REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS Abridged version 2011
2 Table of contents 1 Introduction... 3 2 Academic writing... 4 3 Report structure... 7 3.1 Front matter... 8 3.2 Body of the report... 10 3.3 End matter...11 4 Report layout... 13 4.1 Formatting of text and page layout... 13 4.2 Typographic visualisation... 13 4.3 Illustrations... 14 4.3.1 Tables... 15 4.3.2 Figures and images... 16 4.3.3 Formulas and equations... 18 5 Compiling the lists of source material and persons... 20 6 References... 22 6.1 In-text citations... 22 6.2 List of references... 25 7 Finalising the report... 32 REFERENCES... 34 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1 Document layout according to SFS standard APPENDIX 2 Project report structure APPENDIX 3 Internship report APPENDIX 4 Travel report
3 1 Introduction These instructions have been developed for thesis writing and reporting at Savonia University of Applied Sciences. They are applicable to all written assignments, theses and reports in all degree programs and study fields at Savonia UAS. The instructions were originally developed by lecturers Pirjo Suhonen and Pirkko Tenkama in connection with their development work of the thesis process in 2009 2010. At Savonia UAS all reports are written in compliance with the requirements of SFS standards (Finnish Standards Association SFS; SFS 2487, SFS 5342 and SFS 5831). Moreover, the principles of academic writing and the copyright law are followed. The reports consist of the following parts: a cover page drafted in accordance with Savonia s graphic guidelines, an abstract if necessary (in theses and extensive reports), a table of contents, the main content in accordance with the assignment, intext citations and references to the source material in compliance with the copyright regulations, as well as a list of appendices. Study assignments and especially thesis commissions can involve trade secrets, business innovations or other confidential information depending on the commissioning organisation s interests. All confidential information is excluded from the report published to the general public. If required, the commissioning organisation or company can be provided with a separate, additional summary which is only mentioned in the report. These instructions provide a model suitable for reports written in compliance with SFS standards. The document layout in accordance with SFS standards is attached in Appendix 1. In addition, some examples of more special report structures are enclosed: a project report (Appendix 2), an internship report (Appendix 3) and a travel report (Appendix 4).
4 2 Academic writing At Savonia UAS, reports are written according to the principles of academic writing and scientific practice. Simple clarity and coherence are characteristics of good text. The text in reports is compact and follows the grammatical rules. The ideas and the statements are presented in logical order. The text in reports follows specific linguistic and structural principles, which facilitates both the writing process and the reading and understanding of the text. In reports, subject matters are introduced in a certain order. The general way of structuring the text is presented in Chapter 3. The logical structuring of the subject matter is reflected in the table of contents as well as in the structure of the chapters and the paragraphs. The sequence of sentences in a paragraph should convey ideas closely connected to each other. The sentences, in turn, should consist of grammatically correct clauses and phrases. In general, long and complicated sentences should be avoided. The scientific writing process necessitates the use of prior work of other researchers, but it should follow copyright regulations. In addition, accurate scientific analysis requires supportive data such as examples and specimen. The content of a report is considered to be the product of the writer mentioned on the cover page unless indicated otherwise by the use of references. A report conveys an informative message to the reader. The reader should understand the message in such a way as originally disclosed by the writer. Therefore, it is of essential importance that the writer s conclusions and arguments can be verified by the reader going through the same thought processes and repeating the same measures as well as checking the references given by the writer. The facts and arguments presented in a report must be substantiated; the mere presenting and stating of prior existing knowledge is not sufficient. This calls for a critical and transparent approach to the subject matter. The writer s own views should be combined with the prior knowledge of the specific subject matter in the study field. The reader should be able to distinguish the writer s opinions clearly, and all eventual arguments and opinions should be well-founded. (Luukka 2002, 19 21.) Report writing necessitates an objective and unbiased attitude to the subject matter except for the studies involving creative expression, in which cases a subjective approach can be applied. Furthermore, objectivity calls for special accuracy and careful and critical use of reference and other material. According to good scientific practice, a large variety of unbiased source material is included in reports regardless of the writer s own bias. Original sources make up the primary source of data. All sources that are used should be adequately reliable and scholarly acknowledged in the study field. Sources such as electronic data whose origin is unreliable or cannot be accurately traced should be reviewed critically. On
5 the other hand, a reference can sometimes be omitted if the material can be regarded as basic knowledge in the scientific field in question. The writing process should always follow the principles of good scientific practice. There should be no question as to whose ideas, results, conclusions or argumentations are presented. When source material (books, newspaper articles, experts, the Internet) is referred to, the referenced text should be rephrased, i.e. the matters / ideas should be expressed in the writer s own words. All references must always be included accurately in the report. The reference instructions are given in Chapter 6.1. When an in-text citation refers to web content, the writer should print out the pages or copy and save the material as a file. In addition, the date when the web content was accessed should be indicated to prove that the reference data in question was available on the date of retrieval. Thus the material that might have been removed or modified can be accepted as reference. Direct quotations can be used in the text for some exact definitions, for the citations of a person who has been interviewed or for the citations of open-ended questionnaire data. The quotation is written in italic typeface and inserted in quotation marks. Original materials produced by other writers (drafts, pictures, figures, drawings, structural pictures, charts, maps, statistics, programs) are submitted with reference information, and the permission to use the material in question has to be obtained always. According to the Copyright Act (404/1961), direct quotations and other original data (for example pictures) can be used in scientific papers such as theses. The quotation has to follow good scientific practice and conventions. There are no exact rules regarding the length of the quotation, but the decisive aspects include - the purpose of the quotation - the relevance of the quotation considering the scope of the study. Plagiarism is to present someone else s research plan, manuscript, article or text, or parts thereof, as one s own (National Advisory Board on Research Ethics 2002, 7). In other words, omitting references, in-text citations and direct quotations from the text means unlawful copying. The compliance with copyright regulations is verified with the help of Urkund program. If required, the student must show that he/she has obtained the permission to reproduce other researchers pictures and material. The reports and theses are sent to the Urkund address provided by the supervising teacher (for further information, see http://www.urkund.fi/ funktion.asp).
6 Writing style Academic writing is characterised by professional lexical choices. In other words, the text is written by using professional words and terms typical of the specific field of the discipline. The vocabulary used in reports should be precise, neutral and of unmistakable meaning, and the core concepts should be defined and the terms explained. In general, the words that are typically used in the study field are acceptable but trendy expressions and worn-out clichés should be avoided. A significant feature of academic writing is impersonal style and passive voice. They are appropriate for presenting material used for the study and for describing the results. The first person singular, in turn, can be used for discussing concrete measures and decisions, and the writer s own commitments, background assumptions, opinions or comments. (Luukka 2002, 21.) Tenses, in general, are used in compliance with the established conventions and grammatical rules. The most common tenses in reporting are the simple present tense and the simple past tense. The simple present tense is used in reporting - to explain and define terms - to express general truths and scientific facts - to introduce statements of habitual or general validity - to state the theory and the relevant arguments and assumptions (hypothesis): - In this study operating profit indicates - The most popular methods in research and development include observation, interviews, content analysis, reflection, discourse analysis, operational research, autobiographical research and discussion analysis. - to refer to tables, figures and images - to discuss results and conclusions - to refer to other researchers texts (present perfect simple can also be used) - Smith (2004) defines - Figure 7 shows - To summarise the results it can be stated that The simple past tense refers to completed actions in the past. In reports, the past tense is used when referring to studies which have been published earlier, and when reporting the writer s own work process and results. Abstracts are usually written in the simple past tense as well. - Smith (2004, 32) stated in his study - The questionnaires were delivered to all dairy farmers in Savo region (altogether 1200 questionnaires). - The tests showed that
7 3 Report structure The report structure can vary according to the nature of the assignment and should, therefore, follow the conventions of the study field in question. A report comprises different stages of the working process; it shows how the framework of the assignment, problem, subject matter or challenge was created and how the targets or phenomena were chosen for the research. Moreover, the acquisition methods of the source material and the methods of the discussion, the analysis and the interpretation are presented in the report. The description of the material used in the study is often combined with a methodical description, and the discussion is combined with analysis, results and interpretation. The report is divided in three sections. The front matter of a thesis (i.e. the first pages) directs the reader to the report and provides him/her with basic information on the contents and structure. The opening pages are drafted according to the standards defined by Savonia UAS and consist of - a title page (cover page) - an abstract (if required; always in theses) - a table of contents. The body (the main part of the report) consists of the introduction to the topic of the report, the discussion, the results and the outcomes and the conclusions. The core content of the body comprises - the background and the purpose of the work - the starting point and viewpoint(s) - the statement of the hypothesis - the objectives - the definitions and explanations of the main concepts and the most important symbols and abbreviations - the introduction to the report structure - the acquisition and description of the source data and other material - the process flow and arguments - the choice of research methods and their substantiation - validity, reliability, credibility and quality - ethical aspects. The end matter (i.e. the third part) consists of the following supportive material - the list(s) for defining terms, concepts, symbols and abbreviations (if needed) - the list(s) of source material - the list(s) of persons - references and - appendices. The planning and implementation of the report should be started at the beginning of the work process according to the assignment. Different research methods and scientific approaches require different report structures and therefore it is worth getting familiarised with the different models of logical reasoning and report
8 structuring. The main purpose is that the report structure corresponds to the work process flow. The main objective of professional research, development and innovation is to enhance welfare by improving the feasibility of working life and business. The primary objective of professional research, development and innovation is not to look for truth, but to create new realities. 3.1 Front matter The title page and the abstract of the report are written on templates designed in accordance with Savonia s graphic guidelines (see Thesis course in Moodle). The abstract is drafted in compliance with the standard SFS 3855 (1978), Abstracts for publications and documentation. The number of pages of the whole report and the number of pages of the appendices are indicated in the abstract, and the abstract also contains information on materials included in the study as well as a list of the key words that describe the study. The abstract provides an informative summary of the study. The abstract is always included in a thesis and similar extensive reports; as for other documents, abstracts are included when necessary. The abstract describes the content of the whole study objectively in a few compact sentences. Based on the abstract, the reader decides if the content of the original document is worth reading. The abstract is a stand-alone entity and has to be understandable as such. The nature of the study defines the content of the abstract, but usually abstracts contain the following main items: - the topic, the purpose and the objectives of the study (what was done and why) - the work process (how the results were achieved) - the results - the conclusions - the evaluation of validity and reliability - ideas for further research and development. The abstract provides an outsider s view on the study, and it is written in the passive voice and mainly in the past tense. The abstract consists of complete, short sentences. It provides a concise description of the table of contents. The abstract consists of 150 200 words which must be fitted into the text field of the abstract template. Neither headings nor typographic visualisation are used in the abstract and there are no references to the original text or the source material. On the other hand, an abstract can include a picture or a figure related to the study. The keywords describe the core issues of the study and are chosen with the help of the supervising teacher. They are written in the form given in glossaries and thesauruses. In the notes section of the abstract all parts/units/components/material related to the work can be listed. A reference to the owner of the above-mentioned relevant parts etc. can also be
9 included as well as other appropriate items of information such as the location of products/papers/studies. In addition to the key words, the names of organisations and projects and important key words can be mentioned. The table of contents offers an outline of the content and the structure in the report. Its heading is TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page numbers are counted starting from the title page, but they are inserted to the report starting from the introduction. In addition to the numbered chapters of the report, the following items are added to the table of contents but without numbering: SYMBOLS, CONCEPTS AND ABBREVIATIONS (if needed) SOURCE MATERIAL LISTS LISTS OF PERSONS REFERENCES APPENDICES Appendix 1 Heading Appendix 2 Heading Appendices are not counted to the total number of pages in a report, but they can have a page number of their own if they are presented in written form. The headings of the main chapters are written in upper-case letters whereas the headings of subchapters are written in lower-case letters the same rule applies to the table of contents and the body. Both the main chapters and the subchapters are numbered. In the text some subheadings can also be left unnumbered, in which case they are not included in the table of contents. The subchapters are indented and placed vertically in the table of contents so that the first number of the subchapter starts right below the first letter of the text on the previous heading level. It is advisable to have less than ten main chapters and a maximum of three heading levels. The body of the report can consist of several main chapters and subchapters. If the text is divided in subchapters, there should be at least two of them at the same subchapter level per chapter. All chapters should have titles which describe the main content of the chapter accurately and concisely. Sometimes also unnumbered subchapters can be used, in which case they are not included in the table of contents. Each chapter and subchapter should consist of at least two paragraphs. One paragraph, in turn, should consist of several sentences. The detailed instructions on the text layout are provided in Chapter 4. The table of contents should be written by using the automatic formatting features of word processing. The table of contents in these reporting instructions, for example, can be used as a model.
10 3.2 Body of the report In the introduction of the report, the background of the study is disclosed, the choice of the topic is substantiated, and the objectives and the purpose of the study are defined. The validity of the work is defended, and the researcher s position and role regarding the work are stated. In addition, the operational environment and the connections to the working life are described. If the assignment documented in the report is part of a larger project, a thorough description of the project should be included in the introduction, together with a description of the writer s contribution to the whole project. The introduction can include a presentation of professional practices, means of acquiring information and material, the report structure and the most important sources of information. No solutions, results or conclusions are presented in the introduction, nor are there any estimates of the success of the study. The main task of the introduction is to serve as a lead-in to the topic of the report. It is worth planning the introduction with special care because it creates the first impression of the report. The study as a whole, the concepts, the professional practices, the models, the scientific laws and the facts are defined and described more closely either in the introduction or in the first chapters of the body. The abbreviations and the terms are usually explained when they appear in the text for the first time. They can also be listed and explained in the introduction or in the list of definitions and abbreviations. The background section of the study is based on previous empirical and researchbased knowledge (references and source material). Based on the existing knowledge, the student forms his/her own framework of ideas concerning the subject matter. The topic and the research method define how much background information is needed. In some studies, background theories are presented at the beginning; in others the pre-understanding and the description of the phenomenon are also stated. The background information can also include a description of the starting point in the study, the problem or the development target which arises from professional practice, or a description of the target set for the study or outlining of an invention. The purpose and tasks of the study can be presented in a chapter of their own. The means of acquiring information and the methods chosen and applied to the work are described closely and substantiated carefully in the introduction and/or in the other chapters of the body of the report: - what knowledge and material were acquired and how the acquisition was done - what was the timetable - how the acquired knowledge and material were processed, analysed and described and - what substantiates the use of the chosen methods and techniques. The work process is described so that the reader gets a clear idea of how the solutions to the problem were looked for and how the work proceeded. The results and outcomes of the study can be presented in various ways. The outcomes, the productions, the operational models, the pedagogic material, the plans and their
11 creation process are described in the report. The results and outcomes are presented task by task as clearly and explicitly as possible. They can be presented in writing or in numerical or graphic form. In addition, pictures, hypertexts, samples and tables can also be used depending on the research methods. Instructions for the illustration of text are presented in Chapter 4. In the final section of the body, the results and conclusions are examined with relation to the starting point, background, objectives and possible arguments and assumptions that were presented. The quality and the reliability of the study in the different stages of the process are assessed and the validity and the credibility are discussed. The reasoning reveals the importance of the study in its entity and reflects the writer s own thinking in depth. In compliance with the strategy and the objectives of Savonia University of Applied Sciences, the novelty value and the applicability of the work, the achieved results and the outcomes should be discussed in the report with relation to working life and in the context of the commissioning organisation. The significance of the work in international context can be discussed if relevant to the assignment. In addition, the writer can assess the success of his/her work process as a whole and the development of his/her own expertise along with the assignment and in relation to his/her own personal study plan. The structure and the content in the body of the report are defined according to the assignment and the work process. 3.3 End matter If many symbols, concepts and abbreviations are used, they can be collected in groups and listed after the body of the report if necessary. Subsequently, the source material used in the work is presented and listed: background information, analysed material and other material (for example pictures, recordings, minutes of a meeting, computer programs, web pages, intranet, presentations, people). In addition, a list of persons who have significantly contributed to the outcome of the work can be provided, together with their contact information. The list can include the representatives of the commissioning organisation and the stakeholders, the members of the assessment group, the people who provided oral information, the customers and the users among others. All the references made to publications and other material cited in the report are listed in alphabetical order. The detailed instructions for acknowledging the sources of information are provided in Chapters 5 and 6. The explanations of symbols, concepts and abbreviations; the lists of persons, the source material and the references are presented as entities and compiled on a new page in the text. The material which is relevant to the text but does not necessarily need to be presented within the text is included in the report as an Appendix. This type of
12 material could distract the reader s attention because of its size or form if placed within the body of the report. All public (not confidential) documents used in the work are usually submitted as appendices; they include for example covering letters to enquiries, questionnaires and outlines of interviews. The results of the study which cannot be presented in the body of the report are attached as appendices or linked to the text (website). This type of material can include, for example, organisational charts, plans, posters, curricula, learning material and questionnaires. The text in the report should be understandable also without appendices. All appendices should be commented on in the text and there should be a reference to every appendix in the body text. The order in which the appendices are introduced in the report determines their numerical order in the table of contents.
13 4 Report layout 4.1 Formatting of text and page layout When writing reports, the main objective is to create a clear and readable text (Itkonen 2007). These reporting instructions follow the standard layout of SFS standard SFS 2487 Layout of Documents and Identification of Data (2007) (Appendix 1). Good readability and the compatibility of the report with other reports drafted at Savonia UAS can be ensured by following these instructions. According to SFS 2487 (2007) standard, the font size in documents is 10-12 pt. The font size 11 pt and the typeface Arial are recommended in these instructions. Preferable line spacing is 1.5; however, in the abstract, lists, direct quotations and other illustrating texts line spacing 1.0 is applied. At Savonia UAS, reports are drafted and printed out as two-sided. The top and the bottom margins are at least 10 mm (in this report 25 mm). The right margin is 20 mm and the left margin is 43 mm. The page numbers are inserted in the center of the page header. The main chapters always start a new page; the page break function should be used when dividing text into main chapters. The pages are usually written full, but headings without text and orphan lines at the bottom of the page should be avoided. Justification can be used to align the text evenly to the left and right margins. Headings are neither justified nor hyphenated. 4.2 Typographic visualisation The readability of the text can be improved by inserting figures and tables within the body text and by using typographic effects such as bolding, italicisation and underlining, sometimes also by using UPPER-CASE LETTERS and c h a r a c t e r s p a c i n g. However, typographic effects should not be exaggerated and they should be used systematically and consistently throughout the report. Each typographic feature should be used according to the established practice in the specific field of the study. Bolding helps to emphasise the core words and gives structure to a text with long chapters and paragraphs (see Chapter 3, Report Structure). Underlining indicates that there is a hyperlink in the text. Italicisation is usually used for names, titles and citations as well as in symbols of quantities. International Latin terms are usually italicised. In direct quotations, the quotation marks can be used instead of italicization. In linguistic scholarly texts the inverted commas are used to indicate the meaning of a word. The interviewed person described the situation in the company as follows: The unexpected growth of sales gave the employees a free hand (R1)
14 The interviewed person described the situation in the company as follows: The unexpected growth of sales gave the employees a free hand (R1) The noun digit also refers to finger, thumb or toe. Indenting the text as well as lists, unnumbered subheadings and footnotes can also help to create a more structured text and hence improve its readability. Lists can be marked by dashes, numbers, letters or other symbols. However, there should be only two different list symbols in one study at the most. The critical issues of the project have to be discussed thoroughly: 1. Who does the work? 2. How and when is the report drafted? All listed items should be presented in the same form: as words, clauses, sentences or paragraphs. All lists should be understandable entities. Line spacing 1.0 is used in lists and similar texts. 4.3 Illustrations It is very important to design carefully how to illustrate the text of the report as there are various professional ways of expressing the content of the paper. Consequently, reports can include drafts, drawings, pictures, photos; line graphs, bar charts, pie charts and other diagrams; maps, statistics and tables among others. It is advisable to start all main chapters and subchapters with a lead-in text of at least a few sentences and place the illustrations on the page where the relevant subject matter is discussed. Tables, pictures, figures and other illustrations convey the content and the achieved results in a superior way compared to traditional text. Illustrations do not, however, convey the conclusions; the conclusions are written down and discussed in the text. It is not the reader s task to draw conclusions. The information presented in the illustrations should not be repeated unnecessarily in the text. The reader should be able to interpret any illustration without searching for the explanation in the report. Therefore, illustrations have to be provided with a caption with both a title and a number. If necessary, additional clarifying information can be presented in the caption. All the material that has not been acknowledged to be borrowed from other writers as in-text citations and items on the list of references is regarded as the report writer s own product. This applies to illustrations as well. It is an honour for a researcher to be cited in another scientific paper it is an essential part of the professional discourse between researchers and scholars. The producer of new material should, therefore, consider in what form and how to present the content and the results of his/her study bearing in mind the practice of referencing to other researchers material.
15 4.3.1 Tables A good table is both compact and readable and conveys as much essential information as possible. The table must be simple in structure and fully self-explanatory. It should form an understandable separate unit, independent of the text. However, each table and figure have to be explained and referred to in the body text. A table caption including a title and a consecutive number is placed above each table. The table caption and the table are placed on the same page. TABLE 1. Finding the thesis topic by study field (%) Respondent s study field Social services and health (n = 128) Business administration (n = 138) Total (n = 266) Source of topic Found during internship 0 58 1 33 Found by the student 32 21 26 Provided by the supervisor 28 10 18 Found in working life 36 3 17 Other source 4 8 6 Total 100 100 100 1) Important information can be emphasised, for example, by using bolding, and detailed information can be provided in the footnotes of the table. The word TABLE is written in the table caption in upper-case letters. There is no full stop at the end of the caption. The source information of the table has to be mentioned if the information is not based on the writer s own work. The reference is inserted in parentheses within the table caption. The size of the research group (N) or the number of respondents (n) is also indicated if not shown in the table itself. If necessary, the measurement units, the codes and the abbreviations are explained in numbered footnotes beneath the table or in a list of abbreviations. Each column and row in the table should have an explicit name or title. In addition, there should be at least three separating lines in the table: both above and below the table and below the column titles. The Total column can also be separated with a line. Sometimes vertical lines between the columns can be used to produce a more readable table.
16 TABLE 2. Average earnings by occupation and gender in 2002 (Statistics Finland 2005) Main classification by occupation Number of full-time employees Monthly earnings Total Men Women Armed forces 8 853 2 779 2 803 2 107 Legislators, senior officers and managers 48 797 3 986 4 372 3 221 Professionals 242 048 2 962 3 250 2 666 Technicians and associate professionals 301 554 2 372 2 675 2 109 Clerks and customer service workers 134 296 1 888 2 054 1 844 Service and care workers, and shop and market sales workers 181 983 1 769 2 018 1 690 Agricultural and forest workers 3 446 1 551 1 606 1 479 Plant and machine operators, assemblers, maintenance workers 176 069 2 140 2 175 1 807 Process and logistics workers 182 180 2 115 2 202 1 839 Others 118 847 1 712 1 883 1 561 Unknown 2 525 2 284 2 474 1 830 Total 1 400 598 2 287 2 523 2 028 The table text should be written in the same typeface as the body text (typeface Arial size 11 or 10). It is recommended to use automatic table formatting when creating a table. Furthermore, the same shape and style should be used systemically for all tables in the report. Large tables can be enclosed as appendices. It is advisable to create graphic presentations using a spreadsheet application, so that they can easily be placed within the text of the report. 4.3.2 Figures and images The appropriate use and classification of figures and images sometimes cause difficulties. The figures include, for example, framework drawings and graphs such as line graphs, bar graphs and pie charts. The images consist of photographs and similar illustrative material. The figures and images complete the report text and often help to make it more compact. Sometimes they even serve as the reader s primary source of the content description. The content, the purpose and the viewpoint provided by the figures and images should always be explained in the body text and they should always be referred to in parentheses (Figure 1) or in the text: in Figure 1 it can be seen that Russia is the biggest importer to Finland and Denmark accounts for the lowest volume.
17 Russia Germany Sweden China Netherlands France United States United Kingdom Italy Denmark 0 1 000 2 000 3 000 4 000 5 000 6 000 7 000 8 000 million FIGURE 1. Total imports to Finland by country of origin in 2009 (Statistics Finland 2010) An appropriate type of illustration, relevant to the type of information presented, should be chosen separately for each case. Moreover, the colours should be planned so that the reader can distinguish different items of information also in black-andwhite printouts. All figures and images should form a natural continuum along with the report text and they should not be inserted after one another without any text between them. The figures and images are numbered consecutively and the caption is always placed below these illustrations. IMAGE 1. Street view in St. Petersburg. Stockmann department store. Photograph Tarvainen Minna April 2009 The use of figures and images is subject to copyright protection and the writer must always obtain a permission to reproduce the material. If the source references are
18 omitted, the reader assumes that the images or the figures belong to the writer s own production. The original sources of the illustrations such as the names of the photographers are mentioned either in connection with the title caption or in a separate list at the end of the report. The copyright law must always be consulted before reproducing illustrations. 4.3.3 Formulas and equations The symbols of the quantities in formulas and mathematical equations are explained when they first appear in the text. This principle should be followed even though additional pages for explaining symbols were provided in the report. The symbols of quantities are written in italics, whereas the numbers and the symbols of units are not given in italics: F = 4.3 kn. Each equation or formula is usually indented onto a line of its own. Some more space should be inserted both above and below the equation compared to the line spacing in the text. Equations and formulas are to be numbered consecutively either throughout the whole report or according to the main chapters, for example (12) or (3.7). The consecutive number is inserted in brackets on the line where the formula is typed, but when referring to it within the body text, the brackets are left out: "Equation 3.7 is not applicable to cases in which ". For the sake of clarity, it is advisable to use Times Roman or Courier font for the equation or formula, because in these typefaces the characters I and 1 can be distinguished. Equations and formulas are to be written as part of a sentence although they are placed on a line of their own: The active power P of alternating current is described by the formula P = U I cos ϕ (4.1) where U is the voltage, I is the current and ϕ is the phase difference between them. The symbols used in the formula can usually be explained in the same sentence where the formula is. If there are many symbols in the equation and the symbols have not been mentioned earlier, they can be listed after the equation. If the report includes a sample of programme code, a font type with no proportional spacing is to be used (e.g. Courier). The font size can be smaller than that of the body text. for (ptr = buffer; *ptr!= \`; ptr++) if (*ptr == `$`) return 1; return 0;
19 Long programme codes are provided as appendices. If the programme code is longer than ten lines but less than one page, the code is presented according to the example above. Programme codes longer than one page should be enclosed as an appendix to the report.
20 5 Compiling the lists of source material and persons In working life, the research and development tasks involve a wide range of research material, source data and background information. Different materials should be separated from each other. Moreover, all source materials referred to in the body text are to be collected into a list with similar bibliographic information to that of a list of references (see Chapter 6). The selection, substantiation and description of the research material are usually reported in the body of the report along with the methods of material acquisition, analysis and interpretation. If the source material used in the work consists of a ready-made material collection, the collection is described in the list of source material at the end of the report and its location is also mentioned. Working life assignments often necessitate the use of important background information which is neither used as source material nor directly relevant to the target of the work. This material may, however, be a prerequisite for the success of the research work. The material may consist, for example, of information about the company s product range, the background information for a development task, the minutes of meetings, the memorandums of discussions, the information provided on the intranet, the statutory collections and the project and subproject material. Describing and listing these materials offers an overview both on the scope of the writer s own work and its connection to the operational environment. In addition, at its best various source materials reveal the writer s expertise and interest in the subject matter. The lists of source material are titled according to the materials: products, memorandums, contracts, decrees, etc. If the assignment involves confidential information, which cannot be disclosed in the report, the information is only referred to. Many projects are controlled by various decrees and regulations, which are presented in a list of source material: Copyright Act L 1961/404. Act on the Openness of Government Activities L 1999/62. SFS 2487 2007. Layout of Documents and Identification of Data. SFS 5342 1992. Bibliographic references. SFS 3855 1978. Abstracts for publications and documentation. SFS 5831 1998. Bibliographic references. Electronic documents or parts there of. Copyright Decree A 21.4.1995/574. Polytechnics Act A 15.5.2003/352. The research and development projects carried out as commissions of working life involve personal relationships, which need to be presented in the project report. There are often representatives of the commissioning organisation, control groups, assessment groups, production teams, product development teams, project groups,
21 etc. which participate in the project. The copyright on the outcomes of the project may be gained to many persons at the same time. The persons who have significantly contributed to the outcome of the work can be included in the list of persons at the end of the report, for example as follows: Assessment groups Control groups Project teams Representatives of the commissioning organisations Production teams Product development teams
22 6 References The instructions for references can vary to a great extent in different guidelines and publications. At Savonia University of Applied Sciences, references are compiled according to SFS Standards (SFS 5342/1992 Bibliographic references and SFS 5831/1998 Bibliographic references. Electronic documents and parts there of). In general, it is important to use the same referencing system systematically in the report. The list of references starting on p. 34 in this report serves as an example of a list of references compiled in accordance with the SFS standards. The in-text citations are placed within the body text according to the instructions given in Chapter 6.1 and a corresponding list of references is compiled and provided at the end of the report. The in-text citation in the body text and the index words (first words) in the reference list must be the same so that the reader can find the reference in the alphabetical reference list and is able to locate the original material. Only the publications and the sources which are referred to in the body text are included in the list of references. 6.1 In-text citations When information from outside sources is used in a report, an in-text citation is always to be included in the text. With the help of the in-text citation the reader can: a) check up the original source and the genuineness of the information b) acquire further information about the subject. An in-text citation is inserted into the body text inside parentheses as in the following example (Smith, Johnson & Allen 2009, 15). The tables, figures and images are also provided with in-text citations if they are not based on the writer s own material. In this case, the citation is added to the caption of the table, figure or image (see Chapter 4.3.). Each paragraph is an independent entity of its own and therefore the in-text citation needs to be added to the end of each paragraph even if the same reference is made in consecutive paragraphs. The references should be made in the text in such a way that there is no need to add an in-text citation to the end of every sentence. The in-text citation is inserted into the text in parentheses in the following way: author s surname year, page number(s) (Smith & Allen 2010, 40-42). If the author s name is not known, the name of the article, the publication or the publisher is used as an identifying item. The number(s) of the page(s)s, on which the information is provided, is/are mentioned; the writer of the report must make sure that the page numbers are to be added even if he/she makes use of the features of automatic word processing. However, no page numbers are available in connection with electronic materials and oral information. When referencing to online material,
23 the Internet address is not given in the in-text citation as an identifying item, but the reference is made to the author of the article in question. If the author s name is not mentioned in the online material, the reference is made to the publisher or the name of the document/material. The websites can be linked to the text to enable the reader to find further information about the subject matter. If only a single expression or idea in the sentence is based on the referenced material, the in-text citation is placed within the sentence, before a full stop. A mind map makes it possible to play with ideas and to enjoy making wild associations (Hakala 2000, 48). The in-text citation is placed outside the sentence, after a full stop, when the reference connects several sentences or the content of the whole chapter of the report to the original publication. In this case, the in-text citation forms a sentence of its own and it includes a full stop within the parentheses. The full stop of the in-text citation which applies to more than one preceding sentences has to be added manually. The role of the research plan and the list of contents is important. They both bring the target in focus even though it was hidden behind a smoke screen at the beginning of the process. So even in this sense it is wrong of you to think that the research plan is an idle vanity. (Hakala 2000, 95.) The author s name can occur in the body text. In that case it is sufficient if the year and page number are given in parentheses. No other in-text citation is placed at the end of the sentence or the paragraph; neither can the reference be created by automatic word processing: Hakala (2000, 53) reminds that one should draw a timetable for the thesis and each of its parts. If there is a reference to several sources in the same connection, the in-text citations are separated from each other by a semicolon. Similarly, if several appendices or tables, figures or images are referred to respectively, they are separated by a semicolon: In qualitative research the advantage is in the process where analysing and interpretation create a problem where the researcher can learn and discover new paths and lead the process to new directions. (Maxwell 1996, 53; Rae 2000, 148 149.) In preliminary and introductory references, the author s name and the year of publication are only mentioned. In this case it is not necessary to specify the page numbers, because the entire idea of the publication is discussed and the reference is made to the entirety of the referenced source material. Smith (2009) introduces
24 If the reference is made to various publications of the same author, the referenced materials are given in chronological order and distinguished by a comma: Smith (1991, 1992) has examined the applicability of the strategy of functional study. If the reference is made to material written by two authors, the authors are distinguished by using either an ampersand (&) or the word and. The same way of referencing should be used throughout the whole report. Ethics pervade the way we live our lives. We meet written and unwritten laws and regulations. (Eriksson & Kovalainen 2008, 62.) If there are three or more authors, their names are given when the publication is referred to for the first time. After that the abbreviation et al. is used. (Smith, Johnson & Allen 2009, 15). first mention (Smith et al. 2009, 15). second mention Electronic sources are referenced to in the same way as printed sources by giving the name of the author and the year. The Internet address is not included as an identifying item in the body of the report, but is included in the list of references. When referring to acts and decrees, the number of the section and the subsection can be included in the in-text citation if regarded necessary (L 1961/404, 56a subsection 3). As far as the Finnish standards are concerned, the Finnish Standards Association recommends using the number series of the standard in the citation, for example SFS 3855 (SFS 5342, 166). If oral communication such as personal communications (interviews, telephone conversations etc.) are referred to, the person s last name and the date of communication are given in the body text: Vidgren (29 January 2010) emphasised the importance of the thesis from the viewpoint of the students career. The importance of the thesis became clear (Vidgren 29 January 2010). When choosing the sources of information, primary sources should be given preference. If, however, primary sources are not available, the use of so-called secondary sources is indicated in the text, for example, as follows: Eriksson & Kovalainen wrote in their book Qualitative Methods in Business Research (2008, 64) that Zalan & Lewis (2004, 520) have addressed methods issues adding to the credibility of the research process. In this case, the reference is included in the reference list according to the publication used as secondary source in the report. However, both sources have to be mentioned
25 both in the text and in the list of references (Eriksson & Kovalainen and Zalan & Lewis). If the source information is referred to in a context where the writer s own text denotes contradictory ideas or additional or closely connected opinions, cf. or see are included in the citation. Confer is generally used in references to opinions which differ from the writer s own arguments, whereas see is used for opinions which support the writer s own arguments. The essence of intuition was not studied in-depth until in the 1990s (see for example Eneroth 1990). 6.2 List of references All in-text citations included in a report are compiled as a list of references. If the author of the publication is unknown, the source is indicated in alphabetical order according to the name of the publication or the publisher. The in-text citation and the index word in the list of references must correspond to each other. The information about the publication is given exactly in the same form as presented in the original source. Along with material-specific details defining the type and date of a publication, all available pieces of information that these instructions require must be included in the list of references. For most materials, the following information is needed: - the author(s), the editor(s) - the year of publication - the name or title of the document/work - the edition (if several) - the place of publication (location of publisher) - the publisher or the organiser of a conference / an event - the editor of the edited publication (compilation) - the name of the edited publication (compilations) - the pages on which the article was found in the compilation, newspaper or magazine, or publication series - the title and the volume - the issue and the date of publication of the newspaper/magazine - the name, place and date of the conference or the event. When using electronic material, the following information is required in addition to the items mentioned in connection with printed material above: the date of accessing or printing out the material inserted in square brackets [accessed day.month.year], the location of the material (URL address, i.e. uniform resource locator) and the type of media, which can be, for example, one of the following, [given in square brackets]: - [electronic file] - [CD-ROM], [DVD] - [film] - [online]