Planning and writing

your dissertation
By Louise-Ann Hand

ESE Librarian
Louise-Ann Hand
l.hand@imperial.ac.uk

1 September 2023
Contents
ESE Librarian ................................................................................................................................................................ 1
1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................4
1.1 SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE ................................................................................................................................................. 4
1.1.1 Reports .......................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.1.2 Theses / Dissertations ................................................................................................................................... 4
2. WHY IS REPORT WRITING IMPORTANT? ...............................................................................................................5
3. STAGES IN REPORT WRITING ................................................................................................................................5
3.1 PLANNING YOUR WORK ................................................................................................................................................ 5
3.1.1 Aims, objectives and constraints ................................................................................................................... 5
3.1.2 The purpose of the work ............................................................................................................................... 7
3.2 DATA AND INFORMATION GATHERING.............................................................................................................................. 8
3.2.1 Finding information for your ‘literature review’ ........................................................................................... 8
3.2.2 Using databases ............................................................................................................................................ 9
3.3 PLANNING & WRITING THE REPORT ................................................................................................................................. 9
3.3.1 General advice .............................................................................................................................................. 9
3.3.2 Planning the structure ................................................................................................................................. 10
4.1 PRELIMINARY SECTIONS .............................................................................................................................................. 11
4.2 BODY OF THE WORK ................................................................................................................................................... 13
5. DRAFTING AND REVIEWING YOUR WORK ..........................................................................................................15
5.1 REVISION CHECKLIST ................................................................................................................................................... 16
APPENDIX 1 .................................................................................................................................................................17
1.1 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL WRITING: GUIDANCE WORKS ................................................................................................... 17
APPENDIX 2 .................................................................................................................................................................18
2.1 KEY DATABASES AND JOURNALS FOR EARTH SCIENCE & ENGINEERING AND BUSINESS ............................................................. 18
APPENDIX 3 .................................................................................................................................................................19
3.1 LAYOUT OF TITLE PAGE FOR YOUR M.SC. DISSERTATION .................................................................................................... 19
APPENDIX 4 .................................................................................................................................................................20
4.1 EXAMPLES OF ABSTRACTS ............................................................................................................................................ 20
4.1.1 Why is this a badly written abstract? How many things are wrong with it? .............................................. 20
4.1.2 Compare it with this. Why is it better?........................................................................................................ 20
APPENDIX 5 .................................................................................................................................................................21
5.1 CONTENTS PAGE LAYOUT............................................................................................................................................. 21
APPENDIX 6 .................................................................................................................................................................22
6.1 CONCLUSION SECTION IN A GRADUATE DISSERTATION ....................................................................................................... 22
6.2 FURTHER GUIDANCE ................................................................................................................................................... 22
APPENDIX 7 .................................................................................................................................................................23
7.1 REFERENCING ........................................................................................................................................................... 23
7.1.2 Harvard System ........................................................................................................................................... 23
7.2 CITATIONS WITHIN THE TEXT ........................................................................................................................................ 23
7.3 REFERENCE LIST ......................................................................................................................................................... 23
7.3.1 How to write references for the Reference List ........................................................................................... 24
7.4 REFWORKS.............................................................................................................................................................. 25
APPENDIX 8 .................................................................................................................................................................25
8.1 ORIGINALITY AND PLAGIARISM ..................................................................................................................................... 25
APPENDIX 9 .................................................................................................................................................................26

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 9.1 SUBMITTING YOUR M.SC. DISSERTATION........................................................................................................................ 26
APPENDIX 10 ...............................................................................................................................................................27
10.1 CHECKLIST ................................................................................................................................................................ 27
10.1.1 Structure and layout ............................................................................................................................... 27
10.1.2 English grammar and spelling ................................................................................................................ 27
10.1.3 Citing and referencing ............................................................................................................................ 27
10.1.4 Figures and tables .................................................................................................................................. 28
10.1.5 Plagiarism ............................................................................................................................................... 28

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1. Introduction

This hand-out accompanies a talk on report and dissertation writing but is designed to stand alone
as a guide. Additional material is available in the Appendices.

1.1 Scientific literature

Scientific literature can be divided into primary and secondary. Primary literature can be defined as
containing new information such as the first reports of laboratory studies and field investigations or a
new interpretation of previously known information (Hopson, 1989)1. Secondary literature by
contrast seeks to organize and distil primary information, place it in context and arrange it so that is
more easily accessible such as in abstracting journals, encyclopaedias, data compilations and
textbooks.

Conference papers, journal articles, reports and theses are primary literature.

1.1.1 Reports
Published reports are often progress reports rather than reports of completed research. They are
usually issued in a series, at irregular intervals, and often carry an alphanumeric identification code
(e.g. Report 110A). They are not normally referred like journal articles but are submitted directly to
the commissioning organization and (unless classified) will be published more promptly. They are
usually longer than journal articles and provide more detailed information. A report that you will be
required to produce in College may be on completed work or to keep a supervisor up to date with
research you are engaged on. The broad principles of how you write it and what it includes remain
the same.

1.1.2 Theses / Dissertations

Dissertations and theses are the culmination of extensive independent research undertaken
specifically for higher degrees and while including many of the same elements as a report have
different emphases (e.g. greater importance is placed on a detailed literature survey in a thesis or
dissertation).

1
Hopson, J. (1989) Primary literature. In: Wood, D.N., Hardy, J.E & Harvey, A.P. (eds.) Information
sources in the earth sciences. 2nd ed. London, Bowker-Saur. pp.16-39

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2. Why is report writing important?

Both here at College and afterwards in your professional life you will frequently need skills in
effective writing. We aim to help you to:

• develop your skills of communication

• improve your marks while at College
• impress potential employers
• provide you with the professional and personal transferable skills you will need for your
career

In this hand-out we concentrate on how to write reports and dissertations. (Much of the information
will also be relevant for journal articles although some aspects will be different.)

N.B. It is not the remit of this hand-out to tell you how to carry out your research. For assistance in this respect
and in relation to scientific writing refer to works in Appendix 1

3. Stages in report writing

3.1 Planning your work

The report or dissertation is an integral part of the research you undertake and at College. Outside
College the production of a report may be the main purpose of the work undertaken, so it is
advisable to plan both the research and the basis for the written report together at an early stage.
Planning the objectives and possible framework for the report helps provide a structure for your
research.

3.1.1 Aims, objectives and constraints

You need to determine your aim and objectives, both for carrying out the research and of the report
itself, and assess the impact of any constraints and limitations. At College some of the objectives
may be pre-determined but you may have leeway on the methods used, etc.

Aim:

An aim is an overall statement of the nature of your research and what you intend to do, e.g. ‘This
study investigates the profitability of the oil and gas industry in Spain’.

Objectives:

Objectives are the specific questions you will answer in your dissertation, e.g. ‘To examine the
profits of the Spanish oil companies, Cepsa, Gasopet and Nicsa between 2000-2009.’

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(You will probably find it difficult to identify questions as objectives until you have done a literature
review.)

Constraints:

At College many constraints such as deadlines and the length of your report will affect the extent of
your investigation, how you proceed (perhaps in relation to methods used etc.) and the writing-up.

Time management

When considering how much time you will need to produce a report, consider the following:

• the length of time needed for the study or investigation (experimental work can be
unpredictable)
• resources (e.g. books, reports) can take time to obtain if they are not available in the
Library
• the length of time needed to spend writing-up your work
• proofreading your work
• review of your work by your supervisor
• printing and binding

Length

Where length is pre-determined this will obviously have a bearing on how much time you
spend gathering material. For your MSc dissertation the word limit is a maximum of 25,000
words. The word count only applies to the following sections:

Introduction

Literature review

Methods & methodology

Results & findings

Discussion
Conclusions

The word count does not apply to the following sections:

Title page

Abstract

Acknowledgements

6
 Contents list

List of tables

List of figures/illustrations

References

Appendices

Readership
Consider the limitations imposed by the audience: how much can you reasonably expect
them to know about the subject?

Resources

Assess what you can access (e.g. using libraries for literature searching, books, journals,
maps and other published literature) and try and fit it within your time management
framework.

3.1.2 The purpose of the work

Before you can plan your work, you must know the answers to two questions:

• What is the purpose of the research you will be carrying out?

• Who is the ensuing report for?

A report serves several general purposes:

• it is the concrete outcome or permanent account of an investigation, study or piece of
research
• it provides information required for decision making
• it indicates the quality of work undertaken
• it indicates the quality of your communication skills

The limited purpose of project reports and dissertations at College is to indicate a student’s
ability to conduct and communicate research. To write a satisfactory report the work needs
to have been conducted thoroughly and unless the report is well written, you will not appear
competent.

The declared purpose of the report may be closely allied with the aims of the investigation; that is, to
provide a specific answer to a specific problem for one or more readers (keeping in mind your
potential wider audience) who already have background knowledge of the subject. Outside of
College, reports on the same piece of work may be written for a range of different purposes with
different slants for different audiences. Keep in mind the theoretical purpose of the work and the
audience’s level of knowledge, and tailor the report to it.

For a Master’s dissertation you will be expected to present the results of independent study. The
work should reflect your own ideas and you must indicate when you are using the work of others.
Plagiarism (or passing others’ work off as your own), is regarded very seriously by the College and

7
can lead to a zero mark being given or, in serious cases, banning from examinations or the
withdrawal of a degree already awarded. See Appendix 8 for more information on plagiarism.

As far as the College is concerned, a thesis or dissertation must be an ordered and critical
exposition of knowledge in a specific field of study. There should be evidence that the literature in
your area of research has been studied thoroughly. Part of the assessment will be on the
appropriate presentation of technical information and your ability to plan and programme a piece of
independent work. Although it is aimed at those who will be awarding it marks, it is read in the spirit
that this will become part of the scientific record rather than for a specific readership. Since this
potential readership may be more varied than with a report you will need to include more
background material.

3.2 Data and information gathering

Research generally falls into two categories:

• literature review, where no experimental study is carried out and where information is
obtained from a search of written materials
• experimental, which is primarily a ‘laboratory’ study

The two are not mutually exclusive and reports on experimental work will need to include a literature
review and references to what has been done so far in the subject.

Please note: how you go about obtaining data from ‘experimental’ work is not the subject of this
hand-out.

3.2.1 Finding information for your ‘literature review’

You will need to look at a range of sources to find material for your work (e.g. journal articles, books,
conference papers, government reports, maps etc.).

A report for this course is unusual in that, generally, it combines a particularly wide variety of types
of material (e.g. analytical results of field or laboratory studies, maps, photographs, tables and
references to existing literature). Academic staff may provide you with references to material to start
you off or suggest you look in certain journal titles.

8
3.2.2 Using databases
To find material for your literature review you should use the databases available via the library
website. These will provide relevant articles, conference papers, reports and other material based
on your topic search. Full-text access (electronic or in print) depends on Library subscriptions; these
can be verified by using Library Search on the Library homepage. To find out more about which
Business and Engineering databases you can use, see Appendix 2.

3.2.3 Organising the information

There are no rigid guidelines on how to organize your material. Some people keep several separate
folders for the data to be included in each section, others keep various types of material together in
one folder. However, the system should be logical, you should be able to add to it easily, and you
should know where to find things.

Make a note of anything you read that you may want to use or refer to in the report with a proper
reference as you go along, including diagrams, tables, etc. (see Appendix 7 for examples of
references, and information about how you can store your references in RefWorks, one of several
online reference management software packages). Doing this will ensure that you have the
information to hand in the correct format when you write-up later. Never rely on being able to
remember it – you won’t. Enter the full reference (Authors, year of publication, title, journal title,
volume and page numbers) into RefWorks; this can save hours of frustration later. Checking on
page numbers, authors’ initials or trying to trace where a paper came from can be a headache –
especially if you leave writing-up your reference list to the last minute.

A few words of advice: keep several copies of your report in electronic format. ICT recommends
students to use OneDrive for Business to save files as you can then access your files at any time
from any device.

3.3 Planning & writing the report

3.3.1 General advice
The purpose of a scientific report is to inform your reader. Stick to your specific aims and objectives.
Your priority is to communicate your information clearly. Keep your readers in mind at all times. The
harder they have to work at ferreting out information from a morass of detail, for instance, the less
favourably they will look upon your work.

• aim for clarity and simplicity of expression

• provide a clear structure and logical sequence so that it is easy for the reader to find their
way through your work
• differentiate between fact and opinion

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 • do not pad out with unnecessary words, nor write so tightly that it is difficult to understand
• tailor it to the potential audience, e.g. do not define technical terms that your readers already
understand
• Do not use ‘I’, ‘My’ in your dissertation report. You are writing a professional piece of work
and therefore need to use the passive tense. So instead of writing, 'In my opinion', you could
write Research shows that...' or instead of writing, ‘I believe that...’ you could write either, ‘It
was discovered that...’ or ‘From the evidence presented it can be concluded that...’
• Never use informal abbreviations (won’t, doesn’t, etc.) in your dissertation. You are writing a
formal piece of work and therefore need to write in a formal manner. So write ‘does not’
instead of ‘doesn’t’, etc.

Check the rules governing grammar, sentence structure and punctuation. Guidance and examples
of common mistakes are given in the books referred to in Appendix 1.

3.3.2 Planning the structure

The overall organization of your ideas should be done at this stage so that you can concentrate on
the detail later.

Essential elements of scientific publishing will be present in both reports and theses/dissertations,
such as the abstract, introduction, discussion, etc. There are very few rules for writing
theses/dissertations although there are certain conventions amongst different disciplines and
departments regarding format.

The priorities of the audience or commissioning body are reflected in the structure. For example, the
main results and conclusions are usually presented early in reports for commercial companies
where time and money are paramount whereas in a dissertation your conclusions normally come
towards the end of your work. An acceptable way to structure your dissertation is as follows:

Title page

Abstract

Acknowledgements

Contents list

List of tables

List of figures/illustrations

Introduction

Literature review

Methods & methodology

Results & findings

Discussion
Conclusions

References

Appendices

10
As a guideline, the ratio of the elements of a thesis or dissertation tend to be as follows:

Introduction: 10-20% of the whole

Literature review: 20-30%

Methods & methodology: 10-20%

Results & findings: 30-40%

Discussion: 20-25%

Conclusions: 10-20%

(The above does not include the space needed for your Title Page, Abstract, Table of Contents,
Appendices, etc.).

Once you have the framework in place you will be able to decide on the main headings and
subheadings within each chapter or section, and where maps, figures, photographs and tables
should go. You can start to make notes under the headings and it may become obvious at this
stage that an alternative arrangement may be more suitable, that a topic should be moved from one
section to an earlier or later one, or may even be left out completely.

Please note: at this stage it is generally advisable to review the framework of the report with your
supervisor.

An advantage to having drafted a structure is that you can do the writing–up in small sections, e.g.
should the beginning be giving you writer’s block, you can start elsewhere. Reports may be written
up at the end of a relatively short piece of research, but with more protracted study (e.g. a PhD
thesis) work can be documented in draft form or as notes as work progresses.

4. Specific elements of the report/dissertation

4.1 Preliminary sections

COVER/TITLE PAGE
See the example layout of the title page for an MSc dissertation in Appendix 3.

PAGE NUMBERING
The title page should not be numbered. The pages of the preliminaries (e.g. Abstract,
Acknowledgments, Contents pages) are numbered with Roman numerals, with the page
immediately following the title page being Roman ii. The text pages (beginning at the Introduction)
are numbered with Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3, etc.

NUMBERING YOUR SECTION HEADINGS AND SUB-HEADINGS

Use numbered Section headings and Sub-headings. You should use numeric headings only. The
following example shows you how your headings and sub-headings should look:

e.g. 1. Introduction
1.1 Background

11
 1.2 Objectives of the study

Please note: using a mix of numeric and letter headings as in this example are not acceptable:

e.g. 1a) Introduction

1b) Background
1c) Objectives of the study

You must avoid using 4th decimals in your section headings and/or sub-headings. Numbering like
the following is acceptable:

e.g. 1. Oil and gas usage in Italy

1.2 Statistics on usage
1.2.1 Possible future usage

Please note: Using 4th decimals like in the following example is not acceptable.

e.g. 1.2.1.1 Other possible usage

TITLE
Essentially the title is a statement of the aim of the report. It should state briefly and clearly what the
report is about and include all relevant keywords. You may fine-tune the title to reflect the way your
project evolves, to ensure that it accurately reflects the subject matter. Keywords that might aid
information retrieval should be included in the title. This will help students find your work on the
library catalogue after you submit it.

ABSTRACT
You are expected to provide an informative abstract. This is a concise statement of the essential
information contained in the work and must be able to stand on its own without reference to the
main text. An abstract is often given much wider circulation than the report itself. It should not be
confused with a summary, which is a restatement within a document of its salient findings and
conclusions. The abstract for your report or dissertation should be between 250 and 300 words, and
never longer than one side of A4.

The abstract should include:

• a statement of the problem
• the methods used to deal with it
• results obtained
• conclusions reached
• any recommendations made

Go straight to the point. If you find yourself using phrases such as: is described …, is discussed …,
are identified …, is presented …, are reviewed…, you are going about it the wrong way. It is much
more difficult (and takes a lot longer) to write a good abstract. It is much easier to get the hang of it if
you write an abstract of something that somebody else has written.

(Compare the examples of a badly written and a correctly written abstract in Appendix 4).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is courteous to acknowledge anyone who has contributed to helping you write your dissertation,
e.g. if one of your friends proofread your work you can acknowledge their efforts.
Acknowledgements should not be confused with dedications or with references/bibliographies
where you refer to work you have looked at or made use of.

CONTENTS LIST

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The contents list should be detailed and is arranged by chapter/section numbers with the
appropriate headings and sub-headings and the page number on which they start. This guide has a
Contents list on pages 2 and 3. This is the type of detailed contents list you need to provide. The
References tab in MS Word contains a tool for automatically creating a table of contents list. Also
see Appendix 5.

NUMBERING YOUR TABLES, FIGURES & ILLUSTRATIONS

These may either be numbered consecutively throughout, or individually within each chapter or
section in which case they are separately numbered e.g. 3.12; 4.1.

The caption for a table should appear above a table; and the caption for a figure or illustration
should appear beneath a figure/illustration.

• Labelling tables:
o Table captions should not have more than one decimal place
e.g. Table 3.1 Performance specifications of a range of commercially available
GaAsFET devices

• Labelling diagrams, figures, graphs and illustrations:

o Figure captions should not have more than one decimal place
e.g. Figure 1.2 Graph of energy output as a function of wave height.
o When referring to a figure in the main body of your report write ‘Figure’ not ‘Fig.’

4.2 Body of the work

INTRODUCTION
All reports should start with a statement of the aim, i.e. a clear statement of the purpose of the
report. This is expressed by a single sentence, in the infinitive (‘This study…’) not the first person
(‘My study…’). A long report will need an introduction that answers the questions:

• Who? Who is the report written for?

• When? When was the work for the report carried out?
• What? What was the nature of the investigation?
• Why? Why has the subject been investigated and what is the background of the
problem or task that has been tackled?
• Where? Where is the location? Refer to a map and outline the geological and
geographical setting.

In essence, the introduction prepares the reader and leads them logically to the aim.

LITERATURE REVIEW
You should consider writing this section first because what you learn from your reading will inform
the way you approach your investigation. The literature review builds your argument by discussing
the strong and weak points of the sources you have read. Organising the material by themes rather
than by authors helps develop the case you are constructing. It also reduces the tendency to
provide just summaries of a particular author’s work without showing how it relates to your own
investigation.

METHODS & METHODOLOGY (This section is not applicable for non-experimental research)
This section explains in detail the research method used to analyse the problem you are
investigating.

Explain what you did with clarity and conciseness but enough detail for the process to be replicated
by your reader. Leave out material relating to irrelevant experiments but include unsuccessful

13
experiments if they help you discuss your methodology and make some relevant comments about
your results.

RESULTS & FINDINGS

Results may take up several chapters, be included within a section dealing with one aspect of your
research, or be integrated in the discussion section.

Explain what happened and what you found. Results should be organized to support your aim.

DISCUSSION
In the discussion, results are interpreted and discussed in relation to previous work done in the area
you are analysing. The discussion contains the substance of the report (set out in sections),
including analysis, arguments and deductions. First state the problem in sufficient detail, with
figures, so as to set the scene. Then apply all the information and technical facts to the problem to
produce readily understood deductions.

CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

Not all dissertations have a separate section entitled ‘Conclusions’; the conclusions may be part of
the Discussion. As a general rule nothing should appear in the conclusion that has not already
appeared in the body of the report.

A conclusion should:

• be complete in itself;
• be brief;
• develop your findings in a logical order;
• be to the point.

Recommendations, where appropriate, would normally be included along with or adjacent to the
conclusions.

Additional advice about Conclusions in dissertations is given in Appendix 6.

4.3 Additional important sections

REFERENCES / BIBLIOGRAPHY
Scientific writing must be properly referenced because:

• the reader must be able to check the sources of ideas, methods or findings you used
• you need to distinguish your own work from others to avoid charges of plagiarism

You need to reference anything that is not generally accepted or common knowledge. You should
cite (i.e. refer to a piece of work in your text) every time you use a source and add the full reference
to a reference list at the end of the document (but before the Appendices).

A bibliography differs from a reference list. In a bibliography you include references that you have
not cited or referred to in your text, but which assisted you in your research.

References in both bibliographies and reference lists should contain enough information for people
to be able to identify the items – accuracy is essential. There are no absolute rules on how to
reference, but there are many commonly accepted systems. The main thing is to stick to one
system throughout your work so that you are consistent. With any style you choose to follow (e.g.
Harvard) you must be consistent in punctuation, typography and other details.

14
To help you, take a look at bibliographic software packages, such as RefWorks. These packages
allow you to import references from databases and websites such as Web of Science, Google
Scholar and ScienceDirect and create correctly formatted reference lists at the click of a button.

See Appendix 7 for more information

APPENDICES

You should put into one or more appendices material which would interrupt the flow of the main text,
e.g. material with fine detail such as lengthy mathematical proofs or derivatives, and any lists,
glossaries, documents, tables, etc.

5. Drafting and reviewing your work

Allow enough time to revise the first draft of your report. The deadline for submission of your work is
critical. It is absolutely essential that you submit your report on time.

Re-reading the draft afresh after a period of time away from it will enable you to assess it more
objectively and give you a better feeling for the whole. It will highlight sections that need re-writing,
amending or refining. You will also be able to see any logical errors or omissions as well as getting
a good idea on the fluency of your work. Marks are deducted more by the mistakes students make
than by any other means.

Finally, once the subject content has been revised, proofread the document for the ‘minor’ (but no
less important) errors of language and grammar - including spelling mistakes. Don’t rely on
automatic spell-check functions – you should read the document thoroughly yourself. If you can
give your document to someone else to proofread they may find spelling or grammatical errors you
missed.

Also check that all of your references are correct and included in the reference list.

15
5.1 Revision checklist

Keep the following questions in mind as you revise your report:

• Is the purpose of the report clear?

• Is the report suitable for its intended readers?
• Is the title correctly worded, apt and succinct?
• Are you satisfied with the abstract?
• Is it easy for the reader to see the structure of the report (e.g. are the sections adequately
signposted)?
• Have all the main factors been given the correct emphasis, and looked at objectively?
• Is the topic developed in a logical order?
• Is the discussion of your results adequate, logical and convincing?
• Is everything you have written essential?
• Does the conclusion follow from the earlier sections?
• Are the sentences short, simple and easy to read?
• Do the diagrams convey their message clearly?
• Are tables, figures, diagrams, etc. correctly captioned and numbered?
• Is the association between text and illustration as close and clear as possible?
• Do photographs have an indication of scale, and are they the right way up?
• Are references in the text in the correct form?
• Do they correspond correctly with the reference list?
• Have you made due acknowledgements (e.g. to your proof readers, to your long-suffering
partner/parents/siblings)?
• Have you checked for spelling and typing errors?

16
Appendix 1

1.1 Scientific and technical writing: guidance works

The books listed below are available in the Central Library and cover scientific and technical writing
in general. They are useful for general advice about scientific communication and presentation, use
of language, grammar, spelling and punctuation. Many more are available in the library.

• Becker, L. (2015) Writing successful reports and dissertations. London, Sage. https://library-
search.imperial.ac.uk/permalink/44IMP_INST/mek6kh/alma991000311289601591

• Biggam, J. (2021) Succeeding with your master's dissertation: a step-by-step handbook. 5th
ed. London, Open University Press.

• Breach, M. (2008) Dissertation writing for engineers and scientists. Harlow, Prentice Hall.
https://library-
search.imperial.ac.uk/permalink/44IMP_INST/mek6kh/alma991000343864801591

• Fisher, C. M. & Buglear, J. (2010) Researching and writing a dissertation: an essential guide
for business students. 3rd ed. Harlow, Financial Times Prentice Hall.

• Fisher, E, Thompson, R. & Holtom, D. (2014) Enjoy writing your science thesis or
dissertation!: a step by step guide to planning and writing dissertations and theses for
undergraduate and graduate science students. 2nd ed. London, Imperial College Press.

• Horn, R. (2012) Researching and writing dissertations: a complete guide for business and
management students. 2nd ed. London, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

• O’Connor, M. (1991) Writing successfully in science. London, Chapman & Hall.

• Seely, J. (2005) The Oxford guide to writing and speaking. 2nd ed. Oxford, Oxford
University Press.

• Vikram, K. and Parija, S. C. (2018) Thesis writing for Master’s and Ph.D. program.
Singapore, Springer. https://library-
search.imperial.ac.uk/permalink/44IMP_INST/fv0fdm/cdi_askewsholts_vlebooks_978981130
8901

17
Appendix 2

2.1 Key databases and journals for Earth Science & Engineering and
Business

The Subjects support section of the Library website contains information on the key databases in
Business and Earth Science and Engineering:

Business subject page: www.imperial.ac.uk/library/subject-support/business/

Earth Science and Engineering subject page: www.imperial.ac.uk/library/subject-support/earth-

science-and-engineering/

18
Appendix 3

3.1 Layout of title page for your M.Sc. dissertation

TITLE OF DISSERTATION

by

Name of Author

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Diploma

of Imperial College London in Metals and Energy Finance.

Department of Earth Science and Engineering

Imperial College London
London
SW7 2AZ September 2019

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Appendix 4

4.1 Examples of abstracts

4.1.1 Why is this a badly written abstract? How many things are wrong with it?

ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF PEGMATITES

This dissertation is an account of those features of pegmatites which are of economic interest or
application. Only granitic pegmatites have been considered. A general account of the geology of
pegmatites is given, followed by a minerals obtained from this group of rocks on a commercial scale.
The main part of the dissertation is devoted to an account of the major pegmatite fields in selected
parts of the world. Finally, an attempt is made to assess the factors which have a practical application
in the pegmatite mining industry. (R.M.Simon, 1967)

4.1.2 Compare it with this. Why is it better?

THE INFLUENCE OF GEOLOGY ON THE FINANCIAL EVALUATION OF ZINC PROSPECTS

The price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange, the major market place, has risen rapidly in the last
two years to a peak of $2,100 per tonne. Production has risen roughly in line with demand, a trend
that looks set to continue for several years. Price rises can be attributed to concerns over impending
restricted supplies, which may be the result of industrial action or political instability in various parts of
the world.

The major uses of zinc are for metallic coatings, alloys and brasses. The predicted increase in
production of such materials, and the parallel steady growth in world economies, will attract mining
and exploration company investment of funds in the exploration for zinc.

Zinc deposits can be classified into four major types. Sediment hosted submarine exhalative deposits
are developed in a variety of marine sediments. These are precipitated from metal-rich fluids forming
at or just below the sediment-seawater interface. The Navan deposit in Ireland and the Broken Hill
deposit in Australia are good examples of this class.

Mississippi Valley-type Zn-Pb deposits are formed from migrating low-temperature metal-bearing
brines that invaded pre-existing cavities and pores in carbonate rocks after diagenesis. The Pine
Point mining district in Canada is a representative example.

Volcanic-associated submarine exhalative deposits share many characteristics with their sediment-
hosted cousins, but are formed at higher temperatures and are associated with thick volcanic
sequences, e.g. those located in the Kosaka mining district of Japan.

Hydrothermal vein and replacement deposits of zinc occur at the periphery of some porphyry coppers
in volcanic sequences distant from intrusions but related to volcanic activity. Santa Eulalia in Mexico
and Rubiales in Spain are representative examples.

Geological mapping, geochemistry and geophysics are the main exploration tools used in the search
for zinc. Other exploration techniques include the use of metallogenic theory, hydrocarbon analysis,
remote sensing and geobotany. To some extent different exploration approaches need to be followed
for each individual class of deposit, a consequence of their differing mode of occurrence, morphology
and mineralogy.

(After D.P. Hammond, 1989)

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Appendix 5

5.1 Contents page layout

CONTENTS

Abstract ii

Acknowledgements iii

Contents iv

List of figures vi

1. Introduction
1.1. Cut-off grade theory 1
1.2. Optimum exploration strategy
3

2. Aguas Tenidas Este Deposit 5

2.1. Background 5
2.2. Regional geological setting 6
2.3. Geology of the deposit 9
2.3.1. Lithologies 9
2.3.2. Structure 11
2.4. Exploration and evaluation programme 14

3. Cut-off grade theory 20

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Appendix 6

6.1 Conclusion section in a graduate dissertation

From: Chinneck, J.W. (1999) How to organize your thesis.

http://www.sce.carleton.ca/faculty/chinneck/thesis.html [Accessed 2 July 2018]

You generally cover three things in the Conclusion section, and each of these usually merits a
separate subsection:

1. Conclusions
2. Summary of Contributions (may not be applicable in an MSc dissertation)
3. Future Research

Conclusions are not a rambling summary of the dissertation: they are short, concise statements of
the inferences that you have made because of your work. It helps to organise these as short
numbered paragraphs, ordered from most to least important.

Examples:

1. The problem stated in Section 4 has been solved: as shown in Sections 6 to 8, an algorithm
capable of handling large-scale Zylon problems in reasonable time has been developed.

2. The principal mechanism needed in the improved Zylon algorithm is the Grooty mechanism.

In the Summary of Contributions you list any contributions of new knowledge that your
dissertation may make.

Examples:

1. Developed a much quicker algorithm for large-scale Zylon problems.

2. Demonstrated the first use of the Grooty mechanism for Zylon calculations.

The Future Research subsection is included so that researchers picking up this work in future have
the benefit of the ideas that you generated while you were working on the project. Again, concise
numbered paragraphs are usually best.

6.2 Further guidance

Search for ‘how to organize your thesis’ using google to find more websites offering guidance on
this topic (note this is using U.S. English terminology)

See also the Centre for Academic English website for information on academic writing skills.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/academic-english/writing/

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Appendix 7

7.1 Referencing

Referencing covers 2 actions. When you refer to other people’s work you i) insert a marker (i.e. the
citation) often at the end of the associated piece of text to indicate that you are citing another’s
work, and you ii) enter a full reference to the work in a list (i.e. the reference list) at the end of
the document. The way you cite and list your references will depend on which of the many
standard referencing methods you decide to use.

7.1.2 Harvard System

By convention, scientific references often use the Harvard system which requires the cited author’s
name and date of work be inserted within the text of the paper and the references to be arranged
in alphabetical order by author at the end of the document in one sequence.

A Bibliography (often confused with a reference list) is, strictly speaking, a list of references to
works which you may have used for background material but which you did not specifically refer to
in your dissertation.

See the Library website for more information and guidance on referencing and using the Harvard
style:

www.imperial.ac.uk/library/learning-support/reference-management/harvard-style/

7.2 Citations within the text

• References within the text are given in the form: author’s surname/s, comma, space, year of
publication – all in brackets, e.g. (Degens and Ross, 1974) or, where there are three or more
authors, only the first is named followed by et al. e.g. (Degens et al., 1994).

• If the author’s name is mentioned in the text, the year of publication is given in brackets
immediately after the name, e.g. Jones (1992) pointed out

• Give page numbers if necessary if you have inserted a quotation from a piece of work, e.g.
(Degens and Ross, 1974, p. 59)

• If there is more than one reference to a particular author with the same date, the references
should take the form (Brown, 1997a) (Brown, 1997b)

7.3 Reference list

This is the list of full-length references at the end of the text to which the citations refer.

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7.3.1 How to write references for the Reference List

• The style of referencing must be consistent in punctuation, typography and other details. Since
the various styles based on the Harvard style will vary, you must ensure that all of your
references are converted to the style you are to use.

• If there is more than one reference to a particular author in the list, arrange them by date with
the earliest first.

• Joint authored papers are always listed in the order in which they appear in the publication.

• It is standard practice to use surname and initials only. The family name is always first; if you
are unsure about a foreign name, check it in a reference list or database.

• There is a difference between authors and editors of books; be careful to note which it is and, if
necessary, put (ed.) or (eds.) after the last name.

• The author of a work can be a corporate entity as well as an individual.

• Where no author is given, the reference starts with the title, followed by the year of publication.

• Only the first word of the title takes a capital letter, not every word (unless they are proper
nouns), i.e. it is written like a sentence.

• The title of a book is always the version that appears on the title page inside a book, including
any sub-title – do not use the one on the front cover or spine of a book.

• Put the city of publication (and the abbreviation for the State if in the U.S) but not the country. If
several cities are given put only the first.

• Only the short form of the publisher’s name is put, unless it could otherwise be confused with
the name of a university or society, e.g. Elsevier (not Elsevier Publishing Company), but Oxford
University Press. [NB It is the publisher, not the printer, that is required]

• Only put the edition of a book if it is not the first.

• The date of publication is of the edition, not subsequent reprints, and should be taken from the
information on the reverse of the title page. If there is no date given, put [n.d.].

• There is no need to put the number of pages in a whole book, but you must give page numbers
for a paper in an edited book.

• The place and publisher is not given for journal references, just the title, volume and pages.
Include the issue number if each issue rather than each volume starts with page 1.

• The abbreviation for pages is pp. and for page it is p. So pages 1-35 is written as pp.1-35 but
page 35 only is p.35, not 35pp. (which means 35 pages).

Further guidance is available on the Library website:

www.imperial.ac.uk/library/learning-support/reference-management/harvard-style/

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7.4 RefWorks

RefWorks allows you to:

• download references from online databases, e-journals or web pages

• build up your own database of relevant references
• add correctly formatted citations to Word documents
• create a bibliography or reference list in seconds in the Imperial College Harvard style (and
many others)

See the Reference Management section of the Library website for more information about using
RefWorks:

www.imperial.ac.uk/library/learning-support/reference-management/refworks/

Appendix 8

8.1 Originality and plagiarism

You are reminded that all work submitted as part of the requirements for any examination (including
coursework) of Imperial College must be expressed in your own words and incorporate your
own ideas and judgements.

Proven plagiarism will result in failure and referral to College disciplinary procedures. Cases of
suspected plagiarism can and will be dealt with under the College’s Cheating Offences Policy and
Procedures, a full copy of which can be found at:

www.imperial.ac.uk/registry/exams/examoffences

Plagiarism, or the presentation of another person's thoughts or words as though they were your
own, must be avoided. Note that you are encouraged to read and criticise the work of others as
much as possible and you are expected to incorporate this in your thinking and in your coursework
and assessments. But you must acknowledge and label your sources.

The Graduate School have developed a plagiarism course which you are obliged to complete to
show you have understood the key concepts of plagiarism avoidance. Information about this can be
found here: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/students/academic-support/graduate-school/professional-
development/masters-students/plagiarism-online/

Plagiarism is often unintentional and the result of poor time management, bad proofreading, lack of
understanding of quotation style, and incomplete or incorrect citations and referencing.

• Ensure you plan your work to allow time to proofread your work before submission
• Know how to use the referencing style you select, and use it consistently: all sources used in
your work should be clearly acknowledged in the text, and in your reference list
• Understand how quotations should be inserted in your work, and what they should be used
for: diagrams, images, tables and any other type of illustration should be treated as a
quotation if you directly reproduce them in your work
• Do not use too many quotations: a series of short quotations from several different sources,
if not clearly identified as such, constitutes plagiarism just as much as a single
unacknowledged long quotation from a single source

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 • If you re-use work already submitted for assessment, you could be guilty of self-plagiarism;
acknowledge any use of previous work in subsequent assessments

Appendix 9

9.1 Submitting your M.Sc. dissertation

You must submit the following:

• a Word file (with no pictures) to be loaded onto Turnitin, a text matching software

o the PDF of the dissertation including screenshots of key parts of the financial models
o Excel spreadsheets of the financial models

A PDF copy will be made available electronically to members of Imperial College on Spiral
(spiral.imperial.ac.uk), the college’s digital repository. Use the following filename convention
for your PDF file:

Surname‐firstname‐year‐MSc‐Thesis.pdf

Alybayev‐D‐2008‐MEF‐MSc‐Thesis.pdf

Haqque‐M‐I‐2007‐MEF‐MSc‐Thesis.pdf

No spaces should be included in filenames

Only members of Imperial College can access your dissertation on Spiral. Embargoed
dissertations will not be made available on Spiral.

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Appendix 10

10.1 Checklist

The following is a checklist on what to include and what to avoid in your dissertation.

10.1.1 Structure and layout

• Number your pages and list the page numbers in your Table of Contents
• Do not insert a page number on your title page
• Use numbered section headings and sub-headings but avoid 4th decimals (see section 4.1
for more details)
• You should use numeric headings only (see section 4.1)
• Do not use colons or semi-colons at the end of section headings of sub-sections
• Avoid using single sub-sections
• Leave a blank line between paragraphs
• Use one-and-a-half or double spacing on one side of the paper only
• Type face 12-point size is preferred to 10-point
• For details on what sections are included (and what sections are not included) as part of
your 25,000 word limit see section 3.1.1

10.1.2 English grammar and spelling

• Use a spellchecker and grammar checker in the word processor so that your report is not
submitted with spelling mistakes, typographical errors or poor grammatical structures
• Do not use ‘I’ or ‘My’ in your dissertation. You are writing a professional piece of work and
therefore need to use the passive tense. So instead of writing, 'In my opinion', you could
write 'The research shows that...' Instead of writing, ‘I believe that...’ you could write either, ‘It
was discovered that...’ or ‘From the evidence presented it can be concluded that...’
• Do not use informal abbreviations (won’t, doesn’t, etc.)
• Do not use apostrophes where they do not belong: use 1970s; do not use 1970’s
• Use the UK format for dates (i.e., 19 July 1964, not July 19, 1964)

10.1.3 Citing and referencing

• Every cited source must be listed in your reference list at the end of your dissertation
• No source should be listed at the end of the report if not cited in your dissertation
• If a citation is at the end of a sentence, it should appear before the full stop
• Cite by surname of author and year only; do not use initials in your citations
• If you are citing two authors cite both surnames; if more than two, cite the first author’s
surname and ‘et al.’
• In your reference list never use ‘et al.’ You must write out the authors’ names in full in your
reference list
• For sources by two authors, use either ‘and’ or ‘&’ consistently in all cases
e.g. use either this style: (Smith & Jones, 2007) or this style: (Smith and Jones, 2007) – but
not both

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 • If citing two or more sources inside parentheses, separate them by semi-colons: (Buchanan,
2002; Buchanan & Jones, 2005)
• Understand why sometimes references appear with a letter after the year e.g. (2007b) – and
then only use this convention if it is appropriate to your essay report
• Use a consistent and conventional referencing system throughout (see Appendix 7)

10.1.4 Figures and tables

• Every figure and table must be explicitly referred to in the text by its number, never by
‘above’ or ‘below’
• Figure and table numbers should be sequential in your report and should not have more
than one decimal place
• Figure captions below figures, table captions above tables
• The source of a figure or table should be cited in the caption
• When referring to a specific figure or table by number, the first letter should be upper case
e.g. ‘as can be seen in Figure 3’; ‘reported in Table 4’

• If referring to a figure at the start of a sentence, do not write ‘Fig.’, write ‘Figure’

10.1.5 Plagiarism

• Your work must be expressed in your own words and incorporate your own ideas and
judgements.
• Where you have used other people’s work in your dissertation you must acknowledge you
have done so by citing and referencing their work.
• Proven plagiarism will result in failure and referral to College disciplinary procedures. Cases
of suspected plagiarism can and will be dealt with under the College’s Cheating Offences
Policy and Procedures, a full copy of which can be found at:
www.imperial.ac.uk/registry/exams/examoffences

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