The School of Business and Economics
Guidelines for writing Master’s theses at
The School of Business and Economics
Revised April 2014
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CONTENT
...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... I
1
WRITING OF MASTER’S THESIS AT THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS ........................... 1
2
SCOPE OF THE THESIS ............................................................................................................................................ 4
3
TYPE OF THESIS ........................................................................................................................................................ 4
4
CONTENT AND STRUCTURE .................................................................................................................................. 4
4.1
TITLE PAGE ..............................................................................................................................................................................4
4.2
TEXT FORMAT..........................................................................................................................................................................5
4.3
FOREWORD ..............................................................................................................................................................................5
4.4
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................................................5
4.5 TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................................................................................................................................5
4.6
STRUCTURE OF THE MASTER’S THESIS ...............................................................................................................................5
4.7
PAGE NUMBERING...................................................................................................................................................................6
4.8
NUMBERING OF TABLES AND FIGURES ................................................................................................................................6
4.9
REFERENCE LIST .....................................................................................................................................................................6
4.10
USE OF REFERENCE MANAGEMENT TOOLS .........................................................................................................................7
4.11
OTHER REQUIREMENTS FOR YOUR THESIS .........................................................................................................................7
5
WRITE ALONE OR TOGETHER WITH OTHERS? ............................................................................................. 8
6
DEFINITION OF RESEARCH TOPIC ...................................................................................................................... 8
7
WORK PROCESS...................................................................................................................................................... 10
7.1 THESIS PROPOSAL – GUIDELINES FOR THE WRITING PROCESS ............................................................................................... 10
7.2
CHOICE OF SUPERVISOR ...................................................................................................................................................... 10
7.3
THE SUPERVISION PROCESS................................................................................................................................................ 10
8
USE OF LITERATURE AND INFORMATION EVALUATION ........................................................................ 11
8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
9
EXCERPT................................................................................................................................................................................ 12
QUOTE ................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
SUMMARIZE .......................................................................................................................................................................... 12
REFLECT ................................................................................................................................................................................ 13
SEARCHING FOR LITERATURE .......................................................................................................................... 13
10 TRAVEL GRANT FOR MASTER’S DEGREE STUDENTS AT THE FACULTY OF BIOSCIENCES,
FISHERIES AND ECONOMICS ........................................................................................................................................ 14
11
EXEMPTION FROM BEING MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ........................................................................ 15
12
ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION .................................................................................................................................. 15
13
APPLICATION FOR POSTPONED SUBMISSION ............................................................................................ 16
14
GRADING ................................................................................................................................................................... 16
15
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................................ 17
APPENDIX 1 – SUPERVISION CONTRACT FOR MASTER’S THESIS ................................................................................................... 18
SUPERVISION CONTRACT FOR MASTER’S THESIS ........................................................................................................... 18
APPENDIX 2 – ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR SUPERVISION AT THE UIT THE ARCTIC UNIVERSITY OF NORWAY ...................... 21
APPENDIX 3 – AGREEMENT REGARDING PARTICIPATION IN RESEARCH PROJECT ...................................................................... 24
APPENDIX 4 – METHOD FOR PAGE NUMBERING (OFFICE WORD 2010) .................................................................................... 27
APPENDIX 5 – APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR AN INDIVIDUAL TRIP CONNECTED WITH A MASTER’S THESIS 28
APPENDIX 6 – APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION OF THESIS FROM BEING MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE...................................... 32
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1 Writing of Master’s thesis at The School of Business and
Economics
These guidelines have been especially prepared for candidates writing their Master’s thesis at
The School of Business and Economics (HHT). The objective is to convey necessary
information so that the choice of topic of the Master’s thesis, carrying out of the work and
reporting of the results may be accomplished as efficiently as possible. This information
booklet is designed to provide assistance so you can get started quickly. You will also find
formal rules and deadlines or references to these.
The guidelines are intended to stimulate a creative and considered Master’s project
based on scientific foundations. The objective is that the student is given training in
applying theoretical knowledge that is acquired through the programme and is also
given an opportunity to specialize within a specific discipline. Through working on
his/her thesis, the student will develop thorough methodical skills and the ability to
collect, process and analyse data in an independent manner using chosen theoretical
perspectives. Scientific method and research methodology are necessary in order to
define a research topic, search for and analyse literature related to the research topic,
design and implement any empirical studies, choose an analytical method, present
results and conclude and propose solutions for the research topic. This is the type of
task and method of working that a candidate successfully completing a Master’s degree
will encounter in future jobs. Therefore, the work on the Master’s thesis has both
academic and vocational relevance.
The work involving the Master’s thesis may be divided into two parts:

Define a topic you wish to write about: This part is accomplished in parallel with
other courses, especially during the third semester of the programme. During the
course on research methodology and other courses preparations are made so
students can, in a systematic manner, find a topic that interests them and which they
want to develop into a Master’s thesis. Near the end of the third semester a start-up
meeting is held during which the guidelines for the Master’s thesis are presented and
the students receive help to find and define a fruitful topic for their thesis.

Work on your Master’s thesis: In the fourth semester, the students devote their
time entirely to working on their Master’s thesis. During the semester students shall
complete their Master’s project and submit the thesis for assessment.
As a Master’s degree student you are obliged to:
 Familiarize yourself with the rules and regulations that apply for Master’s degree students
at UiT
 Familiarize yourself with the supplementary rules for Master’s degrees at HHT, cf.
appendix 1
 Register as a Master’s student each semester on the internet-based Studentweb.
 Register for the final examination including specialised syllabus on the internet-based
Studentweb.
1
 Submit a complete, correctly filled in and signed supervision contract with detailed project
description within the deadline.
Application for admission
to Master’s degree
programme
Registration for
examination
Withdrawal/annulment of
registration for
examination on Studentweb
Supervision contract
Submission of Master’s
thesis
Apply for postponed
submission of Master’s
thesis
Apply for office space in the
Master’s degree
programme office
Deadline
April 15 (start-up in the autumn semester) on UiT’s
application website, SøknadsWeb
September 1 (autumn semester)
February 1 (spring semester)
November 1 (autumn semester)
April 15 (spring semester)
June 1 (start-up of Master’s project in the autumn
semester)
December 1 (start-up of Master’s project in the spring
semester)
June 1 (spring semester) by 3pm in Munin.
November 15 (autumn semester) by 3pm in Munin.
There are two ordinary submission deadlines during
the academic year. You may submit your thesis before
the deadline, but it will not be assessed until after the
deadline.
May 1 (spring semester)
November 1 (autumn semester)
If an application stating the grounds is submitted by
May 1/Nov. 1, a three-month postponement of the
submission deadline may be granted. For students who
do not have a medical certificate or compelling grounds,
the submission deadline will be postponed for one
semester at a time. In case of absence due to illness of 13 weeks, the submission deadline is postponed for an
equivalent period of time.
August 10 for the following academic year. The
application form is sent by e-mail from the Academic
administration in May/June.
All Master’s degree candidates at HHT shall write a Master’s thesis (30 credits), either
individually or with a fellow candidate. The candidate(s) shall define the topic and
research question(s) to be investigated in the thesis. HHT must approve the research
question before you start on your thesis. After HHT has approved your Thesis Proposal,
HHT will appoint one or more supervisors, if you have not already signed a supervision
contract. We recommend all candidates to get in touch with potential supervisors as
early as possible. Your supervisor(s) should be expert(s) within your chosen field. After
you have reached verbal agreement with your supervisor or one has been appointed by
HHT, you shall complete a supervision contract (the candidate(s) is on one side and the
supervisor(s) is on the other), which both parties shall sign, cf. appendix 1. You are
jointly responsible for ensuring the supervision contract is entered into. The supervision
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contract shall be accompanied by the Ethical guidelines for supervision at the UiT The
Arctic University of Norway, cf. appendix 2.
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2
Scope of the thesis
The Master’s thesis comprises 30 credits. It may be written by 1-2 candidates. The thesis
shall be approximately:
 60 pages of core text when one candidate writes alone or
 80 pages of core text when two candidates jointly write a thesis
The core text does not include the title page, foreword, table of contents, reference list
and appendices. You may write your Master’s thesis in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or
English without requiring advance permission. However, such permission is required
for all other languages. The page limitation has been set in order to avoid paragraphs
that have unnecessarily detailed descriptions and to reward thoroughly prepared and
reflected texts in which the analyses and interpretations of the author(s) are expressed
clearly. You may discuss the length of the thesis with your supervisor.
3
Type of thesis
A Master’s thesis may comprise one or more of the following elements:
1) An empirical study of one or more companies, institutions, organisations or
people, where the focus is on comparisons and analyses
2) A report about a concrete problem that a company or organisation is facing
3) A theoretical thesis based on available literature
4) The development of methods
Options 1) and 2) are the most common Master’s theses. You may write your thesis in
connection with research projects at HHT or other places, but the choice of topic must
be discussed with and approved by your supervisor. A separate contract must also be
signed with the project manager, cf. appendix 3.
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Content and structure
4.1
Title page
The thesis must have a title page as shown in appendix 4.
The title page (cover page) shall contain the following:
 Title of the thesis
 Name of the author(s) (below each other, if more than one)
 Scope of the thesis (30 credits)
 Institution’s name (The School of Business and Economics and UiT The Arctic
University of Norway)
 Programme option
 Month and year of submission (e.g. November 2009)
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You are not permitted to include the logo or name of sponsors or other partners on the
title page. However, you may mention and thank these in the foreword of the thesis.
4.2
Text format
The thesis shall be written in the following format:
 Margin: 2.5 cm
 Line spacing:1.5
 Font size in the body text: 12 pt
 Font for body text: Times New Roman
 Similar font for same heading level
 Headers and footers shall not be used with the exception of the field for page
numbering, i.e. references in footnotes are not permitted
 Emphasis in the text shall occur through the use of italics or bold text (not
underlining or CAPITAL LETTERS)
 The text shall be left-aligned, i.e. the left-hand margin shall be flush and the righthand margin shall be ragged (as in this document)
4.3
Foreword
The foreword shall include the name(s) of the supervisor(s) and others you wish to
thank. If the thesis has been written with financial support or is part of a project, this
must be mentioned.
4.4
Abstract
An abstract of 1-2 pages shall outline the research question, method and main results. It
should include details of which software packages are used for any calculations. The
abstract may be identical to the introductory chapter.
In order for the thesis to be searchable in Munin it must contain key words. These key
words should follow after the abstract. Approx. five key words is normal.
4.5
Table of contents
You should have two heading levels, but no more than three.
Structure of the Master’s thesis
4.6
Your Master’s thesis shall normally have the following structure:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Introduction / background / discussion of research topic
Theory
Method
Empirical data / results
Discussion / conclusion
Reference list
Appendices
Within this general structure, there will be adaptations in relation to the specific
research question you are studying and in relation to the various disciplines at HHT.
However, the general structure shall be followed, e.g. it will not be permitted to place the
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method section before the theory section as it departs from the accepted norms in
academia and there are no logical arguments to support this.
4.7
Page numbering
The page numbering shall start from the first page of text and continue until the end of
the thesis, including appendices (i.e. page 1 is the first page of text). The numbering of
pages before this shall have separate numbering, with small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv
etc.). The title page shall not include a page number but shall be included in the
numbering). For further instructions, refer to appendix 5.
4.8
Numbering of tables and figures
Tables and figures shall be numbered consecutively. The tables shall be numbered and
include an explanatory text about the actual table. The figures shall be numbered and
include an explanatory text under the actual figure. All references in the text shall be
included in the reference list and vice versa.
4.9
Reference list
It is important you are consistent when citing and listing literature. The most common
method is the Harvard Style, which is outlined here:
References shall contain all bibliographic details. References in the text shall contain
the author’s surname followed by a comma and the year of publication. This shall be in
parentheses, e.g. (Fox, 1994). At the end of the article the references shall be listed in
alphabetical order. If there are several authors, and the thesis is written in Norwegian,
you shall use “og” even though the book (article) referred to is in English. If thesis is
written in English, you shall use “and” even if the original article (or book) is in
Norwegian.
Some styles automatically replace “and” and “og” with “&”. If you are using such a style
you shall retain this symbol. EndNote inserts “and” and “og” depending on the language
preference in EndNote.
(a) for books
surname, initials and year of publication, title, publisher, place of publication. E.g.:
Casson, M. (1979), Alternatives to the Multinational Enterprise, Macmillan, London.
(b) for a paragraph in a book
surname, initials and year, “title”, surname of editor, initials, title, publisher, place,
pages. E.g.:
Bessley, M. and Wilson, P. (1984), "Public policy and small firms in Britain", in Levicki, C.
(Ed.), Small Business Theory and Policy, Croom Helm, London, pp.111-26.
(c) for articles
surname, initials and year, “title”, journal, volume number, pages. E.g.:
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Fox, S. (1994) "Empowerment as a catalyst for change: an example from the food
industry", Supply Chain Management, Vol 2 No 3, pp. 29-33
If there is more than one author, list the surnames followed by the initials. All authors
must be shown.
Electronic sources shall include URL for the electronic page where it was found, e.g.:
Neuman, B.C.(1995), “Security, payment, and privacy for network commerce”, IEEE
Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, Vol. 13 No.8, October, pp.1523-31.
Available (IEEE SEPTEMBER) http://www.research.att.com/jsac/
The base format for citing of websites is as follows: Author(s), if stated, but in many
cases there are none; title, of the specific page or paragraph that you are citing; name of
the website; URL; date of publishing and/or updated; date of search.
Notes/endnotes shall generally be used to an extremely limited degree. However, notes and
endnotes shall always be used to refer to websites. Consecutive number in parentheses [ ]
shall be used in the text and endnotes. The endnotes shall show the full website address.
An example of such citing:
A total of 141 700 tonnes of meat from domestic animals were approved for human
consumption during the first six months of 2008; an increase of 4 percent from the same
period in 2007 [1].
In the list of endnotes, it will appear as follows:
Websites:
[1]
Manufacture of food products and beverages. Statistics Norway. Website:
http://www.ssb.no/slakt/. Published 11 September 2008. Date: 01.12.08.
4.10 Use of reference management tools
The UiT The Arctic University of Norway has chosen Endnote as its preferred reference
management tool (http://uit.no/ub/9170/).
You can use Endnote (http://www.ub.uit.no/db_kat/ref_en-veil.htm) as a reference
management tool and choose “APA 5th” as your style.
The University Library of Tromsø runs introductory courses in the use of Endnote. You
may read more on APA’s website about how to use references in different contexts. For
electronic sources, please visit: http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html. You will also find
many useful examples at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APA_style
4.11 Other requirements for your thesis
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






5
Write serious, clear and precise factual prose
Write as objectively as possible
Avoid clichés and unnecessary words
Go through your thesis to correct spelling, grammatical and other errors
Work hard on language and presentation!
Check that all references in the text and included in the reference list (and vice versa)
Quotation marks shall be used to indicate all quotations in the text, and you must
specify the source of the quotation. Failure to note quotations could be viewed as an
attempt to cheat, which in turn can lead to the thesis not being approved. HHT has
access to the plagiarism prevention tool Ephorus for electronic control of student
works.
Write alone or together with others?
If you work alone you do not have a daily sparring partner who you can discuss things
that may crop up with. In that case, you need to discuss with yourself, your supervisor or
use your computer. However, you are your own boss and can decide the content and
progression of your thesis on your own. As sole author data collection will be more
demanding and you will not be able to read as much as two people can. On the other
hand you have more freedom regarding both the choice of and adjustments to the
research topic and method if you write alone. The Master’s thesis is one’s own product
and you generally learn what your own limitations and skills are.
The personal chemistry and the level of ambition are the two most important factors
you need to evaluate if you will write jointly with a fellow student. A Master’s thesis is
more comprehensive and demanding than a semester paper and therefore makes
greater demands on interpersonal skills. It is important that both students have more or
less the same level of ambition regarding the thesis, that you have the same work habits,
same interest in the research question and are in agreement about the schedule (and
what to do in the event that it wavers). The approach to collaboration is also important,
as is a willingness to make compromises when you disagree. It is not certain that
choosing to jointly write a thesis with your best friend is the most sensible move.
However, if you choose to do this, it is important to clarify both the working relationship
and level of ambition.
6 Definition of research topic
Once you have chosen a topic and decided whether you are writing alone other together
with a fellow student, it is time to define a more precise research question. If you are
doing an investigation for a company or other external contractor, it is important to be
aware of the fact that may not only follow the contractor’s practical requirements for the
thesis. In order to write a good thesis you must also follow the demands that academia
makes concerning formulation of research question, discussion of theory, method and
empirical data. These requirements for good research-related craft are often different
from the formulation of a report that practitioners want. The best way of satisfying both
8
academic and the practitioners is by first writing a good scientific thesis that may later
be edited into a report in the format that the contractor wants.
What does a good definition of research topic involve? What does it look like? How do
you arrive at such a formulation?
Firstly, here are some important definitions:
o Topic: a delimited subject area
o Research topic: Something within the topic (the delimited area that does not have a
solution or contains some answers)
o Research question: A description of the context that the problem is included in (one
research question can include several research topic)
o Definition of research topic: A definition of a specific question within the scope of a
research question
Consequently, a definition of a research topic is not a topic, a research topic nor a
research question. The research question comprises a broad “collection of research
topics” within a certain topic. As such there may be several definitions of a research
topic within the scope of one research question. In some contexts, you may a develop
definition of the research topic based on a theoretical discussion in the thesis.
The definition of the research topic is a question that deals with what we want answers
to, but does not always have to be formulated as one or more questions. In such cases,
you can say that a good definition of a research topic in the least be able to be converted
into one or more questions.
A good definition of the research topic makes your work easier, guiding your choice of
theory, literature and empirical data, as well as the outline of the thesis and is necessary
in order to finish a text. As a reader it is hard to relate to scientific texts that do not say
what it shall convey, why and using which method. A focussed text is always a better text
and a more interesting one.
Andersen (1998) has described different types of definitions of research topics and
proposed the following categories:
What?
1) Descriptive (“An explanation of…”, “What occurred…”, “A mapping of…”)
2) Exploratory, identifying the research topics
3) Diagnostic, categorizing (“Which problem can occur…”, “Which consequences
do…”).
Why?
4) Explanatory, understandable (“How can you explain/interpret…”, “Why is it
such…”).
How?
5) Problem solving/normative (“A theoretically reasoned solution to …”, “How
should be act in relation to X?”, “Which statutory regulations should…”).
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6) Intervention-oriented (“Implementation of a new programme for…”).
What type of definition of research topic will you choose? It must be interesting
(arguments for this in the background for the thesis), it must not have been answered by
others already and the degree of difficulty must be in relation to the Master’s degree
level and your own ambitions.
7 Work process
7.1 Thesis Proposal – guidelines for the writing process
Everyone who is going to write a Master’s thesis shall, no later than the stipulated date,
submit a memorandum of approx. five pages containing the following:
1. The introduction of your thesis with a presentation of your research question and
the reasons for this
2. The theoretical basis you wish to use to illustrate/discuss the research topic and
a rough outline of the theory chapter
3. A brief description of the method you wish to use during the data collection
4. A schedule with milestones
Candidates will present their thesis proposals at a plenary session. A time of 5-10
minutes is available for the presentation, to be divided among the candidates if
candidates are jointly writing the thesis.
This process is completed in the semester before the actual writing work starts.
7.2 Choice of supervisor
The choice of supervisor is often important for the work process. From experience it is
best if you know who you want as your supervisor. In addition the potential supervisors
will also have an understanding of which academic topics they believe they master to an
adequate degree to be able to give the best supervision. In this way the choice of
supervisor is often a process between the Master’s students and the supervisors. If there
are a large number of theses, supervisors will be allocated to a greater extent and
students will have fewer alternatives. However, the allocation will be based on the
academic and methodical areas of interest of the supervisors to the extent possible.
7.3 The supervision process
The supervision includes the following:
 time for approval of the research question
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



perusal of drafts of text items from the candidate(s)
feedback (from tutorials, e-mails, e-post etc.)
tutorials
administrative tasks associated with the supervision contract
It is sensible to organise the work with the Master’s thesis in such a way that the
supervision is separated into five supervision sections:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Introduction with proposal of topic / research question
Theoretical foundation / literature review
Design / discussion about method
Analysis and presentation of results
Conclusion / discussion / summary
The above-mentioned division will make the supervision process more efficient for the
students and supervisor alike. The schedule for the thesis and supervision shall be
agreed with your supervisor. Familiarise yourself with the ethical guidelines that are
applicable for the supervision work, cf. appendix 2.
It is important for you to get started on this work early and to make use of the
supervision offer from the start. It is a good idea to read through some old theses. Start
as soon as possible! You do not have much time at your disposal!
Prepare well defined goals for the work process and your thesis. Discuss the definition
of research topic and thesis outline with your supervisor. It is also a good idea to form
seminar groups with other students.
The candidates cannot expect that the supervisor will proof read manuscripts.
Proofreading will be the candidate’s task. The language shall be thoroughly prepared
and checked. The use of available aids and books to provide assistance is recommended.
The thesis shall not include any insinuations, anecdotes and jokes that make fun of
people (e.g. of a sexist, racial or homophobic nature etc.).
Supervision is normally given up to one week before the submission deadline.
8 Use of literature and information evaluation
At an early stage in your studies you will learn how important it is to deal with sources
in the correct manner. However, you have received many different messages from
different lecturers about what this means. This demonstrates that the use of literature is
one of the most difficult aspects in the field of research. Chapter 4.9 outlines how you
shall systematically set up your reference list in accordance with a universally accepted
standard.
Another problem is how to deal with these references in your text. A part of the Master’s
thesis is to demonstrate that you have read up on the topic through the use of a number
of references. It is very easy to be blind to what your own words are and what the words
11
of others are. If you “borrow” text from others without stating from whom you have
borrowed it in the text, this is known in an academic context as plagiary – a serious
offence. It is comparable to stealing money from others, which is also a criminal act.
Plagiarism can lead to much unpleasantness for you. Therefore, it is important to be
conscious of what words are your own and which words are written by others. In order
to help you to keep track of your information evaluation, we elaborate on the following
terms below: excerpt, quote, summarize and reflect. It can quickly become a problem if
you think you are summarizing, but in reality you are quoting, or you think you are
reflecting, but in reality you are summarizing.
8.1 Excerpt
Excerpt means to extract, select or pick out. For you it means to keep the content of
articles and books in order. The problem occurs when you are going to quote a text and
you cannot find the page in the book that contains the quotation or, in the worst case,
not even find the book. In that case you should excerpt, i.e. make an extract of the text
for coming use. You can do this by marking the text with a highlighter or ordinary pen,
comment on the text in the margin or photocopy the page (remember to include a
complete reference to the source). The advantage of such extracts is that you may later
decide whether you will quote or summarize the text.
8.2 Quote
To quote means to copy. That means that you precisely repeat a text from a source in
your own text. It is completely legitimate to do this. In this way you are showing
something important that others have written and that it is so well formulated that you
could not have formulated it better. Quotes can therefore be regarded as gems that
perfect your text. However, you must be economical when giving gems as they can
become tarnished. Your text can also become tarnished. You must in a precise manner
demonstrate that it is a quotation and not a summary by using quotation marks (”…”)
and stating the source of the quotation (author, year of publication and page number)
after the quotation. The reader may find the complete source in the reference list.
Consequently, a quotation is original text (you do not translate a quotation from English
to Norwegian or vice versa!). It is important to provide a precise indication of the page
number so the reader may check that it is an accurate copy.
8.3 Summarize
To summarize means using your own words. Discussions of literature in Master’s theses
are to a high degree summaries of original sources. How close your summary is to the
original determines whether you are quoting or summarizing. Summarizing is repetition
in your own words of what you have read from a source and it must be as correct as
possible. Problems arise if you do not dare to change the wording from the original too
much. Otherwise, you are getting close to a quotation instead of a slightly less precise
summary – without you quoting. Therefore, the difference between quoting and
summarizing can be subtle and difficult for the reader to discover. However, it is the
author’s responsibility to deal with sources in the correct manner and the reader must
be able to rely on the author. For you as an author if it is a question of language and
translation, use your own words.
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Summarizing may also result in many repetitions if it is done in a mechanical manner.
On the one hand you can have the same reference 10 times. That will be the cause of
suspicion and one will wonder whether they are quotations or summaries. The author’s
task is to summarize in such a good way that you manage to refer to the source maybe
three times instead of 10 times. In other words: avoid the triple summarizing trap: 1)
that you plagiarize instead of quote, 2) that you refer in a way that is so close to the
original that you actually quote and 3) that you stack reference upon reference in a
mechanical manner. You may avoid falling into this trap by reflecting.
8.4 Reflect
To reflect means that you think twice and that you let your thoughts reflect against other
thoughts. Reflection means that to the extent possible you write in your own words
while at the same time you refer to or summarize another text. This concerns how well
you understand the text, how you view yourself, your ability to formulate and a rich
vocabulary. Reflection is also part of the basis on which your Master’s thesis is judged.
9 Searching for literature
UiT has specific subject paces for economics. These pages contain a lot of advice about
searching for literature. See: http://uit.no/ub/8472/. The University Library of Tromsø
offers courses dealing with how to search for literature, as well as organise searches.
This is recommended. Always keep in mind what type of information you are using as
sources. Is it books, published articles (peer reviewed), newspapers, discussion papers,
internet sources, old or new information? The type of information is of significance for
how you apply it in the text. We recommend the following search services:
For published articles:
Ofelaŝ (link via http://www.ub.uit.no/)
Open J-Gate (http://www.openj-gate.com/)
For published articles, discussion papers, summaries and theses
Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.no/)
Norwegian Open Research Archive (NORA)
(http://www.ub.uio.no/nora/noaister/search.html)
For books
BIBSYS(+ electronic journals, UB selection of journals, PhD dissertations, Master’s
theses):
(http://ask.bibsys.no/ask/action/stdsearch?kilde=biblio:UBT%C3%98&lang=nb)
Google Books: http://books.google.com/
Ebrary and NetLibrary (http://site.ebrary.com/lib/tromsoub og
http://www.netlibrary.com/Search/BasicSearch.aspx
For news
Newspaper articles (http://www.atekst.no)
Google News (http://news.google.com/)
13
10
Travel grant for Master’s degree students at the Faculty of
Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics
Travel grants may be approved for the following purposes: data collection/field work,
lectures or presentations at conferences. Applicants must prepare a budget for the
proposed trip, including a brief description of the proposed travel. The form, cf.
appendix 6, must be signed by the applicant, supervisor and Head of Department before
being submitted to the administration at HHT. Financial support may be granted for
travel that your supervisor deems as relevant for your thesis (for data collection
connected to the compiling of your thesis or presentation of the results of the thesis at a
conference). The supervisor must carefully consider the relevance of the travel in
relation to the thesis that is being written. The Head of Department approves the
academic content with his/her signature. The travel grant for Master’s degree students
is currently up to a maximum of NOK 4000 (and it is only possible to apply for such
funding on one occasion during the Master’s degree programme). You must complete a
travel and subsistence claim form after completion of the travel. Original documentation
of expenses (flights, bus tickets, hotel etc.) must be attached.
14
11
Exemption from being made publicly available
Section 15 of the Regulations for examinations at the UiT The Arctic University of
Norway states:
Section 15: Exemption from being made publicly available
The starting point is that all Master’s theses or similar are public.
Theses containing information subject to statutory non-disclosure of confidential
information shall be exempted from being made public.
If sound reasons exist, the faculties may also agree to the thesis being exempted from
being made public for up to five years. In special circumstances, the thesis may gain an
exemption for a longer period.
Candidates writing theses that they wish to be exempted from being made publicly
available must apply for this, cf. appendix 6.
12
Electronic submission
The student submits their thesis by uploading it to the UiT The Arctic University of
Norway’s repository for scientific and research-related material Munin by the
submission deadline of 3pm on the date of submission. The method for electronic
publication in Munin is outlined on the university’s website.
The thesis shall be submitted in PDF format as a complete document (title page,
abstract, foreword, text, reference list and any appendices in one document). Ensure
that all links are clickable when the document is converted. If you are uploading your
thesis outside the IT network on the UiT campus you will need to download VPN client
on a computer you have administrator privileges for to in order to upload your thesis in
Munin. All theses shall be published in Munin, but not all theses need to be made
public/published there.
Theses subject to confidentiality clauses or which owing to other special grounds shall
not be published may be exempted from digital publishing by agreement with HHT. The
right to publish illustrations and other material subject to copyright must be clarified
prior to publishing.
The title page must be submitted for approval by a student adviser no later than five days
before submission. Pay particular attention to the correct programme option, name of
department etc. Errors on the title page may lead to the thesis not being able to be
presented for assessment.
In order for the thesis to be searchable in Munin it must contain key words. These key
words should follow after the abstract.
HHT will print 12 copies of the thesis and distribute it to the examination committee.
15
13
Application for postponed submission
A written application stating the grounds must be submitted by May 1 in the spring
semester and November 1 in the autumn semester. A three-month extension of the
submission deadline may then be granted. In case of absence due to illness of 1-3 weeks,
the submission deadline is postponed for an equivalent period of time. A medical
certificate is required. For students who do not have a medical certificate or compelling
grounds, the submission deadline will be postponed for one semester at a time. This
means that the earliest opportunity to submit the thesis will be six months after the
ordinary submission deadline.
14
Grading
Master’s theses are graded on the scale from A-F, with A-E indicating pass and F fail. The
grades have the following designations and general qualitative descriptions:
Symbol Designation
General, qualitative descriptions of the assessment criteria
A
Excellent
An excellent performance, which gains distinction. The
candidate demonstrates excellent judgement and an extremely
high level of independent thinking.
B
Very good
A very good performance, certainly above average. The
candidate demonstrates a certain degree of judgement and
independent thinking.
C
Good
A good overall performance, which is satisfactory in most areas.
The candidate demonstrates a reasonable degree of judgement
and independent thinking in the most important areas.
D
Fair
An acceptable, but below average performance with some
significant shortcomings. The candidate demonstrates a limited
degree of judgement and independent thinking.
E
Satisfactory
A performance that meets the minimum requirements. The
candidate demonstrates a very limited degree of judgement
and independent thinking.
F
Fail
An effort that does not meet the minimum academic
requirements. The candidate demonstrates an absence of both
judgement and independent thinking.
The diploma will be sent to the student by registered letter as soon as it is ready. It can
take some time, particularly during the summer (allow a minimum of five weeks). The
diploma will be sent to the student’s current address, as registered on the internetbased Studentweb. Consequently, it is important that this address is correct.
16
15
Appendices
17
Appendix 1 – Supervision contract for Master’s thesis
FACULTY OF BIOSCIENCES, FISHERIES AND ECONOMICS
THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
SUPERVISION CONTRACT FOR MASTER’S THESIS
The student must submit the supervision contract for approval by HHT in the semester
BEFORE the work of the Master’s Thesis begins
Changes in the supervision contract, e.g. curriculum, supervision, leave-of-absence, extension
etc, shall be processed by HHT
1. Students personalia
Name:
Address:
DOB:
E-mail:
Mobile:
2. Supervisors
Fill in the main supervisor’s name and any co-supervisor’s or external supervisor’s names. The
main supervisor has overall responsibility for the department’s role in the contract. Students
have the right to supervision during the time he/she will write their thesis according to the
accepted study plan. If the supervisor plans to have research sabbatical during the contract
period, the student must be informed of this when the contract is signed. The supervisor and
the department are responsible for ensuring student supervision throughout the contract
period.
Main supervisor:
Department:
Co-supervisor I:
Office address:
Co-supervisor II:
Office address:
3. Study program
Study program:
Major/specialization:
2-years/120 credits (ECTS)
2,5-years/90 credits (ECTS)
Department:
4. Master’s Thesis
a) Working title:
A thesis proposal must also be submitted on a separate sheet. The proposal must contain:
 Problem for discussion
 Method

Schedule/milestones
18


Goals
Prospective partners of either technical or scientific type
b) Completion of the master thesis
All master students have the right to write the master dissertation alone. Students can choose to write as a group
providing that the students have themselves determined the groups and the supervisor accepts this. In this case, the
supervision contracts should be submitted together..
Individual dissertation
Group dissertation with individual evaluation. The contribution of each group member must be able
to be documented.
Fellow students in group thesis:
c) Time schedule for the thesis
The Master’s thesis must be completed within the scheduled deadline.
The thesis will normally be handed in by the 1st of June or the 15th of November.
Starting date:
Date for hand-in:
d) Planed progression
Full-time student
For part-time students the progression of study must be at least 50 %. Master thesis of 30
credits (ECTS) shall normally be completed as a full-time student. Master students who
are engaged as tutors/teaching assistants may apply for an extension of the study period.
Part-time student
_
5. Comments
6. Signatures
Student, main supervisor and co- supervisors agree on all points of the contract
Student/date:
Main supervisor/date:
Co-supervisor/date:
Co-supervisor/date:
Head of department/date:
19
_%
20
Appendix 2 – Ethical guidelines for supervision at the UiT The Arctic
University of Norway
Adopted on 13.04.2004 by the University Board (S 13-04 - DL 200305499-15).
The supervisor is to ensure that the student/PhD candidate receives good academic support in
his/her work.
 The academic competence of the supervisor shall be made available to the
student/PhD candidate.
 The supervisor shall follow the work of the student/PhD candidate, and keep up to
date with his/her progress.
 The supervisor shall help the student/PhD candidate to establish contact with other
researchers and research groups with special competence in the relevant field of
research.
The supervisor and the student/PhD candidate shall both do their best to ensure a qualitatively
good result.
 The supervisor shall provide constructive, relevant and thorough feedback.
 The supervisor shall, at an early stage, become aware and act if a project seems
unrealisable, or if there are signs to indicate that the student/PhD candidate will have
problems completing it.
 The student/PhD candidate shall be prepared to invest the maximum time and effort
that the project requires.
 The student/PhD candidate shall be open and receptive to suggestions from the
supervisor.
 The student/PhD candidate shall give the supervisor complete access to information
about the work and its progress, and accept advice from the supervisor at an early
stage if problems arise.
The supervisor and the student/PhD candidate have a mutual responsibility for ensuring that
the supervision to takes place in an acceptable manner.
 The supervisor shall give the cooperation with the student/PhD candidate the priority
that results from accepting the supervision responsibilities.
 The supervisor shall maintain regular contact with the student/PhD candidate as
agreed between the two parties.
 The supervisor shall endeavour to read all texts submitted by the student/PhD
candidate as soon as possible.
 If the supervisor does not have time to read a text immediately, he/she shall inform the
student/PhD candidate of this and notify him/her when the text will be read.
 The supervisor shall be well prepared for tutorials with the student/PhD candidate.
 The supervisor shall keep to the agreed times for tutorials with the student/PhD
candidate, and ensure that the tutorial is undisturbed (by turning off his/her telephone
etc.).
 The supervisor shall make the necessary arrangements to provide for satisfactory
academic support and supervision for the student/PhD candidate in his/her absence
(during sabbaticals etc).
 The student/PhD candidate shall maintain regular contact with the supervisor as
agreed between the two parties.
21



The student/PhD candidate shall endeavour to meet all deadlines and complete all
tasks as agreed during the tutorial.
The student/PhD candidate shall submit texts for reading within a reasonable time
before the tutorial.
The student/PhD candidate shall be well prepared for tutorials with the supervisor.
It is the responsibility of the supervisor to impart the basic ethical rules of research relevant to
the field.
 If the supervisor wishes to use the student's/PhD candidate's data or research results in
his/her own publications or research, he/she must get permission from the student/PhD
candidate and follow the accepted practice for source referencing and crediting of
other people's work.
Both parties shall show respect for the academic and personal integrity of the other party, and
refrain from any action or statement that may be perceived as offensive.
 The supervisor has the main responsibility for ensuring that supervision takes place in
an objective and professional manner, and should be aware of the authority the role of
supervisor entails in relation to the student/PhD candidate.
 The supervisor should refrain from making any comments about the student/PhD
candidate personally, physically or relating to gender. The student/PhD candidate
should show the same respect for the supervisor as a person.
 The supervisor must not use his/her position of authority to take advantage of the
student/PhD candidate, or to attain personal favours or services.
Personal and confidential information imparted in connection with supervision shall be
treated with discretion by both parties.
 The supervisor shall avoid discussing internal, collegial matters with the student/PhD
candidate.
 The supervisor should not discuss the student's/PhD candidate's affairs with other
students/PhD candidates. The student/PhD candidate should show the same
consideration towards the supervisor.
Private relations that are incompatible with the academic relationship should not occur.
 It is the responsibility of the supervisor to ensure that the necessary professional
distance is maintained, and to avoid situations that can lead to it being disturbed.
 The supervisor and the student/PhD candidate shall not be related, romantically
involved, or have common private economic interests.
 If a romantic relationship should arise, the head of department shall be notified and the
supervision contract be terminated.
 If the supervisor and the student/PhD candidate are friends, both parties shall be aware
of the importance of clear boundaries between the professional and the private
domain.
 The supervisor shall not accept any form of payment for the supervision apart from
that agreed with the university.
The supervisor and the student/PhD candidate have a mutual responsibility to solve conflicts.
 Both parties should be able to raise problems concerning the professional cooperation
or the progress of the work, and endeavour to contribute to finding a constructive
solution.
22


If a conflict has arisen between the supervisor and the student/PhD candidate that the
two parties are unable to solve, an independent third party should become involved as
a mediator. The position of the person who performs this function – head of
department, research coordinator, vice-dean or dean – varies from department to
department.
If the supervisor and the student/PhD candidate feel compelled to terminate the
supervision contract, the faculty shall take responsibility to handle the change of
supervisor in an orderly and satisfactory manner.
23
Appendix 3 – Agreement regarding participation in research project
AGREEMENT
Agreement between student……….……………………………born….…….……, and
the UiT The Arctic University of Norway (UiT) via the project manager
…………………………….……... concerning the student’s participation in the research
project……………………………
1. Purpose of the agreement
The purpose of this agreement is to regulate the terms of agreement between UiT and
the student regarding the student’s participation in the above-mentioned research
project. This concerns the rights to the project results and copyright to the Master’s
thesis and/or other works the student writes as part of the project, amongst other
things.
2. Project results
The project manager, or others in accordance with the project agreement, is the owner
of the project results that the student produces alone or in collaboration with others in
the project, and has exclusive rights to utilize these.
The term project manager means the faculty, department or person who is responsible
for ensuring that the project is implemented in accordance with the project agreement.
If the student makes an invention alone or in collaboration with others during the
project and the invention is exploited commercially by one or more of the project
partners, the student has the right to reasonable remuneration. When settling on the
amount of such remuneration, particular consideration shall be given to the value of the
invention and the significance of the student to the invention.
The project manager may, in a separate agreement, return to the student the rights to
the project results that the student has produced.
3. Master’s thesis
The student shall write his/her Master’s thesis at: ………………………. …………(faculty)
within the Master’s degree programme in ………………………………………………..
24
The title of the thesis is: …………..…………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………...
The supervisor is:…………………………………………………………………………..
Prior to submission of the Master’s thesis for assessment at UiT, the student shall in
consultation with his/her supervisor make a decision about whether the thesis contains
research data that must be kept secret. If this is the case, the supervisor or student must
notify the faculty that the Master’s thesis shall be exempted from being made publicly
available, cf. Section 15 of the Regulations for examinations at the UiT The Arctic
University of Norway. The faculty must make a decision about whether the Master’s
thesis may be exempted from being made publicly available and, if so, for how long.
The student has copyright to the Master’s thesis, with the limitations resulting from this
agreement. The project partners have the right to receive a copy of the Master’s thesis
including any appendices, and to be familiarized with the grade awarded by UiT and the
reasons for determining the grade.
4. Publishing and other publication
The student has the right to publish his/her Master’s thesis or parts of it, providing it is
not exempt from being made publicly available, cf. point 3. For publishing of other
project works from the relevant project, written consent is required from the project
manager.
For other forms of making public the research results from the project, e.g. information
through teaching, seminars or conferences, written consent is also required from the
project manager.
When the student has concluded his/her relationship with the project, and the Master’s
thesis is no longer exempt from being made publicly available, the student may publish
new works based on data from the Master’s thesis without consent from the project
manager.
5. Co-authorship
The criteria of the Vancouver Protocol shall form the basis of what is required to be a coauthor of the student’s works.
The project manager shall at an early stage in the project raise the matter of coauthorship with the student. It needs to be clarified, to the extent possible, which articles
shall be co-authored, which shall be written individually and, if relevant, the order of
authorship. Minutes should be kept of such conversations. Any agreements shall be
confirmed in writing and signed by the relevant participants.
Only the student shall be the author of the Master’s thesis or other student works the
student writes as part of his/her studies at UiT.
5. Duty of confidentiality
The student is obliged to treat confidentially any information he/she obtains about the
project participants’ technical appliances and methods as well as operational and
25
commercial conditions, which may be confidential owing to the their competitive
significance.
Confidential information must not be transferred to others or published without written
consent from the project manager.
6. Disputes
This agreement is regulated by Norwegian law. The parties shall attempt to resolve any
disputes which may arise through negotiations. Disputes that have not been resolved
within 30 days of one of the parties requesting negotiations may be brought by either
party before an ordinary court of law. The Nord Troms District Court is the legal venue
for such disputes.
7. Signature
If the supervisor for the Master’s thesis is a person other than the project manager, or
the person signing on behalf of the project manager, the supervisor must also sign this
contract.
This contract is entered into in two copies, one of which is to be retained by each party.
Place, date:
Place, date:
Student
For the project manager
Place, date:
Supervisor
26
Appendix 4 – Method for page numbering (Office Word 2010)


Place your cursor on the title page
Choose Insert, then Bottom of Page, then normal numbers 2
Page numbers are now set automatically in the centre at the bottom of the page. The
following menu also appears:





Select Different First Page. No page number will appear on the title page.
Place your cursor on one of the page numbers then double click
Mark a page number then click on Format Page Number. Then choose the right
number format (small Roman numerals for the first pages)
Place your cursor at the bottom of the page before the core text starts
Choose Page Layout, then Breaks, and then Section Breaks Next Page
Word then inserts a Section Break and you can then begin a completely new footer text
that you can format.



Double click on the page number on the page on which the core text starts
Mark the page number with your cursor, rick click and choose Format Page
Number
Choose normal Arabic numbers and start on 1
27
Appendix 5 – Application for financial support for an individual trip connected
with a Master’s thesis
28
FACULTY OF BIOSCIENCES, FISHERIES AND ECONOMICS
THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR AN INDIVIDUAL TRIP CONNECTED
TO A MASTER’S THESIS
Enter your name
Enter your e-mail address
Enter your Norwegian
personal identification
number
Brief description of destination, purpose and duration
Budget:
Travel expenses
Accommodation
Subsistence allowance
Other expenses
NOK
NOK
NOK
NOK
TOTAL
NOK
Travel covered by:
Own share
Student travel funds
Other funding
(specify)
TOTAL
Of this, I hereby apply for BFE to cover:
NOK
(Currently, a maximum of NOK 4000 may be granted.)
Programme option:
Date:
Start semester:
Applicant’s signature:
Supervisor’s recommendation:
Date:
Supervisor’s signature:
Date:
Head of Department’s
approval:
Grant approved of up to:
NOK
29
NOK
NOK
NOK
NOK
Date:
Programme
Coordinator:
30
FACULTY OF BIOSCIENCES, FISHERIES AND ECONOMICS
THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
GUIDANCE
Application for financial support for an individual trip connected to a Master’s thesis
You need to prepare a budget for the proposed trip, including a brief travel description.
You need to sign the form, and get it signed by your supervisor and the Head of
Department, before submitting it to the Academic administration.
Financial support may be allocated for travel that your supervisor confirms is related to
your thesis project (for data collection connected to the compiling of your thesis or
presentation of the results of the thesis at a conference). Your supervisor must carefully
consider the relevance of the travel in relation to the thesis that is being written. The
Head of Department approves the academic content with his/her signature.
Travel to UiT in connection with your supervision and final examination may not be
covered under this item.
If your application applies to a trip for which financial support may be granted in
accordance with the current guidelines, you may receive an advance of up to 75% of the
amount. As soon as possible, and no later than one month, after completion of the trip,
you must complete a travel and subsistence claim form, including original copies of the
receipts of the expenses you have had and want us to reimburse. For airline tickets, a
boarding pass and the original ticket receipt are required.
The School of Business and
Economics
at the UiT The Arctic University of
Norway
31
Appendix 6 – Application for exemption of thesis from being made publicly
available
Application for exemption of Master’s thesis from being made publicly available shall be
submitted using the template below:
To
The School of Business and Economics, UIT
Academic administration
From Surname, given name(s)
Surname, given name(s) (if more than one)
Place, date
APPLICATION FOR MASTER’S THESIS TO BE EXEMPTED FROM BEING MADE
PUBLICLY AVAILABILE
The undersigned hereby apply for my/our Master’s thesis entitled
Enter name of Master’s thesis
to be exempted from being made publicly available for a period of x years (maximum of
five years) calculated from the date of submission pursuant to Section 15 of the
Regulations relating to examinations at the UiT The Arctic University of Norway.
The reason that the thesis shall be exempted from public availability is:
Write the reason here (e.g. that the respondents/companies have made this a
requirement for being willing to act as informants). A reason is necessary for the
Academic administration to be able to make a decision about the matter.
Kindest regards
_____________________
Candidate
_____________________
Candidate
32
The letter must be signed by the applicant(s).
33