Research Commons
Newsletter no. 4
August/September 2022
Department of Library Services
http://www.library.up.ac.za/research/
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
The Research Commons shares some valuable information on research
milestones for Master’s and PhD students
As you go through the research milestones in this newsletter, ask yourself: Where am I in my
research journey?
Introduction
It’s the end of August already, and our postgraduate
studies might be in many places at once (and maybe
us, too). To anchor ourselves a little, and to streamline
our research journey, we thought it would be good to
take a good look at where we are and where we’re
headed. To do this, we’re sharing the typical milestones
of the research journey.
The tips and information provided in the research
milestones may be found on the Library’s research
guide, but we thought it would be convenient to walk
through the milestones and briefly expand on them in
this newsletter together. This will assist us all in getting
our bearings again.
Remember that the staff at the Research Commons are
here to help you find the right answers should you get
stuck – wherever you might be in your research journey.
Happy reading!
Part 1 – as well as recommended books and more to
help you. Have a look at these resources for more
information on developing a research proposal.
4. Reporting on progress
A progress report on the research project is required.
Here, you must indicate the status of your research
project, the pace of the work, and any setbacks. Include
sections on the work that still needs to be completed
and the expected results as well as a schedule showing
how you are planning on obtaining those results.
5. Submitting the research protocol (proposal)
The research protocol should be compiled with the
assistance of the supervisor(s), after which the research
protocol should be submitted with the required
documentation to the Postgraduate Committee for
written approval. It is important that the research
protocol adhere to the UP Code of Ethics for scholarly
activities.
1. Meeting the research supervisor(s)
6. Registering the title
Take a look at the documents and the recommended
books related to the student-supervisor relationship in
the research guide.
Submit the title and topic for approval by the Head of
Department and Postgraduate Committee.
2. Signing a memorandum of agreement (MOA)
7. Applying for ethical/ethics clearance
The MOA is a formal agreement between the student
and their supervisor(s) and co-supervisor(s).
It can be daunting to apply for ethics, and the process
can be complex to understand, so we’ve compiled tips
and resources on navigating the ethics submission
platform and research ethics principles. Once the
application is submitted, the ethics committee will
review the research protocol and send an email with the
status of the ethics clearance application.
3. Developing a research proposal
We understand how daunting writing the proposal can
be, so we have put together a step-by-step course –
Advanced Library Training workshop for Postgraduates,
Research Guide
PG Online training
Research Support
8. Getting approval of research protocol
number, dissertation or thesis title, and supervisors’ and
co-supervisors’ names.
A well-written research protocol increases your chances
of receiving ethics clearance. After approval, students
must include an ethics statement that confirms that
consent to conduct the research was given and that the
UP Code of Ethics was complied with throughout the
research process.
9. Collecting data
Have a look at this guide on data collection. It offers the
tips and tools necessary to complete the data collection
process.
15. Finalising the writing for approval
At this point, students should have a complete draft of
their dissertation or thesis. If editing is required, that
should be wrapped up, too. The dissertation or thesis
must be formatted according to the specifications of the
relevant department or faculty. UP has templates that
students may use to prepare their dissertation or thesis.
Have a look at the University of Pretoria requirements
and guidelines for thesis and dissertation preparation.
Students need to submit their dissertation or thesis to
their supervisor(s) for approval.
10. Analysing and reporting data
16. Getting approval for the final title
Data analysis is the most crucial part of research. It
involves summarising and interpreting gathered data by
using analytical and logical reasoning to determine
patterns, relationships, or trends. To ease your data
analysis process, have a look at this guide. Also have a
look at these statistical software packages to assist with
your data outputs.
The Postgraduate Committee must approve the final
title of your dissertation or thesis. Upon submission of
your dissertation or thesis, the title should not differ from
the one which has been approved – for example,
punctuation, and upper- and lower-case must be exactly
the same.
11. Developing a dissertation/thesis
17. Generating a Turnitin report
Writing a dissertation or thesis can be very long and
tedious, and it requires an understanding of the
dissertation or thesis structure as well as how to present
a well-designed and -written paper. That’s why we’ve
put together some resources that may assist in
designing, writing, and submitting your dissertation.
Plagiarism, which may be defined as presenting another
person’s work as if it is one’s work, should be avoided.
Have a look at the Plagiarism Prevention page for more
information. To get a report of your work, enrol for the
Graduate Research (Turnitin Self Enrol) Course on
ClickUP.
12. Developing an article
18. Submitting examination copies
Writing a journal article can be tough. To make it easier,
we’ve compiled materials that will help you by providing
guidance on writing and structuring a journal article.
Once a journal article has been written, steps to publish
your article can be taken. Have a look at the resources
on journal article writing, structuring, and publishing.
For examination submission, students need to type out
the title as approved by the Postgraduate Committee in
sentence case. Electronic copies of the dissertation or
thesis should be submitted in both MS Word and PDF
format via email or flash drive to the Postgraduate
Student Administrator: ring-bound hard copies are no
longer required since the University has taken the
initiative to go green. When submitting examination
copies, students must take into consideration the
submission dates set by their department or faculty. The
examination submission dates can be found at the
relevant Postgraduate Student Administrator. A Turnitin
declaration form should accompany the examination
copies. See an example of a Turnitin Declaration Form
(compiled by the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural
Sciences).
13. Reporting on progress (again)
A progress report on the dissertation or thesis must be
submitted to your supervisor(s) or uploaded to the
Student Centre on the UP Portal. Have a look at the
Progress Report Template (compiled by the School of
Medicine) and at 4. Reporting on progress above.
14. Sending a letter of intention to submit
Students should inform the Faculty Student
Administrator of their intention to submit their
dissertation or thesis at least three months before
submission. This letter is sent via email and should
include the student’s first names, surname, student
Research Guide
19. Completing a submission form
The student, supervisor(s) and co-supervisor(s) must
complete a submission form that accompanies the
electronic examination copies. These forms may differ
between faculties; thus, the relevant Postgraduate
PG Online training
Research Support
Student Administrator should be consulted. This is an
example of a submission form (from the Faculty of
Natural and Agricultural Sciences).
21. Self-submitting to UPSpace and Figshare
The final electronic copy of the dissertation or thesis
should be submitted to the Postgraduate Student
Administrator with a submission form and a draft journal
article for publication.
Students must also self-submit an electronic copy of
their dissertation or thesis, including the drafted journal
article (not the peer-reviewed copy from the publishers)
on UPSpace. The copy submitted to UPSpace should
be accompanied by the UPSpace Thesis/Dissertation
Submission Form, which the student, the supervisor(s)
and Faculty Administrative Office complete. Check out
the UP electronic thesis and dissertation guidelines.
For PhD students, an accepted peer-reviewed journal
article resulting from your PhD research must be
submitted. A PhD CV should be prepared in
collaboration with supervisor(s) and co-supervisor(s),
and it will be published in the printed graduation
ceremony programme. A 250-word laudation should
also be prepared in collaboration with your
supervisor(s). The laudation will be read at the
graduation ceremony.
After submitting the final copy of the dissertation or
thesis, students should ensure that they upload their
research data onto UP’s research data repository
(Figshare). This platform is a cloud-based repository
that supports data distribution and Research Data
Management (RDM). For more information on research
datasets and the UP research data repository, check
out the RDM guide. Have a look at the step-by-step
procedure on how and where to upload your data.
20. Submitting final copies
22. Creating a project timeline based on your research milestones
Take a look at this example timeline for a Master’s or PhD research project. It’s been set up to show how our milestones
follow on one another – and sometimes overlap quite a bit! Some of our timelines may look (slightly or even very)
different – depending on the duration of our programme and the speed of our progress, for example. Looking at this one
and thinking about our own milestones may help us identify where we are so that we can better plan for where we’re
going. We can even use this one as a model for designing our own timelines.
Year
Milestone
Meeting the research supervisor(s)
Signing a memorandum of agreement
Developing a research proposal
Reporting on progress
Submitting the research protocol
Registering the title
Applying for ethical/ethics clearance
Getting approval of research protocol
Collecting data
Analysing and reporting data
Developing a dissertation/thesis
Developing an article
Reporting on progress (again)
Sending a letter of intention to submit
Finalising the writing for approval
Getting approval for the final title
Generating a Turnitin report
Submitting examination copies
Completing a submission form
Submitting final copies
Self-submitting to UPSpace and Figshare
Year 1
JanMar
AprJun
JulSep
Year 2
OctDec
JanMar
AprJun
JulSep
Year 3
OctDec
JanMar
AprJun
JulSep
OctDec
Important contacts and links
Email address:
research.commons@up.ac.za
UP Library homepage:
https://www.library.up.ac.za/
Research Guide
Book a study space:
https://up-za.libcal.com/r
Virtual appointments with librarians:
https://up-za.libcal.com/appointments/virtualassistance
PG Online training
Research Support