Academic Regulations Governing Postgraduate Degrees by Research and Thesis

7. Thesis Format

See also: thesis submission

1. The thesis must be based on a candidate's own work; have not previously formed a part or a whole of a submission for a degree at any academic institution or equivalent thereof; in the case of a PhD thesis, contain the results of research which constitute a significant addition to knowledge.
2. Three copies of the thesis must be lodged with the Office of the Dean of Research. These copies should be in temporary binding pending completion of the examination process when regulation 7.4 will apply.
3. The language of the thesis shall normally be either English or Irish. Other languages shall require the special approval of Academic Council. The language of the thesis shall be agreed upon at initial registration.
4. The thesis shall:

• Be bound within boards of sufficient rigidity to support the work when standing upon a shelf. The colour of the boards shall be University blue (Pantone Ref: 289).
• Have the following information on the front (board) cover:

• the title of the thesis in at least 24pt (80mm) type;
• the initials and name of the candidate;
• the award for which the thesis is submitted, and the year of submission;
• where the thesis consists of more than one volume, the volume number and the total number of volumes

The same information (excluding the title of the thesis) shall be printed in the same order in at least 24 pt (80mm) type along the spine of the cover in such a way as to be easily legible when lying flat with its front cover uppermost. All lettering on the cover and the spine shall be clear of any graphic design.

• Be printed, typewritten or otherwise reproduced on one side only of good quality A4 size paper, doubly or one-and-a-half spaced, with a left hand margin at the binding edge of not less than 40mm and all other margins not less than 20mm:
  • Pages must be numbered consecutively throughout the text, including those pages incorporating photographs or diagrams which are included as whole pages.
  • Where the thesis consists of more than one volume, the pagination should indicate the arabic number of the volume as well as the page-number referring to the particular volume.
  • Page numbers should be located centrally at the bottom of the page and about 10 mm above the edge of the page.
  • Appendices should be named alphabetically, and each appendix paginated consecutively but separately from the main text and from each other.
• Contain a title page with the following information:
  • the full title of thesis, and subtitle, if any, and qualifications, if any, of the candidate;
  • the qualification for which the work is presented;
  • the name of the University, the College, the Supervisor and of the School/Department to which the candidate was attached;
  • the month and year of submission;
  • the total number of volumes and the number of the particular volume, if there is more than one volume.
• Have a page bound into the thesis immediately following the title page, containing the following declaration signed by the candidate:

I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of ........................... (insert title of degree for which registered) is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Signed: ____________________ (Candidate) ID No.: _____________ Date:____________________

• Be accompanied by an abstract of not more than 300 words. This should follow the table of contents in the thesis. In addition, two loose copies of the abstract should be submitted at the same time as the thesis. The abstract should be printed or typed in single spacing and should indicate the author and title of the thesis in the form of a heading.
• Have photographs and/or diagrams firmly fixed in place and appropriately indexed, each to be accompanied by an explanatory legend. Where footnotes and indented quotations are used, these may be in single spacing.
• Have any abbreviations, other than those in normal use, accompanied by an explanatory guide.
  
  5. A thesis should not be excessively long. The maximum limit for a PhD thesis is 90,000 words of text and for a masters thesis 45,000 words of text. In the case of scientific and technological theses, the amount of text will normally be much less than these limits. Because of this variation from subject to subject, the advice of the supervisor should be sought at an early stage in the preparation of the thesis.
  
  6. Copies of the thesis submitted for examination will remain the property of the University/College. The University/College may place one copy in the library for free consultation. The library retains the right, subject to paragraph 7.7 below, to include the summary or abstract in any list of theses published by the University or any publication to which the University may decide to contribute a list of theses.
  
  7. Candidates are required to sign a declaration form (Form PGR7), at the time of submission of the thesis for examination, permitting access to their thesis; where questions of the confidentiality of the contents arise, candidates may request and obtain temporary restriction of access up to a maximum of four years for sufficient cogent reasons using Form PGR8. An application for the restriction of access must be approved and countersigned by a research student's supervisor.
  
  8. The candidate may publish material in advance of presentation of the thesis, but reference should be made to any such publication in the thesis.
  
  9. Copyright in the thesis, ownership of the intellectual property arising in the course of its preparation, and patent rights in respect of any relevant product or process, are matters for agreement between the candidate and the University/College. It shall be the responsibility of the University/College, prior to submission of the thesis, to ensure that adequate provisions have been made in this regard.

 

Last Updated: Monday April 04 2011