(Effective Fall 2006)

 

All graduate students enrolled in the GIS Certificate must write their Final Report for their GIS Application following the Basic Guidelines described below. 

 

The student's advisor (member of the Pool of Professors) is responsible for ensuring that his/her advisee follows these Basic Guidelines.  The advisor is also responsible for grading the Final Report (A, B, C, etc).  

 

A color printed and covered copy of the Final Report must be submitted to the GIS Certificate DOGE (Monica Haddad).

For content and organization guidelines, students should make sure to have all the following items in their reports:

o       Abstract (maximum of 400 words)

o       Spatial questions or hypotheses

o       Project purpose, background, context

o       Definitions

o       Literature citations

o       Study area description, location, and context

o       Major steps, methods, procedures, and tools

o       Database and data sources

o       Project results

o       Review results in relation to each spatial question/hypothesis

o       Conclusions and recommendations

o       Bibliography and appendices          

For the format guidelines, a minimum of 20 written pages (not counting the abstract, pictures, tables, references, and appendices) is generally expected. Students should follow the format described below:  

Margins: Top 1"; left 1"; right 1"; bottom 1".

 

Page numbers: all pages numbered except page i; preliminary pages numbered with lower case Roman numerals; text starts with page #1; exactly same font, size, and location throughout document.

 

Font: Character size is 12 point; consistent font used throughout text.  Times New Roman is the required font for the entire report.

 

Line spacing: Double space consistently throughout text.

Title page: Words and arrangement match samples in current Thesis Manual, with un-capitalized title; complete name, and specialization (i.e. GIS Certificate), semester and year of graduation; your GIS Application advisor name.

 

Preliminary pages: Table of Contents headings exactly match the headings used in text; headings, page numbers, (and captions if including List of Figures/List of Tables) are consistent.

 

Text:  Text is organized in a coherent and consistent manner; headings are used and formatted in a consistent manner, with clear differentiation between different heading levels.

 

Tables and figures (maps, graphs, photographs, etc.):  Presented in a clear and easily understood format as close as possible to the corresponding text (not at the end please); all captions formatted in a consistent manner (numbering, font, punctuation, location in relation to image).

 

Appendix: Pages are numbered in the same font and location as text pages; each appendix has a main heading, in the same location as, and formatted like, other main headings in the text.

 

References: Cited in the text correctly, completely, and in a consistent style; full references listed in the reference list(s) correctly, completely, and consistently, in the style used in the student's discipline.