VERSION DATED August 20, 2007
TEMPLATE FOR MASTERS THESES AND DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS IN THE CENTRE FOR KNOWLEDGE DYNAMICS AND DECISION-MAKING
Copy this template onto your computer and use the format as is.
Chapter Number Chapter Heading
And perhaps a sub-heading
1 The layout of a chapter
(Chapter Number).1 1st level sub heading
The body text is always in Times New Roman 12 point and justified. This means that the right hand side is neatly in line, like the left hand. Have you ever seen a book where this is not the case? Why then, do you want to publish anything which is not equally neat? Your paragraphs are spaced 1.5. NO paragraphs are inserted, merely to create a space between paragraphs (because your paragraph style is already set for a 6pt space after the paragraph) (Chapter Number).1.1 2nd level sub heading
Your second level sub-heading is – like all sub-headings in the body text – in Arial, but one font size smaller than first level subheadings (Chapter Number).1.1.1 3rd level sub heading Third level sub-headings is your last stop for sub-dividing your argument. Never go beyond the third level. It simply confuses everyone, starting with yourself. If you need more than three levels, it means that you have not grouped your ideas into a suitable coherence. The end result will be a basket full of scattered items and not much more.
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Varia
Always remember that bold text is never used in body text. If you want to emphasise you utilise italics. On the other hand italics are never used in headings. For headings Arial Bold is used. And remember that underlining is not used either. You are writing a book, after all.
2 It is very important that you use TABS. Make sure that the tab settings are consistent throughout the entire thesis. This is the one secret of a professional layout. And have you made sure that the paper setting for every page of your thesis/dissertation is A4? (American software come default in “letter” format – which we do not use in the rest of the world, or most of it, anyway). Always remember to insert page numbers from the moment you start your work. Have you ever seen a book without numbers? Why do you want to work without them then? However, do NOT count the pages of your thesis from the cover page. You start counting pages form the page after your Table of Contents page.
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Aspects of Referencing by Footnoting
Now we get to footnotes. There is nothing easier than using footnotes (rather than the Harvard method). Simply go to „insert‟, „reference‟, „footnote‟1. Using footnotes allows for a much easier construction of your main argument, as well as for a more in depth2 discussion of your sources. Instead of merely referring to them in passing by (as is the Harvard method case) you can explore a source (and its own argumentative links) without upsetting the flow of your main argument above the line. Real scholarly work is not possible in the Harvard format. The Harvard format was developed in the days when typists could not determine how much space was needed for footnotes. Now the computer does that for you. The Harvard format is useful for a quick run by of literature but actually obstructs the in depth engagement with such literature.
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A few important notes about the Bibliography
If you want to save yourself lots of frustrations and oodles of time, get your bibliography right from the outset. Get the format right (as below) and get the formatting right. The formatting of a bibliographical entry is all about sequence, punctuation and italicising the correct part. The underlying principles are:
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Here is your first footnote. In a footnote you refer to the source which you have used in the body text (directly or indirectly) to construct your argument. Because your bibliography contains the full bibliographical reference you use an abbreviated form in the footnote. For example: De Wit B, Meyer R. 2001. Strategy Synthesis, 10-11. Note that the nomenclature of “op”, “op cit”, “ibid”, “p”, etc is NOT used. Footnotes are not only for reference purposes. In a footnote you may expand on a side issue, relevant in the context of your thesis, but not part of the core argument. When you do this you normally end up referring to many other sources in the footnote. Using footnotes – correctly - raises the academic level of your thesis considerably.
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3 To provide your reader with exact information where to find the document (or reference item) you are pointing at To make the reference as uncluttered as possible and provide the shortest possible route to get to the original The basic rule for a useful entry is to indicate very clearly the source where the reference may be found. In the typing machine era the source was underlined; today it is italicised. Note that the source is mostly not the same as the reference! Only when you refer to a monograph (basically a book with a(n) author(s) – not editor(s)) will the reference and the source be the same. But when referring to (for instance) an article in a journal, the journal is the source, not the article. Speaking of articles in journals, you normally indicate the pages, and always the specific serial number (year and # of the edition in that year). Journals are bound and shelved per annum. Without specific page numbers it is often very difficult to track them down. And what about references from the web? This is a comprehensive issue which needs to be thrashed out properly in our discussions. But for now, in a nutshell, the onus is on you to prove that a) the website you refer to does or did indeed exist (and is not a figment of your imagination), b) the content that you refer to is accessible to your reader without undue difficulties – and will remain so for a long time to come! Above all remember – using the web does not change the rules of proper research. Simply because the web allows you to find sources easily, it does not necessarily follow that they are useful. You still have to convince your reader of quality and you still have to bring proof. The web is not going to do that for you3. If you reference an author who contributed a chapter (or two) to an edited book you have to have two entries in the bibliography. The one provides the details of the (edited) book and the other provides the details of the author. See the third and fourth examples below. If you have tables and other such statistical entries in your thesis, they must be listed separately from the alphabetical list.
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The basic problem with the web is that it changes all the time. If you decide to use a website as one of your references (as opposed to using the internet to connect you to some database somewhere (such as the SU library electronic documents database)) you have to make a copy of the site as it is at the moment you utilise it. 30 years later a reader of your thesis/dissertation must in principle still be in a position to see what you have seen on the day of referencing. Which means? That you have to keep your copies in a safe place until death do us part. Safe, in this case, is at least one copy on CD or DVD.
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Bibliography
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BONTIS N, CROSSAN MM, HULLAND J. 2002. Managing an Organisational Learning System by Aligning Stocks and Flows. Journal of Management Studies. 39(4): 437-4695 DE WIT B, MEYER R. 2001. Strategy Synthesis – resolving strategy paradoxes to create competitive advantage. London: Thomson Learning LEIBOLD M, PROBST GJB, GIBBERT M (eds). 2002. Strategic Management in the Knowledge Economy. Publicis: Erlangen KINGHORN J. 2002. Understanding Organizational Sense Making: A Diagnostic Tool for Strategic Leadership in Conditions of Complexity, in: Leibold M, Probst GJB, Gibbert M (eds). 2002. Strategic Management in the Knowledge Economy. Publicis: Erlangen WEICK KE. 1995. Sensemaking in Organizations. SAGE: London6
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Please note: it is not required to have an ISBN in your bibliography, but it is a useful addition a) in those cases where the page numbers differ between the paperback and hardcover editions, and b) when it is necessary to distinguish between versions of the same book. This happens when so called „abridged‟ versions with the same name as the full versions are available. Note that page numbers when referencing journals are required. Journals are normally published 4 times a year but the page numbering is continuous. It is sometimes difficult to find a particular article once the editions are bound and page numbers make the task much easier. Have you noted that there are no full stops at the end of an entry? Given the nature of the layout they are completely superfluous.
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