MASTER IN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND LAW. Thesis writing guidelines. Introduction

Transcription

1 MASTER IN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND LAW Thesis writing guidelines Introduction The Master thesis is the culmination of the Master s degree programme. While you will effectively start working on your thesis in the 4th semester of study, the preparation for the final product should start earlier. This package is designed to assist you to plan your work and make sure you will complete the programme successfully. A good way to choose a topic is to review the syllabi of your core and elective courses for potential ideas, but in addition we also asked your teachers and members of SDU s Center for War Studies to briefly introduce themselves and their supervision philosophy and list topics which they can offer supervision. This information is available at: aw/master+thesis Once you have identified a supervisor and s/he has agreed on supervising you, you should register your thesis by submitting a supervision agreement and a work plan through the link at aw/master+thesis/submission. For your dissertation consider the different fields covered during your Master s programme, though you ultimately can choose to focus on one area alone. The thesis must be started and handed in within the time limit laid down in the curriculum for full time programmes. If a student lacks no ECTS from previous semesters, the student is automatically enrolled in the thesis in the 4 th semester and the thesis must be handed in no later than six months after the beginning of the semester. If a student lacks ECTS from previous semesters, the Academic Study Board is able to grant the student permission (only upon a written application) to enrol as a thesis-writer in the 5th semester. Thus deadlines for thesis submission are July 31 (spring semester) and February 28 (fall semesters). If these dates fall in weekends or holidays the thesis is due the first workday in the next month. The student may choose to hand in the thesis two months prior to the normal deadline (i.e. May 31 in the spring and January 4 in the fall). In this case, the student must notify the Student Administration Point no later than May 2 (spring semester) or December 1 (fall semester. This decision is irrevocable. Under special circumstances, the university may grant exemption from the rule that the thesis must be the final element in the master s programme, and/or grant exemption on the beginning and end of the dissertation. Special circumstances include, for example, pregnancy, illness or illness among your nearest relatives (all documented as appropriate). 1

2 Selecting a supervisor Information about potential supervisors is available online at aw/master+thesis. There is a lot you can learn about potential supervisors also by looking up their profiles (focusing on their areas of research and work experience) and talking to current students who are working under different supervisors. Once you have made your choice you should contact the supervisor of your choice, briefly explain your interest and initial thesis idea, and check if s/he is available, as there is a cap in the number of students each researcher can supervise at one time and the supervisor of your choice might not be able to respond positively to your request for supervision. In such a case, you don t necessarily have to change your idea for a topic, but only identify another researcher who may cover the topic you have selected. Guidelines The Master Thesis is the result of independent research that you as a student shall perform as part of MOISL. This can be an extremely exciting and at the same time challenging task. In the following you can find guidelines that should help you to complete your thesis successfully. 1. Purpose The obvious purpose of writing a thesis is to gain in-depth and specialist knowledge of and insight into a particular area of international relations, law, or ethics. In so doing, you are also requested to demonstrate that you can apply knowledge, insight, and skills acquired during the programme. The thesis should demonstrate your ability to: 1) Independently identify a theoretical or empirical puzzle; 2) Formulate a coherent and fruitful research question (or a set of questions) within the general field of international security and law; 3) Identify and explain the fundamental legal, political and/or normative issues pertaining to the chosen subject; 4) Describe, apply and discuss as appropriate legal, political and/or normative theories as well as methodologies that are relevant for answering the research question; 5) Define, as appropriate, a research strategy and design, which (in theses with an empirical research question) includes methods of data collection and analysis; 6) Systematically analyse the chosen subject by making use of relevant data/material; 7) Synthesise, develop, and/or contribute to knowledge within the general field of international security and law; 2

3 8) Critically discuss and assess the conducted research, including the research process; 9) Draw conclusions and make assessment, policy recommendations (if relevant) or suggestions for future research; 10) Report the findings in a coherent and appropriate academic form with emphasis on clarity, structure, documentation, analysis and synthesis. In sum, the thesis shall demonstrate that you have acquired theoretical and methodological skills enabling the independent and original formulation, analysis and presentation of academic issues relating to your chosen subject. Therefore, the thesis may not incorporate the student s previous written work. 2. Editing A thesis must be typewritten on A4 metric size paper (21 cm x 29.7 cm) in a clear and legible font (e.g., Times 12 or Arial 10) and with 1,5 lines spacing. If you wish, you may use larger size type for the title of the thesis and for chapter headings. Reduced type may be used within tables, figures, and appendices. Every page in the thesis, including those with tables and figures, must be numbered. Printed material should be typed on both sides of the paper. The manuscript is to be neat in appearance and without error. References must be inserted in a consistent way: either in footnotes or in the body of the text according to one of the following referencing styles: 1. Harvard referencing style (you can find a quick guide at 2. Chicago referencing style (manual available at 3. Use of electronic databases The Internet is an immense pool of resources and information that you can use for your research, but it can also be overwhelming. In particular, it can be difficult to evaluate the academic rigour of internet publications. Google Scholar is of course a good starting point, but we strongly advise students to focus on academic databases where you can search across journals and disciplines. For academic journal articles, you can use JSTOR, IngentaConnect, and Web of Knowledge. For newspapers, magazines and legal records you can also use LexisNexis. You can access all abovementioned databases from SDU library catalogue. Other relevant databases are listed here for international relations: and here for international law: and 3

4 SDU s online catalogue is also an important resource to find out about books, databases and other publications relevant to your topic. In particular, the electronic journal database is an excellent point of entry to look for journals in international relations or international law (see SDU librarians are also always available to assist you in your research: don t hesitate to ask them to help you! They also have a page with interesting tips and they organise courses to improve your information retrieval skills (see at 4. Form of instruction: Students are supervised individually by their supervisors. A three-day thesis writing seminar is organised in February and April and students are highly recommended to attend it. The seminar leader, Assistant Professor Jon Rahbeck-Clemmensen, is one of the two faculty contact persons for potential student queries regarding questions on the thesis writing process. The other contact person is Professor Frederik Harhoff. The faculty contact persons provide students, if necessary, with an opportunity to discuss thesis-related questions with a person who will not be grading their final thesis. The faculty contact persons can give advice regarding various issues, but they will always fully respect the authority of the student s supervisor and cannot comment on matters regarding the substance of an individual thesis. 5. Thesis Supervision Supervisors are available to help their students at every stage, from formulation of their research projects through establishing methodologies and discussing results, to presentation and possible publication of dissertations. Supervisors also ensure that their students work meets the standards of the University and the academic discipline. Thus, your supervisor will offer guidance on selecting and demarcating your subject and discuss your progress with you, but s/he will also assess the final product with a second reviewer. Supervision may take the form of correspondence, telephone, webcam and/or meetings. The extent of supervision depends on individual needs but cannot exceed 5 hours of face-to-face, verbal or electronic communication in total (that is not including the supervisor s time for preparation). If the thesis has more than one author 1½ hours will be added for each additional author. Given these time constraints you need to carefully consider how you want to make use of your supervision hours. It is recommended that supervision is focused on methodological and theoretical issues and particularly relevant discussions. The frequency of contact with your supervisor will have to be agreed with your supervisor and presented in a work plan that includes a minimum number of meetings and tentatively define how 4

5 they will be scheduled. Such a work-plan is drafted on the basis of a template (see below) and copied into the online supervision agreement form. Make sure you prepare well for the meetings with your supervisor. In such meetings your supervisor will assess your progress and provide you with feedback, and it is important that you prepare well for those discussions so that you can benefit from them as much as possible. If you experience any problem with your supervisor, please discuss this directly with him/her. Should the problem persist you can address the Academic Student Advisors, the Faculty contact persons or the Academic Study Board. 6. Structure A MA thesis typically includes an introduction, a literature review (not mandatory for international law), a section discussing your own approach and methodology, a section presenting the empirical analysis, and the conclusions. However, you should aim at tailoring the structure of your thesis according to your research question and the specific (theoretical and empirical) elements that are necessary to answer that question. You should also discuss the structure of your thesis with your supervisor to find the best possible fit for your thesis. 7. Length and group work The thesis must not exceed keystrokes (80 pages of keystrokes, including spaces but excluding table of contents, footnotes/endnotes, appendices and bibliography). The number of keystrokes must be indicated on the front page. Theses written by two students must not exceed keystrokes (140 pages of keystrokes). If the thesis has more than one author, the students are individually responsible for an explicitly specified part of the thesis. All authors share responsibility for the introduction, the summaries and the conclusion. 8. Language The thesis must be written in English. The linguistic clarity of the thesis can affect the evaluation of the thesis both if it is conspicuously bad or remarkably good. If a student has a documented linguistic or physical disability the Study Board can dispense from this provision. Every student should run a spell-check and re-read the thesis for clarity and language issues before handing it in. 5

6 9. Evaluation The final assessment of the thesis will be conducted jointly by the supervisor and a second reviewer. Your final grade will always be decided in consultation between the two and according to the Danish grade scale. The second reviewer is chosen from an official list of authorised co-examiners. They have academic qualifications equal to university teachers. The objective of involving second reviewers is to strengthen the assessment of each individual master thesis and to safeguard the quality of the study programme as a whole. The linguistic clarity of the thesis can affect the evaluation of the thesis both if it is conspicuously bad or remarkably good. If a student has a documented linguistic or physical disability the Study Board can dispense from this provision. The criteria to assess your master thesis are described below. They indicate the elements students can develop in order to improve their work but they are also an aide-memoire for markers. However, they are not equally weighted, nor weighted the same for each dissertation. Reviewers may also judge other aspects such as innovation, effort, idiosyncrasy, flow, misunderstandings, repetition, verbosity, well-argued opinions and so forth, so the same grid references may not result in the same overall mark either between students or between pieces of work. 6

7 10. Assessment Criteria Overall An excellent A very good A good A fair performance A performance A performance A performance performance performance performance displaying some meeting only the which does not which is displaying a high displaying a high displaying good command of the minimum meet the unacceptable in all level of command of level of command of command of the relevant material requirements for minimum respects. all aspects of most aspects relevant material but also acceptance. requirements for the relevant material, of the relevant but some major acceptance. with no or only a few material, with only also some weaknesses. minor weaknesses. minor weaknesses. weaknesses. Research & Content Structure & Focus Independent research showing great research skill/s and originality in conceptual understanding. Great breadth of sources. Sophisticated content elaborated academically. Interdisciplinary approach (but not necessary to give a 12). Worthy of retaining for future reference. Clear and precise development of research question, hypotheses, and main argument. Innovative, coherent, and well organised. Relevant, independent research. Sources used with very good skill to support thorough content. Very good achievement of stated objectives and awareness of shortcomings. Structurally and argumentatively coherent response to the question. Shows mature skills. Good evidence of relevant research, mostly effectively used to support good content. Demonstrates a clear programme of research supported by evidence of hard work in pursuit of worthwhile objectives.. Fairly well structured. Argument relevant to the question. Evidence of research and reading. Diligent execution and sound outcome. Some omissions or inaccuracies in content. Satisfactory piece of work, but with identifiable unfulfilled potential. Relatively unambitious and not innovative. Fair attempt at a developed argument but not always focused on the question and/or lacking clarity. Limited evidence of research and reading. Some omissions or inaccuracies in content. Objectives not fully achieved. Un-ambitious work, of limited scope. Sufficiently structured argument but not always focused on the question and/or lacking clarity. Lacking sufficient, properly used or accurate research. Some essential content missing or wrong. Programme of work unclear, incomplete or absent objectives inadequately framed. Over reliance on few references. Structure illogical, disorganised, and/or drifts off the question. Lacks academic approach. Little discernible use of research or misuse or abuse of research. Weak or irrelevant content. Minimal knowledge of the subject. Does not acknowledge its sources. Unstructured, disorganised and/or doesn t relate to the question. Overall structure characterized by unsupported 7

8 Critical Ability Style & References Rigorous. Deeply interrogative. Offers (as appropriate) critical analysis; critical evaluation of current research; understanding of methods; problemsolving; management of significant body of data; new queries. Excellent management of significant body of data. Doctoral potential. A pleasure to read and professionally referenced. Lucid, stylish and appropriate for formal published academic work. Sophisticated, mature critical analysis with intellectual rigour and original insight. Shows good evidence of (as appropriate): critical analysis; critical evaluation of current research; understanding of methods; problemsolving; very good management of significant body of data. Clear, accurate and appropriate style. Effective communication. Accurate referencing. Sufficiently critical reasoning, evident understanding but little originality. Shows fair evidence of (as appropriate): critical analysis; critical evaluation of current research; understanding of methods; problemsolving; good management of a significant body of data. Appropriate style with only occasional spelling and/or grammatical errors. References mostly done to Masters standard. More descriptive than analytic. Showing some understanding. Limited evidence of attainment in the following as appropriate: critical analysis: evaluation of current research: understanding of research methodology; fair management of a significant body of data. Attempts academic style but needs editing or with errors of spelling, grammar and/or missing/ inaccurate references. Mainly descriptive and showing lack of confidence and clarity. Errors of spelling, grammar and/or missing/ inaccurate references. Anecdotal, descriptive and uncritical. Understanding too superficial or limited for a Masters thesis. Uneven style, with spelling, grammar and syntax errors. Showing lack of care. Missing or inaccurate referencing. assertions. Hearsay, subjective opinion or just wrong with little evidence of understanding. Lacks critical appraisal of material. Mostly unintelligible. Poor style/presentation and/or much too brief. Sparse or wrong references. 8

9 Plagiarism You are not permitted to use or copy all or part of another person s work or paraphrase such work without proper acknowledgement of the source(s) through appropriate references. Failing to do this is considered plagiarism. In such a case your supervisor will notify the Study Board, which may impose sanctions including to grade the thesis as failed. Your thesis will be checked for plagiarism by means of the Safe Assign function on Blackboard. Procedure 1. Selection of topic and thesis supervisor: When it is about time to write your Master's thesis, you are required to contact a MOISL/CWS researcher to find a supervisor. 2. Registration: In cooperation with your supervisor you fill in an online supervisory agreement form which includes a work plan (see template below and link at SecureLaw/Master+Thesis/Submission). When the supervisory agreement has been cosigned by your supervisor, it is passed on to the Head of the Study Board. Approval by the Head of the Study Board is a requirement. The supervision agreement must be submitted by March 15 (spring semester) or October 15 (fall semester). If no contract is submitted in due time, the Head of Studies assigns the student a supervisor. Entering into a supervisory agreement means you at the same time register for the examination. Cancellation is not possible. If the Master's thesis is not handed in on time, this will be registered as an examination attempt. 3. Hand in: The thesis must be handed in at the end of the fourth semester of the Master s program (31 st of July) if the student lacks no ECTS from previous semesters. If lacking ECTS, the student has to apply to the Study Board for a later hand in in the fall semester (28 February). The Master's thesis must be handed in via SDU-assignment on blackboard and in 3 copies (external examiner, supervisor and archives; 4 copies if you would like to grant access to your Master Thesis via the library) to the Student Information Point. When you hand in the Master's thesis via SDU-assignment you will automatically receive a receipt. This receipt must be handed in with the paper version of the Master's thesis. On the cover page please state: a) Your name and civil registration number (cpr.no.); b) Name of your supervisor and his/her department; c) The title of your Master s Thesis. 4. Thesis Form: With the Master s thesis, you have to hand in a Lending out of thesis form, where you state, whether you want to grant open access to the thesis via the library at SDU or not. Please print the form in advance and bring it when you submit the thesis, signed by your supervisor. 5. Failed attempts: A thesis which is not handed in within the indicated timeframe counts as one failed attempt. In this case, the student will automatically be registered for the re-exam. Cancellation of registration for the re-exam is not possible. If the student does not pass the first attempt, a new thesis contract must be signed no later than 14 days after the student either failed to participate in the exam (i.e. did not hand in the thesis) or was notified about a non-pass grade. It is not necessary to apply to the Study Board. By the signing of a new 9

10 contract the student has three months until the thesis must be resubmitted. This new date will be the deadline for the 2nd examination attempt. A 3rd examination attempt must be granted according to the same procedures as for the 2nd examination attempt, if the Master s thesis is not handed in before the new deadline. 6. Possibilities for exemption: In special situations the Study Board may dispense from the indicated deadlines. Extension of the deadline can only be granted in the case of extraordinary reasons that differ from normal conditions. This could be illness (documented by a doctor s note) or illness among your nearest relatives. This kind of extension requires an application to the Study Board. 10

11 Work Plan Template* Supervisor s holidays / absence Student s holidays / absence Meeting schedule (tentative) and required material Christmas, Easter, July, conferences Christmas, summer break e.g. Meeting 1: week 8 abstract and table of contents Meeting 2: week 12 Introduction and tentative Chapter 1 Meeting 3: week 20 Chapter 1, 2 and 3 Meeting 4: week 26 Chapter 4 and Conclusions * Please note the right-hand column contains only examples. 11