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FYP Thesis Format
FYP Thesis Format
General
The Thesis must be prepared using a word processor and printed using laser printer
Length
Thesis should normally between 50 and 80 pages long, excluding front matter
Paper
All copies of the thesis to be submitted must be printed on ISO A4 size (210 x 297 mm)
80-gm plain paper. Text must be printed on one side of the paper only. Additional
copies may be reproduced by high quality photocopying. All signatures appearing on all
copies must be original – photocopy of signatures are not acceptable on any copy.
Binding
Only standard hard binding is acceptable. Slide binding, two- or four-hole punching,
spiral binding or comb binding are not acceptable for final copies.
Margins
Set margins according to the distances specified in Table 1. These margins are
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Chapter titles should be typed50 mm from the top edge of the paper. Other
titles, except coverpage and title page, should be typed 25 mm from the top edge.
Header should be set 12.7 mm from the top margin for pages in portrait and 25
mm for pages inlandscape. Footer should be set at 12.7 mm from bottom margin for
Use only BlackTahoma fontfor the entire thesis except for the cover and spine where
Font
Font size : 11
Chapter Title (UPPERCASE) : 12 (Bold)
Heading (Title Case) : 11 (Bold)
Sub-headings
o Secondary heading (Title Case) : 11 (Bold)
o Tertiary heading (only first : 11 (Bold)
Letter of the title is capitalized)
Footnotes : 10
Spacing
Main body of the text must be typed using double spacing.
o Between words
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o After commas, colons, semicolons, punctuation marks at the end
citation.
Use no space after the beginning parenthesis and before the ending
Page Numbers
Page numbers should be in 11-point Tahoma and placed at the bottomright corner of
the page. Page numbers should be placed 12.7 mm and 25 mm from the bottom margin
Front matter materials, all the pages before Chapter 1, pages are
numbered consecutively using small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, …).
Although the title page counts as page i, numbers should not appear on
this page.
Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, …) begin with the first page of Chapter 1. The
Paragraphs
There should be a double space between a paragraph heading and its text,
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A paragraph spanning two pages should have at least two lines of text on
permitted.
must appear together with at least two lines of text of the following
paragraph.
Thesis Cover
Front Cover
The cover page must contain the University name, the Faculty name, the thesis
title, the student name, and year the thesis submitted. Title should be typed
forming a reversed pyramid paragraph. All contents on the cover page should be
in 18-point font size, single spacing, all caps, bold and in golden colour typeface.
Spine
Spine should contain the student name, name of the degree and the year the
thesis is submitted, typed in Tahoma single spacing, all caps, bold in golden
arrangement of the texts for the front cover and the spine.
Language
The thesis should be written in English. Text should be written in third person and
indirect speech. Use the terms “author”, “authors”, etc. instead of I, we, us, or phrases
like “personally speaking…”. Use past tense in abstract, introduction and methodology,
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ARRANGEMENT OF THESIS CONTENTS
Introduction
body, and References. It may also contain an optional Appendices section. Each section
Front Matter
This section should have the following sub-sections in this order: Title Page, Declaration
Title Page
This page should contain thesis title, student‟s name, the intended degree, name of the
Faculty and the University, and the year of submission. An example is shown in Figure
A2. A long thesis title should be avoided. As a guide, title should not be more than 100
Common symbols, such as scientific fonts, should not be used in the title. Thesis
alphabetical symbols should use word substitutes for those symbols. For
Declaration
This page should contain the signed declaration by the student on the authenticity of
the thesis. The DECLARATION title should be all caps, bold, centre-aligned and typed
25 mm from the top edge of the page, followed by a 3 single spaces before the text.
The exact wording and format of the declaration should be as shown in Figure A3.
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Acknowledgement
the preparation of the thesis are recorded on this page. Typically, your
Any help received from various other members of the University faculty or other
directly to you but also those made to your supervisor which helped you in the
research.
You may extend thanks to those friends and family members who have provided
mm from the top edge of the page, followed by 3 single spaces before the text.
Abstract
This page contains the synopsis of the thesis. Abstract should be between 150 and
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Methodology such as methods, process, techniques and their application details.
implications.
an abstract. As a general guide, use past tense for procedures and present tense for
results.
The title ABSTRACT in all caps, bold, centre-aligned format should be typed 25
mm from the top edge of the page followed by 3 single spacing before the text. Abstract
text should be typed in a single paragraph, using single line spacing, 11 font size. A
Bahasa Malaysia version of the abstract should follow the English version of the
Table of Contents
The table of content is used to locate the contents of the thesis. Every chapter heading,
the main titles, and all numbered headings and sub-headings within the text, along with
the page on which they appear, should be listed in the table of contents. The title
from the top edge of the page followed by 3 single spacing before the text. See Figure
A5 for an example.
List of Tables
All the tables in the thesis including appendices should be listed in the List of Tables
along with the page number on which they appear. They should be sorted according to
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the order in which they appear in the thesis. The title LIST OF TABLES in all caps,
bold, centre-aligned format should be typed 25 mm from the top edge of the page
followed by 3 single spacing before the text. See Figure A6 for an example.
List of Figures
All the figures in the thesis including appendices should be listed in the List of Figures
along with the page number on which they appear. They should be sorted according to
the order in which they appear in the thesis. The title LIST OF FIGURES in all caps,
bold, centre-aligned format should be typed 25 mm from the top edge of the page
followed by 3 single spacing before the text. See Figure A7 for an example.
All the symbols (except units), major abbreviations or terminology (as the case may be)
should be listed in alphabetical order. In determining the alphabetical order, the Roman
letters (capital letter first) should be listed first, followed by Greek letter or symbols. The
title LIST OF SYMBOLS in all caps, bold, centre-aligned format should be typed 25 mm
from the top edge of the page followed by 3 single spacing before the text. See Figure
A8 for example.
The main body of the thesis starts after the front matter or preliminary pages described
Every part of the thesis should be set down in a logical pattern – so that readers
are never unsure about what the author is trying to prove and how a particular fact or
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point fits into the development of the work. A carefully organized outline can make
type of the project carried out such as research, development, design, review or a case
(i) Introduction
This part introduces the topic with general background, identify the problem, and
defines the objectives and the scope of the work. A brief description of the
This part contains the summary of the literature surveyed and the state of art on
the topic of the project. It discusses all the theoretical and logical bases, based
(iii) Methodology
This part contains the detail of the methods, means or procedures adopted for
the work/research, along with their advantages, limitations, etc., and the bases
procedures so that it is possible for someone who reads the thesis to replicate
the work.
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(v) Analysis of results and general discussions
The purpose of this section is to evaluate and interpret the results, especially
with respect to the original research question. This part contains the detail
analysis of all results and comparison of results with the theoretical expectation
The overall outcomes of the project are summarized clearly. All findings, results
otherwise. You might (or might not) also mention any limitations of the study,
Never use phrases like “… the first objective has been achieved..” etc.
Chapters
All contents of the text should be divided into chapters. Each chapter will start on a new
page. Chapters do not have preceding title pages. After typing the chapter heading,
leave 2 double spacing between chapter number and title and starting text. See Figure
A9 for an example.
Chapters are customarily divided into sections and sub-sections with headings that have
slightly differing font styles and are designed first-, second-, and third-level. The first-
level title should have greater attention value than the lower levels. Capitalization, bold-
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Each primary heading (Level 1 headings) of section in the text should be numbered
consecutively and according to the chapter number. Primary headings should be typed
bold with the first letter of all major words capitalized. Example: “Cost Analysis for
incorrect style: “Cost Analysis For Conventional And Recycled Concrete” (all
words capitalized).
primary headings. Secondary headings should be typed bold, with the first letters of all
headings. Tertiary headings should be typed bold, with only the first letter of the title
Quotations
“Quoting” someone is using their exact words. Quotations are sparingly used in
Equations
Simple equations can be typed within the line of text, e.g. “…from the above we note
than sin() = (x + y) z, and …”. However, relatively complex and all referred equations
should be typed on separate lines using an equation editor found in most word
consecutively following chapter number, and place the number within parentheses at
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the end of the line, aligning right margin. Within the body of text, always refer to
equations as Eq. 4.1, or Eqs. 4.7-4.9, etc. See Figure A10 for an example.
Lists are used to introduce parts or a series of related items or conditions. Use
numbered list (i), (ii), (iii), …; or (a), (b), (c), …) when it is necessary to identify each
item, or indicate total number of parts, items, or their sequence. If you do not need to
identify the individual items or their particular order, use bullets rather than numbers in
lists.
Bulleted items may be words, short phrases or of paragraph length and they should be
tied together under a general heading. If the numbered or bulleted items are short
phrases, then the first letter of each item may not be capitalized, but use a full stop only
at the end of the last item. However, in lists of items with one or more full sentences,
always capitalize the first letter and terminate each item with a full stop. Use only small
filled circular standard bullets () in lists. Indent bullets by a tab from the left margin.
References
Any thesis that makes use of other works, either in direct quotation or by reference,
Type the heading REFERENCES in bold, all caps and centre-aligned at the top
Each entry should be typed single spacing and spacing between reference list
List only the sources, which have been cited in the text.
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The references list should be arranged in alphabetical order according to the
Appendix or Appendices
Appendices contain those materials, which are very important to help understand or
workout the materials of the thesis, but are too big and detailed so that cannot be
accommodated in the body of the main text. These usually includes long tables and
huge raw data, computer print-outs, listing of computer codes, plans, maps, detailed
sample calculations, detailed work programs, etc. appendices should not be listed as
If there are more than one appendix then they should be marked APPENDIX
A, APPENDIX B, etc. and a cover sheet should be used before them. On the
Font size 11, single spacing, the cover sheet should be counted, but page
page.
Each appendix must have its own title. Type APPENDIX A, APPENDIX B,
following the appendix number; captioned and listed in the List of tables and
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List of Figures. The figures or tables in the appendices will be numbered A.1,
General
All photographs, diagrams, drawings, graphs, maps and all other non-verbal materials
used in the body and appendices should be classified as “figures”. The word “table”
designates tabulated numerical data used in the body and appendices of the thesis.
A set of data should either be presented in table form or as graph based on the
suitability and purpose. The same set of data should not be repeated as both table and
Every table and figure must bear a caption. Captions of figures and tables should be
typed using single spacing, bold, centre aligned and in the same font as text. All major
words of the caption should be capitalized. A caption should not be wider than the width
of the table or figure it represents. It can be typed in multiple lines, if necessary. See
Caption of figure should be placed below the figure. The caption should start
with the word Figure , a single space, followed by the figure number (e.g. 4.6), a
space and the title of the figure (bold). There should be a double spacing
Caption of table should be placed above the table itself. The caption should start
with the word Table, a single space, followed by the table number (e.g. 1.2), a
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Captions as they appear with the tables and figures must be the same as their
Placement
All figures and tables must be placed within the text body as near (before or after) as
possible to the location they are first referred to. They should be centre-aligned. Figures
or tables (together with captions) should be offset double spacing from the text body
above and below. See Figure A12 for example of a figure in portrait orientation.
Tables and figures may be landscape orientation. In such case, they should be
placed on a separate page of their own, with no main text running above or below
them. The captions and legends for rotated tables and figures must have the same
orientation as the table and figure. Thus for landscape figure (or table), the top of the
figure should be nearest to the binding edge. Remember that any text or legend should
Numbering
them in the text and according to chapters and appendices, restarting a separate series
for each chapter or appendix. For example Figure 1.2 refers to the 2nd figure in chapter
1 while Figure 2.2 refers to the 2nd figure in chapter 2 while Figure A.2 refers to the 2nd
figure in Appendix A.
Figures or tables should be referred to in text as Figure 1.2 (first letter capitalized and
not preceded by „the‟), Figures 6.2-6.5, Table 3.2, Tables 3.2-4.1, etc. For figures used
in parentheses the abbreviation should be (see Fig. 4.5), (Figs. 3.1-3.5), etc.
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Formats and Quality of Tables and Figures
All tables and figures, including the caption, must meet the same margin requirements
as the text.
professional quality.
If photographs are used, they must be of high resolution. Both color and
greyscale images may be used. Low resolution highly compressed images taken
from the Web or taken by low resolution cameras are not acceptable.
Diagrams, drawings, figures, etc. must be sufficiently clear, sharp and large to be
Text in graphs, diagrams, figures, etc. should not be smaller than 8-point or
Graphs should not use any colour or shaded background. Only major gridlines
can be used when they are necessary. Graphs should not have any border,
Make tables only as wide as they need to be. A table in portrait orientation does
stick (e.g. UHU, Scotch brand). Do not use any gummed or cellophane tapes or
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UNITS, NUMBERS AND SYMBOLS
Units of Measurement
The use of System International (SI) units, approved by the International General
measure. Other units may be given in parentheses after the SI unit, if the original
measure is in different system units. An exception is when English units are used as
SI units are constructed from seven base units for independent physical
quantities (A, cd, K, kg, m, mol, and s), and two supplementary units for plane angle
(rad) and solid angle (sr), as shown in Table 4.1. Other common derived units, approved
by CGPM, are given in Table 4.2. Degree () can still be used for angles.
only the ternary powers of 10 (103, 106, 109, etc). For example, statements of pressure,
stress, and elastic modulus are preferably given in kPa, MPa, and GPa. The prefixes
hector, deka, deci, and centi should be avoided except in the special case of the
hectare, ha (the more common alternative symbol for hm2), which is used in expressing
large land areas, and the liter, L (the more common symbol for dm3, cubic decimeter),
which is used in expressing fluid or particulate volumes. Prefixes are applied directly to
unit symbols (e.g. millimeter, mm; megawatt, MW; kilonewton, kN; gigapascal, GPa)
except in the case of the kilogram, for which all prefixes are applied directly to the
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Table 4.1 Base and Supplementary Units in SI System
space between numerals and SI units (e.g. 201 Nm, 79 MW instead of 206m, 79MW).
However, use 2016‟32” instead of 20 16‟ 32” (no spaces between units and direction).
Do not use bold face or italicize or use period after SI units (e.g. 302 mm/ 200J instead
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Use of Numbers
The general rule of thumb for number is to use words to express numbers less than 10
and figures to express numbers 10 and above (e.g. three cables, not 3 cables; and 25
samples, not twenty five samples). However, use figures for percentages, scores, dates,
ages, and numbers before a unit of measurement (e.g. 5 mm, not five mm). Use words
for number that begins a sentence, title or heading (when possible, re-word to avoid
Use a, one, two, 10, several, etc. million (or billion) without a final „s‟ on „million‟.
Millions (of …) can be used if there is no number or quantity before it. Always use plural
verb with million or millions, except when an amount of money is mentioned. Example:
Two million people were affected … but two million dollars was spent …
presented with the same number of decimal places. Number of decimal places used
Use 0.50 (decimal point) instead of 0,50 (comma, used in French text); 9000
Use x 20 (multiplication symbol, with space after and before required) instead of
x20 (space missing)/ X20 (letter X, space missing)/ x 20 (letter x). use 4 + 5 > 7
(spaces between operators and numbers or variables are required) instead of 4+5>7
Numeral “0” (zero) is not interchangeable with the alphabet “O” and numeral “1”
(one) is not interchangeable with small letter “l” (el) or letter “I”. be sure to use letters
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in roman numerals where intended: Part I, Part II instead of Part 1, Part 2, Part 11, etc.
also use World War II instead of World War 2; „Henry VIII instead of „Henry 8‟, following
conventional practice.
When use the word “number” to describe quantity of thing, system, people, etc.,
use the appropriate singular or plural form of verbs. Examples: A large number of
machines have used this system. The number of people using PDA has increased
dramatically.
Use of Dates
The 20th May 2005 2005, May the 20th (archaic style)
However, a single style should be followed throughout the entire thesis. Writing
Use the standard and universal notations. All Roman letters or English text representing
matrices, tensors, and vectors should be typed in boldface. Greek letters should not be
italicized or bold.
Acronyms and abbreviations should be defined the first time they are used in
text. However, abbreviations and acronyms which are universally used in particular
discipline and which will not create any ambiguity need not to be defined.
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4.4.1 Commonly Used Abbreviations
i.e. (id est) means “that is”; introduces an explanation. Use no comma
after second the period.
et al. (et alia) means “and others”; replaces a list of names of persons.
Note no period after “et”.
etc. (et cetera) means “and so forth”; ends a list. Not preceded by
“and” and always preceded by a comma. Example: grease, wax,
tar, etc. instead of grease, wax, and tar, etc./ grease, wax, tar,
and etc. do not use with a list of people.
fig./figs. figure(s)
eq./eqs. equation(s)
Do not italicize the above terms. Never use short forms like “don‟t”, “it‟s”,
“there‟s”, etc.
Common Acronyms
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REFERENCE STYLE
Introduction
from a source, you need to give them credit with a citation or in-text reference of the
source. An in-text reference briefly identifies source of your information and allow
readers to locate the full reference from the list of References. Enough information
should be included, so that if someone interested, can precisely retrieve the source
materials. References cited in text must appear in the list of References (with exception
entry in the list of References must be cited in text. Arrange entries in the list in
alphabetical order.
Reference and citation styles vary considerably with the type of the source.
Various categories of references and their styles are listed with examples in the
italicization and abbreviation used with them. Note that entries in the list of Reference
Books
Generally:
Author, A.A., B.B. & Author, C.C. Year. Title of Work. City [or the first of the
cities]: Publisher.
Example:
Magurran, A.E. 1988. Ecological diversity and its measurement. London: Croom
Helm.
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Anders, G.J. 2005. Rating of Electric Power Cables in Unfavourable Thermal
Environment. New York: Wiley-IEEE.
Ahmad, Z., Yusoff, M.Z. Aziz, K.A. 2003. Engineering Graphics with AutoCAD
2002. Petaling Jaya: Prentice Hall.
Gilchrist, J.D. 1989. Extractive Metallurgy. 3rd Ed. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Brandlein, J., Eschmann, P., Hasbargen, L. &Weigand, K. 1999. Ball and Roller
Bearings: Theory, Design and Application. 3rd Ed. New York: Wiley.
Akta. 2001. AktaPerancangan Bandar danDesa 1976 (Akta 171). Kuala Lumpur:
International Law Book Service.
Hand Book of Cocoa, Coconut and Tea Statistics 1993: 14. Department of
Statistics, Malaysia.
Chapter in a book:
Used when a book has separate author(s) for each chapter and editor(s).
Author, A.A. Author, B.B. Year. Title of chapter. In A. Editor & B. Editor (eds.),
Title of Book, Nth Ed., xxx-xxx. City: Publisher.
Example:
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Mustafa, S. &Ridzwan, A.R. 1998. Nuclei acid profiles in mackerel,
RastrelligerKanagurta, From west coast of Sabah. In Mohamed, M.,
Bernard, H. (eds.). Tropical Ecosystem Research in Sabah, pp. 56-52.
KotaKinabalu:ums.
Multiple volumes:
Crisfield, M.A. 199. Non-linear Finite Element Analysis of Solids and Structures.
Vol. 1. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Monograph:
Encyclopedia:
Author, A.A., Author, B.B., & Author, C.C. Year. Title of Article: Subtitle if there is
one. Title of Journalxx[= volume number in bold](x[= issue number in
parenthesis]): xxx-xxx[=range of pages].
Example:
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Mahani Musa. 1999. Malay Secret Societies in Penang: 1830s-1920s. Journal of
The Malaysian Branch of The Royal Asiatic Society. 65(2):151-182.
Vlachogiannis, J.G., Hatziargyriou, N.D.& Lee, K.Y. 2005. Ant colony system-
based algorithm for constrained load flow problem. IEEE Transaction on
Power Systems20(3): 1241-1249.
Yap Beng Liang. 1977. Orang Bajau Pulau Omadal, Sabah: Satu Kajian Tentang
Sistem Budaya. Kuala Lumpur: Universiti Malaya.
Jin, H. 2005. Scalable sensor localization algorithms for wireless sensor networks.
Ph.D. dissertation. University of Toronto.
Reports
Rosenberry, R. (ed.) 2002. World shrimp forming 2002. Annual Report Number
15. San Diego, USA: Shrimp News International.
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Standards and Codes of Practice
BS EN 60885 Part 2. 2003. Electrical test methods for electric cables: Partial
discharge tests. London: British Standards Institution.
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Article in a journal published only online:
Gupta, M. & Gupta, L.M. 2004. Evaluation of stress distribution in bolted steel
angles under tension. Electronic Journal of Structural Engineering, 4: 17-
27. Retrieved 16 August 2005, from http://www.ejse.org
Kornblum, J. 2005. It‟s online, but is it true? USA Today, 6 December, final
edition, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2005-12-06-
wikipedia-truth_x.htm
E-book:
CD ROM:
___________________
1
Location from where the site was accessed.
Articles
Shiau, S.Y. & Liu, J.S. 1994. Quantifying the vitamin K requirement of juvenile
marine shrimp, Penaeusmonodon, with menadione. Journal of Nutrition
124:227-282.
Nicholson, P. 2005. Hurricane Katrina: Why did the levees fail? ASCE
News25(10): 10-12.
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News or Features in Newspapers
Parrish, M. 1992. L.A. firms helps utility with innovative plan. Los Angeles Times,
4 August 1992. 2 pp.
Othman, Z. 2005. Scrap metal thieves costing TNB millions. Malay Mail, 18
December 1:1
Maps
Geological Map of Peninsular Malaysia. 1985. 8th Ed. Two sheets. Scale
1:500,000. Kuala Lumpur. Geological Survey of Malaysia.
Interview
To refer to an item in the list of References from the next, an author-date style should
be used. Use the surname of the author (without suffixes) and the year of the
publication in the text at appropriate points. Page number(s) should also be cited for
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Single author:
Note: Do not use Mr. John, Ms. Jen, Encik Zaki, Datin Rozita, etc. in any citation.
When work has two authors, always cite both names every time the reference occurs.
… the new method proves to be more accurate than the eisting methods (Rembold &
Storr 1998) …
For works with three or more authors, cite all authors the first time the reference
occurs. In subsequent citations, include only the last name of the first author followed
by et al.
… the model was first proposed by Gupta, Satish, Deva and Joshi (1999) … Gupta et al.
(1999) also argued that if …
… (ASTM C192 1992); … (BS 5950: Part 1 2001); …(AISI Specifications 1996); …
(Ministry of Finance 1992); … (Committee on the Eradication of Poverty (CEP) 1997); …
(CIDB 2005); … (Petronas Towers declared 1996).
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Note: In case the publication can only be identified with a long title, use a few words
from the beginning of the title for citation in text.
Multiple references:
semicolon and a space. More than one references by the same author(s) with year are
separated by a comma.
… According to Curtis (1998), the system does not work unless coupled with another
DSC device (as cited in Smith & McClelland 2000).
Note: The reference Curtis (1998) will not be listed in the list of References. The best
thing is to collect the Curtis‟ article.
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