B.1 Taught Master's Programmes
B.2 Research Programmes

 

B.3 General Guidelines on the Presentation and Assessment of Work

B.3.1 Marking conventions for master's programmes
B.3.2 Suggested criteria for class and seminar presentations
B.3.3 Feedback on drafts of Extended Essays in master's programmes
B.3.4 Good practice in referencing and presentation
B.3.5 Binding and depositing of master's dissertations and M.Litt. and D.Phil. theses
B.3.6 eTheses

 

B.3.1 Marking conventions for master's programmes

Examiners and Assessors who are marking graduate examination essays, scripts, and dissertations have been provided with the following guidance for their marking:

Work of distinction quality: the candidate’s work displays strong analytical power, the material used shows a good command of the factual context of the field, evidence is well organized and arguments are well constructed, and the whole work is presented in a lucid and scholarly manner. In dissertations the evidence should normally contain primary sources, manuscript or printed, and the argument must show originality, or the candidate’s use of existing evidence must demonstrate a fresh conceptual, analytical or methodological approach:

85 down to 70

Work of high standard: the candidate’s work will display all or most of the elements of ‘distinction quality’ work outlined above, but may be noticeably flawed in either coverage or construction of argument or presentation (69 should be used to indicate that you would be prepared to agree if your co-assessor or the panel of examiners think that the candidate should nevertheless be awarded a distinction):

69 down to 65

Work of a solid scholarly standard: the candidate’s work displays analytical power and skill in constructing an argument, but not consistently, or it is marred by some inaccuracies or omissions. However, the work shows a capacity for research, though not necessarily on a doctoral level (60 would represent a bare pass in a graduate degree course):

64 down to 60

Work which fails to reach the required standard: the candidate’s work displays some knowledge but there are serious omissions and inaccuracies, or a substantial part of the answers are not relevant to the essay topic or the questions set, the level of analysis and argument is poor, and the points are not made clearly or concisely, or the standard of written English is very poor. The dissertation shows similar weaknesses of analysis and presentation, or relies too heavily on secondary literature or does not cover the chosen topic adequately (59 should be used as a borderline mark which you would be prepared to raise if your co-assessor or the panel of examiners think the candidate should be awarded the degree):

59, and below

N.B. 69 and 59 are used in the initial marking process only, and they will not normally be used as final marks (except as weighted course marks when decimal points are rounded to the appropriate integer). This convention helps to ensure that decisions between Pass and Pass with Distinction, or between Pass and Fail are decisively endorsed by the relevant board of examiners.

In addition, examiners and assessors are reminded of the Faculty's guidance on overlength and shortweight in essays, dissertations and examination scripts. In the case of presubmitted essays in graduate examinations assessors are asked to adapt the generic guidance to the individual case.

 

B.3.2 Suggested criteria for class and seminar presentations

Assessors of student presentations will generally use criteria which are adjusted to the setting in which students make their presentation: a presentation in a class for a master's programme will have a function and emphasis which differs from a presentation in a research seminar. The Faculty provides therefore distinct feedback forms for class and seminar presentations, with a descriptive list of assessment elements.

The folder Useful forms provides the appropriate proformas for consultation and downloading on which tutors can provide feedback to students, and also forms or spreadsheets on which they may record their evaluation of individual students for transmission to the board of examiners or the Director of Graduate Studies.

 

B.3.3 Feedback on drafts of Extended Essays in master's programmes

Please note that rules as to the feedback students may receive on drafts of assessed essays vary from one degree course to another. Students who opt to take papers whose parent course is a course other than that which they are following will be bound by the rules of the parent course in respect of that paper in relation to the kinds of feedback they may be given, as well as in relation to modes of assessment and deadlines.

Students taking papers from masters courses in the History of Science, Medicine and Technology and in Economic and Social History may not receive any feedback on drafts of assessed essays.

Students taking papers from the MSt in History and the MPhil in Modern European History may receive feedback on a draft. Guidelines for feedback are:

• that feedback should be provided on one draft only; it is in the student’s interest that this should be a relatively early draft, composed at a point when there is still time to adjust in the light of criticism;
• tutors should aim to comment on the student’s practice in referencing others’ work, on whether citations are provided in correct form etc – insofar as the draft they see is developed enough to allow them to do so effectively, and such points come to their notice;
• that on points of language, style and presentation, written comments may provide exemplary correction of certain kinds of fault, but the tutor should not  correct in writing every instance of a repeated fault.

It is emphasised that the tutor’s role is to help students to improve their work, both in relation to the specific essay under consideration and by means of more general comments that may inform students’ future work. Students however remain fully responsible for all aspects of presentation, for good practice in referencing others’ work (see faculty guidance on plagiarism and in the ‘Instructions to Candidates’), and for the intellectual quality of their work. Students should not expect tutors’ comments to make a radical difference to the standard that they are able to achieve by their own efforts.

 

B.3.4 Good practice in referencing and presentation

Scholarly work should strive to excel in two areas: narrative and analysis should be lucidly structured and documented, and your referencing should ensure that your scholarly integrity is beyond reproach by readily acknowledging where you refer to the ideas of fellow scholars.

To assist you in these aims, the Faculty's Gradaute Office has compiled a booklet of Conventions for the presentation of essays, dissertations, and theses which is intended to complement the General Regulations of the Educational Policy and Standards Committee regarding the printing and binding of work submitted for examination, published in the Examination Regulations.

The Faculty also offers some basic guidance on how to avoid plagiarizing the work of other scholars; this short leaflet on plagiarism is supplemented by more specific guidance in various induction sessions, and has now been further enhanced by the University's guide to good practice in avoiding plagiarism (see http://www.tall.ox.ac.uk/plagiarism); this includes a self-assessment test, freely available to all members of the University.

 

B.3.5 Binding and depositing of master's dissertations and M.Litt. and D.Phil. theses

All dissertations have to be bound. For the M.Sc. and M.St. degrees, hard bindings are not necessary, as these dissertations are not deposited in the Bodleian Library (except in the case of dissertations for the M.St. in History of Art and Visual Culture which are on the recommendation of the examiners deposited in the Sackler Library). All that is required is some sort of binding that makes the dissertation easy for examiners to handle, i.e., that keeps the pages together and allows the dissertation to be opened easily. The cheaper forms of soft binding, such as thermal binding or comb binding, are in most cases perfectly adequate; loose leaves held together by paper clips, however, are certainly not acceptable at all.

One copy of every M.Phil. dissertation and M.Litt. or D.Phil. thesis is deposited in the Bodleian Library after a successful examination. This copy must incorporate all the corrections the examiners may have required, and must be in a permanently fixed binding, drilled and sewn, in a stiff board case in library buckram, in a dark colour, and lettered on the spine with the candidate’s name and initials, the degree, and the year of submission. The library copy is to be handed in (for the attention of the Research Degree Examination Office) at the Examination Schools, High Street, Oxford, OX1 4BG, and must be accompanied by completed and signed consultation (either GSO.3a or GSO.3b) and cataloguing (GSO.26) forms. – You are warned that leave to supplicate is conditional upon delivery of the library copy of your thesis and that you may not proceed to take your degree until this has been done.

B.3.6 eTheses

Students registering from 1st October 2007 and following D.Phil.,M.Litt. and M.Sc. (by Research) programmes must deposit both a print copy of their thesis in the library AND an electronic copy in the Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) (http://ora.ouls.ox.ac.uk).  This development of deposit and, where appropriate, access to a digital copy is in line with activities in other HE institutions in the UK and internationally.

• ORA policy statement (May 2008)
• The national context: Royal Historical Society newsletter (May 2008)