Dissertation Guidelines for research-oriented projects
(Similar guidelines exist for development-oriented projects)
Your dissertation is your write-up of the work that you have undertaken for your project. The precise content of any dissertation depends upon the nature of the work undertaken, but the following structure would be expected for a research-based project that does not involve the development of any kind of software artefact.
PRELIMINARIES
Title Page:
The title page should include: the title of the dissertation, student’s name and candidate number, programme title, division and university name, and the month and year of submission.

Declaration:
The following statement should be included on a separate page immediately after the title page, with your signature below it: “This dissertation is my own original work and has not been submitted elsewhere in fulfilment of the requirements of this or any other award. Any passages taken from my own previous work or other people’s work have been quoted and acknowledged by clear referencing to author, source and page(s). Any non-original illustrations are also referenced. I understand that failure to do this amounts to plagiarism and will be considered grounds for failure in this dissertation and the degree as a whole.”

Abstract: A brief summary of the study covering the Research Aim, Approach Adopted, Salient Findings, Conclusions and Contribution (ideally around half a page in length, maximum one page).
Acknowledgements: Recognition of the support and assistance of various parties/individuals who have contributed to the conduct and completion of the dissertation.
Contents Page:
Detailing dissertation content headings, references, and a list of appendices with the respective page numbers.

List of Figures: Numerically sequenced list of all figures included in the dissertation with the respective page numbers.

List of Tables: Numerically sequenced list of all tables included in the dissertation with the respective page numbers.

Glossary: A summary of acronyms or jargon listed alphabetically and detailed in full with definitions, if appropriate.

CHAPTERS (these are just suggestions)
Introduction: Presentation of a theoretical background to, and defence for, the study, followed by an explanation and justification of research aim and objectives, a brief overview of the methodological framework and a preview of chapters to follow.

Literature Review: An analytical overview of the underpinning literature with particular attention to core concepts, frameworks and issues considered and an analysis of the implications for the study.
Technical Review: A review of existing systems and/or software applications, if any, that are applicable to the study in some way. This may include systems and/or applications that were considered but not used as well as those that were used.

Methodology/Plan: Detailed description, discussion and justification of methodological framework adopted for the study and consideration of methodological appropriateness. You should also present your project plan within this chapter, since the methodology dictates the project plan to some extent.

Findings: Presentation, analysis and discussion of the salient findings (the use of figures and tables to present salient findings is recommended).

Critical Evaluation: Critical review of the work undertaken including discussion of salient insights gained through the conduct of the study, contribution of the study, limitations of the existing theory, critical assessment of the study. Contemplation of the dissertation journey focused on the personal learning and development experienced and the implications for the study. Reasoned suggestions for further research.

List of References: Full disclosure following the Harvard Referencing System of all sources referenced within the text, in alphabetical order.

APPENDICES
Well-presented collection of any relevant supplementary material including sample data collection tools such as questionnaires and/or interview schedules, example calculations and organisation/industry details. Appendices should be sequentially numbered, labelled and referenced appropriately in the text. Your first appendix should be a copy of your signed ethics form.
Tip: A neat way of separating your appendices from each other and from the main body of your printed and bound dissertation is to use coloured paper separators as shown opposite.
An important note about plagiarism
If you copy and paste text from your Level 5 RDM proposal (or from any of your other previous work) into your dissertation you must very clearly mark any such text and cite your RDM proposal (or your other previous work) as the reference. Failure to do this may lead to an academic misconduct charge due to self-plagiarism.
The following requirements must be adhered to:
• Dissertation length: 12,000 words +/- 10% (not including appendices)
• A4 white paper, printed on one side of the page only
• Text should be double spaced except for footnotes, appendices and indented quotations which should be single spaced
• Margins should be 25 mm (Top, Bottom, Left and Right)
• Pages should be numbered consecutively using small Roman (i, ii …) for preliminary
pages and Arabic (1, 2 …) for main text and appendices
• Main text should be in Times New Roman, font size 12 or equivalent
• Chapter titles, headings and sub-heading should be appropriately and consistently formatted generally using font sizes larger than 12.
• There is a 20MB file size limit for uploading to Moodle.