WRITING AN LLM THESIS IN PLACE OF A WRITTEN EXAMINATION

Thesis word limit: 18,000 words including footnotes and appendices, but excluding bibliography. 18,000 words is a maximum, not a requirement, and a good thesis can be shorter.

Deadline for thesis submission: 12 noon on Friday 29 April 2016.

Introduction

In certain LLM courses, candidates may submit a thesis of 18,000 words maximum in place of a final examination in that course. The courses in which this option is available are marked ‘t’

on the list of subjects in Appendix 1 at the back of this Handbook (note that Paper 38 is examined only by thesis).

This option is intended to give students the opportunity to produce a substantial piece of independent legal research on an approved topic. The emphasis is on independent work, although a Faculty adviser will be appointed to give some key guidance. Subject to approval by the relevant Faculty member and the formal approval of the Faculty Board, candidates may write on a topic of their choice, provided that it falls within the syllabus of the course in question and does not overlap with the subject matter of any other course the candidate is taking.

An LLM candidate may submit only one thesis. Therefore a candidate may not offer a thesis in lieu of an examination paper in one course and also follow a thesis course. It is, however, possible to offer an essay as well as a thesis, although candidates should consider carefully the workload that would involve.

Students who write a thesis in lieu of a final examination are expected to attend all lectures, seminars and workshops and participate fully in the course concerned.

This option of writing a 18,000 word thesis in lieu of a final examination is particularly suitable for:

 Those who wish to pursue a particular topic in depth, and enjoy the challenge of independent and sustained research

 Those who are contemplating further research at PhD level

 Those who wish to explore a topic in more detail with a view to possible future publication

 Note that Paper 38 is different (with three distinct streams of Seminars running in 2015-2016 – see pp 12-13 ). It is examined exclusively by thesis, and it is also taught in a different format. There may be some formal teaching, especially early in the year, but the focus is on student presentations of their own individual research projects. This option is therefore suitable only for those who do not require the support of a more formal series of seminars and lectures in the general area of study

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First Steps

If you wish to offer a thesis, and this option is available in the relevant course, then you should consult the Course Convenor as early in the Michaelmas Term as possible. The purpose of this initial discussion is to ensure that your proposed topic is suitable and that a Faculty member is available and willing to supervise. As noted earlier, the Faculty limits the number of theses which each Faculty member can supervise, and therefore the number of students who may submit a thesis in a particular course is also limited. While every effort is made to accommodate student preferences, candidates may sometimes need to consider alternative options.

Application

A candidate must obtain the approval of both the Faculty member who is to supervise the thesis and the Faculty Board. After the initial discussion, the candidate should therefore make an application for formal approval using Form T1 which may be found at the back of this Handbook.

The following information must be supplied on Form T1:

 Proposed title

 Short abstract (200-500 words maximum), attached to Form T1

 The name and number of the paper in place of which the candidate wishes to submit the thesis

 The names and numbers of the other three papers which the candidate proposes to offer in the LLM examination

 Signature of the proposed thesis adviser as confirmation that the candidate has consulted the appropriate Faculty member and has received his or her approval.

The completed Form T1 plus abstract must be submitted to Suzanne Wade in the Faculty Office no later than 12 noon on Friday 23 October 2015. Thesis proposals will then be passed to the LLM Director and the Faculty Board for formal approval.

Important Note: The LLM Director and the Faculty Board will not approve a thesis topic which falls within the scope of any of the other papers which the candidate is offering in the examination, nor a topic which does not fall within the scope of the syllabus of the course in which the thesis is to be offered.

Supervision

After the thesis topic has been formally approved, thesis students will be entitled to three hours of face-to-face discussion from their thesis adviser. This can be arranged as the adviser and the student see fit. How this is to be organised should be agreed early in the year. This individual input from the thesis adviser is in addition to the interactions generated by the student’s full participation in the formal teaching of the course and its related debates. The thesis discussions between student and adviser should focus on discussion and advice on the scope of the research topic, the particular questions to be addressed and the types of arguments that might be deployed, the outline and structure of the thesis, the selection of key relevant reading matter and, where appropriate, the methods to be deployed in the research.

Students should prepare for these meetings with their thesis adviser, committing to paper the issues for discussion (eg thesis structure, bibliographic details, etc). These brief thesis abstracts and structural outlines prepared for meetings with your advisor are not part of the

‘draft thesis’ referred to below.

As part of the supervision, the adviser may read one short part of the draft thesis of no more than 5,000 words to confirm (or otherwise) to the student that his or her writing is well-structured, properly referenced, clearly written and readily comprehensible, and that it is of a quality which is appropriately sophisticated, rigorous and engaged with the relevant issues and debates. Students wishing to take advantage of this form of feedback should do so early enough to ensure there is plenty of time to adjust their approach to the entire thesis should that prove necessary. The particular section submitted to the advisor should be carefully chosen, so that best use is made of the opportunity for feedback. For example, the first 5,000 words of the thesis is not necessarily the most difficult part of the thesis argument, and a later section may be more appropriate for feedback. Apart from this limited reading, the adviser will not read drafts of any part of the thesis, nor the thesis as a whole when completed.

The student must not consult other members of the Faculty about the thesis except on the explicit advice of the thesis adviser and with the consent of the Faculty member to be consulted. Such consultation must be acknowledged upon submission of the thesis by detailing it on the Coversheet (Form T3), as well as in any properly footnoted and bibliographic references to their published works. It is permissible to discuss the subject matter of the thesis with other students. However, the writing of the thesis must be the work of the candidate alone.

In addition to the specific thesis advice noted above, thesis students should remember that they also have the opportunity to obtain formal feedback on their writing skills and general approach to legal argumentation in the other courses they are undertaking, so they should feel well supported on this front. (Indeed, if thesis students avail themselves of all these opportunities – ie thesis advice plus three formative essays for each of their other three courses – they will receive feedback on approximately 16,000-18,000 words of legal writing.) They will, in addition and in the ordinary course of events, have plenty of opportunity to debate issues of legal substance and method with their lecturers on all the courses they undertake (including the course in which they are undertaking their thesis) and at any public events run by the Faculty. All of this is recognised as providing further general support to thesis students in the pursuit of their individual research projects.

Changing your Thesis Title

Once the title of a thesis has been approved, it may be changed only with the permission of the Faculty Board. Such a request, supported in writing by the thesis adviser, must be submitted using Form T2 to Suzanne Wade in the Faculty Office by 12 noon on Monday 25 January 2016. Requests received after this date will not be considered.

Word Limit

The thesis must not exceed 18,000 words in length including footnotes and appendices, but excluding bibliography. To ensure that all candidates are examined on a comparable basis this word limit will not be extended except in the most exceptional circumstances as described below.

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If a candidate has exceeded the word limit without such prior approval, the Examiners will stop reading the thesis at the point at which the word limit is reached.

The following do count towards the word limit:

Introduction, main text, conclusion, footnotes, appendices, statistical tables and graphs. Each statistical table, graph and similar is to be counted as 250 words.

The following do not count towards the word limit:

Table of contents, table of cases, table of statutes, table of abbreviations, bibliography, title sheet, coversheet (Form T3)

In exceptional circumstances, leave to exceed the word limit may be granted by the Chair of LLM Examiners. The discipline of writing a thesis within the prescribed word limit is an integral part of the examination, so extensions will not be granted simply because more might usefully be said on the chosen topic. Extensions may, however, be granted where, for example, an appendix contains a translation of a relevant document essential for the elucidation of the thesis and not otherwise available to the examiners.

Requests to exceed the word limit, addressed to the Chair of LLM Examiners, should be submitted to the Examinations Administrator in the Faculty Office. Requests should be submitted no later than 12 noon on Friday 8 April 2016. Requests received after this date will not be considered. The application should state the number of words by which the candidate seeks to exceed the word limit, and provide evidence that exceptional circumstances warrant an extension. Because of the likelihood that permission will be declined, requests should be made at the earliest opportunity. The decision of the LLM Chair of Examiners is final, and candidates should be aware that even if permission is granted, the extension given may be smaller than that sought.

If permission is granted, a copy of the letter giving permission from the LLM Chair of Examiners must be attached to the Coversheet (Form T3) at the time of submission.

Submission Deadline

The thesis must be submitted (with the Coversheet, Form T3) to the Examinations Administrator in the Faculty Office not later than 12 noon on Friday 29 April 2016.

Preparing your Thesis for Submission General guidance on submission

• The thesis must be typed, using double-spacing for the main text, but single spacing for the footnotes.

• You must submit one electronic copy (on CD or USB memory stick) and one paper copy of your thesis.

• The electronic and paper copies must be submitted at the same time and be identical in content.

• Submission must be made in person to the Examinations Administrator in the Faculty Office, during office hours (Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm).

• The thesis must contain a bibliography detailing the sources from which the thesis is derived, including details of any written work which the candidate has submitted or is concurrently submitting for any other degree, diploma, or other similar qualification.

• The candidate’s name and college must appear only on the Coversheet (Form T3) of the thesis; they must not appear anywhere on the title sheet or in the thesis itself. All theses are examined anonymously. The examiners do not know the candidate's name or college, but simply the candidate’s examination number.

• It follows that no reference to or acknowledgement of teaching members of the Faculty or colleges is permitted in the thesis (other than proper footnoted and bibliographic references to their published works), since this might serve to identify the candidate.

Preparing the paper copy for submission

• The paper copy should be printed single-sided on A4 paper, and be bound in some form to ensure that none of the pages becomes detached. Plastic comb-binding with cardboard or laminate covers is the most commonly used format. Hardback binding should not be used.

• You should type a title sheet, which should give the following information:

1. The title of the thesis

2. The number of the paper to which it relates 3. The name of the paper to which it relates

4. Your examination candidate number (if known) – but not your name

• No other information which could identify you as the candidate should appear on this page, nor in the thesis itself.

• When assembling your thesis, you should ensure that this title sheet is the top page of your work and that it is bound with the rest of your thesis.

• The completed Form T3 (available at the back of this Handbook) should then be attached to the front of your thesis with a paperclip so that it can be easily removed before your thesis is passed to the examiners.

• Form T3 must be signed by you as the candidate to declare that:

(i) the candidate has not previously published or submitted in respect of any degree or diploma a paper on this topic;

(ii) the work has been done principally in the academical year in which the candidate sits the examination;

(iii) it represents the candidate’s own work unaided except as may be specified in the declaration;

(iv) it contains a bibliography detailing all of the sources used;

(v) it does not exceed 18,000 words in length including footnotes and appendices but excluding bibliography;

(vi) the footnotes have been included in the word count performed in Microsoft Word;

(vii) the thesis is being submitted in paper form and electronic form (as a single document in Microsoft Word), and the content of the paper copy is identical to the content of the electronic copy; and

(viii) all further points, as detailed on Form T3.

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Turnitin Form

The Faculty uses Turnitin anti-plagiarism software and you are therefore required to submit a consent form relating to this. Your College Director of Studies will send you the Turnitin consent form to complete in Michaelmas Term and ask you to return it to him/her. Once you have done so you do not need to complete another copy to submit with your essay/thesis. If you do not receive the form from your Director of Studies please contact them for a copy, as you must complete a Turnitin form before submitting your essay/thesis.

Preparing the electronic copy for submission

• You must submit an electronic copy of your thesis in Microsoft Word format (not PDF or any other format) on disk (CD or USB memory stick) in addition to providing a paper copy.

• This electronic version must be submitted in person at the same time that you submit your paper version. You must not submit your thesis by email.

• Your thesis must be saved as a single document on the CD/USB – do not save the title sheet, the main text, the bibliography, and any appendices as separate documents.

They should be saved as one Word document.

• The word count you perform in Microsoft Word must include the footnotes.

• The CD/USB will not be returned to you, and must not contain any files other than your thesis.

Penalty for Late Submission

A candidate whose thesis is not received at the Faculty Office by 12 noon on Friday 29 April 2016 will incur the following penalty:

 For the first day (or part of a day) there will be a deduction of four marks from the total mark that would have been awarded if the thesis had been submitted within the deadline

 For every day (or part of a day) thereafter, there will be a further deduction of two marks

Please note that the penalty for late submission is calculated in 24-hour periods, from midday to midday, and that weekend days count in the same way as week days for the purpose of calculating the penalty for late submission.

Marking

All theses are examined anonymously by two examiners. The examiners do not know the candidate’s name or college, but simply the candidate’s examination number. It is therefore essential that your thesis complies with the format set out above.

The Examiners may require a candidate to present himself or herself for a viva voce examination upon the subject of his or her thesis.

Plagiarism

Copying out someone else’s work without acknowledgement (i.e. without using quotation marks and footnotes) is plagiarism; so is rewording someone else’s work or ideas and presenting it as your own without acknowledging your debt. Plagiarism in work submitted for formal assessment is regarded by the University as the use of “unfair means” (i.e. cheating), and is treated with the greatest seriousness. Where examiners suspect plagiarism, the case may be referred to the Proctors. It may then be brought before the University’s Court of Discipline, which has the power to deprive culprits of membership of the University and to strip them of any degrees awarded by it.

The Faculty of Law’s plagiarism policy is available on Moodle.

The Faculty of Law requires all coursework to be submitted electronically as well as in hard copy, and, as indicated above, the Faculty then uses Turnitin anti-plagiarism software to check all thesis submissions.

Further information on plagiarism can be found on the University website at:

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/plagiarism/students/

The University’s Statement on Plagiarism can be found at

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/plagiarism/students/statement.html

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Part 4:

FORMS

INTRODUCTION

In this section you will find all the forms referred to in the Handbook, including those you will need for the submission of proposed assessed essay and thesis titles, and for the final submission of essays and theses.

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UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE