Formal Requirements for Theses and Term Papers

© Prof. Dr. F. Ruhwedel 1

B.A. International Business and Social SciencesM.A. International Business and Psychology

Formal Requirements for Theses and Term Papers

Prof. Dr. Franca RuhwedelPlease note: These are individual requirements for my students. Other supervisors might have different expectations. Please always check with your supervisor and the Academic Writing Manual.


Formal Aspects

Structure

Citation Style

Reference Base

Content


Formal Aspects

Font Size Regular, unadorned font of size approximately corresponding to Arial 11 point or Times New Roman 12 point.

Smaller font sizes in footnotes (Arial 8 point or Times New Roman 9 point), tables andfigures.

Headings may be up to a size corresponding to Arial 14 pt or Times New Roman 15 pt. The chosen font style has to be used consistently throughout the entire paper.

Line Spacing Spacing 1.5 ( Zeilenabstand) Headings longer than one line, block quotations, tables, figures, footnotes lists and

references usually have single spacing

Justification Use full justification (flush left and flush right) as setting of type ( Blocksatz) Use hyphenation ( Automatische Silbentrennung)

Margins Left: 4 cm Right, top and bottom: 2 cm


Formal Aspects

Elements

Page numbering

Preliminary pages (List of content, list of tables etc.) are numbered with lower case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii…). The number of the title page (i) is not displayed.

Start with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3…) on the first page of your text (usually chapter 1,introduction).

Arabic numerals run through until the end (including list of references and appendix).


Formal Aspects

Headings

Tables andFigures

Are numbered throughout the paper (Table 1: Name, Table 2: Name…) and Figure 1: Name, Figure 2: Name…).

Are listed in the List of Tables and in the List of Figures.

Page count Seminar Paper: 8 – 10 pages Bachelor Thesis: 40 – 60 pages Master Thesis: 60 – 80 pages Any deviations from this leads to a grade discount. In some cases (i.e. when

empirical work is done) exceptions are made – but always ask before you write more. Appendix, List of References etc. are not part of the pages count.


Formal Aspects

Title Page Title (and subtitle) of the paper, Type of paper, Module and subject (if not a thesis), Name and faculty of the university, Name and title of the supervisor, Your name, registration number, and due date

How to turn in Seminar Paper: Plastic folder, no adhesive binding necessary. Thesis: Adhesive-bound (no spiral binding) ( Klebebindung, keine Ringbindung),

softcover is fine, no hardcover necessary. Thesis: 3 hard copies and 1 CDROM hand in at SSC ALWAYS upload your seminar paper on Moodle on date of submittance. This is a

necessary prerequisite for grading. Hand in thesis via email to [email protected].

Abstract Summary of addressed research questions, adopted methods, results, and conclusions.

Should not exceed 250 words. Below the abstract list 5 keywords with respect to your work.

For additional information please refer to the Academic Writing Manual available on moodle.


Formal Aspects

Structure

Citation Style

Reference Base

Content


1. Introduction

How to structure my seminar paper or my thesis?

2. Theoretical Part (Literature Review)

3. Analytical Part (own research!)

4. Conclusion


1. Introduction

• Introduction to the topic: What is this seminar paper about?

• Motivation: Why did you choose the topic? Why is it relevant?

• “Research question”

• Description of the paper’s structure

• Write this after finishing the entire paper it’s easier to introduce to something

that you already know

How to Structure my Scientific Work? (1/2)

2. Theoretical Part – Literature review

• If necessary include definitions, underlying theory

• Presentation of previous results / academic discussion of the topic

• Literature review mostly split into different topics


How to Structure my Scientific Work? (2/2)

3. Analytical Part – “Own” research

• Not necessary for seminar paper, but very welcome

• Own model or extension of existing model, empirical study, calculations, case study

Recommended to write the body first write paper from inside out!

4. Conclusion

• Reviewing of paper’s contents

• Coming back to and answering of research questions

• Drawing conclusions resulting from analysis / work on the topic

• Outlook / suggestions for future research


Rules for the Table of Content (Outline)

• If there is one subchapter to a point there must be a second one as well.

1. Headline1.1 Subchapter to 11.2 Subchapter to 1

1. Headline1.1 Subchapter to 1

2. HeadlineEither chapter 1 needs nosubchapters as it deals onlywith one topic or similar to

left example

• All chapters on one level must be contentwise on one level

1. Studying at HSRW1.1 IBSS1.2 M & L1.3 E & E

2. Research at HSRW

1. Studying at HSRW1.1 IBSS1.2 M & L

2. E & E

1. Studying at HSRW1.1 IBSS1.2 M & L1.3 Research in M & L


Rules for Writing your Chapters

• Where to write your text



If a subchapter is following there isno long text allowed beneath theheadline. You may write a shortintroductory text for the chapterthough („Vorreiter“). It should not

exceed 4‐5 sentences.

• Length of Chapters There is no general rule for this. Still: If your (sub-)chapter exceeds two pages you should question yourself if it makes

sense to divide it into seperate subchapters.

• Divide your text into meaningful sections Long sections without interruptions are hard to read. Help the reader and structure your

text! Always make paragraphs after a couple of sentences (after a train of thoughts has ended).


Rules for Writing your Chapters

• Writing Style Keep in mind: You are writing a scientific paper, not a newspaper article. Keep to the

facts and use a formal expression. No such words as „terrific“, „extraordinary“, „huge“, „horrible“ or similar.

Never use „I“ or „We“ when describing the procedure of your work:

NOT: „In chapter 2 I will focus on…“, but:

„The 2nd chapter will focus on…“ or

„After giving an overview on the relevant theories the applicability in different industries will be analyzed in chapter 3.“

• Leitmotif Try to make your guiding thoughts clear. Illustrate your leitmotiv by giving some

introductory as well as summarizing words in each chapter.


Formal Aspects

Structure

Citation Style

Reference Base

Content


How to cite right? (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)Citing and referencing correctly in Harvard referencing style

• What is Referencing?Referencing is the acknowledgement of books, articles, websites and any other material used in the writing of a paper, essay, project or thesis.

• There are two essential elements of referencing…• Citing…referring to sources within text• Reference list…the detailed list of references which have been cited

Why is referencing essential? What is plagiarism?

• A well referenced paper… • Allows the reader to locate the

sources used• Ensures that plagiarism is avoided• Makes the contribution of each

piece of research clear

• Using others’ ideas and/or wordswithout clearly acknowledging the source of the information.


Choose a Citation Style!

You have to choose between Harvard Citation Style and

Footnotes.

Both ways are ok –

Still: Footnotes make it easier to read the text and you can cite more referencesin one footnote. I personally prefer footnotes.

No matter which style you choose – You always have to cite as follows:

cp. Basak/Marakov (2014), pp. 179-181.

If you have a direct quote cp. is NOT shown. If you refer to a websiteor a newspaper article with only one page you don‘t need to cite the page no.

Abbreviation of „compare“. You may also use „see“.


Citation – either in Footnotes or in Text (Harvard Style)

• Always name the concrete page number you are referring to!

• Always use „Short citation style“ (i.e. Miller (2014), p. 20). Title, place and publisher are NOT mentioned here (only in the bibliography).

• Internet sources shall NOT be cited in footnote or text with the URL. You haveto decide on a short title which makes the webpage identifyable (i.e. Investopedia: Earnings per Share). For internet sources such as investopediausually no year and no page number is needed in the footnote. The URL aswell as the date on which the website has been accessed is given in thebibliography.


What is citing? (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)

What is citing?

• Citing…referring to sources (books, articles, websites, etc.) within the text

of a paper. Give the author’s name, the year of publication, and page number.

• Within the text of a paper it is not necessary to say whether you have referred

to a book, article, website, movie, etc. Give full information about the item in

the reference list at the end of the paper

(Smith, 2005)


What is quoting? (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)

What is quoting? Quoting means exactly adopting anothers author’s words.

Put short quotations (around twenty words or less) in inverted commas within the text.Society has developed a “boundary-free culture” (Critser 2003, p. 31) which has affected our food consumption…

Long quotations should be indented in a separate paragraph, in a smaller font. Cite the author and date in the same font and in brackets at the right margin of the page, under the quotation.

“Nowhere did this new boundary-free culture of American food consumption thrive better than in the traditional American family, which by the ‘80s was undergoing rapid change.“

(Critser 2003, p.31)

Please try to focus on writing in your own

words and combining the ideas of several authors. Use longer direct quotesonly where absolutely

neccessary!


Normally you should useone of these ways. Theyare preferable over direct

quotes.

What is paraphrasing? (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)

What is paraphrasing? Paraphrasing is referring to a source without directly quoting from it.

Here are 3 ways you might cite the same source, depending on how you have referred to it in your sentence.

It has been suggested that our culture is now without boundaries (Critser 2003) and…

OR

In a popular study, Critser (2003) argues that our culture is now withoutboundaries…

OR

In 2003, Critser suggested that our culture has become boundary-less…


quotes.


quotes.


1. The reference list is located at the end of a paper, article, thesis, etc.

2. References should be in alphabetical order by author surname

3. The main title of each source should be in italics

You may underline or use bold instead of italics, but you must choose onemethod of emphasis and stick to it consistently

4. The layout of all references must be consistent

A bibliography is a list of sources and background reading, which may or may not have been cited within the text. A

reference list is more commonly used than abibliography. You should use it in your paper Any reference

named in your lists needs to be used in your text!

What is a reference list? (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)

Reference List…a detailed list of all sources which were cited within the text of a paper


Article in a journal – Print or pdfWeir, C./Laing, D./McKnight, P. J. (2002): Internal and external governance mechanisms: their impact on the performance of large UK public companies. In: Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 29 (5-6), pp. 579-611.

Article in an ejournal – Web onlySilversides, A. (2000): Fighting for fairness for the strangers at the gate. In: Canadian Medical Association Journal [online], 162 (1), pp. 176-80. Available:http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=beh&an=2697832 [accessed 27 Jul 2014].

Different types of references (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)

Volume

NumberPages


Book

Hall, S.J. (2003): Basic Biomechanics, 4th ed., Boston: McGraw Hill.

Unpublished paperNixon, W. (2004): DAEDELUS: developing an agenda for institutional e-print archives, paper presented at Digital Library Directions: Current Initiatives, LIR Annual Seminar, Trinity College Dublin, 26 Mar 2004.

Nixon, W. (2004): DAEDELUS: developing an agenda for institutional e-print archives, Working Paper, Trinity College Dublin.

Chapter in a bookGratton, L. (1994): Empowering leaders: are they being developed? In: Mabey, C. and Iles, P., eds., Managing Learning, London: Routledge, pp. 87-104.

Different types of references (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)


Internet Sources(The Website itself is cited and not a publication which can be downloaded you have to decide on a meaningful title for the specific page yourself.

Here: Earnings per Share)Investopedia (2014): Earnings per Share. Available:http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/eps.asp [accessed 3 Sept 2014]..Publications available on the internet as download:KPMG (2014): Global Manufacturing Outlook 2014. Available: http://www.kpmg.com/Global/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/global-manufacturing-outlook/Pages/performance-in-the-crosshairs.aspx [accessed 3 Sept 2014].

Different types of references – Internet Sources


Different types of authors (1 of 2) (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)

(Beardsworth andKeil1997)

Beardsworth, I. and Keil, T. (1997): Sociologyon the Menu: an Invitation to the Study ofFood and Society, London: Routledge.

Two authors

(Buckroyd 1996)Buckroyd, J. (1996): Eating Your Heart Out: Understanding and Overcoming Eating Disorders, 2nd ed., London: Vermilion.

One author

(Black’s Medical Dictionary1992)

Black’s Medical Dictionary (1992), 37th ed.,London: A & C Black.No author

(Cohen et al., 2000)Cohen, L./Manion, L. and Morrison, K.(2000): Research Methods in Education,London: Routledge.

Three or moreauthors

Citation in text Info / format for reference list# of authors


(Caroli 2004a)Caroli, M. (2004a): Childhood obesity andthe role of television. In: Journal of Obesity,28 (5), 43‐44.

First of two worksby an author in the

same year

(Caroli 2004a)Caroli, M. (2004b): Role of television in adultobesity levels. In: International Journal ofObesity and Related Metabolic Disorders,23 (12), 1303‐1306.

Second of two works by an author in the same

year

(Smith 1990 cited in Buckroyd 1996)

Buckroyd, J. (1996): Eating Your Heart Out:Understanding and Overcoming EatingDisorders, 2nd ed., London: Vermilion.

Source quoted inanother source

MacDonald, G. (1997) : Innovation diffusion and health education in schools. In: Sidell, M., Jones, L., Katz, J. and Perberdy, A. (eds.): Debates and Dilemmas in Promoting Health, London: Open University, 55‐83.

Contribution (article or chapter) in an edited

book

Avoid indirect citations – only citethose sources that you have read!

In an edited book always cite the author of the corresponding article.

Citation in text Info / format for reference list# of authors

MacDonald (1997)

Different types of authors (2 of 2) (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)


Basic rules for authors (McCaffrey & McMahon, 2005)

• Give surname only when citing within text or in the footnote. Give surname and initials or surname and first namges in the reference list.

• Since you may not know the full first name of every author you refer to, it is more consistent to give initials rather than Christian names in the reference list.

• Do not include titles such as Sir, Dr., Prof., PhD, in your references.

• Reference double-barrellednames under the first part of the surname, Ryan-Kennedy, J. and referencenames like Van der Veer orVan Dyke under Van

• When referencing a work by more than one author, give the names in the orderthey appear on the work, and not in alphabetical order

Basic rules for authors


Example for a Short Reference List

Abarbanell, J./Lehavey, R. (2002): Can Stock Recommendations Predict Earnings Management and Analysts' Earnings Forecast Errors? In: JAR 41, pp. 1-31.Fama, E. (1970): Efficient Capital Markets – A review of Theory and Empirical Work. In: JoF 25, pp. 383-417.Gould, S. J. (1988): The Streak of Streaks. The New York Review of Books, New York: McGraw-Hill.Lambert, C. (2006): The Marketplace of Perceptions. In: Harvard Magazine, March/April, pp. 50-57 and 93-97.Leuz, C./Nanda, D./Wysocki, P.D. (2003): Earnings Management and Investor Protection: An International Comparison. In: JFE 69, pp. 505-527.Teoh, S.H./Welch, I./Wong, T.J.(1998): Earnings Management and the Long Run Performance of Initial Public Offerings. In: JoF 53, 1935-1974.Tversky, A. and Kahneman, D. (1982): Judgments of and by representativeness. In D. Kahneman, P. Slovic & A. Tversky (Eds.), Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics andbiases. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Xie, B./Davidson III, W.N./DaDalt, P.J. (2003): Earnings Management and Corporate Governance: The Role of the Board and the Audit Committee. In: JCF 9, pp. 295-316.

Please note: In German publications for books only the

place where the book is publishedis mentioned (Cambridge). English

publications also name thepublisher (Cambridge University

Press).


Formal Aspects

Structure

Citation Style

Reference Base

Content


Reference Base

Be aware: The Reference List will be the first thing for me to lookat when I will have your work in hand in order to evaluate it.

As a rule of thumb you should have at least twice as manysources as your work is pages long.

And when I talk of sources I am talking about high quality sources– journal articles, working papers, dissertations etc. Internet sources as well as textboocs are also o.k. – as long asthey make up the only the very minor part of sources.

Don‘t be lazy in the library! Your reference base is a key factor for success!


Where to find relevant literature?

References

Search in library‘scatalogue

Teaching books (forunderlying theory)

Articles from scientificjournals

Google Scholar

Articles in newspapersand amagazines

Working Papers, Discussion Papers

Google Scholar

Books

Google, Online, Media‘s archives

Reports from officialsources (World bank

etc.)



Found relevant and interesting articlefor your topic

Whom did the article‘s author cite? Relevant arcticles written before that

article

Cited papers are included in the text; details are to be found in the

reference section at the end of the article can then be researched in

Google scholar or library

Indication of citing authors in googlescholar and link towards articles in

which this was cited

Who cited this article?Relevant articles written after that

article



www.scholar.google.com

Number of articles which cited thisarticle; the higher the number of

quotes the higher the impact; at the same time link to the 118 articles in

which it was cited

Article is freelyavailable; link to pdf

If not freelyaccessible you mightbe lucky with other

versions


If the article is not available for free, you can see in which journal the paper is published and check whether we have access to it in the HSRW- library


Researching an article via HSRW’s electronic journal database (EZB) – Access when in the university!

• Enter http://www.hochschule-rhein-waal.de/hochschulbibliothek/recherche.html

Pick the right journalfrom the hits list, see

whether you have accessand search the article via

the year


Researching an article via HSRW’s Econbiz database



Researching Books and Ebooks in the library (1 of 2)



This is an Ebook. You candownload it when in the

university.

These are currently rented out and/orin Kleve/Emmerich. You can order orreserve it and get it asap delivered to

Ka‐Li.

These are currently rented out and/orin Kleve/Emmerich. You can order orreserve it and get it asap delivered to

Ka‐Li.

This is currently available in the Ka‐Li branch of the

library, clicking on the title will give the book‘s

signature to help youlocate the book

Researching Books and Ebooks in the library (2 of 2)


Which literature to use?

Search in library‘s catalogue

Teaching books (forunderlying theory)

Articles from scientificjournals

Google Scholar

Articles in newspapersand amagazines

Working Papers, Discussion Papers

Google Scholar

Books

Google, Online media‘sarchives

Websites without author

Websites with author

Reports from officialsources


Each scientific novelty follows a similar process, only few ideas make it to student text books

Scientific sequence/process

Working paper

Feedback to be processed

Handing in to journal

Feedback

Publication in journal

Conference Co‐authors

Scientific community disproves

Acceptance and appreciation of scientific community

Student text books

Many years

Simplification

Formal Requirements for Theses and Term Papers

Documents

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