Writing Guidelines for the Master's Thesis Report

Master's Thesis Report

General Writing Aspects:

• The thesis must be written in an impersonal style (the first person should not be used) and drafted in the language of instruction.

• The main text must be typed using Times New Roman font, Regular, size 12pt, justified alignment, line spacing 1.5, font color Black, and with the following page margins (without borders or headers): right (Right) – 10 mm; top (Top) – 20 mm; left and bottom (Left, Bottom) – 20 mm.

• Chapters and subchapters must be numbered using Arabic numerals, except for the introductory chapter and the conclusions (the word "Chapter" should not be written and no period after the number). Example: 1, 2, 3, etc., or 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc., or 1.1.1, 1.1.2 (up to the third level of numbering is accepted).

• Source code must be edited using Courier New font, size 10pt, with line spacing 1.0. If the source code occupies more than 50% of the page, it must be included in an appendix, and a reference to it should be made in the main text.

• Abbreviations and words not belonging to the language of instruction (e.g., English terms) used in the context must be listed in the "List of Abbreviations and Definitions." This list must be placed before the introduction and included in the table of contents.

• Each chapter title must begin on a new page, written in uppercase letters, using Times New Roman, Bold, Center alignment, 13pt font size.

• Each subchapter title must be written using Times New Roman, Bold, 12pt font size, left-aligned.

• Chapter and subchapter titles must not be placed at the end of a page.

• Within paragraphs, the text must be justified between the left and right margins.

• The first line of each paragraph must have an indentation of 1.25 cm.

• The distance between the chapter title and the main text must not exceed one line spacing.

• The volume of a subchapter must be at least one full page.

• Page numbering must be placed at the bottom center of each page, without a period. The title page and all preliminary pages up to the Introduction are included in the page count but should not display the page number.

• It is recommended that theoretical content does not exceed 40% of the total number of pages.

• Printing must be done on A4 format paper, single-sided (front page only) for bachelor's/master's theses; for other types of papers, double-sided printing is accepted.

• The thesis must be spiral-bound (euro-binding), in a single copy for the bachelor's thesis, the practice report, and the yearly project (optional binding for these). Laboratory reports do not require binding. 

A simple and clear language must be used. Information should be communicated directly and intelligibly, in a logical and coherent structure. The thesis must fully reflect the author's own work. All bibliographic sources used must be listed in the bibliography and properly referenced within the text.

Enumeration Rules in the Master's Thesis Report

If the text contains simple enumerations, they must be marked with a dash (-), starting with a lowercase letter, ending with a semicolon (;), and ending the last item with a period (.).

Example:

   - one;

   - two;

   - three.

If the enumeration is referenced within the text, it must be numbered using lowercase Latin letters (a, b, c) followed by a closing parenthesis.

If the text includes multiple levels of enumeration, the first level should be marked with lowercase Latin letters (a), (b), (c), and subordinate enumerations should be numbered using Arabic numerals (1), (2), etc. Further subdivisions should be marked again with dashes (-).

Example:

 a) ______________;

 b) ______________;

     1) ______________;

     2) ______________;

         - ______________;

         - ______________;

    3) ______________;

 c) ______________.

No other symbols are allowed for enumeration.

Each enumeration item must consist of no more than one sentence.

Figures in the Master's Thesis Report

In the Master's Thesis Report, figures must be numbered sequentially within each chapter. The first digit indicates the chapter number, and the second digit represents the figure’s order within that chapter, for example, "Figure 1.1". The word "Figure", along with its number and title, must be centered on the page, written in bold font, and without a period at the end.

If a figure occupies more than 75% of the page, it must be included in an appendix, with a reference made to it within the main text. Figures may be arranged in landscape format if necessary, provided they are listed in the Appendix and properly referenced in the main text.

Every figure must be referenced in the body of the text, and the figure must be placed immediately after its first mention.

Example:
According to figure 1.1, ...

Figure 1.1 – Centered placement of the figure (figure caption)

According to the subchapters, figures are not renumbered separately.

Figure captions must not be placed at the end of a page.

If a fugure occupies more than 75% of the page, it must be included in an appendix, and a reference to it must be made in the main text.

Tables

Tables must be numbered sequentially within each chapter. The first digit indicates the chapter number, and the second digit represents the table’s order number within that chapter, for example, "Table 1.1."
The titles of tables must be written above the tables, aligned to the right. The text inside the tables must be typed using a font size of 11pt with single line spacing.

Tables may be arranged in landscape format if necessary, provided that they are listed in the Appendix and referenced properly within the main text.
All tables must be referenced in the text, and each table must be placed immediately after its first mention.

Example:
According to the data in table 1.1, it is recommended that...

When a table continues onto the next page, the table title must be repeated on the right side, and the indication "Continuation of Table 1.1" must also be written on the right side above the continued table.

Example:

Continuation of table 1.1

If a table is divided across two or more pages, the table's column headings must be repeated on each page.
Table titles must not be placed at the bottom of a page.

According to the subchapters, tables are not separately renumbered.
If a table occupies more than 75% of the page, it must be included in an appendix, and a reference to it must be made in the main text.

Formulas

Formulas must be numbered with Arabic numerals in sequential order within each chapter. The first digit indicates the chapter number, and the second digit represents the formula’s order within that chapter. Formulas must be centered, and their numbering must be placed at the end of the formula line, aligned to the right.

Explanations of the symbols and coefficients used in the formulas must be presented below the formula, in the same order as they appear within the formula.

All formulas must be referenced in the text, and each formula must be placed immediately after its first mention.

Example:
According to formula (1.1), the calculation is performed as follows:

 Ax + B = C       (1.1)

The bibliography

The bibliography contains the list of all information sources used by the author in the development of the master's thesis.
The credibility of a thesis is closely linked to the quality of the bibliographic references, which reflect how well-informed and knowledgeable the author is regarding the relevance and necessity of the presented work.
Thus, a thesis will demonstrate high credibility if it is based on real and authentic references, with a significant proportion of scientific articles.

It is recommended that the bibliography list consist of 15 to 30 titles, with 80% of the sources belonging to the first two categories, and it should include:

• books and monographs;

• proceedings of specialized conferences;

• articles from scientific journals;

• doctoral theses, public reports;

• standards, norms, user guides;

• web pages;

• internal reports, etc.

The rules and examples for presenting bibliographic references and citing information resources must follow the SM ISO 690:2012 standard — Information and documentation. Rules for the presentation of bibliographic references and citation of information resources, approved by the Institute for Standardization of Moldova.

Bibliographic references must be presented in a numerical sequence, corresponding to the order of citations in the text.
Citations, consisting of the short form of the reference inserted in the text within square brackets, allow for the identification of the source publication from which the quotation or idea was extracted, and the localization within the original source.

Numbers, presented as indices within square brackets and inserted in the text, refer to documents in the order in which they are first cited. Subsequent citations of the same source must use the same number as the initial citation.
If only specific parts of a document are cited, the page number should be indicated after the citation number, for example [8, p. 231].

The bibliography in the thesis must be compiled using the Zotero application, specifically in the IEEE citation style.

GUIDE FOR USING ZOTERO

Annexes

Annexes must be referenced within the main text of the project or thesis and presented in ascending order (for example, Annex A, Annex B, etc.).
Each annex must begin on a new page and must have a title, stated below the word "Annex", centered on the page.

Formulas, tables, and figures included in the annexes must be numbered by taking into account the annex designation, for example, Figure A1 or Table A1.

If an annex contains only a single figure or a single table, the title of the annex may coincide with the title of the figure or the table.

Example:

Annex A

Title of the annex

                                                                                             Table A.1 – Table title

Annex B

Title of the annex

Figure B.1 – Figure title