SEPMA Dissertation Development

Sections
Labeled sections, even in the shortest of the assessment work, may make the reader’s task easier, and may help the writer stick to the point. However, avoid excessive subdivision – your advisor will give guidance. Make sure that all pages are numbered. Preferably add an abstract and table of contents.

When to refer to the work of others
Citing others’ work appropriately is an essential part of academic writing. It is usual to cite the originator of a theoretical device, generalization, or source of information on first mention. For example, if you refer to the Head Movement Constraint in syntax, cite Lisa Travis’ dissertation; if you mention faithfulness constraints in phonology, cite McCarthy & Prince (1995), and so on. If you do not cite appropriately, this can be construed as either (1) you do not know the literature well enough or (2) you are trying to claim credit for someone else’s work.

Generally, cite only published or publicly available sources. Manuscripts may sometimes be cited, but not handouts or word-of-mouth statements (e.g. “As Chomsky once told me, there is no syntax.”).

Be careful about sources found on the web. Make sure the source is authoritative: e.g. that a paper is peer-reviewed. If you really need to cite a source that is not authoritative, then note that fact in the text. Web references should give the full address, and the date on which you last accessed it.

The form of citations in the text
Works should be cited accurately, using a clear and consistent format. A common format that we recommend is as follows: surname (date[:page[-page]])
e.g. Chomsky (1957), McCarthy & Prince (1995)
Chomsky (1957:12), McCarthy & Prince (1995:23) Chomsky (1957:12-18), McCarthy & Prince (1995:23-24)

Use the name and date each time; ibid and op. cit.are not used in the name-date system.
If the whole work is being cited, omit the pages part: e.g. “Chomsky (1981) is turgidly written.”
Otherwise, include page numbers wherever possible.
If it is more appropriate, cite the chapter: e.g. Chomsky (1957:ch.2).
If more than one work by the same author is being cited, use the format: surname (date1,
date2,...), as in Chomsky (1965, 1972).
If more than one work by the same author from the same year is being cited, they are distinguished
as follows: Chomsky (1972a, 1972b). Make sure that the a,b,c, etc. match the order of the works in
the References section (see below) and that the references are distinguished by a,b,c there too.
Initials are used to disambiguate authors with the same surname: e.g. “A. Prince (1985) disagrees
with E. Prince (1992).”
Double-authored words are referred to thus: Chomsky and Halle (1968).
Longer author lists may be abbreviated after their first (full) citation, e.g. instead of “Alderete,
Beckman, Benua, Gnanadesikan, McCarthy, and Urbanczyk (1999)” you can refer to “Alderete et al. (1999)”.

List of references
An alphabetically organized section, headed ‘References’, at the end of your document should give full details of all works cited in the text. Bear this in mind when you consult a work—doing so may save you a frantic trip back to the library on deadline day to find some vital detail missing from your notes. Only works cited in the text should be listed.
Every publisher has a different format for references. A common format is given below, and you are encouraged to use it. However, you may use any standard format, as long as it is used consistently.
for books:
Durand, J. (1990) Generative and non-linear phonology. London: Longman.
for journals:
Liberman, A.M, Cooper, F.S., Shankweiler, D.P. and Studdert-Kennedy, M. (1967) Perception of the speech code. Psychological Review 74, 431-461.
for book chapters or book parts:
Clements, G.N. and Hume, E. (1995). The internal organization of speech sounds. In J. Goldsmith (ed.) The Handbook of Phonological Theory. London: Blackwell, 245-306.
for manuscripts:
McCarthy, J. and Prince, A. (1986) Prosodic Morphology. ms. Brandeis University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
for resources on the web:

Koontz-Garboden, A. (2003) Tiberian Hebrew spirantization and related phenomena in Stratal OT. Rutgers Optimality Archive #607, http://roa.rutgers.edu. <date you accessed the website>

Footnotes
Footnotes should preferably not be used. Usually, if something is worth saying, it is worth saying in the text. (If you are addicted to footnotes, a useful aphorism to pin above your desk is: if it’s worth saying, say it in the text; if it’s not worth putting in the text, omit it.”

Do NOT use endnotes – these exasperate the reader. Remember that (foot/end)notes are counted for the purpose of word limits.

Independence of work and plagiarism

Copying out someone else’s work without due indication and acknowledgement (quotation marks and source:page citation) is plagiarism. So is rewording someone else’s work in order to present it as your own without acknowledging your intellectual debt. Avoid (the appearance of) plagiarism by carefully acknowledging your sources.

Similarly, collaboration is not permitted. Occasionally, it may be appropriate to make use of something done by another student, such as a short recording or a software script, but this must be acknowledged as the work of that person.

Word-processing (and graphics, statistics, etc.)
Grayscale vs colour. Use colour print only when it is necessary, e.g. for the clarity of graphs and pictures. It is wise to get into the habit of using different line types and shading instead of different colours: in the short term, they are better for when colour printing is unavailable; looking ahead, most publishers still charge huge amounts for colour reproductions, but nothing for grayscale.

Choose Arial Font 11, and use double spacing.

We do not require a hard, durable binding. Any binding is acceptable, as long as it holds the pages firmly.
*The plastic spiral binding (available at the Cambridge University Graduate Union) is cheap, quick to do, and pleasant for examiners to use as the pages are held securely but can open flat, unlike some other options.

Always keep complete and up-to-date backups of your work. Don't wait until the last minute to print your dissertation.

SEPMA Dissertation Development

Friday, 1 March 2013

Interesting concert tomorrow in Cambridge-02/03/2013

Thursday, 28 February 2013

Course Certificates

Monday, 25 February 2013

Submitting your thesis

Tips on presentation of written work

Tuesday, 19 February 2013

Cambridge Science Festival

Sunday, 10 February 2013

Useful link about how to do a research project

Monday, 4 February 2013

Useful samples for your dissertation