MA THESIS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: SOME

GENERAL GUIDELINES

The MA Thesis in IR is conceived to be an original piece of work in which a student is required

to apply basic methodological skills acquired in the IR Research Methods to carry out an
independent scholarly research in any topic of interest to the candidate. Students should aim at
doing an original research that does not infringe any third party intellectual property rights,
making sure that any materials (ideas, views, tables, charts, maps, etc) from other sources are
properly acknowledged.

To be effectively guided in the thesis writing, each student should be assigned a suitable
Supervisor who should be broadly knowledgeable on the subject of inquiry. Assigning of
Supervisors is the responsibility of the IR Program Coordinator but students are also allowed to
use their initiative to approach any faculty they would like to supervise them subject to the
approval of the Coordinator. Every student should ensure that he/she already has a supervisor
prior to the commencement of the Semester when they hope to write their thesis. The thesis
Supervisor only provides scholarly and methodological guide but it is ultimately the
responsibility of the student to produce an acceptable scholarly work. The thesis belongs to the
student and not the Supervisor and likewise the intellectual property rights.

The thesis is a one semester project and students are encouraged to work hard enough to
complete the project within the stipulated period. It is also in the best interest of a student to
complete their thesis and entire study program in record time. The IR Program will provide all
the necessary scholastic and moral support to enable every registered student produce a first class
MA thesis.

A student is allowed to change his/her thesis Supervisor if they feel they are not getting adequate
or desirable supervision. In such a circumstance, the student should first discuss the matter with
his/her supervisor (only if the student feels comfortable to initiate the discussion) or take the
matter directly to the Program Coordinator.

At a Masters degree level, students should aim to write works that are publishable at least in
parts (e.g. as journal articles or chapters in edited books). In publishing any part of the MA thesis,
a student is obligated to duly acknowledge the University, clearly stating that the publication is
developed from his/her MA degree thesis in International Relations at the United Stated
International University in Nairobi, Kenya.

Procedure for submission of theses proposals

A completed thesis proposal has to be submitted to the Program Coordinator with a

signed endorsement Note by the Supervisor. The endorsement Note is the evidence that
the Supervisor has authorised submission of the completed proposal. This proposal
should have the name of the Supervisor on the Title Page.
The Program Coordinator should deliver the submitted thesis to the IR Graduate
Program Committee for quality assurance review. The review process should be
completed within 2 weeks with the evaluation report and submitted proposal returned to
the Students Supervisor by the Program Coordinator. The Supervisor should ensure that
his/her supervisee duly completes any recommended corrections before beginning
his/her research. The Graduate Program Committee reserves the right to insist on a re-

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 submission for further evaluation of any thesis proposal considered to be extremely poor
and below MA standard or whose research area is not within the international relations
research area. In such a circumstance, re-evaluation report should be delivered by the
Committee within one week.
Masters theses proposals should be of 7000-8000 words including the
following thematic headings: statement of problem, objectives of study,
literature review, hypotheses, significance of study, methodology, ethical
considerations in the research, study time plan, and references.
The research proposal will be assessed by the students supervisor and the
final proposal should be decided by the Program Committee.

The thesis writing is guided by the following requirements:

All theses must have 5 chapters, including Introduction and

Conclusion/Recommendations. Each chapter should be appropriately divided into sub-
chapters using suitable titles or headings.
Chapter 1 of the thesis should be generally titled Introduction and has to comprise the
following sub-chapters:

1.1. Statement of Research Problem

1.2. Objectives of Study
1.3. Significance of Study
1.4. Literature Review
1.5. Hypotheses
1.6. Theoretical Framework of Analysis (optional)
1.7. Methodology
1.8. Ethical Considerations for Human Subjects of Research (only for fieldwork oriented
studies).

Three chapters must be devoted to data interpretation & analysis (Chapters 2, 3 & 4).
The 5th chapter should focus on summary of research findings and conclusion.
Recommendations can be part of the last chapter but this is optional.
There should be a comprehensive Bibliography at the end of the thesis.
Referencing format must be APA/Harvard Style, which could be combined with an
Endnote for any inclusive illustrations. How to use APA/Harvard Style: (source is
acknowledged inside the text alongside the quotation with name of author, year of
publication, and page indicated e.g. Smith, 2006, p. 24). In APA/Harvard style,
compilation of all referenced sources is done at the end of the work in alphabetical
sequence starting with authors surname as follows: For a book: authors surname, other
names or initials, title of publication in italics or underlined, place of publication,
publishers, year of publication. For a journal article: authors surname, other names or
initials, title of publication in inverted comas, title of journal - in italics or underlined,
volume/serial number, year of publication, page range of article e.g. pp. 40-64.)
Endnotes can only be used for any additional or complementary illustration, and also for
referencing of primary sources of data collection, such as interviews with respondents.
Endnotes should not be used for referencing of secondary data/information. Endnotes
are optional but if used, they have to be inserted between the Conclusion and
Bibliography.

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In preparing your Bibliography, entry citations are arranged in alphabetical order and the
authors surname comes first as in the format below (the author could be an organization or
institution [e.g. UNDP], not just a human person):
In preparing your Bibliography, entry citations are arranged in alphabetical order and the
authors surname comes first as in the format below (the author could be an organization or
institution [e.g. UNDP], not just a human person):

For Books
Surname Forename, Title of Book (Place of Publication, Publisher, date of publishing).
Example: Omeje, Kenneth, High Stakes and Stakeholders: Oil Conflict and Security in
Nigeria. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006.

For an Authors Chapter in an Edited Book

Surname Forename, Title of chapter, name of book editor, title of Book (Place of Publication,
Publisher, date of publishing), page range of chapter.
Example: Omeje, Kenneth Understanding Conflict Resolution in Africa, in David J. Francis
(ed.) Peace and Conflict in Africa. London: Zed Books, 2008, pp. 68-91.

For Journal article

Surname Forename, Title of Article, Title of Journal, (Volume of journal) Vol. 33, (Serial
Number) No. 59, (Year) 2008, (article page range) pp. 36-48.
Example: Smith, John Ethnic Conflicts in Kenya, Review of African Political Economy, Vol.
33, No. 59, 2008, pp. 36-48.

Total Word Limit for the entire Thesis: 15,000 20,000 words, including Bibliography.
Each student must indicate the total word count of the thesis on the top right hand side of
the Abstract page.
All appendices should come after the bibliography.
The final thesis should be typed double-spacing and with a generous margin. Type-
setting of text should be in Times New Roman on 12 point font. All indentations of lifted
quotes have to be on 10 points font, and a 5cm indented margin on the left and right
hand sides. Further, lifted indentations should be typed in single spacing. Any quote
exceeding two normal [relatively short] sentences should be indented as a lifted quote.
The first draft of every completed thesis must pass through an IR Graduate Program
Committee for quality assurance review before final submission. The quality assurance

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 review will focus on issues of intellectual substance, methodological rigour, use of
English and referencing stylistics. The Graduate Program Committee of 3 to be
constituted by the Coordinator should be headed by a Chair.

The Final Thesis should include:

A title page (comprising Project title, students name, Reg. Number, Department,
University, name of Project Supervisor),
An Abstract of 200 250 words
Dedication (optional)
Table of Content,
List of Tables (if any)
Maps & Graphs (if any),
List of Abbreviations (if any)
List of Appendices (if any)
Acknowledgements (optional) all in the specified order. All these preliminary
inclusions should precede the project chapters 1 5.

The completed thesis is due for submission in Week 10 (first draft) and Weeks 13-14 of
the Semester (final version). Permission can be granted for late submission if there is an
acceptable mitigating circumstance. Part-time students are allowed to extend their thesis
writing beyond one semester, but they should aim to complete it within the second
semester.

Procedure for Submission of Completed Thesis

A completed thesis has to be submitted in two stages. The first stage is submission of 1
draft copy of thesis to the Program Coordinator with a signed endorsement Note by the
Supervisor. The endorsement Note is the evidence that the Supervisor has authorised
submission of the completed work. This first draft should not have the name of the
Supervisor on the Title Page.
The Program Coordinator should deliver the submitted thesis to the IR Graduate
Program Committee for quality assurance review. The review process should be
completed within 2 weeks with the evaluation report and submitted draft manuscript
returned to the Students Supervisor by the Program Coordinator. The Supervisor should
ensure that his/her supervisee duly completes any recommended corrections before
submission of the final thesis. The Graduate Program Committee reserves the right to
insist on a re-submission for further evaluation of any thesis considered to be extremely
poor and below MA standard (i.e. below the required pass mark of 80% or B). In such a
circumstance, re-evaluation report should be delivered by the Committee within one
week.
The second stage is the submission of the final thesis to the Dean through the IR
Program Coordinator. The final submission must include the name of the Supervisor. All
reviewed and approved completed thesis must be bound in hard black cover and
submitted in soft copy and hard triplicate (3 copies). Spiral binding is only allowed for
the first draft submitted for quality assurance review.