These writing guidelines are applicable for bachelor's, master's, and licentiate theses. In addition, the guidelines apply where relevant in all other written study assignments such as seminar work and other exercises.
The writing guidelines provide guidance on the layout, citation practices, and finalising of theses. The writing guidelines do not cover all possible cases. If something is unclear, please consult a supervisor or teacher. Chat will not answer questions related to the writing guidelines.
Remember responsible conduct of research.
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Do not include business or trade secrets in theses. Keep this content as background material. If a thesis includes confidential information, its use must be agreed in advance with the supervisor and potential commissioner.
In the maturity essay, the students are expected to demonstrate both proficiency in their field of study and fluency in the written text.
For international master’s students and Finnish master’s students who have previously completed a Finnish bachelor degree, the abstract included in the master’s thesis serves as the maturity test so a separate maturity test is not required. The thesis supervisor marks in the thesis evaluation form that the familiarity with the field of study has been demonstrated in the abstract. Please see writing guidelines concerning the abstract.
A bachelor's programme usually includes introductory lectures, seminars, and writing a bachelor's thesis. The goal of a bachelor's thesis is to develop the skills for independent research on the research topic, the design and determination of the scope of the research problem, and to train the student for academic writing. A bachelor's degree must meet the requirements for independent academic work, and demonstrate familiarity with academic problem definition and also different approaches and methods.
Theses are divided into an introduction, a presentation of the research and a summary. The student can choose the method and emphasis after discussing with the supervisor. A variety of good bachelor’s theses can be written on the same subject. Almost the only rule is that the first chapter must be an introduction and the last chapter must be either reflection and conclusion, a summary, or other similar chapter with a title that reflects the nature of the work.
A master’s thesis aims to familiarise students with the academic discussion and research in their field, to produce an independent thesis related to their field, and to demonstrate proficiency in their academic field.
A master's thesis in engineering covers a topic related to a professional field, and the student shall agree on the topic with a professor in the field. The thesis subject may also be multidisciplinary (the content may include both major and minor subjects) in a manner agreed with the professor in the field.
The abstract text serves as a maturity test in Master's thesis. Abstract length should be one page when following the writing guidelines.
Guidelines mentioned above apply also to licentiate theses.
A licenciate thesis is published in Osuva publication archive at least 10 days before the review.
When you feel your thesis draft is ready, submit it to the supervisor (the thesis supervisor) for pre-review. The supervisor provides feedback and possible suggestions for corrections. Re-submit the corrected version to the supervisor. After this the supervisor authorises the handing in of your thesis for plagiarism inspection.
All theses at the University of Vaasa are subjected to an electronic check using the Turnitin plagiarism detection service before the work can be approved. The check will also be mentioned on your university transcript. Follow your supervisor's instructions on submitting your completed thesis to the Moodle platform for the Turnitin check.
Once your supervisor has inspected the plagiarism inspection report and verified that nothing was flagged, the supervisor authorises the submission of your final thesis for review, archiving and publication in the Osuva publication archive.
Save your work in the Osuva publication archive. After you save your work in Osuva, send the same file to your supervisor and to the studying and teaching services. The assessment period may then begin.
