An article-based Master’s Thesis shall consist of two parts:
- An article manuscript.
- An extended summary.
The extended summary should be placed as a separate attachment at the end of the thesis, for example as the first or very last attachment (Attachment X. Extended summary for the thesis).The extended summary should follow a similar formatting as the thesis:
Scope
The extended summary should be between 5 000 and 10 000 words in total (+/- 10%).
If two students write an article-based Master's Thesis together the length of the extended summary must be increased to 10 000 - 15 000 words (+/- 10%).
The size of the article will vary according to the standards in the relevant journals.
However, most journals require an article length between 4 000 and 12 000 words.
This applies to the actual text of the thesis itself. The abstract, preface, list of contents, list of tables and figures (if relevant), sources and any attachments come in addition.
Content
The extended summary constitutes a framework for the article and is used to contextualize and explain choices that were made in the writing of the article. It is recommended to include an introductory chapter that explains to readers how the article and the extended summary complement each other.
The extended summary shall emphasize the theoretical and methodological aspects of the master’s study for which there is not enough room to present or discuss in the article manuscript. The summary may for example contain a more extensive discussion of theory and schools of thought than is commonly permitted in the peer-review article format, and/or a discussion of the methodological tradition in which the article is situated. Results and their implications may similarly be discussed with more historical background and context than the article format allows for.
The extended summary shall have a separate reference list.