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UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS
SCHOOL OF MODERN LANGUAGES
HANDBOOK FOR
SHORT DISSERTATION
&
LONG DISSERTATION
2015-2016
Coordinator: Dr Ted Bergman
(Quad Room 29, e-mail <tb59>)
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Acknowledgments: This handbook incorporates entire passages from previous work
principally written by Professor Nigel R Dennis:
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/modlangs/people/spanish/dennis/
This handbook is updated on a yearly basis, while the most current information
regarding dates, deadlines, and length of dissertation is found at the following site:
www.standrews.ac.uk/modlangs/undergraduatestudents/undergraduatehandbook/dissertationg
uidelines/
NOTE: Please include your Honours Adviser on e-mail communication with Heads of
Department.
Overview of both Long and Short Dissertations
Both long and short dissertations offer students the possibility of personal advanced
study on a topic on which they already have adequate basic knowledge and for which a
suitable Supervisor can be found. Both long and short dissertations will, as a rule,
consist of a study of a given body of primary material in a given perspective. Both
long and short dissertations must be submitted in accordance with guidelines and
deadlines, and normally be written in English. The topic must be formally agreed in
advance with the undergraduate honours dissertation coordinator and proposed
supervisor. The main difference between long and short dissertations is the depth, and
possibly breadth, of analysis and content covered, reflected in the fact that the long
dissertation is twice as long as the short dissertation. While writing pace and schedules
may vary on a case-to-case basis, the finished short and long dissertations should
respectively give evidence of either a full academic semester or full academic year of
continuous planning, research, and the development of ideas.
Credits, Deadlines and Word Limits
Short Dissertation (semester 1 or 2)
Credits:
15
Deadline:
For semester 1: 4pm on Friday of Week 14
For semester 2: 4pm on Friday of Week 12
Word Limit: 5,000
Long Dissertation (whole year)
Credits: 30
Deadline: 4pm on Friday of Week 10, semester 2
Word Limit: 10,000
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Important Note on Word Limits: Please note you will be penalised by one point if
you exceed a given word limit by more than 10%, and by a further point per additional
10% over. The title and footnotes are included in the word count, whereas the
bibliography and appendices are excluded from the word count. If your work falls
significantly short of a word limit it will likewise be penalised by one point if more
than 10% short of the limit and by a further point per additional 10% under.
Essential First Step by Week 1: The Dissertation Proposal and Registration Form
Students wishing to write a short or long dissertation should have a clear idea of a
topic before the beginning of the semester and be ready to consult with the relevant
Head of Department for the relevant semester, except for Spanish, in which case one
should contact the dissertation module coordinator. The Heads of Department (and
module dissertation coordinator for Spanish) for the 2015-2016 Academic Year are
listed below. Note: Please also copy your Honours Adviser on all initial
communication related to starting your dissertation.
Convenor of UG Comp. Lit.
Head of Dept. of Arabic &
Persian
Head of Dept. of French
Head of Dept. of German
Head of Dept. of Italian
Head of Dept. of Russian
Dissertation Module
Coordinator for Spanish
Convenor of UG Comp. Lit.
Head of Dept. of Arabic &
Persian
Head of Dept. of French
Head of Dept. of German
Head of Dept. of Italian
Head of Dept. of Russian
Dissertation Module
Coordinator for Spanish
SEMESTER
ONE
Dr Emily Finer
Catherine
Cobham
Dr Elodie Laügt
Dr Chris
Beedham
SEMESTER
ONE
ef50@st-andrews.ac.uk
cmc1@st-andrews.ac.uk
Dr Claudia
Rossignoli
Dr Emily Finer
Dr Ted Bergman
cr41@st-andrews.ac.uk
SEMESTER
TWO
Dr Emily Finer
Catherine
Cobham
Dr Gavin Bowd
Dr Chris
Beedham
Dr Emma Bond
Dr Emily Finer
Dr Ted Bergman
SEMESTER
TWO
ef50@st-andrews.ac.uk
cmc1@st-andrews.ac.uk
el40@st-andrews.ac.uk
cb1@st-andrews.ac.uk
ef50@st-andrews.ac.uk
tb59@st-andrews.ac.uk
gpb@st-andrews.ac.uk
cb1@st-andrews.ac.uk
efb@st-andrews.ac.uk
ef50@st-andrews.ac.uk
tb59@st-andrews.ac.uk
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If the Head of Department (or module coordinator in Spanish) considers the proposed
project to be viable, a supervisor will be allocated on the basis of the topic chosen and
with a view to achieving as fair a distribution of workload among staff as possible.
The student and the supervisor are required to meet at least four times per semester,
while the length of each meeting is flexible, and the number of meetings may exceed
four, allowing for briefer, more frequent meetings if needed.
By the end of Week 1 of the relevant semester the Dissertation Proposal and
Registration Form should be completed and submitted to Honours Administrator
(Michelle Petrie, mlp@st-andrews.ac.uk) in the School Office. This form is available
online on the dissertation information website and also as Appendix A in this
handbook:
Ethics
Occasionally an undergraduate dissertation may require ethical approval from
UTREC, the University Teaching and Research Ethics Committee. All research
activities involving human participants (adults and children); interviews or surveys
that solicit personal information or canvas opinion; observational work; collection or
study of human tissue or other body samples; collection of photographic images;
observation or interaction with social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, blogs...) must
not commence prior to the proposed research undergoing a rigorous ethical review.
Please consult your supervisor and complete the UTREC application form where
appropriate. See the following link for further information about ethics clearance:
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/utrec/
Programme of Work
Mandatory Meetings Between Student and Supervisor (4 contact hours total):
The meeting schedule between student and supervisor is flexible, but there is an
absolute requirement that at least four meetings be held per semester and that a
supervising form be filled out after each meeting. A minimum of four supervising
forms per semester, one for each meeting, must be included with the dissertation when
it is handed in. More information and suggestions on the content of these meetings is
covered below in this handbook. A copy of the form, to be filled out by the student in
consultation with the supervisor is found in Appendix C of this handbook.
Mandatory Sessions to be Attended by Student Only (3 contact hours total):
For both Long Dissertation Students (Semester 1 only) and Short Dissertation Students
(either Semester 1 or 2)
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Week 1 (Mandatory meeting):
Definition of topic and assignation of supervisor. This will be done in discussion with
the relevant Head of Department (or module coordinator in Spanish).
Ideally, this should have been done before the summer break so these meetings are
primarily designed for those students who have not yet started work on their topic or
who do not yet have a supervisor.
You should come to this meeting suitably prepared having given due thought to the
subject you would like to study and how you plan to study it. This meeting will last
roughly fifteen minutes. Please note that neither the Head of Department (or module
coordinator in Spanish) nor Honours Adviser have a list of possible subjects for
dissertations and their job is not to propose one to you if you cannot think of one.
Week 2 (Mandatory meeting):
All students writing a dissertation must attend the library session on research and
bibliographical skills led by academic librarian, Vicki Cormie, at 10am on Tuesday of
Week 2 in the relevant semester (students undertaking a year-long dissertation should
attend the session in semester 1). The time and place of the meeting will be posted on
the dissertation information website:
https://www.standrews.ac.uk/modlangs/undergraduatestudents/undergraduatehandbook/dissertationg
uidelines/
Week 4 (Mandatory meeting):
Structuring and Presenting an Argument. The first half of this one-hour seminar
provides varied examples of how to move analysis beyond the basic summation or
restatement of a known problem or research question, and how to provide answers that
are not readily apparent. The second half of the dissertation will consist of small
group work though which students can briefly share what they have discovered in their
research, specifically what unanswered questions appear to remain in that very
research, and mostly importantly how the dissertation will attempt to answer such
questions. For the first half of the seminar, students must come prepared by reading
the materials that will be e-mailed by the coordinator to all dissertation students a
week before the seminar. For the second half of the seminar, they must come prepared
with some sample questions of “How” or “Why” concerning their research topic, and
what line of inquiry they are following with the goal of answering “How” or “Why”,
including any tentative answers. The time and place of the meeting will be posted on
the dissertation information website listed for Week 2 above.
Week 6 (Mandatory meeting):
Academic Writing Style: This one-hour seminar is mainly about clarity, authority, and
proper register in the dissertation’s style, and how to safeguard against the possibility
of plagiarism. For the seminar, students must come prepared by reading the materials
(writing samples, both good and bad) that will be e-mailed by the coordinator to all
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dissertation students a week before the seminar. Part of the seminar will involve
proofreading one of the bad writing samples, something the students should attempt
before the meeting. The time and place of the seminar will be posted on the
dissertation information website, the link of which is listed for Week 2 above. The
seminar will also briefly cover basic questions in formatting, which are more
extensively covered in Essay Writing Guidelines of the School of Modern Languages
Undergraduate Handbook.
The most detailed guidebook for formatting is the MHRA Style Guide, and students
should always defer to this guide when in doubt about which format to follow. See
links for both handbook and manual below.
https://www.standrews.ac.uk/modlangs/undergraduatestudents/undergraduatehandbook/essaywriting/
http://www.mhra.org.uk/Publications/Books/StyleGuide/download.shtml
Important Note: The supervisor is the first marker of the dissertation, and his or her
feedback should not comment on the full, final version of the dissertation before
submission. The supervisor should comment on the dissertation outline, and one draft
chapter only or a third of the dissertation, whichever is the longest.
Week 14 (Semester 1 only):
4pm Friday Deadline for Short Dissertation
Week 10 (Semester 2 only):
4pm Friday Deadline for Long Dissertation
Week 12 (Semester 2 only):
4pm Friday Deadline for Short Dissertation
Optional Poster Presentations for Week 12 of semester 2
See below for information on Poster Presentations.
Presentation, Printing and Binding
For basic principles of presentation, see our general essay guidelines, the link for
which is listed above. Unless otherwise agreed upon between student and supervisor,
and made consistent throughout the dissertation, students writing an honours
dissertation are required to follow the MHRA guidelines for the presentation of
references, bibliography etc. You should download (and consult regularly) the MHRA
guidebook, the link for which is listed above.
Pages should be set up with 30mm margins on each side, using 12 point font and 1.5
line spacing. Please note that in order to save paper, printing should be double-sided.
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Your dissertation should be printed on 80gsm or 100gsm paper. Honours dissertations
must be produced in Microsoft Word or PDF. For more details on how to convert them
to PDF (the university’s preferred format), see the PDF Converter at the following
link:
https://www.standrews.ac.uk/itsupport/purchasingandsoftware/downloads/sitelicensed/pdfconverter/
The University's Print & Design Unit is ideally set up to print and/or bind your
dissertation. You can send your material in PDF format (with a note of pages to be
printed in colour) to: printanddesign@st-andrews.ac.uk and they will be in touch when
your job is ready. Price lists and further information can be found on the Print &
Design website, listed below. Dissertations may also be submitted in a clip report
folder.
Print and Design: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/printanddesign/
Submission
Dissertations should be submitted both electronically via MMS and in hard copy (2
copies) via the School Office by 4pm on the relevant day (see above for deadlines). In
the case of a discrepancy between the two versions of your dissertation, the electronic
copy will be considered the official copy of your dissertation. As stated above, any
undergraduate dissertation that requires ethical approval from UTREC should also
include the letter or email of ethical approval with the essay upon submission.
The Dissertation Submission Form should be filled in and submitted to the School
Office with the hard copies of your dissertation. This form is provided on the
dissertation information website and also in Appendix B of this handbook.
Remember to include your minimum 4 supervision forms with submission form.
Penalties for Late Submission and Exceeding Word Limit
Honours dissertations are subject to the same penalties for late submission as other
assessed work submitted to the SoML, please see the Late Submission section of the
undergraduate handbook at the link below:
https://www.standrews.ac.uk/modlangs/undergraduatestudents/undergraduatehandbook/latesubmissio
n/
Remember the penalties related to word limits stated above.
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Poster Presentations:
Starting in the 2015-2016 academic year, SOML students writing undergraduate
dissertations will have the opportunity to give poster presentations in a similar manner
to graduate students, sharing their research and explaining it to a non-expert audience.
The planned time for these presentations is week 12 (revision week) of semester 2.
Their purpose is for students to add a non-assessed spoken component to their finished
research in preparation for furthering their academic and/or professional career.
Honours students will be given the opportunity to work alongside postgraduate
students in order to prepare for this session.
An Important note on and Academic Misconduct
As a student at St Andrews, you must read and be familiar with the official policy
on Good Academic Practice and academic misconduct, so please consult the
University policy on Good Academic Practice: http://www.standrews.ac.uk/students/rules/academicpractice/. Students should be aware that
their dissertation or critical review must be their own personal work. All sources
consulted and used must be acknowledged. All direct references to these sources –
in the form of quotations, for example – must be explicitly made. In practical
terms, plagiarism means presenting other people’s work as if it were your own
and is considered to be academic fraud. Also, the week 4 seminar (see schedule
above) will cover plagiarism and explain how best to avoid it; meanwhile visit the
University website on plagiarism: http://www.standrews.ac.uk/students/academic/advice/studyskillsandadvice/academicskills/plag
arism/. As the website states: “Sometimes students commit plagiarism
intentionally, but most often it is done by accident. Those who do so by accident
will receive the same punishment as those who commit plagiarism intentionally.
It is your responsibility to be aware of plagiarism and to know how to avoid it.”
Important Information Regarding Both Student and Supervisor Expectations
The most important overall expectation is that, on a per-semester basis, both long and
short dissertations are treated as the 15 credit-per semester honours modules that they
are. They require at least the same amount of time for reading and research per week,
and eventually writing, as other 4000-level honours modules. The flexibility of
scheduling meetings between student and supervisor, and the variability in pacing for
writing must not preclude the student’s weekly dedication to obtain research material
for the dissertation and develop his or her own ideas on how to approach this material
and develop an argument about it.
What is expected of the student:
• You propose the topic but you should also be prepared to negotiate with the
module coordinator and your supervisor concerning its final definition.
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• You should bear in mind available expertise and library resources when
proposing a topic; if you have any doubts on this score, check the departmental
website (which will indicate some of the areas in which members of staff work) and
the online library catalogue (or even the shelves!).
• You will write the dissertation in English unless otherwise arranged; requests
to write the dissertation in a language other than English should be formally addressed
to your Head of Department.
• You should respect the word limit attached to the kind of dissertation you are
writing (the word limit includes notes and Bibliography).
• You should attend all the scheduled seminars and tutorials throughout the
year and meet the stipulated deadlines.
• Above all you should submit your dissertation by the deadline indicated
Penalties will be imposed for late submission, as detailed above.
What your supervisor will offer you:
• Support with research and study skills related to your chosen topic. There is
no expectation that the supervisor will provide you with the precise research material
that you seek, but he or she may be able to assist you in a more general sense, in terms
of journals or databases, or research trends, that may be too specific for the library
staff or library to provide.
• Direct spoken feedback through conversation over a minimum of four
meetings per semester, and written feedback through the dissertation supervision
forms that are completed soon after each meeting.
• Important Reminder: The supervisor is the first marker of the dissertation,
and his or her feedback should not comment on the full, final version of the
dissertation before submission. The supervisor should comment on the dissertation
outline, and one draft chapter only or a third of the dissertation, whichever is the
longest.
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APPENDIX A
(SEE NEXT PAGE)
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SCHOOL OF MODERN LANGUAGES
Dissertation Proposal and Registration Form
Name
Matriculation No.
Deadline: 4pm (please circle) Short Dissertations (5,000 words): Semester 1, Friday of
Week 14 Semester 2, Friday of Week 12
Long Dissertations (10,000 words): Friday of Week 10, Semester 2
Subject:
Topic: proposed brief title and 100-word description
I give / do not give (please delete out as appropriate) my permission for my dissertation
to be held in the School of Modern Languages dissertation library.
Date:
Signature:
Date and Signature of Supervisor
(indicating willingness to supervise the project)
Date and Signature of Module Coordinator
Date received in School Office:
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APPENDIX B
(SEE NEXT PAGE)
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SCHOOL OF MODERN LANGUAGES
Submission form
Name
Matriculation No.
Deadline: 4pm on (please circle)
Short Dissertations (5,000 words):
Semester 1, Friday of Week 14
Semester 2, Friday of Week 12
Long Dissertations (10,000 words):
Friday of Week 10, Semester 2
Subject:
Topic: proposed brief title and 100-word description
Word count:
Date of Submission
☐
Tick this box to confirm that you're submitting a minimum of 4
supervision forms per semester alongside your dissertation.
Word Limits: Please note you will be penalised by one point if you exceed a given word limit
by more than 10% and by two points if you exceed it by more than 20%. The title and
footnotes are included in the word count, whereas the bibliography and appendices are
excluded from the word count.
NB If your work falls significantly short of a word limit it will likewise be penalised by one point
if more than 10% short of the limit and by two points if more than 20% short of the limit
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APPENDIX C
(SEE NEXT PAGE)
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SCHOOL OF MODERN LANGUAGES
Honours Dissertation Supervision Form1
Name of student
Name of supervisor
Date and time, including
length of meeting
Progress since last
meeting
Topics discussed
Planned Next Steps for
Reading and Research
(if applicable)
Planned Next Steps for
Structuring or Supporting
Argument (if applicable)
Planned Next Steps for
Writing (if applicable)
Additional Comments or
Required Actions
Date of Next Meeting, or
Weeks Until Next
Meeting
Signature of
supervisor(s)
Signature of student
Date
To be completed by student and signed, following consultation, by both student and
supervisor/s. Students should fill at least 4 supervision forms per semester, and these
forms should be submitted alongside the dissertation.
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