SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

FINAL YEAR PROJECT

INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR THESIS PREPARATION

GENERAL
The thesis is written in the format of a scientific publication. One of the most critical steps in writing a
thesis is to think about the people who will be reading and evaluating it. Your challenge is to present
your work at the level that any scientist can understand: to strike a balance between over-explaining
and under-explaining. You don’t want to report on each and every experiment, or each detail of each
procedure. On the other hand, you don’t want non-expert readers to be confused by a theory that a
non-specialist has no hope of understanding. Your job is to distinguish what is important to explain
and what should be self-evident to an educated scientist.

FORMAT AND STYLE

Specific formatting:
 Word limit: maximum 6,000 (includes only: Introduction; Materials and Methods; Results;
Discussion; and Conclusions)
 Word limit does not include figure legends, table headings, words used in figures and tables,
table footnotes. Word limit does include the references cited in the text. Word limit does
include section headings and subheadings.
 Paper size: A4.
 Margins: 1 inch left and right; 0.5 inch top and bottom.
 Font: Arial, Geneva and Times are recommended. Choose only one font for the entire thesis.
 Section headings: Bold, all caps.
 Section subheadings: Bold.
 Font sizes:
o Text and all section headings and subheadings: 12 point
o Figure legends: 10 point
o Table headings: 10 point
o Table items: 10 point
o Table footnotes: 10 point
 Line spacing:
o Text: 1.5 lines for all sections except References.
o References: 1.0 lines. Leave a line gap between individual references.
o Figure legends, table headings, and table footnotes: 1.0 lines
o Table contents: 1.5 lines
 Page numbers: bottom right corner, number all pages including title page. Page numbers are
permitted to be outside the margins.
 You are strongly encouraged to utilize two-sided printing to reduce paper use.

Keep the layout of the text simple.

Use boldface, italics, subscripts, superscripts, etc. when necessary. Use tabs, not spaces, to align text
or column tables.

Do not fully justify the text, align it to the left only. While fully justified text may appear neater, it often
introduces irregular spacing between letters and words that can be difficult to read.

Start new sections on a new page by using page breaks.

Do not number sections or subsections.

Check your final draft to make sure that page breaks do not separate headings from text, figures from
figure legends or unnecessarily break tables onto two pages.

Start text on a new page according to the instructions in this file. Do not start a new page for each
subsection within Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results or Discussion.

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To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the spell checking function of your word
processor. More importantly, proof-read the final text several times before submission and also ask
others to proof-read the file.

Use the IUPAC recommended symbols for scientific units. Use nomenclature approved by the
International Committee for the Taxonomy of Viruses the first time a virus name appears. Commonly
used vernacular names may be used after viruses are first correctly identified. Genetic loci should be
italicized; protein products of the loci are not italicized. For bacteria use nomenclature approved by
the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria.

There is no need for the finished product to be a masterpiece of desk-top publishing. Your time can be
more productively spent improving the content rather than the appearance.

There is no correlation (either way) between thesis length and the final course grade. Readers will not
appreciate large amounts of vague or unnecessary text or large gaps in the text and empty pages.

Changes to thesis word limit and format must be first discussed with your supervisor. You are then
responsible for emailing the FYP Coordinator to request a change in the word limit or format. You
must include the proposed format changes or new word limit and justification for your request.
Requests for changes must reach the Coordinator no later than one week before submission.

TENSE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ASSISTANCE

The bulk of the thesis should generally be written using past tense. This is because you are writing
about work that you have already done.

It is required that you make clear exactly what work was done by you and what was done by other
people. On the Declaration page it is stated and signed by you that ‘all work was performed by me,
unless otherwise specified’. In the text and in subheadings you must indicate what parts of the work
were done by others and include their title and full name.

ORGANISATION
The thesis should be written as concisely as possible with minimum repetition between Results and
Discussion and Materials and Methods and figure legends. All figures must be of a quality such that
the examiners can judge the data. Appendices are not permitted. If there is a need to include an
appendix you must request permission from the FYP Coordinator no later than one week before
submission. Information included in the appendix will not be examined and not count towards the
grade. The thesis must be compiled into the following sections (in the order given). Changes to thesis
organization must be first discussed with your supervisor. You are then responsible for emailing the
FYP Coordinator to request a change in the organization. Requests for changes must reach the
Coordinator no later than one week before submission.

Title page
See the attached example of the Title page and adhere to this format. Do not include pictures, logos
or other additions on the title page. The title should be concise and informative. Avoid abbreviations
and formulas.

Declaration
See the attached example of the Declaration and adhere to this format. The Declaration must follow
the Title Page. Include all information listed in the Declaration, you must not remove any of the text
listed. You must sign each hard copy of the Declaration. Students submitting electronically must
forward a signed copy to the Coordinator by the due date.

Table of Contents
Start a new page. List the section name on the left and the page number on the right. Include section
subheadings if you wish. Make sure the table is clear and easy to read. Re-check that the page
numbers are correct before submission. Include all sections from Acknowledgements onwards.

Acknowledgements
Start a new page. Limit of 150 words. Acknowledge first those that have assisted you in the project.
Make particular mention of those who have provided specific reagents or helped with specific
protocols. You are welcome to acknowledge family, friends, etc. but this must only follow all project-
related acknowledgements.
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 Abbreviations
Start a new page. List the abbreviations in alphabetical order with the abbreviated form on the left and
the extended form on the right. Only include abbreviations that are used more than twice in the entire
text. Include but do not limit to compounds, reagents, protocol names and disease abbreviations.

The first time an abbreviation is mentioned in the text, write out the full name and include the
abbreviation in parentheses. Subsequently the abbreviated form may be used.

Abstract
Start a new page. A concise and factual abstract is required (maximum length 200 words). Include the
project title and student name on the top of the abstract page. Title and name are not included in the
200-word limit. The abstract is a summary of the main findings of the thesis. An abstract is often
presented separate from the main text, so it must be able to stand alone. References should be
avoided but if essential, they must be cited in full, without reference to the reference list. The abstract
is best written towards the end of the project, but not at the very last minute because you will probably
need several drafts. It should be a distillation of the thesis: a concise description of the problem, your
method of solving it, your results and conclusions.

Introduction
Start a new page. The Introduction should be a succinct introduction to the field of study. You may
use subheadings if you wish. It should contain material directly relevant to the research that is
described and should state clearly the aims of the investigation. The purpose of the Introduction is to
introduce the reader to the area of research, provide relevant background information and put the
presented work into context. The specific aims of the project must be stated clearly in the final
paragraph of the Introduction, you may use bullets or numbered points for this if you wish. It is
acceptable to include figures and tables in the Introduction.

To write this section, ask yourself these questions: what is the “problem” and why is it important;
where did the problem come from; what is already known about this problem; what other methods
have been tried to solve it? Make the “problem” quite clear: and remember that you have been
working on this project for a few months so you will be very close to it. Try to step back mentally and
take a broader view. This section should be interesting. If you bore the reader here, then you are
unlikely to revive their interest in the materials and methods section. Try to make the reader want to
read the rest of the thesis.

Fair citation of other work is essential. You must give credit to those that have provided the
information you are including in your Introduction and at the same time demonstrate your own
background knowledge of the field.

Materials and Methods

Start a new page. You must provide sufficient information to permit the work to be exactly reproduced
by a competent scientist. The section may be kept concise by referring to previously published
procedures for commonly used protocols. For all reagents, the manufacturer’s name and location
must be provided in parentheses when first mentioned, i.e. (Company Name, Country).

If you have used services such as mass spectrometry, DNA sequencing, animal handling, etc that are
essential for your project but performed by someone else then at a minimum you must include an
outline of the procedure, specifications, parameters, equipment used, etc to enable the reader to
repeat the work and interpret the results. Of course you must give full acknowledgment to the service
providers and not claim the work as your own.

It is acceptable to include figures and tables in this section.

Results
Start a new page. This section contains the details of the results of your study. You may use
subheadings if you wish. This is a textual description linked to figures and tables. Be careful not to
include the same information in the Materials & Methods section, then the Results then the Discussion
section. Reviewers will be closely checking that the correct information is located in the most relevant
section. It is acceptable to include method development in the Results section if you have made
significant changes to a previously published method. Remember, the amount of results presented is
not the most vital part of your thesis: how you present and interpret the results, problems and
solutions is far more critical. The purpose of this section is to guide the reader through your results by

Updated by Surajit Bhattacharyya (Assoc Prof) 05/08/13 3

telling them the story of what you did, why you did it and what you found. Your explanation of what
exactly the results mean and how it relates to other work belongs in the Discussion. In the Results you
must always explain WHY - why you used a certain method; why you chose a certain path to follow;
why you used a particular reagent; why you selected a certain sequence for further study, and so on.

Make sure that you use appropriate statistical analyses. Where applicable, show measurement errors
and standard errors, in both tabulated data and graphical representations. You should show error bars
on the data, unless the errors are very small. Take care when plotting graphs. The origin and
intercepts are often important so, unless the ranges of your data make it impractical, the zeros of one
or both scales should usually appear on the graph. Ensure that both axes are labeled correctly with
the unit of measurement included.

It is acceptable to include some results generated by other people, or in partnership with others, if it
helps in interpretation of your work. However, if you need to include results that were generated by
someone else or in partnership with someone else, then you must mention this. Do not include other
people’s results and claim them as your own.

Movie files that are critical to the project may be included in the thesis. Files may be loaded onto a
disk and the disk attached behind the title page of the thesis. No Word or text files may be included on
the disk. The text required to describe the files and instructions for manipulating the files may be
included in the Results section and considered part of the 'figure' and therefore not included in the
word limit. You are responsible for emailing the FYP Coordinator to notify them about the inclusion of
the disk.

Discussion
Start a new page. A discussion section should be constructively interpretive and not restate
experimental data. No new experimental data should be included in the Discussion. This is the place
to reflect on what your results indicate or imply and how this would affect future experimentation. In
other words, you must tell the reader what your results mean and how this impacts the wider area of
research. Any new questions that are raised by your results should be addressed in this section, as
well as explanations for unexpected results.

The discussion section should also be used to state what specific work you think should be done in
the future, either to confirm your results or progress to a next step. Several topics may be covered in
the discussion as long as they are broken up by paragraphs or subheadings. Use this section to detail
the significance of your work. Ask yourself: what do these results mean; why are these results
important and to whom are they important; what could we do to confirm these results or take the next
step in the project?

Conclusions
Start a new page. This is a summary of the initial aims or “problem”, the work that has been
performed towards your specific aims, and the important outcomes. This is not simply a re-written
abstract (which is more for conveying your scientific data to other researchers) but a chance for you to
draw conclusions about whether you reached your initial aims as stated in the introduction. Future
work should be discussed in the Discussion section and not in the Conclusions. This section would
generally be half a page in length.

References
Start a new page. Ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list, and
vice versa. Include only articles that have been published or are in press. Citation of a reference as "in
press" implies that the item has been accepted for publication. Unpublished data, submitted
manuscripts or personal communications should be cited within the text only, not included in the
References. Abstracts of work presented at meetings may not be cited.

“EndNote” is a very useful program for inserting references into text and formatting the References
section.

All citations in the text should refer to:

1. Single author: the author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of
publication.

2. Two authors: both authors' names and the year of publication.

3. Three or more authors: first author's name followed by "et al." and the year of publication.
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 Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically). Groups of references should be listed first
alphabetically, then chronologically.

Examples: "as demonstrated (Allan, 1996a, 1996b, 1999; Allan and Jones, 1995). Kramer et
al. (2000) have recently shown ...."

In the References section, references should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted
chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must
be identified by the letters "a", "b", "c", etc., placed after the year of publication. Examples:

Reference to a journal publication:

Park, J., Nadeau, P.E., Mergia, A., 2002. A minimal genome simian foamy virus type 1 vector
system with efficient gene transfer. Virology 302, 236-244.

Reference to a book:
Hagag, N., Viola, M.V., 1993. Chromosome Microdissection and Cloning: A Practical Guide.
Academic Press, San Diego.

Reference to a chapter in an edited book:

Mettam, G.R., Adams, L.B., 1999. How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In:
Jones, B.S., Smith, R.Z. (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age. E-Publishing Inc., New
York, pp. 281-304.

Reference to a website:
As a minimum, the full URL should be given in the Reference section. Any further information,
if known (author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given.
The standard format for in-text citation must be used, i.e. (Author, Year). Remove all
hyperlinks.

Journal names should be abbreviated according to:

Index Medicus journal abbreviations: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html
List of serial title word abbreviations: http://www.issn.org/2-22661-LTWA-online.php
CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service): http://www.cas.org/sent.html

NOTES ABOUT TABLES AND FIGURES

Tables
Depending on the size of the table, it should either be embedded in the text or shown on a separate
page directly following the first page which refers to the table. Tables must be numbered
consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text (i.e. Table 1, 2, 3). The table heading
must appear directly above the table. Place table footnotes below the table body and indicate them
with superscript lowercase letters. Avoid vertical rules. Ensure that the data presented in tables does
not duplicate results described elsewhere.

Figures
Depending on their size, figures should be embedded in the text or appear on a separate page
directly following the first page which refers to the figure. The figure legend must appear directly
underneath the figure. Figure legends must contain a brief description so that the figure can be
understood without reference to the body of the text. However, the legend should not repeat Materials
and Methods or contain interpretive statements. Figures taken from reference materials must be
labeled as such. Number the figures according to their sequence in the text (i.e. Figure 1, 2, 3).

Both figures and tables must be able to stand on their own and tell a story.

Do not introduce a page break simply because you have listed a figure number in the text. For
example: on the first page of the Results in the first paragraph you refer to Figure 1. Then, in the
second paragraph you refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3. If there is still blank space remaining under the
second paragraph then you must continue the text in this space. On the following page you insert
Figure 1. On the next page you insert Figure 2 and on the subsequent page you insert Figure 3. The
next page will be the continuation of text. It may mean that you have one page of text followed by 2 or
3 or 4 figures and then the text continues. This is the correct format. Alternatively you can insert
Figure 1 directly below the first paragraph where it is mentioned and then continue the text under
Figure 1. This will only be possible if the figure is small. This format usually results in a better flow for
the reader.
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 SUPERVISOR INPUT
Students are permitted to forward up to two complete drafts of the thesis to the supervisor for
comments. The supervisor must be provided with a hard copy only and changes made to the soft
copy by the student alone. This is to ensure that the student reads and understands all changes
suggested by the supervisor and does not simply “accept” all changes without reading the text.

PLAGIARISM
All students should refer to their BS302 (Research Seminar) lecture notes for a more detailed
discussion on plagiarism. The following information is a summary of the information presented in the
BS302 lecture.

Some ideas, thoughts and facts and figures that fall into the category of common knowledge do not
require citation. For example: DNA is a double helical structure; SARS is caused by a virus; malaria is
a parasitic disease. But, a statement such as ‘it is demonstrated that inorganic phosphate regulates
mitochondrial electron transport’ must be cited. As a general rule, statements with ‘it is
argued/shown/generally accepted/believed/proposed…’ must be cited. This is because these are
generally debatable statements and also raises the question, ‘by whom, you or someone else?’ If you
are unsure about citations then consult your supervisor.

Plagiarism is easily avoidable. Firstly, never claim other people’s ideas as your own. Secondly, write
in your own language. Avoid cutting and pasting from any source. Thirdly, if it is necessary to quote or
paraphrase other people’s work then you must do it in a legal and professional way.

Remember, plagiarism is a crime. The Honor Code and Honor Pledge taken by all NTU students and
which ‘applies to every student from the time of his admission’ states:

‘The following are instances of violations which students pledge not to commit and which
could warrant disciplinary action:
Plagiarism
To use or pass off as one’s own, the writings or ideas of another, without
acknowledging or crediting the source from which the ideas are taken.’

The Abstract, Introduction, Results, Discussion and Conclusions sections must be submitted to
Turnitin through edveNTUre no later than 24 hours after hardcopy submission.

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 SUBMISSION
Hard copy
You are required to submit 3 printed copies to the SBS General Office by 4pm on the submission
date.
Only the approved plastic fasteners should be used (see below figure) for thesis submission.

In addition, you are required to provide each supervisor with a printed copy.

Soft copy
You are required to submit 1 CD, containing Word and pdf versions of the thesis and a printable
version of the poster to the SBS General Office by 4pm 1 week after the poster presentation day.

Both the CD and the CD cover must be labeled with the following information, with appropriate
changes to dates:
FYP AY2006/2007
Semester 1
Student name

CD cover should be in paper form (see below figure).

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This is the title of my thesis using 16 point font and without any
additional formatting

by
Kristen Sadler

Supervisor: Assistant Professor Kristen Sadler

Supervisor’s Institute

Submitted to the School of Biological Sciences in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for Final Year Project

NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Submission month, year

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DECLARATION

I declare that,

in accordance with School requirements this thesis is under 6000 words in length;

all presented work was performed within the official project time frame as stated
below;

all presented work was performed by me, unless otherwise specified;

all relevant work experience gained before the Final Year Project is stated below;

the input by my supervisor, or delegated supervisor, into this thesis was limited to
reviewing of up to two hard copy drafts;

this thesis is my own work, unless otherwise referenced, as defined by the

NTU policy on plagiarism and I have read the NTU Honour Code and Pledge;

the included Abstract, Introduction, Results, Discussion and Conclusions

sections will be submitted to Turnitin no later than 24 hours after hardcopy
submission.

Final Year Project start date:

Final Year Project submission date:
Total number of weeks:

Pre-Final Year Project experience

(List all relevant work experience gained before the Final Year Project, including paid
employment, volunteer work and URECA experience. Include type of work and
duration.)

Student’s signature: Date:

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