Academic Paper

Doel vak

• Students will be able to design a research project by reviewing academic literature on a topic related to their premaster programme.
• Students will be able to execute a research project by collecting empirical data using qualitative or quantitative methods.
• Students will be able to report the outcomes of their research project by writing a clear final report of their analysis, results and implications for academic research on a topic related to their premaster programme.

Inhoud vak

Academic Paper is the capstone course of the premaster programme. In your academic paper you report on a piece of research that you have conducted. The academic paper is written in accordance with standards and conventions for academic writing. You will find further information about the academic paper in the course manual, which can be found in Canvas (please note that each programme has its own course manual).

Premaster programmes will start their research in period 4 and 5, while doing the method courses such as Qualitative Research Methods and Quantitative Research Methods. These two courses provide training in research design and data analysis. Please note, however, that your instructors for the methodology courses hold no responsibility for the supervision of or data collection for the academic paper – these responsibilities remain with your academic paper supervisor. Parallel to these courses you will meet with your supervisor to decide on a research design, and you will start collecting data so that you can devote period 6 mostly to writing up your results.

Academic Paper supervision:

The supervisors for the academic paper will be announced in February. For general questions about the course, please contact the pre-master programme coordinator (premastercoordinator.sbe@vu.nl).

Re-Sit

There is one possibility for a re-sit in the course. Please note that the re-sit is scheduled for mid of July (the exact date can be found in the course manual).

Aanvullende informatie onderwijsvormen

You will make individual appointments with your supervisor. Those of you
who start their academic paper in period 4 or 5 will make appointments
with their supervisor in that period. Please see the course manual for
further information.

Toetsvorm

Each programme has its own manual for the academic paper. This manual contains information on such things as assessment criteria, assessment procedures, minimum requirements and expectations, structure of the paper, deadlines (e.g., re-sit), and responsibilities of students and supervisors. This manual will be found on the Academic Paper Canvas page.

To pass this course, it is required to get a sufficient evaluation for preparing for the feedback sessions with the supervisors and a sufficient evaluation for the academic paper. In case, preparations of the feedback sessions are not evaluated as sufficient, it is not possible to pass the course. More detailed information can be found in the course manuals. In case your academic paper does not pass, you will have the opportunity to submit a revised version. Please note that the deadline for the resubmit is in mid of July.

Literatuur

The readings involved in producing the academic paper are specific for each program, and mainly consist of journal articles to be gathered by the student. Individual supervisors may supply you with a key starting reference where needed.

Overige informatie

For this course you do not need to subscribe. You will be subscribed by the department.