A

THESIS GUIDE
for a

LAW(st) Student

Brought to you by your Law Student Government AY 2018 – 2019

Lifted from Thesis Primer 2017 of LSG 17-18


YOU CAN START YOUR DEFENSE ANYTIME FROM

NOW.

Just make sure to accomplish the following:

1. 3 hard copies of FINAL THESIS paper (RING
BOUND)
2. Email a soft copy to Ms. Juliet at:
Julietmedina4@gmail.com or
maria.julieta.medina@dlsu.edu.ph
3. Thesis Writing green form and Thesis Defense green
form.
4. Photocopy of OR of Thesis Defense fee; validated by
the Accounting.

DEADLINE FOR FINAL THESIS PAPER for Defense is

on MARCH 1, 2019

Brought to you by your Law Student Government AY 2018 – 2019

Lifted from Thesis Primer 2017 of LSG 17-18


CONDUCT OF ORAL DEFENSE

• Upon recommendation from the thesis adviser, oral defense shall be scheduled by the
Thesis Coordinator, Atty. Aguirre, in accordance with the decision of the adviser and
Panel Members duly communicated to the Office.
• The thesis writer shall give four (4) copies of the thesis draft to the Office of the Dean,
to be given to each member of the Panel, at least two weeks before the scheduled
defense date. The draft shall be accompanied by a letter of endorsement from the
Thesis Adviser.
• The Defense Panel shall consist of three members, to be appointed by the Dean, upon
recommendation of Atty. Aguirre. The adviser, as well as at least two panel members,
shall come from the full-time and part-time faculty members of the College of Law.
The Adviser and the thesis writer may suggest the third panel member who may come
from another department or college in DLSU or from another institution. The Oral
Defense Panel shall be chaired by the most senior among the members.
• Evaluation and rating shall be done by the members of the Panel in a closed-door
meeting to be held immediately after the oral defense.
• The Adviser is not required to be present during the deliberations. He or she is also not
allowed to be a member of the panel, but may sit in during the defense.

RATING: PASS OR FAIL

• PASS – This means that the student has successfully defended his/her thesis, and
required revisions are merely minor and may be left to the discretion of the thesis
adviser. In this case, the Panel Members in attendance shall sign the Approved Sheet.
• PROVISIONAL PASS – This means that revisions must be made that, although minor
in nature, would require resubmission of the revised paper to all members of the Panel
who will vote in referendum on the revised paper. In this case, the Approval Sheet
shall be signed after the student has incorporated the revisions to the satisfaction of
the panelists.
• FAIL – This means that the student did not successfully defend the thesis. In this
case, a report must be made by the Chair of the panel on the reasons for failing, and
the major revisions required. The student must revise the thesis and present this
again in a second oral defense which should be within one academic year from the
first defense.

Brought to you by your Law Student Government AY 2018 – 2019

Lifted from Thesis Primer 2017 of LSG 17-18


ORDER
I. Unnumbered pages
a. Title page
b. Adviser’s endorsement
c. Approval page
d. Acknowledgements (limit to two pages)
e. Dedication (optional
f. Abstract – must be limited to:
• Statement of the problem
• Brief summary of discussions
• Brief conclusion
g. Table of Contents

II. Numbered pages

a. Text
i. Use Arabic numerals (1, 2, etc.).
ii. Place numbering at the upper right-hand corner of the page.
iii. Do not show page number at the start of each Chapter but count that
page for the
2. sequencing of pages.
a. References
i. Take note of this order:
1. Books
2. Unpublished Works
3. Articles and Book Chapters
4. Electronic Sources
ü Electronic journal articles must be listed under Articles
and Book Chapters
• See Appendix B of M. Feliciano, Philippine Manual of Legal
Citations, 5th rev. ed., 1999
• Personal communication (i.e. interviews) are cited in text but not
included in the list of references.
• A table of cases and a table of laws may included.
• Appendices (if any) – page separately (A-1, A-2, etc)

Brought to you by your Law Student Government AY 2018 – 2019

Lifted from Thesis Primer 2017 of LSG 17-18


FORMAT, STYLE
I. Paper size: Letter (8.5” x 11”)
II. Margins and Font
a. Page setup:
Top = 1.5” Left Margin = 1.5”
Bottom = 1” Right Margin = 1.3”
b. Right and left margins should be justified.
c. Font: Times New Roman or CG Time, 12 points
d. Indentions: First tab in OpenOffice, LibreOffice, or MS Word

III. Spacing
a. Between Chapter Title and 1st Main Subheading: 4 spaces
b. Before each main subheadings (in Bold font): 4 spaces
c. Other subheadings: double-spaced
d. Body: double-spaced
e. It is permissible to have 3 spaces between paragraphs

IV. Subheadings – follow the following:

• Main Heading (bold)
• Second Subheading (underlined)
• Third Subheading (italicized)

Brought to you by your Law Student Government AY 2018 – 2019

Lifted from Thesis Primer 2017 of LSG 17-18


NUMERALS, SYMBOLS, ETC.
I. Numerals
• Generally:
o Spell out numbers zero to ninety-nine
o Use numerals for number 100 and greater
• HOWEVER,
SPELL OUT USE NUMERALS
• Numbers that begin a sentence • Numbers with decimal point
• Rounded numbers, if done consistently • Percentages (90%)
• Currency (Php 1,000,000)
• Sections or other subdivisions

II. Italicize
a. For emphasis
b. Non-English words and phrases, EXCEPT: words that have been
incorporated into the common English language (e.g., habeas corpus; See
Rule 7 of The Blue Book for samples of these words and phrases)
c. Letters representing hypothetical parties, places, or things
d. Mathematical expressions

III. Capitalize
a. Headings and Titles
• Use title capitalization for all headings and titles of books, articles,
etc.
EXCEPT: articles, conjunctions, or prepositions with less than five
letters
• Capitalize the first letter of any word that comes after a colon.
b. Internet main page titles and URLs
• Capitalize in accordance with the actual capitalization of the
source.
c. Citations and References:
• See Feliciano. If a particular problem is not addressed, see The
Blue Book.

Brought to you by your Law Student Government AY 2018 – 2019

Lifted from Thesis Primer 2017 of LSG 17-18


CITATIONS
Always cite the sources of ideas, theories, and expressions thereof which have been
borrowed or based on another’s work in order to avoid charges of plagiarism. Make sure you
know the proper use of quotation marks or blocking of texts in order to keep track of you
sources take
down notes as you research, noting down whether you are paraphrasing or quoting directly
from the author. Always write down the complete citation of references during the research
stage in order not to have difficulties later of tracing sources.

Use footnotes rather than endnotes. For citation format, use M. Feliciano’s Philippine
Manual of Legal Citations, 5th rev. ed. Quezon City, UP Law Center, 1999. Supplement
this with the Harvard Blue Book, 19th ed., 2010.

I. Short Citation Forms

• Id. – Use when citing an immediately preceding citation, only if preceding citation
contains only one authority; e.g.:
1 Chalfin v. Specter, 233 A.2d 562, 562 (Pa. 1967).
2 Id. at 563.
• Supra
a. Should NOT be used for cases, statutes, constitutions, model codes,
restatements or regulations.
b. Use when citing an authority that had been fully cited previously.
c. Generally consists of the last name of the author of the work, followed by a
comma and the word “supra” e.g.:
31 Reich, supra note 16, at 6.
32 Perfecto Fernandez & Camilo Quiason, Labor Standards and
Welfare Legislation 173 (1965).
33 Fernandez & Quiason, supra note 32, at 175.

II. Quotations
• Enclose direct quotations in double quotation marks for texts of less than 50 words.
• Block quotations (without quotation marks) for texts of 50 words or more, single-
spaced, with left and right indention of 0.5
• Footnote number must appear after the last punctuatuon mark of the quoted text.
• Directly-quoted texts that are NOT enclosed in quotation marks or blocked
as here instructed is plagiarism, whether the source is cited or not.

III. Abbreviations
• Generally, abbreviate sources in accordance with publication’s instructions on how it
should be cited.
• For Philippine sources, see Feliciano. For foreign sources, see The Blue book.

Brought to you by your Law Student Government AY 2018 – 2019

Lifted from Thesis Primer 2017 of LSG 17-18


SAMPLE ENDORSEMENT

Brought to you by your Law Student Government AY 2018 – 2019

Lifted from Thesis Primer 2017 of LSG 17-18