GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING PROGRESS REPORT

OF THE FINAL YEAR PROJECT

prepared by

The Special Committee on Improvement of Guidelines on

Writing Proposal/Report for STF3013 and STF3015

Faculty of Resource Science and Technology

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
March 2014

1 | Progress Report
 INTRODUCTION

The Final Year Project I (STF 3013) constitutes the proposal and preliminary progress parts of the
Final Year Project. The concept of the progress report is to provide a brief description and
discussion the progress of the project as at the end of the first semester. In other words, it is
status report on the preliminary progress of the study. Since the marks allocated for the
progress report is only 10% (10 out of 100) of the total evaluation marks for STF 3013 course, this
document should not be a lengthy report.

The progress report can include a description of the sampling work done, data collected, basic
laboratory studies carried out and preliminary implication(s) or discussion of the progress. In
cases where experimental results have not been obtained, the report should provide a description
of any outcomes derived from the project activities, such as new findings/reports by others that
may change the course/direction of the proposed study.

CONTENT OF THE PROGRESS REPORT

The Progress Report should contain the following items:

1. Title and Front Cover

2. Table of Content
3. List of Tables
4. List of Figures
5. List of Abbreviations
6. Introduction
7. Literature Review
8. Materials and Methods
9. Current Status
10. References

Table of Content
All sections and their sub-sections (hence, the headings and sub-headings) should be listed
appropriately with their associated page numbers. Roman numerical (i, ii, and iii) is to be used for
page numbers starting from Title and Front Cover, Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Figures,
and List of Abbreviations. Arabic numerical (1, 2, and 3) is for subsequent pages, beginning from the
Introduction, until the end. Please refer to Appendix A for format of the Title and Front Cover, and
and Appendix B for the Table of Content.

Details of each sections and their allocated evaluation marks (in percentage) are as follows:

Introduction (10%)
This section provides an overview of the progress report, and should contain an outline of the
research question(s), hypothesis, objectives and methodology employed. Key preliminary
results (if available) and their main implication(s) can be included. In cases where
experimental results are not available, statements on any outcomes derived from any activities
pertaining to the study can be provided. The number of words should be between 500-600. This
section does not require any sub-sectioning. All referencing and citation styles should follow the
instructions as specified in the Guidelines for Preparing Final Year Project Proposal.

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Literature Review (20%)
This section is devoted to reviewing latest literatures related to the studies. Students are
advised to give greater emphasis on the latest findings or information from latest publications that
were not available or provided in the proposal. Direct adaptation of the content from the proposal
document without any improvement is discouraged and will affect the marks obtained for this
section. Whenever and wherever necessary, sub-sections can be used. All statements and
quotations taken/adapted from literature must have proper citation of the source.

Materials and Methods (20%)

This section should provide a comprehensive description of the materials and methods carried out
so far, hence it should be written using past tenses and in passive voice. It should not contain
description of materials and methods for future work. Sub-sections can be used whenever
necessary. Flow-chart of the experimental process carried out can also be included if it is helpful to
the explanation of the methodology employed.

Current Status (40%)

Since the highest marks are allocated for this section, the students and their supervisors must pay
special attention to the preparation of this section. This section should provide comprehensive
descriptions of experimental setup carried out, the verification methods employed, and the results
of the trial experimentation. It is also important for students to include discussion on the
implications of preliminary findings and how these are relevant or linked to forthcoming work (or
action plans). Sub-sections can be used wherever and whenever necessary.

Tables and figures that can support and provide readers with a better understanding of the
explanation can be included, and should be positioned in the main text using ‘insertion’ or
‘paste’. Tables and figures that contain detailed data or extensive amount of raw data should not
be included.

References (10%)
All references cited in the text should be recorded. Statements or methods by previous
researchers whose authenticity have been acknowledged must be cited. All referencing and
citation styles should follow the instructions specified in the Guidelines for Preparing Final
Year Project Proposal.

There is no limit on the number of references used, but web-based (internet/online)

information sources should not exceed 5% of total references used. If internet information is
used, it must be from valid sources (eg. government agencies, and accredited academic and
research institutions); must include the retrieval date and URL address; and a hardcopy of the first
page to the webpage should be attached as appendix. Online articles from refereed journals
(usually also available in printed version) is considered as valid literature/report source and
should be listed according to normal journal paper format.

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FORMAT OF THE FINAL YEAR PROJECT PROGRESS REPORT

1. Language: The proposal should be written in English.

2. Margin (A4 size papers: 80 gram) for all pages:

 top, bottom, and right margins should be 25 mm wide
 left margin should be 30 mm wide

3. Line spacing should be double (except for Title and Summary pages). This applies also to
footnotes, lengthy quotations, appendices, and headings and sub-headings. However, legends and
captions for Tables and Figures, and list of references should be single spacing.

4. The font type and size for the main body of text should be Times New Roman, size 12. Headings
and sub-headings should be highlighted in bold. Headings should also be in Title format (with
lower case for conjunctions). Students are advised not to use the chapter system, but should
adhere to the section and sub-section system.

5. Tables and Figures are only allowed if they support and aid readers in the understanding of the
proposal. They should not contain detailed data or extensive amount of raw data, because such
table and figures should be included as Appendices. All tables and figures provided should be
referred to in the main body of text of the relevant sections (or sub-sections). Captions for all
tables should be written at the top o the table, while for figures the captions should be written at
the bottom of the figure. The caption should be brief but sufficiently informative to reflect the
content. The font type and size for legends and captions of tables and figures should be Times
New Roman, size 10 at single spacing. If the tables and figures are taken or adapted from other
works, the appropriate sources should be cited.

6. All text should be in full alignment (justified alignment).

7. Each proposal document should be between 10-12 pages (excluding the Appendices). Page
numbers should be printed 25 mm from the bottom edge and placed in the centre.

8. Hardcopies of the proposal should be printed using laser printer.

SUBMISSION AND EVALUATION OF PROGRESS REPORT

The proposal document should be typed using MS word format. One (1) hard copy of the progress
report should be submitted to the Supervisor by the 14th week of the first semester. The progress
report shall be evaluated only by the Supervisor.

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Appendix A: Example of the Title and Front Cover

Title of Final Year Project Proposal

(Times New Roman, Bold 12, Centre, Title Format - with lower case for conjunctions)

Student’s Name
(Times New Roman, Bold 12, Centre)

A project proposal submitted in partial fulfilment of the

Final Year Project 1 (STF 3012) course
(Times New Roman, Normal 12, Centre)

Supervisor: Name of supervisor

(Times New Roman, Bold 12, Centre)

Name of Programme
Name of Department
(Times New Roman, Normal 9, Centre)

Faculty of Resource Science and Technology

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Date (dd/mm/yy)
(Times New Roman, Normal 9, Centre)

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Appendix B: Example of the Table of Content

Table of Content

Title & Front Cover i

Table of Contents ii

List of Tables iii

List of Figures iv

List of Abbreviations v

Summary 1

Introduction 2

Literature Review 4
Heading 1 4
Sub-heading 1 4
Sub-heading 2 6
Heading 2 8
Sub-heading 1 8
Sub-heading 2 11
Heading 3 13
Sub-heading 1 13
Sub-heading 2 16

Materials and Method 18

Heading 1 18
Sub-heading 1 18
Heading 2 21
Sub-heading 1 23
Sub-heading 2 25
Heading 3 27
Sub-heading 1 27
Sub-heading 2 28
Sub-heading 3 29

Expected Outcomes 30

Work Schedule 31

References 32

Appendices 38

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