Preparing a Master s Thesis - General Information This leaflet contains: 1. Preliminary remarks 2. Examination regulations 3. Model statutory declaration 4. Instructions regarding formalities 5. Attachment 1: Draft Cover page 6. Attachment 2: Basic rules referencing The leaflet does not touch upon questions regarding the content in detail, e.g. the development of a research question and the like. 1. Preliminary Remarks In this thesis, the ability to conduct independent academic research in the areas taught during the two years must be shown. The topic of the master s thesis should be an independent contribution to the material of the degree program. Preferably, the thesis is an academic paper examining a problem, which has arisen from, or has a connection with the modules taught in the Hamburg specialisation. The dissertation should be presented as a coherent text, suitably divided into chapters. These should include: - An introduction, stating why this is a suitable topic for study (relevance, research question and structure of the thesis); - A Conclusion, which has to include a summing up of your arguments and may also touch on a possible way of dealing with the issue in the future. Other content should include: - Main issues what are the main arguments/issues/current debates surrounding this topic; - The evidence you have collected from books, journals, articles, web sites and first-hand data collected during the research process (e. g. interviews, document analyses, content analysis etc.); - Your analysis of that evidence, which leads you to your conclusion. 2. Examination regulations (extract) According to paragraph 14,8 of the study and examination regulations, you are required to submit 3 hard copies each including an electronic copy to the Studienbüro of the Department of Social Sciences (address: Allende Platz 1, 20146 Hamburg, Germany). 14,8 : The thesis has to be submitted to the Service Center in due time in three hardcopy versions as well as three electronic copies (saved on an appropriate data carrier). In case the thesis is sent by mail, the date of the postmark is regarded as the date of submission. The burden of proof of timely submission lies with the examinee. ( ) If 1
the candidate does not submit the thesis on time out of reasons that do not lie in his/her responsibility, the board of examiners decides about the further proceeding; normally the candidate is given a new topic without this being regarded as repeating the exam. If the candidate is responsible for the delayed submission, this is regarded as failing the exam. The exam can be repeated twice ( 16,1). Further details about the submission: The deadline for final submission of the completed thesis is either sent to you by the Service Centre or you collect the date personally from the Centre after you have handed in the Examiner Notification Form for the Final Master s Thesis. In case of illness, students MUST produce medical certificates or relevant evidence for other exceptional circumstances, which must be approved by the Hamburg exam committee (headed by Volker Lilienthal) before any extensions are given. Please remember that you have to hand in three printed, hard bound copies of the thesis and three copies in electronic form; one copy will be passed on to the supervisor, one to the second supervisor, one copy is archived in the examinations office. To speed up the process of grading the thesis, you can agree with your supervisor to send him/ her an electronic version (either pdf per e-mail or a CD) or another printed copy of your Master thesis but only after having agreed on this with the supervisor! Furthermore, according to paragraph 14,8 of the study and examinations regulations you are required to hand in a signed statement with your thesis that everything you did is your own work and that you have referenced properly: 14,8 The candidate is to enclose a written statement with his/her master s thesis declaring the following: a) He/she wrote the thesis independently and did not use any other resources than those named in the references/ list of literature, b) And, in particular, did not use any internet resources except for those named in the references/ list of literature; c) The master s thesis has not been used previously as part of an examination. d) The master s thesis has not been previously published. (Please refer below for a model) In sum, on the deadline (latest) you hand in - Three printed and bound copies of your thesis - Three electronic copies of your thesis - The written statement that this thesis has been written by you using only the resources given in the references To the University of Hamburg, Department of Social Sciences, Studienbüro, Allende Platz 1, 20146 Hamburg, Germany). If you send the thesis via mail (registered post!), the date of submission is proven by the postmark. 2
3. Model statutory declaration At the end of the thesis the following signed statement has to be included. Note that each copy has to be signed. I hereby declare on oath, that I authored this thesis independently and that I did not use any sources other than the ones cited in the list of references especially not any other Internet sources that have not been mentioned. The thesis has not been submitted to any other board of examiners before and has not been published yet. The printed hard copy is consistent with the electronic version. Direct or indirect quotes from other works are clearly marked, indicating the source. I hereby agree/do not agree* that my thesis is made available for later inspection in the library. ------------------------------ --------------------------------------- Place & Date Signature * Please delete as applicable! 3
4. Instructions regarding formalities Length 80 100 pages (plus references and appendices) Format Din A 4 Pages Printed on 1 side only; consecutive numbering; the cover page does not have a page number; the consecutive numbering normally starts only with page 1 of the introduction. Margin Typography Cover page Acknowledgements Table of contents Outline Main body Foot-/Endnotes Bibliography Tables, figures, documents etc. List of tables and figures Appendix Binding Left: 4 cm; right/top/bottom: 2cm; this applies to pictures, headlines, as well as text. 1,5 line spacing; 12 pt font; Times/Times Roman or similar The first page is the cover page (not numbered). Please find a model in the appendix. The second page must contain your acknowledgements. Keep these brief please. If you had any help with English, you must state this here. The table of contents follows the acknowledgments. Please number the chapters and sub-chapters in a consistent way throughout the paper. This holds true for the table of contents as well as text body. The table of contents is followed by the main body of the work which includes an introduction, the main part and a conclusion. Footnotes are at the bottom of the page, endnotes at the end of the text (main body). You can decide for yourself what you prefer. Foot- and Endnotes normally have smaller fonts (1-2 pt smaller). The bibliography contains all sources used. Articles, books and internet sources are not separated. The listing is done in alphabetical order of the author s last name. If you cite more than one work of the same author, the works are arranged according to the year it was published; if an author has published several papers in one year, you identify them by adding a letter (e.g. Loosen 2009a, Loosen 2009b etc.). Tables, figures etc are numbered consecutively (but tables and figures separately from each other). They should contain a precise title or an explanatory legend. If the display is taken form another source, this source has to be cited. You need a separate list of tables and figures. If the tables and figures are part of the text, the list follows the table of contents. If the tables and figures are part of an appendix, the list can be at the beginning or the end of the appendix. Tables and figures can be included in the text, or they can be documented at the end of the work in an appendix. The theses must be handed in a printed and bound version. 4
Appendix 1: Model Cover Page BUTTON-PUSHERS OR THE FOURTH ESTATE? Journalists in the 21 st Century Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Master of Arts at the University of Hamburg Submitted to Prof. Dr. (Name of 1 st supervisor) and Prof. Dr. (Name of 2 nd supervisor) Submitted by Name of candidate born in Name of Town, Country Hamburg, month year 5
Appendix 2: Referencing Some basic rules The point of referencing is that a reader can trace back to the source of your information. It is very important that you learn how to reference any academic essays you write. Please note that you do NOT reference any articles that you write as a journalist. Referencing is for academic essays ONLY. You will have to reference in research papers and in your Master thesis. The Erasmus Mundus Master s bases its referencing system on the Harvard system of referencing. We have amended it for ease of use. To give a reference means to identify the source of a quotation, paraphrase, or summary. There are three ways of referencing your work, all of which must be used. 1. You must show within the text of your essay where you have used someone else s thoughts or words (see Within the text ) 2. At the end of your essay, you must provide a list, in alphabetical order, of books, articles, web sites (i. e. any PUBLISHED material you have used as a source) (see References ). If you have used (yet) unpublished material, you have to indicate this in the entry of the unpublished paper in the References. 3. At the end of the essay, you must also provide a separate list of primary sources (i.e. people you have interviewed, either face-to-face, by phone or via e-mail). These should be listed in the order they appear in the text. (see End Notes ). The End Notes should also contain further information or explanations of difficult terms which do not fit neatly into the text. Each of these is explained in more detail below. 1. Within the text a) Secondary sources (published and unpublished written sources) If you use something you have read, you use only the name of the author, followed by the year of publication. Larsen (1971) was the first to propound the theory. OR The theory was first propounded in 1970 by Larsen (1971). If you are directly quoting from another source, ensure that quotation marks are used and the relevant page number(s) are given. Larsen (1971, p. 245) noted that many of the facts in this case are incorrect. OR Many of the facts in this case are incorrect (Larsen 1971, pp. 245-6). To cite a document from a Web site or an article from a newspaper, you still must follow the author/ date format. 6
(Newspaper Society 2000) OR (Jones 2000) At the end of the essay, you must provide a list of all these references. This is called a REFERENCE LIST/List of Literature (see 2.) b) Primary sources (interviews) If you have interviewed someone and you use the information in your essay, you should indicate this by numbers within the text. The recruitment strategy for the Trainee Reporters Scheme was aimed at young people who had no experience of journalism and preferably no degree, certainly not one from Oxbridge (35). What was required was a good voice, enthusiasm, an aptitude and a love for radio (36) Print journalists had proved themselves to be good at local sources and story structure, but creative instinct was now judged as the most important ingredient of a local radio journalist, according to Robert McLeish (37). Radio journalism for both the BBC and commercial radio was evolving away from the core skills approach laid down by the NCTJ The numbers in the text indicate that people have been interviewed and their information used. At the END of the essay, you must then provide a list of these people in the order mentioned in the text. This is called END NOTES (see 3.). If there is more than one mention of a person, there will be more than one entry. Please note that, after the first entry, you should use the name followed by op.cit. to indicate that the person has been cited before. There is just one exception to this rule. If the second entry for a person follows immediately after the previous one, instead of op.cit., use the word ibid. 2. References /List of literature (NOTE: A list of references contains details only of those works cited in the text. If relevant sources that are not cited in the text are included, the list is called a bibliography.) Your Reference List must be arranged alphabetically by author. Where an item has no author it is cited by its title, and ordered in the reference list or bibliography in alphabetical sequence by the first significant word of the title. Below are examples of how individual references should be built up. Articles/chapters in book: Bibliographic details are arranged in the sequence: author of chapter/article year of publication chapter/ article title title of book editor(s) of book place of publication 7
publisher article or chapter pages Elliott, P. (1978): Professional ideology and organisational change: the journalist since 1800 in Newspaper History from the 17 th Century to the present day (Boyce, G., Curran, J. & Wingate, P. eds.) London: Constable: 172-191. Book Bibliographic details are arranged in the sequence: author/ editor(s) year of publication title of book, in italics edition of book place of publication publisher Elliott, P. (1972): The Sociology of the Professions (1 st edition) London: Macmillan. Journal Article Bibliographic details are arranged in the sequence: author of journal article year of publication article title title of journal, in italics volume of journal issue number of journal article pages Phillips, A. & Gabor, I. (1996): The case for media degrees British Journalism Review, 7 (3): 62-65. World Wide Web page Bibliographic details are arranged in the sequence: Author/publisher Year of publication Title of page, in italics Web address Date of access Jones, L. (2000): Press Freedom (www.newyorktimes.com, 12 September 2001) Newspaper Society (2000): Regional and Local Press Briefing Note (www.newspapersoc.org.uk/facts&figs, 9 August 2001). Elliott, P. (1978): Professional ideology and organisational change: the journalist since 1800 in Newspaper History from the 17 th Century to the present day (Boyce, G., Curran, J. & Wingate, P. eds.) London: Constable: 172-191. Elliott, P. (1972): The Sociology of the Professions (1 st edition) London: Macmillan. Jones, L. (2000): Press Freedom (www.newyorktimes.com, 12 September 2001). Newspaper Society (2000): Regional and Local Press Briefing Note (www.newspapersoc.org.uk/facts&figs, 9 August 2001). Phillips, A. & Gabor, I. (1996): The case for media degrees British Journalism Review, 7 (3): 62-65. 8
3. End Notes End Notes are a list of people interviewed by you by phone, via e-mail or face-to-face. It can also include extra information, which may be useful to the reader, but is not a published reference. The list of End Notes comes after the Reference List. 35. Interview with John Herbert, former senior lecturer in radio journalism at the London College of Printing and, later, head of Local Radio Training at the BBC, 23 August, 2000, Derby 36. Interview with John Herbert, ibid. 37. Telephone interview with Robert McLeish, former head of BBC Management Training, 22 August 2000 38. E-mail from Diane Kemp, course director, PgDip. Broadcast Journalism, UCE, Subject line (in quotation marks) 12 September 2000 (d.kemp@uce.ac.uk) 39. The Research Assessment Exercise assesses the quality of research in colleges and universities 40. Interview with John Herbert op.cit. 9