Notes of Guidance for Candidates

Time Limits for the submission of Thesis

Submission of your work must take place on, or before, the deadline recorded in your student record.

Length of Thesis

The text of the PhD thesis is a maximum of 100,000 words (excluding appendices and references).

The text of the MPhil/LLM (Res) or Dag/DProf thesis is a maximum of 60,000 words (excluding appendices and references.

Special provisions relating to Schemes in the Creative Arts.

In the case of candidates following approved research degree schemes which fall within the University's subject area of Creative and Performing Arts, the thesis may take one or more of the following forms: artefacts, score, portfolio of original works, performance or exhibition.

The submission shall be accompanied by a written commentary placing it in its academic context together with any other items which may be required (e.g., a catalogue or audio or visual recording). These submissions can now be submitted via SharePoint which can support MP4 files. Please email grastaff@aber.ac.uk for more information.

Abstract

A copy of the Abstract will be published in the University’s online research repository, even if the thesis is not made available. A form is provided at the end of this booklet for you to complete.

Thesis abstract: guidance for research students

An abstract is a self-contained summary of 250-300 words of your thesis. This will appear at the front of the thesis and give your examiners a succinct introduction to the thesis. Very significantly, once you have passed, it will be displayed on online research repositories to inform potential readers of the thesis of its contents.

It will contain key terms that may be picked out in searches. So, it is important in enabling readers to find your work and helping them to decide whether it is relevant to their own research. Conference papers, research grants and journal publications will all require an abstract and so it is useful to develop the ability to produce these informative summaries.

The abstract will be written once the thesis has been finalised so that it can cover the whole work. It may take different forms dependent on discipline (check works in your own discipline area for guidance) but usually it will cover:

  • Project rationale
  • Research question(s)
  • Method(s)
  • Main findings / conclusions
  • Implications of the findings (e.g., for future research, practical applications)

It is well worth taking some time to produce a well-written abstract, especially when you come to the final submission for deposit, to attract as much attention as possible to your thesis.

An abstract should be produced for all types of research degree submission, including creative practice-based works. Even if the thesis is embargoed for a period, the abstract will be published, so that anyone interested can request individual access or make a note to check the thesis when it is released.

Documents to be Submitted with your thesis.

Included in these Guidance notes you will find a page titled ‘Mandatory Layout of Declarations and Statements’. The FULL content of these pages should be inserted at the front of the electronic copy of your thesis without change to the wording or content of the Declaration or Statements.

Each Declaration and Statement must be signed and dated.

This form also includes the word count of your thesis, which must be completed.

Presentation of Theses

Candidates submitting a thesis for examination shall submit one electronic copy to the BB thesis submission link.

  • Candidate’s name;
  • University’s name (can be abbreviated to AU);
  • Degree for which the thesis is being submitted;
  • The full or abbreviated name of the thesis; and
  • The date of submission.

This information shall be visible on the front page

If the work consists of more than one volume, the front page shall also bear the number of each volume.

The electronic copy of the thesis, whether for the purpose of examination or for deposit in libraries, shall be presented in permanent and legible form and the characters employed in the main text (but not necessarily in illustrations, maps etc.) shall be not less than 12pt; characters employed in all other texts, notes, footnotes, etc. shall be not less than 10pt. Typing shall be of even quality with clear black characters.

Double or one-and-a–half spacing shall be used in the main text, but single spacing shall be used in the abstract and in any indented quotations and footnotes. Drawings and sketches shall be in black ink, unnecessary details should be omitted and the scale should be such that the minimum space between lines is not less than 1mm. All pages should be appropriately numbered.

Candidates may submit other supporting materials where they form a useful addition to, or explanation of, work contained in the written submission and if such material constitutes the most appropriate method of presenting the information concerned. Ideally this will be in digital form but if this is not possible, students should consult their supervisors and Information Services staff for advice at an early stage of their research.

Please contact grastaff@aber.ac.uk for more information regarding submissions using MP4 files.