mini dissertation meaning

Dissertation Structure & Layout 101: How to structure your dissertation, thesis or research project.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Reviewed By: David Phair (PhD) | July 2019

So, you’ve got a decent understanding of what a dissertation is , you’ve chosen your topic and hopefully you’ve received approval for your research proposal . Awesome! Now its time to start the actual dissertation or thesis writing journey.

To craft a high-quality document, the very first thing you need to understand is dissertation structure . In this post, we’ll walk you through the generic dissertation structure and layout, step by step. We’ll start with the big picture, and then zoom into each chapter to briefly discuss the core contents. If you’re just starting out on your research journey, you should start with this post, which covers the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis .

*The Caveat *

In this post, we’ll be discussing a traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout, which is generally used for social science research across universities, whether in the US, UK, Europe or Australia. However, some universities may have small variations on this structure (extra chapters, merged chapters, slightly different ordering, etc).

So, always check with your university if they have a prescribed structure or layout that they expect you to work with. If not, it’s safe to assume the structure we’ll discuss here is suitable. And even if they do have a prescribed structure, you’ll still get value from this post as we’ll explain the core contents of each section.  

Overview: S tructuring a dissertation or thesis

• Acknowledgements page
• Abstract (or executive summary)
• Table of contents , list of figures and tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Results
• Chapter 5: Discussion
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Reference list

As I mentioned, some universities will have slight variations on this structure. For example, they want an additional “personal reflection chapter”, or they might prefer the results and discussion chapter to be merged into one. Regardless, the overarching flow will always be the same, as this flow reflects the research process , which we discussed here – i.e.:

• The introduction chapter presents the core research question and aims .
• The literature review chapter assesses what the current research says about this question.
• The methodology, results and discussion chapters go about undertaking new research about this question.
• The conclusion chapter (attempts to) answer the core research question .

In other words, the dissertation structure and layout reflect the research process of asking a well-defined question(s), investigating, and then answering the question – see below.

To restate that – the structure and layout of a dissertation reflect the flow of the overall research process . This is essential to understand, as each chapter will make a lot more sense if you “get” this concept. If you’re not familiar with the research process, read this post before going further.

Right. Now that we’ve covered the big picture, let’s dive a little deeper into the details of each section and chapter. Oh and by the way, you can also grab our free dissertation/thesis template here to help speed things up.

The title page of your dissertation is the very first impression the marker will get of your work, so it pays to invest some time thinking about your title. But what makes for a good title? A strong title needs to be 3 things:

• Succinct (not overly lengthy or verbose)
• Specific (not vague or ambiguous)
• Representative of the research you’re undertaking (clearly linked to your research questions)

Typically, a good title includes mention of the following:

• The broader area of the research (i.e. the overarching topic)
• The specific focus of your research (i.e. your specific context)
• Indication of research design (e.g. quantitative , qualitative , or  mixed methods ).

For example:

A quantitative investigation [research design] into the antecedents of organisational trust [broader area] in the UK retail forex trading market [specific context/area of focus].

Again, some universities may have specific requirements regarding the format and structure of the title, so it’s worth double-checking expectations with your institution (if there’s no mention in the brief or study material).

Acknowledgements

This page provides you with an opportunity to say thank you to those who helped you along your research journey. Generally, it’s optional (and won’t count towards your marks), but it is academic best practice to include this.

So, who do you say thanks to? Well, there’s no prescribed requirements, but it’s common to mention the following people:

• Your dissertation supervisor or committee.
• Any professors, lecturers or academics that helped you understand the topic or methodologies.
• Any tutors, mentors or advisors.
• Your family and friends, especially spouse (for adult learners studying part-time).

There’s no need for lengthy rambling. Just state who you’re thankful to and for what (e.g. thank you to my supervisor, John Doe, for his endless patience and attentiveness) – be sincere. In terms of length, you should keep this to a page or less.

Abstract or executive summary

The dissertation abstract (or executive summary for some degrees) serves to provide the first-time reader (and marker or moderator) with a big-picture view of your research project. It should give them an understanding of the key insights and findings from the research, without them needing to read the rest of the report – in other words, it should be able to stand alone .

For it to stand alone, your abstract should cover the following key points (at a minimum):

• Your research questions and aims – what key question(s) did your research aim to answer?
• Your methodology – how did you go about investigating the topic and finding answers to your research question(s)?
• Your findings – following your own research, what did do you discover?
• Your conclusions – based on your findings, what conclusions did you draw? What answers did you find to your research question(s)?

So, in much the same way the dissertation structure mimics the research process, your abstract or executive summary should reflect the research process, from the initial stage of asking the original question to the final stage of answering that question.

In practical terms, it’s a good idea to write this section up last , once all your core chapters are complete. Otherwise, you’ll end up writing and rewriting this section multiple times (just wasting time). For a step by step guide on how to write a strong executive summary, check out this post .

Need a helping hand?

Table of contents

This section is straightforward. You’ll typically present your table of contents (TOC) first, followed by the two lists – figures and tables. I recommend that you use Microsoft Word’s automatic table of contents generator to generate your TOC. If you’re not familiar with this functionality, the video below explains it simply:

If you find that your table of contents is overly lengthy, consider removing one level of depth. Oftentimes, this can be done without detracting from the usefulness of the TOC.

Right, now that the “admin” sections are out of the way, its time to move on to your core chapters. These chapters are the heart of your dissertation and are where you’ll earn the marks. The first chapter is the introduction chapter – as you would expect, this is the time to introduce your research…

It’s important to understand that even though you’ve provided an overview of your research in your abstract, your introduction needs to be written as if the reader has not read that (remember, the abstract is essentially a standalone document). So, your introduction chapter needs to start from the very beginning, and should address the following questions:

• What will you be investigating (in plain-language, big picture-level)?
• Why is that worth investigating? How is it important to academia or business? How is it sufficiently original?
• What are your research aims and research question(s)? Note that the research questions can sometimes be presented at the end of the literature review (next chapter).
• What is the scope of your study? In other words, what will and won’t you cover ?
• How will you approach your research? In other words, what methodology will you adopt?
• How will you structure your dissertation? What are the core chapters and what will you do in each of them?

These are just the bare basic requirements for your intro chapter. Some universities will want additional bells and whistles in the intro chapter, so be sure to carefully read your brief or consult your research supervisor.

If done right, your introduction chapter will set a clear direction for the rest of your dissertation. Specifically, it will make it clear to the reader (and marker) exactly what you’ll be investigating, why that’s important, and how you’ll be going about the investigation. Conversely, if your introduction chapter leaves a first-time reader wondering what exactly you’ll be researching, you’ve still got some work to do.

Now that you’ve set a clear direction with your introduction chapter, the next step is the literature review . In this section, you will analyse the existing research (typically academic journal articles and high-quality industry publications), with a view to understanding the following questions:

• What does the literature currently say about the topic you’re investigating?
• Is the literature lacking or well established? Is it divided or in disagreement?
• How does your research fit into the bigger picture?
• How does your research contribute something original?
• How does the methodology of previous studies help you develop your own?

Depending on the nature of your study, you may also present a conceptual framework towards the end of your literature review, which you will then test in your actual research.

Again, some universities will want you to focus on some of these areas more than others, some will have additional or fewer requirements, and so on. Therefore, as always, its important to review your brief and/or discuss with your supervisor, so that you know exactly what’s expected of your literature review chapter.

Now that you’ve investigated the current state of knowledge in your literature review chapter and are familiar with the existing key theories, models and frameworks, its time to design your own research. Enter the methodology chapter – the most “science-ey” of the chapters…

In this chapter, you need to address two critical questions:

• Exactly HOW will you carry out your research (i.e. what is your intended research design)?
• Exactly WHY have you chosen to do things this way (i.e. how do you justify your design)?

Remember, the dissertation part of your degree is first and foremost about developing and demonstrating research skills . Therefore, the markers want to see that you know which methods to use, can clearly articulate why you’ve chosen then, and know how to deploy them effectively.

Importantly, this chapter requires detail – don’t hold back on the specifics. State exactly what you’ll be doing, with who, when, for how long, etc. Moreover, for every design choice you make, make sure you justify it.

In practice, you will likely end up coming back to this chapter once you’ve undertaken all your data collection and analysis, and revise it based on changes you made during the analysis phase. This is perfectly fine. Its natural for you to add an additional analysis technique, scrap an old one, etc based on where your data lead you. Of course, I’m talking about small changes here – not a fundamental switch from qualitative to quantitative, which will likely send your supervisor in a spin!

You’ve now collected your data and undertaken your analysis, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. In this chapter, you’ll present the raw results of your analysis . For example, in the case of a quant study, you’ll present the demographic data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics , etc.

Typically, Chapter 4 is simply a presentation and description of the data, not a discussion of the meaning of the data. In other words, it’s descriptive, rather than analytical – the meaning is discussed in Chapter 5. However, some universities will want you to combine chapters 4 and 5, so that you both present and interpret the meaning of the data at the same time. Check with your institution what their preference is.

Now that you’ve presented the data analysis results, its time to interpret and analyse them. In other words, its time to discuss what they mean, especially in relation to your research question(s).

What you discuss here will depend largely on your chosen methodology. For example, if you’ve gone the quantitative route, you might discuss the relationships between variables . If you’ve gone the qualitative route, you might discuss key themes and the meanings thereof. It all depends on what your research design choices were.

Most importantly, you need to discuss your results in relation to your research questions and aims, as well as the existing literature. What do the results tell you about your research questions? Are they aligned with the existing research or at odds? If so, why might this be? Dig deep into your findings and explain what the findings suggest, in plain English.

The final chapter – you’ve made it! Now that you’ve discussed your interpretation of the results, its time to bring it back to the beginning with the conclusion chapter . In other words, its time to (attempt to) answer your original research question s (from way back in chapter 1). Clearly state what your conclusions are in terms of your research questions. This might feel a bit repetitive, as you would have touched on this in the previous chapter, but its important to bring the discussion full circle and explicitly state your answer(s) to the research question(s).

Next, you’ll typically discuss the implications of your findings? In other words, you’ve answered your research questions – but what does this mean for the real world (or even for academia)? What should now be done differently, given the new insight you’ve generated?

Lastly, you should discuss the limitations of your research, as well as what this means for future research in the area. No study is perfect, especially not a Masters-level. Discuss the shortcomings of your research. Perhaps your methodology was limited, perhaps your sample size was small or not representative, etc, etc. Don’t be afraid to critique your work – the markers want to see that you can identify the limitations of your work. This is a strength, not a weakness. Be brutal!

This marks the end of your core chapters – woohoo! From here on out, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

The reference list is straightforward. It should contain a list of all resources cited in your dissertation, in the required format, e.g. APA , Harvard, etc.

It’s essential that you use reference management software for your dissertation. Do NOT try handle your referencing manually – its far too error prone. On a reference list of multiple pages, you’re going to make mistake. To this end, I suggest considering either Mendeley or Zotero. Both are free and provide a very straightforward interface to ensure that your referencing is 100% on point. I’ve included a simple how-to video for the Mendeley software (my personal favourite) below:

Some universities may ask you to include a bibliography, as opposed to a reference list. These two things are not the same . A bibliography is similar to a reference list, except that it also includes resources which informed your thinking but were not directly cited in your dissertation. So, double-check your brief and make sure you use the right one.

The very last piece of the puzzle is the appendix or set of appendices. This is where you’ll include any supporting data and evidence. Importantly, supporting is the keyword here.

Your appendices should provide additional “nice to know”, depth-adding information, which is not critical to the core analysis. Appendices should not be used as a way to cut down word count (see this post which covers how to reduce word count ). In other words, don’t place content that is critical to the core analysis here, just to save word count. You will not earn marks on any content in the appendices, so don’t try to play the system!

Time to recap…

And there you have it – the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows:

• Acknowledgments page

Most importantly, the core chapters should reflect the research process (asking, investigating and answering your research question). Moreover, the research question(s) should form the golden thread throughout your dissertation structure. Everything should revolve around the research questions, and as you’ve seen, they should form both the start point (i.e. introduction chapter) and the endpoint (i.e. conclusion chapter).

I hope this post has provided you with clarity about the traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below, or feel free to get in touch with us. Also, be sure to check out the rest of the  Grad Coach Blog .

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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36 Comments

many thanks i found it very useful

Glad to hear that, Arun. Good luck writing your dissertation.

Such clear practical logical advice. I very much needed to read this to keep me focused in stead of fretting.. Perfect now ready to start my research!

what about scientific fields like computer or engineering thesis what is the difference in the structure? thank you very much

Thanks so much this helped me a lot!

Very helpful and accessible. What I like most is how practical the advice is along with helpful tools/ links.

Thanks Ade!

Thank you so much sir.. It was really helpful..

You’re welcome!

Hi! How many words maximum should contain the abstract?

Thank you so much 😊 Find this at the right moment

You’re most welcome. Good luck with your dissertation.

best ever benefit i got on right time thank you

Many times Clarity and vision of destination of dissertation is what makes the difference between good ,average and great researchers the same way a great automobile driver is fast with clarity of address and Clear weather conditions .

I guess Great researcher = great ideas + knowledge + great and fast data collection and modeling + great writing + high clarity on all these

You have given immense clarity from start to end.

Morning. Where will I write the definitions of what I’m referring to in my report?

Thank you so much Derek, I was almost lost! Thanks a tonnnn! Have a great day!

Thanks ! so concise and valuable

This was very helpful. Clear and concise. I know exactly what to do now.

Thank you for allowing me to go through briefly. I hope to find time to continue.

Really useful to me. Thanks a thousand times

Very interesting! It will definitely set me and many more for success. highly recommended.

Thank you soo much sir, for the opportunity to express my skills

Usefull, thanks a lot. Really clear

Very nice and easy to understand. Thank you .

That was incredibly useful. Thanks Grad Coach Crew!

My stress level just dropped at least 15 points after watching this. Just starting my thesis for my grad program and I feel a lot more capable now! Thanks for such a clear and helpful video, Emma and the GradCoach team!

Do we need to mention the number of words the dissertation contains in the main document?

It depends on your university’s requirements, so it would be best to check with them 🙂

Such a helpful post to help me get started with structuring my masters dissertation, thank you!

Great video; I appreciate that helpful information

It is so necessary or avital course

This blog is very informative for my research. Thank you

Doctoral students are required to fill out the National Research Council’s Survey of Earned Doctorates

wow this is an amazing gain in my life

This is so good

How can i arrange my specific objectives in my dissertation?

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There is no standard format for the submission of a dissertation or thesis: formatting is at the candidate’s discretion, but using A4 paper is the expected norm. Reasonable width margins (2 – 2.5 cm) are desirable to ensure that binding does not impede reading of the text. However, candidates should consult their supervisor early on in the process. The contents must be printed in either double or one and a half spacing using a common font throughout. Printing on both sides of the page is allowed, but a reasonable weight paper must then be used. Although it is expected that the dissertation/thesis be written in English, it is possible with prior support of the supervisor and prior permission from the Doctoral Degrees Board, to submit a PhD in another language.

It is acceptable for a Masters dissertation or PhD thesis to include published papers , provided that:

• where published papers are included as separate chapters, the dissertation/thesis must nonetheless show acceptable academic style, constant formatting, scholarly content and coherence as a connected account with a satisfactory general introduction, statement of thesis and a final discussion chapter. The latter should not duplicate material that is already contained in the discussion sections of the various chapters/papers, but integrate the results from the various chapters and place them in a broader context;
• where multi-authored papers are included, the contribution of the candidate can be distinguished and is clearly stated

For Masters degrees a candidate must submit either three hard copies (degree by dissertation only) or TWO hard copies (degree by coursework plus dissertation) of the dissertation in temporary binding to the Postgraduate Officer in the Science Faculty Office . Once the dissertation has been finally accepted, one unbound hard copy and one electronic copy (in pdf format on a labelled, read-only CD packed in a hard "jewel" case) of the final, corrected dissertation must be lodged with the Faculty Office.

In the case of a PhD , the thesis may not exceed 80,000 words . If it is felt that it is essential to exceed this length, special permission must be obtained from the Dean. It is the expectation that Masters degrees should be substantially shorter than this with a maximum of 50,000 words allowed; on the order of 35,000 words (~100 pages) would be the expected norm.

There must be a title page on which should appear the thesis title, name of candidate (plus qualifications if you wish), name of Department, University and the month and year of submission. The following is the recommended wording used after the thesis title and name of the candidate: Dissertation (or Thesis) presented for the degree of Master of Science (or Doctor of Philosophy) in the Department of … University of Cape Town Month and Year

For a coursework Masters minor dissertation the wording should read "Dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of…".

Plagiarism Declaration

Following the title page there should be a page containing the following signed statement by the candidate: "I know the meaning of plagiarism and declare that all of the work in the dissertation (or thesis), save for that which is properly acknowledged, is my own‟.

Publication

When a candidate submits a thesis he/she shall be deemed to have granted the University free license to publish it in whole or part in any format the University deems fit.

Referencing

Forms of referencing must be standard for the discipline and must adhere to a recognised international convention, agreed to with the supervisor.

Due Dates and Process of Submission

At the conclusion of research, the candidate must submit a dissertation or thesis for examination. This normally occurs after receiving an indication from the supervisor that the product is in a form which is acceptable for submission. However, a candidate is not prevented from submitting without the supervisor’s approval.

If a candidate intends submitting a Masters dissertation for examination he/she must inform the Head of Department in writing, with a copy to the Dean, of such an intention two weeks in advance of planned submission date. The Head of Department, with input from the supervisor, will then nominate suitable examiners for approval by the Dean. If submitting a PhD thesis, the candidate must inform the Doctoral Degrees Board Officer (New Student Administration Building) in writing of such intention one month prior to planned submission.

The dates for submission of dissertations and theses are: First or Second week in February for persons hoping to graduate in September; First or Second week in August for persons hoping to graduate in March of the following year.

Please refer to the University Fees Booklet for submission dates with respect to fee rebates. Candidates who submit their thesis/dissertation before the beginning of the start of the first term are not required to register. If submitted after the start of the first term a candidate must register for that year, and a pro-rata fee will be charged, depending on the date of submission. Where a student who submitted prior to the start of term is required to revise and resubmit a dissertation/thesis, they must register and pay the academic fee for that year. Further information can be found at the UCT Student Handbook site .

Preparing to write your MBA dissertation?

An MBA qualification is one of the most recognised business management degrees in the world. Successfully completing the qualification comes with its challenges. The degree requires commitment from the student in order to successfully complete assignments, pass examinations and fulfil the mini dissertation requirements to obtain the qualification. The mini dissertation is an integral part of completing your MBA, and it also requires the most amount of effort and time commitment. The most important considerations when embarking on this daunting task is putting a plan in place and structuring your course of action. For any MBA student, it is important to manage time correctly. It is so easy to fall into the trap of procrastination because the tasks at hand may seem overwhelming. Along with coursework and research responsibilities, it is expected to also juggle a full-time job and other responsibilities that demand one’s time and attention, such as spouses, children and extended family. As a result of these demands, finding time to work on a mini dissertation can be difficult. Here are a few helpful tips that will help get your dissertation started and completed on time. There is no better time than the present It is crucial for an MBA student to become sensitive to the topics within modules covered on the MBA. Being conscious of possible dissertation topics right from the onset of your MBA will help to get the process started. Start investigating topics that are of personal interest and that incite passion as possible areas of study that research could be structured around. This is important to meaningfully prepare in advance and engage with this topic, come time to start your dissertation. At Regenesys Business School, each MBA student is assigned a research supervisor early on, to assist with the research topic, and offer guidance and advice on each chapter completed by the student. This helps in the articulation of ideas. Getting other people’s opinions in advance also helps to approach the dissertation from different viewpoints. Define area of interest Writing a thesis or dissertation takes time, so it is necessary to discover an area of interest to start reading about. It is important to start reading around this topic to refine the research topic well in advance before a research topic is defined. This will ensure that the frustration and hours of wasted time that can result from aimlessly searching for information can be avoided. Structuring the dissertation Although the dissertation format may differ from institution to institution, the information provided below gives a basic idea of the sections of a mini dissertation. Abstract - An abstract is a brief summary of the research to be conducted. It is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpose. When used, an abstract always appears at the beginning of the dissertation, acting as the point-of-entry for any given academic piece of writing. Chapter 1 – Introduction This involves setting the context of your mini dissertation and the issues that are going to be addressed in the research. The introduction also covers why the research will be conducted or the rationale behind it. It also provides the problem statement and objectives of the research as well as an outline of the whole study.  Chapter 2 – Literature Review Whatever the research problem may be, the researcher has to conduct an investigation into the literature related to the research problem i.e. the researcher will need to find informative sources, determine their relevance, read them thoroughly and synthesise the information, make informed judgements and finally, report on the information provided in each source. As a researcher, it is important to consult the relevant literature to understand the Academic debates and arguments surrounding the chosen research topic. This will enable deeper insight into the topic and the identification of key issues that need to be explored. The researcher needs to present a summary and a critical appraisal of previous research on the research topic while identifying the gaps. The Literature Review establishes the gaps, issues and contradictions in the existing literature on the research topic. It links the research questions/hypothesis with the gaps in the existing literature and allows analysis and discussion in relation to the aim of the proposed study.  Chapter 3 – Methodology This chapter deals with the how, why and what of the research topic. It indicates how the researcher is going to go about gathering and analysing data for the research. This is done through surveys, interviews or focus group discussions. This chapter contains information about the methodological approach. The chapter should answer a number of questions such as:

• What approach does the research question/hypothesis necessitate and why?
• Which data collection methods are linked to the research?
• Which methods did the researcher decide on and why?
• What other methods could you have chosen?
• How is the data going to be collected?
• How will the data be analysed?
• How will the participants be chosen?
• How will the researcher ensure that the data is reliable and valid?

Chapter 4 – Results and Analysis This involves analysing how the data collected does or does not answer the research questions and proves the researcher’s hypotheses. This could be statistical in nature or theme based depending on the methodological approach followed.  Chapter 5 – Discussion This chapter should discuss the research findings and whether they prove or discard issues raised in your literature review. It also presents how your findings contribute to the research field, profession and documented knowledge around this topic. This chapter may also include recommendations from the researcher that have been proved by the research.  Chapter 6 – Conclusion The concluding chapter must sum up the study. It provides an overview of the study and literature. It indicates how the objectives, hypotheses, main findings and recommendations relate to one another.  References At the end of all pieces of academic writing, you need a list of materials that you have used or referred to. This is done by way of a reference list and should be presented alphabetically and according to the academic referencing rules followed by your institution. The purpose of this is to supply the information needed to allow an interested reader, researcher or examiner to find a source.  Appendices This is where the information that is essential to explain your methodology, analysis and findings should be placed. Examples of information that could be included in an appendix include figures, tables, charts, graphs of results, statistics, questionnaires, lengthy derivations of equations and letters. Each separate appendix should be lettered, for example Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix B1, Appendix B2, Appendix C. The order they are presented in is dictated by the order they are mentioned in the text of the dissertation. The dissertation format may differ from institution to institution, but this gives a basic idea of the chapters of a dissertation. Managing time constraints Although the dissertation seems like an endless project, it can be broken into smaller tasks and projects that are more manageable. It is imperative to plan work times and break the task into stages. Dissertation work should be done during productive times. The researcher needs to identify whether they are productive or write well in the morning, afternoon or they more productive in the evening? Once this is determined, it will help to schedule those hours for dissertation work. Every day counts

• Set aside time each week and each day for dissertation tasks
• Do difficult tasks at productive times of the day
• Do easy tasks when less motivated
• It is important to make the dissertation flow, the individual chapters will contain their own arguments and flow but they all contribute to the main flow, (the golden thread.)
• Keep record of all information sources consulted.

Finishing off and checking through This stage can be time consuming, so leave enough time to have a final read through of the dissertation to pick up any lingering mistakes or typos. Good presentation matters – follow the rules for margins, fonts, table formats, and so on in early drafts. It is much easier to write the dissertation with all the formatting correct than to have to reformat several computer files at the last minute. It gives a professional appearance and puts the reader in a good mood. So it is worth making sure to leave enough time to proof-read and get the layout right. Plagiarism This is the act of taking another person's writing, conversation, song, or even idea and passing it off as your own. This includes information from web pages, books, songs, television shows, email messages, interviews, articles, artworks or any other medium. Whenever one paraphrases, summarises, or takes words, phrases, or sentences from another person's work, it is necessary to indicate the source of the information within the paper using an internal citation. Failing to properly quote, cite or acknowledge someone else's words or ideas with an internal citation is plagiarism. Always acknowledge sources of information. If possible, look at dissertations from previous years to see how they have been presented. At Regenesys, several dissertations are available at our library for students to use as references. Investigate the dissertation requirements early to make sure you are making appropriate progress toward the degree. Make sure when using human subjects in surveys or interviews, that their approval is obtained, and approval letters documented. Make sure to follow your Institutions’ regulations as are required for this process. It is highly recommended to consult a recognised, qualified editor to polish the language in the final dissertation draft as this could influence the final dissertation mark. Help is closer than you think In conclusion, consult allocated supervisors at every stage of the dissertation. Consult other students who may have completed their dissertations and get as much advice as possible. Do not neglect health requirements during this period, by making sure to eat right and exercise to remain stimulated. Seek feedback regularly, this will make this task a little bit more easier. References:

• University of Reading Study Advice, http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/studyadvice/Studyresources/Essays/sta-writingdissertation.aspx
• UNC College of arts and sciences writing centre, https://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/dissertations/

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Mini-Dissertations

Research is core to the Faculty's Masters-level and PhD programmes. 

LLM and MPhil programmes with coursework and dissertation require a submisision of not more than 25,000 words. Although an original contribution to knowledge is always desirable in a minor dissertation/research paper, it is not an essential requirement. However, candidates must show that they have:

• a thorough knowledge of the chosen subject 
• mastered techniques required for competent research in law
• the capacity for independent thought and sound reasoning
• satisfactorily presented the results of research.

The School for Advanced Legal Studies has developed guidelines for Masters-level dissertations   - read this booklet thoroughly before embarking on your research to understand details of:

• What is Expected of a Minor Dissertation/Research Paper
• Finding a Supervisor
• Expectations and Responsibilities of Students and Supervisors
• Conflict Resolution
• Publication and Copyright
• Language policy
• Postgraduate Writing Centre
• Guidelines on the Format of the Minor Dissertations/Research Paper
• Guidelines on Language and Style
• Submission and Examination Process
• Important Contacts in the Law Faculty

We have also included here a copy of the Student Guide .

All students registered for a dissertation component must complete the Memorandum of Understanding at the point of registration on the online registration system. Returning students are required to complete the Annual Supplement to the Memorandum of Understanding on the online system at the point of registration each academic year.

Alexander Freeman

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