Research Project Guidelines for Heriot Watt MBA

Abstract: This document contains guidelines concerning layout and formatting for research project. Use this template for the full paper preparation. In this template, section 1 contains information regarding the general structure of the paper. The subsequent sections contain detailed formatting guidelines for the paper, which must be strictly followed.

This part of the paper "abstract" should clearly state the purpose of the work, approach and methodology, limitations, significant results, with concise conclusions or recommendations. The maximum number of words allowed in the abstract is limited to 400. Do not include references in the abstract. Identify up to 5 keywords.

For further guidance on writing an informative abstract go to:

cmeforum.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/how-to-write-informative-abstracts

Keywords: Paper Template, Submission, Information Systems

General structure of the paper

The length of submitted papers should be around 10000 (+/- 500) words, including references, figures and tables.

The body of the paper should be divided into suitable sections that follow the argument through from its introduction, critical assessment of existing work, through its analysis of data and onto its discussions and its conclusions. This should mean that the text is logically broken down into sections that are each relatively self-contained and which are each numbered consecutively. The paper should be structured as follows: Introduction, Literature Review, Research Methods, Findings and Discussion, Conclusions and Recommendations, Acknowledgement (optional), and References.

1.      Introduction

The overarching aim of the research project is to demonstrate an in-depth understanding of a given topic in the area on construction management and attempt to provide a clear contribution to the existing literature. The introduction should explain the importance and relevance of the given topic to the construction industry by making reference to relevant literature, such as academic papers, government reports, …etc. It should include a clear statement of the research aim.

2.      Literature Review

Based on the background of the topic introduced in part 1, this part of the paper begins to synthesize ideas from the papers you have read in order to build a coherent understanding of the existing literature. It should describe the important results from recent primary literature articles, and how those results shape our current understanding of the topic. Remember that you summarise and critique the literature. For example, point out consistencies and contradictions in the field, using appropriate evidence, i.e.  data taken directly from the original papers. It is helpful to outline the literature first, and present your ideas and discussions logically towards your goal under specific headings/subheadings. Frequently using headings (e.g. History of the idea, Specific conflicts etc.) can help you to systematically address each important point that you wish to make, as well as helping your reader to follow your arguments. Once you have developed your headings you can then go back and place topic sentences for each paragraphs of information you wish to convey under the appropriate heading. Each paragraph should have clear, well thought out points, and should contain only the information needed to make or support that point. Fill in each paragraph with more details until you have a coherent argument building towards your final concluding statement. You are expected to provide a critical literature review rather than descriptive account of the literature. Make sure you highlight the gaps in research as well as presenting the current state of the art.

3.      Research Methods

This section deals with the approaches considered to carry out this research and justifies the approach selected. Your justification should be informed by a number of references and should be appropriate for the aim of your study.

4.      Findings and Discussion

This section presents the data analysis results. You should explain the data analysis procedure clearly before presenting your findings. Make sure to break down this section into meaningful subsections. You should be presenting your analysis findings not the collected data. Do not present any raw data in this section; but keep a record of the collected data as you can be asked to provide these if the research project coordinator deems it necessary. Make sure you are including a discussion of results at the end.

5.      Conclusion and Recommendation

Under this section, the presented work should be viewed in a wider perspective. You should restate the aim of your paper and point out how it has been met. The most important issues and the major conclusions (ideas) of your study should be expressed succinctly. The author should also present his/her interpretation of the findings. Also, the implications of the review should be discussed, e.g. how the outcome of the study could affect future work and/or possible applications, and what kinds of problems/questions remain in the area.

6.      Acknowledgment (Optional)

You might want to acknowledge people who helped you with your research. These can be any interviewees or industrial contact who provided data, any organization or body funding your study or your supervisor.

7.      References

Format the references and citation according to Harvard System. Typically, at least 25 references are required.  

General formatting guidelines

The paper must be prepared in A4 format (297x210 mm) with 25 mm margins and Times New Roman used for the entire document. The formatting presented in this Template must be used.

Figures and tables

All figures and tables should be placed near the text where they are first mentioned with acknowledgement of the original source, if any. They must also, at least once, be referred to in the text. Refer to figures as e.g. Fig. 1 and to tables as e.g. Table 1. All figure and tables must fit within the 25 mm margins. Units used in figures or tables should be placed within parentheses. Leave one blank line of size 12 pt before and after all figures and tables.

 Figures

When adding figures, feel free to use colors but keep in mind that the figures must be readable also when printed in black and white. Therefore, do not use dark background colors and make use of for example dotted or dashed lines rather than different colors when plotting graphs.  

All figures should have an extensive caption and it should not be necessary to read in the text to understand the figure. Use 11 pt italic script for figure captions. Place the caption below the picture. The figures must be numbered consecutively.

 Tables

Make sure that tables do not contain superfluous information or duplicate data from other tables, figures or from the main text. In tables, horizontal single lines border should be used as presented in Table 1. Use 12 pt font size within tables. Do not use vertical lines.

Each column and row should have an appropriate title and, if possible, the text should be centered within the column. All tables must have a proper caption, placed above the table, using 11 pt italic script. The tables must be numbered consecutively.