How to write Thesis?

5 Levels of Thesis

Level 5: CENTERED UPPERCASE HEADING

( 0 point before and 36 after with single spacing)

Level 1: Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Heading

( 0 point before and 12 point after with double spacing)

Level 2: Centered, Italicized, Upper and Lowercase Heading

(12 point before and 6 pt. After with double spacing)

Level 3: Flush left, italicized, Upper and Lowercase side heading

(6 point before and o pt. After with double spacing)

Level 4: Indented, Italicized, lowercase with a period

Indented = 1 tab or 5 spaces

What things to be Remembered?

Font style & size: Times Roman, 12 (but, Main heading should be in 14)

Spacing: Always double. (Except in main heading)

Margin: 1.5” in left side, rest 1 side each.

Page No.: Top right hand side

How to start Writing: Often start with the topic paragraph that introduces the problem under study.

Foot notes: NO! Never use.

Passive Sentences: No use or very less

Difference between Limitation & Delimitation?

Citations and References: Must be matched

Justification: No, Never!

Italic, Bold & Underline? : No ! Except defined heading

Bullets: NO! Never

In Scientific writing, sound organizational structure is the key to clear, precise and logical communication.

While writing thesis, eliminate repetition and write in the active voice
… (ellipsis points) It shows, within a sentence to indicate that you have omitted material from the original senescences.....(4 ellipsis) it indicates omission between two or more sentences.

Research is complete only when the results are shared with the scientific community

Plagiarism: researchers do not claim the words and ideas of others as their own; they give credit where credit is due. Quotation marks should be used to indicate the exact words of another. Sometimes you can summarize and paraphrase another authors but they need to credit the source in the text.

While citing, omit all the titles (Dr., Prof.) and degrees (PhD, PsyD, Masters') and use only the final name

Citing Sources

Cite the works of those individuals whose ideas, theories or research have directly influence your work/thesis. Citation of an article implies that you have personally read the cited work. If not your work is full of plagiarism.

Direct quotation must be accurate. There should not be any correction in words, spelling, and interior punctuation of the original source, even if the source is incorrect (p. 172).

Direct Quotation of Sources

When quoting, always provide the author, year and specific page citation or paragraph number for non-paginated material in the text and include a complete reference in the reference list

If the quotation comprises fewer than 40 words, incorporate it into text and enclose the quotation with double quotation marks.

Example; “Physical appearance affects the environment and that environment affects the personality of an individual, therefore, people treat to the individual according to his appearance” (Aurther, 2008, p.38)

If the quotation comprises 40 or more words, display it in a free standing block of text and omit the quotation marks. Start such a block quotation on a new line and indent the block about a half inch from the left margin.

Regarding personality, Keirsey and Bates (1984) say that people are different in fundamental ways.

They want different things; they have different motives, purposes, aims, values, needs, drives,impulses, urges. Nothing is more fundamental than that. They believe differently: they think,cognize, conceptualize, perceive, understand,comprehend and cogitate differently. And, of course, manners of acting and emoting, governed as they are by wants and beliefs, follow suit and differ radically among people (Keirsey & Bates, 1984, p.2)

If the quotation comprises 40 or more words, display it in a free standing block of text and omit the quotation marks. Start such a block quotation on a new line and indent the block about a half inch from the left margin.

Regarding personality, Keirsey and Bates (1984) say that people are different in fundamental ways.

They want different things; they have different motives, purposes, aims, values, needs, drives,impulses, urges. Nothing is more fundamental than that. They believe differently: they think,cognize, conceptualize, perceive, understand,comprehend and cogitate differently. And, of course, manners of acting and emoting, governed as they are by wants and beliefs,follow suit and differ radically among people (Keirsey & Bates, 1984, p.2).

Direct quotations of online material without paginated

Credit direct quotations of online material by giving the author, year and page number in parenthesis. Where page number is not given, provide there paragraph number

Example; Basu and Jones (2007) went so far as to suggest the need for a new “intellectual framework in which to consider the nature and form of regulation in cyberspace” (para. 4).

One work by one author

Surname of the author (do not include suffixes such as Jr.) and the year of publication. Include page number if possible.

Example; “English Language Teaching (ELT) is not so easy in Nepal” (Bhattrai, 2003) or

Bhattrai (2003, p.10) says “English Language Teaching (ELT) is not so easy in Nepal”.

One work by two authors

Walker and Allen (2004) English Language Teaching (ELT) is not so easy in Nepal

“English Language Teaching (ELT) is not so easy in Nepal” (Walder & Allen, 2004)

One work by three authors

Bradley, Ramirez, and Soo (1999) say, “without any literature review, one can't write his/her thesis”  or

“without any literature review, one cant write his/her thesis” (Bradley, Ramirez,& Soo, 1999)

Subsequent citation in text:

Bradley et al. (2999)  or   (Bradley et al. 1999)

This rule works up to five authors

One work by six or more authors

Wasserstein et al. (2009) says, “all the cited sources must have reference list in the reference list”.      Or

“all the cited sources must have reference list in the reference list” (Wasserstein et al., 2009).

Group (readily identified through abbreviation) as authors

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2003)

In 2^nd time: NIMH (2003)      or

(National institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2003)

In 2^nd time: (NIMH, 2003)

Authors with the same surname

If a reference list includes publications by two or more primary authors with the same surname, include the first authors' initials in all text citations even if the year of publication differs.

Example: Among studies, we review M. A. Light and Light (2008) and I. Light (2006) and found out that research plays vital role even in school level.

When a work has no identified author, cite in text the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title) and the year. Use double quotation marks around the title of an article/ a chapter/ a web page.

Example: Being a professional teacher, you should not think about free education in tertiary level (“Being a professional teacher”, 2007).

When similar ideas are given by the two or more authors, at that time these different authors are better cited within the same parentheses in alphabetical order by the first author's surname.

Example: Children must be treated equally in the schools (Miller, 1999; Sharma & Karki, 1998; Tamrakar, 1999).

How to cite secondary sources??

Regmi (as cited in Khadka, 2003) says, we must recognize the value of others' culture.

How to cite the classical work/ translated works?

Cite the year of translation preceded by trans.,

Example: ................................. (Aristotle, trans. 1931)

How to cite personal communication

(Private letters, memos, electronic communication/ mail, message, personal interviews, telephone conversations....) they are not included in the reference list. Here, give the initials as well as the surname of the communicator, and provide as exact as date as possible.

Example: T. N. Sharma (personal communication, April 18, 2011)

Reference List

Abbreviation

ed.                               edition

Rev. ed.                       revised edition

2^nd ed.                          Second edition

n.d.                              no date

p. (pp.)                         page (pages)

Vol.                             Volume (as in Vol. 4)/ Vol.3 (never write Vol. III)

No.                              Number

Pt.                                part

How to write References????

è Keep all the reference list in alphabetical order.

è Capitalize only the first word of the title and of the subtitle, if any, and only proper nouns; do not italicize the title or place quotation marks around it.

è When authors number eight or more, include the first six authors' name then insert three ellipses and add the last author's name.

Example: Khatri, D., Thapa, S., Shresthat, T. R., Panta, J. R., Asgard, L., Khatri, M. B., ...Rana, P.B. (2004). Effects of quoting smoking on papers. Nicotine of Tobacco Research, 6, 249-267. Retrieved from

 http://www.psychologynewspaper.education.uk

If reference list includes different authors with same surname and first initial, the authors' full first name may be given in brackets.

Example: Janet, P. [Paul]. (1887). The role of teachers' personality in teaching. United States: Nancy press.

In a reference to a work with no author, move the title to the author position, before the date of publication.

Example: Teachers' personality. (2011). Kathmandu: Oxford Press.

How to cite periodicals (items published on a regular basis such as journals, magazines,and  newspapers)
Author (s), Surname. (year). Title of article. Title of periodical, Volume (issue No if any), pp -pp. …

Example: Khatri, D. & Karki, A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and survival times of terminology ill patience. Health Psychology, 24 (3), 225 – 229. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225

                                                                                                Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxx

Advance online publication

Sharma, S. R., (2039). Optimizing knowledge transfer by new employees in companies. knowledge Management Research & Practice. Advance online publication. doc:10.1057/palgrave.kmrp.8500141

Magazine Article

Gharti, P.B., Thapa, R.B., & Sunuwar, M. (2008, May). Enhancing worker well being: Occupational health psychologists stress on health. Monitor on Psychology, 39(5), 26- 29.

If online article???????

Gharti, P. B. (2008,June). How to teach children. Monitor on Psychology, 39 (5). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/

Newspaper Article

Khadka, P. (2011, March 30). Improving education through monitoring. The Kathmandu Post, pp. A1.

Online newspaper article

Brody, J. E. (2007, December 11). Mental research keep brain agile. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytmes.com

Abstracts as original source

Ghimire, K., & Khadka, J. (2006). The relationship of school-wide positive behavior support to academic achievement [Abstract]. Psychology in the Schools, 43, 701 – 712.

If it is online Abstract???????

Ghimire, K., & Khadka, J. (2006). The relationship of school-wide positive behavior support to academic achievement [Abstract]. Psychology in the Schools, 43, 701 – 712. Abstract retrieved from http://www.interscience.wiley.com

How about books?????

Author, Surname. (date). Title of work/book. Location: publisher.

Example: Shotton, M. A. (1998). Computer addiction? A study of computer dependence London, England: Taylor & Francis.

Electronic Version of Print book

Shotton, M. A. (1998). Computer addiction? A study of computer dependency [Dx Reader version] Retrieved from http://www.ebookstore.standf.uk

Electronic book with no date

O' Keefe, E. (n.d.). Egoism & the crises in western values. Retrieved from http://www.onlineoriginals.com/showitem?aspID=135

Books' Chapter

Haybron, D. M. (2008). Philosophy and the science. In M. Eid & R. J. Larsen (Eds.). New York: Guilford Press

Authored report, from nongovernmental organization

Kesssy, S. S. A., & Urio, F. M. (2006). The contribution of micro finance institutions to poverty reduction in Tanzania (Research Report No. 06.3). Retrieved from Research on Poverty Alleviation website: http://www.repoa.or.tz/documents_strange_urio.pdf

Paper presentation or poster session

Presenter, A. A. (Year, Month). Title of paper or poster. Paper or poster session presented at the meeting or Organization name, Location.

Example of  Conference paper:

Liu, S. (2005, May). Defending against business crises with the help of intelligent agent based early warning solutions. Paper presented at the Seventh International Conference on Enterprise Information System, Miami, FF. Abstract retrieved from http://www.iceis.org/iceis2005/anstracts_2005.stm

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's thesis

If it is already published in the market,

Author, A. A. (2003). Title of doctoral dissertation or master's thesis (Doctoral dissertation or master's thesis). Retrieved from Name of database. (Accession or Order No.)

For unpublished dissertation or thesis,

Author, A. A. (1978). Title of doctoral dissertation or master's thesis (Unpublished doctoral dissertation or master's thesis). Name of institution, Location.

Review of a book:

Reviewer, A. A. (2000). Title of review [Review of the book Title of book, by A. A. Author]. Title of complete work, xx, xxx – xxx. For example:

Khaniya, B. R. (2000, November 17). Learning by text or context? [Review of the book The social life of information , by J. S. Brown & P. Duguid]. Science, 290, 1304. doi:10.1126/science.290.5495.1304

Letters from the collection/ repository

Frank, L. K. (1935, February 4). [Letter to Robert M. Ogden]. Rockefeller Archive Center (GEB series 1.3, Box 371, Folder 3877), Tarrytown, NY.

Unpublished papers and Lectures

Berliner, A. (1959). Notes for a lecture on reminiscences of Wundt and Leipzig. Anna Berliner Memoirs (Box M50). Archives of the History of American Psychology, University of Askron, Akron, OH.

 (Source: Phd Candidate of TU, Amar Tumyang)