Graduate School
B4-G/F-02
The Hong Kong Institute of Education
10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, N.T.
Tel: 2948 6611
Fax: 2948 6619
Graduate School
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Guidelines on Thesis Submission
Section A
1.
Introduction
The guidelines describe the procedures and format required in thesis submission. The final version of thesis
should be presented in a form comparable to published works.
2.
According to Section 12 of the General Academic Regulations for the Research Component of the Research
Postgraduate and Professional Doctorate Programmes, students are required to submit both printed and
electronic copies of the final version of their thesis to the Institute for archive and consultation by the public.
Electronic copies of each thesis will be uploaded onto online databases managed by the Institute Library and
designated vendor(s) for internal as well as public access.
Such electronic copies will be available for discovery
and downloading via the Internet.
3.
It is the student’s responsibility to read through the guidelines before drafting their theses and follow closely the
requirements. Rejection of submitted works will be resulted if the final copies do not follow the proper format as
stated in the guidelines.
Section B
4.
Steps for Thesis Submission
Steps for thesis submission are as follows:
i.
Read through the Guidelines on Thesis Submission;
ii.
Follow the format shown on the guidelines when writing thesis (please refer to Section C and
Section F for details);
iii.
Submit the Notice of Intention to Submit Thesis and Nomination of Thesis Examiners 8 weeks
before submission of thesis;
iv.
For thesis examination, submit the thesis, Thesis Submission Form to Graduate School (please
refer to Section D for details); and
v.
After the thesis examination (including the viva), submit the final version of the thesis to Graduate
School. (please refer to Section E and Section F for details.)
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Section C
5.
Content of Thesis
The content of thesis shall include the following items in the order shown below:
(a) Front Cover (including the title, name of author, degree, name of the Institute, and year of submission);
(b) Title Page (including the title, name of author, degree, name of the Institute, and date of submission);
(c) Statement of Originality;
(d) Thesis Examination Panel Approval (to be completed by the Graduate School)
(e) Abstract (not more than 500 words);
(f) Acknowledgements;
(g) Table of Contents;
(h) List of Abbreviations;
(i) List of Tables;
(j) List of Figures;
(k) Body of thesis;
(l) Reference;
(m) Appendices; and
(n) CD/DVD, if any (if any videos, sound records, software or programmes are included as part of the thesis,
they should be stored on CD/DVD and attached to the back cover of the thesis).
6.
For the final version of thesis, the content MUST follow the format as listed in Section F (Sample paper as
Appendix A is attached). Students are highly recommended to follow this format when drafting the thesis.
7.
The thesis to be submitted must be Students' original work.
Students are reminded to respect the intellectual
property rights of others and not to copy others' work when drafting the thesis.
In particular, subject to the terms
and conditions of the relevant websites, materials on the internet must not be used / copied / downloaded without
consent.
All use of any copyright work belonging to others must be made with consent from the copyright
owner and accompanied by proper and sufficient acknowledgement.
Section D Submission of Thesis for Examination
8.
The following copies are required to be submitted to Graduate School for examination:
(i) two soft copies (one in Word format and one in PDF format) of thesis; and
(ii)
(for PhD and MPhil) four hard copies
(for EdD) three hard copies
9.
The hard copies of thesis shall be printed on 1-side page (NOT both sides) of A4 paper (297mm x 210mm) and
each copy shall be bound in one or more volumes in a temporary heat-sealed “Perfect” binding.
10. Students shall submit the signed Thesis Submission Form to Graduate School with the thesis.
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11. Students with specific reasons to restrict access to their thesis may apply to the Research Postgraduate or Doctor
of Education Programme Committee, whichever appropriate, for restricted access.
Students have to complete
Section C of the Thesis Submission Form (with endorsement from their principal supervisor).
The application
will then be submitted to the Research Postgraduate or Doctor of Education Programme Committee via the
Graduate School.
Section E Submission of Final Version of Thesis
12. Students shall complete all the revisions if they are required by the Thesis Examination Panel after thesis
examination for submission to Board of Graduate Studies for approval.
13. After the final version of thesis has been approved by the Board of Graduate Studies, three hard copies of the
approved thesis bound in boards should be submitted to the Graduate School for permanent retention in the
School and in the Institute Library.
One soft copy (in PDF format) of the approved thesis should also be
submitted to the thesis repository of the Institute Library by following the instructions and specifications provided
in the “Thesis Submission” section on the Library Website (www.lib.ied.edu.hk).
Section F
Format of Final Version of Thesis
Guidelines for Final Version of Thesis - Hard Copy
14. Each copy of thesis should be bound in boards covered in black (for doctorate degree) / green (for master degree)
material. The binding shall be of a fixed kind with leaves permanently and appropriately secured.
15. The thesis should be printed on permanent acid free white paper in ISO A4 size (297 mm x 210 mm)
16. If the thesis is more than 75mm thick, it must be split into two or more volumes. Each volume should have a
maximum thickness of 75mm. The front cover of the hard copy must have the volume number printed. Title page,
Statement of Originality, abstract and acknowledgement should only be included in the first volume. Page number
of each volume must be continued from the previous volume.
17. Front Cover (refer to Annex 1)
a.
The thesis title, at 50 mm below the top of the cover;
b.
The full name of the author, at 25 mm below the title;
c.
The degree for which the thesis is submitted, abbreviated to HKIEd requirements, at 25 mm above the name
of the Institute;
d.
The full name “THE HONG KONG INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION”, at 25 mm above the year;
e.
The final year of submission, at 25 mm above the bottom of the cover; and
f.
Letter should be in gold block letter, 3 to 4 mm in height, around 10 letters per 25 mm in Times New
Roman font, all in block capital.
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18. Spine (refer to Annex 2)
a.
Letter should be applied in the direction top to bottom. It should be printed in such a direction that it is
upright when the thesis is lying flat with the front cover uppermost. It should be in gold block letter, 3 to 4
mm in height, around 10 letters per 25 mm in Times New Roman font;
b.
The full name of the author, at 20 mm below the top of the spine. Justified to left and move to next line if
the name is too long;
c.
The degree for which the thesis is submitted, at least 40 mm below the name of author and at least 80 mm
above the submission year and justified to left;
d.
The final year of submission, at 10 mm above the name "HKIEd"; and
e.
The name “HKIEd”, at 20 mm above the bottom of the spine.
19. Content of thesis
a.
Margin of the page shall be: LEFT: 32mm; RIGHT: 32mm; TOP: 32mm; Bottom: 32mm;
b.
The font shall be Times New Roman, size 12;
c.
1.5 line spacing except the THESIS EXAMINATION PANEL APPROVAL and REFERENCES shall be
single line spacing; and
d.
Justified (i.e. align texts to both left and right margins) except for the REFERENCES, “hanging indent” (i.e.
entries should begin flush left, and the second and subsequent lines should be indented) shall be used.
e.
Example of the title page, statement of originality, thesis examination panel approval, abstract,
acknowledgements, table of contents, list of abbreviations, list of table, list of figure, body of thesis, tables,
figures and references; please refer to Annex 3 – 15 respectively in the sample paper in Appendix A.
20. Page number
a.
Inserted in the lower right corner of the page;
b.
Roman number (i.e. i, ii…) should be used for the following contents pages

Statement of Originality;

Thesis Examination Panel Approval (to be completed by the Graduate School);

Abstract (not more than 500 words);

Acknowledgements;

Table of Contents;

List of Abbreviations;

List of Tables;

List of Figures;
c.
Roman page number ‘i’ should not be inserted into the front cover and title page; and
d.
Arabic number (i.e. 1, 2, 3…) shall be used for the body of thesis, references and appendices.
21. Citing References
APA 6 style shall be followed for format and citing references. For more information about the style as well as the
bibliography management tool – RefWorks, please refer to the Library website: www.lib.ied.edu.hk.
22. There is no special format for figures, appendices or similar illustrations.
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Guidelines for Final Version of Thesis - Soft Copy
23. One soft copy of the final version of thesis should be submitted to the Institute Library via the Library Website.
24. The file format for soft copy should follow the specifications provided in the “Thesis Submission” section of the
Library Website. The soft copy should be generated directly from the original digital file of the thesis.
generated by scanning the hard copy of the thesis will not be accepted .
25. Contents of soft copy must be totally identical to the contents of the submitted hard copy of the thesis.
15 January 2014
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Soft copy