THESIS WRITING GUIDE FOR

POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMME

CENTRE OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

LUC/CPGS/Thesis writing Guide for Postgraduate Programme/updated November 2019

 1. INTRODUCTION
This guidebook describes in detail the procedures and format which your thesis must fulfill
before the final submission. Throughout this document, the word “thesis” is used broadly to
refer to either Masters or PhD Theses.

As you begin to prepare your thesis following the guidelines given, we would like to emphasize
that Lincoln University College (LUC) upholds the policy of ensuring all candidates for
higher degrees are trained to practice highest standards of intellectual honesty and integrity.
This means that ideas and data of other researchers that you used must be duly
acknowledged in your thesis by citing the quoted materials and providing the full
references in the reference list. Failure to do this will make you liable for plagiarism.

All thesis drafts(in soft copies) are subjected to a through checking using the plagiarism
software “Turnitin” before it is deemed acceptable for examiners’ assessment.

2. WRITING STYLE
The following styles are acceptable:
APA style

3. LAYOUT AND ARRANGEMENT OF CONTENTS

3.1. PRELIMINARIES:
All pages in Preliminaries (except Title page) are numbered in Roman numerals
e.g.i,ii,iii....accordingly.

3.1.1. Title Page (Must contain the following):

 Title of the thesis
 Full name of the student
 Student ID
 Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of (Doctor of
Philosophy in…, Master ….)
 Name of the faculty where the student is registered
 Name of the University; and Place
 The month and year the thesis was submitted for examination to LUC
 DO NOT number this page
 See sample in Appendix 1.

LUC/CPGS/Thesis writing Guide for Postgraduate Programme/updated November 2019

 3.1.2. Student Declaration
 The declaration page contains a statement declaring the originality of the thesis. It
must be signed by the student, Supervisor and Dean.
 See sample in Appendix 2.

3.1.3. Acknowledgement
 Acknowledgements must be written on a single page only.
 Its purpose is to record the author’s appreciation for individuals or organizations
that provided their assistance either directly or indirectly in the preparation of the
thesis.
 This is a statement of appreciation to supervisors, source of scholarship, assistance
obtained during research etc.

3.1.4. Abstract in English and Bahasa Malay

 An abstract is a summary of the entire thesis and should contain a brief write-up of
the problem statement, objective, methodology, and summary of the findings in
context of the whole study.
 Must be in English and Bahasa Malaysia.
 The English abstract appears first.
 Both versions must have their respective titles.
 Not more than 350 words and double spacing.
 See Appendix 3.

3.1.5. Table of Contents

 Comprises the titles of, sections of preliminaries, chapters and their subdivisions.
 Must be worded exactly as in the text. Must have Headings (1,2,3 and so on),
sub-headings (1.1, 1.2, 1.3) and sub sub-headings (1.2.1, 1.2.2 and so on).
 Further divisions to be indicated by small letters in parenthesis e.g. 1.2.1(a), 1.2.1(b)
and so on.
 See Appendix 4.

3.1.6. Table of Tables

 This page contains a list of all tables presented in the thesis.
 See Appendix 5.

3.1.7. Table of Figures

 This page contains a list of all figures presented in the thesis.
 All illustrations included in the text such as maps, charts, drawings, graphs, pictures

LUC/CPGS/Thesis writing Guide for Postgraduate Programme/updated November 2019

 and photos are considered as ‘Figures’.
 The list of figures contains all the figure numbers, titles and the corresponding page
numbers on which they appear.
 The list of figures must be ordered by chapter.
 See Appendix 6.

3.1.8. Table of Abbreviation

 This page lists down all the abbreviations used in the thesis.
 List of abbreviations should be in alphabetical order
 See Appendix 7.

3.2. TEXT
This section outlines the contents of your thesis. The text is made up of chapters with a number
of sections and subsections. All these sections must begin on a new page. It usually comprises
of: Introduction, Review of Literature, Proposed Methodology, Results and Discussion and
Conclusion and Recommendation for Future Research.

3.2.1. Introduction
 Gives a background and highlight the problems under investigation by describing
the status of the problems conceptually or theoretically
 Set forth the scope and objectives of the study
 Outline plan of action or research protocol. Include a fully-referenced
review of the existing literature
 Note: A separate chapter may be written specifically for literature survey
under the heading Literature Review

3.2.2. Literature Review

 A standalone chapter

3.2.3. Proposed Methodology

 List and describe all the materials used in the experimental work
 Detailed description of experimental protocol
 The protocol should be written as comprehensive as possible so that another
researcher will have no difficulty to repeat them

3.2.4. Results and Discussion

 Consists of results obtained from the study
 Can be presented as a series of figures, tables etc. with a descriptive text

LUC/CPGS/Thesis writing Guide for Postgraduate Programme/updated November 2019

  Analysis of data such as statistical analysis can be stated
 Discuss the outcome of the research work

3.2.5. Conclusion and Recommendation for Future Research

 Recapitulation of the study's findings
 Conclusion of the study
 Recommendations for future research

3.3. REFERENCE MATERIALS

We recommend you to use the bibliographic management software EndNote or Mendeley.

3.3.1. Bibliography or Reference

 Start on a fresh page.
 The title of REFERENCES to be centered in capital letters.
 Five (5) cm from the top.
 List begins four (4) spaces from the heading.
 Single spacing within entry.
 3-space indentation for entry exceeding a single line.

When an information or idea is taken from a source, the author of the source must be
acknowledged in the text. References cited in the text must be written according to
APA (American Psychological Association) style latest edition, which can be found on:
1. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
2. http://www.apastyle.org/learn/quick-guide-on-references.aspx#In-Text

Note: all your citations, references, format of tables, figures, quotations, and text format
must be restricted with APA latest style.

3.3.2. Appendices
In this section, the student is given the opportunity to include materials that can provide
additional information in the text to support the study such as: tables, charts, computer
programs, questionnaires, observation checklists, long extracts and formal letters.
 Should be placed after References, comprises of supplementary illustrative
materials, and quotations too long for inclusion in the text or lengthy experimental
methods.
 Words APPENDICES to be centered in capital letters.
 Do not number this page.

LUC/CPGS/Thesis writing Guide for Postgraduate Programme/updated November 2019

 4. THESIS FORMAT

4.1. Length of Thesis

The maximum number of word length for a thesis is as follows:
Master’s Programme
Research project / Dissertation Dissertation
(by Coursework & Mixed mode) (by Research)
40,000 words 60,000 words
Doctoral Programme
Dissertation
Thesis
(by Coursework or Thesis
(by Research)
by Clinical Coursework) (by Mixed mode)

80,000 words 100,000 words

These limits do not include tables, diagrams and other illustrations except appendices.

4.2. Printing
 All copies must be clean and legible
 Use 80 gm, A4 size (210 x 297 mm), and white paper
 Print on one side only
 Computer paper or carbon copies are NOT allowed

4.3. Hard bound Cover

For the final submission to the University, theses must be permanently bound with hard
covers. And all the details mentioned on the cover page must be gold printed using regular
Times New Roman font, size 18. The cover must contain the following:
 Title of the thesis
 Full name of the student
 Student ID
 Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of (Doctor of Philosophy
in…, Master ….)
 Name of the faculty where the student is registered
 Name of the University; and Place
 The month and year the thesis was submitted for examination to LUC
 All printed in gold, font size of 18, Arial and capitalized

LUC/CPGS/Thesis writing Guide for Postgraduate Programme/updated November 2019

 The color codes for the cover are as follows:
Doctor of Philosophy Thesis: Black
Master’s Thesis: Maroon
Undergraduate Project Report: Blue

4.4. Binding
 As a first step, 5 copies of a thesis must be bound temporarily (spiral binding) for the
purpose of examination.
 Then, after the viva and all corrections, 5 copies of hard-bound thesis must be submitted.

4.5. Label for CD cover

The CD must have the following on the label:
 Your full name.
 Full thesis title.
 Month and Year of submission.
 Degree.

4.6. Typing
 The thesis must be typed in double spacing Times New Roman font, size 12.
 Use italics to emphasis some important words in the thesis.
 The spacing between text lines should be 2.0 lines.
 Text should be typed on one side of the A4paper.
 Chapter titles must be typed with capital letters and centered between the left and right
margins. Each chapter must begin on a newpage.
 Main titles (e.g., 1.1 INTRODUCTION) must be written in bold capital letters.
 Sub-chapters should be typed in bold, only the first letter of the words of the sub-titles
should be in uppercase.

4.7. Spacing and Format

 Students must adhere to the following text spacing guidelines:
 The spacing between a chapter title and a first main title of text is double spacing (enter
twice)
 The spacing between a title and a sub-title is double spacing (enter twice).
 The spacing between a sub-title and the paragraph is single spacing.
 Single spacing between paragraphs.
 The text should be left justified.
 The spacing between the last line of text and a Table, Figure or Illustration should be 1 line.

LUC/CPGS/Thesis writing Guide for Postgraduate Programme/updated November 2019

 4.8. Symbols
 Please use appropriate software to generate symbols or special characters not foundon
the computer key board.
 For formula, use an equation editor including subscripts and superscripts.
 Please observe proper convention for scientific names.

4.9. Margins
 All Text, Tables, Figures and their captions must conform to the following margins:
o Top edge: 2.5 cm
o Bottom edge: 2.5 cm
o Right side: 2.5 cm
o Left side: 4.0 cm
 Typing cannot be done below the bottom margin except to complete a footnote or
last line of a chapter, subdivision or caption.
 A new paragraph must have at least 2 full lines in a page. Otherwise begin on the
next page.

4.10. Pagination
 Remember: The Title page of the thesis is considered page (i), but the number is not typed.
 Pagination
o All page numbers are without punctuation.
o Placed 1 cm from bottom centre.
o Preliminaries are numbered in lower case Roman numerals.
o All text and reference pages are numbered in Arabic numerals.
o All pages including those with diagrams, tables, etc. must have a page number.
o Appendices are labelled with alphabet e.g. Appendix A with or without page numbering

4.11. Subdivision
 Text in each chapter may be divided under headings and sub-headings such as
1.1,1.2, 1.3 etc and 1.1.1,1.1.2 etc.
 All subdivisions begin from the left margin.

4.12. Notes and Footnotes

 Font sizes for notes and footnotes must be smaller than general text.
 Footnotes are not encouraged for the Sciences, Engineering, Medical and Business; and
should be kept to a minimum.

As a general guideline we suggest you refer to the style used in your discipline for
tables, figures and plates.

LUC/CPGS/Thesis writing Guide for Postgraduate Programme/updated November 2019

 4.13. The following are basic guidelines:

4.13.1. Tables
o Properly centred within the margin.Numbered in relation to chapter, e.g. in Chapter
1, tables should be numbered Table 1.1, Table 1.2 and so on.
o Numbered in Arabic numeral (Table 1.1, Table 1.2 etc) and a caption.
o Number of table must correspond with text.
o Place tables near to related discussion in text.
o Put heading above the table.
o Tables too large to fit the margins may be changed to landscape orientation.
o The table number and title should be in the same font size as the rest of
your writing.
o Tables too long or too wide for a single page (vertically or
horizontally) may be continued on to the following page. The heading should
be e.g. ''Table 1-1. Continued"(do not repeat the table title).Column and row
headings must be repeated for continued tables.
o Notes (if any) belong in the bottom row of the table. Do not vertically list
your table notes (at the bottom of the table): instead let them wrap automatically,
like paragraph text (do not put a hard return after each entry).

4.13.2. Figures
o Can be illustrations, photographs, graphs or anything other than tables and
script.
o Line diagrams should be drawn with the aid of a computer or with
mechanical aids using black permanent ink or equivalent on white paper.
o Unless necessary, the use of colour in graphs and figures is discouraged.
o Put heading below the figures.
o Put only 1 blank line space between the figure and figure heading.
o Minimize clutter. Label subparts of figures as A and B, not (A) and (B).
o If a figure and all of its subparts run more than one page, the entire figure heading
(including descriptions of all subparts) must appear at the bottom of the first
page of the figure. Any additional pages of subparts of this figure get only this
heading at the bottom of the page.
o Any table or figure that is borrowed from copyrighted publication, you need to
secure permission and give a complete source (the full reference PLUS the table
or figure number and page number where it appearedin the original). For tables,
this goes in the notes row (the last row) of the table. For figures, this goes at
the end of the figure heading.

LUC/CPGS/Thesis writing Guide for Postgraduate Programme/updated November 2019

 APPENDIX 1

AN ANALYSIS OF THE READING CURRICULUM

IN MALAYSIA: PREPARATION FOR A
CADEMIC READING AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL

SALMAH MOHAMED AHMED

(STUDENT ID. 4121030)

THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ………………

FACULTY OF ......................

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

MALAYSIA

Month Year

LUC/CPGS/Thesis writing Guide for Postgraduate Programme/updated November 2019

 APPENDIX 2

Declaration
I, ………………………………………………………… declare that this thesis and the work
presented in it are my own and has been generated by me as the result of my own original research.
[title of thesis] …………………………………………………………………………

I confirm that:
 This work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at this
University;
 Where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any other
qualification at this Lincoln University College or any other institution, this has been
clearly stated;
 Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed;
 Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the
exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work;
 I have acknowledged all main sources of help;

Date: Student Name:

Student ID :
Signature :

Supervisor Signature:
Supervisor Name
Designation
Faculty of ……….
Lincoln University College
Malaysia

Dean Signature:
Dean Name
Designation
Faculty of ……
Lincoln University College
Malaysia
 APPENDIX 3

ABSTRAK and ABSTRACT

The abstract is a short summary of the thesis. It describes the rationale and objectives (problem
statement), the methodology, as well as the findings and conclusion of the study undertaken. The
abstract must not be longer than 250 words for a Master’s thesis and not longer than 350 words for a
Doctoral thesis written in two languages, Bahasa Melayu and English language. For a thesis written in
English, the abstract must be written in English first followed by its Malay translation on the next page.
Do not include any literature review, unexplained abbreviations, limitations or suggestions for future
research in the abstract. It must be written with a spacing of oneline.
 APPENDIX 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS Page

AUTHOR DECLARAION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

ABSTRACT iii

ABSTRAK iv

LIST OF CONTENTS v

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF FIGURES x

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 1

1.1.1… 5

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 13

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY 20

1.4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 22

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS OF STUDY 23

24
1.6 THEORETICAL AND ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK
31
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS
31
1.7.1 …
33
1.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

36
2.1 …
37
2.1.1 …
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 131

3.1 RESEARCH CONTEXT 148

3.2 PARTICIPANTS 155

3.3 INSTRUMENTS OF DATA COLLECTION 156

3.4 PROCEDURES OF STUDY 159

3.5 DATA COLLECTION 166

3.6 DATA ANALYSIS OF STUDY 171

3.7 RELIABILITY PROCEDURES 193

3.8 DATA INTERPRETATION 196

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

198

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIONS AND 233

SUGGESSTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES

REFERENCES 280

APPENDICES 320
 APPENDIX 5

LIST OF TABLES

Table Description Page

Table 2.1: 107

Table 3.1: 160

Table 3.2: 161

Table 3.3: 162
 APPENDIX 6

LIST OF FIGURES

Figures Description Page

Figure 1.1: 180

Figure 1.2: 187

Figure 2.1: 190

Figure 3.3: 199

 APPENDIX 7

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS IN THE THESIS

Abbreviations Meaning

LUC Lincoln University College

MQA Malaysian Qualifications Agency

MQF Malaysian Qualifications Framework