VADEMECUM TESISTI

Richard Feynman

“Learn to solve all the problems that have been solved”.

“Knowing something doesn't harm the mystery”.

Albert Einstein

"As long as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as long as they are certain, they do not refer to reality."

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS

The degree thesis is an original contribution based on a complete, mature and demanding work of independent reflection. The following links refer to the general rules for the degree courses in which my teaching is envisaged.

And with. and Gest. Corporate: https://corsi.unica.it/ricolturaegestioneaziendale/prova-finale/

Economics and Finance: https://corsi.unica.it/igianatoefinanza/prova-finale/

Managerial Economics: https://corsi.unica.it/economiamanageriale/prova-finale/

Anyone intending to carry out their thesis in Finance should first of all read the general rules.

In addition to the previous ones, the following must also be taken into account:

TIMING

The work must be carried out with temporal continuity over an adequate period of time: without counting the preliminary investigation, counting from the assignment of the thesis by the supervisor, normally provide at least:

for a three-year thesis: 4 months;

for a master's thesis: 6 months

Once started, the reading and writing work must proceed regularly and with a scheduled deadline, under penalty of lengthening its duration. It should be noted that with reference to the timing for the preparation of the thesis, holidays are not considered. Those who intend to graduate in the September session will have to keep in mind the summer break and define their plan accordingly in order to allow the analysis of the thesis in its entirety.

The works must be delivered to the supervisor in presence or by e-mail and discussed during reception hours. Exceptionally, the undergraduate may also agree, via e-mail, the receptions with the teacher.

THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE RAPPORTEUR

The candidate must fill in and send the form (attachment 1) to the supervisor.

The speaker guarantees the critical reading of each complete chapter that is delivered to him, and prompt assistance during the research. The supervisor must be able to view the entire thesis corrected and revised according to his instructions at least 15 days before the scheduled date for the graduation session.

The thesis application can be approved only in the presence of a complete, corrected and revised version of the thesis. Theses filed in ESSE3 without the explicit consent of the supervisor will be rejected.

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS

After identifying the topic of the thesis jointly with the teacher, in the next useful reception, the graduate student will have to discuss an extended abstract in which to indicate:

the reasons for the thesis (adequately supported by the literature on the chosen topic),

research questions,

the research method used to answer the questions e

the contribution to be made to literature.

Finally, it is necessary to indicate the essential points that are intended to be developed in order to achieve the objective of the thesis.

Each chapter must begin with a paragraph dedicated to introductory considerations, in which to indicate the reasons for the chapter, the objective or objectives to be achieved (also expressed through research questions), the way in which these are linked with the general objective of the thesis, and the way in which the chapter has been articulated (single paragraphs) to achieve them.

Each chapter must end with a paragraph dedicated to final considerations, in which to indicate the answer given to the research question and the conclusions reached.

In addition to the final considerations for each chapter, the conclusions of the thesis must also be included. The conclusions must indicate the answers to the research questions, and the original contribution of the work. The latter represents the most important part of the paper.

EVALUATION OF THESIS WORK

The work will be classified into one of the following three categories:

“A”: High level of quality of results and student commitment

“B”: Acceptable level of quality of results and student commitment;

“C”: Low level of quality of results and student commitment.

Recalling that the Honors can only be proposed by the president of the commission, it can be taken into consideration by the graduate commission if the supervisor evaluates the thesis work at an excellent level and only if the starting grade is at least equal to or greater than 103.

SUMMARY OF THE STEPS AND RULES

STEP 1: choice of topic and first bibliographic research through catalogs, databases, specialized magazines, open archives made available by the UNICA library;

STEP 2: preparation and discussion of the abstract, method and literature on the topic and the preliminary index of the thesis. Plan the organization and development of the thesis through the drafting of a provisional index which, accompanied by brief indications for each chapter, will allow both the supervisor and the candidate to clarify the work plan;

STEP 3: identification of supporting material (data and literature review);

STEP 4: preparation of the chapters and discussion with the teacher.

RULE 1: always have paper, pen and all printed materials (including papers, index and abstracts);

RULE 2: delivery of the documents and discussion during reception hours;

RULE 3: each chapter must be delivered within the agreed deadlines in order to allow reading and correction;

RULE 5: each chapter will be analyzed with plagiarism software;

RULE 6: admission to the graduation session is at the sole discretion of the supervisor

RULE 7: the course must be constant over time and the chapters must be delivered according to the set deadlines;

RULE 8: preliminary chapters will not be taken into consideration (for example without notes and bibliography).

DRAWING AND FORMATTING

Graphic criteria

Format: 29 × 21 cm (A4)

Font: Times New Roman

Size: 12

Line spacing: 1.5

Right margin: 1

Left margin: 1.5

Top and bottom margin: 1.25

Paragraph spacing: no spacing, tab at the beginning of the paragraph

Introduction and conclusions

Introduction and conclusions will be written at the end of the work, when the exact structure of the argument, any problems, difficulties encountered during the research and possible future developments are well known. They must be clear and concise, they must illustrate in a simple way the topics covered in the thesis, referring, for details, to the corresponding chapters. In particular, the introduction sets out the purpose of the paper and the methods used for the analysis, encouraging the reader to continue reading while the conclusion reports the problem and possible solutions or criticisms, clearly exposing the results obtained while it is absolutely not advisable to introduce new concepts. Both parts must be concise and clear.

The notes

Bibliographic citations are used to corroborate the thesis presented or to report a criticism of the same, to refer to sources that deal with the aspects mentioned. The citation must be as analytical as possible to allow verifiability.

N.B .:

- citations from Wikipedia or other Internet sites of no scientific or cultural value are prohibited

- It is forbidden to copy entire pieces from the internet or from paper texts. Instead, you can paraphrase and insert a more or less long quote from the consulted text (but never from the Internet)

The short quotes:

- they must be incorporated in the text with start and end quotation marks (“…”).

Extensive quotes (over 4 lines):

- must be placed within the text in a smaller body (size 10), preceded and followed by a line of space that separates them from the body of the text, without quotation marks and without first line indentation. The quoted text must be indented on the left and right by 0.5 cm (margins in the 'Paragraph' section of the 'Format' menu).

Footnotes

They generally report:

- the source of the quote;

- additional information with respect to what has been said in the body of the text, also in new form

quote in quotation marks;

Setting: font size 10; single line spacing.

The numbering of the notes must be progressive, and not start over from 1 to the next chapter.

Bibliographic citations

Each topic introduced in the thesis must be supported by a bibliographic reference. The student should always use the notes to document the source of their knowledge. Affirmations should not be made that are not documented punctually, this is not to be understood as a clear copy of texts but as a re-elaboration of what is in-depth. In the event that parts of text equal to the original are reported, it is necessary to highlight the text (for example in quotation marks) and then cite the source.

At the thesis level it is good to avoid long and demanding notes; if what is written is important it should be put in the text. The note and not the quotation is the most frequent way of referring to someone else's work. The note is also used to develop side arguments to the main argument, in a smaller font than the body of the text, without weighing down the text. It is advisable to insert short references directly in the text, in brackets. In the case of bibliographic reference only, the note or the reference will be of the type: surname, year, page / and tables or other.

Each reference will then be reported at the end of the thesis in the bibliography, ordered in alphabetical order and written in full.

There are numerous different bibliographic styles: it is therefore important that, once the most suitable method has been identified, it is maintained throughout the thesis.

The bibliography lists and orders the documents actually consulted during the drafting of the paper and the citations of which it is composed contain the data necessary to identify and find the documents indicated.

Given that there is no single citation style, different variants can be adopted, as long as the chosen style is then kept constant within the elaborate.

The distinction of the type of document is fundamental:

monographs;

chapters of monographs;

periodical articles;

documents produced by an institution but not published by a publisher;

documents on the net.

For each there is in fact a different composition of the elements of the citation: while for monographs, for example, it is essential to indicate the place of publication and publisher, for periodicals these data may not be inserted because usually the title of the periodical is sufficiently indicative.

For precise indications and examples, various texts are available on the market and online, including:

paper format

Lesina, Roberto. The new style manual: guide to the preparation of documents, reports, articles, manuals, degree theses. Bologna: Zanichelli, 2009;

Revelli, Carlo. Bibliographic citation. Rome: Italian Library Association, 2002.

electronic format

Dell’Orso, Francesco. Bibliographic citations: according to the Chicago Manual of Style (and with notes from Umberto Eco's How to make a thesis);

Gnoli, Claudio. Bibliographic citations: an introductory guide to correctly interpret and draft citations of bibliographic sources;

The University of Chicago. Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide (in English).

American Psychological Association. APA Style Guidelines (in English).

A banal but precious piece of advice is to always remember to carefully note the bibliographic data of the books and / or magazines consulted or photocopied so as not to have to find, close to the final draft of the thesis, to search again for documents of which you do not have all the necessary data.

Given that the bibliography must be a clear and consistent indication of the sources, here are some possibilities.

MONOGRAPHIC WORK:

The Name, pointed, and the Author's Surname (perhaps in small caps)

the Title of the work in italics, followed by a comma

the City, followed by the comma

the Publishing House, followed by a comma

the year of publication, followed by the comma

the reference to the page number (s) (if it is a single page, pp. if it is several pages, followed by a period

Example: O. CALABRESE, The Neo-Baroque Age, Rome-Bari, Laterza, 1987, pp. 3-7.

ESSAY OR ARTICLE IN VOLUME BY ...:

The Name, pointed, and the Author's Surname (perhaps in small caps), followed by a comma,

the Title of the essay or article in quotation marks ("...."), followed by a comma and then by in

the Name, punctuated, and the Surname of the Curator of the collection from which the essay or article that was quoted was taken, inserting (edited by) in round brackets after the curator's surname. Comma

the Title of the collection in italics, followed by a comma

the City followed by a comma

the publishing house followed by a comma

the Year of edition, followed by a comma

the reference to the page number (s) (if it is a single page, pp. if it is several pages

Example: J. DERRIDA, “Des tours de Babel”, in S. NERGAARD ??(ed.), Contemporary Theories of Translation, Milan, Bompiani, 1995, p. 367.

ESSAY OR MAGAZINE ARTICLE

The Name, pointed, and the Author's Surname (perhaps in small caps), followed by a comma

the Title of the essay or article in quotation marks ("...."), followed by a comma and then by in

the Title of the journal in italics, followed by a comma

the issue of the magazine

the date of the magazine (year and, if any, season or month) in parentheses, followed by a comma

the reference to the page number (s) (if it is a single page, pp. if it is multiple pages)

Example: M. ULRYCH, R. M. BOLLETTIERI BOSINELLI, “The State of the Art in Translation”, Textus, 12 (1999), pp. 219-221.

Figures and tables

The insertion of graphs and tables always requires the indication of the source and date of updating of the data presented.

Figures and tables must be recalled and explained in the text.