Dear students,
Please pay attention to the processing of your final thesis. The faculty issues methodical instructions for the elaboration of a Bachelor or Master thesis, which you are obliged to follow. In this context, I would like to give you some information. Study each of them and incorporate into the text the obligatory chapters for your type of work (study, experiment, development, etc.).
The selection of resources is usually a key aspect of work processing. Pay increased attention to the sources from which you take ideas. Within the CULS, there is the database, which you can access through your university login. It is an electronic information database of resources, which allows you free access to paid publications. Through this application, you have access to the Web of Science database, which is a valuable source of scientific publications. Google Scholar is also a very good source of information. Pay close attention when searching for resources in web search engines. Avoid citing grey literature (i.e. thesis etc.) and academic publications such as textbooks. Remember that the text is subject to plagiarism control and also that opponents tend to be relatively well-informed and often reveal the similarity themselves.
To organize literature sources, please use the Mendeley bibliographic library (or EndNote and similar). It is a desktop application with a web extension, which allows you to conveniently download resources while browsing the web and, above all, to manage all resources. Mendeley is cross-platform, running on Win, macOS and Linux. The application also offers integration with office suites, thanks to which you will be able to quote without the need for manual listing. Instructions can be found, among other things, on Youtube. Please keep in mind that the correct citation and listing of all sources is the cornerstone of the final work. Choose the citation mode in accordance with the methodical instruction, one chosen style must be kept in the whole work.
Most types of final theses contain basic chapters such as Introduction and aims, Research of the issue, Description of the area of interest, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion. These are parts of the work, each of which is a cornerstone and cannot function without each other.
The Introduction is a general chapter (approx. 2-4 pages), where you explain the importance of the topic, summarize what has already been done in the issue and how your work is set aside, what are its benefits and what is its novelty. A literature search is a comprehensive part where you have to prove that you are really familiar with the issue. In order to be able to write a search, it is necessary to read a large number of professional sources, mostly from abroad (depending on the type of work, we are talking about 30-60 scientific studies at least). The aim of the research is to describe in detail what is known about the topic, how the problem is solved by colleagues, what has not yet been fully researched, etc. Materials and methods describe in detail how you did the work, how you achieved the results. The methodology must be described in such detail that it can be repeated by anyone after you. The Results are based on methods, you describe what came out. These are strict (objective) facts, clear outputs of the work. In the Discussion, on the other hand, you describe why you think the results came out just the same. The discussion is not a repetition of the results, but an explanation of them. You confront your results with the results of other authors. The Conclusion is a general chapter (approx. 2-4 pages), where you should summarize the issue as a whole, mention the benefits of your work and outline possible perspectives on how to proceed with the outputs.
The Abstract is a special part, which is paradoxically written at the very end of the work. This is a chapter where you summarize the introduction, research, methodology, results and conclusions in 1-3 paragraphs. This is the most complex part of the text in terms of wording and working with language. After reading the abstract, everyone will very quickly reveal your expressive abilities. This is quite possibly the only part of the work that will be read by someone other than just the opponent and the commission. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that after reading the abstract, it is clear what you did, how you did it, what worked for you and what follows.
Citation. Avoid writing a thesis such as paragraph (citation), another paragraph (citation), etc. This is not research (review). You should synthesize the publications you read and write a full paragraph with easy readability and high information value. You will then cite appropriately in this paragraph. The citation is always part of the sentence (so the dot is behind the reference)! Always cite as many relevant sources as possible. Choose the year of publication as appropriate. In addition to the generally valid facts, always quote every idea taken.
Text formatting and (macro) typographic rules. Never build paragraphs from a single sentence. Avoid relics of text (a few lines) at the beginning or end of pages. The work is formatted for single-sided printing, aligned in a block. Avoid grammatical and typographical errors, font combinations, and any text effects. It is not possible to have prepositions and connectors at the ends of lines, use solid spaces. Number the pages at the bottom right of the Introduction chapter visibly (until then hidden).
If the work includes map outputs, study the cartographic principles yourself!
THESIS CONSULTATION
Before embarking on more extensive research and writing, it is necessary to have clear objectives for the work. Chase me for a consultation. Don't try to write the work yourself without consultation and send me the supposed final version, that's the way to hell. Consult, always arrange an appointment by e-mail. Come up with your own meaningful ideas, don't expect me to tell you the exact procedure and write the work for you.
Please always send me your work in the format YYYYMMDD_Bc/MSc_YourSurname (Office editable format), so that we are clear in the versions. Expect that it will take me about 2 weeks to read and reply, i. e. always send me the thesis in advance.
Good luck!
