Dissertation Language
The university and the school use only British English as a written language (see
University Decree 1/6984). Please ensure you set your Word.doc language setting for
your dissertation file to English (United Kingdom). Please note the school does not
accept dissertations in American English.
The layout of the Dissertation
Please use the Thesis/Dissertation Template Style Sheets provided as a separate
Word.doc file with this handbook. The following provides an overview of the layout
requirements and expectations.
▪ Cover/Title Page
▪ Declaration
▪ Supervisor Certificate
▪ Examining Committee
▪ Dedication
▪ Acknowledgement
▪ Abstract
▪ List of Contents page (including section titles and page numbers)
▪ List of Tables
▪ List of Figures
▪ List of Abbreviations and Symbols
For the main body of the work, the number of chapters will depend on the research
design and topics, however, most dissertations follow the layout listed below.
▪ Chapter One: Introduction
▪ Chapter Two: Literature Review
▪ Chapter Three: Research Methodology
▪ Chapter Four: Results and Discussions
▪ Chapter Five: Conclusions and Recommendations
▪ Reference List (alphabetical order by family name
and inclusive of all details (Appendix and template
provide a sample of expected referencing format)
▪ Appendices (appropriate support to the main text)
Reference List
The reference list comes after your conclusions and recommendations section and
must list in full all information cited in your dissertation. The referencing system used
in the school is Harvard (Author/Date) style referencing. Samples of the required
referencing format can be viewed under the ‘Indicative Reading’ section on Pages 12-
13 of this handbook and the ‘Reference’ section of the Thesis/Dissertation Template
Style Sheets.
Requirements for Submission
Final submission of the dissertation soft copy MUST be made to Turnitin via Moodle to
check for similarity percentage. Be aware of the university policy for similarity index
and plagiarism (Appendix I).
The main body of the dissertation, inclusive of all quotations, references, tables, etc.
should be between 18,000 to 24,000 words as summed by Microsoft Word. The word
count does not include endpapers. All other texts in the main body of the dissertation,
including quotations, graphs and diagrams are included in the word count. Dissertations
outside the word limits will require proper justification.
The following is an approximate recommended word count guide for each chapter:
▪ Introduction (2,000–3,000 words)
▪ Literature Review (6,000–8,000 words)
▪ Methodology (2,000–3,000 words)
▪ Analysis and Results (6,000–7,000 words)
▪ Discussions and Conclusions (2,000–3,000 words)
Students are required to use the Thesis/Dissertation Template Style Sheets provided
as a separate Word.doc file with this handbook. The body of the dissertation should be
presented logically and in an orderly fashion, with numbered and titled chapters starting
on a new page. It is important that the numbering system for headings and subheadings
are consistent throughout. Numbering systems should not be over-complex,
with a general principle being not to exceed four digits i.e. 2.3.1.1, for the first subsection in the third section of Chapter 2. One approach, gaining in popularity, is to use different bold, Italic, and different font sizes to identify chapters, sections and
subsections, Chapter headings should be Arial, bold, 16 points and written in title case.
Section headings within chapters should be Arial, bold, 14 points and written in title
case. Sub-sections within sections should be Arial, bold, 12 points and written in title
case.
Format of the Dissertation
Students are required to use the template provided as a separate file. An overview of
the format is illustrated in Appendix II and highlighted below.
▪ Size and weight of paper: A4 and no less than 80 grams.
▪ Pages – printed single-sided.
▪ Margins – top, bottom and right margins are 2.5 centimetres. The left margin is 3
centimetres to allow for binding.
▪ Spacing – one-and-a-half line spacing in the main text. Indented quotations can
be single-line spaced.
▪ Font and Font Size – The font to be used is Arial and the recommended text font
size is 12 points.
▪ Numbering – pages to be numbered consecutively.
▪ Tables and figures – are to be numbered consecutively. The number of the
chapter should be added to the table and figure numbers.
▪ Length of dissertation – 18,000 to 24,000 words, including all elements of the
main text – diagrams, quotations, references, figures etc. Reflections are
included in the dissertation word count. However, the title, content pages,
appendices and bibliography are not included in the word count.
▪ Finally, the presentation of the research must be professional and coherent.