Rules for written term papers

Contents:
1. General
2. Formal requirements
2.1 Structure
2.1 Language
2.3 Dealing with used literature
3. Citation
3.1 Proof of the citation
3.1.1 Citation in the design sciences
3.1.2 The Harvard citation style
3.2 Citing with footnotes
4. Bibliography
5. Content requirements
6. Logical structure (outline)

1. Common mistakes

There are minimum requirements that must be met for written assignments in the Industrial Design, Communication Design, Photography, Art Education and Master's degree programs in Art and Design Studies.

Many years of experience have shown the following types of errors:

The term paper does not meet the formal requirements for an academic paper. These include in particular

• missing cover page with title, author, place and date
• missing table of contents
• missing bibliography
• missing marking of literal quotations in quotation marks
• missing proof of (literal or paraphrased) quotations or other information taken from the literature.
• incomplete and/or inconsistent citation references and/or bibliographic information.

The term paper does not have a clear question or topic.

The term paper is an opinion essay in which supposed or real "truths" and convictions are presented without reference to the literature.

The term paper consists for the most part of documentation without independent evaluation and/or interpretation.

2. This is how it works:

Term papers offer you the opportunity to independently think through and work on a scientifically interesting topic under a specific question. Even if they are not intended for publication, they must fulfill certain formal requirements that usually also apply to publications:

2.1 Structure

Cover sheet:
_Author of the thesis (or author of parts of the thesis)
_Study program
_Address
_Matriculation number
_E-mail address
_Title of the paper
_Occasion (e.g. seminar and semester, year)

Table of contents (with page numbers)

Introduction:
Presentation and justification of the topic, the research question and your own approach

Main part: Examination of the research question
Conclusion: Summary of the results, classification in further topics, questions for further investigations

Bibliography

Handwritten and signed declaration:
I hereby affirm in lieu of oath by my signature that I have prepared the above thesis independently and without outside help and that I have identified as such all passages that I have taken verbatim or almost verbatim from publications, and that I have not used any literature or other aids other than those specified. The thesis has not been submitted in this or a similar form to any other examination authority.
Place, date Signature (in my own hand)


2.2 Language
the language of a term paper should be factual and appropriate to the subject matter.
slangy expressions of everyday language should be avoided
technical terms should be used correctly
technical terms should be briefly defined the first time they are used. In particular, if different meanings and definitions are found in the literature, it is always advisable to state (e.g. in a footnote) (or even discuss) which definition you yourself follow in the rest of the paper.


2.3 Dealing with the literature used
One's own findings cannot be obtained single-handedly. It is scientifically correct to rely on the results of others who work in this field.
Scientific results must not be used without proof. There are several reasons for disclosing the origin:
_The original author of an idea has a copyright claim to it.
tacit adoption of other people's property is an attempt to deceive.
the selection of literature and quotations is a criterion for the quality of one's own work.
the reader of a work should have the opportunity to continue reading and working with the cited literature.
All literature used must be listed alphabetically in a bibliography at the end of the paper.
all information and evaluations taken from the literature used must be marked as citations and referenced.

3. Citation

In science, a "citation" is the literal or analogous adoption of other people's intellectual property or statements. Quotations must be "substantiated" (proven), i.e. the reader must be informed as soon as he reads the quotation that the statement does not originate from the author of the text but from someone else - and he must be able to find out immediately afterwards and, if possible, without great effort, who it is from and where he can find the quoted statement himself.

There are various rules for this in science.
The actual quotation: verbatim or paraphrased
Literal quotations are placed in quotation marks ("...")
Literal quotations may not be changed. This applies to the syntax as well as the spelling. The following exceptions apply:
Details may be omitted from the quotation. Three dots (...) are then placed in their place, preferably in (square) brackets: [...]
Individual words may be inserted into the quotation if omissions or the connection to parts of the sentence outside the quotation require this. The insertions are in square brackets.
Individual letters may also be added to words if a case changes due to the connection to parts of the sentence outside the quotation. These letters are also enclosed in square brackets.
Literal quotations in literal quotations are given single quotation marks instead of double quotation marks. ('...')
Non-literal quotations (paraphrases) are in indirect speech (subjunctive!) or clearly indicate that the opinion of another author is being reproduced.


3.1 Proof of the quotation
Various systems have been developed for proving quotations. They all have the same main purpose: the reader should know immediately after the quotation who the quotation comes from (and when), and where he can find it himself. This "being able to find it yourself" also provides the most important criteria for the usefulness of a citation system.
Which of the usual citation systems you use is largely irrelevant. However, you should at least decide on one within a paper and stick to it correctly.

The basic rule is:
The citation reference itself must be on the page where the citation ends.
It should at least directly state the author, the year and the cited page(s) of the cited publication
It must make it possible to clearly identify the cited publication.

Most citation systems consist of a direct citation and an entry in a bibliography. The entry in the citation refers you to the bibliography, in which you can look up the exact title of the cited publication.
This means that a bibliography is particularly important if the citation itself only contains a brief reference. The bibliography is always obligatory for term papers during your studies!


3.1.1 Citing in the design sciences
The Chair of Design Studies at Folkwang University of the Arts has established the following method of citation:
Surname, first name: Title, place of publication Year.

Example:
Meier, Cordula: Beiträge zu einer Designtheorie, Frankfurt am Main 2001.


3.1.2 The Harvard citation style
The American citation system (also known as the "Harvard system") has the advantage of not requiring footnotes. With this system, only a short form of the reference is included in the text itself, which can then be used to look up the complete bibliography. This citation method cannot be understood without a bibliography. The information required for the citation is inserted in brackets in the main text immediately after the citation. Usually only the name of the author(s), the year of publication and the page are mentioned. The exact formatting varies. Some authors include the "S." (S. for page), others omit it: (Meier 2001; p. 217) or (Meier 2001; 217).
With the information from this bracket, the reader can now look up the bibliography and find the exact title of the work:

Bibliography
Meier, Cordula: Contributions to a Design Theory, Frankfurt am Main 2001.


3.2 Citing with footnotes
Today's word processing systems make it relatively easy to create footnotes or endnotes. Unless there is a compelling reason that requires endnotes, you should always use footnotes (at the bottom of the page) to save the reader having to scroll to each note.
Footnotes and endnotes allow you to make longer citations without disrupting the flow of the main text. For this reason, more information is possible here than with the Harvard system.
However, it is uneconomical to provide the full citation for several quotations from the same work. This would make the footnotes unnecessarily long. You should therefore choose the following variant:
Enter the number of the footnote in which the complete first reference can be found. This system can also be combined with a bibliography in a reader-friendly way.

Basic rules for footnotes
the numbering of the footnotes is consecutive throughout the text (do not start with "1" again on every page)
each footnote ends with a period.

4. Bibliography

The bibliography must be in strict alphabetical order according to the author's name. Several titles by one author must be arranged chronologically.
The aim is to put the reader in a position to find the full details at the end of a bibliography that may have been abbreviated at the beginning of the text.

Meier, Cordula: Contributions to a Design Theory, Frankfurt am Main 2001.

Meier, Cordula: "Or would you like to call somewhere?" Happy the clueless not-knowing. Between oriented memory performance and the ability to forget. In: Düchting, Susanne; Plüm, Kerstin: Nichtwissen. I.K.U.D. Journal for Art and Design Studies, Cologne 2006. p. 67-82.

5. Content requirements

However, the correct formal (external) structure of a thesis alone does not guarantee success. The scientific nature of a work is not achieved by the fact that the footnotes and citations are correct. Rather, it depends on its intellectual structure and organization.

Question instead of "topic"
One type of approach is to pose a question. During your studies, you will not be expected to deal with a topic conclusively so that you significantly expand the state of knowledge of "science".
You should get into the habit of starting your work with a real question from the outset - not just a topic. A topic is only good if it can be reformulated into a question (and you should always do this) (once you have finished your work, you still need to find a title that abandons the question form).

6. Logical structure (outline)

The logical structure - the outline - is also very important for the success of a paper. If you have any doubts, you should discuss them with your university teacher!

discuss a question.
This form of outline is always appropriate if your main concern is to clarify a question and you do not have a very firm opinion on this question yourself before starting the work.

introduction
The research question and its relevance
overview of previous research opinions, if applicable
Literature review, if applicable
Overview of the structure of your own work

main part
The main part is structured differently depending on the subject matter. Your own research question is examined from several points of view and aspects. Each sub-chapter may contain an interim conclusion.

conclusion
In the final section, the individual results are summarized once again and weighed up against each other. This results in an overall conclusion, which is the result of the entire investigation and thus an answer to the research question.
This is also the place for references to open or new questions.

defend a thesis
This form of outline is always suitable if you want to form a firm opinion before starting the work or during the research process, i.e. if you want to take a clear position.

The core of this structure is that the answer to the research question is clearly stated in the introduction and the main part is used to substantiate and substantiate your own thesis and to refute opposing views.