Dissertation Manual

School of Finance

Shanghai University of Finance & Economics

TABLE OF CONTENT

Introduction

Preparing Your Dissertation

Organization of the Dissertation

Cover Page

Overall Appearance

Organization of the Dissertation

Preliminary Pages

Main Text

Appendices (optional)

Bibliography

Index (optional)

Margins

Line spacing

Font

Page numbers

Title Page

Abstract

Sample of Table of Contents

Printing

Copyright Notice

Footnotes/Endnotes

Figures/Tables/Equations

Bibliography

Depositing Your Dissertation

Introduction

This manual provides style instructions for master and doctor students in the School of Finance. Follow these instructions carefully and, should further questions arise, consult the Graduate Students office (RM 103,YuxiuBuilding,Phone: 021-65908377).

Preparing Your Dissertation

Cover Page: You may get 15-20 cover pages for free from the print house behind RedTileBuilding.Please bring your student card with you when you go there. Cover pages for masterstudents are green and those fordoctor studentsare blue.

Overall Appearance: The dissertation must be clear and legible, free of errors, and attractive in appearance. All pages must be printed on one side of the paper only.

Organization of the Dissertation: The dissertationmust be organizedas follows:

Preliminary Pages, in the following order:

Title Page

Copyright Notice (optional)

Dedication (optional)

Acknowledgment (optional)

Abstract (English & Chinese Version)

Table of Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

Preface (optional)

Main Text

Appendices (optional)

Bibliography

Index (optional)

Margins:

Left and right margins: 3.2cm

Top and bottom margins: 3.8cm

All text footnotes must be inside these boundaries. The header and footer are set to be 3.0 cm from the edges.

Line spacing: For the sake of readability, it is recommended that the text of the dissertation be double-spaced (except for footnotes, long quoted passages, and lists of tables and figures, which are single-spaced). If desired, authors may choose to single space their dissertations

.

Font: For readability, use Arial (12pt), Georgia (11pt), or Times New Roman (12 pt). For footnotes, citations, figures, and tables, a font of 8 ptor larger may be used. Italics may be used for quotations, words in a foreign language, occasional emphasis, or book titles. Headings may be larger.

Use of Bold, Underlining and Paragraph Indentation: Spare use of these formatting features is permitted, in order to enhance the readability of the dissertation.

Page numbers: Every page in the dissertation has a number, except for the Title Page and the copyright page.

For the preliminary pages – dedication (optional), acknowledgements (optional), abstract, table of contents, list of tables, graphs, illustrations and preface (optional) –use small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, v, ...). Page numbersmay be placed either at the top or the bottom of the page. The title page is counted as page i, and the copyright page (if there is one) as page ii, but do not print the page numbers on either of these two pages (e.g., in a dissertation with a copyright notice, the first numbered page is iii; in a dissertation without a copyright notice, the first numbered page is ii).

For the main text, use Arabic numerals(1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ...) starting with 1 on the first page of the main text. Page numbers may be placed either at the top or the bottom of the page. If you use footnotes, it is recommended that you print page numbers at the page top. Do not print page numbers, footnotes, or anything else in the margins. Pages in the main text must be consecutively numbered, including tables, graphs, illustrations, bibliography and index (if index is included); letter suffixes (such as 10a, 10b) are not allowed.

Check page numberscarefully. Do not include blank pages.

Title Page: The Title Page must contain the TITLE of the dissertation (in upper case); the author's full legal name, hometown and country, and previousdegree(s);name of the university where the degree is granted;year of graduation; year the degree is granted; supervisor’s name and title(including his/her department affiliation), and what degree is to be granted.

The title page is understood as page “i” for counting purposes, but no page number should be printed on the title page.

See sample Title pages on the pages that follow.

Sample Title Page:

Title of Thesis or Dissertation

Full Legal Name
Hometown and Country
Previous degree(s), Name of University, Year of Graduation
A Dissertation (or Thesis)
in
International Finance
presented to the Graduate Faculty
of the ShanghaiUniversity of Finance & Economics
in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree ofDoctor\ Master of Economics
2011
Supervisor of Dissertation
Typed Name Title (e.g. Richard Poor, Associate Professor, History)
School of Finance
Shanghai University of Finance & Economics

Abstract: The Abstract is a summary of the dissertation that shouldnot exceed 350words. All words count towards the total. The abstract, which is typicallya singleparagraph, consists of four parts: the statement of the problem; the procedure andmethods used to investigate the problem; the results of the investigation; and theconclusions. The abstract contains the part of key words which should be placed below the main body of the abstract.

The abstract is double-spaced. Below the word "ABSTRACT" (in upper case), list the title of the dissertation (in upper case) and your name.

See the following sample abstract.

ABSTRACT
PRACTICAL ADVICE: THE EFFECT OF "POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC”
ON DOMESTIC LIFE IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES
Author's Name
The Abstract is a summary of the dissertation that does not exceed 350 words. All words count towards the total. The abstract, which is normally a single paragraph, consists of four parts: the statement of the problem; the procedure and methods used to investigate the problem; the results of the investigation; and the conclusions. The abstract contains the part of key words which should be placed after the main body of the abstract.
Key words: word,word, word

Students who write their dissertations in English should provide a Chinese version of the abstract according the following instructions.

Content / Chinese Abstract
Title / Black font,18 pt in boldface type;centered on the page; single-spaced;24 pt before the paragraph,18 pt after theparagraph
Paragraph / Song Font,12 pt; 20pt between paragraphs; zero pt before and after the paragraph
Key words / “Key words” in boldface type; 2 spaces between key words

Sample of Table of Contents:For readability, it should be clear in the sequence of chapters and sections in the same chapter as well.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.3.1 *********
1.3.2*********
CHAPTER TWO &
2.1
2.2
2.3

Printing: The dissertation should be printed single-sided on acid-free white paper(A4(210mm×297mm))

Copyright Notice: The dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a degree is the property of the University. However, the author of the dissertation owns and retains the copyright ofthe dissertation, without anyfurther formal registration. If you choose to include a copyright notice in your dissertation, place it on a separate page immediately following the Title Page. Display the title of the dissertation, then the word “COPYRIGHT” (or symbol ©), the year of first publication, and your name. (See the sample below.) Do not print a page number on this page; it is understood as page "ii" for counting purposes.

Sample: Copyright page

TITLE
COPYRIGHT
Year of Convocation
Author's Full Legal Name

Footnotes/Endnotes: Notes can appear as footnotes below the text on a page, or as endnotes at the end of each chapter. Footnotes at the bottom of a page should be numbered consecutivelythroughout the dissertation. Endnotes are consecutively numbered within each chapter (i.e., the first note of each chapter will always be numbered “1”). A footnote must starton the same page as the text to which it refers, but it may continue on the following page if necessary. Nothing may appear in the margin area.Footnotes/endnotes are numbered in Arabic superscripts.

Figures/Tables/Equations:

Figures: Figures should be selective and self-explanatory, and are not mere repetitions of tables or text in the dissertation. Figures should be visually clear with well-proportioned coordinates. Different lines or curves on the same figure should be indicated with different symbols. Figures generally follow their corresponding text in the dissertation. All concepts, terminology, dimensions, equations, and symbols that appear in the figure must be consistent with those in the text. Figures are numbered in Arabic numerals according to the chapters they belong to. For example, the number of the second figure in Chapter 3 is “Figure 3.2”. The title of the figure should be concise. The number and the title of the figure should be separated by one space, centered on the page and blow the figure, in Times New Roman font with 10.5 pt, single-spaced with 6 pt before and 6 pt after.

Tables:Tables generally follow their corresponding text in the dissertation. All concepts, terminology, dimensions, equations, and symbols that appear in the table must be consistent with those in the text.Tables are numbered in Arabic numerals according to the chapters they belong to. For example, the number of the first table in Chapter 3 is “Table 3.1”. The title of the table should be concise. The number and the title of the table should be separated by one space, centered on the page and above the table, in Times New Roman font with 10.5 pt, single-spaced with 6 pt before and 6 pt after.

Equations:Equations in the text are indented on a separate line with the number of the equation right-justified. All equations should be numbered consecutively throughout the dissertationin Arabic numerals as (1), (2), etc.

Tt = bbt?1 + 0Z Zt + t (1)

Bibliography: The reference list is in alphabetical order by author, and multiple works by the same author are in chronological order. In the bibliography, there are no quotation marks, no underlines, and no italics.Only the first word of an article title is capitalized. Book and journal titles take normal initial capitals..A standard reference is formatted as follows:

Jensen, M., 1986. Agency costs of free cash flow, corporate finance, and takeovers. American Economic Review 76, 323-329.

Depositing Your Dissertation

Master candidates: 8 copies of your final-version dissertation with your supervisor’s and your signaturesshould be handed in to the Teaching Office of the FinanceSchool (RM103,YuxiuBuilding) for the final defense and deposit in the library.

PhD candidates: 10 copies of your final-version dissertationwith your supervisor’s and your signatures should be handed in to the Teaching Office of the FinanceSchool for the final defense and deposit in the library.