1 Research Project Dissertation The following pertains to the written dissertation to be submitted as part of the requirements for the degree of MSc (3.1.1) The dissertation to be typed single-sided, double-spaced on A4 paper, in a suitable font such as Times 12, leaving 30mm left-hand margin to allow for binding and a 20mm right-hand margin. The pages should be numbered at the top centre 15mm down. (3.1.2) One copy – 2-sided and stapled. (3.1.3) The printers in the Institute can be used. (3.1.4) The first page should be laid out so that the following appears: MSc (Insert Course Title) Project Report 2012/2013 Name Title *Heriot-Watt University *Institute of Petroleum Engineering Supervisor(s) – Name(s) *PetGeo’s must also include University of Edinburgh, Grant Institute of Earth Sciences University of Newcastle, School of Civil Engineering and Geoscience (3.1.5) If the dissertation uses data which is specific to an operating or servicing company and is to be considered to be confidential then this should be stated in the top right-hand corner of the title sheet. The degree to which areas should be restricted, if necessary, must be agreed with the company sponsoring the project and your supervisor clearly informed. (3.1.6) The CONTENTS page laid out in conventional form should include the following: Declaration: I…………………………confirm that this work submitted for assessment is my own and is expressed in my own words. Any uses made within it of the works of other authors in any form (e.g. ideas, equations, figures, text, tables, programs) are properly acknowledged at the point of their use. A list of the references employed is included. Signed………………………….. Date…………………………… This declaration is then followed by the following sections (ON THE NEXT PAGE): Acknowledgements Summary (not more that 1 side of A4) Table of Contents Aims Introduction or background Data summary (if applicable) Methods used or workflow Results Discussion Conclusions Suggestions for further work Figures and Tables (These may be included in the bulk of the report) References Appendices Aims should be short, to the point, and show what the project intends to accomplish, how it intends to accomplish it, and why this is important. Introduction should include background material, including an introduction to the area of study (geographic or geologic information or a basic introduction to the subject area), referencing appropriate literature on the subject. Location maps and summary figures are useful in this section. A data summary is needed to show where your data is sourced from (including references to sources), to show how much of the bulk of the thesis is your own work. Methods section should summarize what procedures have been used in this project, referring to appropriate literature to justify their use. Each method should be summarized briefly, including a description of all terminology used. Results should be presented briefly, with summary charts, tables and diagrams. All detailed results that are not directly referred to in the text should be put in an appendix. Discussion section is where logical argument is used to show how your results support your conclusions, and refute any other possible conclusions. Reference should be made here to appropriate literature sources for models or other similar work. Conclusions should be a list summarizing the important points in the discussion section, and suggestions for further work should also be a list. Figures and tables should only be placed in the text when (and where) they are directly referred to in order to make a point. Otherwise additional figures may be placed in the appendices. However, if a figure is referred to in the text, it must be placed either in the text near the reference or in a Figures and Tables section after the bulk of the report. The figure source must be cited in the caption. References must be only those papers or books directly referred to (cited) somewhere in the text, including in figure captions. Please read the declaration that must be signed (beginning of this section). It states that any work, ideas, diagrams or data that you have not yourself generated must be referenced at the point of use. If you do not reference your use of other peoples work, you are committing plagiarism (see Appendix 4). Citations in the text may be either in the form of the authors name and date of publication, or in the form of numbered references. In the case of names, the reference list is produced alphabetically, for numbers it is produced in the order of citation (the first cited paper is [1]…). Additional pages that may be useful include (after the table of contents): List of Figures List of Tables List of abbreviations used Glossary
