Faculty of

Economic, Social and

Political Sciences and
Solvay Business school

INTRODUCTION TO WRITING A MASTER THESIS

By Sofie Van den waeyenberg

svdwaeye@vub.ac.be

Vrije Universiteit Brussel

ACADEMIC YEAR 2007-2008

For the programs:

Master of Management
Master of Advanced Management Studies
Master in European Integration and Development: Economic Integration
Master in European Integration and Development: European Politics and Social
Integration

Version October 2007

 Preface

Apart from information gathered by colleagues and experience, everything you will read
in this document is based on information gathered from the following sources:

DELOOF, Marc, MOSSELMANS, Bert & Leo VAN HOVE. 2005. “Enkele nuttige wenken
i.v.m. een eindverhandeling.” Web site: <http://econ.vub.ac.be/cfec/wenken.htm>
th
(consulted on December 5 2005)

NEUGEBOREN, Robert. 2005. The Student’s Guide to Writing Economics. New York:
Routledge, 85 pp.

VAN ASSCHE, Martine. 2005. “Introduction to the master thesis.” Academic year 2005-
2006, VUB – Euromaster Programmes

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 Table of content

1. Topic of the thesis 4

2. Requirements 4
2.1. What is a Master thesis? 4
2.2. Cover page 5
2.3. Structure of the thesis 5

3. Documentation 7
3.1. Academic literature 7
3.2. Empirical data 9

4. References to sources in the text 9

5. Bibliography/references 10
5.1. Different kinds of sources 10
5.2. General remarks about the bibliography 12

6. Citations 13
6.1. When to cite an author 13
6.2. Rules 14

7. Footnotes 15
7.1. When to use footnotes 15
7.2. How to use footnotes 15

8. Style of writing 15

9. Tables and graphs 16

10. Deadlines 17

11. Final remarks 17

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1. Topic of the thesis

Students of the Master of Advanced Management Studies, or the Master in European

Integration and Development need to choose one of a list of domains in which they want
to write a master thesis. Some professors responsible for a certain domain propose a list
of topics; others invite you to choose a subject within the domain.

Students of the Master of Management do not have a list of domains to go by; they have
to contact a professor of the ES faculty whose research the student is interested in, to
talk about a subject for a master thesis and about the supervision of the professor.

Discuss with the professor in order to choose your topic and to prepare an outline for
your paper. Get his/her approval on the subject and outline before you start.

Return the documents with your subject, title, your signature and signature of your
supervisor to the secretariat (Ms. Luyckx) before 1 December.

2. Requirements

2.1. What is a Master thesis?

Students are expected to write a text with the contents and in the style of a scientific
article.
Content: writing a thesis implies
- Demonstrating a position or a claim. This means, to start from a hypothesis.
- Arguments need to be based on scientific literature
- We also accept: an empirical evaluation, a theoretical contribution
- or, a thorough and integrated literature study
Originality can also be an important factor in the evaluation of the thesis.

The length of the text should be approximately 10.000 words, with 15.000 words as a
maximum. Being able to respect the limits of 10.000-15.000 words will be evaluated as a
skill as well. You can use the word-count tool in your computer program (Microsoft Word:
Tools – Word Count)

Use font Verdana 10, line spacing 1,5.

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2.2. Cover page

The cover page should include the following elements:

Name of the program (e.g. Master in European Integration and Development:
Economic Integration)
Academic year: 2007-2008
Name
Name seminar + Name professor
Title of the thesis
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Note at the end of the page: Thesis submitted to obtain the degree of [Name of
the program]

2.3. Structure of the thesis

Set up a basic structure when you start working. This temporary structure will be very
helpful when searching and classifying information. During your working process this
structure can be adapted and optimized.

For example
Preface
Table of contents
Introduction
Part I
Chapter 1
1.1
1.1.1
...
1.2
1.2.1
...
1.x. Conclusion chapter 1
Chapter 2
2.1
2.1.1.
...
2.x. Conclusion chapter 2
...

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 Chapter x: Conclusion part I
Part II
...
Conclusion
References
Annexes
The structure should be clear and logical, both the structure of the entire thesis as the
structure within each chapter in which you should work with paragraphs and
subparagraphs.

2.3.1. Preface
The preface is a motivation as to why you chose this topic and in which you thank the
people who helped you.

2.3.2. Table of contents

The table of contents has the same structure as the thesis. The titles have the same font
as in the text. Do not forget to add page numbers!

2.3.3. Introduction
The introducing chapter should contain the hypothesis you intend to examine, discuss the
problematic nature of it and clearly define it. It is a clear-cut introduction to the topic in
which you briefly discuss the structure/step-by-step approach of your work and the aims
of your thesis. The key concepts should be defined.
Write the introduction after you have written the body of the text. This way it is easier to
give a clear picture of your hypothesis, your research method and the structure of the
thesis.

2.3.4. The text

The body of your thesis follows the line of reasoning of your introduction and contains
your arguments to proof your hypothesis to be true or false.

2.3.5. Conclusion
Finally the conclusion should briefly repeat the relevant elements of your thesis, including
the hypothesis, the most important steps in your research and the results.

2.3.6. Bibliography / List of References

See paragraph 5. Bibliography / References

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 2.3.7. Annexes
Annexes should also be numbered, titled and referred to correctly. Only relevant
information should be included in an annex. Examples are questionnaires, large data
tables, a list with abbreviations, a list with all the tables and figures/graphs, a glossary,
etc. Annexes are not meant to increase the volume of the work; they are not included in
the page count anyway.

3. Documentation

First you need to check the availability of information to see whether you can find enough
sources regarding your topic. Use several sources, do not focus on a few.
The documentation you are looking for is mainly scientific literature. Non-scientific
literature such as newspaper articles and non-scientific periodicals can only be used as a
source of facts or anecdotes, not for scientific arguments. These non-scientific sources
should be referred to in a separate section of the bibliography/references. Start with the
most recent publications on your topic, the references in the most recent articles and
books will create a ‘snowball-effect’.

There are 2 types of economic sources: academic literature and empirical data. Note that
the examples given below are not exhaustive.

3.1. Academic literature

3.1.1. Libraries
e.g. VUB-Library Web site: http://www.vub.ac.be/BIBLIO/index_en.html
- Books
- Journal articles (= periodicals)
- Data bases available through the VUB network (e.g. Econlit, Web of Knowledge, Web
of Science)
- Relevant internet sources

Sometimes you will find the entire article, sometimes only an abstract. The VUB-library
also has paper versions of some periodicals that you can search through the library web
site.
You can order a book or article through the Inter-library Lending at a small cost.
However, books you order through ILL can only be consulted in the library. You can also

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get copies of articles. For more information consult the web site
(http://www.vub.ac.be/BIBLIO/ubwebsite0604_en.html) or go to the library.

3.1.2. Other sources

Also read footnotes, citations and bibliographies as they might lead you to new,
interesting sources.
A summary of the literature in the field can be found in review articles or survey articles.
You can also consult other databases such as the National Bureau of Economic Research
(NBER, http://www.nber.org/), Research Papers in Economics (RePEC), Social Science
Research Network (SSRN), Statistical Universe, Journal storage (JSTOR), Public Affairs
Information Service International (PAIS).
You can also use search engines such as Alta Vista, Google, Google Scholar
(http://scholar.google.com/), … This is an easy way to find information about authors or
to find the official web sites of international institutions such as the World Bank,
European Union, central banks, IMF, Eurostat, etc.

Warning: not all information found on the Internet is reliable!

3.1.3. Document your findings

When you read an article or book, immediately add it to your working bibliography. Write
down all the relevant information: author(s) or editor(s), title, journal, volume, number,
publisher location, publishing date, number of pages. You can find this information on the
first pages in the book.

Take notes about what you have read, important sections, ideas, comments, etc. Make
sure that afterwards you can still tell the difference between a paraphrased section and a
citation!

3.1.4. Classify the literature you have read

Search for common themes in the literature you have read and order them accordingly.
Think about what the main point of the article or book is and about how it relates to the
topic you have chosen. Group authors who have similar and opposing views. Others ways
of grouping the information you have found are alphabetically, chronologically, etc.
whichever classification seems most logical.

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3.2. Empirical data

Your work may contain a statistical, mathematical or econometrical analysis, which you
use to test your hypothesis. You will need to describe your approach, including which
data you used and where you found this information. It is also required to point out the
problems these data pose and what the limitations of your research are.

4. References to sources in the text

Each time you use information you gathered from a certain source (for citations,
paraphrasing, graphs, tables, figures, etc.), you have to refer to it in the text. It is
important to correctly acknowledge your sources. NOT DOING THIS IS PLAGIARISM (=
FRAUD) AND WILL BE PUNISHED.

SEVERAL SYSTEMS EXIST. ASK YOUR SUPERVISOR WHICH SYSTEM HE/SHE PREFERS.

A widely accepted system is the author-year-system. Here the writer refers to a source in
the text by mentioning the name of the author(s) and the year of publication. Based on
this information the reader can look up the source in the bibliography. If possible the
page on which the information can be found in the book or article also has to be
mentioned in the text reference as well so that the reader can search for the information
in the source. Just like with a bibliography it is important TO STICK TO ONE METHOD.

General rule: (name author(s), year of publication, page not compulsory)

Example: (Hart, 1997, p. 70)
or when you want to draw attention to the source and use the name of the author in
the text: According to Hart (1997, p. 70) the …

In-text references for sources from several authors or more sources follow a similar
method:
More than one reference of the same author:
- different year of publication: e.g. (Prahalad, 1998; 2004)
- same year of publication: e.g. (Prahalad, 2004a; 2004b)

A source written by several authors:

- two authors: e.g. (Arnold & Quelch, 1998)
- three authors: e.g. (Bartlett, Ghoshal & Birkinshaw, 2003)
- more than three authors: e.g. (Deschouwer et al., 2003)

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 in the list of references the names of all the authors should appear
“et al.” means “et alias” (Latin for “and others”)
More than one author with the same name:
e.g. (Jones, C., 2006)
(Jones, M., 1986)

More than one reference for the same paragraph:

e.g. (Borison, 2003; Gilbert, 2004)

When you have read about someone’s work in a book or article that is not written by this
other person, you need to look up the original source or refer to the source you have
actually read.
e.g. when you have read about the work of Steven Lydenberg in 1996 in an article
written by Rodger Spiller in 2000 and you want to use this information without
looking up the article Lydenberg wrote himself, you can for example write:
“Lydenberg in Spiller (2000) commented that …”

5. Bibliography/references

Several systems exist to make a bibliography. What matters is that you use a system
that is accepted by your supervisor and you use it consequently (ALWAYS USE THE SAME
SYSTEM!)

5.1. Different kinds of sources

What follows is an example (Punctuation marks are important!). In your bibliography you
do not classify your sources according to books, articles, etc. but you do make a
distinction to scientific (A, B, C) and non-scientific sources (D).

A. Books
NAME AUTHOR(S), First name. Year of publication. Title. Subtitle. City of publication:
Publisher, Collection or series and number (if necessary), Edition (if necessary), number
of pages.
Example:
EASTERLY, William. 2002. The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists’
Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics. Cambridge (Massachusetts): MIT
Press, 342 pp.

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B. Journal articles (scientific!)
NAME AUTHOR(S), First name. Year of publication. “Title of the article.” Name of the
journal Volume (number): first and last page of the article.

Example:
LONDON, Ted & Stuart L. HART. 2004. “Reinventing strategies for emerging markets:
beyond the transnational model.” Journal of International Business Studies 35(5):
350-370

C. Chapters from an edited volume

NAME AUTHOR(S), First name. Year of publication. “Title of the chapter or essay.” In:
NAME EDITOR(S), First name. (ed.) Year of publication. Title of the work. Subtitle. City of
publication: Publisher, Collection or series and number (if necessary), Edition (if
necessary), first and last page of the chapter or essay.

Example:
CLINE, William R. 1992. “The Economic Benefits of Limiting Global Warming.” In:
TIETENBERG, Tom (ed.). 1997. The Economics of Global Warming. Vermont: Edward
Elgar Publishing Company (The international library of critical writings in
economics;74), pp.55-117

D. Newspaper articles (non-scientific)

NAME AUTHOR(S), First name. Year of publication. “Title of the newspaper article.” Name
of the newspaper, Full date

Example:
BALLS, Andrew & Christopher SWANN. 2006. “Bush lays part of blame for US trade
deficit at China’s door.” Financial Times, 14/02/2006.

E. Internet sources
Refer to the source as if it was not on the Internet and add <URL>. Do not forget to
mention the date on which you consulted the Internet source.

Example:
GILBERT, E. 2004. “Investment Basics XLIX. An introduction to real options.”
Investment Analysts Journal 60: 49-52, <http://www.fin24.co.za/register/help/mmx_
school/journals/ journal60_Gilbert.pdf> (consulted on April 25, 2006)

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F. Presentations, speeches, press releases, working papers
A presentation from a conference or a press release can be referred to in a similar way:

Example:
MISHKIN, Frederic S. 2006. “Globalization: A Force for Good?” speech,
Weissman Center Distinguished Lecture Series, Baruch College, New York,
October 12, 2006, <http://www.federalreserve.gov/BoardDocs/speeches/2006/
20061012/default.htm> (consulted on November 14, 2006)

INBEV. 2003. “European Commission gives unconditional clearance to partnership

with Spaten.” press release, 22 December 2003, Web site: <http://www.inbev.com/
press_releases/20031222.1.e.cfm> (consulted on August 9, 2006)

G. Interviews
Mention the name of the person you interviewed, the topic, the date and the duration.

Example:
Interview with Van Miert Karel on the impact of Europe on political parties,
November 20 2003, 2 hours.

5.2. General remarks about the bibliography

If you are using information from a different source than the ones listed above, try to
refer to it in a similar way by providing all the relevant information the readers need to
look the source up them selves.

Some ‘special’ cases:

- unknown author: “XXX” or “s.n.”
- unknown place of publication: “s.l.”
- unknown date of publication: “s.d.”
- when more than one place of publication is mentioned, take the first one

Order the sources alphabetically on author’s name and name of the institution.
If you have more than one work of one author, order them chronologically, starting with
the oldest. If you have several references from the same author published in the same
year, use letters (e.g. 2002a, 2002b, etc.).

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For works from multiple authors, if you have more than one work with the same first
author, order them first on first author, then on second author.

The layout of the reference section could look as follows:

BARTLETT, Christopher, GHOSHAL, Sumantra & Julian BIRKINSHAW. 2003. Transnational
Management: Text, Cases and Readings in Cross-Border Management. Chicago:
Irwin/McCraw-Hill, fourth edition, 864 pp.

PRAHALAD, C.K. & A. HAMMOND. 2002. “Serving the World’s Poor, Profitably.” Harvard
Business Review, 80(9): 48-57.

PRAHALAD, C.K. & S.L. HART. 2002 “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid.”
Strategy+Business, 26: 2-14.
…

There are also other known systems for in-text referencing and bibliographies, such as
the Harvard System of Referencing Guide of which you can find an updated version (from
July 2007) on the following web site:
http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/files/Harvard_referencing.pdf

or the APA Style of which you can find some Guidelines on the following web site of The
Owl at Purdue University:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
For more information on the APA style, you can go to the web site: http://apastyle.apa.org/.

6. Citations

In a citation you copy the writing of another author literally. This is not the same as
paraphrasing; when you paraphrase you do not copy someone else’s writing, but you put
his/her ideas into your own words.

6.1. When to cite an author

- To discuss/criticize this text afterwards;

- to support your own ideas or interpretations;
- when the citation is a specific interpretation from the author.

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Do not use too many citations. It gives the impression of laziness and a lack of ability to
make your own interpretations.

6.2. Rules

- Important is that you make clear who the author is and from which source you quote.
NEVER ATTEMPT TO COPY SOMEONE ELSE’S WORDS LITERALLY, THIS IS PLAGIARISM
AND WILL BE SEVERELY PUNISHED! You need to put the text between quotation
marks and refer to the exact reference page:
Example:
Vandenbroucke (2002, p. 14) urges that “My egalitarianism is based on the
conviction that it is unfair that individuals should be put at a disadvantage by
characteristics or circumstances for which they cannot be held responsible”.
- If possible cite in its original form and language. If the citation is in a foreign
language, a translation to English is obligatory, you can put it in a footnote. If you put
the literal translation in the main text, quotation marks are also mandatory;
- Try to cite from the original publication or the one generally considered being the
best. If you copy a citation from another book, refer to it as for example: Keynes,
J.M., cited in …;

- Citations have to be copied literally. When you decide to use only part of a sentence
or paragraph, indicate with ...]... that you deleted a part. Use squared brackets ([… ])
to add something to the cited text to make it understandable if necessary;
- Use the same symbols when you mark words to accentuate their importance:
Example:
Vandenbroucke (2002, p.14) urges that “My egalitarianism is based on the
conviction that it is unfair [my accentuation] that individuals should be put at a
disadvantage by characteristics or circumstances for which they cannot be held
responsible”.
- Length should be reasonable, sometimes it is better to summarize.
- Use only authoritative sources.
- The content should not be trivial: e.g. According to Dewolf (2003) ‘enlargement will
not be an easy process’ is not really relevant as a quotation
- If you do not comment a citation, you show that you agree with it.

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7. Footnotes

7.1. When to use footnotes

Footnotes can be used for different purposes, such as:

- referring to a different section in the thesis (e.g. See Chapter 2, section 2.1.3);
- including a citation that is interesting but not important enough to include in the main
text;
- a translation of a citation;
- additional information about the author(s) that allows the reader to make a judgment
about the quality and objectivity of the information;
- the full name of an institution/organization: e.g. UNFCCC = United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change. This also makes it much easier for the
reader to judge the quality and objectivity of the source;
- reference to a person who helped you by for example bringing up an idea;
- additional information in general.
FOOTNOTES ARE USUALLY NOT USED FOR REFERENCES!

7.2. How to use footnotes

Both footnotes and endnotes are allowed, but it is easier for the reader to be able to
consult footnotes at the bottom of the page than at the end of the document.
The number of footnotes should be limited.

8. Style of writing

Remember that the readers of your thesis have a significant, economic background, even
in the special field, but are not necessarily specialized in the specific topic of your work.
You should define all key elements.
Write clearly and understandably; omit needless words.
No telegram style, but avoid long sentences with too many ideas and considerations
pushed in one sentence.

When using specific abbreviations, write them in full between brackets the first time you
mention them, also do this in the bibliography. Make an annex with a list of all
abbreviations.

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Each part, chapter, etc. of your thesis should have a (short) introduction and conclusion.
The introduction should mention the link with the previous section and inform the reader
about the content of this section, including its structure. The conclusion is meant to
shortly repeat the important elements. It may seem redundant but it helps the reader to
stay focused on the thread through the thesis.

Use the active voice, avoid the passive tense. Use the same and logical tense in a
paragraph.

Put statements in a positive form.

Clearly indicate your sources! This way if the reader does not understand what you have
written, he/she can look up the original documentation. Never copy information literally
without clearly indicating it is a citation.

Do not forget to number the pages.

Manage your time sensibly. This way after doing your research, organizing your ideas and
writing a draft you will still have time to revise what you have written and polish your
work. Computer programs have a spelling and grammar check, use it to avoid typing
errors and grammatical mistakes.

9. Tables and graphs

Tables and graphs should be numbered, titled and referred to correctly. Make clearly
structured tables and graphs with only the relevant information. Do not try to put too
much information in one graph. Indicate the units (such as currency, etc.) in which terms
the data is expressed. Always mention a table or graph in the text. (E.g. Table 1 shows
…) The text is meant to guide the reader in such a way that his or her attention is
focused on the important data from the table or graph.

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10. Deadlines

December 1 (7pm): Last day to return the documents with your title, signed by your
supervisor, to the secretariat (Andrea Luyckx, building C, room 2C101).
May 15 (7pm): Final day to hand in your thesis in first session.
(the first working day after) August 15 (7pm): Final day to hand in your thesis in
second session.

You need to hand in 3 bound copies of your thesis, each with an abstract (one page;
do not forget to put your name and the title of the thesis on this) at the
secretariat (Andrea Luyckx) where you need to ask for a receipt.

RESPECT THESE DEADLINES AND REQUIREMENTS. LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE

ACCEPTED.

11. Final remarks

These rules are basic rules. Your promoter has a final say on how the papers should be
written. Some professors, such as Prof. Vilrokx, Prof. Hens, and Prof. Plastria (there may
be others as well) use personal guidelines, you will receive them during the meetings.

It is advised to regularly meet with your supervisor (e.g. at least once a month). Do not
hesitate to contact the professors and/or the academic support when you have questions.

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