Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University

BA programs

GUIDELINE
FOR BACHELOR THESIS WRITING
 PREFACE

The purpose of this thesis writing guideline is to clarify, simplify, and promote excellence
in Bachelor’s diploma thesis writing and presentation. This guideline describes the
important requirements for maintaining the uniformity of these theses at Azerbaijan State
Oil and Industry University.
 INTRODUCTION TO GUIDELINE

This guide describes the style and format regulations to guide BA program students at
Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University students in preparing a satisfactory thesis or
dissertation.
 GENERAL GUIDELINES AND PARTS OF THE THESIS

Every thesis should include following main parts or divisions: the preliminary pages,
introduction, 3 main chapters, conclusion, and the reference parts.
All tables, figures and formulas should be electronically generated by using a word
processor or relevant software. Figures that cannot be generated electronically should be
manually drawn subject to technical drawing principles. All tables and figures should be
cited within the main body of the thesis.
Laser or ink-jet printer outputs are required. All print must be in permanent black
ink and must appear on only one side of the paper. No ink corrections, strikeovers,
correction fluid, correction tape, paste-ups, insertions between lines, or letterset are
permitted on the final bound copies. If any corrections are needed, they should be made on
the original manuscript and the corrected pages must be reprinted before making copies of
the thesis.
To be able to start with your work on your thesis at the beginning of your fourth
year, you should start finding an appropriate topic and advisors in October of your third
year of study. To get an idea about topics other students worked on, discuss with their
supervisor in late March where this year’s thesis students present their work.
When students start to searching topic, they should address the following issues:
 What is the topic you want to research?
 What is the initial situation and what is the problem?
 What is the relevance of the problem?
 Where do you expect to be at the end of your Bachelor's thesis?
 How do you intend to close the current gap?
 Are there already comparable solution approaches and where are they
documented?
The thesis should be written in English according to study language rules. Total
number of pages for Bachelor diploma thesis should be between 40-50 pages. The list of
reference and appendices are not included to the minimum requirement of number of
pages.

Note: All students are responsible to respect deadline that is given by their
supervisors.
 FORMAT AND APPEARANCE

Paper Quality and Duplication

All copies of the thesis should be printed on good quality, preferably acid-free, white
paper, of 80 g/m2, measuring 210 by 297 mm (A4).

Margins and Justification

The left margin (binding side) should be 30 mm and the right, top, and bottom margins
should be 25 mm. All footnotes, headings, page numbers, text, tables, and illustrations
should be within these margins.
No abbreviations or acronyms should be used in the headings and in the text of the
preliminary pages. The headings should be center justified.

Font
A conventional font type, preferably Times New Roman, size 14-point, should be used
consistently throughout the manuscript. Bold-face letters, symbols and italics should be
used sparingly throughout the thesis.
Font size of figure captions and table headings must be 12 points. Font size of characters in
tables and figures can be reduced down to 10 points if space limitations make it imperative.
When necessary, for example in large volume theses, all the font sizes indicated above can
be reduced by 2 points.

Spacing
The thesis should be typed with one-and-a-half-line (1.5) spacing. Tables, long quotations,
footnotes, endnotes, bibliographies, references and bibliography (except between entries),
headings or subheadings, multiline captions and algorithms (pseudo-codes, software
programs) should be single-spaced.

Paragraph Formatting
Each paragraph should start from the left margin and three line spaces (2 x 1.5) distance
from the preceding paragraph. If a paragraph is split between pages, at least two lines of a
paragraph must appear together at the top or bottom of a page. All headings and
subheadings must be followed by at least two lines of a paragraph before a page break.
Algorithm descriptions (pseudo-codes, software program codes) should be written in single
spacing using a mono-spaced font type as a separate paragraph and indented in its entirety
at 10 mm from the left margin.

WRITING THE PARTS OF THE THESIS

1. Preliminary Pages

1.1 Title Page

The title should be typed single-spaced, all in capital letters, and should begin 60 mm from
the top of the page. The format of the title page and cover page, including spacing and
capitalization should be exactly example of title page will be provided by the department).

1.2 Approval Page

A sample approval page is presented in Appendix A. Only the university or organization
name should be used to indicate affiliation. Academic titles in English are Prof., Assoc.
Prof., Assist. Prof. or simply Dr. for instructors.

1.3 Abstract
The objective of an abstract is to give the reader a concise account of the thesis or
dissertation. The abstract should have three main parts: the statement of the problem, the
methods used, and the main findings. It is good practice to also include a comment on the
significance or value of the findings. It must not exceed 200-250 words for Bachelor’s
theses and must not include references, diagrams, mathematical formula unless absolutely
essential.
A sample abstract page is provided in Appendix B.

1.4 Table of Contents

The table of contents must list introduction, the title of each chapter and its parts and
sections, references or bibliography, appendices and Curriculum Vitae (if applicable). The
wording used for all entries in the table of contents must match exactly with what is used in
the text.
The heading, “Table of Contents,” appears without punctuation centered between the text
margins, 60 mm from the top of the page. The listing of actual contents begins at the left
margin at least 15 mm below the heading.
A sample table of contents is provided by department.
1.5 List of Tables
The list of tables should immediately follow the table of contents on a new page.
The heading, “List of Tables,” appears centered between the texts margins, without
punctuation, 60 mm from the top of the page; the listing begins at the left margin at least a
one-and-a-half-line (1.5) space below the heading. A sample list of tables is provided in by
department.

1.6 List of Figures, List of Illustrations, and List of Symbols

If included, lists of figures, illustrations, or symbols must appear on separate pages and are
governed by the same rules as the list of tables. A sample list of figures is provided by
department.

1.7 List of Abbreviations

If included, the list of abbreviations must appear on separate pages and are governed by the
same rules as the list of tables. A sample list of abbreviations is provided by department.
2. Introduction
Introduction – brief overview explaining the background and importance of the study
and must consist of following sub-sections:
Statement of Problem – specifically what the researcher wants to know; format to be
determined by the department
Purpose of the Study – explanation of the problem and what the researcher hopes to
achieve by conducting the study.
Significance of the Study- As part of the purpose of the study, there should be
justification for conducting the project. This section should exhibit a clear
understanding of what makes your study significant and why it should be conducted.
Research questions– used to guide the direction of the research by focusing to students`
findings
Review of the Literature – sufficient review of the relevant research to demonstrate an
understanding of the subject and major components. Hereby all students should review
their applied literatures and mentioned some approaches according to their suggest
research topic.
Research methodology – The purpose of this section is to describe in detail how you
performed the study. These should include a description of applied methods used to
gather information, methods used to analyze the information, findings, and analyses of
findings, conclusions reached and implications of the findings.
Delimitations, Limitations, and Assumptions- A brief statement identifying the
delimitations, limitations, and assumptions associated with your study should be
provided.
a) Delimitations – factors that were controlled by the researcher;
b) Limitations – factors that were not under the control of the researcher;
c) Assumptions – factors that the researcher assumes were taken into consideration.
Research novelty – In this section, students should introduce brief info about their own
findings or suggested models
Structure of thesis – Students should describe how many parts or sections their thesis
consist of. (Ex. This research study consist of Introduction, 3 main Chapters,
Conclusion and Reference parts)
 Note: Number of pages for “Introduction” part should consist of 2 pages for Bachelor
students.

3. The Body (Chapters)

3.1 Headings
The text, or the main body of a thesis, is divided into multiple chapters to help the reader
better understand the subject matter. Although the detailed organization of the text varies
among academic disciplines, the formatting of the text must be consistent throughout. All
headings and subheadings should be presented in the same way in each chapter, in terms of
capitalization, placement on type page and kind of type used. Headers giving the chapter
number and chapter title are allowed at the top of the pages.

Chapters are numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and capital letters (Chapter 1,
Chapter 2, etc.). Only new chapters should begin with a new page. Within a chapter, the
presentation of subsections must be continuous; partially filled pages of text are acceptable
only on non-textual pages, such as those presenting tables and illustrations.

The title of the chapter, e.g. “Chapter 1,” should be written in 16-point font size, all bold
capital letters and is centered between the text margins, 60 mm from the top of the page;
the title, e.g. “Introduction,” likewise in 16-point font size, all bold capital letters, is placed
one-and-a-half (1.5) spaces below and is also centered. The text begins at least three 14-
point font spaces (2 x 1.5) below.

Second-level headings, first-level subheadings and second-level subheadings must be left-

justified, bold-faced and in 14-point font size. Second-level headings should be numbered
as 2.1, 2.2, etc. The first letter of each word except conjunctions, propositions and articles
must be capitalized; although the first letter of a title is always capitalized. Second-level
heading should be separated from the preceding and succeeding text by a distance of three
spaces (2 x 1.5).

First-level subheadings should be numbered as 2.1.1, 2.1.2, etc., and should be separated
from the preceding and succeeding text by a distance of three line spaces (2 x 1.5). The
first letter of each word except conjunctions, propositions and articles must be capital.
Second-level subheadings, if needed, should be numbered as 2.1.1.1, 2.1.1.2, etc., and
should be separated from the preceding and succeeding text by a distance of three line
spaces (2 x 1.5). However, second subheadings should be avoided if possible. No further
subheadings are allowed.

Chapter 1. According to suggested topic, generally 1 st chapter should be focus to

descriptive analysis within conceptual and theoretical framework.
Chapter 2. This section should be focus to developing of study by general discussions,
learning international experiences within applied study of thesis.
Chapter 3. This section should be focus to practical based analysis where is called as
“simulation part of study”, analysis and interpretation of data by using several database
programs such as Excel, SPSS, R, Eview, Stata and other related programs.
Applied Data may be analyzed quantitatively or qualitatively depending on the level of
measurement and the number of dimensions and variables of the study.

• Analyze in depth to give meaning to the data presented in the data presented in the table.
Establish interconnection between and among data
• Check for indicators whether hypothesis/es is/are supported or not by findings
• Use parallel observations with contemporary events to give credence presented in the
introduction

Simulation part is given good opportunities to the students to introduce their suggested
model that is answer to their research question.

Note: Students who will need any field research trips to any organization, they will be
provided with official appointment letter.
4. Conclusion

This section should consist of following sections:

Summary of Findings
Identify specific conclusions resulting from you study. Offer specific insight to what your
findings reveal. This section should synthesize your findings with the current knowledge in
your area of study.

Scientific implications/recommendations for further research

In this section of conclusion, you need to clearly outline the implications of your study’s
findings for hospitality managers. Finally, identify the limitations of your study and present
your recommendations for future research.

Note: Conclusion part (including recommendations) should be consist of one and half or
max. two pages.
5. Illustrative Material

Illustrations include drawings, charts, figures, tables, diagrams, plates, and photographs.
These may be inserted close to the text which refers to them or, as per APA style, after the
reference list.
Table numbers and captions should be formatted in APA style above the respective
illustration; figure numbers and captions should be formatted in APA style below the
respective illustration
Illustrations of one-half page or less in length may appear on the same page with the text,
separated from the text above and below by one-and-a-half-line (1.5) spacing.
Illustrations that are too wide to be placed in portrait orientation between the left- and
right-hand margins should be rotated counterclockwise 90 degrees so that the top of the
illustration runs parallel to the left-hand margin of the page. In such a case, the whole page
must be reserved only for that illustration. The caption or legend for such an illustration
must also be rotated. When illustrations are presented in this manner, the usual margin
requirements remain in effect, and page numbers should appear in their normal place.
Illustrations of any kind must be numbered consecutively, including appendices. A decimal
approach (1.1, 1.2, 1.3,…, A.1, A.2,…, where the first digit is the chapter or appendix
number, and the digit after the decimal point is the illustration number within that chapter
or appendix) should be used.
Illustrations may run longer than one page. In such cases, all subsequent pages of the
illustration must include at least the illustration number and the notation that is continued,
e.g., "Table 1.2 (cont’d)" or "Table 1.2 (continued)".
Table headings and figure captions must be in the same font used in the text. The size of
characters in figure captions and table headings must be 12 points.
Samples of table and figure formatting are provided by department, respectively.

6. Formulas
Mathematical formulas, equations and expressions must be computer generated using an
equation editor or a mark-up language. If a reference is made to them, they must carry a
numerical identification. Each equation must be numbered in parentheses and this must be
given next to the right margin. Like illustrations, equation numbers must have two parts
where the first part is the chapter or appendix number, and the part after the decimal point
is the equation number within that chapter or appendix. For instance, 1.1 or A.2.

7. References

All of the references are to be listed at the end of the thesis. All cited material in the text
should be listed in the reference section. Similarly, all referenced material should be cited
in the text as well.
When citing sources, follow the style of the Publication Manual of the APA (American
Psychological Association). Samples of citations are provided in Appendix C.
The references section is not assigned a chapter number, but it must have page numbers
written in the same font and point size used for pagination throughout the thesis. The
heading References is centered between the margins, without punctuation, 60 mm from the
top of the page; the list begins three line spaces (2 x 1.5) below. Each bibliographic entry
should be single-spaced with double spacing between entries.

Major requirements for references: Bachelor students should apply minimum 30

references for their study. Applied references should be books, citation/index journals, and
few reliable e-resources. Students should design list of references according to A to Z
format.
Samples of references are provided in Appendix D.

8. Appendices

Some authors may desire to include certain material of the thesis in an appendix rather than
in the main text. For example, an appendix may contain test forms, detailed apparatus
description, extensive tables of raw data, computer programs, etc.
If the information to be appended requires more than one appendix, each should be given a
letter designation (Appendix 1, Appendix 2, etc.). The heading, e.g. “Appendix 1,” should
appear centered between the text margins, 60 mm from the top of the page. Each appendix
has a descriptive title. The font and point size should be same as those used for chapter
titles.
During assessment process of students, Defense Commission will pay attention
following aspects.

Requirements for students who would like to get “A”:

1. Study findings meet to the requirement of research questions
2. Deeply analysis within simulation part: suggested to apply SPSS, Eviews, Stata, R and
etc. data base programs
3. Students who apply only to single/multiple regression analysis in Excel format will not
assessed as high result of research study
4. Clear explanation of applied research methodology and all sections of introduction part.
5. Number of applied references should be 40+
6. Good presentation design and manage his/her time within 5-minute period introduction.
7. Answer to the all questions by asking from members of Commission.

Preparing of power point presentation:

1. During preparing of power point presentation students should pay attention to respect
following designing issues:
a) Be consistent. Using a uniform background color, text size, text color, and font
throughout your slide presentation makes it easier for the audience to follow the flow of
your ideas.
b) Use color and contrast. Use dark text on a light background; it is easier to read. If you
must use a dark background, make sure your text is quite light (white, cream, yellow,
light grey, or pastels) and increase the font size by two or three points.
c) Keep slide count to a minimum. Use a maximum of eight slides per 5 minutes
d) Use sans-serif fonts. These fonts project better and are easier to read. Examples of sans
serif fonts include Arial, Times New Roman and Calibri. An 24-point font size is
recommended. Words in all capital letters and custom fonts are hard to read.
e) Keep words to a minimum. You should have no more than five to eight lines of type
with no more than five to seven words per line. Type should be well-spaced and sized in
30- to 36-point font for headings and at least 24-point font for body copy. Keep custom
animations and slides transitions simple, and use them sparingly.
Using of copied full text of some parts from research thesis will not give positive assets
for their assessment by Commission during the Defense process.

2. What students should include to their power point presentations?

1. Name of research title
2. Main objective of study
3. Research questions
4. Applied research methodology
5. Simulation part
6. Research findings
7. Recommendations for further study

Assessment and grading

The bachelor thesis is assessed by a commission composed of one internal and one external
examiner and for thus students will be provided recommendation letter by them. The thesis
is assessed on the basis of to what degree the candidate has achieved the expected learning
outcome. For more information, contact to department.
 Appendix A

APPROVAL PAGE

AZERBAIJAN STATE OIL AND INDUSTRY UNIVERSITY

(ASOIU)

“Partnership Program to develop the Bachelors of Business Administration and

Faculty and Administrative Capabilities” between Azerbaijan State Oil and
Industry University and Georgia State University (Atlanta, USA) – BBA Program

Specialty:

Group:

GRADUATE WORK TASKS

1.Subject: Thesis topic (name)

2.Initial data:
3.Outline:
4.Simulations:
5.Deadline:
6.Date of receiving of the initial data:
Program Director:
Supervisor of the Graduate work:
Student:

Appendix B

THE TITLE OF THE GRADUATE PROJECT/THESIS/DISSERTATION

ABSTRACT

Write the text of the abstract here, no more than 250 words in length. The abstract provides
a brief summary of the thesis to potential readers and often follows the structure of the
paper. It will briefly introduce the topic and problem, state or summarize the hypothesis or
hypotheses, provide an overview of the methods used, summarize results, and comment on
the value of the results.
 Appendix C

Format for Citations

Sources should be cited in APA style, either by mentioning the author directly in the text
with the date in parentheses or by placing both the author and the date in parentheses.
Author mentioned directly in the text: Kahneman (2011) argued that humans make
systematic, predictable errors in their decision-making.
Author mentioned only in a parenthetical citation: Humans are prone to predictable errors
in economic decision-making (Kahneman, 2011).
If a several sources are summarized, list sources by author in alphabetical order, separated
by semicolons. In the following example, “e.g.” is inserted to show that the cited authors
are only examples of a presumably larger body of literature making the summarized claim:
A number of scholars have explored the economic challenges facing refugees (e.g. Dahi,
2014; De Montclos & Kagqanja 2000; Werker, 2007).

Note: About some direction of APA format, students should apply to the department.
 Appendix D

Format for References

REFERENCES

Book [Note that in a reference list, references are placed in alphabetical order by last
name and are not organized by media type]
Author(s). (Date of Publication). Title of book. Location of Publisher: Publisher.
Meyer, S. (2007). Eclipse. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
Marzano, R. J., & Marzano, J. S. (1988). A cluster approach to elementary vocabulary
instruction. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Revised Book
Franklin, B. (1916). The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. F. W. Pine (Ed.). New
York: Henry Holt and Company. (Original work published 1868).
MacKenzie, I. (2010). English for business studies: A course for Business studies and
economics students (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Translated Book
Eco, U. (2015). How to write a thesis. (C. M. Farina & G. Farina, Trans.) Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press. (Original work published 1977).
Chapter in an Edited Book
Gruber, S. (2012). Household and family in Albania at the beginning of the 20th century.
In A. Hemming, G. Kera, & E. Pandelejmoni (Eds.), Albania: Family, society and culture
in the 20th century (pp. 19-34). Studies on South Eastern Europe. Vienna: Lit Verlag.

Article with doi

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author C. C. (Year of publication). Title of article. Title of
Periodical, volume(issue), pp-pp. doi:xx.xxxxxxxxx
De Montclos, M. A. P., & Kagwanja, P. M. (2000). Refugee camps or cities? The socio-
economic dynamics of the Dadaab and Kakuma camps in Northern Kenya. Journal of
Refugee Studies, 13(2), 205-222. doi: 10.1093/jrs/13.2.205 40

Article without doi

Author, A. A., Author, B. B. & Author C. C. (Year of publication). Title of article. Title of
Periodical, volume(issue), pp-pp.

Inglehart, R. F. (2008). Changing values among western publics from 1970 to 2006. West
European Politics, 31(1-2), 130-146.

Article with More Than Seven Authors

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author C. C., Author D. D., Author E. E., Author F. F., . . .
Author N. N. (Year of publication). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume(issue), pp-
pp.

Websites
Green, D. (2010). Gardening tips: Perennials. Retrieved from http://www.gardening-tips-
perennials.com/index.html

Annual Report
Vermont Teddy Bear Company. (2004). 2004 annual report. Shelburne, VT: Author.

Annual Report Online

Proctor & Gamble Company. (2010). P & G 2010 annual report. Retrieved from
http://www.pg.com/annualreport2010/index.shtml

Online Dataset
(INSTAT) Institute of Statistics [Albania]. (2012). Census data [Data file]. Retrieved from
http://www.instat.gov.al/en/census/census-2011/census-data.aspx

Software Available Online

Faul, F. (2014). G*Power (Version 3.1.9.2) [Software]. Germany: Universität Kiel.
Available from http://www.gpower.hhu.de/

Conference Proceedings
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year, Month date). Title of paper. In I. Lastname & I. Lastname
(Eds.). Proceedings of Title of Conference: Subtitle of Conference (pp. – pp.). Location.
Place of publication: Publisher.
Mattelmäki, T., & Battarbee, K. (2002, June 23-25). Empathy probes. In T. Binder, J.
Gregory, & I. Wagner (Eds.). PDC 02: Proceedings of the participatory design conference
(pp. 266-271). Malmö, Sweden.

Paper or Poster Presentation

Hagen, T. (2015). The intergenerational transmission of marriage relationship satisfaction:
Findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health 1994-
2008. Poster presented at Health, Education and Human Development Awards. 18.
Clemson, SC: Clemson University. Retrieved from
http://tigerprints.clemson.edu/hehd_awards/18/