GUIDELINES FOR WRITING A PROFESSIONAL PAPER:

ASSIGNMENTS AND UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

- HANDBOOK FOR STUDENTS OF FIRST CYLCE -

Sarajevo, December 2011

Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 4

1. Assignments .................................................................................................................................... 5

1.1. Preparation of paper ................................................................................................................ 5

1.1.1. The topic and the literature .................................................................................................. 5

1.2. Basic elements of the assignment ............................................................................................ 6

1.2.1. Title page ......................................................................................................................... 6

1.2.2. Content ............................................................................................................................ 6

1.2.3. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 7

1.2.4. Main body of the paper .................................................................................................... 7

1.2.5. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 7

1.2.6. Reference list ................................................................................................................... 8

2. Undergraduate thesis (graduate or diploma paper) .......................................................................... 9

2.1. Choosing the area of interest and approaching a professor ..................................................... 9

2.2. Preparation of paper ................................................................................................................ 9

2.2.1. Area of choice and literature ........................................................................................... 9

2.2.2. Determining the structure of paper ................................................................................ 10

2.3. Basic elements of paper ......................................................................................................... 10

2.3.1. Cover and title page ....................................................................................................... 10

2.3.2. Content .......................................................................................................................... 14

2.3.3. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 14

2.3.4. Main part of the paper ................................................................................................... 15

2.3.4.1. Elaboration of the topic ............................................................................................. 15

2.3.5. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 16

2.4. Registration, submission and presentation of graduate paper ............................................... 17

2.4.1. Registration of work ...................................................................................................... 17

2.4.2. Submission of work ....................................................................................................... 17

2.4.3. Presentation of graduate paper ...................................................................................... 18

3. Rules on technical processing of the assignment and graduate paper ....................................... 18

3.2. Referencing ....................................................................................................................... 19

3.2.1. System “author-date” – Harvard System of referencing ............................................... 20

3.2.2. Numerical referencing system ....................................................................................... 21

3.3. Illustrations ........................................................................................................................ 22

3.4. Appendices ........................................................................................................................ 24

3.5. Reference list ..................................................................................................................... 24

3.6. List of illustrations and appendices ................................................................................... 24

3.7. Page numbering ................................................................................................................. 25

3.8. Layout, printing and binding work .................................................................................... 25

4. Plagiarism ...................................................................................................................................... 26

Reference list: ........................................................................................................................................ 27

Introduction

The professional paper is related to the written forms of student activities in the certain field.

The professional paper does not have to be a primary research and it does not have to contain

new, original scientific findings and results. Its primary goal is collection and interpretation of

already known facts, information, attitudes and theories in the way that contributes to

expanding scientific insights, developing new approaches in interpretation, application and

adoption of known scientific results to needs of modern theory and practice.

There are many different types of the professional papers, but the two mostly used by students

of the first cycle are:

a) Assignments

b) Undergraduate thesis

1. Assignments

Assignments are the kind of the professional work consisted of independent interpretation of

the specific topic from the course syllabus of the first cycle program. The purpose of the

assignment is widening and deepening the theoretical and practical knowledge in the certain

field, developing skills of using different sources of data and specialization of the writing

skills. By writing the assignments, students acquire first experiences in writing professional

and scientific papers.

During the first cycle of study, student has to write at least two assignments in different

subjects. According to the new ETCS concept of study, it is possible that students need to do

assignments in different subjects during each year of the study. The decision whether the

assignment is obligatory part of the examination and in which percentage, is made by each

course lecturer and it has to be written in the course syllabus. Assignments might be

individual or group work.

1.1. Preparation of paper

1.1.1. The topic and the literature

The topic of the assignment is given by the course lecturer. The basic instructions and

guidelines are given in the course syllabus or by the teaching assistant.

Literature can be found in the Library and Information Centre at SEBS and this represents the

first source of the information. Further literature can be found on Internet, in different

websites or online libraries. The SEBS students have the possibility to use different online

libraries (ProQuest database, EBSCO database, Emerald database, Google Scholar, InfoBiro,

DOAJ, REPEC, CEEOL, etc). from the schools’ computers using the password of the

University.

1.2. Basic elements of the assignment

Each assignment has obligatory parts, which are partially evaluated. Those are: cover and title

page, content, introduction, the main part, conclusion and list of used literature/references.

1.2.1. Title page

Title page should contain

Name of the University and School

Title of the Assignment

Name of the Student

Index number

Name of the Lecturer and Teaching Assistant

Place and date of submission

Title page should clearly outline the standardized arrangement of elements.. On title page, the

institution is written in caps letters and information about the mentor, the student, place and

date in small letters. The title is written in capital letters sized 16 pts. Title page should not

contain any graphics and accessories. Title page is not numbered.

1.2.2. Content

Content is written after writing the text and marking the number of the page. The content

should contain the names of all the chapters and subchapters, marked by the multilevel list (1.

– first chapter, 1.1. First subchapter and so on). Word "Content" is written in capital letters in

Times New Roman, sized 14pts, bold style, with one space between the letters, centered.

Titles of chapters should be written in large letters sized 12 pts, bold style, and titles

subsections with two or more levels in small letters sized 12 pts, regular style.

1.2.3. Introduction

The aim of the introduction is to arouse the reader's interest and to preliminarily meet with

subject matter the processes at work. Introduction, therefore, should be short (around 1-2

pages) concise, clear, informative and interesting. If the work is without a preface,

introduction further contains elements that are usually in the preface. Commonly, all chapters

that are presented in the assignment are briefly explained in one or two paragraphs. When the

assignment does not have a methodology part separated, than the information that is usually

included in methodology, are given in the introduction.

1.2.4. Main body of the paper

The main part of the paper refers to the elaboration of selected topics. This section is the

largest and usually divided into more parts. Parts must be proportionate, harmonized and

logically connected into a unified whole. Usually, each part/chapter, needs to have at least two

subchapters. All parts should be focused on explaining and solving the given problem. Topic

should be explained in a logical and concise way. It is important to point out only what is

directly related to the topic and what is important, to avoid lengthy explanations and

repetitions. Each position must be explained and justified. It is desirable that the views are

followed by appropriate examples - examples might be hypothetical or real ones taken from

various documents, books or practice. The work should be written in simple, clear and concise

style, and to be grammatically correct and spelling.

1.2.5. Conclusion

The conclusion is the final part of professional work. The results and insights, which have

been reached during the elaboration of topics, are presented in the concise, succinct, precise

and logical way. The conclusion contains answers to questions asked in the introduction. The

most important findings and views from the main part of work are repeated, taking care not to

use the same wording and the same sentences. The conclusion should not contain tables and

illustrations. As a rule, any footnotes are not included in the conclusion. The conclusion is

written on a separate page, and its length should range from one or two page text.

1.2.6. Reference list

Details of all cited documents are listed at the end of work in the section entitled “Reference

list”. This list does not include any other document except directly quoted/rephrased sources.

Students should use the Handbook for Referencing in order to properly list the literature (and

other) sources.

2. Undergraduate thesis (graduate or diploma paper)

Each student is obliged to write an undergraduate thesis in order to complete his/hers college

education and get diploma. An undergraduate thesis is written in the end of the third year of

the first cycle of the study. Writing an undergraduate thesis is similar in many ways to writing

an assignment, with main difference being that the theme of the thesis is more complex and

demanding, the methodological approach is more severe and the volume of work is usually at

least twice as large.

2.1. Choosing the area of interest and approaching a professor

A major pre-step when starting to work on an undergraduate thesis is, of course, choosing an

area of interest and identifying a professor in the area which would be most suitable to be

your mentor. Approaching the professor during his office hours with a proposition to start

working on the thesis is next natural step. Of course, professor should be available, meaning

that he is not already overbooked with number of previously selected thesis in the academic

year. If professor is available, it is possible that he/she will have some suggestions for your

thesis.

2.2. Preparation of paper

2.2.1. Area of choice and literature

After the chosen area, student defines thesis of work. Topics can be development of a

theoretical question, practical exploration of certain events or case studies.

After finding the basic literature in the catalogs of BIC, a student may continue with further

research. The research may use the following reference and available forms of library

materials: books (monographs), articles from journals, proceedings from conferences and

symposia, government and statistical publications, newspapers, theses and dissertations,

Internet (database of electronic journals), publications of international institutions, CD-

ROMs, magazines, etc.

Access to databases is provided via IP address of school, which means that any computer in

the building of the School can access these databases (EBSCO database, InfoBiro, DOAJ,

REPEC, CEEOL, etc).

2.2.2. Determining the structure of paper

After the first review of the collected literature it is necessary to produce a thesis which will

form the basis for the write operation. Theses reflect the structure of a future paper and its

development.

2.3. Basic elements of paper

Each paper has obligatory parts, which are partially evaluated. Those are: cover and title page,

content, introduction, the main part, conclusion and list of used literature/references.

2.3.1. Cover and title page

Besides title page, the graduate paper contains also the cover page. The cover page contains

Name of the University and Faculty

The logo of the Faculty

Name of the Student

Title of the Graduate paper

Indication that it is graduate paper

Place and the Year of graduating

Title page should contain

Name of the Faculty

Title of the Graduate paper

Indication that it is graduate paper

Course in which the graduate paper is done

Name of the Student

Number of index

Name of the mentor and members of commission

Place and date of submission

Cover and title page should clearly write the standardized arrangement of elements. All the

elements of cover are capitalized in Times New Roman, sized 14 pts, bold style, centered. The

institution is written in caps letters and information about the mentor, the student, place and

date in small letters. The title is written in capital letters sized 16 pts. Cover and title page

should not contain any graphics and accessories. Cover and title page is not numbered.

Example of cover page:

UNIVERSITY OF SARAJEVO

SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS IN SARAJEVO

SNJEZANA BRKIC

CONTEMPORARY INTEGRATION PROCESSES

IN THE WORLD ECONOMY

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

SARAJEVO, JUNI 2006

Example of title page:

UNIVERSITY OF SARAJEVO

SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS IN SARAJEVO

CONTEMPORARY INTEGRATION PROCESSES

IN THE WORLD ECONOMY

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Course: International Economics

Mentor: prof. Dragoljub Stojanov, PhD

Student: Snjezana Brkic

Index no: 128/2005

Stream: Economics

Major: International Economics

Sarajevo, juni 2006

2.3.2. Content

Content is written after writing the text and marking the number of the page. The content

should contain the names of all the chapters and subchapters. Word "Content" is written in

capital letters in Times New Roman, sized 14pts, bold style, with one space between the

letters, centered. Titles chapters should be written in large letters sized 12 pts, bold style, and

titles subsections with two or more decimal units in small letters sized 12 pts, your regular

style.

Example of content:

2.3.3. Introduction

The aim of the introduction is to arouse the reader's interest and to preliminarily meet with

subject matter the processes at work. Introduction, therefore, should be short (around 500-800

words) concise, clear, informative and interesting. If the work is without a preface,

introduction further contains elements that are usually in the preface. When the paper does not

Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 4

1. Assignments ..................................................................................................................................... 5

1.1. Preparation of paper ............................................................................................................... 5

1.1.1. The topic and the literature ................................................................................................. 5

1.2. Basic elements of the assignment ........................................................................................... 6

1.2.1. Title page ......................................................................................................................... 6

1.2.2. Content ............................................................................................................................. 6

1.2.3. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 7

1.2.4. Main body of the paper .................................................................................................... 7

1.2.5. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 7

1.2.6. Reference list ................................................................................................................... 8

have a methodology part separated, than the information that is usually included in

methodology, are given in the introduction.

2.3.4. Main part of the paper

Based on the problems of research student defines the case of research; based on issues and

items placed in the main research the hypotheses must be developed. The hypothesis is certain

claim (assumption) which explains a phenomenon using respective methods to verify and

prove. The hypothesis is actually the answer to the question in the problem.

For example, if student selected a topic from finance, and in its paper he/she wants to see the

effects of new financial products/services on profitability of company (problem), hypothesis

could be formulated as follows:

H1: New financial products and services are significantly influencing company’s profitability.

2.3.4.1. Elaboration of the topic

The main part of the paper refers to the elaboration of selected topics. This section is the

largest and usually divided into more parts.

1. Historical and theoretical, retrospective or explanatory part

The first part gives a theoretical knowledge about the problem, results of previous

explorations, and main claims.

2. Analysts co-experimental part

Student should give some facts, information, data and ideas that he found in his own research

and analysis.

3. Perspective part

The third section gives a concrete solution to the problem or trying to predict further

developments of the problem.

Principles that should be used:

o Brevity and succinctness;

o Harmony and unity of the parts;

o Adequate emphasis;

o Correct reasoning;

o Listing of examples;

o Adequate balance between their own and others' texts;

o And style, grammar and spelling rules

2.3.5. Conclusion

The conclusion is the final part of professional work. In conclusion, the concise, succinct,

precise and logical ways to present the results and insights that have been reached in the

processing threads. The conclusion contains answers to questions asked in the introduction; it

is confirmed or rejected by the hypotheses.

The conclusion should not contain tables and illustrations. As a rule, the conclusion can not

include quotations or footnotes. The conclusion is written on a separate page, and its length

should range from one or two page text.

2.4. Registration, submission and presentation of graduate paper

The registration, submission and presentation of graduate paper is significantly different than

the registration, submission and presentation of assignments.

2.4.1. Registration of work

Students can compose the graduate paper within boundaries of courses they have listened and

claimed during the study, according to the plan and program and syllabus. According to the

rules of School of Economics and Business Sarajevo (SEBS), the student is obliged to choose

the subject and to figure out the topic of their graduate paper together with the teacher/mentor

in the VIII semester.

As the teacher isn't obliged to confirm his/hers mentorship for more than 20 graduate papers,

students are suggested to start the process of selection of the topic of the graduate paper

earlier. The teacher makes an evidence of the topic and the data about the candidate and in

that way opens up the process of thesis preparation.

2.4.2. Submission of work

When the graduate paper has been written, the work should be submitted to the

teacher/mentor. When the mentor/teacher accepts the work fully, the candidate has to prepare

at least five copies of the graduate paper as well as a CD Rom on which the work is written in

the pdf. form. One copy is printed for the student/candidate, three for the members of the

commission for presentation of graduate paper. One copy and the CD will be kept in the

archive in the library information center of our School.

2.4.3. Presentation of graduate paper

Following documents have to be submitted to the Students’ Admission Office by the

candidate:

Index

Form approval for the presentation of graduate paper, filled and signed by the mentor

Confirmation of not owing books given by the Library Information Center of our

school

Form for the registration of the graduate paper

Form of the payment for the presentation of the graduate paper

Three printed and bounded copies of the graduate paper for the members of the

commission. One copy of the printed work and the CD-Rom with the recorded version

of graduate paper has to be delivered to the library information center, but after the

finished presentation.

The date of the presentation has to be determined at least seven days before.

The student presents his/her work in front of the commission, consisted of three members.

The members are suggested by the mentor. President of the commission is the mentor. The

other two members are teachers of similar courses.

The presentation is public – besides the commission and the candidate, it is possible for all

interested to attend the presentation.

3. Rules on technical processing of the assignment and graduate paper

Technical processing is the final phase of the assignment, in which special attention should be

paid to the systematic approach, visibility and linguistic-stylistic rules of writing. The

technical processing of work includes:

Making a title page (and cover page for undergraduate thesis)

Making a table of contents

Formatting the text according the rules

Citing the literature

Adding the illustrations

Creating the reference list

Adding the appendices

Creating the list of illustrations

Creating the list of appendices

Page numbering

Printing and binding the assignment

Note that rules on making title page as well as making content are described in the section

above.

3.1. Formating titles and subtitles

When writing titles and subtitles, following is recommended:

Titles of chapters (e.g. 1., 2., 3., ...) should be written using capital letters , Times New

Roman, size 14, bold style

Subtitles within chapters with two decimal places ( e.g. 1.1., 1.2., 1.3., ...) should be

written using capital letters , Times New Roman, size 12, bold style

Subtitles within chapters with three decimal places ( e.g. 1.2.1, 1.2.2..1.2.3, ...) should

be written using capital letters , Times New Roman, size 12, bold style

All above mentioned titles should be written indrawn from left margin in size of 5-10 letters.

3.2. Referencing

The student has the right to use other people’s words, ideas and information in his/her

assignment and graduate paper, but the student has to indicate that these ideas and information

are not his/her own. To accomplish that origin of taken data needs to be noted and that is

called referencing. Full information on the use of a source is called a bibliographic reference.

A reference represents the information that the reader needs to identify and locate the used

source.

References should be indicated, if used in the text:

A direct quote from another source

Paraphrased text

Information obtained from other studies

Statistical data

Theories or ideas of another author

A fact that is not general knowledge

In general, there are two types of referencing systems used by students of School of

Economics and Business in Sarajevo. Those are:

System “author – date” – such as Harvard system, APA, MLA, etc.

Numerical system – such as Chicago, Turabian, Footnote, Oxford Style, etc.

3.2.1. System “author-date” – Harvard System of referencing

When citing the literature according this system, it is needed to outline surname of author,

year of publishing and page number. Brackets are used just after finished quote or in the end

of the sentence. Page number is written only in the case when using direct quote from the

original source, summarizing ideas from specific page or copying tables, diagram and

graphics.

Example of Harvard citing in the text:

The success of Cook's voyages has been attributed, in part, to improved means

of navigation and nutrition (Blainey 1966, pp. 11-13).

Your List of References should contain full details of all your textual references, except for

personal communications. If you include sources other than those you have cited in your text,

then the list is called a Bibliography. Both the List of References and Bibliography are set out

in the same manner - alphabetically by author, and then in chronological order. Books, articles

and journals are written in the same list. The main scheme is following: Surname of the

author, Initials. Year of Publishing, The title of the book, Name of Publisher, Place of

publishing.

Example of entry in Reference list:

3.2.2. Numerical referencing system

In numerical referencing system, there are two subsystems of referencing print and electronic

material and those are footnote and endnote. Those two subsystems are very similar; in both

cases we write the number of reference right after cited text in above corner like superscript.

In case of footnote, these numbers can be written chronologically from beginning until end of

the paper or written with new starting on each page. In case of using endnote, the numbers are

always written chronologically from beginning until end of the paper.

When you are using footnote, full information about source of original text can be always

found in the bottom of the page where the text is written, while in the case of using the

endnote full information about the sources is written in the Reference list in the end of the

chapter or in the end of the paper.

In this handbook, the focus will be put on the footnote system. Below you can find example of

entries according to footnote system of referencing.

Popper, K.R. 1961, The Poverty of Historicism, Routledge & Kegan

Paul, London.

Example of entries in footnote system:

3.3. Illustrations

The illustrations are an integral part of the work, and are used for simple and more consisted

representation of phenomena that are treated descriptively in the text. Illustrations that are

most commonly used in expert term papers are pictures, tables, charts and diagrams.

Each illustration in the work should have its own serial number and title, an indication of the

source of data, and any remarks. When it is necessary to provide an explanation regarding the

title or content of the illustrations, a remark is used which is written below the illustration, and

before the data source.

The type and number of illustrations should be written in letters sized 12 pts, while the title

should be written in letters of the same size, bold. These elements are written above the

illustration. Sources and notes in the illustrations should be typed letter-sized 10 pts and they

are written below the illustration, while the size of the letters for the data contained in the

illustration is custom stated (usually used is size letters 11 or 12 pts).

Book (single author):

__________________ 1 Paul Krugman, The Age of Diminished Expectations: U.S. Economic Policy in 1990's,

3rd ed., (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997.), p. 213

Book (two authors):

___________________ 2 Paul A. Samuelson and William D. Nordhaus, Ekonomija, (Zagreb: Mate, 1992.), p. 234

Book (more than three authors):

___________________ 3 John Smith et al, The History of the World Wide Web, 2nd ed., (Chicago: University of

Chicago Press, 2004.), p. 267

Example of table:

Table 1: Intra- and inter-regional trade: EU, North America and East Asia in 1992.

Trade with

(% of total export and

import)

European Union North America East Asia

European Union 59,8 8,0 8,0

North America 17,0 38,9 27,4

East Asia 14,3 22,9 45,0

Source: Thomas D. Lairson i David Skidmore, International Political Economy: The Strugglef or Power and

Wealth, 2nd ed. (s.l.: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1997.), p. 161

Example of graph:

Graph 1: Intra- and inter-regional trade: EU, North America and East Asia in 1992.

Source: Thomas D. Lairson i David Skidmore, International Political Economy: The Strugglef or Power and

Wealth, 2nd ed. (s.l.: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1997.), p. 161

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1 2 3

European Union

North America

East Asia

Example of scheme:

Scheme 1: Elements of New Economy

Source : P. G. McKeown, Information Technology and the Networked Economy, (Fort Worth: Harcourt College

Publishers, 2001.), p. 15.

3.4. Appendices

While writing your assignment and thesis there is often a need to add some attachments after

the text such as: questionnaires, results of statistical analysis, data tables, examples of

transport documents and etc. Each attachment should have a serial number, data source and

any notes.

3.5. Reference list

After the conclusion to the work and attachments (if any) there should be a list of used

sources. At the top of the page there should be a title “Reference list” all capital letters in

Times New Roman, size of 14 pts, bold style, centered.

3.6. List of illustrations and appendices

ZNANJE

EKONOMSKI ODNOSI

RAČUNARI VEZE

If the text of the assignment and thesis contains illustrations or attachments, it is necessary to

make their list. In the paper first there should be a lists of illustrations, and after that a list of

appendices.

3.7. Page numbering

Cover and title page of your paper should not be numbered. Pages were preface (if any) and

table of contents are numbered in the Roman numerals (I, II, ...). All other pages in the paper

are numbered in chronological order in Arabic numerals, usually in the lower right corner.

3.8. Layout, printing and binding work

Before printing a text, layout should be performed. There should be taken into that the title of

each chapter is located on the top of the page. The paper is printed out one sided on white

paper format A4 (210 x 297 mm). After the mentor reviews the work, the student is obliged to

correct all possible mistakes, and then again print it out and bind the paper.

The assignment is presented in single copy in soft binding. Besides printed copy of

assignment, an e-form (PDF or Word format) should be also sent to the mentor. Assignment

should contain about 15 pages of text.

Graduate paper is printed in five bound copies in paperback or semi-binding. Besides printed

copies of undergraduate thesis, an e-form (PDF or Word format) should be also sent to the

mentor. The minimum volume of graduate paper, title page, contents, literature, lists of

illustrations and attachments are not included, should be 25 pages long.

4. Plagiarism

Any student who submits course work for credit (i.e. an assignment or an examination) that is

the work of another person or that is copied from an existing work, who colludes in the

production of plagiarized work, or who knowingly allows their work to be used in this way,

will be disciplined and penalized. The SEBS regards plagiarism as an extreme violation of

academic standards and deals with it accordingly.

In order to ensure that this does not happen, students have to be sure that if they in any way

adopt, reproduce, use, recycle or demonstrate the influence of the ideas, words, statements,

designs, concepts or indeed any type of work belonging to another person (including that of

another student) they must acknowledge their work as a source they have used, in both the

text and the bibliography of their assignment/work. This is known as “referencing” and there

is a number of different systems available for referencing – the system recommended in the

SEBS, and in details described in its handbooks, is the Harvard System of Referencing. The

students have to use this referencing system in all of their assignments.

The SEBS pays a lot of attention to developing ethical behavior among students and to detect

and avoid plagiarism and ensure academic integrity by using Turnitin (www.turnitin.com) a

leading academic plagiarism detector. Any student who submits course work for credit (i.e. an

assignment or an examination) that is the work of another person or that is copied from an

existing work, who colludes in the production of plagiarized work or who knowingly allows

their work to be used in this way, will be disciplined and penalized. All students are also

obliged to sign a statement which confirms the originality of their diploma papers starting

from the year 2010. The SEBS publishes a guide for using the Harvard referencing system,

and is available on-line and in hard-copy form free of charge for all students and faculty

members of the SEBS.

Reference list:

Brkić S., Mehić E. & Kenjić V. 2006, Uputstvo za izradu seminarskog i diplomskog rada,

Ekonomski fakultet u Sarajevu

Undergraduate thesis is evaluated on the following criteria: