Thesis/Dissertation Guidelines
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor Selection must satisfy the following requirements:
- Nominated thesis/dissertation advisor must be from the Student’s Academic Department.
- He should be eligible to be in a thesis/dissertation committee, i.e., Associate Professor or higher rank for PhD dissertations and Assistant Professor or higher for MSc theses.
- Student must take the verbal approval from the nominated thesis/dissertation advisor and department Chairman prior to submitting his thesis advisor selection request.
- MS students must select thesis advisor by mid of the second semester from enrolment.
- PhD students must select thesis advisor by mid of the 3rd semester from enrolment.
- Thesis/Dissertation Advisor Selection online through “Academics” tab in Petitions & Requests
The Master’s Thesis Committee must fulfil the following requirements:
- It must comprise an odd number of members, chaired by the thesis advisor.
- It must comprise of at least three members (including advisor and if any, co-advisor). The advisor and co-advisor (if any) should not constitute a majority in the Committee.
- The Committee members should meet the conditions of the thesis supervision. Any Assistant Professor must have at least 02 ISI refereed journal publications. Outside-of-KFUPM members in the committee should have strong research records.
- At least one member of the Committee must be a Professor or an Associate Professor.
- Decisions of the Committee should be based on a majority vote of at least two thirds of the total number of members.
- Majority of Committee members should not have official position in RI (both MS & PhD). Also in case of out-of-kingdom members, the committee must be comprised of 5 members at least (MS) only.
- The committee must comprise of at least five (05) members (including advisor and if any, co-advisor).
- The Committee members must be of Professor or Associate Professor.
- At least one member of the Committee must be of a Professorial rank.
- One member of the Committee must be from outside the University.
- Decisions of the Committee should be based on a majority vote of at least two thirds of the total number of members
A thesis/dissertation is a requirement for all Master of Science (M. Sc.) or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.) students regardless of the area of specialization. It is considered as a primary evidence of the student’s capacity for research, independent thought and of his ability to write professionally in the language of instruction.
stated below prior to submission of his thesis/dissertation proposal.
- The Admission Status of the student is “Regular”: This means that a student must fulfil all the requirements for provisional admission such as submission of acceptable TOEFL/GRE scores, etc.
- The Degree Plan is approved: Every graduate student is required to submit his degree plan within the first semester of his admission to the graduate program.
- 75% of the required coursework for the degree is completed for MS (all coursework for PhD): According to the regulations, an MS student must have completed 75% of the coursework at the time of submission of thesis/dissertation Proposal.
- Thesis course is registered for in the semester the proposal is submitted.
- Seminar course is passed or registered in the semester the proposal is submitted: (a) All master-level students are required to pass the seminar course (XXX-599). (b) All doctoral-level students are required to pass the comprehensive exam as part of the seminar course (XXX-699).
- For PhD students only: the comprehensive examination should be passed.
- PT PhD student one-year FT residency period: Part-Time PhD student must have started the one-year Full-time residency period as approved by Dean of Graduate Studies.
- Thesis/Dissertation committee is formed according to the regulations: The detailed guide to form thesis/dissertation committee can be found at (https://gs.test.kfupm.edu.sa/academics/unified-regulations)
- Resume of any Assistant Professors, non-Faculty members and/or any external members (out of KFUPM) are to be submitted with the refereed journal publications highlighted.
Submission of the thesis/dissertation proposal is carried out as follows:
The following are pre-requisites before commence the thesis/dissertation proposal submission:
- Advisor Selection: Thesis/Dissertation Advisor Selection is done online through “Academics” tab in Petitions & Requests
- Preparing thesis/dissertation proposal: It must be written in a professional manner fulfilling all the requirements of a technical document such as cover/title page, abstract, table of contents, list of tables, list of figures, introduction and/or background, literature survey, systems model, proposed research, preliminary results (if available), expected outcomes, research methodology, bibliography, etc.
- Curriculum Vitae of any Assistant Professor, Non-Faculty KFUPM Employees and Non-KFUPM Faculty/Professional, whose names are listed in the thesis/dissertation committee. The CVs should include the professional experience, educational history and have the respective committee member’s refereed ISI journal publications highlighted clearly.
- Thesis/Dissertation Proposal Submission. The submission is online, “Academics” tab in Petitions & Requests.
- The online submission of thesis/dissertation proposal is forwarded to the respective department Chairman. The Department Chairman then forwards the proposal to the respective College Dean once the Department Council approves it. Once the College Council approves the submitted proposal, the College Dean forwards it to the Deanship of Graduate Studies for final approval.
At the College of Graduate & Interdisciplinary Studies, the Academic & Auditing Office checks the submitted thesis/dissertation proposals and conditions. The proposal is officially approved once all the requirements are satisfied. It takes at least a working week for the thesis/dissertation proposal to be approved if all the requirements are fulfilled and there is no Non-Faculty KFUPM Employees or Non-KFUPM Faculty/Professionals in the committee. If there are, the proposal is to be approved by the Graduate Council, which takes at least a working month. Please see Figure 1 for the graphical illustration of the whole procedure.
For all students enrolled in thesis-based degree programs, it is required that they successfully defend their thesis/dissertation work publicly. Since the Oral Defense is meant to be a public event, students are not entitled to defend during:
i. Registration period (usually the first week of every semester).
ii. Summer semester.
iii. Final examination period.
iv. Official breaks.
To schedule for a public defense, a student is required to secure a formal approval from the College of Graduate & Interdisciplinary Studies after his Department and thesis/dissertation committee’s approval. The request for oral defense must be submitted to the DGS at least two working weeks prior to the defense date. To allow for the committee review of the thesis/dissertation, the student must submit his thesis/dissertation to his committee members at least two weeks prior to the planned public oral defense date.
The following is the checklist, to be satisfied by the student before the submission of the request for Public Oral Defense:
- The admission status of the student is regular.
- Degree plan is approved.
- Thesis Proposal is approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies; for MS thesis at least one semester prior to the planned public oral defense date with at least four-month period separation. For PhD dissertations, at least two semesters prior to the planned public oral defense with at least nine month period of separation.
- All course work is completed with a GPA of at least 3.00 out of 4.00, including the Seminar course is passed.
- The student is registered for thesis/dissertation course (XXX-610 or XXX-710/712) in the term of public oral defense.
- The final thesis/ dissertation draft along with its screened for plagiarism (max of 15% similarity index is acceptable) are completed.
- The venue of public oral defense is reserved for the duration of defense through the Registrar Office.
Upon meeting the above stated requirements, students are required to submit a request for public oral defense online through “Academics" tab in Petitions & Requests. The Online request must reach the Dean of Graduate Studies, at least two working weeks prior to the planned defense date; for his approval and announcement to public.
Upon approval, the student, thesis/dissertation advisor and Department are notified with the “Oral Defense Announcement” via email. Figure 2 elaborates this process.
After the successful defense of the thesis/dissertation, a student is required to submit the write-up of his thesis/dissertation to the Deanship of Graduate Studies after getting the thesis/dissertation committee’s approval. This write-up is reviewed and if there are any corrections required, it is returned to the student for the needful action before the approval of the Dean of Graduate Studies. Once all the corrections are done (if any), the final thesis/dissertation is approved/signed by the Dean of Graduate Studies and returned to the student so that he can make required copies and submit to the department and DGS after the binding. How this is done, is defined below:
- The thesis/dissertation write-up along with a green cover page and the signature page are to be submitted to the Deanship of Graduate Studies. The green cover page can be acquired from the Deanship of Graduate Studies and should be printed with details of thesis/dissertation. The signature page (a template is provided in the Appendix) should be prepared by the student, and duly signed by thesis/dissertation Committee and the Department Chairman.
- The submitted thesis/dissertation write-up will be reviewed by the Deanship of Graduate Studies for pagination, margins, diction, etc. If any corrections are required, the write-up is returned to the student for the needful action and he is asked to resubmit for final review and subsequently, the approval of the Dean of Graduate Studies.
- After the approval of thesis/dissertation write-up, the student is required to produce the copies of the final thesis/dissertation (as approved; including the green cover page and stamped approval page, both scanned in color) and arrange for the binding. Following are the required number of thesis copies: a. (03) Bound Copies and (02) CDs containing the PDF file of the thesis/dissertation (as approved), including the green cover page (scanned in color), stamped signature page (scanned in color), are to be submitted to the Deanship of Graduate Studies, to be submitted to the KFUPM Library. b. (01) Bound Copy is to be submitted to the Department (unless it is waived by the department). c. One Copy is to be submitted to the advisor (unless it is waived by the advisor). d. Optional hard Copies to the Thesis/Dissertation Committee members (in case required by them individually) e. Softcopy of the final thesis/dissertation to be submitted to each of the Thesis/Dissertation Committee members. f. (01) Bound Copy is for the student himself.
- Research Assistants, Lecturer-Bs and Full-Time Students will be compensated for the expenses of binding if the original receipt is submitted to the Deanship of Graduate Studies.
- Thesis/Dissertation (as approved) must be uploaded through E-Prints.
This manual is a comprehensive document for the said purpose and describes the contents of the theses/dissertations, style and format requirements of the theses/dissertations, how the manuscript be produced which includes typing, copying, binding etc. The appendices provide templates for form for the title page, form for final approval, form for abstract, sample of the dedication, sample of the acknowledgement, sample of the table of contents, sample of the list of tables as well as a list of figures and several books pertaining to theses/dissertations preparation are listed in the references.
- Contents of Thesis/Dissertation Write-up
The following items are to be included in the bound copy of a thesis/dissertation write-up in the exact order as given below;
13. Vita
The Title page indicates the thesis/dissertation title, the full name of the author, degree (Master of Science or Doctor of Philosophy,) and the date (month and year) of degree conferral. The Green Title page can be acquired from office of Deanship of Graduate Studies. The title length typically should not exceed ten words.
The Final Approval page is indicated by signatures, preferably in blue ink, of the Thesis/Dissertation Committee members, the Department Chairman and the Dean of Graduate Studies. The date indicates the month and year of the final thesis submission.
The Dedication, which is optional, provides a means of recognizing an individual or individuals who have provided important moral and other support which has made the achievement possible
The Acknowledgements recognize the assistance of the thesis/dissertation advisor and other members of the faculty and staff. Other specific contributions by professional people or institutions, such as librarians, correspondents and research foundations, should also be acknowledges. If financial support was provided, it is appropriate to recognize such assistance.
The Table of Contents should be prepared after the manuscript has been completed. The table of contents should identify and locate by page number, the list of tables, list of Figures, Abstract, Chapters and subdivisions within the Main Body, Appendices, Nomenclature, References and Vita. All titles in the table of contents must correspond with the titles as they appear in the text.
The List of Tables identifies and locates each table by page number appearing in the Main Body and Appendix. The tables are to be numbered, using Arabic numerals in the order that they appear in the thesis/dissertation.
The List of Figures Identifies and locates each figure by page number appearing in the thesis/dissertation. The figures are to be numbered, using Arabic Numerals in the order that they appear in the thesis/dissertation.
The Abstract is a short and concise statement of the problem and solution dealt with in the thesis/dissertation. It should be written in English and Arabic on the Abstract forms, of no more than one page in length and exclusive of any references or citations.
As a requirement from the University Microfilms International, KFUPM theses/dissertations should not be more than 350-word abstract for Ph.D. Dissertation, and 150-word abstract for Master Thesis.
The Main Body of the Thesis/Dissertation should be developed after a detailed outline of its content is prepared. The body of the thesis/dissertation must be divided into chapters, not parts or sections. Chapter 1 should be an introductory chapter. The remaining chapters must include a documented statement of previous work in the field and should contain a delineation of the specific proposition to be examined, a complete explanation of the analysis, experiments and observations made by the student, and an adequate discussion of the results and their significance should be presented in terms of the purpose it serves in supporting the findings or solving the problem, and should not necessarily be chronological unless this order leads logically to the resolution of the problem. Sufficient details of method and equipment should be provided to enable the work to be replicated, but minute and comprehensive details which are generally known or which can be covered by reference citations should be omitted. Metric units of measure should be used unless the actual measurements were made in Imperial/US units, in which case the metric equivalent should appear in parentheses.
The Appendices (if any) are a useful device to make available to the reader material related to the text but not suitable for inclusion in it. Such material may be in the form of tables too detailed for text presentation; technical notes on method, and schedules and forms used in collecting materials; copies of documents not generally available to the reader; case studies too long to be put into the text; and sometimes figures or other illustrative materials.
The Nomenclature provides the meaning of all symbols and variables used in the text.
The References provide a listing of all literature citations that have been helpful in preparing the thesis/dissertation. References that are cited in the body and appendices of the thesis/dissertation are indicated with a number (1, 2...) in parentheses after the statement to be documented. The numbers should be listed in alphabetical order or in the order in which the citation first appears in the text.
2. Style
The requirements pertaining to style are outlined in this section. Although students are required to conform to these regulations, they and their thesis committee retain certain flexibility in determining the format of tables, figures, illustrations, the dedication, acknowledgment, and table of contents, list of tables, list of figures, nomenclature and references.
Any standard typeface in pica or elite is acceptable, as is the use of a word processor. If there are any doubts about the acceptability of the typeface or process to be used, the Deanship of Graduate Studies should be consulted before typing the final draft
Double spacing is required in the body of the manuscript, and in the acknowledgments and abstracts. Tables, footnotes, appendices, and block quotations may be single-spaced. The table of contents, list of tables, list of figures and nomenclature may be single or double spaced. However, keep the goals of professional presentation in mind.
d. Bottom: At least 2.5 cm.
Remember that these margin requirements are minimum, not maximum widths and must be met for binding and microfilming purposes.
Each chapter in the body of the thesis is to start on a new page with the heading 5 cm from the top of the page. The chapter number and the chapter title are to be typed in upper case; if the title requires more than one line; additional lines are double-spaced and centered in inverted pyramid style. There must be a triple space between the chapter number and the chapter title, and a triple space between the chapter title and the body of the text. The treatment of subtitles varies according to the number of levels required to present the material most effectively. If there are only two levels of subtitles, the first is centered with only major words capitalized and not underlined. The second is placed flush with the left margin and only major words capitalized, and underlined. If there are three levels of subtitles, the third one is a paragraph heading (indented the usual five spaces for a paragraph, but run into the paragraph followed by a period and underlined). Where four levels of subtitles are needed, the third level is indented five spaces from the left margin, only major words capitalized, and underlined (with the paragraph heading becoming the fourth subtitle). It is permissible (but not necessary) to designate the subtitles as A. 1, 1.1, or 1.1. This method must be followed throughout the entire thesis (body and appendices) if it is used at all; i.e., it cannot be used just in the appendices or in one chapter. A triple space precedes all headings and follows all except the paragraph heading. At least one line of text must follow subtitles at the bottom of a page. (Example of 4 Levels of Subtitles)
v. Pagination
All preliminary pages (except the title page and approval sheet) are numbered with small Roman numerals centered 2.5 cm from the bottom of the page. The title page and approval sheets are not numbered but are counted as pages i and ii. The main body, appendix, nomenclature and references should be numbered with Arabic numerals centered 2.5 cm from the top and 2.5 cm from the right edge. The exceptions to this requirement are as follows:
d. The vita should remain unnumbered.
This section highlights the common mistakes/errors that the reviewers found while reviewing the thesis/dissertation. To help avoiding the known mistakes/errors, please take the following in account. To achieve excellence, your thesis/dissertation must be brief and clear.
1. Verbiage and Repetitions
Delete all the useless verbiage such as "Here it must be pointed out that..." Re-word all redundant phrases. For example, write "wherever corrosion is found" instead of "in each and every specific environment where corrosion is found". Instead of repeating a noun, use a pronoun. For example, write "Initially the temperature rose, but later it fell" instead of "Initially the temperature rose, but later the temperature fell". Instead of repeating a verb, use DO/DOES/DID or another suitably short wording. For example, write “The pressure rose, and so did the temperature" or (even better) write "The pressure and the temperature both rose" but you should seldom write "The pressure rose, and the temperature also rose".
2. Excessive Nominalizations
To get rid of a long awkward noun-phrase, use a verb. For example, write “X explains Y” instead of “X provides an explanation of Y”. Similarly, write "The mechanism was activated electrically" instead of “Electrical activations were carried out on the mechanism".
3. Muddled Reasoning
Cut each long sentence into 2-3 shorter sentences. Optionally number them, and/or organize them by length or other criteria. Rearrange or simplify the phrases. For example, write "Besides the extra output of oil, this method produced three further benefits. ( I ) It conserved the potential of the extra new wells, by deferring their use. (2) It utilized the in-house approach to avoid the high cost of the diagnostic tools offered by the service companies". (3) It reduced the cost of treating the water, partly by reducing the water production, and partly by using the existing assets, for instance by dismantling the flow-lines from the wells that were completely swept". instead of "Besides the extra output of oil, further benefits were obtained from this method, in that it firstly conserved the potential of the extra new wells by deferring their use, and in addition it reduced the water treatment cost by reducing the water production and using the existing assets, by dismantling the flow-lines from the wells that were completely swept, and finally the high cost of the service companies' diagnostic tools was avoided by utilizing the in-house approach".
4. Misfits and Danglers
To clarify a confusing or ambiguous misfit, reorganize the sentence. For example, write "A ball-point pen consists of a cap, a tip assembly, a rigid outer tube, and a narrower inner tube, which contains ink" instead of “A ballpoint pen consists of a rigid outer tube, a narrower inner tube, which contains ink, a tip assembly and a cap". To clarify and tidy a loose final dangler, reverse the sentence. For example, write "... as confirmed by Acton (1998), Brumby (2003) and Carter (2005)" instead of "... as Acton (1998), Brumby (2003) and Carter (2005) confirmed".
5. Organization and the Verb-Tenses
Although English verb-tenses are very complex, the advice below is usually valid. By following it, you will organize your thesis so that the readers can understand it. Use the past tense about previous research, especially in your review of the literature, but use the present or future tense to differentiate your own research. Use the past tense to report your procedures step-by-step, but use the "have done" tense for your results which remain true now.
Use the present-simple tense:
c. To interpret your observations or conclusions as broad general facts.
6. Singular or Plural Verb
Make sure each verb is correctly singular or plural, especially if the sentence has a lot of differentnumbered nouns before the verb. For example, "The value of the facts and their causes and effects is..." differs in meaning from "The value of the facts and their causes and effects are..."
7. Consistency in the Details
"The research, which was funded by Aramco, was successful." "The research which was funded by Aramco was successful."
Captions: In captions, avoid the words "chart of I "map of I "photo of I etc, and also avoid the words a/an/the", especially at the start.
Hyphen: Use or omit the hyphen as shown in the Longman English dictionary.
For example, the noun is "setup" or "set-up", but the verb is "set up".
Spacing: In lists & texts, choose single or double spacing, but do not mix both.
The Deanship of Graduate Studies requires all graduate students to upload their theses/dissertations through the new research repository at KFUPM, ePrints, using the guidelines provided below. Please note that this is only for those graduate students who have to submit their thesis/dissertation as a part of their degree completion.
- Go to the URL: http://eprints.kfupm.edu.sa/
- Click the Login button, which can be found on the website menu.
- Enter your KFUPM username and password after which you will be logged in to e-Prints. (If you do not have a KFUPM username / password, please contact ITC 860 3900)
- Click the button “New Item”.
- Select the item type as “Thesis” and then click “Next” on the top or bottom of the page.
- Click browse to find the location of your document. The document to be uploaded is one PDF file containing the whole thesis/dissertation including the scanned green cover page and the scanned stamped signature page.
- Click “Upload” to upload the browsed file.
- As soon as the document is uploaded, a couple of options appear.
- Two options are to be modified:
- “Visible to” option to be changed to “Abstract only”
- “Embargo Expiry Date” to be changed to a date when you want this document to be publicly accessible. A maximum of one year can be chosen.
- Click “Next”.
- Enter all the obligatory items on this page and click “Next”.
- In the section for choosing the subjects, select the subjects in which the thesis/dissertation falls and click “Next”.
- Click “Deposit Item Now”.
- Click Logout Button to logout of the system.
- After this step, the document will go to the Deanship of Graduate Studies for approval.
- If any discrepancy is found, it will be returned to the student for modifications.
After completing all of the degree requirements, a student should apply for graduation online via “Graduate studies” tab in the student’s portal. For this purpose, he is required to ensure the following;
- Completed all the course requirements as per his approved degree plan with a CGPA of at least 3.00 out of 4.00.(Steps 2 to 12 are for students enrolled in thesis-based degrees only)
- Thesis/Dissertation is successfully defended and the report is submitted to the Deanship of Graduate Studies.
- Passed the thesis/dissertation course (XXX-610 or XXX-712) successfully with “NP” grade.
- Final draft of thesis/dissertation write-up (double-sided printing) is submitted to the Deanship of Graduate Studies for review, and discrepancies (if any, found) are communicate to the student for correction.
- Final thesis/dissertation write-up (double-sided printing) is approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies after student revised the write-up based on discrepancy (if any) enumerated.
- Three bound copies of Thesis/Dissertation is submitted along with 2 CDs containing the pdf of the Thesis/Dissertation final write-up to DGS, to be sent to KFUPM Library.
- One bound copy for the department (unless it is waived by the department)1.
- One bound copy to the main advisor (unless it is waived by the advisor) 2.
- Optional hard copies to committee members (in case required by them individually) 3.
- All committee members should receive a softcopy of the final thesis/dissertation from the student.
- A pdf copy of Thesis /Dissertation approved write-up has been uploaded through ePrints system.
- Steps after defense are completed.
Upon completion of the above requirements, the student has to begin the process of graduation. This process varies for Full-time Students and Graduate Assistants, Research Assistants and Lecturer-B’s; and Part-time Students.
1. Full-time Students and Graduate Assistants
Upon the submission of the final bound copy of thesis/dissertation to the Department, student submit “graduation processing” request online via “Graduate studies” tab in the student’s portal. After submission, it will be sent for recommendation of “Degree Requirements Completion” by the academic department’s Chairman. After that, it is forwarded to the Deanship of Graduate Studies for review. Finally, the Deanship of Graduate Studies notifies, after ensuring that all of the degree requirements are satisfied, the Office of the University Registrar for the issuance of the Graduation Certificate to the student. Subsequently, the student is issued with a Certificate from the Alumni Department at Deanship of Student Affairs.
2. Research Assistants and Lecturer-B’s
The Research Assistants and Lecturer-B’s are required to undergo “Contract Termination” which is initiated from their Departments, concurred by the Dean of Graduate Studies and, is done at the Office of the Personnel Affairs. A copy of the “Clearance Form” (part of the contract termination process) is then to be submitted at the Deanship of Graduate Studies. After the submission of clearance form at the Deanship of Graduate Studies, student submit “graduation processing” request online via “Graduate studies” tab in the student’s portal. After submission, it will be sent for recommendation of “Degree Requirements Completion” by the academic department’s Chairman. After that, it is forwarded to the Deanship of Graduate Studies for review. Finally, the Deanship of Graduate Studies notifies, after ensuring that all of the degree requirements are satisfied, the Office of the University Registrar for the issuance of the Graduation Certificate to the student. Subsequently, the student is issued with a Certificate from the Alumni Department at Deanship of Student Affairs.
Part-Time students are required to complete the “Clearance Procedure for Part-time Students” (the form for which can be downloaded online via the Graduate studies tab in student’s portal). A copy of the “Clearance Form” is then to be submitted at the Deanship of Graduate Studies.
