S.L. 327.665 Art. 7Format and Content of Doctoral Dissertation

(1) The Doctoral Dissertation shall be compiled in English and shall be carefully proof-read by the Doctoral Candidate prior to submission. The Examiner Panel may opt to refuse to evaluate a dissertation that falls below the expectations of a properly compiled doctoral endeavor.

(2) The dissertation manuscript that is submitted to the Principal Supervisor for final approval must be identical in form and content to the doctoral dissertation manuscript that is subsequently provided to the Examiner Panel.

(3) The Doctoral Candidate shall carry out a plagiarism check utilizing an MCAST-approved plagiarism check tool on the dissertation manuscript prior to submitting the final version, and shall include the plagiarism evaluation report with the submission. The Examiner Panel shall give due weight to the plagiarism report when carrying out their review of the dissertation.

(4) The design and content of the dissertation shall be in such a manner that it can be reproduced by photocopying, printing and electronically. Advertising in the dissertation is strictly prohibited.

(5) The Doctoral Candidate is to provide two spiral-bound colour copies of the final dissertation to the supervisor team, as well as an identical electronic version for replication purposes. The DDB shall reproduce other copies of the dissertation for internal use and to provide to the Examiner Panel as necessary.

(6) Following a successful viva examination, and after the necessary revisions have been made to the dissertation and duly approved, the Doctoral Candidate is to provide three hard-bound, colour dissertation copies to the Principal Supervisor for internal dissemination. The cover, spine and back page of the hard-bound dissertation copies are to follow the format and design stipulated in MCAST internal regulations. This task is to be completed before the degree awarding ceremony takes place.

(7) Intellectual Property Rights: The Doctoral Candidate shall retain full intellectual property rights over the work he or she has produced. MCAST shall retain the full right to store and display the dissertation in its library and online repositories, and to utilize the dissertation for the purposes of education and research. MCAST thus shall have full right, and full permission, and full licence to copy, publish, make available, distribute or disseminate the dissertation manuscript in any manner worldwide, via any possible medium available.

(8) Temporary Embargo: In exceptional cases where a Doctoral Candidate may advocate a temporary embargo on the publication of the dissertation, the Candidate must submit to Principal Supervisor the prescribed filled-in form. The Candidate will need to present a detailed reason of why such an embargo is advocated to the Principal Supervisor, who will approve or reject the embargo request, and if approved, decide on which length the embargo shall be retained. The Principal Supervisor shall consult with the Doctoral Degree Committee in decisions relating to a temporary embargo.

(9) The Doctoral Dissertation shall include the following elements, and shall aim to follow the following guidelines and limitations:

The following section provides information regarding the design of the front cover, dissertation chapter structure, layout, font size and line spacing. No page designs are to be included within the doctoral dissertation. Front Cover For details of front cover and binding of dissertation copies, refer to MCAST internal regulations Front Page This page is to include in font size Times New Roman 14 and 1.5 line spacing:

MCAST logo positioned in top right corner Dissertation title (bold font) and full justified Doctoral Candidate’s name and surname (italics) Supervisor/s name and surname (italics) Month, the year when the dissertation is submitted.

The following text: ‘A dissertation submitted to the Department or Centre concerned in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Professional Research. Authenticity This page is to include in font size Times New Statement Roman 12 and 1.5 line spacing: Page Text 1: This dissertation is based on the results of research carried out by myself, is my own composition, and has not been previously presented for any other certified or uncertified qualification

Text 2: The research was carried out under the supervision of (name of dissertation supervisor/ s – Title, Name and surname)

Signature and Date ‘Copyright This page is to include in font size Times New Statement’ Roman 12 and 1.5 line spacing Page Text 1: In submitting this dissertation to the MCAST Department or Centre concerned, I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of MCAST and the Library and Learning Resource Centre. I accept that my dissertation may be made publicly available at MCAST’s discretion.

Signature and Date. ‘Acknowledg This page is to include: ment’ Page in font size Times New Roman 12 and 1.5 line spacing the list of people that the Doctoral Candidate would like to thank on the completion of the dissertation. For example ‘Mr Name Surname, who supported me during my dissertation work as my tutor’.

Acknowledgements should be kept to a maximum of five people. ‘Contents’ This page is to include in font size Times New Page Roman 12, with 1.5 line-spacing the main items of the dissertation indicating the page from where each item starts.

The contents include: Dissertation Title (and corresponding page number) Authorship Statement (and corresponding page number) Copyright Statement (and corresponding page number) Abstract (and corresponding page number) Acknowledgements (and corresponding page number) Contents (and corresponding page number) List of Abbreviations (and corresponding page number) List of Figures (and corresponding page number) List of Tables (and corresponding page number)

*Chapter 1 : Introduction (and recommended page number) Chapter 2: Literature Review (and recommended page number) Chapter 3 : Research Methodology (and recommended page number) Chapter 4 : Findings/ Analysis of Results and Discussion (and recommended page number) Chapter 5 : Conclusions and Recommendations (and recommended page number) (* The chapter mentioned above may be adapted according to the research methodology and research design requirements)

List of references (and recommended page number) Bibliography (and recommended page number) Appendices (and recommended page number). Refer also to Appendix 1 for sample of contents page. Subsequent The font of all the remaining text (following the Pages contents page) is to be font size Times New Roman 11, 1.5 line spacing and printed on one-sided pages.

A wide left-hand side margin of 3.7 cm is to be included throughout the dissertation. Other margins are to be set at 2.5 cm

Quotations of more than three lines should begin on a new line, indented on the 2.5 cm from the main text.

Pages are to be numbered consecutively, in bottom right corner, using Roman numbers for the initial pages and natural numbers starting from the first page of Chapter 1.

It is normal for chapters to have sub-sections (1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc.) to display text in a more readable format. The Dissertation presented for the Doctor of Professional Research shall be no fewer than 80,000 words with a tolerance margin of 15% higher word count.

Abstract (400 – 500 words) This section should clearly state what the study is about, summarizing how it was carried out and what the results were. References are not to be included in the abstract. It should present only the essentials of the work in general and Guideline for up to 5 main keywords placed at the end of the Content of section. Introduction (2,000 – 4,000 words) Main Sections

In this section, the Doctoral Candidate is expected to state: the ‘problem’ or ‘question’ being researched; why this topic was chosen; what motivated the Doctoral Candidate to choose this topic; why did the Doctoral Candidate investigate it the way they did; what problem did the Doctoral Candidate wish to explore; what is the context for the research? Literature Review (12,000 – 15,000 words)

The main purpose of a literature review is to show the reader that the Doctoral Candidate studied and analyzed viewpoints of other researchers on the problem under consideration. A literature review is not just a summary of the books read but rather a thorough analysis of other viewpoints on the problem being analysed. Research Methodology (10,000 – 13,000 words)

This section should make about 20% of a dissertation. It presents the chosen research methods and explains why these methods are effective. Findings, Analysis of Results and Discussion (30,000 – 38,000 words)

This section includes critical discussion about the Doctoral Candidate’s findings and shows how these findings support the original objectives laid out for the dissertation, which may be partially or fully achieved, or even exceeded. The Doctoral Candidate may also Guideline for Content of include new areas of an investigation prompted by developments in the research dissertation. Main Sections Above all, it is required to present strong arguments which show how findings may offer a valid contribution to the development of the subject of the selected research area or issues related to it. Conclusions and Recommendations (5,000 – 10,000 words)

In this chapter, the Doctoral Candidate has to evaluate the significance of the work done and give recommendations for any further investigations. Bibliography

This section demonstrates what sources were used to conduct research. All sources presented in a bibliography list should be sorted alphabetically. References The Doctoral Candidate is generally requested to use the MCAST-identified (See Regulation 100) Harvard referencing style in the dissertation: