AMBO UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

MASTER’S THESIS WRITING GIDELINE

April, 2018

Ambo

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Contents
I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 1
II. ORDER OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................... 1
I. Preliminary Pages.............................................................................................................................. 1
II. Body of thesis, divided into............................................................................................................... 2
III. Bibliography /List of references ................................................................................................... 2
IV. Appendices .................................................................................................................................... 2
TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................................................................ 3
APROVAL AND CERTIFICATION SHEET ...................................................................................................... 3
DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................................... 3
DEDICATION/STATEMENT OF AUTHOR (Optional) ................................................................................... 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................. 4
LIST OF FIGURES AND LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... 4
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................................. 4
III. FORMAT AND STYLE ................................................................................................................................. 4
IV. THESIS SUBMISSION PROCESS ................................................................................................................. 5
COVER ....................................................................................................................................................... 6
V. OTHER ISSUE ............................................................................................................................................. 6
PLAGIARISM .............................................................................................................................................. 6
Appendices.................................................................................................................................................... 7
Appendix A: Approval Sheet ..................................................................................................................... 7
Appendix B: Certification Sheet ................................................................................................................ 8
Appendix C: Citations and References Templete...................................................................................... 9

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I. INTRODUCTION
According to regulations concerning the degree Master of Art and Science in the School of
Graduate Studies of Ambo University, a student is required to write a master’s thesis. A master’s
thesis is a personal independent academic work prepared by the student which makes a
contribution to scientific knowledge. These are evaluated in a public examination in which
candidates present and defend their research to a panel of examiners who, can ask questions about
any aspect of the research work presented: the research method used, the sources, the results, etc
and the final report.
The student is advised to start preparing the master’s thesis in the second year of higher degree
studies. The master’s thesis must show familiarity with previous work in the field and must
demonstrate ability to use research methods and academic style.

The aim of the master’s thesis is to improve the student’s ability for independent research work
and its practical application as well as to enable the student to apply different research methods
both independently and in groups. Furthermore, master’s thesis must demonstrate the student’s
ability to use relevant literature and to present research results as well as show ability for doctoral
studies.

The Ambo University of School of Graduate Studies (SGS) thesis writing format is a series of
guidelines that describe the minimum style thresholds that all theses bearing the stamp of the
School of Graduate Studies of Ambo University.
Although there may be some variation in your own department, this guideline is the standard for all
departments and graduate program that will help you prepare your thesis according to sound academic
standards and, thereby, avoid unnecessary delays in having it accepted by the School of Graduate
Studies (SGS).

II. ORDER OF CONTENTS

Master’s thesis can be structured as follows:

I. Preliminary Pages
• Title page
• Approval Sheet
• Certification Sheet
• Declaration of Authorship
• Dedication (where applicable)
• Acknowledgements (where applicable
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables (where applicable)
• List of Figures (where applicable)
• List of Appendices (where applicable)
• List of Abbreviations, Symbols, Acronyms( If Applicable)
• Nomenclature (where applicable)
• Abstract

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 II. Body of thesis, divided into

o Chapter one: Introduction

o Chapter Two: Literature review
o Chapter Three: Materials and Methods
o Chapter Four: Findings / Results / Data Analysis
o Chapter Five: Discussion, Conclusions and Recommendations

III. Bibliography /List of references

IV. Appendices

Table 1. Summary of the major components of a mater thesis

Section Sub Section Page Required/Optional
Assignment
Title Page No page number Counted as page “i” Required
but not numbered
Preliminary Approval Sheet always page ii Required
Certification Sheet iii Optional
Pages Declaration of Authorship iv Required
Page numbers for
Dedication v Optional
the preliminary
pages should be Acknowledgements vi Optional
numbered Table of Contents vii Required
consecutively in List of Tables Small roman Required if the document
lower case roman number contains tables
numerals List of Figures Small roman Required if the document
number contains figures
List of Appendices Small roman where applicable/ optional
number
List of Abbreviations, Small roman where applicable/ optional
Symbols, number
Nomenclature Small roman where applicable/ optional
number
Abstract Small roman Required
number
Body of thesis Chapter one: Introduction always beginning Required
( Arabic page with page 1
numbers and Chapter Two: Literature Continuous from Required
each chapter review chapter one
begin with new Chapter Three: Methods Continuous from Required
page) chapter two
Chapter Four: Results Continuous from Required
chapter three
Chapter Five: Discussion, Continuous from Required
Conclusions and chapter four
Recommendations
List of Continuous from Required

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References chapter five
Appendices Continuous from list where applicable
of references

TITLE PAGE
The title page contains all the important information about the master thesis. Title page must state the
following:
:
• The logo and the name of the University, college/institute/School department and/or Program
(in capital letters, bolded and centred)
• Title of the thesis (in capital letters, bolded and centred)
• Name and surname(s) of the author (in capital letters, bolded and centred)
• The words “Master Thesis” and Submitted to the Department of __________in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science/Art in __________
• Name of Advisor Prof/Dr. XXX”
• The city(in capital letters, bolded and right aligned)
• The year( Bolded and right aligned)

APROVAL AND CERTIFICATION SHEET

Final approval and acceptance of the thesis is contingent upon the submission of final copy of the
thesis to the Office of School of Graduate Studies through departmental or school of graduate
committee (DGC or SGC) of the candidate (see Appendix A&B).

DECLARATION
I, the undersigned, declare that the thesis comprises my own work. In compliance with internationally
accepted practices, I have dually acknowledged and refereed all materials used in this work. I
understand that non-adherence to the principles of academic honesty and integrity, misrepresentation/
fabrication of any idea/data/fact/source will constitute sufficient ground for disciplinary action by the
university and can also evoke penal action from the sources which have not been properly cited or
acknowledged.
______________________________
Name of the student

_____________________________
Signature

_____________________________
Date

DEDICATION/STATEMENT OF AUTHOR (Optional)

If used, it must be included in the “Table of Contents”, and be on a separate page from the
Acknowledgements. Use 1.5 line spacing.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This section must be brief (no more than one page). It serves to acknowledge support (logistical,
financial, and moral) that aided in the research, analysis, and writing of the thesis.

LIST OF FIGURES AND LIST OF TABLES

If figures (including graphs, photographs, images, etc.) and tables are used they must be listed
consecutively and numbered with Arabic numerals (Figure 1, 2, 3, etc. ; Table 1,2,3, etc). Figures
must have captions under the figures while Tables must have numbers and captions above
‘Figure’ and ‘Table’ are capitalized whenever a specific figure or table is referred to in the thesis.
The labeling of the figures and tables in the thesis must correspond to the listing in the ‘List of
Figures’ and ‘List of Tables’ respectively. In this section, provide the figure number, a title, and
the number of the thesis page on which the figure appears.

ABSTRACT
The master’s thesis must include a maximum of one-page abstract(up to 500 words). The abstract
page must summarizes all sections of the thesis, including the research purpose/problem, material,
research methods, major findings and conclusion of the thesis. The abstract should be
understandable without having to consult the thesis itself. In the abstract, the student should use
established terminology. References or quotations are not to be used. The abstract must not
include abbreviations, acronyms, jargon, reference citations, or any figures or tables.
Include a list of up to 5 key words, Times New Roman, Font Size 10 and bolded.

III. FORMAT AND STYLE

Language: The thesis must be written in English( Afan Oromo program only in Afan Oromo).
Page Specifications: The page size must be A4 (or 216 × 279 millimeters). Other paper sizes are
not allowed.
Headings:
In disciplines where section numbering is normally used, the following guidelines apply:

• Chapter title: 18 pt size, bold.

• Main Section Headings: can be numbered as chapter-number. section-number (e.g., 3.2
for chapter 3, section 2) in 16 pt size, bold.
• Second Headings: can be numbered as x.y.z (e.g., 3.2.4 for chapter 3, section 2,
subsection 4) in 14 pt size, bold.
• First Subheadings: can be numbered as w.x.y.z (e.g., 3.2.4.1 for chapter 3, section 2,
subsection 4, sub-subsection 1) in 12 pt size, regular.
• Second Subheadings: preferably unnumbered, 12 pt, italics.
Font : All thesis text must be in Times New Roman 12 point font and must be typed in black
ink . Colour text is acceptable only in limited parts of your thesis and for very specific
purposes. Smaller font size (9-10 size are appropriate only for endnotes, captions, legends,
etc..
Margins: The left margin of the thesis must be1.5 inch( 3.81 cm) to permit binding. All other
margins (top, bottom, and right) must be 1 inch ( 2.54cm). The running head and the
page numbers should be 0.75 inch (1.9 cm) from the edge of the page. All of the text

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 throughout the thesis must be justified, uniform and formatted for only one column
throughout the manuscript with the exception of section titles (e.g. ‘Abstract’,
‘Acknowledgements’) which are centred.
Numbering Pages : Page numbers should be placed in center of the bottom, 0.75 inch above the
bottom edge of the page. Page numbers must be in the same font and font size as your
text. Except for the title page and cover pages, page numbers must be placed on each page
of the thesis. The Title Page is considered the first page ( ‘i’ ) but this number does not
actually appear on the page. Page numbers for the preliminary pages should be numbered
consecutively in lower- case Roman numerals. Page Numbers for the Rest of the Paper
Text and all reference pages, including appendices, are numbered consecutively in Arabic
numerals beginning with 1 on the first page of text.
Spacing : The document must be consistently double-spaced throughout the thesis with the
exception of quotations as paragraphs, captions, lists, graphs, charts, footnotes/endnotes,
bibliographic entries, items within tables, and lists in appendices. Irregular spacing and
alignment may be used only to accommodate special text (e.g. poetry or piece of creative
writing) presented in such formats
Citation and Referencing: Citation and referencing should follow the referencing style used by
the American Psychological Association (2010, 6th edition). Please ensure that every
reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Unpublished
results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may
be mentioned in the text. (See examples in Appendix C)
Length of the thesis: The Departments may vary in the prescribed page limits for the thesis, but it
will normally be in the order of 40-70 pages (with double-spaced printing, including tables
and figures, but excluding endnotes, bibliography and appendices). The thesis pages may
exceed longer than 70 pages if necessary for social sciences.
Appendices: Appendices are not necessarily part of every thesis. Appendices are used for
supplementary illustrative material, original data, computer programs, and other material not
necessarily appropriate for inclusion within the text of your thesis. If the student and the Thesis
Supervisor agree that material should be appendixes, then it must be compiled in one or
more appendices after the References. Each appendix must begin on a new page. Number
and cite multiple appendices as ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, etc
Type of Print: Consistent and clear of laser print quality should be used for all copies for both
text and illustrations. The text of the thesis must be printed sing sided copy.

IV. THESIS SUBMISSION PROCESS

A thesis is considered to be completed when the supervisor and the student decide that they are
ready to submit. Spelling, grammar and formatting must be checked and corrected before
submission. The submission is final. The thesis is reviewed and evaluated by the thesis supervisor.
The supervisor decides whether the thesis concerned is acceptable or not in accordance with the thesis
evaluation criteria presented in the following section.
Send it to your advisor for his or her approval and signature (see approval page appendix)
After approval by your advisor/s, Department and College/Institute/School, submit FOUR copies
spiral bound (including the approval page) to the school of graduate studies.

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After successful defense of the thesis, the student should incorporate the comments and
suggestions given by the panel of examiners and shall submit FOUR Hard Covered Bound copies
to the SGS.

Cover of the Hard Covered Bound Copies

The following elements should be clearly seen on the cover page:
• The Ambo University Logo
• Te name of Ambo University, college/Institute/school and department and/or program
• The title of the thesis
• The words “Master Thesis”
• The name and surnames of the master student
• The date

Table 2.The color of the cover is specific for each college/Institute/school

S.No. Colleges Color

1 College of Agriculture and animal Science Green
2 College of Business and Economics Brown/chocolate
3 Institute of Cooperative Studies and Rural Dark Green
Development
4 Institute of Education and Behavioral Science Orange
5 School of Law Light Blue
6 College of Medicine and Health Science Dark Blue
7 College of Natural and Computational Science Pink Red
8 College of Social Science Yellow
9 Institute of Technology Grey

V. OTHER ISSUE
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is unethical and illegal. It is not only directly copying of textual materials, without
acknowledgment, but is also using others’ ideas or findings without acknowledgement. Based on
the University’s legislation, Article 118.10.b, a plagiarized thesis SHALL BE REJECTED AND
THE CANDIDATE WILL BE DISMISSED FROM THE SCHOOL OF POST
GRADUATE STUDIES OF AMBO UNIVERSITY ( Ambo University Legislation,2013).
Hence, students must appropriately acknowledge the sources of information and ideas they have used
in their thesis by proper citation and referencing.

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Appendices

Appendix A: Approval Sheet

APPROVAL SHEET
Submitted by:
______________________ _______________ ___________
PG Candidate Signature Date
Approved by
1. Advisor
_________________________ _____________ _____________
Name Signature Date
2. Co-advisor
__________________________ _______________ ____________
Name Signature Date
3. Co-advisor
__________________________ _______________ ______________
Name Signature Date
4. College/Institute Dean
__________________________ _______________ ______________
Name Signature Date
5. Head , Department
__________________________ _______________ ______________
Name Signature Date

6. Director, School of Graduate studies

_________________________ _______________ _____________
Name Signature Date

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Appendix B: Certification Sheet

AMBO UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
CERTIFICATION SHEET

A thesis research advisor, I hereby certify that I have read and evaluated this thesis prepared
under my guidance by _____________ entitled ‘‘_________________________________’’. I
recommend that it be submitted as fulfilling the thesis requirement.
___________________ _____________________ __________________
Name of Major Advisor Signature Date
________________________ ___________________ ___________________
Name of Co-Advisor Signature Date
As mentioned of the Board of Examiners of the M.Sc/MA. thesis open defense examined. We
certified that we have read and evaluated the thesis prepared by _____________ and
examined the candidate. We recommend that the thesis be accepted as fulfilling the thesis
requirements for the degree of Master of Science/Art in ________________.
_____________________ ____________________ __________________
Chairperson Signature Date
_____________________ ____________________ __________________
Internal Examiner Signature Date
_____________________ ___________________ _______________
External Examiner Signature Date

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Appendix C: Citations and References Templete

Reference Citations in the Text

• Single author: Use the author’s last name, year.
……..(Morse, 1996) OR Morse (1996) showed that…
• Two authors: Use both authors’ last names, separated by an ampers and if in parentheses.
……………(John & Bond, 2006) OR In their study, John and Bond (2006)
• Three authors: use the three authors only for the first time and use the first author, et al. in
subsequent citation
• Four or more authors: Use only the first author followed by et al. and the year.
………….(Johnson et al., 2001) OR Johnson et al. (2001)
How to write list of Reference
• Order of entries: List all references in alphabetical order. Each reference is listed only once.
• Authors: List the author's last name, followed by a comma and initials separated by periods and
spaces.
• When listing two to six authors, place commas between them and use an ampers and (&) before
the last author’s name. If the number of authors exceeds six, list the first six followed by “et al.”
A. Citation from books.
The information include
– Author's name:- Surname (last name) comes first
– Date of publication:- Year
– Title of book:- underline in typescript: italic, or bold
– Place of publication:- City
– Name of Publisher:- name of company that published the book
B. For a chapter in a book use the following format
Author, A.A. & Author, B.B.(2016).Title of chapter. In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C .Editor (Eds),
title of book ( pp.xxx-xxx), Location: Publisher.
Example:
Vanden, B.D. and Vlietinck, A.J. (2001). Screening Methods for Antibacterial and Antiviral Agents from
Higher Plants. In A. Donald (Eds), Methods in plant Biochemistry (pp 47-69), London: Academic
press.
C. Research Journals
Author's Name (publication Year). Title of the article taken. Title of the Journal, Volume
(number), page number(S).
Example.
Niessen, L. (2015). Current state and future perspectives of loop-mediated isothermal
amplification (LAMP)-based diagnosis of filamentous fungi and yeasts, Applied
microbiology and Biotechnology, 99( 3), 553–574
D. News Paper Articles
Author's Name .( publication date). Title of the article. Name of the Newspaper. Volume ( Number),page.
Example:
Gemechu Tufa(2010,July 4). Ethanol Fermentation in Sugar Industries. The Reporter, 5(252),4
E. Articles in Magazines
Author's Name. (publication date).Title of the article. Name of the magazine. Volume (Number), page (s).

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F. Articles from Web cite
Last, F. M. (Year, Month Date Published). Article title. Retrieved from URL.

Example:

Cain, K.B.( 2012, June 29).The Negative Effects of Face Book on Communication. Social Media
Today. Retrieved from http://socialmediatoday.com

G. Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

I Doctoral dissertation or master's thesis available from a database service:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of doctoral dissertation or master's thesis (Doctoral dissertation or
master's thesis). Retrieved from Name of database. (Accession or Order No.)
II Unpublished dissertation or thesis:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of doctoral dissertation or master's thesis (Unpublished doctoral
dissertation or master's thesis). Name of Institution, Location.
III Master's thesis, from a commercial database:
Adams, R. J. (Year). Building a foundation for evaluation of instruction in higher education and
continuing education (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/
H. Technical and Research Reports
I. Technical Report:
Author, (Year). Title of work (Report No. xxx). Location: Pubhsher
II. Government Report
Name of the government/ Institutes ( Year). Title of the Work (Publication No). Retrieved from
Retrieved from Agency name website

I, Unpublished and Informally Published Works

Unpublished work includes work that is in progress, has been submitted for publication, or has
been completed but not submitted for publication. This category also includes work that has not
been formally published but is available on a personal or institutional website.
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of manuscript. Unpublished manuscript [or "Manuscript submitted for
publication," or "Manuscript in preparation"].

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