REQUIREMENTS REGARDING THE SUBMISSION OF DISSERTATIONS AND OTHER

DOCUMENTATION FOR MA SIPs.

Please note: The requirements below are for MA Music Theatre Dissertations only. For portfolios
or other forms of SIP submissions, one copy is required, but the format is determined at course
level, see your briefing paper for details. A professional or hard bound copy is not required for
non-dissertations. You may wish to professionally bind your submission as described for
dissertations below, however this is optional and is dependent on your personal preference.

Dissertations

One hardcopy of the dissertation is required for the MA Music Theatre course by the school. The
copy shall be hard bound (see point 5 below for binding instructions). The dissertation will not be
returned to you, so please keep your own copy.

1. Abstract
An abstract (summary) of not more than 300 words, on one side of a sheet of paper should be
placed immediately after the title page of the dissertation.

2. Personal Acknowledgements
This is optional. You may, however, wish to thank adviser(s) or other people who have helped
and supported you in your work.

3. Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the unacknowledged inclusion of the work of others, in your written submission. Any
suspected plagiarism will be treated very seriously and fully investigated; if proven, it can lead to
the invalidation of work submitted, and to your suspension from the course.

The dissertation should include, immediately after the title page, a signed and dated declaration
that what follows is free of plagiarism. The declaration should state:

‘I understand the School definition of plagiarism and declare that all sources drawn on
have been formally acknowledged.’

4. Formal Regulations regarding the Presentation and Contents of Written Dissertations

The dissertation must be presented in English.

Copies of the dissertation shall be presented in a legible and permanent form, and should
normally be word-processed or typed.

The dissertation shall normally be in A4 format. Permission must be sought and may be given for
work to be submitted in another format, where it is satisfied that the contents of the dissertation
can be better expressed in that format.

The dissertation shall be printed on one side of the paper only.

Double or one-and-a-half spacing must be used in the typescript, except for indented quotations
or footnotes, where single spacing shall be used.

Pages shall be numbered consecutively throughout the main text including photographs and/or
diagrams which are included as whole pages.

The contents of the dissertation shall be ordered as follows:

 Title page – (Page 1) with the following information:

The full title of the dissertation
The full name of the author
 The course title
The month and year of submission

 Abstract – (Page 2) see 1 above

 Declaration on Plagiarism – (page 3) see 3, above

The signed and dated declaration on plagiarism.

 Acknowledgements – (Page 4) see 2 above

Any acknowledgements (for help/support received)

 Contents page – (Page 5) with the following information:

Introduction
Chapters
Appendices
Bibliography

 Introduction – (Page 6)

 Chapters
with Chapter titles

 Appendices
these should be numbered or given a descriptor

 Bibliography and sources – see the Academic Referencing Guide, available on your
course LearnZone page

5. Dissertation Binding (for the hard bound copy)

The School has established formal Binding Instructions for dissertations; all dissertations must
comply with these instructions, which are given below.

You may wish to use a binding service run by Collis-Bird & Withey
(http://www.collisbirdandwithey.co.uk). The address and telephone number of this service is:

One Drayton Park, London N5 1NU.

Telephone: 020 7607 1116
info@thesisbookbinding.co.uk

This company holds details of the School’s Dissertation Binding Instructions so that if you use
their services you should ask them to follow the details provided by CSSD for the binding and
lettering on your dissertation.

You may use another company if you wish, but you must give that company a copy of the
School’s Dissertation Binding Instructions, which must be followed.
Additionally:

 The colour of the binding is red (No 535)

 Lettering on the spine is gold
 Wording on the spine is:

 Award and Course Title in Upper and Lower case

 Year (at submission of the Dissertation)
 Student name in Upper case (Initial(s) of Forename(s) + Surname)

 The Lettering on the spine to be arranged as shown below

Diagram to show direction, layout and format of Spine Lettering
MA Voice Studies
2013
A.M. SMITH