怎么寫DISSERTATION INFORMATION

Objectives of a dissertation
To allow a student to demonstrate ability to:
(a) complete a major and worthwhile piece of work, with some guidance, but largely self-motivated and with a minimum of supervision;
(b) write a large academic paper which is well-organised, which makes an original contribution to knowledge and which clearly and concisely communicates its contents to its readers;
(c) apply knowledge of accounting and/or finance gained through coursework to a specific area of study, and to demonstrate a thorough knowledge and understanding of that area;
(d) recognise and formulate a problem, and show evidence of skills of inquiry, logical reasoning and analysis in addressing that problem.
2. The dissertation requires a considerable amount of work. In order to meet the submission deadline you must schedule your work through a series of self-imposed targets. You must, therefore, plan ahead and keep to your plan.
3. There is a word limit on the dissertation of 10,000 words excluding tables and appendices. Any submission significantly in excess of this will not be acceptable.

The supervisor's main concerns will be to advise on
(a) The identification of an appropriate topic.
(b) General methodology.
(c) Approaches to the literature review and analysis of the chosen topic.
(d) Linking up and connecting the chapters of the dissertation.
(e) 英國dissertation網Choice of method(s) of analysis.
(f) Analysis of the findings.
(g) Presentation of meaningful recommendations and conclusions.

The standard of English, style and overall presentation of the dissertation is the responsibility of the student. The student must ensure a high standard of English grammar and spelling. （英語語言水平要好）

Plagiarism
Plagiarism may be defined as: “presenting written material where there is lack of acknowledgement of the source of work including data such as graphs and tables.” Clear evidence of plagiarism in the dissertation will result in a fail grade being awarded. Note that it is not sufficient merely to list a source in the bibliography to express a general indebtedness. To avoid a charge of plagiarism, all debts must be specifically, precisely and accurately referenced in accordance with good academic practice. When a source is directly quoted word-for-word, the passage quoted should be placed within quotation marks or indented and the source accurately referenced. There must be no ambiguity about where the quotation ends or begins. The source of any data cited (e.g. figures, tables, charts) should be made explicit. Crucially, you should note that when ideas, or an argument, are reproduced from a source in a general or paraphrased way, the source must also be acknowledged. You may find the following websites of assistance in identifying strategies for avoiding plagiarism:#p#分頁標題#e#
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml and
http://www.georgetown.edu/honor/plagiarism.html
Students should be aware that all dissertations will be processed by the JISC plagiarism detection software
（dissertation最后會被這個軟件檢測是否有抄襲）
Nature of the Dissertation
Your dissertation must be based on topics or material covered in the programme. It must demonstrate a good understanding of prior research and academic literature in the area of investigation. Given the fairly short time-scale for the research a high level of originality is not expected, though we would hope that some of the better dissertations might be suitable for publication in a short article format.

Structure of the Dissertation（基本按這個結構）
This may depend on the research topic chosen, but generally will be consistent with the
following order.
Chapter 1 - Introduction
An important 'sales pitch' for the importance and relevance of the topic academically
and, if possible, practically with a description of the structure of the dissertation. State
clearly the objective(s) of the study and why it is worthy of study.
Chapter 2 - Literature Review/Survey of Prior Research
This gives a proper context for the current research. It allows you to demonstrate an
appreciation and understanding of previous work and to develop your research
questions.
Chapter 3 - Research design
Explanation, and justification, of the approach and methods of analysis adopted.
Chapter 4 - Results of Research
Reporting, analysis and discussion of results.
Chapter 5 - Summary and conclusions
This should provide a summary of the dissertation. You should refer back to the
objectives of the study and discuss the importance, relevance, and implications of the
results. Where relevant, this should also include recommendations for practice and/or
suggestions for further research.

Layout of Dissertation
The layout of the dissertation should be as follows:
(i) Title page
(ii) Dissertation Declaration
(iii) Acknowledgements (Optional)
(iv) Abstract
(v) Table of Contents
(vi) Main Text
(vii) Appendices (Optional)
(viii) Bibliography
Items (iii) and (vii) are optional - all other items must be included.
Details are:
Abstract
The main arguments and conclusions of the dissertation condensed into no more than two A4 pages (and preferably into a single A4 page).
Table of Contents
As a minimum this should include a list of chapter numbers, chapter titles and page numbers relating to the start of each chapter. This may, at your option, be expanded to provide information concerning sections of chapters etc. However, the detail provided must not obscure the clarity of the Table of Contents. Any appendices (see vi below) should also be referenced in the Table of Contents. An optional extra is a list of figures or tables - but this should normally only be provided if the tables and/or figures are considered numerous and worthy of being specifically referenced.#p#分頁標題#e#
(vi) Main Text
The main body of the dissertation, divided into chapters and sub-headings as appropriate.
(vii) Appendices (Optional)
Any appendix material is not to be included in determining the overall length of the dissertation. The appendices can either be grouped together at the end of the main text or included at the end of each relevant chapter within the main text. The use of appendices and the positioning of appendices are both optional; but if appendices are used the positioning should be consistent, i.e. all appendices at the end of the main text or all following the relevant chapters.
(viii) Bibliography（標準）
http://www.ttc-switch.com/Thesis_Tips/Proposal/This should include all works specifically referenced within the text and should contain the following details:
For books
??Author’s surname and first name or initials
??Date of publication
??Title (underlined or italics) and edition
??Place of publication
??Name of publisher
Example:
David, R. and Brierley, J.E.C. (1985), Major Legal Systems of the World Today, 3rd edition, London: Stevens.
For journal articles
??Author’s surname and first name or initials
??Date of publication
??The title of the article (usually in inverted commas)
??The title of the journal from which the article is (usually in italics)
??The volume number of the journal, the issue and page numbers
Examples:
Beard, V. (1994) “Popular culture and professional identity: Accountants in the movies”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 303-18.

Fama, E.F., Fisher, L., Jensen, M. and Roll, R., (1969), “The adjustment of stock prices to new information”, International Economics Review, Vol. 10 (February), pp. 1-21.
For a book chapter
??The surname and first name or initials of the author of the chapter
??Date of publication
??The title of the chapter (usually in inverted commas)
??The surname and first name or initials of the editor(s) of the book, followed by (ed.)
or (eds)
??Title (underlined or italics) and edition
??Place of publication
??Name of publisher
??Page numbers of chapter
Example:
Czarniawska, B. and Rhodes, C. (2006), “Strong plots: popular culture in management practice & theory”, in Czarniawska, B. and Gagliardi, P. (eds), Management Education and Humanities, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 195-218.
For a reference taken from the internet
??Author’s surname and first name or initials (if available)
??Date of article etc. (if available)
??The title of the article (if available)
??The URL/web site
(Provide enough information for others to find this source.)
Example:#p#分頁標題#e#
McColgan, P. (2001) “Agency theory and corporate governance: a review of the literature from a UK perspective”, available at: accfinweb.account.strath.ac.uk/wps/journal.pdf Wikipedia: “Principal-agent problem”, available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principalagent_ problem . Last modified 5 September 2007.
The order should be alphabetical by author and by date of publication within author. In the main text, references should be identified by first author's name and date, e.g. ‘(Beard, 1994)’ or ‘As
stated by Beard (1994) …’. Where there are more than two authors, this is referred to as follows: ‘(Fama et al, 1972)’.
Length of dissertation
Not more than 10,000 words. Dissertations will be judged by quality of content rather than by length. Any dissertations significantly in excess of the word limit will be failed.
Assessment
The dissertation is a piece of work independently executed by the researcher. It will be assessed on its academic merit and intellectual content and also on the quality of presentation.
Conclusion
Your dissertation is the means by which you show that you have the ability to use the knowledge learned on the course to investigate a question independently. It is your work, NOT your supervisor's, and yours is the responsibility for ensuring that it is good work, well prepared and presented and submitted on time.

List of some accounting and finance journals
（主要的參考期刊來源）
Abacus
Accounting and Business Research
Accounting and Finance
Accounting Education: An International Journal
Accounting Forum
Accounting Horizons
Accounting in Europe
The Accounting Review
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
Accounting, Business & Financial History
Accounting, Organization and Society
Applied Financial Economics
Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory
The British Accounting Review
Corporate Governance
Critical Perspectives on Accounting
The European Accounting Review
European Financial Management
European Journal of Finance
Financial Accountability and Management
Financial Analysts Journal
Financial Management
10
Financial Review
The International Journal of Accounting
Journal of Accounting and Economics
Journal of Accounting and Public Policy
Journal of Accounting Education
Journal of Accounting Research
Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance
Journal of Banking and Finance
Journal of Business Finance and Accounting
Journal of Corporate Finance
怎么寫DISSERTATIONJournal of Finance
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis
Journal of Financial Economics
Journal of Financial Intermediation
Journal of Financial Markets#p#分頁標題#e#
Journal of Financial Research
Journal of Futures Market
Journal of International Money and Finance
Journal of Management Accounting Research
Journal of Multinational Financial Management
Journal of Portfolio Management
Management Accounting Research
Pacific Basin Finance Journal
Review of Finance
Review of Financial Studies

List of possible topics/areas of interest to Supervisors 2008/09
（可選的dissertation主題，很詳細，還附有很多提示）
Financial Reporting
Income and value measurement
Current developments in fair value accounting
Audit
Audit of narrative disclosures
The contribution of external, and internal, auditors to enterprise risk management
External audit methodologies
The changing shape of auditor liability
The impact of national culture on audit practice
Social, environmental and sustainability audits
Corporate Governance
Non-executive directors
Alternative board structures
Pensions and pension accounting
International pension accounting convergence
Pension measurement and management
Accounting method choices
Creative accounting
Management accounting
Issues related to the adoption of IFRS by EU listed companies
Comparison and convergence between US GAAP and IFRS
Convergence between IFRS and Chinese GAAP
Compliance with IFRS mandatory disclosure requirements
Creative accounting (especially in eastern European or other developing countries) Narrative reporting
Intellectual capital reporting/disclosure;
Determinants of leasing;
Lease accounting and its
Economic consequences;
Lease-debt substitutability

OR （這些附帶可以參考的資料）
An analysis of the impact of corporate decisions on shareholders’ wealth through the calculation of abnormal returns, revealing the stock market’s ‘view’ about the value of such decisions.
Reading:
Lamdin, Douglas J., “Implementing and Interpreting event studies of regulatory changes”, Journal of Economics and Business, Vol 53, 2001, pp 171-183.
Bhagat, S. et al., “The Shareholder Wealth Implications of Corporate Lawsuits” Financial Management, Vol 27, 1998.
Dedman, E and Lin, S., “Shareholder wealth effects of CEO departures: evidence from the UK”, Journal of Corporate Finance, Vol 8, 2002, pp 81–104.
Maloney, M. T., and Mulherin, J.H., “The complexity of price discovery in an efficient market: the stock market reaction to the Challenger crash”, Journal of Corporate Finance, Vol 9, 2003, pp 453-479.
The relationship between corporate governance and corporate performance
How factors such as board composition and executive compensation affect corporate
performance.
Reading:
A. Shleifer and R. W. Vishny, “A Survey of Corporate Governance”, The Journal of Finance, Vol. 52 No. 2, June 1997.#p#分頁標題#e#
Kose John and Lemma W. Senbet, 'Corporate governance and board effectiveness', Journal of Banking and Finance, Vol 22, No. 4, May 1998.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Socially Responsible Investment
(SRI)
An analysis of whether companies pursuing CSR policies out-perform their competitors and whether investment funds pursuing SRI policies out-perform their peers.
Reading:
D.A Sauer, (1997), “The Impact of Social-Responsibility Screens on Investment Performance: Evidence from the Domini 400 Social Index and Domini Equity Mutual Fund”, Review of Financial Economics, Vol. 6. No. 2, 137-149.
Orlitzky M., Schmidt F.L. & Rynes S, (2003), Corporate Social and Financial Performance: A Meta-analysis, Organization Studies, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 403-411.
Behavioural finance
How the insights of behavioural finance may be used to provide a better understanding of individual investor decision-making and develop improved models of asset pricing.
Reading:
Shefrin, Hersh, and Statman, Meir “The Disposition to Sell Winners Too Early and Ride Losers Too Long: Theory and Evidence." Journal of Finance, vol. 40, no. 3, July 1985.
Statman, M. ‘Behavioural finance: Past battles and future engagements’ Financial Analysts Journal, vol 55, no. 6, 1999

OR
Corporate Finance
Initial public offerings
Capital structure
Dividend policy
Mergers and acquisitions
Corporate diversification
Corporate Governance
Ownership structure
Board of directors
Managerial compensation
Investments
Analyst recommendations
Security analysis
Market (in)efficiency
Mutual funds performance
（下面的附帶比較詳細提示）
Financial Market Topics
What causes the bid-ask spread?
The bid ask spread is the difference between the buying price and the selling price of a security. It is a major component of transaction costs for investors. In some small firm’s stocks it can be as high as 20% for a round trip transaction. However, the bid-ask spread varies between:
1. Firms
2. Different kinds of securities
3. Different categories of firm, small, large, hot or cold sectors
4. Different markets, i.e. senior markets, or junior markets
5. Different times, i.e. bull/bear markets, different seasons?
Do firms that announce their results late perform badly?
Some firms publish their results within a few weeks of the end of the financial period. Other firms delay publication for up to six months. Possible reasons for the delay include:
1. Hiding bad news in the hope of obtaining some mitigating good news
2. Auditor reluctant to sign off the accounts
3. Shortage of auditors
4. Managerial incompetence
Does the asymmetry effect still exist in the volatility of stock and index returns?
Asymmetric volatility describes the phenomenon whereby decreases in stock prices have a larger effect on future volatility than increases of the same magnitude. Volatility is important as it may impact on investors’ required returns and the cost of capital as well as option prices. Possible reasons for the asymmetry effect include:#p#分頁標題#e#
1. An increase in financial leverage when stock prices fall, increasing financial risk
2. Investors’ aversion to risk increases when prices fall causing average betas to rise
Household finance and financial planning
Do housing consumers differentiate between housing consumption and investment when making their decision to buy or to rent their home?
Many people are happy to buy a car knowing that it will lose up to 40% of its value in the first year of ownership. However, when purchasing a home, there has, until recently, been a widespread assumption that the value can only go up. Now that this is evidently not the case, how much value are would-be home-owners prepared to sacrifice for the satisfaction of owning versus renting? This question is important for the following reasons, among others:
1. If consumers are not prepared to lose money on their home, it implies that aspiring to own their own
http://www.ttc-switch.com/Thesis_Tips/Proposal/home is not compatible with their risk tolerance
2. It is important for choosing appropriate financial planning advice
3. It has implications for the evolution of the current financial crisis, the macro economy and the survival
of the house-building industry in the UK
How risky is owning your own home? Or investing in buy-to-let?
Many people equate investing in the stock market with reckless speculation and even gambling. However, do those same people appreciate the risks of buying a house with a mortgage, either for their consumption needs, or as an investment? This question is important for the following reasons, among others:
1. If consumers and buy-to-let investors fail to appreciate the risks of home ownership, they will make
sub-optimal financial planning and investment decisions
2. It may also have policy implications for television shows such as “how to be a property millionaire” as it could be argued that these constitute an influential form of financial advice which is unregulated
3. It has implications for the evolution of the current financial crisis, the macro economy and the survival of the house-building industry in the UK
Is the choice of commission-based advice an unconscious one?
The retail financial advice industry repeatedly says that it struggles to persuade customers of the benefits of feebased advice. Instead, it finds customers more willing to engage in advice remunerated by commission-based sales structures. Your dissertation will investigate the following research questions:
1. Are retail financial service customers aware that both fee based and commission based advice is
available to them?
2. Do customers understand the full cost of commission when they choose commission based advice overfee based advice?
3. What would be effective in enabling customers to make the appropriate choice for them regarding
commission based or fee based advice?#p#分頁標題#e#
4. What other factors would encourage customers to seek financial advice at an early enough stage to
provide them with the maximum benefit?
Can you afford not to be green: measuring the true cost of car ownership
People often claim that their car gives them freedom and that without their car, they would not be able to have time to do the things that they enjoy. While this may be true for some people this study will examine the alternative hypothesis that “owning a car can seriously damage your wealth, health and happiness”. In practice, we shall add the caveat that the focus will be on wealth, as this is a personal finance dissertation and we have limited expertise in measuring health and happiness, although links will be made where possible.
Environmental Investing and Environmental Finance
Some knowledge of economics and financial statement analysis will be invaluable for these topics
Does wind energy really deliver?
Alternative energy and stocks show all the signs of becoming the next hot sector. However, the casual observer is faced with conflicting propaganda from anti wind turbine pressure groups who say that wind is not a viable option, from wind farm developers and from some environmental lobby groups. This confusion raises the following questions:
1. How much electricity do we need in Scotland, the UK, or the World?
2. How much are we currently generating in Scotland per acre/hectare, or other appropriate measure of
wind farm infrastructure?
3. What acreage, and environmental impact, will be required to meet all our needs, in Scotland, the UK, or the World as a whole?
4. At current conventional generator input prices for coal, natural gas, and nuclear, how much government subsidy is required to make wind-farm investment economically viable?
5. How sensitive is the economic viability of wind farm investment to positive and negative changes in the input prices of conventional generation input prices as above?
6. How profitable, or otherwise, is the wind sector today and which companies should I buy?
Is biofuel a winner or a loser?
Biofuel investment has had a roller coaster ride, both financially and in terms of PR. Some penny stocks have multiplied in value many times, only to crash, burn and disappear in a cloud of greasy blue smoke! Important questions for potential investors and for the planet are as follows:
1. Per calorie/kilojoule, or whatever, of biofuel production, how much energy is expended and how is this energy cost accounted for?
2. Could/should the energy cost of biofuel production be accounted for in a different/better way?
7. What acreage, and environmental impact, will be required to meet all our needs, in Scotland, the UK, or the World as a whole?
8. At current fuel prices, how much government subsidy is required to make biofuel investment
economically viable?
9. How sensitive is the economic viability of biofuel investment to positive and negative changes in the#p#分頁標題#e#
怎么寫DISSERTATIONinput prices of conventional fuel prices?
10. How profitable, or otherwise, is the biofuel sector today and which companies should I buy?
Does alternative energy have a positive net present value?
Like many financial markets the energy market involves a high degree of uncertainty. However, some things are more clear, for instance, traditional energy sources are finite and declining; therefore, at some point, alternative sources will have to be exploited together with some of the least accessible traditional sources. Furthermore, to harvest energy from any source requires an investment of energy as well as financial capital. Can we apply the principles of project appraisal to calculate the net present value of energy from renewable energy projects if we make the following assumptions?
1. A given unit of energy, e.g. a joule or kilowatt could be viewed as a form of currency. For example, at present oil is priced in US dollars. However, when the dollar depreciates against other currencies may rise, particularly if the US is a net importer of oil. Likewise, oil may appreciate, or depreciate against other currencies just as financial currencies fluctuate against each other while still allowing project appraisal in those currency units
2. If it can be argued that a given unit of energy available today is worth more than a given unit of energy in the future, hence it as a time value and discount rate, just like other currencies. For example, oil buried deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean waiting for new technology to extract it years from now, is not terribly useful if you are trying power your car to get to work today. Thus, it may be argued that instant access energy should have a lower discount rate than restricted access energy, or in other words a liquidity premium discount rate is required for restricted access energy. Likewise, exploration projects with a more uncertain energy payoff require a higher energy discount rate than projects with a more certain payoff
3. Energy accounting methods are robust and unbiased, although not necessarily error free
Is environment friendly waste disposal and recycling a financial no-brainer or a gimmick?
This dissertation topic will involve analysis of the investment opportunities in the waste disposal and recycling industries.
Is biomass energy a financial and environmental winner or a gimmick
This dissertation topic will involve analysis of the investment opportunities in the biomass energy industry.
Is clean water the disappearing El Dorado?
This dissertation topic will involve analysis of the investment opportunities in the water purification and delivery sector.

Capital structure
Why companies issue convertible bond loans, convertible preferred stock and/or
bonds with warrants
Dividend policy
Divestments such as equity carve-outs and spin-offs
Initial public offerings#p#分頁標題#e#
Corporate finance in general
Pricing of options, forwards, and futures
Use of derivative securities in company risk management
Empirical research on derivative securities in general
Behavioural finance
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=903
1. Mergers and acquisitions
2. Event studies on corporate restructuring
3. Equity and debt issuance
4. Corporate diversification and performance
Most important journals in this field: Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Corporate Finance.
Topics in finance and accounting
1. Corporate disclosure
2. Earnings management
3. Accounting variables and stock valuation
Most important journals in this field: Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and
Economics, Journal of Accounting Research, Review of Accounting Studies.

PLAGIARISM IN POSTGRADUATE COURSEWORK AND DISSERTATIONS
（關于抄襲）
Having regard to the fair and consistent treatment of students and the maintenance of
academic standards, Academic Council has approved the following policy on plagiarism.
6.10.1 Definitions
6.10.1.1 To plagiarise is to represent as one’s own the intellectual property of another. The Oxford
English Dictionary definition of plagiarism is as follows:
the wrongful appropriation or purloining, and publication as one’s own, of the ideas, or the
expression of the ideas … of another.
6.10.1.2 Accordingly, the reproduction in a submitted assignment of another’s work without due acknowledgement is plagiarism since the writer is presenting as original work what is in fact derivative. When the assignment is submitted for assessment, plagiarism is the equivalent of cheating in an examination.
6.10.1.3 Such unacknowledged indebtedness is plagiarism whether the source is reproduced verbatim or is paraphrased. It is plagiarism whether the passage is brief or extensive, and whether the source is printed, electronic or hand-written. Strictly, it is also plagiarism when the source is oral, but on this see further 6.10.2.5 – 6.10.2.6 below.
6.10.2 Due Acknowledgement
6.10.2.1 It is not sufficient merely to list a source in an appended bibliography, or in the body of an assignment to express a general indebtedness. To avoid a charge of plagiarism, all debts must be specifically, precisely and accurately referenced in accordance with good academic practice.
6.10.2.2 When a source is directly quoted word-for-word, the passage quoted should be placed within quotation marks or indented and the source accurately referenced, in parenthesis, in a footnote, or in an endnote, according to a recognised system. There must be no ambiguity about where the quotation ends or begins.
6.10.2.3 The source of any data cited (e.g. figures, tables, charts) should be made explicit.
6.10.2.4 When ideas, or an argument, are reproduced from a source in a general or paraphrased way, the source must be acknowledged.#p#分頁標題#e#
6.10.2.5 When submitted work is dependent upon a lecture or group discussion for its argument, this fact must be acknowledged.
6.10.2.6 In the case of group work submitted for assessment, the relevant module information will make clear whether the submission is collective or individual. In the case of a collective submission, indebtedness to sources must be acknowledged in the usual way, but it is not necessary for work to be attributed to individual members of the group. In the case of individual submissions resulting from group or collaborative work, it is the responsibility of each individual student to make sure that the submission is his or her own work. Acknowledgement should be made to the contribution of other members of the group when this is drawn upon.
6.10.3 Procedures
6.10.3.1 No formal procedures are instituted against a student unless the relevant unacknowledged source can be established. In cases where plagiarism is strongly suspected but no source has been identified, the student shall be advised by the relevant module co-ordinator, to ensure that he or she understands the nature of plagiarism, and the penalties it incurs.
6.10.3.2 In cases where a source has been identified the student is required to attend a meeting with the Chief Examiner and a member of staff designated by the Head of Department (normally the Programme Director). The student may be accompanied to this meeting by a person of his or her own choosing. A formal record is kept of this meeting, which is notified to the relevant Board of Examiners and the Examinations Office. The same procedure is followed in cases where two or more students submit similar or identical work. However, it is recognised that in such cases, whilst the fact of plagiarism is clear, it may not have been possible to determine culpability prior to the meeting. In such cases, the meeting itself will serve as a forum in which to establish the facts and determine culpability (see section 6.10.4.5 below).
6.10.3.3 The purpose of the meeting is to present to the student the established fact of plagiarism, to explain to him or her why plagiarism is culpable, and to offer advice on methods of due and adequate acknowledgement. However, it is not the business of the meeting to seek to determine motivation.
6.10.3.4 The failure of the student to attend this meeting does not prevent the department from
taking appropriate action in accordance with this policy.
6.10.4 Penalties
6.10.4.1 The general principle is that the penalty should be appropriate to the scale of the offence.
6.10.4.2 The penalties described below are exhaustive and mutually exclusive.
Offence Penalty
Minor offence: a first offence where the plagiarised passage or passages make only a slight contribution to the achievement of the assignment or dissertation The assessed work is downgraded by one grade on the University’s Common Grading Scheme for Postgraduate Programmes.
Serious offence*: where the plagiarized passage or passages in an assignment or dissertation make a significant or crucial contribution to the achievement of the assignment, or when the assignment or dissertation is completely or almost completely plagiarised.#p#分頁標題#e#
The assessed work receives a grade of E.
Second offence (of whatever degree)*
committed on the same or on a different module:
Required to withdraw from registration for a degree due to unsatisfactory progress.
* Code PL should be used by examiners when returning grades
6.10.4.3 The Examinations Office will refer cases that reach the trigger points, set out in 6.10.4.2 above, to the Student Programmes Office. A student required to withdraw from registration for a degree will be entitled to any award for which he or she is qualified.
6.10.4.4 A student is not able to submit a subsequent piece of work on a module to substitute for any assignment which has been penalised for plagiarism. Normally a student may be permitted to repeat or substitute a module which has been failed because of a penalty for plagiarism, if that failure alone precludes the student from completing a Postgraduate Diploma programme. The student will not be eligible to graduate with a Masters degree.
6.10.4.5 In a case where two or more students submit similar or identical work and culpability cannot be established, the penalty shall be applied equally to both students.
6.10.4.6 Penalties imposed for plagiarism must be reported to the University Examinations Office on the plagiarism incident report form, normally within a week of the decision. Penalties shall also be reported to the relevant Board of Examiners and recorded in its minutes, but not re-considered or re-opened.
6.10.4.7 At the conclusion of any proceedings under this policy and prior to the application of any penalty, the relevant Chief Examiner will request a check against the central register of
offences maintained in the University’s Examinations Office.
6.10.4.8 A current case does not justify re-consideration of work submitted on modules completed and graded in previous semesters or of assessed work submitted for other modules in the same semester.
6.10.4.9 However, where it becomes apparent to the Examinations Office that a student has been penalised for plagiarism on different modules in the same semester, the Examinations Office will notify the Chief Examiner(s) in the relevant Department(s), and the Student Programmes Office, prior to the Board of Examiners. The assignment with the later due date will be counted as a second offence (see section 6.10.4.2). In the event of a coincidence of due dates the relevant Chief Examiners will confer.
6.10.4.10 For cases where other coursework requirements are not met (e.g. failure to attend an examination and the grade awarded is ‘x’), details of the plagiarism offence will still be recorded in the central register.
6.10.4.11 All decisions relating to plagiarism are communicated to students in writing.
6.10.5 Appeal
6.10.5.1 Any appeal will be considered under the procedures for academic appeals at undergraduate and taught postgraduate level.
怎么寫DISSERTATION#p#分頁標題#e#Academic Council, June 2005
Revised June 2006