 It should be italicized.
 Key words should not exceed 5.
D. Language style
 Either British or American English writing styles can be used. However, the
selected style should be consistently used throughout the thesis. Mixing the two
styles is not allowed.
E. Heading formats
 Headings should be brief, attractive and accurate in describing the content under it.
 Headings should have the following format:
o First heading : UPPER CASE + bold
o Second Heading: Upper Case for Initial Letters + bold
o Third Heading: Sentence case + italic
o Forth heading: Sentence case

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 F. Tables and figures
 Use sentence case + bold for table and figure captions
 Table captions should be placed at the top of a table
 Figure captions should be placed at the bottom of a figure
 Tables and figures should be numbered consecutively from 1 to the last table or figure
 Do not place figure caption within graphics image.
G. Math/Equations
 Consecutively number equations throughout the text.
 When displaying equations, place equation number within parentheses at flush-
right margin; center the equation.
H. Footnotes/Endnotes
 Use footnotes rather than endnotes.
 The footnotes should be numbered consecutively.
 Footnotes should not be too many
 Footnotes should not be too long in size. Preferably, limit the length of a single
footnote within the range of one to four lines.
I. Line spacing
 The line spacing should be 1.5 for the entire thesis
J. Font type and size
 Use Times New Roman font type
 Use 12 point font size for body text
 Use 14 point font size for the first heading
 Use 10 point font size for footnotes
K. Text citations/references
 For within-text citations (either parenthetical or as part of narrative), spell out up to
three author last names; use first author's name followed by "et al." for works with thee
or more authors but not that all authors must be given in the reference list.
o For example: Abebe, et al. (2009) explain that …;
o Tesfaye, Dercon, and Fafchamps (1999) argue…
 Use comma (but not semicolon) to separate multiple citations in the text but don’t use
comma to separate the author’s name and the year of publication. For example:

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 o A number of studies show that access to credit improves technology adoption
(Feder 1991, Bekele, et al. 2000, Asfaw, Getahun and Yeshi 2001)
 When citing a direct quotation, include page number(s) from the author's work.
Use double quotation marks for quoted material within the text.
o Example: Abebe et al (2009: 27) notes: “informal land markets improve
land use efficiency in rural Ethiopia.”
 When a direct quotation is more than two typeset lines, it should be taken out of
the paragraph of the main text, indented and ends with a bibliographic reference
following the full stop. In this case a double quotation mark is not needed. Rather
the font size of the quoted text would be adjusted downwards to 11 points.
 Ibid. (and the like) are not used when repeating citations. Simply repeat the
original citation.
 References to works published in the same year should be cited as, e.g. (Smith,
1991a, b).
 Multiple citations within text should be ordered by date, not alphabetically by
author's name, e.g. (Dessalegn 1983, Jones and Bower 1991, Berhanu 1999,
Greene, 2003).
 The reference list should include every work cited in the text. Please ensure that
dates, spelling and title used in the text are consistent with those listed in the
references.
 The content and form of the reference list should conform to the examples below.
Examples:
Book

o Scott, J. (1976). The moral economy of the peasant: Rebellion and subsistence in South-
East Asia. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Chapter in a book

o Cerioli, A and S. Zani (1990). A fuzzy approach to the measurement of poverty. In: C.
Dagum and M. Zenga (eds.) Income and wealth distribution, inequality and poverty.
Berli: Springer Verlag, pp. 272-284.
Article in a journal

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 Shaban, R.A (1987). Testing between Competing Models of Sharecropping. Journal of
Political Economy 95(5): 893- 920.
o Otsuka, K., H. Chuma, Y. Hayami (1992). Land and labour contracts in agrarian
economies. Journal of Economic Literature 30:1965–2018.
Article in conference proceedings

 Abebe, H.G. (2000). Thriving Informal Land Markets and Patterns of Entitlement
Redistribution among Peasant Households: The case of Cereal Producing Central Ethiopian
Highlands. In: Alemu M. and Dejene A. (eds.) Institutions, Resources and Developments in
Ethiopia , proceedings of the ninth Annual Conference on the Ethiopian Economy, Ethiopian
Economic Association, pp. 67- 86.
Discussion paper, working papers and unpublished reports

 Pender, J., M. Fafchamps (2001). Land lease and agricultural efficiency: theory and
evidence from Ethiopia. EPTD Discussion Paper No 1. Washington, DC: International
Food Policy Research Institute.
 Tesfaye, T. (2004). Rural Land, Emerging Rental Land Markets and Public Policy in
Ethiopia. Department of Economics, Western Michigan University, USA (Mimeo).
An Internet source
 Give the universal resource locator in full:
Martin, D. 2010. Productivity of coffee production, retrieved from
www.ids.ac.uk/go/bookshop/new-publications (Accessed on January 25,
2011)

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