GUIDANCE FOR UG RESEARCH PROJECT THESIS & BREAKDOWN
OF MARKS
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Title Page/Cover Page
This should contain your final project title. Always start with a working
title so that you know what to focus on throughout the research work.
This can be reworded even until last minute but the gist is often the
same. The title is not in word count. Include your name and the module
code as follows:
Full title of the Project
Full name of author
6BICH003W
A template with the dimensions of for the title page will be provided for
you on Blackboard. Towards the bottom of the title page, you must print
the following statement:
“This report is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the
University of Westminster for the award of BSc. { Type your degree
pathway here}.”
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Acknowledgement.
This is a small paragraph to thank those who helped you through your
project work. This may be your supervisor, another academic, your
peers, family and so forth. This part is not in word count.
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Abstract (5%)
This should be a condensed overview of the whole report, summarising
major findings and conclusions. The abstract should be a self-contained
factual synopsis of your project stating your primary conclusions. It
should be about 200-300 words in length (maximum 300 words). It should
not simply be a list of conclusions but an abbreviated and selfcontained description of the whole investigation. The abstract is often
written towards the end of your project write-up. Please note that an
abstract should not contain citations.
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Contents Page
To help you reader find information easily, it is always good to include
a contents page. Usually, the contents page will come after the
‘Acknowledgements’ and ‘Abstract’ and before the ‘List of Tables’ as
indicated in following section (if you have one).
Please note that every page (except title page) leading up to the
‘Introduction’ should be numbered in Roman numerals.
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After the contents page, the following headings are optional and only
if applicable to your write-up:
List of Tables
List the name of each table included in your report and in the order they appear.
This list should also give the number of the page that each table appears on.
List of Figures
List the name of each figure (which could be a graph, diagram, illustration) included
in your report and in the order they appear. This list should also give the number of
the page that each figure appears on.
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Thereafter, you can include the following heading (again optional and if
applicable):
List of abbreviations and symbols
Provide a list of abbreviations (or symbols) used within your report and what they
stand for.
List of symbols
Provide a list of symbols used within your report and what they stand for.
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Introduction (15%)
The introduction should survey the field of the project critically and
carefully and could include appropriate background. It most often
relates to your literature review completed at level 5, but cannot be and
should not be exactly the same. Remember that here, at Level 6, it is
more focussed and specific. It will also be much shorter and more up to
date compared to any work carried out las t year (given the reading you
will have completed since!).
Your introduction should provide enough background for your thesis to
be comprehensible to an intelligent non-specialist. It should explain the
specific problem that your project addresses. It may be that you are
filling a perceived gap in the existing theory/knowledge or
replicating/developing a method. As always, this background should be
supported by previous work in the area i.e. accurately citing all sources.
Your introduction can include diagrams (labelled as Figure 1, 2,..) and
tables (labelled as Table 1, 2…), where appropriate.
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Method – Experimental/Observational (15%)
This section should describe the materials, equipment, participants,
methods, procedures and techniques employed in a style similar to that
you read in journal articles related to your field of study. You should
aim to describe your method so that an experienced and informed
scientist could repeat the work from your description. Once again,
follow the style of papers written in the field you are working in. Often
subheadings are used to break aspects down and provide a logical
flow.
Remember, extensive detail is not required and complex information of
a highly technical nature, e.g. statistical workings, histological staining
protocols, instructions for making up solutions and computer program
listings are assessed in the project notebook mark. Should you wish to
include any aspects that contains extensive detail, then be mindful that
this could be added as an appendix and referred to in method.
It should be clear what your experimental procedures are intended to
determine and the reasons for any controls used. You should include the
suppliers for materials and equipment you have used. Any Control of
Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) assessments and
consideration of ethical issues and your responses to such aspects
should be referred to here. Please note that copies of these forms should
go into Project Notebook. Often, some like to also include copies in
their thesis. In which case these should be placed in appendices and
referred to in your writing. If your work has certain components such as
questionnaires, information sheets, consent forms and so forth, then
mention them here in method and add key components. However, any
detailed aspects or copies of these forms should be places in
appendices.
If your project is an analytical project, then this section should serve
much the same purpose as that for the experimental/observational
projects. It should explain how data were selected and using what
sources. The sources of information used must be mentioned sufficiently
well such that they can be located by others.
Towards the latter stages of the method section, there should be a
subheading highlighting data analysis aspects. There should be an
explanation of how the raw data was processed, particularly what
statistical tests were employed and justification of the statistical
methods used (where relevant of course. Note that some projects may
not use any statistical tests and results may be analysed in a different
manner.) Again, follow in a similar way to papers in your field.
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Results (20%)
This section should present your results so that it is clear what each
experiment/parameter measured was intended to achieve and what
conclusions can be drawn from the results. It should NOT be just a series
of tables or graphs. The results should be presented in a processed form
that can be easily understood. It should not include large quantities of
raw results. Raw data collection and detailed processing will be
examined in the project notebook. If you feel that aspects of raw data
must be included in places then make sure to consult your supervisor
first.
Meanings or interpretations you attach to the results should be clearly
presented. It should not be left to the reader to derive meaning from
the data. It is inappropriate to duplicate the presentation of any one set
of data in different forms unless this greatly aids interpretation and is
acceptable practice in your subject area. For example, choose whether
to present data as a table or a graph but do not present both just
because you can. Use of this strategy to “pad out” the project is obvious
and is likely to annoy the markers. Ensure that all numerical data have
the correct units.
Label all graphs and diagrams as Figures i.e. Figure1, 2, 3 and so forth.
If you have a figure label for a graph/diagram – then please note that
this should go below the figure. Note: there is no need for label below
and have a title also (as both would be stating much the same). Discuss
specific aspects with your supervisor. Labels for all tables should go
above the tables i.e. Table 1, 2, 3 and so forth.
Remember to include text to describe what the figures/table are
showing. All too often if this is left till last minute then only figures and
tables are included with no descriptive text in results section. You will
most certainly lose marks if this were the case.
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Discussion (30%)
This section should explain how the results relate to the aim laid out in
the ‘Introduction’. You should also place your own results in the context
of previously published work in the area of study. Inclusion of thorough
citations (i.e. where you are obtaining information/ideas from)
throughout relevant parts of your thesis is very important. Always ask
yourself; “where is the evidence to backup what I am stating?”.
State your overall conclusions or explain why your results were
inconclusive (good reflection upon approaches provides the ideal
opportunity to make up for poor results, whether they are your fault or
not). State and explain suggestions for further work and formulate
suggestions for the future in this type of work . Consider any
shortcomings in technique or experimental design and the significance
this may have had on any unexpected findings. Show awareness of the
limitations of your work and reasons why others may disagree with your
conclusions. Try to imagine how you would read your report if you held
the opposite viewpoint, address the reservations you can and suggest
how those you cannot could be resolved. When it comes to limitations,
note that this can be included in your write-up in a clever way. There is
no need to have a section dedicated to ‘Limitations of Project’. Instead
find a way to weave the limitations into your discussion. Always write in
third party – so no:
“I think this…”
“My suggestions are..”
Discuss specifics of the aspects mentioned above with your supervisor.
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Citations and Reference List
Throughout your report you should always acknowledge
authors/sources, as and when required by inclusion of intext citations
(Harvard style). The full details of the citations used within your report
should be included in a reference list – as you have been doing
throughout your degree. This reference list is placed at the end of your
report before the appendices. It should give detailed references for all
source materials used in your report. Please follow the university
guidelines and check with your supervisor that you are doing this as
required. Please note that this list should not be numbered or in bullet
points. It should be in alphabetical order and in Harvard style. See
library pages related to referencing and discuss with supervisor.
It is poor practice to cite publications you have not read and have only
read about i.e. lifting the reference from another source. If you cannot
obtain the publication, you may refer to it by quoting and referring to
the source that mentions it.
Beware of citing too many websites (if any) and be cautious about
accepting information only published on websites . The information is not
always refereed or peer reviewed as it would be in a scientific journal
and may not be reliable.
Marks for correct citations and reference list will come under the overall
mark for report presentation, which is worth 15% (see later for more
detail).
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Appendices
An appendix is normally included when research related material does
not fit easily or suitably in the main report. For example:
• Interview transcripts
• Survey questionnaires
• Supplementary data
All appendices are positioned as the final section in report (after
reference list) and should be numbered and titled. The page numbering
system is different for this section.
For example, if you have:
• Appendix A – Ethics form
• Appendix B – COSHH for …
• Appendix C – Questionnaire for…
The page numbers for these items would be labelled as follows:
• Appendix A – would have page number as A-1, A-2, A-3 (depending on how
many pages it takes up)
• Appendix B – would have page number as B-1, B-2, B-3 (depending on how
many pages it takes up)
• Appendix C – would have page number as C-1, C-2, C-3 (depending on
how many pages it takes up)
To get this separate numbering, you need to insert a continuous break at the
heading of each appendix, this will start the numbering again. Then click into the
footer and uncheck the box which says ‘same as previous’. You should then be
able to change the letter next to the number to match the letter of your appendix.
Please see the following links which will help you use page breaks:
It is worthwhile spending some time as soon as possible to sort out the
different sections of your thesis using page breaks.
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Presentation (15%)
The report should be divided into the following sections:
• Title page (i.e. using the template given)
• Acknowledgments
• Abstract
• Contents
• List of tables (optional and if applicable)
• List of figures (optional and if applicable)
• List of abbreviations (optional and if applicable)
• List of symbols (optional and if applicable)
• Introduction
• Method
• Results
• Discussion
• References
• Appendices
This order is conventionally used and helps the reader to understand
and digest the content of the report.
The maximum length is 4, 800 words for any project carried out in this
module (whether experimental or analytical). This is not the optimum
length nor the one to be aimed for, it is the maxima. Please note that as
always, we have the limit +/- 10%, so anywhere between – 4,320 and 5,
280 words.
The font can be Arial OR Calibri and the font size is 12. Any table headings or figure
labels can be slightly smaller in terms of font size i.e. 11 or 10 (please do not make it
so small that it is hard to read).
Parts which are not included in word count are as follows:
• Title
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• List of Tables (if applicable)
• List of Figures (if applicable)
• List of Abbreviations (if applicable)
• List of Symbols (if applicable)
• Full reference list
• Footnotes (if used; footnotes containing large amounts of text will be treated
as if they were part of the main body of text)
• Appendices
• Tables, graphs and other forms of data presentation and words within them
(including labels for figures and tables)
• Equations
The thesis must be written in good English and in a proper scientific style.
It will be very helpful for you to spend some time examining the style in
which papers (from reputable scientific journals) in your field are written
if you are not already familiar with this. Do not leave all the writing–up
to the very end.
Reminder about thesis format:
• Typed on one side only, of A4 paper
• Font – Arial OR Calibri
• Line spacing of 1½ – except for the Abstract, which should be
single spaced.
• A left-hand side margin of approximately 20mm. Enough room so
the binding parts (for hard copies) do not eat into the typed work.
You are responsible for typing or word-processing the report and also
for producing two bound copies of your report at your own expense.
Reminder about abbreviations:
On the first occasion that an abbreviation is used, it is good practice to
give the whole word or phrase with the abbreviation in brackets, e.g.
video tape recording (VTR). Italicise foreign words (or abbreviations
based on foreign words such as e.g. or etc.). Generic and specific
names of organisms should also be italicised or underlined. The FULL
generic name should be given on the first occasion it is used but
Note: This year we are trying to avoid hard copy submission to work towards our
sustainable and digital goals. We are working with the IT and Blackboard team
to see if this is possible. Updates regarding this matter will be communicated via
Blackboard but until then please be mindful that two hard copies of your thesis
will be required (for now).
subsequently the genus can be abbreviated e.g. Escherichia coli then
E. coli provided that no confusion is possible.
Unless there are very good reasons for doing otherwise, use SI units.
Reminder about Figures/Tables/Appendices:
All photographs, diagrams, graphs and illustrations must bear
appropriate captions and numbered labels, e.g. Figure 2; Table III;
Appendix IV. These numbered labels may then be used in the text to
refer readers to the appropriate visual element. Colour photocopies of
photographs are acceptable, provided important detail is not lost. All
diagrams and drawings should be in ink. Do not use photocopies of
diagrams, tables or other copyright material unless you have obtained
permission from the publisher and acknowledged this in the
acknowledgments section. Failure to acknowledge or cite references
for figures constitutes plagiarism.
Photomicrographs or microscope drawings should give magnifications
or a scale. Supplementary material like charts, large or bulky
participant notes, folding maps and the like, may be put in appendices
(please ensure anonymity). Transparencies that cannot be rendered as
prints, sound or video recordings or computer software on a magnetic
medium should be referred to and briefly described in an appendix.
These may then be submitted with the document, clearly labelled, in
some robust, suitable packaging.
To reiterate; avoid putting large amounts of data in the body of the
document. If required, raw data should be included in appendices and
referred to in the text. Use your own judgment as to what data might be
best included in the results section and what can go in an appendix in
order to facilitate reader comprehension.
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Draft Submission
You should try to submit a draft of your report to your supervisor for
overall comments. The deadline for submitting a draft to your supervisor
is around end of February or beginning of March 2020 – please have this
in mind and slowly, slowly, work towards this.
ONLY ONE DRAFT (whatever you have completed by then) submission to
supervisor. Your supervisor will return your work to you within two-three
weeks (unless otherwise stated). Exact date of draft submission will be
posted on Blackboard so please do keep an eye out.
Although your supervisor will not rewrite your project the comments
should be useful to you and help you with the subsequent writing. Please
note that your supervisor is not there to correct your whole project
before you hand it in.
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Before Final Submission
When you think you have finished writing your thesis post supervisor
comments, ask someone else to go through the draft (if time permits –
or make sure there is time for this). Fresh eyes can sometimes identify
unintentional ambiguities and grammatical, spelling or typing errors.
If you experienced difficulty writing succinctly and clearly, try reading
your work out loud. This should help you to add necessary punctuation
and to split, or join, sentences as appropriate. Spell checkers are worth
using on the finished document but beware of American English
spellings (it is possible to set most spell checkers for U.K. English
spellings) and be aware that spell checkers do not detect errors that
create other words (e.g. “spill chucker” for “spell checker” would not
be detected).
Your report should be in the past impersonal tense WITHOUT
personalised phrases such as “I decided…”. Be consistent in the tense
of verbs, hyphens and punctuation. Do not use two words where one is
sufficient. Vary the length of sentences but do not let them get too long.
Use paragraphs to separate different aspects of a topic or stages of an
argument.
At final draft stage check that all citations are complete and accurate
and are listed in your reference list. Ensure that pagination is correctly
applied. Finally check that page numbers in the contents list are correct.
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To summarise, the project marks will be allocated as follows:
• Abstract – 5%
• Introduction – 15%
• Method – 15%
• Results – 20%
• Discussion – 30%
• Presentation – 15%
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NOTE: If you have any further questions about write up, please do
discuss with your supervisor, the module leader/s and engage with
Blackboard discussions.