DISSERTATION GUIDE

A handbook for students undertaking a dissertation as part of their

studies

School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and

Society

Heriot-Watt University
Contents
1.0 Introduction

2.0 Definition of roles and responsibilities

3.0 Dissertation selection

4.0 Time management

5.0 Dissertation presentation

6.0 Plagiarism and referencing

7.0 Backup documentation

8.0 Safety

9.0 Assessment procedure

10.0 Research methods

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This handbook should be read in conjunction with the supplementary dissertation

information that relates specifically to your programme. This will provide additional
information you will need to know for the preparation of your dissertation

This handbook offers advice for students undertaking a dissertation as part of their undergraduate or
postgraduate degree studies within the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society. The
guide contains information relating to mandatory presentation specifications including layout, format and
structure which all dissertations submitted to the School must conform to. Regulations governing
plagiarism and late submission procedures are also outlined. In addition the guide also provides good
practice advice that is relevant to all types of dissertation, explaining some of the features to be found in
good dissertations as well as highlighting some of the pitfalls and bad practices to be avoided. Following
this advice will
greatly increase your chances of obtaining a good grade for your work.

Programme and Course specific information

Reference is made throughout the text to programme specific dissertation guidance, which should be read
in conjunction with this handbook. This will be issued separately by your dissertation director and contains
information relating to your particular programme and course relating to:

Submission date

Criteria used in assessing your dissertation

‘Extension of Time’ procedures for dissertations submitted late.
2.0 DEFINITION OF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Supervisor:

Every student in the School will have their work overseen by a supervisor who is an academic
member of staff. The student will work with the supervisor for the duration of the dissertation.
Procedures for allocating a supervisor differ from programme to programme, and you will be
advised of these procedures for your particular programme before commencement of the
dissertation. The Supervisor is the person with whom the student should work closely. The onus
is on the student to make contact with the Supervisor, and to arrange and adhere to a programme
of regular meetings thereafter. The Supervisor should not have to chase students in order to check
on their work progress. The Supervisor should advise on the structure and suitability of the
dissertation, comment on draft work submitted, be of support throughout, and warn the student if
the work is not thought to be of a satisfactory standard.

You should maintain contact with your Supervisor throughout the preparation of your
dissertation. A common pitfall is to go long periods of time without making any contact with the
supervisor. If you are dissatisfied with your Supervisor you should raise the matter with the
Dissertation Director or course leader and, if you remain dissatisfied, with the Head of School.
Students should not expect staff to read and comment on draft chapters at short notice.

Most members of staff have a personal interest / expertise in the subjects that they supervise. This
makes them ideal people with whom to discuss all aspects of your dissertation - make sure that
you use them. It is essential to maintain dialogue with your Supervisor to discuss progress, work
undertaken since last meeting, obtain feedback on completed work etc. It is important for you that
your effort, application, achievement, initiative and ideas are properly evaluated and this can only
happen if you keep in regular contact with your Supervisor.

Some dissertations will require some kind of assistance from outside the University. All
approaches to agencies (industry, laboratory, library or government agency) or individuals for
information, interviews etc must be made with the approval of the Supervisor, and not
independently by a student. This restriction especially applies to the use of questionnaires.

Always bear in mind however, that the successful completion of the dissertation is the
responsibility of the student, not the Supervisor.

Dissertation Director:

Each degree programme area has appointed a dissertation director. This person has the overall
responsibility for the academic leadership of the dissertation and its strategic management within
the relevant degree programme area. Specifically the dissertation director will be responsible for:

setting and reviewing of the modules learning aims and objectives

presenting the module marks to the relevant degree programme examination board for
consideration;

providing academic guidance to students on topic selection and realisation;

considering claims for extensions of time and personal mitigating circumstances and the
presentation of recommendations on such matters to the relevant degree programme examination
board;

liaison with individual dissertation supervisors and / or students to overcome difficulties that
may arise due to personal conflicts, poor performance, unsatisfactory progress etc;

working with relevant course leaders to select a sample of appropriate dissertations for dispatch
to external examiners and if necessary liaison with course leaders to establish viva voce
examinations for individual students as required;

providing advice and guidance to students on matters related to research methods and on
dissertation structure and/ or presentation when the nature of the work does not comply with
established norms;

organising the efficient and coherent assessment of all dissertations submitted within the
relevant degree programme area.
3.0 DISSERTATION TOPIC SELECTION

The procedures and approach to selecting a suitable topic will be explained to you in good time
before work on the dissertation has to commence. The dissertation topic may either be self
generated by the student or selected from a published list of dissertation titles offered by
academics related to a particular degree programme:

Students who wish to generate their own dissertation should be aware that this must be done with
guidance from an academic or the Dissertation Director. These members of staff have experience
of what is required of a dissertation and will be able to advise a student whether the necessary
supervision, resources and support will be available.

Students who select their dissertation title from the published list should contact the academic
concerned to discuss the requirements.
4.0 TIME MANAGEMENT

The dissertation you are undertaking is likely to be a demanding piece of project management. It
is vital that you are aware of the resources you have, the deadlines that need to be met and the
relation between different tasks (e.g. are there some things that have to be completed before other
activities can begin? can other tasks be done in parallel?). In the end you have to manage the
process yourself, and each dissertation has to be organised in its own way, depending e.g. on the
topic, what you already know etc. You are strongly advised to plan out your work, discuss that
plan with your Supervisor and monitor it as you go along, adjusting as necessary.

Each student should arrange a first meeting with his/her supervisor as soon as the dissertation
work begins. Off-campus and distance learning students may find dialogue by email or telephone
a convenient means of “meeting”. This should be explored between supervisor and student to
agree the best means of working. It is most important to maintain steady progress on the research
work throughout the duration of its preparation. A dissertation cannot be completed satisfactorily
in an intensive campaign because the planning of interviews, fieldwork, procurement of materials
and experimental work takes time.

The final date for submission of the complete dissertation is listed in your programme specific
guidance which supplements this document. You need to plan back from that date, to ensure that
all the key tasks are completed on time. Overleaf gives you a basic model of key stages to work
to. The length of each stage may vary from dissertation to dissertation and also depends on the
mode of study.

You should plan in weeks for each stage at the beginning with your Supervisor and stick to the
plan during the process. Do not let that time slip away unnoticed. Keep a weekly plan of the work
you are doing for the dissertation and monitor what you actually do.

Ensure you stay within the maximum of word limit the main text as set for your dissertation in
your programme handbook.

A late submission penalty for dissertations will operate in respect of a dissertation handed in after
the deadline. Please refer to your programme specific guidance for the details of the appropriate
late working penalty.

The School does not guarantee to mark and assess, in time for the relevant exam board, any
dissertation submitted late. The assessment of late submissions may be deferred until the
following exam board with the consequence that those students will be unable to graduate until
six months later than their cohort.

Table 1 Dissertation stages

Stage Requirement

1 Formulate a research proposal (as part of the Research Methods module for some courses);
identify research aims, methodology; background reading and initial literature review; and get
feedback from the appropriate staff.
2 Revise research proposal according to the feedback comments and arrange first meeting with
Supervisor.

3 Finalise research proposal and get advice from Supervisor on skills and techniques required;
adjust specific research aims, methodology, case studies, fieldwork or laboratory work; further
background reading and literature review.

4 Organise any necessary field/laboratory work. Completion of draft literature review.

5 Detailed outline of chapters drafted, most of the field/laboratory completed. Analysis of

data/survey results. Identify any gaps where extra work or reading are necessary.

6 Bring together all outline materials to prepare the first complete draft. This will either be far too
long or too short, the English may be poor, it may be repetitive and some of the maps or diagrams
originally envisaged will have to be discarded and new ones drawn. Always keep a copy of any
draft you let out of your hands, in case it gets lost! Also back up a copy on a disk.

7 Preparation of final draft. This is really a correction stage of the first draft. You should consult
your Supervisor particularly at this stage. At this stage everything must be complete, correct
spelling and punctuation, all figure and table numbers known, page numbering etc. Typing and
photocopying of drawings, maps etc; collation of all sheets; checking and correcting typing
errors; check binding requirements.

8 Submission of dissertation.
5.0 DISSERTATION PRESENTATION

5.1 General

Submission of dissertations is electronic only. You will submit one file (Word of PDF) to the
appropriate Turnitin inbox.

Dissertations submitted to draft folders or incorrect folders will not be marked.

The length of the main text for your particular course, excluding Tables, Appendices etc. is
detailed in your programme handbook. Students who exceed this limit may be penalised in the
marking of the dissertation. A short report will be harder to write than a long one, but the
additional time in editing and refining the text will be well spent. Conciseness however should
not be an excuse for excessive brevity.

The writing of this dissertation will probably take longer than expected. Begin by blocking out
the material, trying out various ways of organising it and different ways of saying things. One
advantage of an early start is that the process of writing clarifies thinking and reveals weaknesses
in the work while there is still time to take remedial action.

The dissertation should be written in an impersonal style, i.e. the use of 'I' or 'You' should be
avoided. The dissertation should be written in a consistent manner, i.e. in the same tense and
format. Where symbols or abbreviations are used, they should be used consistently and be of the
standard nomenclature for the particular field of study. There should be a glossary of symbols if
they are numerous (see 5.2 h) below). Convention requires the use of an impersonal style in the
narrative past tense.

Other tenses are of course necessary at times as when, for instance, the writer states an existing or
future condition. It is important to adopt a mode of writing that keeps the reader interested (and
aware!), and this can be achieved more easily if the active voice is used. This is a more lively and
direct form of communication which requires fewer words to say the same thing and as a
consequence combines brevity with sharpness.

For example:
PASSIVE "The site was studied and it was seen that ..."
ACTIVE "Examination of the site showed that ..."

There is no objection to the occasional use of the personal pronoun, but its introduction should be
discreet so as not to draw the reader's attention from the matter under discussion. An appropriate
use of the personal pronoun would be to establish the authorship of opinion. This can be a useful
way of showing clearly your own views and where you are attempting to advance beyond what
other writers have already stated.

For example:
" ... and I believe that this was because ... "
" ... this argument leads me to conclude that ... "
as compared with:
" ... and it is thought (by whom?) that this was because ... "
It is important to use language which is seen to be neutral and this is particularly important where
matters of race or gender are involved. Graphical communications are more efficient than words
for many kinds of information. Use illustrations freely - pictures, graphs, diagrams, maps, flow-
charts - but choose them wisely, and remember that they have to be carefully designed with the
text to meet the reader's needs. A simple sketch may be better than a detailed drawing. Don't use
an elaborate table of numbers if all the reader needs to know is the shape of a curve. If an
illustration is taken from the work of another then it is necessary to acknowledge it or quote the
source.

5.2 Dissertation layout / format

Typing should be of even quality with clear black characters the same size as this text (12 point).

One-and-a-half line spacing shall be used for the main body of your text, except for indented
quotations of three lines length or more which must be presented indented both sides and single
line spaced. Page numbering commences immediately and continues to the final page. It may
help to look at the layout of dissertations from previous years' held in the School Resource
Centre, but remember that all dissertations are available, not only the good ones.

5.2.1 Structure
The sections of the dissertation should appear in the following order:
Title page
Statement of authorship
Table of contents
List of tables and illustrations
Acknowledgements
Abstract (approximately 300 words in length)
Glossary of abbreviations
Main sections/chapters
References

5.2.2 Text style and features

THE FOLLOWING FEATURES MUST BE ADOPTED AND USED CONSISTENTLY

THROUGHOUT YOUR DISSERTATION

a) Text style - use full left and right justification. Use bold emphasis sparingly. Use capital letters
as little as possible, usually for the first letter of headings, sub-headings, captions, names and
proper nouns. All headings should be ranged left.

b) Font - use 12 point Times New Roman generally throughout the script.

c) Headings, - in bold not underlined in 14 pt Times New Roman. For main headings leave two
blank lines above and one blank line below. Initial capital letter for first word only. Use 14 pt font
size. Number headings in sequence within a chapter with an indent between the number and the
heading. Do not end headings with a full stop. Range any second line of a heading left. Do not
start headings at the foot of a page or with only one line of text below. Decide on a hierarchy of
font size within the text and adopt it consistently throughout.

FOR SUB-HEADINGS - IN BOLD NOT UNDERLINED, 12 PT TIMES NEW ROMAN.

LEAVE ONE BLANK LINE ABOVE AND NO BLANK LINES BELOW. DO NOT USE
MORE THAN ONE LEVEL OF SUB SUB-HEADING.
d) Lists - use Arabic numerals (1,2,3) or bullet points for emphasis, and indent each item. Keep
the numbers or bullet points ranged on the left margin.
Leave one blank line above and below lists, but no blank lines between items on the list.

e) Punctuation - Leave two character spaces after full stops and one space after all other
punctuation.

f) Paragraphs - do not indent and do not leave a blank line between paragraphs. Do not number
paragraphs

g) Pages - shall be numbered throughout the dissertation in Arabic style (1,2,3) including all
appendices. Pagination shall be set at the centre of the bottom of the page and shall commence at
the start of the text and be positioned approximately 10 mm above the edge. All other material
that precedes the start of the general text, such as table of contents, lists of tables and diagrams,
acknowledgements and abstract shall be numbered as ... i, ii, iii, iv etc and such numbers shall be
positioned at the centre of the bottom of the page.

h) Mathematical Symbols and Equations - These should be word processed where possible.
Any freehand symbols must be neat and blend in with the typewritten text. Each mathematical
symbol must be defined when it first occurs. Express all quantities in SI (System International)
units.

i) Numbers and captions shall be at the bottom of illustrations.

j) Maps and diagrams should normally be A4 size but it is permissible to have them folded and
bound in a pocket at the end. A separate folder of size other than A4 should be included only in
very exceptional circumstances.

5.2.3 Tables, diagrams and other illustrative material

These should be listed after the contents page with their number, title and page number. Position
tables and diagrams in the text, soon after where they are first mentioned, not at the end of the
chapter or section. Tables and diagrams generally look best at the top or the bottom of a page.
Keep tables simple. Range tables left on the page and range headings left with the data in the
columns. Put only two or three spaces between columns and do not space out a table to fill a page
width.

A smaller font size maybe used for tables and captions than in the text, but make sure it is still
readable. Put the table or diagram number and heading on the line above the table or the diagram,
ranged left with a capital letter for the first word only. Leave one blank line between the text
above and the heading for the table or diagram and one blank line below the table or diagram
before the text continues.

If a very large table will not fit upright on the page, print it landscape on a separate page with the
heading in a landscape orientation.

Footnotes and endnotes

Generally footnotes and endnotes should be avoided, but if necessary position them under a
single line rule within the text area.

5.3 Presentation of the preliminary sections

The opening pages of your dissertation establish the style and feel of the work and they should be
set out in the sequence that follows below:-

N B not all the following preliminary material may be applicable in all circumstances. You
should check the material to be included with your dissertation supervisor.

(i) Title Page

This should be the page immediately inside the covers that bind the dissertation and it should
include :

(i) the title of the work - in capitals, at least 18 pt, 12-15 words maximum, centred, Times New
Roman font
(ii) the full name of the author, in capitals,16pt, Times New Roman font
(iii) the qualification - eg BSc (Hons) Construction Project Management - for which the work is
submitted, in upper and lower case, 14pt, Times new Roman font
(iv) the title of the school and university - i.e. School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and
Society, Heriot-Watt University, upper and lower case, 14 pt, Times New Roman font
(v) the year of submission, 14 pt, Times New Roman font

(ii) Statement of authorship

A statement should be included on its own on the page following the title page which must read
as follows and which must be signed and dated by the student:-

DECLARATION
I ………………………. , confirm that this work submitted for assessment is my own and is
expressed in my own words. Any uses made within it of the works of other authors in any form
(e.g. ideas, equations, figures, text, tables, programmes) are properly acknowledged at the point
of their use. A full list of the references employed has been included.

Signed: …………………………….

Date: ……………………………..

(iii) Table of contents

The next page(s) must contain a table of contents. This should list all the chapters and main sub-
headings, references, bibliography (if any) and appendices. Ensure that each page reference is
correct and that the titles of chapters and sections of chapters are those that have been used in the
final form of the text.

(iv) List of tables and diagrams

Following the table of contents page(s) you should list any tables and/or diagrams that you have
included in the text. These should be listed and show :- a) their reference number i.e.Table 1.1 or
Fig. 1.1 - which would be the reference number for the first table or diagram included in chapter
one of your dissertation, b) their title - abbreviated as required, and c) the page number on which
they have been positioned.

(v) Acknowledgments - single page, printed single space It is important that this should include
not only those that the student wishes to thank for their assistance, such as individuals or
organisations who have contributed information and data, and publishers for permission to
reproduce copyright materials, but also HWU staff, for providing guidance and assistance,
parents, family, friends and others who have provided support and assistance to your studies in
general. On some occasions sources may wish to remain anonymous and in such cases their
wishes should be respected and they should be cited accordingly. The acknowledgments page
should be written in single line spaced text.

(vi) Abstract - single page, printed single space. Make sure the abstract summarises the main
points of the dissertation, including its conclusions and findings. The abstract should be in single
line spaced text, written impersonally, concisely and be intelligible to non-experts who maybe
reading it out of context. The abstract should not be a transcript of the table of contents but must
be informative and tell the reader what the research was about, how it was undertaken and what
was discovered but not how the dissertation has been organised.

Do not begin with ‘this dissertation ....’ or ‘this research ....’ Instead use a sentence which
introduces the importance of the topic. Use between 200-300 words. Ensure the following
information is contained on the abstract page, namely, dissertation title, students name,
programme, and year of submission.

The essential elements of the abstract are:

Background: A simple opening sentence or two placing the work in context.
Aims: One or two sentences giving the purpose of the work.
Method(s): One or two sentences explaining what was done.
Results: One or two sentences indicating the main findings.
Conclusions: One sentence giving the most important consequence of the work.

Leave two blank lines after the text setting out your abstract and insert a sub-heading Keywords
(bold) followed by a maximum of six words that can be used by others seeking to decide whether
your work would be of relevance to them in their work.

(vii) Glossary of terms

Phrases, names of institutions, abbreviations etc that have been used in the text and which require
full description in order for the reader to gain complete appreciation should be listed separately
under the heading indicated above.

5.4 Presentation of the main text

General
Following the completion of the preliminaries section of your dissertation you should then
arrange the main text of your work in a recognised manner that follows a conventional structure.

The dissertation should be divided into suitable sections that follow the argument through from
its introduction, critical assessment of existing work, through its analysis of data and onto its
discussions and its conclusions. This should mean that the text is logically broken down into
chapters that are each relatively self contained and which are each numbered consecutively.

Should you feel that your work will not be capable of conforming to the norms shown then you
MUST liase with your dissertation supervisor and/or programme dissertation director so as to
agree a more appropriate format for the presentation of your work.

Checking

Proof reading is a vital aspect of dissertation writing. Check all text thoroughly at two levels,
firstly for overall sense and grammatical correctness, then for spelling and typographical errors.
The word processing must be to an acceptable standard. Make use of the word processing
functions that can help you, such as spell check, grammar check, autotext, autocorrect, headings,
table format choice, etc Equations, references and figure numbers should be double-checked. It is
advisable to check the final draft with your Supervisor before submitting the final dissertation.

5.5 Common mistakes

Over the years staff involved in assessing undergraduate dissertations have noted anumber of
failings that are consistently made in students' submissions despite the guidance they receive. The
following is a list of the most common deficiencies in many submissions:

poor or inadequate referencing
vague or non-existent hypothesis
non-existent or paltry literature review
unsubstantiated assertions
excessive amount of words
little or no critical analysis
lack of rigour and clarity
inadequate evidence and lack of argument
untidy or poorly presented graphics and text
bad spelling and poor grammar, even with spell-checking software
lack of focus
conclusions which are not supported by the results
6.0 PLAGIARISM AND REFERENCING

6.1 Plagiarism

This dissertation must be your own unaided work and as such you must maintain the highest
standards of personal integrity. The university has an established policy on academic impropriety
and takes a serious view of copying, plagiarism and cheating. Any student suspected of
submitting a dissertation which is not their own unaided work will be subjected to the full
investigative procedures set down by the university. If you have been found to have acted in an
inappropriate manner you could risk having penalties imposed on your work that would prevent
you from receiving your degree.

All dissertations require you to search existing literature. It is a mark of strength not weakness,
that all sources of statements and information are acknowledged. If especially helpful or relevant
statements or phrases are quoted directly then the full reference, including page numbers, must be
given in accordance with the Harvard system. Quotations which are ‘lifted’ without being
attributed will be considered as examples of plagiarism and treated accordingly.

Plagiarism may be deliberate or inadvertent in that it occurs as a result of poor referencing when
writing up notes of what you have read. Both forms of plagiarism are considered to be serious
and will result in the appropriate penalties being applied. All material in the dissertation must be
your own except where properly acknowledged. In your research you will be drawing on a wide
range of published material and possibly ideas and information from other unpublished sources
such as material found on the internet. This is all right and to be expected however you must
analyse and synthesise such information alongside any original research you undertake. All
source material must be acknowledged and referenced in the body of the text as appropriate and
not left to be listed in a general list of material within a bibliography - this is not appropriate and
is not academically acceptable.

The invention of statistics or interview results will be regarded as cheating and will be treated
accordingly. Equally so the detailed assistance of any source which is not named and
acknowledged. It must be clear from the presentation of the dissertation how you have carried out
your research and you should give some thought to providing evidence that confirms that the
statistics and/or interview results included in your dissertation are genuine and original to
yourself. You should always keep your dissertation supervisor fully informed about your
activities and progress.

Concern for and the avoidance of plagiarism is not just a matter of ethics or courtesy. It is also a
matter of scientific accuracy and good professional practice.

PLAGIARISM IS HEAVILY PENALISED. The University's policy is that any case of

plagiarism will be treated as "cheating" and put before the University's Student
Disciplinary Committee.

6.2 References and citations

Always indicate the exact source of material which is not your own. This includes direct
quotations, indirect quotations, closely paraphrased material, facts which may otherwise be
disputed opinions or authorities that you use in your arguments etc. This is a matter of academic
integrity and remember a meticulously referenced piece of writing is a sign of academic strength
not weakness and it serves to give your work authority.

It is important that you keep accurate notes of all material that you may use as sources of
information and ideas in your dissertation as you find them. Do not leave the referencing of your
work until the later stages of the dissertation writing process. You may like to consider keeping a
card index system or maintaining separate word processing files - whatever method you adopt if
you use it consistently it will avoid you having to retrace your steps in terms of re-reading
material which will seem like a waste of your time.

The form of referencing to be used is the Harvard system. This system requires you to include
the appropriate reference to the authors surname and year of publication in rounded brackets, at
the appropriate point in your text. This ensures that the reader has full access to the details. A full
list of your references should be presented in alphabetical order as a separate section towards the
end of your dissertation. Full details of how to set out your references using the Harvard system
including those found on the internet can be found below.

Some types of dissertation can involve the discussion of legal subjects. Often such studies will
deal with numerous legal cases and statutes. It may well be valuable to append, after the
references section a separate list of cases and statutes that you have referred to in the main body
of your text. See below for an example of how to deal with the citing of legal cases.

Different information will be needed to provide an adequate reference to the various sorts of
publication. Listed below are the elements that should be included in a reference to each of the
most common types of publication. Within the text of the document, work and ideas can be cited
using the author’s surname and year of publication. This enables it to be looked up in the list of
references at the end of the paper, sorted alphabetically, by authors’ surnames, and presented
without bullets or numbers. If the author’s name is not part of the phrasing of the sentence, then it
will be in brackets with the year (Kaka 2002) whereas if you are using the author’s name as part
of the text of the sentence, then only the year is in brackets. When citing author and year together,
there is no need to separate them with a comma. The precise location within the source material
can be given as page number(s) after a colon (Aspinall 2002: 34-36).

Referencing a book

1. Name(s) of author(s)/editor(s) Surname first, followed by initials, but without full-stops after
initials. (If editors, add Ed. or Eds, as appropriate, in brackets)
2. Year of publication, in brackets, with no punctuation after it.
3. Title of the book in italics, followed by full-stop.
4. Edition, if not the first
5. Place of publication followed by colon
6. Name of publisher
7. Number of volumes, if more than one
Examples:
Burns, T and Stalker, G M (1966) The management of innovation. London: Tavistock.
Walker, A (2002) Project management in construction. 4th ed. Oxford: Blackwell Science.

Referencing a paper/chapter in a book

1. Name(s) of author(s) of the paper/chapter, surname first, followed by initials, but without full-
stops after initials.
2. Year of publication, in brackets (no full-stop or comma after it)
3. Title of the paper or chapter (not in italics)
4. Editor(s) of the book, prefaced with the word In: and followed by Ed. or Eds. In brackets.
5. Title of the book in italics
6. Volume number, part number, where applicable
7. Place of publication
8. Name of publisher
Example:
Flint, F.O. (1984) Advances in light microscopy of foods. In: G.G. Birch and K.J. Parker, (eds.)
Control of food quality and food analysis. London: Elsevier Applied Science Publishers.

Referencing an article in a periodical

1. Name(s) of author(s) of the article
2. Year of publication, in brackets (no full-stop or comma after it)
3. Title of article
4. Full title of the periodical (or an accepted abbreviation, as given in the World List of Scientific
Periodicals, but the full title is preferred).
5. Volume number, in bold
6. Issue number, in brackets. You don’t always have to give the issue number, if pages in issues
within the volume are numbered consecutively, but for those journals where each issue re-starts at
page 1, it is essential.
7. Page numbers
Example:
Wantanakorn, D, Mawdesley, M J and Askew, W H (1999) Management errors in construction.
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 6(2), 112-20.

Reference to a thesis
1. Name of author
2. Year of publication, in brackets
3. Title of thesis, in italics
4. Type of degree (e.g. PhD or MSc) usually: Unpublished PhD thesis
5. Name of the Department
6. Name of the University
Example:
El-Askari Khaled Mohamed, S (2000) A methodology for expenditure planning of irrigation
infrastructure using hydraulic modelling techniques, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of
Engineering, University of Southampton.

Referencing a paper in a conference

1. Author(s) of the paper
2. Year of publication in brackets (no full-stop or comma after it)
3. Title of the paper or chapter (not in italics)
4. Editor(s) of the conference proceedings, prefaced with the word In: and followed by Ed. or
Eds. in brackets.
5. Title of the conference in italics
6. Date of conference
7. Location of conference
8. Publisher of Proceedings
9. Volume number, part number, where applicable
10. Start and end page numbers of the whole paper
Example
Ashton, P and Gidado, K (2001) Risk associated with inadequate site investigation procedures
under design and build procurement systems. In: Akintoye, A (Ed.), 17th Annual ARCOM
Conference, 5-7 September 2001, University of Salford. Association of Researchers in
Construction Management, Vol. 1, 961-9.

Referencing material on the internet

More and more material can be located on the internet. You should be careful to ascertain the
origin of material that you wish to reference from this source. It is important to try and access as
much refereed material as possible and you should be aware that not all material located on the
internet has been subjected to rigorous academic refereeing. Nonetheless if you wish to cite a
reference to material found on the internet then the following example provides a guideline that
you should be adhere to, namely:-
Sloan, B (1998) Crime statistics:how valid? Social Work Review Online, 2 (3)
March http://www.bulb.bath.ac.uk/bulb/home.html (1.5.98)

Referencing a government report

Key material can often be located in government reports which are frequently published. Should
you wish to reference this type of material then the following example provides a guideline that
you should adhere to, namely
DoE (1990) Housing and Construction Statistics 1979-1989: HMSO
Scottish Office Development Department (SODD) (1998) National Planning
Policy
Guideline (NPPG) 8, Town Centres and Retailing, Edinburgh: Scottish Office

Specialised legal references

Any legal textbook, such the text by Dane and Thomas (1996) would clearly indicate the method
of citing these. For instance, if you were basing your arguments on information gathered about a
particular case that you have read about in a text by Williams (1987) then you would in your text
set out the reference as “.... this can be seen from the way Williams (1987) cites Calthorpe v
McOscar (1924) 1 KB 716.” This means that the case referred to can be found in the reports of
the Kings Bench Division, page 716. Since this abbreviation is generally accepted, there is no
need to specify the full form in the references section of your dissertation. If several cases are
cited, a separate list, preferably an index, should be compiled separately to the authors listed in
your references section Of course, if you use bibliographical software, such as EndNote, available
from www.endnote.com, all of this formatting will be done for you. An appropriate style file for
EndNote is available from the Internet eg www.arcom.ac.uk.

Where you have to repeat references throughout the text you may use the following devices:
Ibid (which means as immediately above), then page number/s (p./pp.).
op. cit. (which means work quoted elsewhere), after the author's surname, and date of
publication in brackets (if you have quoted more than one of the publication's of the author in
question), then page numbers as before. References are listed at the end of the dissertation (in a
section headed ‘References’) and arranged in alphabetical order by author and date. Every
reference in the list should enable the reader to identify the work cited and to locate the specific
passage referred to in the text.

The dissertation should not normally contain a bibliography.

7.0 BACK-UP DOCUMENTATION

Throughout the dissertation students may generate additional documentation as part of their
study. This may take the form of work programmes, progress reports etc. Although such
documentation may not form the content of the main text, it is recommended that such
documentation is collated and submitted in an Appendix of the Dissertation Report.
8.0 SAFETY

ALL STUDENTS MUST UNDERTAKE RISK ASSESSMENTS FOR ANY PRACTICAL (site
or laboratory based) WORK THAT THEY ARE TO CARRY OUT. SUPERVISORS WILL
ADVISE ON THE CONTENT OF A RISK ASSESSMENT. THE SUPERVISOR AND THE
SCHOOL SAFETY OFFICER MUST APPROVE THE RISK ASSESSMENT BEFORE THE
WORK IS UNDERTAKEN.

Students undertaking work of a practical nature must be aware that University Safety Regulations
exist regarding health and safety and electrical safety. These regulations are available from the
student Resource Centre and your attention is drawn to them. Consult your Supervisor before
undertaking any experimental work.
9.0 ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE

Your dissertation will be assessed against the criteria defined for your course, using the
appropriate marking criteria set out in your programme specific guidance.

The general procedure is as following:

1) You must submit your dissertation by the deadline. Late submissions will be penalised or
failed in accordance with the specific guidance set for your programme, unless extensions are
granted.
2) If your dissertation exceeds the word limit, it may not be accepted for examination.
3) Each dissertation will be marked independently by two members of staff and one of them
could be the Supervisor. Some MEng courses will require a third Industrial marker.
4) Once the markers have completed their marking report they will then have a meeting to seek to
reach an agreed mark. In determining the final mark, you may be asked to attend an
interview/viva.
5) Exceptionally, where the markers can not reach an agreement, the School will appoint an
additional internal arbiter. This person will have available the marking sheets of the other
markers, plus any information presented by the supervisor and student. The role of this arbiter is
then to arbitrate and decide the mark to be awarded in the context of the dissertation, taking into
account the views of the markers and student.
6) The Dissertation Director will then implement a checking procedure to ensure consistency of
marking.
7) The Dissertations Director and the course leader will select a sample of Dissertations and
dispatch these to the appropriate External Examiners. The Externals will be asked to verify that
the marking procedures are fair and of the appropriate standard.
10.0 RESEARCH METHODS

The dissertation allows students to complete a substantial piece of work that demonstrates
understanding of how to tackle a research problem by applying a rigorous and strategic problem-
solving methodology. To complete a dissertation successfully, you need to be familiar with major
research methodologies.

The School runs a research method module in the third year for some undergraduate courses. This
module aims to introduce students to the assumptions and approaches adopted in research and to
familiarise students with practical issues involved in conducting and completing a research
dissertation. It is also intended to assist in developing students' own research proposals for the
final year dissertation. Students doing these courses must pass successfully the research method
module. Those students who, as part of their degree course, do not take the 3rd year research
module, will have a series of seminars delivered throughout term 1 of year 4 covering similar
material.

The university library has a stock of textbooks on research methods. Each of them may have a
different emphasis on specific areas, some on social research and some on classic scientific
method. You should consult those at the proposal stage and evaluate the suitability of a specific
research methodology toward solving your research question.

Either during the research method module or at the beginning of your dissertation, you should
prepare a research proposal. The proposal should: a) define a topic which is both researchable and
manageable within the bounds of a final year dissertation; b) conduct a preliminary literature
search and review on the selected topic and provide a background and justification to your
research question; c) establish clear aims or hypothesis and objectives for the research; e) specify
the detailed works to be carried out and to produce a structure for the research which indicates the
sources and methodologies to be employed and a feasible working programme. A good student
research proposal normally includes the following elements:

a) The main research title (no more than 15 words) and subtitle (if any)

b) Literature review and justification of your research (about two pages): This should be the
preliminary review of literature on your selected topic. It should address issues such as history of
policy changes, problems of practice, new initiatives and proposed changes, research that has
been carried out in the recent past, and what questions have not been answered or problems have
to be solved.

c) Aim/hypothesis and objectives of the research (about one page with one overall aim/hypothesis
to be followed by 3 to 5 specific objectives stated in a logical order). Your research
aim/hypothesis should address the problems identified in the literature review and bring new
knowledge or insights to the subject area. Your objectives should list the specific tasks which will
be carried out to achieve your research aim or test your hypothesis.

d) Research methodologies (about one page and a half on major methods such as laboratory
work, case studies, interviews, surveys, using secondary materials and statistics, desktop based
review, etc.) Some justification and practical details are expected on each methodology proposed.
The proposed methods should help to achieve all the research objectives and its aim.
e) Anticipated findings/contributions to knowledge (about half page) In this section you can refer
back to the literature review and justification and indicate your potential contribution to the
research area.

f) Working programme and time table (about half page). Detailed planning of research stages
should be provided. You may use a diagram instead of text description.

g) Planned chapter structure: (about half page) brief description of main contents of each chapter.

h) References: (about one page) This should include the major references you have used in your
literature review and should cover major policy documents, key texts and journal articles on your
topic.