Introduction to Honours Projects and Dissertations, Including Submission

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Major assessment tasks include Dissertations, Honours Projects, Independent Study Modules and other modules of 30 credits or more with a single assessment point. A link to the Institutional guidance can be found here. They typically involve researching a topic which has been agreed and approved by a programme tutor. Information on these will be found in your Programme and Module Handbooks.

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Dissertation/Honours Project Requirements

Students must follow the guidelines provided by their programme team and respect the word limit set. All sources consulted must be fully acknowledged throughout. (See the Student Guidance on Referencing section of the Student Information Handbook for details of the Marjon version of Harvard.) All students must have proof-read the work before submitting it, ensuring that all spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors are corrected.

General Information

Dissertations and honours projects involve students working independently but with supervision provided by an appropriate tutor, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Detailed guidance on what is required will be provided in the Programme and / or Module Handbook, and follows the general rules as set out below.

  • Undergraduate student dissertations, where required, are taken in the final stage of study (Honours Level, Level 6) and usually consist of two single modules taken consecutively (or concurrently if the programme regulations permit). The same mark is awarded to each of the single modules. Thus, the dissertation is regarded as a 40 credit entity and cannot be considered for condonement (See Section 6 of the Student Regulations Framework).
  • Honours projects are taken in the final stage of study (Honours Level, Level 6) and usually consist of a double module, worth 40 credits and therefore cannot be considered for condonement (See Section 6 of the Student Regulations Framework).
  • The undergraduate dissertation/honours project must be an original piece of work and should not exceed 10,000 words (excluding the abstract; any illustrations, figures or tables; reference list; bibliography; and appendices) or the equivalent student effort (e.g. where graphical, video, audio or other non-written material is involved) and normally a 10% margin to the word count will be applied by programme teams.
  • The nature and timing of the dissertation/honours project (for full-time and, where relevant, part-time students) and the topic will be subject to approval at Programme Level.
  • The postgraduate dissertation must be an original piece of work and is typically either 15,000 or 20,000 words (excluding the abstract, illustrations, reference lists, bibliographies and appendices) or the equivalent student effort (e.g. where graphical, video, audio or other non-written material is involved) and normally a 10% margin to the word count will be applied by programme teams.
  • The nature, length and timing of the postgraduate dissertation (for full-time and, where relevant, part-time students) and the topic will be subject to approval at Programme Level.

Formatting a Major Document

Writing a long document requires more care and greater preparation than writing short ones. Usually these are formal documents for assessment or publication, often with strict formatting requirements and layout instructions. Investing time and effort at the beginning before starting to write will mean than the formatting requirements can be met and will avoid last minute format changes when you should be concentrating on finalising your content. Good initial design will lead to straightforward and trouble free generation of table of contents and an index.

What is Formatting

Formatting refers to the appearance or presentation of your essay. Another word for formatting is layout. Most essays contain at least four different kinds of text: headings, ordinary paragraphs, quotations and bibliographic references. You also have to consider the fonts, page numbering and margins that you use.

Why is formatting important?

Formatting is important for the following reasons:-

  • It makes your essay look like an essay (rather than a letter or a note to a friend).
  • It helps to make your essay more readable.
  • It allows you to navigate more easily within a large document, making it easier to format and amend.

Lecturers do not usually give extra marks for the formatting of an essay. They are more interested in the content. But all readers are influenced by the presentation of a text. If your essay looks like an essay and is easy to read, the reader will be more likely to have a favourable attitude to what you have written.

This link takes you to an easy to follow document which will show you how to format a sample document using Microsoft Word.

Submission of Dissertations/Honours Projects

Students are required to submit one bound hard copy and one full electronic copy of their dissertation/honours project. The programme team will provide additional guidance, in the Programme and/or Module Handbook, on the submission of projects which include non-written elements.

Submission via Turnitin

The printed version should be submitted by hand to the Student Administration Office. This should be formatted and bound as per instructed in the documents found below in the section entitled Presentation of an Honours Project.

The electronic version of your Honours Project should be submitted via Turnitin on your Learning Space module page.   Help for file types in Turnitin.

It is important to note that all elements of the Honours Project (printed and electronic) must be submitted before the deadline for the submission to be complete.

Components of honours projects which cannot be printed must be submitted to the Faculty Office by the deadline.

The Purpose of the Dissertation/Honours Project

The dissertation/honours project enables students to initiate and conduct an investigation on their own, applying methods and techniques relevant to their discipline, using knowledge and skills acquired, and reporting on findings. Dissertations/honours projects demand commitment from the student and provide a showpiece for their depth of understanding on a particular topic.

What is Formatting

Writing a long document requires more care and greater preparation than writing short ones. Usually these are formal documents for assessment or publication, often with strict formatting requirements and layout instructions. Investing time and effort at the beginning before starting to write will mean than the formatting requirements can be met and will avoid last minute format changes when you should be concentrating on finalising your content. Good initial design will lead to straightforward and trouble free generation of table of contents and an index.

Formatting refers to the appearance or presentation of your essay. Another word for formatting is layout. Most essays contain at least four different kinds of text: headings, ordinary paragraphs, quotations and bibliographic references. You also have to consider the fonts, page numbering and margins that you use.

Why is formatting important?

Formatting is important for the following reasons:-

  • It makes your essay look like an essay (rather than a letter or a note to a friend).
  • It helps to make your essay more readable.
  • It allows you to navigate more easily within a large document, making it easier to format and amend.

Lecturers do not usually give extra marks for the formatting of an essay. They are more interested in the content. But all readers are influenced by the presentation of a text. If your essay looks like an essay and is easy to read, the reader will be more likely to have a favourable attitude to what you have written.

This link takes you to an easy to follow document which will show you how to format a sample document using Microsoft Word.