Postgraduate Assignment Papers

Disclaimer

This entry does not replace the necessary required reading text suggested by the faculty in each of the program. Students must read and understand the content of textbooks suggested. Although every effort is made to cite and or make reference to original copyright holders, the author shall not be liable for any loss, expenses, damage or claim arising out of statements and or issues and expressly disclaims all responsibility for the material in this document and all liability to any person in relation to any action that person may take or fail to take in reliance, whether in whole or in part, on this document.

Postgraduate students are required to write a well-articulated paper in the form of assignments reports and /or project papers as part fulfilment for them to graduate. The length of these papers varies in terms of length and number of words depending on the assignments the students are pursuing. Any intellectual or academic effort will go thorough a widely accepted phases, namely:

• Thinking or Conceptualising
• Preparing the Project and or the Research Proposal
• Conducting the actual Research
• Writing the Project and or the Research Paper
• Sharing the Project and or the Research Outcomes
• Revising or Refining the Project and or the Research Paper
• Submitting the final completed Project and or the Research Paper
• Defending the Project and or the Research Paper
• Submitting the final paper incorporating suggestions from the defence

Indeed, students always asked the importance of such requirement and why they are frequently subjected to such despair. There are number of reasons as to why universities and colleges are pursuing such path. Although non-exhaustive, the list below represents why academic paper is crucial at any universities and colleges.

• It the case of individual papers, it develops and enhances the individual student’s writing competencies.
• In the case of group assignment papers, it develops the team building and leadership skills within each individual student.
• It harnesses creative thinking amongst students that are much needed in the “real” business world.
• It provides the lecturers, supervisors, academic committee and examiners with an instrument for assessing students’ competency levels.

Producing an academic paper is not as difficult as it seems. Students need only to conform to their university or college’s requirements that are also the universally accepted general requirements of the academic world.

It is in the best interest of the students to fully comprehend and understand these requirements to avoid unnecessary, costly and time-consuming revisions. Always bear in mind that, an academic paper is indeed an individual student’s product. The quality of such product will tell the customers, in this case the examiners and academic committee, the quality of the student. On the same premise, not limited to, the following are attributes of a good academic paper:

• The paper clearly demonstrates the student’s ability to undertake a research exercise. The output (academic paper) includes critical reviews of the literatures, applying appropriate research methods and tools in analysing the data and interpreting the results into useful information.
• The paper makes significant contribution to the academic knowledge as well as to the business practice.
• The paper is written using a concise and simple language that can be easily understood by the readers.
• The paper shows an overall coherence, between chapters and the connections between chapters and the ideas put forward; and clearly written in a smooth and logical manner.
• The format and layout of the paper conform to the university or college’s requirements. It is well edited, thoroughly checked for spelling, grammatical and typographical errors.
• Text citations and references conform to the adopted referencing style, may it be Harvard or AAPA.

General guidelines

The work must be in English unless a written permission is given to do otherwise. If the academic paper is written in languages other than English, it should be accompanied by a report from the supervisor on the contents and structure of the paper. However, a brief quotation in language other than English is permitted.

The length of academic paper varies according to the Degree pursued. In the case for Masters Degree, excluding the front and back matters, Assignments such as Case study Reports should be at least 5,000 words and Final Research Project Papers should be at least 10,000 words. There are exceptions of course, where some Masters Degree calls for thesis of 50,000 words. In the case for Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) research, the final thesis is usually 100,000 words excluding the front and back matters.

Students are strongly advised to verify their universities or colleges’ requirements, as failure to do may results in unfavourable circumstances.

The work must be submitted in condition appropriate for preservation in the university’s library and there shall be no restriction whatsoever for the access to the academic paper.

All statements, citations and must be clearly indicated and properly referenced.

The work must be original and students are usually required to sign-off the declaration form attached at the front for the final submitted academic paper.

All work must be either type written or printed in letter-quality prints on a white A4 size paper of not less than 80 grams weight. The use of colour paper is only allowed as separators, if the student so wishes.

All assignment reports must be properly comb-bound using a black coloured comb spine, with clear hard plastic front cover and black coloured hard-paper back cover. All Final Project Paper and thesis must be in a “book bind” using coloured hardcover for both front and back, as specified by the university.

The type setting must be at least one and a half (1½) spacing for Case Study Reports, Research Proposals and Final Research Project Reports; using 12 points of the specified fonts, with Left Margin being 3.81cm or 1½”, Right Margin of 2.54cm or 1” and Top and bottom spaces 2.54cm or 1”. For Microsoft word® users, these can be easily set from the File>Page Set up menu as shown in the image below.

click for larger view

Commonly, only single sided printing is allowed and pages must be consecutively numbered with proper table of contents, figures, tables. It is crucial for all students to conform to all the requirements set please refer to all the detail write up on page layout and content placements requirements set by the university or college.

 

 

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