CENTRE FOR GRADUATE STUDIES

THESIS GUIDELINES

NOVEMBER 2011

THESIS GUIDELINES: STYLES AND FORMATS FOR GRADUATE STUDIES PROGRAMME

by

CENTRE FOR POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

Prepared as a guide to all postgraduate students and supervisors of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS in meeting the requirement of the thesis submission for the Degree of

MASTERS OF SCIENCE or DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI PETRONAS November 2011

PREFACE

The primary goal of thesis submission is to present to the reader, i.e. the examiners and other parties, the academic contributions and achievements accomplished by the candidates pursuing the advanced degree. Failure to present the material in the most appropriate style and approach may lead to confusion and frustration to the reader. Over the years, it has been noted that there has been large variations of styles and formats adopted by the students submitting their thesis/dissertations. For the most part, these variations have not hindered the main objectives of thesis submissions. However, it has been noted that some of the examiners and even supervisors have some disagreements of the style and format for the students to adopt, causing unnecessary anxiety and confusion. This thesis/dissertation handbook has been developed to guide the postgraduate students pursuing advanced degrees in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS in preparing their thesis/dissertation in partial fulfilment of their degrees. This handbook should be used as the main reference in determining the style and format to be followed. As such this handbook contains a wealth of information on the format of the presentation of the thesis/dissertation as well as references to other works and to other related materials. It is our hope that this handbook will provide a structured guide and style to follow in order to reduce the possibility of miscommunications. The original version of this handbook was developed by Haslina Nor Hasni under the guidance of Professor Ahmad Fadzil Mohd Hani. The original version was then revised by Dr Nidal Kamel and Azrina A Aziz. The current version of the Thesis Styleguide with the Reference Style Manual is prepared by the Thesis Styleguide Committee comprising of the following persons: Assoc. Prof. Dr Mohd Noh Karsiti (Advisor) Dr Fawnizu Azmadi Hussin (Coordinator/Member) Assoc. Prof. Dr Indra Sati Hamonangan Harahap (Chair) Dr Shahrina Bt M Nordin (Member)

ii

Dr Murni Melati Bt Ahmad (Member) Assoc. Prof. Dr Puteri Sri Melor (Member) Dr Dayang Rohaya Bt Awang Rambli (Member) Prof. Dr Mariyamni Bt Awang (Member) Rabiatul Ahya Bt M Sharif (Member) Haslina Bt Noor Hasni (Member) Kamaliah Bt Mohd (Member)

Dr Mohd Noh Karsiti 24 November 2011

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE ............................................................................................................. Chapter 1. UNIVERSITY REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE THESIS REQUIREMENTS..................................................................................... 1.1 Thesis Submission ............................................................................ 1.2 Examiners for Thesis Evaluation ....................................................... 1.2.1. Membership of the Panel of Examiners ................................. 1.2.2. Duties of the Examiners ........................................................ 1.2.3. Report from the Panel of Examiners...................................... 1.3 Members for Defence (Viva Voce) Examination ............................... 1.4 Academic Misconduct....................................................................... 2. MANUSCRIPT FORMAT REQUIREMENTS FOR A THESIS AND DISSERTATION ....................................................................................... 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 2.2 Specifications for Thesis ................................................................... 2.2.1 Candidates Name ................................................................. 2.2.2 Number of Copies ................................................................. 2.2.3 Length of Thesis ................................................................... 2.2.4 Language of Thesis ............................................................... 2.2.5 Printing ................................................................................. 2.2.6 Paper .................................................................................... 2.2.7 Typeface and Font Size ......................................................... 2.2.8 Corrections ........................................................................... 2.2.9 Margins ................................................................................ 2.2.10 Spacing ................................................................................. 2.2.11 Body Text Formatting ........................................................... 2.2.12 Justifications ......................................................................... 2.2.13 Pagination ............................................................................. 2.2.14 Covers and Binding .............................................................. 2.2.15 Photographs .......................................................................... 2.2.16 Equations .............................................................................. 2.2.17 Non-Paper Formats ............................................................... 3. THESIS PREPARATION .......................................................................... 3.1 Typing Requirements ........................................................................ 3.2 Sections in Thesis ............................................................................. 3.2.1 Preliminary Pages ................................................................. 3.2.2 Body Text ............................................................................. 3.2.3 References ............................................................................ iv

iii

1 1 2 2 2 3 4 4

6 6 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 9 9 10 10 10 11 11 11 13 13 14 14 14 15

4. PRELIMINARY PAGES .......................................................................... 4.1 Status of Thesis ................................................................................ 4.2 Approval Page .................................................................................. 4.3 Title Page ......................................................................................... 4.4 Declaration ....................................................................................... 4.5 Dedication (if any) ........................................................................... 4.6 Acknowledgement (if any) ............................................................... 4.7 Abstract ............................................................................................ 4.8 Copyright Page................................................................................. 4.9 Table of Contents ............................................................................. 4.10 List of Tables ................................................................................... 4.11 List of Figures .................................................................................. 4.12 Preface ............................................................................................. 5. BODY TEXT ............................................................................................ 5.1 Contents ........................................................................................... 5.2 Chapters and Sections....................................................................... 5.2.1 Subsection Title ....................................................................... 5.2.1.1 First-level Heading ....................................................... 5.2.1.2 Second-level Heading .................................................. 5.2.1.3 Third-level Heading ..................................................... 5.3 Appendices....................................................................................... 5.4 References ........................................................................................ 5.5 Glossary ........................................................................................... 5.6 Footnotes.......................................................................................... 5.7 Translation ...................................................................................... 5.8 Page Headers .................................................................................... 5.9 Charts, Graphs, Maps ....................................................................... 5.10 Oversized Pages ............................................................................... 5.11 Overlays ........................................................................................... 5.12 Multiple-Volume Thesis ................................................................... APPENDICES A. Front Cover B. Spine of Thesis C. Status of Thesis D. Approval Page E. Title Page F. Declaration Page G. Dedication and Acknowledgement H. Abstract I. Copyright Page

16 16 16 16 17 17 17 18 18 19 20 20 20 21 21 22 23 24 24 24 24 25 25 25 25 26 26 26 26 27

CHAPTER 1 UNIVERSITY REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE THESIS REQUIREMENTS Candidates pursuing advanced degrees in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS are normally required to submit a thesis or dissertation as a partial fulfilment of their degree programs. This thesis/dissertation would serve as the main submission to be evaluated by a panel of examiners to ascertain that the candidates have successfully completed their academic works that can be considered as a significant contribution to the respective field of expertise. The following information is quoted from the Graduate Studies Rules and Regulations, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS.

1.1 Thesis Submission 1. A candidate is required to submit a notice regarding submission of thesis and the final title of the thesis to the respective Head of Department with a copy to the Centre for Graduate Studies using the specified form at least three (3) months before the submission of the thesis. 2. A PhD thesis must not exceed 80,000 words and a Masters thesis must not exceed 50,000 words. The number of words excludes quotations, translations, footnotes and end-notes, appendices, figures and illustrations. Candidates who wish to exceed the maximum number of words permitted must obtain the permission from the Centre for Graduate Studies Committee through the Supervisor at least three (3) months before the thesis submission. 3. All theses must be written in the English language and abstracts in English and Bahasa Melayu must be included. 1

4. Five (5) soft bound copies of the thesis certified by the supervisor must be submitted. 5. In the preparation of the thesis, the candidate must always refer to the guidelines on thesis format and other specific requirements as decided by the Graduate Studies Academic Committee from time to time. 6. A candidate is not allowed to submit a thesis or part thereof which has been prepared for another degree without explicit written permission. 7. All theses submitted to UTP whether successful or not become the property of UTP. UTP reserves the right to make copies of the thesis in whole or in part.

1.2 Examiners for Thesis Evaluation

1.2.1

Membership of the Panel of Examiners

The Panel of Examiners shall consist the following: a) One (1) external examiner, and b) One (1) internal examiner, who is not the Supervisor or Co-Supervisor of the candidate

1.2.2

Duties of the Examiners

The examiners are required to: a) Evaluate the thesis of the student independently, and b) Provide a comprehensive report and point out the syntactic and semantic errors in the thesis, and c) Provide an indication of the original contribution made by the candidate. The examiners are given a maximum of four (4) weeks to examine the thesis. 2

1.2.3

Report from the Panel of Examiners

After receiving the Examiners reports and reviewing the performance of the candidate in the oral (viva voce) examinations, the Viva Voce Committee shall recommend one of the following: 1. The candidate be conferred the degree without any corrections and without conditions; 2. The candidate be conferred the Degree subject to minor modifications (spelling, grammatical and typographical errors, use of terminologies, and other aspects considered minor/ technical) to the Thesis; 3. The candidate is to make modifications and corrections which are not minor in nature (rewriting small sections of the Thesis, additional information re-do of illustrations and others that is considered not to jeopardize the quality of the Thesis) to the Thesis. The candidate is not required to re-sit for the oral examination; 4. The candidate is to re-submit the Thesis to be reexamined after the candidate has made major modifications and corrections (rewriting of the Thesis or after having included additional results of further studies). The candidate is required to attend the oral (viva voce) examination again; or 5. The candidate is not to be conferred the Degree and not allowed to resubmit the Thesis for re-examination. The candidate is deemed to have failed.

1.3 Members for Defence (Viva Voce) Examination 1. After the candidate has submitted the corrected thesis, arrangements will be made for defence examination. 2. Members of the Defence (Viva Voce) Examination Committee for postgraduate degrees will consist of the following: 3

a)

Dean of Centre for Graduate Studies as Chairperson (PhD) or Head of Department (MSc) or representative appointed.

b) c)

External Examiner Internal Examiner

3. The defence examination will consist of public presentation as well as closed door defence session. The presentation is open for public while the closed door session is limited to only the panel of examiners. However the supervisor and few selected audiences may be permitted by the chair.

1.4 Academic Misconduct Academic misconduct includes cheating and plagiarism. Cheating implies dishonesty in fulfilling academic requirements. Plagiarism may involve presenting another persons work as ones own, including  Direct duplication, by copying or allowing to be copied another persons work or submitting ones own work which has already been submitted for assessment purposes for other purpose; or  The act of taking an idea, writing, data or invention of another person and claiming that the idea, writing, data or invention is the result of ones own findings or creation; or  An attempt to make out or the act of making out in such a way, that one is the original source of the creator of an idea, writing data or invention which has actually been taken from some other source. The University may, in the case of academic misconduct, suspend or terminate the candidature of the student.

CHAPTER 2 MANUSCRIPT FORMAT REQUIREMENTS FOR A THESIS AND DISSERTATION

2.1 Introduction This is a guide for the preparation of a postgraduate thesis of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. It covers information on the format of the thesis, arrangement of the chapters in the thesis, design and layout of the cover and preliminary pages, pagination and use of font size and font type. This guide also contains samples of the important preliminary pages as well as an extensive bibliography style guide to be used. This document has been prepared in MS Word document format that can be used as a template for the preparation of the thesis. Candidates may simply copy & paste the required format accordingly. If a thesis is not presented in the form required in this guide, it will not be accepted. It is the responsibility of the student and the supervisor to ensure that the thesis complies in all respects to these guidelines. Candidates are strongly encouraged to read this guide thoroughly before proceeding in preparing the final manuscript of the thesis/dissertation. Candidates are advised against using other thesis as a reference as they not fully adhere to the formats. Whenever there are questions in regards to style, mechanics or formats that have not been addressed by this handbook, the candidate should consult his/her supervisor, Head of Department or other representatives that are responsible for graduate studies within the department.

In order to help authors visualize what the overall thesis should look like, this thesis guideline has been prepared to follow the formatting described in this document. The order of precedence for combining manuals and department format guidelines is:
1. Thesis Guideline: Styles and Templates

This guideline takes precedence over all other thesis preparation guidelines.
2. Departmental style guides 3. Thesis manual, publication manual or journal format

2.2 Specifications for Final Thesis (Final bound thesis)

2.2.1

Candidates Name

Throughout the thesis/dissertation, the candidate must us his/her full legal name. This legal name shall be the name as that which appears on his/her official university record as well as other legal documents such as the National Identification Card (NIC) or international passport.

2.2.2

Number of Copies

A candidate is required to submit five unbound copies of the thesis and an electronic thesis to the Centre for Graduate within one month after the approval. One copy of the thesis will be placed in the Information Resource Centre (IRC). The Postgraduate Office will bind the thesis after students submission of the final unbound copies.

2.2.3

Length of Thesis

Master Thesis should normally be less than 50,000 words. Ph.D. thesis should normally be no longer than 80,000 words.

2.2.4

Language of Thesis

Thesis may be written in American or British English, as long as it is used consistently throughout. Final oral defense is also to be conducted in English.

2.2.5

Printing

Thesis must be printed using laser quality printer or better. Inkjet printer is not to be used for final thesis submission as the quality tends to degrade over time.

2.2.6

Paper

High quality bond paper A4 size, (8.27 x 11.69 or 21.0 cm x 29.7 cm) and weight 80 g/m2 must be used for the bound copies, except for such charts and diagrams. This paper should be white in colour, acid free and non-erasable.

2.2.7

Typeface and Font Size

Typeface to be used is 12 point Times New Roman. The same typeface should be used throughout the thesis including the title page, approval page,

acknowledgements, bibliography and appendices. The same font with its italic and bold variants may be used wherever necessary, for instance scientific names should be written in italic fonts. Exception to this can be made for footnotes, subscripts and superscripts, and for tables, figures or illustrations imported from other sources.

2.2.8

Corrections

Corrections of typographical errors, or changes in the text, figures or tables, must be made as cleanly and invisibly as possible. Correction fluid is not to be used. Corrections should be made on the original before recopying or reprinting the corrected page.

2.2.9

Margins

The thesis must be printed on both sides of A4 papers (i.e. double-sided printing). Therefore, the margins for even and odd numbered pages are slightly different as explained below.

Odd-numbered pages The left margin must be 1.5 inch (40 mm) while all the other sides (right, top and bottom) margins must be 1 inch wide (25 mm) except for the first page of each chapter and other major sections where the top margin must be at least 2 inches (50 mm).

Even-numbered pages The right margin must be 1.5 inch (40 mm) while all the other sides (left, top and bottom) margins must be 1 inch wide (25 mm) except for the first page of each chapter and other major sections where the top margin must be at least 2 inches (50 mm).

In MS Word, this setting is called Mirror Margins, where the oddnumbered pages margins mirror that of the even-numbered pages. When printed on both sides of the paper, the mirrored margins would match exactly. To do this in MS Word, in Page Setup, select Mirror Margins under the Multiple Pages setting.

2.2.10 Spacing Text should be typed 1.5-spaced, on both sides of the paper. All information excluding page numbers must be within the text area. All typing, print, illustrations, etc. should be on both sides of the paper. Single-sided printing is not allowed. Two line spacing is required between the word CHAPTER and the title of the chapter. If the title requires more than one line, the lines must be double-spaced and centred with inverted pyramid justification.

Notes should be typed, single-spaced, and double-spaced between entries. Abstract should be typed, 1.5-spaced, and must be double-spaced between entries. Single spacing may be used in extensive quotations within the body of the text and in extensive Table of Contents, List of Tables, or List of Figures - as long as there is double or 1.5 spacing between entries.

2.2.11 Body Text Formatting Under Format, the Chapter texts Font settings are 12-point font size, Regular font style and Times New Roman font and no Effects boxes are checked. In MS Word, Under Format, the Chapter texts Paragraph settings are Alignment set to Justified, Outline Level set to Body Text, Indentation set to 0 for both Left and Right, Spacing set to 12 pt for Before and 0 pt for After, and Line Spacing set to 1.5 lines. For the first paragraph of every section and subsection, under the Paragraph setting, Special set to None to remove the first-line indentation for the first paragraph. For the other paragraphs in the section or subsection, the first line of each paragraph (such as this one) should have a 0.66 cm or 0.26 left indentation. In MS Word, under the texts Paragraph setting, Special set to First Line, By set to 0.66 cm or 0.26.

2.2.12 Justification The thesis must be fully justified (i.e., have even left- and right-hand margins).

2.2.13 Pagination Page numbers are to be placed at least 1 inch from the edge of the page at the bottom centre of the page. Every page except the title page must be numbered. Preliminary pages are to be numbered in lower case Roman numerals (iv, v, vi etc). Status Page, Approval Page and Title Page are numbered iiii but the numbers are not to be printed on the page.

The content pages are to be numbered in Arabic numerals (e.g. 1, 2, 3, ) and all pages must be numbered consecutively and continuously, irrespective of volumes.

2.2.14 Covers and Binding The final thesis must be hard bounded according to the following colours:   MSc Dark Green with Gold Lettering PhD UTP Blue with Gold Lettering

Typeface to be used on the front cover and spine of the thesis is Times New Roman. Font size to be used for:  Front Cover of the Thesis (Appendix A) Title of thesis, name of candidate, degree awarded, name of university, and month & year of thesis submission: 18  Spine of the Thesis (Appendix B) Name of candidate, title of thesis, degree awarded and year of thesis submission: 14. Direction of lettering: run from the top of spine.

2.2.15 Photographs Photographs should be black and white whenever possible. Pages containing photographs should be numbered as regular pages. The photographs used are to be scanned, using a minimum of 300300 dpi resolutions. It is not acceptable to tape, glue or use any type of adhesive to insert photographs.

2.2.16 Equations Equations are not indented. They should be numbered consecutively and the corresponding number should be placed at the end of the line between parentheses. Equations are called by these numbers within the manuscript. It is important to remember that only equations that are called should have a number. 10

2.2.17 Non-paper formats All non-paper materials must be properly labelled. Labels should include at least    Authors name Degree date Copyright notice

Specific label is also expected for the following materials: 1. Videotapes       length of videotape (in minutes) silent or sound colour or black and white width of tape (e.g. 19 mm or 13 mm) programme segments format (e.g. NTSC, PAL, SECAM)

2. Computer disks     operating system density hardware required (if appropriate) all disks should be write-protected.

11

CHAPTER 3 THESIS PREPARATION

3.1 Typing Requirements In preparing the thesis/dissertation, the following guidelines must be observed throughout. In most cases, most word processing software will automatically format the text accordingly. However it is the responsibility of the author to know and ensure these guidelines are adhered to. 1. A heading appearing at the bottom of the page must be followed by a minimum of two lines of text, or otherwise pushed to the following page. 2. Hyphenated words may be divided only at the hyphen. The last word in a paragraph should not be divided in separate pages. The last word must appear entirely in the following page. 3. When a paragraph begins at the bottom of the page, it must consist of at least two lines of text. Otherwise, the entire paragraph must be placed in the following page. 4. When a last paragraph of a chapter appears at the top of a page, it must consist of at least two lines of text. One word or one line appearing at the top of a page should be avoided. 5. Figures and tables should appear entirely in a single page and properly labelled with an appropriate caption. Long tables must be divided into separate tables with their own captions. Large illustrations that require foldout must adhere to the guidelines to be described at a later section. 12

3.2 Sections in Thesis A thesis should normally have three sections: the preliminary pages or the front matter, the text or the body matter, and the references or back matter.

3.2.1

Preliminary Pages

The Preliminary Pages include:

a.

Status of Thesis

b. Approval Page c.

Title Page

d. Declaration e. f.

Dedication (optional) Acknowledgements (optional)

g. Abstract h. Copyright Page i. j.

Table of Contents List of Tables (if any)

k. List of Figures (if any) l.

List of Plates (if any)

m. List of Symbols, Abbreviations, Nomenclature (if any)

3.2.2

Body Text

The Body Text should be divided into chapters that properly present the work completed. A typical arrangement of the chapters should include the following:
a.

Introduction

b. Review of Literature c.

Method of Investigation (Methodology)

d. Analysis of Data, Discussion of Results

13

e.

Conclusions

3.2.3

References

The References consist of:

a.

Appendices (if any)

b. References or Bibliography c.

List of Publications (optional)

d. Glossary e. f.

Endnotes Index (optional)

14

CHAPTER 4 PRELIMINARY PAGES

4.1 Status of Thesis Status of the thesis must be clearly indicated as either confidential or otherwise. If the thesis is to be classified as confidential, reason for the requested status must be indicated and approved by the respective supervisor. Please refer to Appendix C for sample of the status page. The status of thesis page is counted as page i, however, the number is not to be printed.

4.2 Approval Page Approval page must contain the exact title that will appear in the Title Page as well the endorsement of the supervisor verifying that all corrections have been made and that the thesis is ready for submission. Please refer to Appendix D for sample of the approval page. The status of approval page is counted as page ii, however, the number is not to be printed.

4.3 Title Page The form and contents of the title page must follow the format of the example given in Appendix E. Title should be capitalized and double-spaced. The title of the thesis as it appears on the Title Page MUST BE IDENTICAL to the title found on the Approval Page including the capitalisation and punctuation. The name of the author 15

must be the authors legal name as it appears in the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS records. The full name of the degree and programme must be written out. The month and year cited on the title page are the month and year of thesis submission. The title page is counted as page iii, however, the number is not printed.

4.4 Declaration The declaration form must contain the authors declaration on the originality of the thesis and must be duly signed by the author. Please refer to the format in Appendix F. Its page is numbered with a consecutive lower-case Roman numeral.

4.5 Dedication (if any) This section is optional. Similar format is to be used for this Dedication and Acknowledgement sections. Please refer to Appendix G for reference. Its page is numbered with a consecutive lower-case Roman numeral.

4.6 Acknowledgement (if any) This is a brief acknowledgement of assistance given to the author in researching and writing the thesis. Its page is numbered with a consecutive lower-case Roman numeral.

16

4.7 Abstract This is a summary of the thesis, which will state the problem, the motivation for the work, the methods of investigation, results and the general conclusion. A sentence at the end with the major conclusion is useful. Since abstract is normally used in an abstracting service or search database, it should be informative and complete on its own to be of use to others seeking material within the area of interest. An abstract should only be one-page long. Line spacing is one and half spacing and double-spacing between paragraphs. Typeface to be used is Times New Roman and the font size is 12. Hyphenated words or words separated by a slash are considered as two words. (Appendix H).

4.8 Copyright Page Since thesis and dissertation is a form of publication all procedures relating to copyright related laws must be adhered to. This is necessary that the work is protected by the copyright law as well as ensuring the use of other peoples work meets legal requirements. Students and supervisors are advised to refer to the UTP Copyright Manual for clarification on unresolved issues relating to copyrights. Generally, work undertaken at postgraduate level may qualify under the doctrine of Fair-Use as the work may be classified as for educational purposes in which the reference to other peoples work would relate to either  Based on facts obtained from published or unpublished work of the author or other authors,  A form of criticism, analysis, quoted passages or reworded piece with proper acknowledgement and citation placed in the text,  Illustration or data presented with proper acknowledgement to the original source and copyright owner.

17

Written permission to reprint sections of fewer than 500 words or few tables and figures is not required as it qualify under the doctrine of fair-use as long as proper acknowledgement and citation to the source is clearly indicated in the text. For the use of sections more than 500 words and extensive reproduction of the figures and other materials, written permission from the copyright owner must be obtained and filed with the Office of Postgraduate Studies. Acknowledgement and citation to the original source must be indicated in the section containing the reprinted material in one of the following form  Place the section in quotation followed by citation to the author of the original source  Insert the phrase reprinted with permission in the caption of figures or title of tables followed by citation to the author of the original source  Indicate the contribution in the acknowledgement section or the copyright page. All thesis and dissertation resulting to works undertaken in the university and under the supervision of UTP staff is subjected to the IP policy of the university. The university claim the IP rights of all properties created under this context and must be properly indicated properly. The copyright page must indicate the original author, followed by the legal name of the university and the year the material is submitted as indicated in Appendix I.

4.9 Table of Contents This table must include the entries for preliminary pages (copyright, abstract, dedication, and acknowledgement, lists of tables and figures, and preface), text (main divisions and subdivisions of the thesis), appendices, notes, references and index. Typeface to be used is Times New Roman and the font size is 12. (The format is given in Appendix J). 18

4.10

List of Tables

This list provides the list of table numbers, full title and page numbers. Tables must be numbered consecutively in order of appearance in Arabic numerals (Table 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 or 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc). The title of the table must appear on the top section of the table and centred. A table is not to appear in more than one page. For any table that requires more than one page, it must be sectioned properly with separate headers and titles. Typeface to be used is Times New Roman and the font size is 12 (as shown in Appendix K).

4.11

List of Figures

Figures, i.e. graphs, photographs and other illustrative material are to be listed on a separate page. Number, title and page are to be given. Figures must be numbered in Arabic numerals consecutively (Fig. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 or 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc) in order of appearance and captioned. The title of the figure must appear at the bottom section of the table and centred. The entire figures must appear within the margin of a page. Illustrations that require space larger than allowed by the margin must adhere to the guideline on the oversized material. Typeface to be used is Times New Roman and the font size is 12. (Appendix L).

4.12

Preface

This is a brief explanatory statement of why the author came to study the subject of the thesis. Typeface to be used is Times New Roman and the font size is 12.

19

CHAPTER 5 BODY TEXT

5.1 Contents Body text contains the chapters of the thesis, in logical order, and should be written in a third person voice and past tense. For example, instead of We did this study it should be written as The purpose of this study was to. However, active voice can be used if the message of the sentence is somehow altered or becomes ambiguous. Even though the organisation of the text may vary slightly depending on the requirement of the department and expectation of the supervisor, the body text should include, at least, the following items:
a.

Introduction This section should include background of the research, brief history leading to the problem, justification for the research, problem statement and research objectives, scope and key assumptions, and outline of the thesis. The research objective selected must clearly highlight the expected research contributions and not limited only to the research approach.

b. Review of Literature

Review should contain critical evaluation and discussion of other related researches. It should include discussions of what has been done along the line of the problem, the issues and challenges faced by the other researchers and the summary of the general body of knowledge. The discussion should also be focused to support the direction of research to be undertaken with appropriate justifications. 20

c.

Research Methodology Research method vary from problem to problem, thus this section generally should describe the general framework of the problem being addressed. It may also discuss the research frameworks, instrumentations and equipments being used in the study with sufficient precision so that a skilled person could set up similar work that would be able to duplicate the research if necessary and desirable. For qualitative research methods, appropriate tools and techniques must be clearly discussed.

d. Result Analysis and Discussion

These sections should include detailed description of the results obtained, followed by discussions, analysis, and interpretations of the data obtained. Tables, charts and figures should be used wherever suitable to present the data in a more concise manner and easy to understand. It must be noted that the researcher is expected to not only be responsible for the accuracy of the data but to further discuss and compare the finding with the well understood principles and finding reported earlier.
e.

Conclusion As the final section in the thesis, the conclusion should summarise the results of the research reported in the thesis as based on the factual finding. It is a good practise to recap the scope of work and research method, summarise the results and findings, and recap the main contributions of the work completed. It should focus on how the research objectives has been achieved and should not add new information that has not been presented earlier or attempt to generalise the finding beyond the scope of the work. In reviewing the results and limitations, the reported work may highlight a few interesting and valuable allied problems that could be considered for future research. It is thus recommended that suggestions for future work be included for possible improvements or new directions that may extend the current work to other related areas.

21

5.2 Chapters and Sections To provide coherent presentations, the thesis must be divided into separate chapters that contain major topic to be discussed. It is recommended that the organisation of the chapters be discussed and agreed by the supervisor to meet the departmental requirement. Each chapter must begin on a new page. The chapter title must be placed at two inches from the top centre of the new page and capitalised. If the title requires more than one line, the lines must be double-spaced and centred with inverted pyramid justification. Each chapter is usually segmented further into separate sections and subsections as necessary. Each section must be numbered accordingly (e.g. 2.1., 2.1.1, etc). Each of these sections must begin with section headings. Each chapter begins with a chapter overview and ends with a chapter summary. The will ease the reading of the thesis. E.g. 1.0 . 1.n Chapter summary summarize the contents of the chapter. Chapter overview introduce the contents of the chapter.

The objectives and contributions of the research should be clearly stated in the first chapter. The conclusion chapter should include making references to the objectives of research stated earlier in the thesis and suggesting recommendations for future work.

5.2.1

Subsection Title

If your work needs to be subdivided into separate sections to provide clarity, make sure that the subsections do not become too deep. Section depth should be limited to 22

maximum of three levels. Thus, prepare your outline well and your reader would find it easy to follow your report. In each chapter, the first level section is numbered X.X. For example, a section that is numbered with 1.1 is the first level, 1.1.1 is the second level, and 1.1.1.1 is the third level. The use of subsequent level subsections (e.g. 1.1.1.1.1, etc.) is not allowed. Each of these sections and subsections must begin with section headings as described below.

5.2.1.1 First-level Heading The first level heading should be formatted as follows. Typeface is 12 point Times New Roman, boldface, left-aligned with no left indentation. One-and-a-half line spacing, 36-point and 6-point top and bottom spacings, respectively.

5.2.1.2 Second-level Heading The second level heading should be formatted as follows. Typeface is 12 point Times New Roman, boldface, left-aligned with no left indentation. One-and-a-half line spacing, 36-point and 6-point top and bottom spacings, respectively.

5.2.1.3 Third-level Heading The third level heading should be formatted as follows. Typeface is 12 point Times New Roman, italic, left-aligned with no left indentation. One-and-a-half line spacing, 36-point and 6-point top and bottom spacings, respectively.

23

5.3 Appendices The pages should be numbered continuously with the rest of the text. Numbering Appendices page A1, B1, etc. is not acceptable. Typeface to be used is Times New Roman with the font size of 10 and 1.5 line spacing. Each appendix must be referred to in the body of the text. Materials that are not referred to cannot be included in the appendix. Any list of publications resulted from the research may be included in the Appendix.

5.4 References In order to provide credibility to the work, the author is expected to cite recent relevant articles and publications in the literature review section and other sections of the thesis. Every reference quoted or cited in the thesis must be included in the list of references and numbered accordingly. References should be ordered alphabetically is following the Harvard style or sequentially as it appears in the text if following the sequential format. Typeface to be used is Times New Roman with the font size of 10 and 1.5 line spacing. There must be a single, unified list of references in the thesis. It is not permissible to put individual listings at the end of each chapter in lieu of full references. Refer to your departments referencing guideline for specific requirements on the approved/recommended referencing style.

5.5 Glossary The pages should be numbered continuously with the rest of the text. Typeface to be used is Times New Roman with the font size of 10 and one-and-a-half line spacing.

24

5.6 Footnotes The footnotes may be numbered consecutively throughout the thesis, or throughout each chapter. Footnotes may be placed at the foot of the page (footnotes proper), in a group at the end of a chapter (called Notes), or grouped at the end of the thesis before the bibliography (called Endnotes). If notes or endnotes are collected at one place in the thesis, their location must be shown in the table of contents by title and page. Typeface to be used is Times New Roman and the font size is 8. Single spacing with a double spacing between entries.

5.7 Translation When long passages of translation are necessary, use a side-by-side columnar format.

5.8 Page Headers These may be used as long as there is a line across the entire page to separate the headers from the text.

5.9 Charts, Graphs, Maps The use of charts, graphs, maps and tables that are larger than the standard page should be avoided. Photographically reduced pages are acceptable if they are clearly legible. If oversized pages are used, they will be microfilmed in sections so that they read from left to right and top to bottom.

25

5.10

Oversized Pages

Oversized pages can be included in the thesis as fold-outs, but they must be folded to no more than eight inches (21.5 cm) wide to avoid being cropped in the bindery. Oversized pages may be placed in a pocket at the end of the thesis. They must then be referred to in the body of the thesis as being in a pocket, and listed as such in the Table of Contents.

5.11

Overlays

Overlays must be carefully aligned with underlying maps or charts. In order to produce the most legible image, the underlying sheet is filmed alone. The overlay is then placed on the underlying sheet and both are filmed together.

5.12

Multiple-Volume Theses

For very long theses, for which more than one bound volume is required: Each volume must have its own prefatory pages. y y The Title Page, Approval Page and Abstract must be in the first volume. Each additional volume must contain a Table of Contents, a List of Tables, and a List of Figures, etc., that lists the portion of work found in that particular volume. y Page numbering of the body of the thesis must flow consecutively from one volume to the next. y When the appendices are bound in a separate volume, this volume must have a title page duplicating that of the main volume, but with the addition of the word Appendix or Appendices just below the title of the thesis. The word Appendix or Appendices as well as the short title must then appear on the 26

spine. Numbering of the appendices must flow in sequence from the first volume.

27