Ordinance No 92/2021 of the Rector of Poznań University of Economics and Business of 28th October 2021
on the formal and editorial guidelines of diploma theses prepared at the Poznań University of Economics and Business
Based on article 23 of the Act on Higher Education of 20 July 2018 (Journal of Laws of 2021 item 478 as amended), § 43 of the Study Rules and Regulations introduced by the PUEB Senate Act no 82 (2018/2019) of 26 April 2019 it is hereby decided that:
§1
General provisions
1. Diploma theses (bachelor’s/engineer’s/master’s) is an independent development of a scientific or practical or technical achievement, presenting the student’s general knowledge and skills related to the learning outcomes of the given field of study, level and profile as well as the ability to independently analyse and conclude.
2. The subject and content of the diploma thesis must be consistent with the directional learning outcomes.
3. The title of the thesis should be approved by the thesis supervisor.
§2
Content related requirements for diploma theses
1. Bachelor/engineering thesis is a diploma thesis prepared during studies of the first degree. Master thesis is a diploma thesis prepared for second-cycle studies.
2. A bachelor’s or master’s thesis may take the forms of:
1) A review – a systematizing knowledge of the formulated problem, description based on the existing literature;
2) A project – when the author develops new or modifies existing ways of solving the problems specified in work, taking into account literature and practice;
3) Empirical – when the author designs and conducts his own empirical research or has his own participation in a wider research project, and in the work documents the studies of literature and other sources carried out and describes the research carried out, with particular emphasis on the results obtained and their interpretation against the background of the acquired knowledge regarding the studied problem.
3. The engineering nature of the work requires the student to demonstrate current knowledge and the ability to apply research methods, techniques and tools in practice.
Engineering work can be of the nature of:
1) A project
2) Empirical (contains experimental solution to the given problem/goal). In special cases the thesis may be of a review nature (for ex. contains an assessment of practical solutions against the background of theory).
4. Diploma thesis should:
1) Demonstrate the substantive competence of the author in relations to the undertaken problem or issue (issues);
2) Contain the clearly formulated problem in the purpose together with an indication of research gap (if it exists);
3) Take into account the achievements of scientific literature, documented both in a form of references in the content of the work and in the appendix at the end of the work;
4) Use the methods and analytical techniques related to the given problem and well known during the study programme and assimilated in a process of thesis preparation;
5) Allow to identify the author’s own contribution to the achievement of the goal with the particular emphasis on the synthetic characteristics of the results in the summary or final remarks;
6) Should point a connection between individual analysis in comparison to the literature and other sources.
5. Number of scientific literature items shown in the appendix bibliography should not be less than 15 (in the case of bachelor’s and engineering theses) or 30 (in the case of master’s theses) and be reflected in references or footnotes.
6. Diploma thesis preparation should broaden student’s competences in the following field:
– the ability to use the knowledge acquired during studies to solve the problems posed;
– the ability to search and use appropriate bibliography;
– the ability to search for appropriate scientific material and to refer to these sources;
– the ability for appropriate selection and usage of research methods, techniques and tools;
– the ability to present a logical argumentation;
– the ability to formulate and explain individual opinions and theories;
– the ability to use a formal language in writing academic texts.
§3
Editorial requirements
1. The suggested length of the thesis:
i. – bachelor/engineering thesis: 40-60 pages
ii. – master thesis: 60-90 pages.
2. Suggested layout:
– title page;
– summary
– table of contents;
– introduction which should include: the statement of the purpose and the scope of the thesis (subject, time and territiorial scope), a description of research techniques and methods used, information on the content of the following chapters;
– main text, including division into chapters and possibly subchapters;
– summary or conclusions from the work or final remarks (summary with postulates as regards the continuation of the examination of the problem undertaken);
– an appendix bibliography containing a list of cited publications in alphabetical order, in accordance with the requirements of the bibliographic description presented in separate regulations concerning the principles of creating bibliographic references and a list of literature at Poznań University of Economics and Business;
– list of legal acts (only when necessary);
– list of online sources (with date of publication or download);
– list of tables;
– list of figures (diagrams, charts, maps etc.)
– list of appendices;
3. Editing requirements:
1) A4 format;
2) Font: Calibri, also possible Carlito;
3) Font size: 12;
4) Margins: top 2,5 cm; bottom 2,5 cm; left 3,0 cm; right 2,0 cm;
5) Line-spacing: 1,5;
6) Each paragraph should start with an indention (0,5cm);
7) Align text to both margins;
8) Font size for Chapter titles – bold and 14 pts;
9) Font size for subchapter titles – bold and 12 pts;
10) The titles of tables – placed above, font bold and 12 pts;
11) The title of graphs/ figures/ maps – placed under the image, without a dot at the end, font bold and 12 pts;
12) Font size of sources for the tables/ graphs/ maps – 10 pts;
13) All pages should be numbered, the number should appear at the bottom of the page (with no number on the title page);
14) citation of articles/ books/ internet pages/ legal acts in the text and creation of a list of literature: in accordance with regulations at PUEB;
15) Empty spaces between subchapters/paragraphs should be avoided;
16) New chapter begins on a new page.
4. Patterns of title pages of bachelor/engineer/ master theses in English are included in Appendix No. 2;
5. The diploma thesis can be prepared in an appropriate template drawn up in accordance with the LaTeX format, which contains Appendix No 3 to this Ordinance.
6. The model of the title page of the presentation during the defence (if such a presentation is provided for) is attached as Annex 4 to this Ordinance.
§4
1. The following is implemented once published, subject to the §3.
2. On the day of entry this Ordinance, Ordinance No 11/2018 of the Rector of PUEB cease to have effect on substantive and editorial recommendations regarding diploma theses prepared at PUEB.
3. A student pursuing the last semester of studies in the academic year 2020/2021, who has not completed his studies by the date of entry into force of this Ordinance, submits for defence a diploma thesis prepared in accordance with the existing rules, unless he is directed by a competent director of studies to repeat the last semester of studies or repeat a subject in the academic year 2021/22.
