Fact sheet for writing an academic thesis for students May 2015 Index 1 General information ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Updated information ........................................................................................... 1 1.2 Area of application ............................................................................................. 1 1.3 Application and supervision for academic thesis ............................................... 1 2 Linguistic and formal aspects .................................................................................... 2 2.1 General notes ...................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Citation Guideline............................................................................................... 3 3 Structure and specifications ....................................................................................... 4 3.1 Basis for academic thesis .................................................................................... 4 3.2 Title page ............................................................................................................ 5 3.3 Abstract ............................................................................................................... 5 3.4 Indices ................................................................................................................. 5 3.5 Body.................................................................................................................... 6 3.6 Concluding information ...................................................................................... 7 Fact sheet for students for writing an academic thesis 1
General information 1.1
Updated information Date Modification May 2015 ‐ New area of application ‐ Changed format for handing in supplementary data September 2014 Issue and 1st publication 1.2
Area of application This fact sheet ought to serve students as a guideline for writing a Bachelor and a Mas‐
ter thesis under the supervision of professors part of the Institute of Accounting, Con‐
trol and Auditing in the University of St. Gallen (see table below): Professor Chair / Working Areas Prof. Dr. T. Dinh Accounting Prof. T. F. Ruud, PhD Internal Control / Internal Audit Prof. Dr. D. Schäfer Financial Management Prof. Dr. M. F. Sutter‐Rüdisser Organizational Control / Corporate Governance The guidelines provided under section two are not of compulsory nature. Neverthe‐
less, their review & implementation in the writing process of the thesis is strongly en‐
couraged. In case of doubts or contradictions, the official fact sheet of the University of St. Gallen (available in the Studentweb) should serve as the core reference point in‐
stead. 1.3
Application and supervision for academic thesis In order to write an academic thesis under the supervision of the professors mentioned in subsection 1.2, one needs to not only comply with the official guidelines of the Uni‐
versity of St. Gallen but also, demonstrate an interest in the research fields assigned to the institute and its professors. Consequently, we request that students in the initial stages of the application process, identify at least one personal research topic (research proposal) which is compatible with the respective scientific areas of expertise covered by the ACA Institute and its academic staff (for further information about our research fields and related subjects, please visit the ACA webpage or contact us directly). After identifying a possible topic for the research proposal, students may contact the profes‐
sor which is responsible for that subject in order to arrange a meeting. -1-
Fact sheet for students for writing an academic thesis Important: Please keep track of the official deadlines imposed by the University of St.Gallen with regards to the application procedures concerning Master & Bachelor Thesis (deadlines on studentweb). Student applications will be reviewed three to four weeks prior the official deadline by the below denoted members of the academic staff (contact persons): Dozent
Ansprechperson / Kontakt
Prof. Dr. T. Dinh
[email protected]
Prof. T. F. Ruud, PhD
[email protected]
Prof. Dr. D. Schäfer
[email protected]
Prof. Dr. M. F. Sutter-Rüdisser
[email protected]
In the first meeting between the student and his/her supervisor, the research proposal will be discussed, the expectations of both parties (professor & student) will be elabo‐
rated and eventually the application form will be filled out. In the proceeding stages, the application form can be submitted to the student administration (under certain cir‐
cumstances and after recommendation of the professor, the form can be submitted af‐
ter the expiry of the official deadline). Important: Students have to send their research proposal to their contact person (pro‐
fessor/supervisor) at least 48 hours before their first meeting. This document/research proposal should cover the following questions: -
What is the proposed subject, the research scope and the research question? -
What type of research methodology will be used in the process of writing the the‐
sis? -
What could be a possible structure for the thesis? -
Which aspects of the currently existing academic literature are embedded in the thesis? -
Is the thesis going to be written in German or in English? 2
2.1
Linguistic and formal aspects General notes Besides the content, the linguistic and formal presentation of the thesis plays an im‐
portant role in the evaluation of the quality of an academic thesis as well (together with other formal factors listed below). Further, an accurate and clear elaboration is a basic requirement of scientific work. Important: Taking into account that every student has a word processor program with grammar correction function, typing errors should not exist in the thesis. In order to -2-
Fact sheet for students for writing an academic thesis ensure total quality and avoid linguistic inconsistencies, every thesis should be read by a third person before the final date of submission. The principles of science and uniformity are to be applied throughout the entire thesis writing process. All formal aspects should comply with the academic standards. Fur‐
thermore, it is imperative that a consistent attention is paid to font (typeface)1, spacing, linguistic notions, abbreviations, legends from tables, figures and citation styles. The maximal length of the main body of the thesis (from introduction to closing re‐
marks; see chapter 3) should be 50 pages for the bachelor thesis and 60 pages for the master thesis (respectively in one‐side print). The layout of the pages is based on fol‐
lowing standards: Entry left: ca. 3.2 cm Entry right: ca. 2.2 cm Header/footer: ca. 1.25 cm (text with enough spacing) An appropriate and legibly font type and size are to be chosen. We highly recommend the use of times new roman in size 122. Line spacing should be between 1.2 and 1.5. 2.2
Citation Guideline All the references incorporated in the thesis, have to be disclosed both in the main text and in the bibliography (see Chapter 3.6). The non‐disclosure of the references used in the thesis, is considered to be plagiarism. For further information regarding the conse‐
quences associated with plagiarism and the general rules concerning quotations, please see the fact sheet “quotations and plagiarism”: http://studentweb.unisg.ch/en/masterstufe/rechtlichegrundlagenundmerkblaetter The citation of the sources both in the main text and in the bibliography should be compliant with the academic standards posed by the University of St. Gallen. For fur‐
ther information, please visit the library webpage of University of St. Gallen (http://www.unisg.ch/en/wissen/bibliothek/recherche/linksammlung/anleitungenzumz
itieren). Utilizing the APA‐Style for citations is highly recommended (www.apastyle.org). Certain concessions are generally permitted. However, they have to accord to the interest of the reader, correspond to the academic logic, and have to be used consistently. Particular attention should be paid on the difference between direct & indirect quota‐
tions. Direct quotations have to be indicated with quotation marks3 and have to be quot‐
This also applies for indices, tables, pictures page numbers and header and footer.
Font sizes may diverge on chapter titles as well as on tables and pictures contents. For header and footers a smaller font size should be used, e.g. size 10. 3 Exceptions are only allowed according to the guidelines of used standard. 1
2
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Fact sheet for students for writing an academic thesis ed unaltered4 regarding the wording, punctuation, accentuation, etc. Indirect quotations describe the analogous reproduction of other author’s ideas (paraphrasing). In general, every quotation must be listed in the bibliography. Concerning the referencing of indi‐
rect quotations in the text, the student’s idea must be understandable and verifiable within an appropriate time‐limit. Internet references (as well as empirical/statistical data and results, see chapter 3.6) have to be submitted on a CD‐ROM together with the thesis. 3
3.1
Structure and specifications Basis for academic thesis Prior to initiating the actual process of writing, the student must develop a problem statement (e.g. out of a reflection of specific contradictions existing in the current litera‐
ture, by identifying research gaps, contradictions of theory and praxis, practical‐
oriented questions etc.). Further, he has to differentiate it to related disciplines. Besides the specific problem statement, the writing of the thesis requires a critical ori‐
ented, precise and purposeful literature review. Basic descriptive information ought to be incorporated in the thesis; nevertheless, students should have in mind that a simple review of the work of known authors is not compliant with the standards defining the notion “academic approach”. All the elements and sections of the literature review should be compatible with the re‐
search methodology in which the overall thesis is embedded. In other words, students must balance both the theory and methodology aspects of the thesis into a one cohe‐
sive unity. Furthermore, the academic thesis should achieve a certain value added due to resulting conclusions, solution approaches, patterns (achievements which should re‐
flect the implements research methods & reviews). An academic thesis should underlie the following structure: -
Title page -
Abstract -
Indices -
Body, consisting of : 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical basis 3. Method 4. Conclusion -
Bibliography -
Appendix 4
According to the specifications of the used standard all changes are to be mentioned. -4-
Fact sheet for students for writing an academic thesis Page numbers in the abstract section/s are numbered with Roman numerals, starting with page I. The main body of the thesis is in turn renumbered with Roman numerals starting with page 1. In the bibliography / appendix pages, either Roman numerals fol‐
lowing the format (1, 2, 3) or (I, II, III) proceeding may be used. The manner, in which the main body of the thesis is structured, depends on the nature of the thesis itself. Certain elements can either appear in the introduction (which can under special circumstances be formatted as a complementary summary), or be incor‐
porated as elements of the theoretical or methodological part.5 3.2
Title page A plain, minimalistic approach should be adopted in the process of designing the main title page. The title page should also be an objective reflection of the nature & format of the master thesis. It should contain at least following elements: -
Full title of the thesis -
Type of the thesis (MA/BA) -
Name and surname of the supervisor6 -
Name and surname of the author Further, possible elements to be incorporated in the title page are the logo of Universi‐
ty of St. Gallen8, the reference to the Institute of Accounting, Control and Audit respec‐
tively University of St. Gallen, the contact details of the author and the submission date. 3.3
Abstract The abstract should provide a brief overview of the main subject of analysis to the reader. The abstract should not be longer than 150‐250 words. The aim, the method and the research results are elements that ought to be incorporated in the abstract. 3.4
Indices An academic thesis contains different indices which serve as an orientation for the reader. The particular indices to be incorporated in the thesis are: 5
Examples can be necessary terminology or explanation of the applied methodology.
MA: The suggested co-supervisor is not to be mentioned on the title page.
8
A high pixel quality is hereby to be secured.
9
This applies for headlines in the index as for the respective headline in text. The sizes don’t have to be
identical, but fit the particular case.
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Fact sheet for students for writing an academic thesis -
Table of contents -
Table of pictures (if necessary) -
Table of charts (if necessary) -
Table of abbreviations (if necessary) -
Table of symbols (if necessary) The table of contents itself is an important part of every thesis and provides an over‐
view of how the thesis is structured. Therefore a logical succession of chapters is to be provided (central theme) as part of the thesis, and the different chapter levels must be visible (e.g. by tabulating or using different formatting and font size) 9. Chapter levels with only one subchapter as well as chapter levels with too many sub‐
chapters (or subdivisions) should be avoided. For MA and BA thesis three chapter lev‐
els are usually sufficient. In case further levels are necessary, italic titles without chap‐
ter numbers can be used (these further levels ought not to be mentioned in the index). As in the table of contents, also in the table of pictures and charts and on the indices a clean presentation (e.g. correct word wrapping) is to be implemented. This is particu‐
larly important for the automatically generated indices. References are not to be listed in the index. Furthermore large figures/tables, which have no essential importance for the thesis, are to be listed in the appendix and referred to by necessity in the text. When possible, ta‐
bles are to be presented as one cohesive unit in solely one page. If this is not possible, the table must be named and additionally mentioned (“sequel”) on the new page. The use of abbreviations and symbols should be consistent. In the body of the thesis abbreviations have to be written in full and symbols have to be defined when first used, (they ought to be followed by their abbreviations / symbols in parenthesis). Ab‐
breviations and symbols have to be listed in an alphabetical order in their correspond‐
ing indices. Current known abbreviations such as e.g. can be disclaimed.11 3.5
Body The main body of the thesis contains basically four central elements: introduction, the‐
ory (literature review), method (research methodology) and conclusion. The format and nature of the prior defined elements depend on the thesis itself. The introduction should contain at least the problem statement and the thesis aim as well as information about the methodological approach and the structure of the thesis. The literature review contains all the relevant theoretical explanations and should be specifically oriented for the research methodology sections. The literature review should not only present common knowledge out of textbooks, but should further pro‐
vide the basic information, conceptual differentiations and regulatory requirements. -6-
Fact sheet for students for writing an academic thesis Further, one should present the current academic findings in a summarized form. Based on this literary review, one should be able to deviate the present status of the re‐
search. Thereby, the basis for the research gap to be worked on and methodological approach can be defined. The methodology is the core of the thesis and therefore contains the own contribution. The sub categorization of this part depends on the particular thesis itself and also dif‐
fers depending on the type of methodology used (qualitative, quantitative, etc.). An academic approach as to data collection and data analysis is essential for all theses. Listing references more or less incoherently, in particular in qualitative thesis, is not satisfactory. The conclusion should contain a description of the research approach and its results. The defined problem statement and the main research question should be renewed and interrelated to the methodological results. For instance it is advisable to write a 2‐3 pages abstract in thesis form. 3.6
Concluding information The main body of the thesis is followed by a bibliography, appendix as well as relevant explanatory notes. In addition, possible empirical/statistical evaluations (together with the specific internet source, see chapter 2.2) have to be attached to the thesis on a CD‐
ROM. All sources used have to be mentioned in an alphabetical order in the bibliography. In addition to an organized and uniform presentation in compliance with the respective types of sources (book, book chapter, journal, internet, etc.), integrity has to also be re‐
garded (based to the academic standard in chapter 2.2). This means that all the refer‐
ences must be listed in both the text and the bibliography. The appendix – in case it is needed – differ in context from thesis to thesis. Possible el‐
ements are: -
Big tables and pictures7 -
Excursus and demonstrations which are not core information for the understand‐
ing of the thesis -
Index of auxiliary means -
Index of interviews -
Exemplar of questionnaires and monitoring documents The thesis is concluded (finalized) with a signed declaration of autonomy and depend‐
ing on the thesis with a signed declaration of confidentiality. 11
Using current abbreviations – especially in text – should be done with caution. The use of parenthesis
or footers is the most appropriate.
12
Good legibility is also here to be minded.
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