Student Handbook 2023/24

Introduction

The dissertation provides an opportunity to undertake in-depth research on a legal topic of your choice.  This will contribute to the development of a wide range of transferable skills such as writing, research and project management skills.  Producing a clearly structured and well written piece of work can be highly rewarding from an academic and a personal perspective, and demonstrating the ability to do so is important professionally, for both future practitioners and academics

There is no pre-set formula for writing a dissertation.  These guidelines provide some information on the standard expected and general advice on how to plan and write your dissertation.

Part-time students should note that while you are not expected to write your dissertation until your second year, it is your responsibility to ensure that you are aware of the relevant deadlines, as announced at the beginning of the year.

Choosing a Topic

We encourage you to start thinking about your dissertation early in your first term.  The primary questions to address in choosing a topic are: ‘What question really interests me?’ and ‘Does it provide sufficient scope for a dissertation?’  In general, you should explore a legal question which you find interesting, important or puzzling, and one which you feel you have the knowledge and understanding, or can acquire the knowledge and understanding, to tackle well.

The dissertation topic must be within your specialism but is otherwise up to you.

Selecting Modules That Support Your Dissertation

We strongly recommend that you select a taught module in an area that directly relates to your proposed dissertation topic.  This will support your dissertation research and expose you to legal issues related to your proposed topic.

Topic Overlap with Taught Modules

Your dissertation cannot substantially discuss or explore a topic which is covered extensively in any taught module, whether or not you have taken or will take the module.  This is not usually a problem, as generally speaking the dissertation covers a topic in much greater depth than it would be in a module.  However, if you think your topic may overlap significantly with a taught module, please discuss this with the module convenor.

Topic Overlap with Dissertations

You may find that you have a similar idea for your dissertation topic to one of your fellow students.  This is not a problem.  However, you may not work with or borrow material of any kind from any other student.  Please familiarise yourself fully with Queen Mary’s plagiarism policy.

Dissertation Title and Proposal Submission and Plagiarism Statement

Once you have chosen your topic you will need to decide on your dissertation title and prepare a 200-word topic proposal outlining your dissertation area and research plans. You will need to complete a form and submit it via the QMplus Postgraduate Dissertation Support Noticeboard by the deadline.  No extensions will be granted.

By submitting, you are confirming that you have read and understand the regulations regarding plagiarism.  The plagiarism statement will also be viewable at the point of submission.

Please note that the submission provides us with the information necessary to allocate a supervisor.  The more detailed the information, the more likely we are to be able to allocate a suitable supervisor.

Please keep a copy of your proposal as you will need it when contacting your supervisor.

Changes to Title and/or Topic Area

It is quite normal to amend the focus and title of the dissertation as your research progresses.  You should discuss any such changes with your supervisor.  Please note that it will not be possible to allocate a new supervisor, even if he or she is not an expert in the new area.  Also, major changes in research focus may mean that time is spent on work that is not ultimately included in the dissertation.

Plagiarism

‘Queen Mary defines “plagiarism” as presenting someone else’s work as your own, irrespective of intention.  Close paraphrasing; copying from the work of another person, including another student; using the ideas of another person without proper acknowledgement; and repeating work that you have previously submitted – at Queen Mary or at another institution – without properly referencing yourself (known as “self-plagiarism”) also constitute plagiarism.’

Academic Misconduct Policy, https://arcs.qmul.ac.uk/media/arcs/policyzone/academic/Academic-Misconduct-Policy-(2022-23).pdf , paragraph 6.

Plagiarism is a serious offence and all students suspected of plagiarism will be subject to investigation. For students found guilty of plagiarism, the possible penalties include a formal reprimand, failing the module, the module mark being capped at the minimum pass mark, suspension from the programme or expulsion from Queen Mary.  For further information, see Queen Mary’s Academic Misconduct Policy at http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/assessment-offences.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand plagiarism and how to avoid it.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Most cases of plagiarism are inadvertent; ie they were not intended to plagiarism.  However, intent does not matter; inadvertent plagiarism is still plagiarism.  Fortunately, it is quite easy to avoid inadvertent plagiarism – ensure that all works used are referenced appropriately in the dissertation.  Proper citation not only avoids plagiarism, it demonstrates that you have done the necessary research, provides the reader with the opportunity to check your sources and fulfils your obligation to give credit to the original source.

Be sure to record your sources when taking notes, and to cite these if you use ideas or, especially, quotations from the original source.  Be particularly careful if you are cutting and pasting information between documents, and ensure that references are not lost in the process.

Direct quotations for the published or unpublished work of another must always be clearly identified as such by being placed inside quotation marks, and a full reference to their source must be provided in the proper form.  Paraphrased ideas of others must also be credited properly.

Examples of external sources which must be referenced to avoid plagiarism include:

• direct quotations;
• arguments or conclusions from other authors which you have summarised or paraphrased;
• extracts from external sources which you have reproduced or adapted anywhere in the dissertation (in appendices as well as the main body of the work);
• images or graphical depictions which you have reproduced or adapted anywhere in the dissertation (in appendices as well as the main body of the work); and
• ideas which you have presented in an earlier work.

As a general rule, if you have discussed or referred to an idea, conclusion, quote or piece of data which is not original to your dissertation, even if it is your own idea, conclusion, quotation or item of data from another work, it should be referenced.

Be sensible in referencing commonly known facts; these do not generally require acknowledgment to particular sources.

Support

Since the dissertation is such an important component of your programme, we have designed several support mechanisms to assist you.  These include:

• the dissertation guidance in the Postgraduate Taught Programmes Handbook
• Dissertation Overview Sessions
• Dissertation Research Sessions
• Your supervisor
• Postgraduate Law Tutors
• Taught Programmes Dissertations Director
• Critical Thinking and Writing in Law Programme

Dissertation Overview Sessions

Led by the Taught Programmes Dissertations Director, these sessions will give you a solid grounding in how the dissertation process works, including selecting a topic, the support mechanisms in place, plagiarism and other issues.  They are generally held in October for students beginning in September and in February for students beginning in January.  Attendance is mandatory for all students writing a dissertation.

More information on these sessions will be posted on the QMplus Postgraduate Dissertation Support Noticeboard and emailed to you.

Dissertation Research Sessions

Writing a dissertation can be a confusing, difficult task, especially if you have not written one before and do not know where to begin.  As you begin to explore possible legal questions, it is important to have some guidance.  To assist you, specialisms with mandatory dissertations have sessions that will give you the opportunity to discuss possible topics and ask questions of academic staff in the area of law that interests you.  This should assist you in finalising your dissertation topic.

More information on these sessions will be posted on the QMplus Postgraduate Dissertation Support Noticeboard and emailed to you.

Your Supervisor

The function of the supervisor is to discuss with you the structure of your dissertation and provide guidance on legal research and writing.

You are reminded that a dissertation is an assessment completed by a written submission.  Consequently, the work is to be done by the student and the expectation that the supervisor will edit, provide detailed feedback and/or assist in basic research is not consistent with the expectations of the dissertation.

Dissertation supervisors will be allocated after the Dissertation Title and Proposal Form has been submitted.  The form is crucial as it provides us with the necessary information to allocate an appropriate supervisor.  We attempt to match students to a supervisor who is familiar with the research topic, but this cannot be guaranteed and should therefore not be relied upon.

You will be notified of your allocated supervisor by email or through QMplus.  It is your responsibility to contact your supervisor and arrange the initial and subsequent meetings.  When you first make contact with your supervisor, you should include the dissertation title, proposal, a suggested outline and a suggested work schedule.  It is also your responsibility to ensure that you schedule all supervision meetings in good time and plan your time appropriately to be able to make best use of the feedback and guidance offered by your supervisor.

You are entitled to meet your supervisor three times to discuss your dissertation.  Typically, you would expect to meet once at the outset to discuss how your dissertation is to be structured, once for an update and review and once on completion of an advanced draft of the dissertation.  Generally speaking, the first two meetings should occur in your second term and the third meeting should occur early enough before the submission deadline to allow you to incorporate any suggestions.  Note that some supervisors prefer to hold a group meeting (ie for all students under their supervision) for the initial meeting.  You should arrange supervisor visits in advance, in particular any meeting after the end of teaching.

If you have difficulty contacting your supervisor, please inform the PG Law Office at the earliest opportunity.

Postgraduate Law Tutors

You can also receive individual assistance on academic matters from the Postgraduate Law Tutors.  The tutors can offer support and advice on many areas of dissertation writing and can also advise on:

• study skills;
• exam techniques;
• dealing with essay and exam questions; and
• course essays.

You can schedule an appointment or ask a question by emailing them at pglaw-tutors@qmul.ac.uk

Taught Programmes Dissertations Director

The Taught Programmes Dissertations Director is the academic lead for the postgraduate law dissertation programmes.  In normal circumstances, the previously mentioned support mechanisms should allow you to resolve any problems or issues you may have.  However, in some cases, the Postgraduate Law Tutors or your supervisor may refer you to the Taught Programmes Dissertations Director if, for example, they feel the Taught Programmes Dissertations Director is best able to advise you on a complex issue or on an issue outside of their areas of expertise.  Similarly, if you have an issue with your supervisor that you wish to discuss in confidence, it may be appropriate to make contact with the Taught Programmes Dissertations Director and ask for advice or guidance.  If you wish to raise an issue, please first email the PG Law Office: pglaw-support@qmul.ac.uk so that it can be forwarded as appropriate.