Recommendations for Preparing a Thesis

1 Recommended Dictionaries

Bilingual

• Duden Oxford: Großwörterbuch Englisch (A/LBS Spra 63.4449)

• Routledge Langenscheidts Fachwörterbuch Wirtschaft, Handel und Finanzen:

englisch-deutsch, deutsch-englisch, (A Spra 367 5403)

Monolingual

• Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English (A Spra 363)

• Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (A/LBS Spra 363)
• Longman Business English Dictionary (LS Spra 367)

Monolingual dictionaries are always suitable and recommendable for finding synonyms and
for the spell check.

English Grammar (or newer editions)

• Longman English Grammer, New York, 1997 (LS Spra 375)

• Heurichs-Kleinen: Englische Grammatik, 2002 (LS Spra 375)

Internet

• http://dict.leo.org/ (highly recommended)

• http://www.quickdic.de/
• http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/
2 Recommended Literature about how to write a Thesis

Books (or newer editions)

• Van Wagenen, R. Keith: Writing Thesis – Substance and Style, 1991

• Glatthorn, Allan A.: Writing the Winning Dissertation – A Step-By-Step Guide, 1998
• Watson, George: Writing Thesis – A Guide to Long Essays and Dissertations, 2002
• Swetnam, Derek: Writing your Dissertation – How to Plan, Prepare and Present
Successful Work, 3rd edition 2000
• White, Brian: Writing MBA Dissertation, 2000
• Harvey, Gordon: Writing with Sources – A Guide for Students, 1998
• Anderson, Jonathan: Assignment & Thesis Writing; 3rd edition, 1998
• Bond, Alan: Writing a Master’s Thesis – How to Plan, Draft, Develop and Publish
your Thesis, 2003
• Paul, Oliver: Writing your Thesis, 2003

Websites:

• http://www.learnerassociates.net/dissthes/
• http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/dec/essay.dissertation.html
• http://final-year-projects.com/
• http://nmsu.edu/~gradcolg/Guidelines/msformat.html
3 Structure of a Graduation Thesis

1 Title page (Mandatory Text and Style: example for a paper and for a master thesis )
2* (Preface / Acknowledgements)
3 (Table of) Contents
4* (List of) Abbreviations
5* (List of) Symbols
6* (List of) Exhibits / Figures
7* (List of) Tables
8 Chapters (: Introductory Chapter, Other Chapters, Summarizing Chapter)
9* Appendices
10 References
11 Declaration (Mandatory Text and Style: example)

* non-mandatory. These parts are only needed in special cases.

4 Common Abbreviations

The following list shows a selection of common English abbreviations applicable within a
thesis, without the need of separate explanation. Other abbreviations have to be introduced
either within footnotes or need to be alphabetically listed after the table of contents.
p. page
pp. pages
ed. editor
eds. editors
ed. edition
i.e. id est that is to say
e.g. exempli gratia for example
ibid. ibidem previously mentioned (especially for the usage within
footnotes)
et al. et alii/alia and others
vol. Volume
 Anon Anonymous
(author)

5 Referencing

For each reference a detailed format with possible elements is given. Thereafter examples for
practical use are listed.

Monograph

Surname, Initials, (can be capitals)

Year of publication.
Title. (can be underlined or italicised)
Volume / edition. (if not the first)
Place of publication:
Publisher.

e.g. Rappaport, A., 1986. Creating Shareholder Value – The New Standard for Business
Performance. New York et al.: The Free Press.

Rappaport, A., Creating Shareholder Value: The New Standard for Business
Performance, New York et al., 1986.

Edited Books

Surname, Initials., (of the contribution)

Year of publication.
Title of contribution.
In:
Surname, Initial., (from the editor)
(ed. / eds.)
Title of Book. (can be underlined or italicised)
Place of publication:
Publisher,
Page numbers of contribution.
e.g. Davis, James R., 1992. Capital Budgeting. In: Keller, Donald E.; Bullock, James;
Shultis, Robert L. (Eds.), Management Accountants’ Handbook, 4th ed., New York et
al.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp.211-229. or:

Davis, J.R. (1992) Capital Budgeting, in: Keller, D.E. et al. (Eds.), Management
Accountant’s Handbook, 4th ed., New York et al., pp. 211-2129. or:

Tallman, S., 2001. Global Strategic Management. The Blackwell Handbook of

Strategic Management, ed. R.E. Freeman and J.S. Harrison, pp.464-490.

Please note that the use of italics in the title (as done with the last reference) must be
made constantly throughout the thesis !

Periodicals

Surname, Initials.,
Year of publication.
Title of article.
Title of periodical, (can be underlined or italicised)
Volume number,
Page number.
e.g. Eccles, R.G., 1991. ‘The Performance Measurement Manifesto’. Harvard Business
Review, vol. 69, pp. 131-137. or:

Eccles, R.G. (1991): The Performance Measurement Manifesto, in: Harvard Business
Review, Vol. 69 (Jan./Feb.), 1991, pp. 131-137. or:

Eccles: The Performance Measurement Manifesto, in: Harvard Business Review,

Jan./Feb. 1991, 131-137.

Internet

Author / editor.
(Year).
Title.
Available from: (URL)
Accessed Date

e.g. FASB (eds.) (2001). Business Reporting Research Project. Available from:
http://www.fasb.org/brrp/index.shtml, 14 January 2004. or:

PricewaterhouseCoopers (Eds.): Competing for capital – Recognizing utilities’ worth,

2002, http://www.pwcglobal.com/competingforcapital/, November 20th 2003. or:

FASB (Eds.) (2001): Business Reporting Research Project, in: (Internet)

http://www.fasb.org/brrp/index.shtml, (January 14, 2004)

Please note that the exact date of accessing the internet must be given!

Harvard System

The Harvard method of quotation avoids the usage of footnotes as the references are inserted
at the appropriate part of the text within brackets.

Surname, Initials.,
Year of publication,
Page number

e.g. (Eccles, p.35) or:

(Eccles 1991: 35) or:

Eccles (1991) concluded that…

6 Usage of AE or BE

You should decide about writing your thesis in American English or British English and
should check before with your professor/advisor. No matter what language you choose, the
use within your paper should be consistent.
7 Handling of direct Quotations

English language quotations are marked with quotation marks in the text. For quotations from
other languages it is recommendable to translate it into English serving a fluently reading.
However, the original quotation should be put in a footnote. Direct quotations should be
scarcely used and limited to special cases ! In case of doubt ask your supervising professor.