This document is intended to provide guidance for the
submission and presentation of taught theses at Cranfield University. Mandatory thesis requirements are given in the Prescribed Form below, and these must be observed by all students. If your thesis does not comply with these requirements, you will be informed by your supervisor of the amendments required before you submit. Staff candidates only: Please note that staff candidates submitting a body of published work as their final submission must still comply with the regulations. Published articles, papers presented at conferences etc., should be retyped in the appropriate point size, and with the correct margins as specified in the prescribed form. Prescribed Form Points 1-6 listed below constitute the Prescribed Form for the presentation of theses at Cranfield University, and are mandatory for all theses. 1. Each student must submit their thesis as directed by their Course Director. Final submission of your thesis must include a thesis cover sheet which is generated through a task on the EVE portal. Students at CDS are not required to complete the task on the EVE Portal. When you have passed your MSc a final clean version of your thesis must be submitted electronically to the Course Director and/or Course Administrator who will arrange for it to be submitted electronically to the Library. CDS students must resubmit on the VLE. Library & Information Services The Prescribed Form for the Presentation of Taught Theses 2. Hard copy submission of a thesis must be prepared on A4 size white paper of a minimum weight of 80g/m2 (usual printer or photocopy paper) and be identical to the electronic PDF version that has been submitted, in accordance with the following specification (CDS students are only required to submit on the VLE. No hard copy submission is required): a. The text must be typed, including titles and captions of illustrations, with margins of not less than 3cm on all four sides. b. Pages of text, including inserted illustrations and appendices, must be numbered consecutively. c. Photographs, drawings, graphs and other illustrations which are not incorporated in the text should be digitally inserted into the document.. d. The size of print for the main body of text should be not less than 12 point and in a clear and legible font. Students are encouraged to print on both sides of the page. e. Unless there are reasoned arguments to the contrary, SI units should be used in the presentation of all work. 3. The cover (or title page if the thesis is hard bound) must contain, in this order: the name of the University, i.e. Cranfield University the name of the author the title of the work the author's School the course title the award for which the thesis is submitted, (e.g. MSc, PhD) the academic year of original submission Intranet > Students > Academic Guidance the name of the supervisor the date of presentation (e.g. month and year of submission) At the foot of the page the following copyright notice shall be included. In accordance with the provisions of Senate Regulation 23 this notice shall indicate that copyright is assigned to Cranfield University, except in any case where a contrary arrangement has been specifically agreed in writing. The notice shall normally therefore read: Cranfield University, date (year only). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the copyright holder. However, if you are a MOD Contract UK MOD student, it should read: Crown Copyright, date (year only). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the copyright holder. For all theses, an additional statement shall also be included at the foot of the title page immediately above the copyright notice as follows, except where the award of the Degree sought is based solely on examination of the thesis: "This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of ..." 4. The page immediately following the title page must contain an abstract of not more than 300 words. 5. If the thesis covers work sponsored by an external body, the name of the sponsor / funding body and the grant number / funding code should be included directly after the abstract. 6. A list of references and/or bibliography must be included in the thesis. Sufficient information must be given to allow references to be easily traced. The style of referencing must be consistent and in line with any School policy. Guidelines for the length of theses The following are intended to be guidelines for the maximum length of theses, but are not mandatory and guidance should be sought from your supervisor. SAS: MSc (taught): 8,000 words plus appendices NOTE: This is mandatory for taught master students in the School of Applied Sciences. Further guidelines for students in the School of Applied Sciences: While this document describes good practice, taught masters students in the School of Applied Sciences should also refer to the Faculty-approved guidelines published in the Schools own prescribed format for submission of MSc (taught) theses. This document is available to all SAS students in the thesis area on Blackboard. SOE: MSc/MPhil: Normally 20,000 words plus appendices, and a maximum of 150 pages including appendices. However, candidates should seek advice from their supervisor as to guidance on theses length as this varies within the School. SoM: MSc: 15,000-20,000 words plus appendices. CDS: Candidates should seek advice from their supervisor as to guidance on length as this varies within the School. Version 2.3, June 2014 This leaflet is available in other formats on request