CI7000 Project Dissertation

As the largest single piece of writing you may have ever done, you will need considerable time after you have completed the project work itself, to write your Dissertation (see Module Guidelines  under Syllabus page) .  

A typical structure for the Dissertation is as follows, more details can be found in Module Guidelines  (under Syllabus page):

·        Title Page (see format in the Appendix section of the Module Guidelines  (under Syllabus page))

·        A contents page

·        List of figures and/or tables

·        Glossary of Terms

·        Introduction (As in Proposal, & Abstract, Aims and Objectives, Summary of Thesis  

         Contributions and Thesis Outline)   

·       Literature Review (As in Proposal, & Progression to Full Literature Review)   

·       Contribution Chapters (Existence, Suitability & Justification of Artifact, Design,

        Implementation and Evaluation)   

·       Conclusion (Summary of Work, Reflection, Future work)   

·       References (Please use either the Harvard or Vancouver (numerical) styles.). Ensure that all sources are properly cited and at the appropriate point in the main text of the dissertation.

·       Bibliography: this refers to background material that is not specifically referred to in the main text of the dissertation and therefore it is unusual for a dissertation to have a significant Bibliography section, if at all.

·       Appendices (numbered and titled – as required).

Note, however, that the best organisation and structure for each report is different – it reflects the nature of the topic addressed, so expect to adapt the above starting point to meet your individual needs. You can discuss the structure of your dissertation with your supervisor.

Take care to give reasons for all decisions you make – justify and explain.  The same goals could have been achieved differently – what are the advantages and disadvantages of doing it your way?

An integral part of the report is appropriate consideration to legal, professional and ethical issues.

You are expected to include in your project report ideas, methods and results produced by other people - if you do not it probably indicates a lack of background research and is likely to be penalized.  However, you must be scrupulously careful to cite clearly the author/originator of any such work. If you fail to indicate the source of such material you are, by implication, claiming someone else’s work as your own. This is regarded as a serious matter in academic circles and it carries severe penalties.