Dear Students,

Writing papers may well be the opportunity for you to learn more about the subject you are studying than any other aspect of a course. It is worth doing well. You not only learn more, you also think more deeply about a topic when you have to put words on paper. Finally good grades depend on good papers.

The term paper commonly consists of 40 to 50 pages or maximum 20000 words. Structure of a term paper becomes too easy as soon as you get precise and clear guidelines on term paper structure. Here you will find all the necessary steps which you need to understand about the structure of a term paper. The structure of your term paper should have the following sequence: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 10. 11. 12. 13. Title page Letter of submission Acknowledgements Abstract/Executive summary Table of contents Introduction Objectives Research Methods Results/Findings Discussions Limitations Conclusions and Recommendations. References (APA style) Appendices (if any)

GUIDELINES:

1. Length of paper: Papers should be type-written (1.5 spaced) and between 40 to 50 pages long. 2. Title page: The title page is the first page of a term paper. It is not numbered. It contains details of:

the title of the paper the title of the course supervisor

the author's name and email address or other contact details the date of submission

3. Table of contents: Include all pertinent sections in the table of contents (i.e. Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Bibliography, Appendix) Number your table of contents Include page numbers Use sub-points and indent these Use explicit but brief titles and sub-titles Structure your paper according to your focus of interest.

4. Introduction: The introduction follows the table of contents and is the first page of the project which is numbered. In the introduction of your term paper, you are supposed to state the following points:

A brief explanation of the problem Aim of your term paper What questions will be answered in the term paper A brief outline of current research Relevance of the term paper topic The research process

The introduction aims to make the reader familiar with the term paper topic and create interest in reading your term further. It gives hints to the reader about further content of your term paper.

5. Methods:

The method employed in the term paper project conducted should be explicitly detailed.

6. Results:

Results should be presented in a reader-friendly manner. The use of tables and graphs is recommended. Tables and graphs should be either included in the main text, or alternatively (if they are large in number) included in an appendix. In the latter case, however, the appendix must be referenced (i.e. cf. Appendix 1) otherwise the reader will not know to look there).

As well as presenting the results, it is also your task to guide the reader through the results in a clear and logical manner. This by no means that every detail included in the table/ graph should be commented on, but it does mean that the most interesting results should be highlighted for the reader.

7. Discussion: The discussion section either follows the results or may alternatively be integrated in the results section. This is a matter of style although the former style tends to be easier for the writer and clearer for the reader and is, thus, recommended. The section should consist of a discussion of the results of the study focusing on the question posed in the research paper. In addition, it should serve to compare your results to previous research findings.

8. Limitations: You should also demonstrate an awareness of the limitations of your study in this section.

9. Conclusion: In the conclusion of your term paper, state the problem you posed and explain the results you found from your research. You need to give a summary of the observations and interpretations. You should also explain the strengths and limitations of your research. Besides this, you can make suggestion for future work as well if you have any. 10. References: In the bibliography of your term paper, you have to list all the information sources in a required citation style. You should follow the APA (American Psychological Association) style of referencing. Here is an attachment for your convenience.

11. Appendix: Appendices are the list of complete information of the survey forms, maps, graphs, figures, statistics, questioners, charts, etc. you used in your term paper but not included in the main text due to their subsidiary nature or to space constraints in the main text. They are not included in actual word count of your term paper.

12. Comments on plagiarism What is plagiarism? Plagiarism is when you knowingly use the intellectual work of others without acknowledgement. It can take the form of direct copying from the writings of others or the presentation of the ideas of others in a paraphrased form - without acknowledgement.

If you like the ideas of a researcher, you may of course refer to these ideas or indeed quote from the writings of this person as long as you formally acknowledge their work but you may not simply adopt his/ her ideas as your own. This also applies to works written in a different language. Translation of ideas or writings is also plagiarism if the original author is not acknowledged.

13. Assessment sheet :

The following is the assessment sheet: Names: Title:

Length of paper: Appearance of paper: Typing errors, etc.: Language/ style: Title: Focus of paper: Table of contents/ structure: Introduction: Conclusion: Referencing: Choice of literature: Method of citation: Integration of literature: Method: Analysis/ discussion: Final overall comment

Date: Grade:

14. Others: You should follow the below instructions:

Use font: Times new roman, Size: 12, Use space between lines: 1.5, Use margin: left- 3.5cm, right-3.0cm, top-3.0cm, bottom-3.0cm, Word count should be 7,000 to 8,000 words (excluding references or appendices), Report binding: book binding or spiral binding.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Please read the following book for further understanding: Zikmund, Babin, Carr, & Griffin (2010). Business research methods. 8th Edition. South Western/Cengage. Singapore (chapter 25, report format)