Dissertation Submission - FAQ
FORMAT
The dissertation should be type written, printed on good quality paper, size A4, single sided. The minimum
margins should be a left margin of 4 cm (to allow for binding) and right, top and bottom margins of 2½ cm. The
pages and illustrations must be numbered consecutively. The text may be presented in either one-and-a-half or
double-line spacing on single sided pages.
WORD LIMIT
Dissertations will be expected to be between 15,000 and 20,000 words.
and references but does not include your bibliography.
The word length includes footnotes
Dissertations that exceed or fail to meet the established word length shall be penalised by deduction of marks.
Penalties shall begin to apply where dissertations exceed or fail to meet their established word length by more
than 10%. These penalties are also graduated to take account of students who exceed the established word
length by a greater margin. The following penalty scale shall apply:
Dissertation exceeds or
fails to meet word length by
more than:
10%
20%
30%
Number of Marks to be
Deducted
5
10
20
NUMBER OF COPIES
At the time of formal submission, two copies are required by the School.
BINDING
The dissertation should be bound securely (e.g. by spiral wire binding or soft binding), but does not need to be
in hard cover format.
SUBMISSION
The finalised dissertation must be submitted to the Law School postgraduate office on or before the
submission deadline.
Dissertations submitted late will be penalised at a rate of five percent of its total mark for each day that it is
late. After five days the dissertation will receive a mark of zero.
Extensions may be granted only in exceptional circumstances.
A list of guidelines on acceptable extenuating circumstances is contained in the Policies and Procedures
Manual, available from the Academic Affairs office or at:
http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/AcademicStudentAffairs/AcademicAffairs/.
Students must fill in and submit to the School of Law Postgraduate Office a dissertation deferral form and
provide documentary evidence. It is the student’s responsibility to provide evidence as no extensions will be
provided without it.
Exemptions shall be granted only if there are extenuating circumstances, and where the student has made a
case in writing to the Programme Coordinator within three working days of the deadline for submission.
Only the Programme Coordinator can authorize an extension: supervisors cannot.
Note that as LLM/MSSc degrees are normally presented at the Winter Graduation Ceremony, delay in
submitting the dissertation may result in the postponement of graduation for a year, and students will incur
additional writing-up fees for dissertations submitted late.
CONTENT
Content should include (where relevant):a. Title page and details;
b. The dissertation will be maintained for public use by the School on completion. Ensure therefore that all
appropriate disclaimers are made with regard to copyright, personal references, that all permission
required is noted and all cases of confidentiality and ethical concerns recognized;
c. Statement of acknowledgements – for example to any agency that has facilitated the study;
d. Abstract of approximately 150-200 words. That abstract should not be written until the completion of the
dissertation but it is a critical statement as a guide to the contents;
e. Contents page of chapters, including sections within chapters; appropriately page numbered;
f. Introductory section – outlining the forthcoming chapters; review of the initial evidence, demonstrating
familiarity with the existing materials; a relevant literature review; and a statement of the central
hypothesis(es);
g. A methodology section – the length of this will vary. Thus a dissertation that consists primarily of a
general literature review of material will clearly require much less concentration on methodological
concerns than one that centres on the analysis of quantitative or qualitative evidence. In the latter
cases, validation procedures, forms of data collection, and in the case of a comparative study, a
rationale for the basis of that comparison will be essential;
h. Text in chapters, with notes as appropriate. Ideally the chapters should commence with the broad issue
of the study and conclude with the narrow, definitive themes;
i. Summary and conclusions – this chapter should tie together all the disparate threads of the study. It
should commence with a re-statement of the hypotheses being investigated and locate the findings with
a general review of existing knowledge. The conclusions should show how the findings from the study
add to such knowledge or are at variance with such received wisdom. Consequential research
suggestions may be made. As appropriate, qualified policy recommendations may be included;
j. Bibliography detailing all books and articles referred to in the dissertation, in an approved alphabetical
style.
k. Appendices as appropriate, for example, a copy of any questionnaire used.
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is a serious academic offence. Issues of plagiarism are taken very seriously by the School of Law.
Students are responsible for knowing the University’s standards and abiding by them.
According to the University General Regulations “It is an academic offence for a student to commit an act
whereby he/she gains or attempts to gain an unfair advantage”.
Assignments require you to develop a written argument in response to a particular issue. This will require you to
draw upon a variety of sources, as well as literature written by other academics. You are expected within your
assessments to use such material, but you should always reference to the fact that you have done so. This
means citing the relevant details of the author and title of the piece used every time you use them. So if you use
their words you must put them in quotation marks and indicate where you got them from, if you use their ideas,
you must similarly indicate the source. If you fail to do so, you could be found guilty of plagiarism.
This is a serious offence and will be penalised, resulting in you failing the module or even the degree. Instances
of plagiarism will be reported to the professional legal bodies, who regard plagiarism as evidence of being unfit
to practice law.
EXTENSIONS POLICY
It is essential that you submit your dissertation on time. Strict penalties are applied for lateness and will be
applied unless prior approval has been sought for an extension.
Dissertations submitted late will lose five percent of the total mark for each day that they are late. After five
days the dissertation will receive a mark of zero. Dissertations which are required to be submitted within a
particular time, say 5pm, will be considered one day late if they are submitted at say 5.15pm on the same day.
Extensions are only granted in exceptional circumstances. You should complete and submit a dissertation
extension form (http://www.law.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/Education/Postgraduates/) to the Programme
Coordinator and you must provide documentary evidence, such as a doctor’s certificate, counselling letter, etc.
It is your responsibility to provide the evidence and no extensions will be provided without it.
Extensions should normally be requested in advance. Extensions can only be granted at the latest within three
working days before the due date, otherwise the work will be counted as late. There will be no retrospective
extensions.
Examples of excuses that will not accepted
Computer related problems (printer problems, computer viruses, failure to keep backups), language difficulties,
non-degree related work commitments, minor illness, and getting married.
Examples of valid excuses
Bereavement, serious illness or accident, or unexpected homelessness or other serious personal disruption.
If you are experiencing problems you should approach the pathway co-ordinator as soon as possible. It may
be appropriate to discuss solutions such as short extensions, switching to part-time or temporarily withdrawing
from the programme.
Delays may postpone your graduation for a year and students may incur additional writing-up fee for
dissertations submitted late.
DEFERRALS
Students may request to defer the submission of their dissertation until the next available opportunity, normally
1st May. This may be requested by completing and returning the deferral request form to the PG Administrator.
This can be found on the School website as above. Students should note that as a result of requesting a
deferral they will be liable to pay additional fees to the University and that their graduation will subsequently be
delayed.
DISSERTATION TITLE PAGE EXAMPLE
Queen’s University Belfast
School of Law
‘Dissertation Title’
Student Name
Student number:
Signed XX
Date
A Dissertation submitted as part of the requirements for the Degree of . . .
Except for the appropriately referenced materials, this thesis is entirely my own
work carried out under the supervision of XX.
Total number of words XX