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MPHIL/MS/PhD Research Proposal Guidelines

Research Proposal · February 2021

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.11990.16964

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Col
l
ege/
Ins
tit
uti
on/
Uni
ver
sit
yName
PhD/
DMi
n/MPhi
lRes
ear
chPr
opos
al

<
<Ti
tl
eofThe
sis
>>

<
<Name>
>

<
<Emai
l
>>

Super
vi
sor
s

<
nameofPr
inc
ipal
Supe
rvi
sor
>>

<
name
/sofAs
soc
iat
esuper
vi
sor
s>>

Fac
ult
y:

Enr
olmentComme
nce
mentDat
e:

Pr
opos
alSubmi
ssi
onDat
e:
 2

I
NSTRUCTI ONS–PLEASEDELETETHI SBEFORESUBMI SSI
ON
 Yourpr oposalmustbe 15- 20 pages,no l ess,no mor e.The t
otalword count
ther
eforeshoul dbeabout7, 500wor ds.
 Youmustf ollowt hi
st emplatestr
ict
ly
 Youmustusean11or12poi ntseri
ffont,pr
eferablyCambr i
aorTi
mesNewRoman
 Youmustuset hestandardmar gi
nsasset upint hi
sdocument
 Youmustusesi ngl
elinespacing
 Wheret het empl at
ehasat i
tl
ein<<TI TLE>>f ormat,r
eplacethetextent
ir
elywith
yourinf
ormat ion
 Usethesev enHeadi ng1sect ionsbelow.Headi ngs2+will
notappearinTOC
 3

Tabl
eofCont
ent
s
1.Abst
ract 2

2.Ov
erv
iewofThesi
sPr
oposal&Resear
chQuest
ions 3

3.Li
ter
atur
eRev
iew(
Abr
idged) 4

4.Resear
chMet
hodsandObj
ect
ives 4

5.Wor
kPl
anandTi
met
abl
e 5

6.Concl
usi
on 6

7.Ref
erenceLi
st 6
 4

1.Abst
ract
[
nomor
ethan200wor
ds]

Theabst r
acti sabr i
efsummar yofy ourResear chPr oposal
,andshoul dbenol onger
than200wor ds.Itstartsbydescr ibi
ngi naf ew wordst heknowl edgedomai nwher e
yourresearchtakespl aceandthekeyi ssuesoft hatdomai nt
hatof feropportuniti
esfor
thescienti
ficort echnologicalinnovat i
onsy oui ntendt oexplore.Taki ngt hosekey
i
ssues as a backgr ound,y ou then pr esentbr i
efl
yy ourresearch statement ,your
proposedr esear
chappr oach,ther esultsy ouexpectt oachi eve,andt heant ici
pated
i
mpl i
cati
onsofsuchr esult
sont headv ancementoft heknowledgedomai n.

Tokeepy ourabstractconciseandobj
ective,i
maginethatyouwerel ooki
ngforf
inanci
al
supportfr
om someonewhoi sver
ybusy.Supposet hatyouwer et
omeett hatpersonat
anoffici
alrecepti
onandt hatshewouldbewi ll
ingtoli
stentoyoufornomor ethantwo
minutes.Whaty ouwouldsayt othatperson,andthepleasantsty
ley ouwouldadoptin
thosetwodemandi ngmi nutes,
iswhatyoushoul dputi
ny ourabst
ract.

Thegui
del
i
nesprovi
dedinthi
stempl
atearemeanttobeusedcreat
ivel
yandnot
,byany
means,
asacookbookreci
pefort
heproduct
ionofr
esear
chproposal
s.

Key
wor
ds

[
about6-
10key
wor
ds]

This secti
on is an al
phabet
ical
l
y order
ed l
istoft he more appr
opri
at e wor
ds or
expressi
ons( upt otwelv
e)thaty ouwouldint
roduceinasear chengi net ofi
nda
research pr
oposalidenti
caltoy our
s.The successi
ve key
words are separat
ed by
commas.

2.Ov
erv
iewofThesi
sPr
oposal&Resear
chQuest
ions
[
Recommended:
500wor
ds~1page]

Thissectionintroducest heresearchpr ojecty ouproposet ocar ryout.Itexplai

nsthe
backgroundoft hepr oj
ect,f
ocusingbrieflyont hemaj orissuesofi t
sknowl edgedomain
andcl ari
fyi
ngwhyt heseissuesar ewor thyofat t
ention.Itthenpr oceedswi ththe
concise presentati
on oft he research st atement ,whi ch can take the form ofa
hypothesis,aresearchquestion,aprojectst atement,oragoalst atement.Ther esear
ch
stat
ementshoul dcaptureboththeessenceoft heprojectandi t
sdel i
mit
ingboundar i
es,
andshoul dbef oll
owedbyacl ar
if
icati
onoft heextenttowhi chyouexpecti tsoutcomes
torepresentanadv anceintheknowl edgedomai nyouhav edescribed.
 5

Thei ntr
oduct i
onshould endeavour,fr
om t heverybeginning,t o catchther eader’
s
i
nterestandshoul dbewrit
teninastylethatcanbeunderstoodeasi lybyanyreaderwith
agener alsciencebackground.Itshouldciteal
lrel
evantr ef
er encespertai
ningt othe
majorissuesdescr i
bed,anditshouldclosewithabri
efdescr iptionofeachoneoft he
chaptersthatfoll
ow.

Manyaut hor
sprefertopost ponewr it
ingtheIntr
oducti
ontil
ltherestofthedocumentis
fi
nished.Thi
smakesal otofsense,si ncetheactofwr i
ti
ngt endstointr
oducesmany
changesintheplansi niti
all
ysketchedbyt hewr i
ter
,sothatitisonlybyt heti
met he
wholedocumenti sf i
nishedt hatthewr i
terget
sacl earvi
ew ofhow t oconstructan
i
ntroducti
onthati
s,indeed,compel l
ing.

Thissect
ionmustconcludewitht
wot othr
eekeyr esear
chquest
ions.Makesur ethese
questi
onsarenotYes/No(i.
e.pol
ar)quest
ions,butrat
her,ar
eopen-ended,suchas“In
whatways….?”
,“Towhatdegree…?
”andsof ort
h.

3.Li
ter
atur
eRev
iew(
Abr
idged)
[
Recommended:
2000wor
ds~4-
5pages]

The Li terature Rev i

ew ser ves a cl usterofv eryi mpor tantai ms.Fi rstofal l
,it
demonst ratest haty ouhav ebui l
tasol idknowl edgeoft hef i
eldwher ether esearchis
takingpl ace,t haty ouar ef amili
arwi t
ht hemai nissuesatst ake,andt haty ouhav e
crit
icall
yi dentif
iedandev aluatedt hekeyl it
erature.Italsoshowst hatyouhav ecreated
ani nnov ati
v eandcoher entv i
ew integratingandsy nthesi zi
ngt hemai naspect soft he
fi
eld,sot haty oucannow puti ntoper specti
vet henew di rectiont hatyoupr oposet o
explore.TheLi teratureReviewmustgi vecreditt otheaut hor swhol aidthegr oundwor k
fory ourr esearch,sot hatwhen,i nt hef oll
owingchapt er,yourr esearchobj ectiv
esar e
furthercl arif
ied,t her eaderi sabl et or ecogni sebey ond doubtt hatwhaty ou are
attempt i
ngt odohasnotbeendonei nt hepastandt haty ourr esear chwilllikelymakea
signifi
cantcont ri
butiontothel i
terature.

TheLit
eratureReviewisacri
ti
calpartofyourresearchproposal,soitwilldev
elopov er
var
ious paragraphs and sub-
paragraphs.It should be accompani ed by ( f
air
ly)
comprehensiverefer
ences,whi
chy oul i
stattheendoft hepr oposal.Ideal
ly,al
lthe
i
nfl
uenti
albooks,bookchapt er
s,papersandot hertext
spr oducedi nt heknowledge
domainyouar eexplori
ngwhichareofi mpor
tancef oryourworkshoul dbement i
oned
her
eandl i
stedattheendoftheproposal.

Youshoul
dfol
l
ow st
ri
ctlyt
heappropr
iat
er ef
erenci
ngconv
enti
onsofyourdi
sci
pli
ne
ar
eaandmakesuret hatnodocumenty ourefertoismissi
nginthefi
nalli
stof
 6

ref
erences,norvi
ceversa.Thechoi
ceofref
erenci
ngconv
ent
ionswi
l
ldependont
he
specif
icfi
eldwher
eyourresear
chisl
ocat
ed.

4.Resear
chMet
hodsandObj
ect
ives
[
Recommended:
2000~4pages]

Thechapt erResear chMet hodsandObj ecti

vescl ari
fi
est her esearchobj ectiv
esofy our
project,taki
ng as i ts backgr ound y ourdescr i
pt i
on oft he Lit
er atur
e Rev i
ew,and
describesthemet hodologicalapproachesy ouhav einmindt oaddresst hekeyr esearch
quest i
onsofy ourpr ojectasar t
iculatedi ntheI ntr
oduction.Thecl ar
ifi
cationoft he
research objectiv
es shoul d bui l
d solidlyon t he Li t
erature Rev i
ew and r elatey our
researcht othewor kcar r
iedoutbyot hers.Itshoul deluci datethemeasur et owhi ch
yourwor kdev elopsf rom theirwor kandt heext entt owhi chitdiv ergesfrom t heirsto
openupnew andy etunexpl oredav enues.I nessence,t hechapt erResear chMet hods
andObj ectiv
esexpl ainswhaty oupl ant odot ot ackley ourr esearchpr oblem,whyy ou
plantodoi tthatway ,andhowy ouaregoi ngt odoi t.

The“ howto”componentoft heproposalisfoundinthissection.Itshouldbedetail

ed
enought oletthereaderdeci
dewhetherthemet hodsyouintendt ousear eadequat
efor
ther esear
chathand.I tshoul
d go beyond themer el i
sti
ng ofr esearchtasks,by
asserti
ng whyy ou assume thatthe methodsormet hodologies you have chosen
repr
esentt hebestav ail
abl
eapproachesfory ourproj
ect.Thismeanst hatyoushould
i
ncludeadi scussi
onofpossi blealt
ernat
ivesandcr edi
bleexpl anati
onsofwhyy our
approachist hemostv al
id.

5.Wor
kPl
anandTi
met
abl
e
[
Recommended500wor
ds~1-
2pages]

Inthissection you should pr

ovideaschedul eforcompl eti
on ofyourthesi
swith
proposeddeadlinesf oreachmaj orchapterandforsubmi ssi
on,assumi
ngy ouare
enrol
led ei
therpart-
time orf ul
lt
ime (or,a combinat
ion i
fy ou ant
ici
pat
e changi
ng
betweenthet woduri
ngt hecourseofstudies)
.

Ifyourr esearch i
ncludes data col
lection,please incl
ude i
nyourtimetabl
ey our
submissionoft heethicsapprovalandt het i
melinesfordat
acoll
ect
ionandanal y
sis.
Thisoftenrunsconcurrent
lywiththewr i
tingupofl it
erat
urer
evi
eworothersect
ionsof
yourthesis,
soy oushouldi
ndicateift
hisist hecase.
 7

Doctor
althesest
ypi
call
yrequir
eatleastthr
eemonthsedi
tingattheend(FT)pri
orto
submissi
on,somakesur eyourfi
naldraf
tisli
stedasbei
ngr eadynol
aterthant
hree
monthspriort
osubmissi
on.

Acri
ti
calmil
estoneisconfi
rmati
onofcandidatureandthi
sdocumentwi
llber
eviewed
aspar
tofthatprocess.Thi
snormal
lyoccursaftersi
xmonthsFTortwel
vemonthsPT,
soi
ncludet
hisasacr i
ti
calmil
est
oneinyourti
met abl
e.

6.Concl
usi
on
[
Recommended:
500wor
ds~1page]

TheConcl usi
onbr i
efl
yrest
atestheobject
ivesofyourresear
chproject
,recapsthe
researchappr
oachy oupl
antof ol
l
ow,andclari
fi
esi
naf ewwor dswhatyouexpectto
fi
ndout ,whyiti
sv al
uabl
etof i
nditout
,andonwhatbasisyouexpecttoevaluat
ethe
vali
dit
yofyourresul
ts.
View publication stats

7.Ref
erenceLi
st
[
Recommended:
1500wor
ds~3pages]

Int
hissect
iony
oumustl i
stal
lther
efer
encesy
ouhav emadet
hroughoutt
hepr
oposal
,
andyoumustnotl
istanyr
efer
encet
hatyoudonotci
te.

Youmustmakesurethaty
oucompl ywit
htheref
erenci
ngconv
ent
ionsorci
tat
ionst
yles
thathav
ebeenest
abl
i
shedf ory
ourspeci
fi
cfi
eld.

Incr
easinglyreferences i
nclude digi
talsources so make sur
eyou r
efer
ence them
correctl
y,inaddit
iont othetradi
tionalsour
cessuchasbooks,bookchapters,j
ournal
arti
cles,ency
clopediaentri
es,edi
tedbooks,andsof or
th.

Thef
undament
alpr
inci
plesofr
efer
encel
i
stsar
easf
oll
ows:

1.Ther eadermustbeabletofindforthemsel
vestheexactdocumenty ouyour
sel
fread.
Sof orexampleifyoureadthet hi
rdediti
onofabooki nFrench,thati
swhatyoucit
e.If
your eadanEngl i
shtransl
ati
onoft hesecondediti
onoft hesamebook,y oumustlist
thatEnglishtr
ansl
ati
onofthesecondedi ti
onandnotthethir
d,etc.

2.To provi
depreciseatt
ributi
onofauthorshi
p( andedit
orshi
pi fneedbe) .So f
or
example,i
fadi
cti
onaryentr
yi swri
tt
enbyJoSmi th,andt
hedicti
onaryi
tsel
fisedi
tedby
JonesandBrown,yourent
rymustbesomet hi
ngli
ke:

Smith,Jo.2015.“
Whyoctopuseshaveei
ghtl nDi
egs”i cti
onaryofObscur
eFact
seds.
Jones,M &Brown,Vol
ume8.P.Oxfor
d:Oxf
ordUniver
sit
yPress.

Thi
sisbecauseJoSmi t
hwrotethear
ti
cleinthe8thv ol
umeofa10v ol
umeDi cti
onary
,
edi
tedbyJonesandBrown.SoSmithi
st heauthorandJonesandBrownar etheedit
ors
who(ty
pical
l
y!)cont
ri
but
edtothefi
nalversi
onofthearti
clet
hrought
heiredi
tori
alwork.