Directive of the Faculty of Economics and Administration, Masaryk University, No. 9/2019
Preparation, Submission, Publication and Evaluation of Bachelor’s, Final and Master’s Theses
in the version effective from 20 October 2021
In accordance with Section 28(1) of Act No. 111/1998 Coll., on Higher Education Institutions and on
Modification and Amendment of Other Acts (Higher Education Act), as later amended (hereinafter
referred to as the “Act”), I issue this Directive:
Section 1
Subject of Regulation
1. This Directive regulates and specifies the procedure of students’ registration of the final
thesis topic and of the final thesis preparation, regulates the procedures of submission,
publication, confidentiality and archiving of the final thesis, its evaluation and prevention of
plagiarism.
2. This Directive applies to students enrolled in Bachelor’s and follow-up Master’s degree
programmes at the Faculty of Economics and Administration, Masaryk University (hereinafter referred
to as “FEA MU”), and to students of all forms of inter-faculty studies who submit and defend the
final thesis at the FEA MU.
3. Students of academic degree programmes prepare the Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis. Students of
career-oriented degree programmes prepare the final thesis. For the purposes of this Directive, all
such theses are referred to as “final theses”.
Section 2
Registration of the Final Thesis Topic
1. The student registers the topic or thematic area of the final thesis in the topic list in the
IS MU within the periods set by the Academic Year Schedule of the FEA MU. At the same time, the
student enrols for the course Bachelor’s Thesis Assignment, Final Thesis Assignment or Master’s
Thesis Assignment.
2. The students chooses the topic or thematic area of the final thesis from the list
corresponding to the programme studied. If prescribed by the FEA MU Course Catalogue, the student
chooses the topic of the final thesis from the list appropriate for the studied specialization or a
group of elective courses.
Section 3
Subject Matter and Structure of the Final Thesis in Academic and Career-Oriented Degree Programmes
1. The recommended scope of a Bachelor’s thesis in academic degree programmes is 35–45 standard
pages (1 standard page = 1800 characters) in the format under Section 4 hereof (appendices not
included); the recommended scope of the Master’s thesis is 60–80 standard pages in the format under
Section 4 hereof (appendices not included). The recommended scope of the thesis is calculated from
the Introduction to the Conclusion.
2. The recommended scope of a Bachelor’s thesis in career-oriented degree programmes is 30–35
standard pages in the format under Section 4 hereof (appendices not included). The recommended
scope of the thesis is calculated from the Introduction to the Conclusion.
3. Regardless of the mode of the degree programme, the final thesis must comprise the following
parts:
· thesis assignment generated from the relevant IS MU application;
· cover identification – see Appendix No. 1;
· title page identification – see Appendix No. 2;
· faculty emblem;
· bibliographic identification including annotation and key words in the language of the thesis
and in English;
· a statutory declaration of the thesis author in the wording: “I declare that this thesis on
has been composed solely by myself under the supervision of
and that I have listed all bibliography and other sources used in accordance with legal
regulations, internal regulations of Masaryk University and internal acts of the management of
Masaryk University and the Faculty of Economics and Administration MU.”
· bibliography;
· list of tables, graphs, figures and charts;
· list of abbreviations (if any) and their explanation;
· list of appendices (if any) and the appendices proper.
4. The final thesis in academic degree programmes also usually contains the following parts,
whose precise content, structure and place in the thesis are determined by the relevant department
within the courses Bachelor’s Thesis / Master’s Thesis Seminar 1 and 2;
· content;
· introduction;
· background and overview of the existing findings regarding the investigated issue with citations
of authors dealing with issues concerned;
· overview of methods used and results achieved so far;
· definition of the main goals and as the case may be, partial objectives of the thesis;
· overview of methods used in the investigation of the thesis;
· text of the thesis, divided into chapters, sections and subsections;
· overview of main findings and as the case may be, partial conclusions;
· conclusions and summary of the thesis results;
· applicability of the findings and identification of the student’s contribution to the issues
investigated.
5. The final thesis in career-oriented degree programmes also usually contains the following
parts, whose precise content, structure and place in the thesis are determined by the relevant
department within the courses Final Thesis Seminar 1 and 2.;
· content;
· introduction;
· formulation of the issue to be investigated;
· definition of the main goals and as the case may be, partial objectives of the thesis;
· definition and discussion of methods for the achievement of results;
· definition of data and information necessary for the investigation;
· text of the thesis, divided into chapters, sections and subsections;
· proposal of concrete feasible measures leading to the solution of a problematic or optimized
situation; their possible implementation and documentation, conclusions and summary of the thesis
results.
Section 4
Final Thesis Format
1. The thesis is written in a serif typeface (e.g. Times New Roman, Cambria, etc.). Data in
tables and captions in graphs may also be written in another typeface including sans-serif (e.g.
Arial). Font size is 11 or 12 points, line spacing from 1.0 to (max.) 1.5. The font size may be
decreased in tables as necessary (e.g. to 10 or 9). A uniform layout must be maintained throughout
the text.
2. The text is aligned with both margins. Pages are numbered in the centre of the bottom of a
page or on the outside edge. The title page, bibliographic identification, declaration,
acknowledgements, and Table of Contents are not numbered but are included in the page order. The
last numbered page is the List of Appendices. The pages of appendices are not numbered and are not
included in the page order.
3. The main chapters, Introduction, Conclusion, Bibliography and List of Appendices begin on a
new page; chapter titles are written on separate lines in font size 16–18 points, in bold, may be
in uppercase letters, and are not followed by a full stop. Abbreviations are not used in chapter
titles. Titles of sections and subsections are written in font size 14 or 12 points, in bold
lowercase letters. Decimal classification is used for the numbering of chapters:
1 Chapter title
1.1 Section
1.1.1 Subsection
4. A new paragraph is separated by another space. If abbreviations are used in the text, they
must be explained in parentheses on the first occurrence.
5. The headings of tables, graphs, figures and charts, including the numbering, are written above
them in the same font size as the text of the thesis, and “Source” is written below the graphical
representation in italics and in a font size smaller than the main text.
6. Final thesis should follow the template at:
https://www.econ.muni.cz/studenti/manual-studenta/zaverecna-prace (in Czech). The LaTeX format
created at the Faculty of Informatics MU is also possible.
Section 5
Final Thesis Submission
1. A student who is the author of the final thesis (hereinafter referred to as the “Student”) may
submit the Bachelor’s thesis only if he/she received credits for the course Bachelor’s Thesis
Seminar 2 in the period concerned; the Student may submit the final thesis if he/she received
credits for the course Final Thesis Seminar 2 in the period concerned; he/she may submit the
Master’s thesis if he/she received credits for the course Master’s Thesis Seminar 2 in the period
concerned.
2. The deadlines for submitting final theses are annually determined by the Academic Year
Schedule of the FEA MU.
3. The Student is obliged to upload the final thesis including all appendices, measured and
obtained data etc. in the electronic version to the IS MU theses archive within the periods set by
the Academic Year Schedule of the FEA MU. The final thesis is considered submitted by the
acceptance of all files uploaded electronically to the IS MU.
4. The submission of the final thesis also includes the creation of its abstract in the relevant
IS MU application. The abstract must clearly and concisely describe the subject matter of the final
thesis, methods used, goal of the thesis and method of its achievement.
Section 6
Final Thesis Acceptance and Check
1. The thesis in the IS MU is accepted by the authorized employee of the relevant department’s
secretariat.
2. The thesis supervisor confirms in the relevant IS MU application that:
a) he/she checked the scope of the thesis parts that will not be published in accordance with the
law, and the date when the whole thesis will be published;
b) he/she verified the readability of the file stored in the IS MU theses archive, using commonly
available software tools;
c) checked the thesis stored in the theses archive, using the IS MU application for the detection
of plagiarism.
Section 7
Final Thesis Archiving and Publication
1. Once a thesis has been uploaded (submitted) to the IS MU, it cannot be manipulated in any way,
even in case it will not or was not defended.
2. A submitted final thesis is considered published.
3. If it is necessary to conceal the identity of a subject who provided his/her own data,
internal information, know-how, etc. for the preparation of the thesis, the identification data of
this subject may be intentionally and substantially changed. It is also possible to multiply the
numerical data by an undisclosed coefficient, to omit details not substantial for the final thesis
etc. in order to conceal the identity of the subject concerned. Where the final thesis is modified
in this way, the fact must be clearly stated in the introduction.
4. Upon a reasoned request of the Student, filed through the IS MU, the thesis supervisor, the
head of the relevant department and vice-deans for studies or vice-dean for internationalization
(in this order of preference) may approve the confidentiality of the final thesis part. Prior to
receiving confidential data and facts from the subject concerned, the Student concludes an
agreement with such a subject, whose binding template forms Appendix No. 3 hereof (the vice-dean
shall not approve the confidentiality request if such an agreement has not been concluded and
uploaded to the IS MU as part of the request). If the request is approved, the Student shall divide
the thesis to the public and non-public parts, which shall be uploaded to the public and non-public
directories of the IS MU theses archive respectively. The non-public part of the final thesis shall
be automatically published in the IS MU after three years since the submission date of the final
thesis. The text of the public and non-public parts may also be modified as provided for in
subsection 3.
Section 8
Final Thesis Evaluation
1. The thesis supervisor prepares a report on the submitted final thesis. The head of the
relevant department proposes to the dean a thesis reviewer who will prepare the other report. The
supervisor’s report is prepared using the official faculty layout; the reviewer’s report is
prepared in the official faculty layout in case the reviewer is a FEA MU employee. In case the
final thesis is subject to confidentiality under Section 7(4), the reviewer shall be a person
employed by the FEA MU or a person who signed a non-disclosure agreement with the FEA MU; the
agreement template forms Appendix No. 4.
2. The report has a mandatory structure and requisites: identification of the Student and the
thesis; opinion on the definition of the goal and its fulfilment; opinion on the structure of the
thesis and the chosen methodology; assessment of formal requirements, especially concerning the
identification of the sources used (citations); specification of reservations, comments and
criticism of the thesis; recommended issues for discussion during the defence; statement on whether
or not the available information indicates plagiarism; proposal for the grading of the final thesis
within the final state examination. Other elements of the report may be determined in accordance
with the practices and needs of the given degree programme. Binding templates of reports for
individual degree programmes form Appendix No. 5 hereof.
3. The report provides a proposal for the final thesis grading within the final state examination
in accordance with the grading scale set forth in the MU Study and Examination Regulations. The
final evaluation of the thesis and its defence is autonomously and definitively decided by the
state examination board; its members take into account the grading proposed by both the reports and
the thesis defence presented by the Student.
4. The reports are prepared by the thesis supervisor and the reviewer in the relevant IS MU
application; if this is not technically feasible, the report is submitted in printed form with own
signature at the relevant department’s secretariat. Both the reports shall be electronically
uploaded in the IS MU theses archive no later than five working days before the defence date. If
the reports have not been drawn up directly in the IS MU application, their electronic versions
shall be uploaded into the IS MU by the supervisor or the reviewer, if a FEA MU employee; reports
of external reviewers shall be uploaded by an employee of the department secretariat or another
employee authorized by the head of the relevant department.
5. The thesis assignment, supervisor’s report and reviewer’s report in printed or electronic form
shall be available to the board during the thesis defence. The printed original shall be available
to the state examination board during the thesis defence. A copy of a confidential final thesis
shall be given by an authorized employee of the department secretariat to the head of the Office
for Studies to be sent to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
Section 9
Prevention of Plagiarism
1. Plagiarism is a wilful disciplinary offence which is defined and decided on in accordance with
the Student Disciplinary Code. Each Student is obliged to ensure that his/her actions do not breach
Act No. 121/2000 Coll., on Copyright, on Rights Related to Copyright and on Amendments to Certain
Acts (the Copyright Act). The interpretation of these regulations using practical examples is
provided in Appendix No. 6 hereof.
2. If the supervisor or reviewer of the final thesis have reasonable grounds to suspect that the
final thesis shows signs of plagiarism, he/she shall promptly file a motion to the faculty dean for
the initiation of disciplinary proceedings and at the same time, inform the head of the relevant
department thereof. The head of the relevant department shall promptly file a motion for the
initiation of disciplinary proceedings in case reasonable suspicion of plagiarism is suggested by
the supervisor’s report of by the report of a reviewer who is not a FEA MU employee.
Section 10
Final and Transitional Provisions
1. This Directive repeals and replaces Dean’s Directive No. 9/2019 of 9 October 2019 in full.
2. This Directive is based on the Masaryk University Study and Examination Regulations, Student
Disciplinary Code and other internal regulations.
3. Final theses assigned before the effective date of this Directive that will be defended in the
academic year 2021/2022 may be submitted in the form and format regulated by the repealed Directive
No. 9/2019 of 9 October 2019.
4. Section 9 hereof shall be reasonably applied to other evaluated student works (seminar papers,
tutored dissertations etc.) and all the other student works originated at the university that are
related to an educational activity carried out at the FEA MU.
5. I authorize the Vice-dean for Full-time Studies to interpret the individual provisions hereof.
6. The compliance with this Directive shall be inspected by heads of departments and the head of
the Office for Studies.
7. This Directive has the following appendices: No. 1 Cover Identification; No. 2 Title Page
Identification; No. 3 Agreement on the Use of Information Provided; No. 4 Reviewer’s
Confidentiality Statement; No. 5 Content of the Final Thesis Report; No. 6 Binding Rules of
Authorship at the FEA MU.
8. This Directive shall enter into effect as of the day of its publication.
Appendices:
No. 1 – Cover Identification
No. 2 – Title Page Identification
No. 3 – Agreement on the Use of Information Provided
No. 4 – Reviewer’s Confidentiality Statement
No. 5 – Content of the Final Thesis Report
No. 6 – Binding Rules of Authorship at the Faculty of Economics and Administration MU
In Brno, on 20 October 2021
Prof. Mgr. Jiří
Špalek, Ph.D. manu propria
Dean
Appendix No. 1: Cover Identification
Masaryk University
Faculty Economics and Administration
BACHELOR’S / FINAL / MASTER’S THESIS
2021 First name SURNAME
Appendix No. 2: Title Page Identification
Faculty of Economics and Administration
Title
>
[Select the thesis type]
SURNAME, FIRST NAME
Supervisor: Supervisor’s first name and surname incl. titles
Department
Programme Select the programme title
>
Brno [Year of submission]
Appendix No. 3: Agreement on the Use of Information Provided
Agreement on the Use of Information Provided
concluded on the below day, month and year under the provisions of Section 1746(2) Act No. 89/2012
Coll., Civil Code,
by and between:
……………………………………………, with its registered office ……………….
represented by .............
company identification No.: ………………………
(hereinafter referred to as the “Provider”) as one party
and
Mr./Ms. ………………….., date of birth …………….., residing at ………………..
as the other party (hereinafter referred to as the “Recipient”)
whereas:
I
Preamble
1. Prior to the execution hereof, the Provider provided to the Recipient information in the
following scope ………………………………………. (hereinafter referred to as the “Information Provided”).
2. The Recipient undertakes to use the Information Provided solely for the purpose of
preparing the Bachelor’s/Final/Master’s thesis on the topic ....................., assigned by
Masaryk University, the Faculty of Economics and Administration.
3. The Provider considers the Information Provided to be its trade secret in accordance with
Section 504 of the Civil Code, where such information is of significant competitive value,
identifiable, measurable and normally unavailable in the relevant circles, is related to the
Provider's scope of activity and the Provider adequately ensures its confidentiality, which is in
his/her interest.
4. The Recipient is entitled to disclose the Information Provided after the lapse of 3 years
since the date of submission of the Bachelor’s/Final/Master’s thesis under Section I(2) hereof
through the Information System of Masaryk University.
II
Subject of Agreement
1. The Provider provides the information free of charge.
2. The Recipient undertakes to protect the Information Provided for the period of
confidentiality under Section I(4) hereof.
3. The Recipient is obliged to treat the Information Provided to the best of his/her knowledge,
fairly, transparently and in accordance with good manners, while protecting the reputation of the
Provider.
4. In particular, the Recipient undertakes to use the Information Provided only for the purpose
stated above.
5. Prior to submitting the Bachelor’s/Final/Master’s thesis, the Recipient undertakes to
present the thesis for the determination of the non-published parts that contain the Provider’s
trade secret. The Provider undertakes to determine those parts of the thesis that contain the
Provider’s trade secret and that are not to be published for that reason. In the event that the
Provider fails to determine the thesis parts containing the Provider’s trade secret, which are not
to be published for that reason within the above period, such parts may be determined by the
Recipient in accordance with the purpose hereof.
6. The Recipient is entitled to use and process the Information Provided and to create
derivative author’s works from it.
III
Final Provisions
1. This Agreement shall become valid and effective as of the day of its execution by both
contracting parties.
2. The Agreement may only be amended by written amendments, numbered in ascending order.
3. The contracting parties declare that they have read this Agreement and that it corresponds
to their true and free will, in witness whereof they affix their signatures.
In Brno on …………………..
………………………………….. ………………………………
Provider
Recipient
Appendix No. 4: Reviewer’s Confidentiality Statement
Confidentiality statement regarding the preparation of the reviewer's report on the final thesis
written by a student of the Faculty of Economics and Administration, Masaryk University
I, the undersigned ........., date of birth .........., (hereinafter referred to as the “Reviewer”)
undertake to maintain confidentiality of all facts and information concerning the data present in
the final thesis .............. (fill in the thesis title + student’s name). The Reviewer
undertakes to maintain confidentiality of the documents and information present in the final thesis
and not to disclose them to third parties without a prior written consent of .................
(fill in the student’s name), which applies to personal data; without a prior written consent of
the provider of information that constitute the trade secret, which applies to such trade secret;
and without a prior written consent of the dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administration MU,
which exercises the copyright to the above thesis.
In Brno on…… signature
Appendix No. 5: Final Thesis Report Templates
A template for final thesis reports in the programmes Economic Policy, Economic Policy and
International Relations, Management of Public Services, Business Management, Regional Development
and Tourism, Regional Development, Public Administration (L’Administration publique), Public
Economics and Administration, and Economics and Management of Non-Profit Organizations, Public
Finance and Economics.
REPORT OF A SUPERVISOR OF THE BACHELOR’S / FINAL / MASTER’S THESIS
REPORT OF A REVIEWER OF THE BACHELOR’S / FINAL / MASTER’S THESIS
I. Author:
Title:
II. Goal of the thesis and its achievement
Opinion on the definition of the goal against the assignment; achievement of the goal
III. Content and approach to the investigation
Commentary on the structure of the thesis and the chosen methodology etc.
IV. Formal requisites and layout
Commentary on formal requisites, in particular form and degree of citations
V. Comments of the thesis
An overview of the most important comments, critique, polemic etc.
VI. Issues recommended to be explained in detail during the defence
1.
2.
VII. Conclusion
Statement that the submitted thesis “XY” meets (with the above reservations) the content and formal
requirements for a thesis, that the supervisor does not consider it plagiarized, nor is he/she
aware that the author has committed plagiarism. Proposal of a grade from A to F is given.
First name and surname (including academic titles) and
signature of the supervisor/reviewer of the final thesis
(external reviewers will state the name
of their home institution)
In Brno on . . . . . .
A template for final thesis reports in the programmes Economics and Mathematical and Statistical
Methods in Economics, Economics, Economics and Public Policy.
REPORT OF A SUPERVISOR OF THE BACHELOR’S / MASTER’S THESIS
REPORT OF A REVIEWER OF THE BACHELOR’S / MASTER’S THESIS
Author: first name and surname (including academic titles)
Thesis title: thesis title
Thesis type: Bachelor’s/Master’s
Programme: programme
Supervisor: first name and surname (including academic titles)
Author of the report: first name and surname (including academic titles; external reviewer
also name of institution) and role (supervisor/reviewer)
I. Goal of the thesis and its achievement
Comment on the goal, its achievement, and focus of the thesis:
II. Literature review
Comment on the literature review:
III. Thesis content and contribution
Comment on three issues: 1) Data used and methods applied 2) Content of the text 3) Evaluate the
contribution of the thesis.
IV. Formal requisites and layout
Comment on formal requisites and layout of the text.
V. Academic integrity
Comment and supply evidence in case the author committed an act of academic dishonesty (plagiarism,
data fabrication etc.). In the opposite case, state that the author did not commit any dishonesty.
VI. Issues recommended to be explained in detail during the defence
Write your questions for the defence.
VII. Conclusion
Summarize the main points and expressly state how they affect your evaluation of the thesis. If
relevant for your evaluation, you can mention the Student’s work in the long run (applies to the
supervisor).
First name and surname (including academic titles) and signature of the supervisor/reviewer of the
final thesis
(external reviewers will state the name
of their home institution)
In Brno on . . . . . .
A template for final thesis reports in the programmes Finance and Finance and Law, Finance (taught
in English).
REPORT OF A SUPERVISOR OF THE BACHELOR’S / MASTER’S THESIS
REPORT OF A REVIEWER OF THE BACHELOR’S / MASTER’S THESIS
I. Author:
Title:
II. Summary evaluation
Criteria for evaluation of the thesis
Grading under the ECTS
Definition of goals, correctness of their formulation, method and degree of their achievement
Quality of the theoretical part (knowledge acquired through study)
Quality of the analytical part (processing of information, documents and input data, methods used)
Professional level of the results and proposals
Assets and practical utilization of the proposal
Work with literature (citations), list of references under ISO 690.
Formal structure and layout (text, graphs, tables), professional language level
III. Total evaluation of the thesis:
Summary of the most important comments, critique, polemic etc.; comment in particular on the points
that received a lower grade.
IV. Issues recommended to be explained in detail during the defence:
1.
2.
Conclusion
Statement that the submitted thesis “XY” meets (with the above reservations) the content and formal
requirements for a thesis, that the supervisor does not consider it plagiarized, nor is he/she
aware that the author has committed plagiarism. Proposal of a grade from A to F is given.
First name and surname (including academic titles) and
signature of the supervisor/reviewer of the final thesis
(external reviewers will state the name
of their home institution)
In Brno on . . . . . .
A template for final thesis reports in the programmes Business Economics and Management and
Business Informatics, Business Management, Business Management and Finance.
REPORT OF A SUPERVISOR OF THE BACHELOR’S / MASTER’S THESIS
REPORT OF A REVIEWER OF THE BACHELOR’S / MASTER’S THESIS
I. Author:
Title:
II. Goal of the thesis and its achievement
Opinion on the definition of the goal against the assignment; achievement of the goal. Formulation
of research questions/hypotheses and their answering/confirming (rejecting).
III. Evaluation of the thesis
A. Theoretical part
Work with literature, quality, structure and scope of the sources used, internal logic of
literature review, correspondence of the theoretical part to the goal of the thesis, author’s
critical approach to theoretical sources, use/absence of foreign-language sources, scholarly
articles etc.
B. Methodological procedure
Adequacy of the methods used to the goal and research questions /hypotheses, method of data
collection and processing.
C. Analytical part
Level of presentation and interpretation of the data obtained, depth of the analyses performed,
correspondence of the practical part with the theoretical one, application of theoretical knowledge
in practice.
D. Results and proposals
Relevance of the submitted proposals with regard to the processed data, variants of the proposals,
economic assessment.
IV. Formal requisites and layout
Adherence to the standard concerning citations, language level, layout, structure of the text, use
of graphics.
VI. Issues recommended to be explained in detail during the defence
1.
2.
VII. Conclusion
Statement that the submitted thesis “XY” meets (with the above reservations) the content and formal
requirements for a thesis, that the supervisor does not consider it plagiarized, nor is he/she
aware that the author has committed plagiarism. Proposal of a grade from A to F. Please do not use
the phrase “recommended / not recommended for defence”.
First name and surname (including academic titles) and signature of the
supervisor/reviewer of the final thesis
(external reviewers will state the name of their
home institution)
In Brno on . . . . . .
A template for final thesis reports in the programme Finance, Accounting and Taxes
REPORT OF A SUPERVISOR OF THE FINAL THESIS
REPORT OF A REVIEWER OF THE FINAL THESIS
I. Author:
Title:
II. Summary evaluation
Criteria for evaluation of the thesis
Grading under the ECTS
Definition of goals, correctness of their formulation, method and degree of their achievement
Adequacy of theoretical aspects and chosen methodology to the analytical part of the thesis
Quality of the analytical part (processing of information, documents and input data)
Professional level of the results and proposals
Assets and practical utilization of the proposal
Work with literature (citations), list of references under ISO 690.
Formal structure and layout (text, graphs, tables), professional language level
III. Total evaluation of the thesis:
Summary of the most important comments, critique, polemic etc.; comment in particular on the points
that received a lower grade.
IV. Issues recommended to be explained in detail during the defence:
1.
2.
Conclusion
Statement that the submitted thesis “XY” meets (with the above reservations) the content and formal
requirements for a thesis, that the supervisor does not consider it plagiarized, nor is he/she
aware that the author has committed plagiarism. Proposal of a grade from A to F. Please do not use
the phrase “recommended / not recommended for defence”.
First name and surname (including academic titles) and signature of the supervisor/reviewer of the
final thesis
(external reviewers will state the name of their home institution)
In Brno on . . . . . .
A template for final thesis reports in the programme Management of Cities and Regions
REPORT OF A SUPERVISOR OF THE FINAL THESIS
REPORT OF A REVIEWER OF THE FINAL THESIS
I. Author:
Title:
II. Summary evaluation
Criteria for evaluation of the thesis
Grading under the ECTS
Definition of goals, correctness of their formulation, method and degree of their achievement
Adequacy of the chosen methodology to the investigation.
Quality of the review of existing approaches to the issue investigated
Professional quality of processing of information, documents and input data (analyses)
Assets and practical utilization of the proposal
Work with literature (citations), list of references under ISO 690.
Formal structure and layout (text, graphs, tables), professional language level
III. Total evaluation of the thesis:
Summary of the most important comments, critique, polemic etc.; comment in particular on the points
that received a lower grade.
IV. Issues recommended to be explained in detail during the defence:
1.
2.
Conclusion
Statement that the submitted thesis “XY” meets (with the above reservations) the content and formal
requirements for a thesis, that the supervisor does not consider it plagiarized, nor is he/she
aware that the author has committed plagiarism. Proposal of a grade from A to F. Please do not use
the phrase “recommended / not recommended for defence”.
First name and surname (including academic titles) and signature of the supervisor/reviewer of the
final thesis
(external reviewers will state the name of their home institution)
In Brno on . . . . . .
A template for final thesis reports in the programme Business Analytics
REPORT OF A SUPERVISOR OF THE FINAL THESIS
REPORT OF A REVIEWER OF THE FINAL THESIS
Author:
Thesis title:
Supervisor:
Author of the report^[1]:
I. Goal of the thesis and its achievement
Comment on the goal of the thesis and its achievement
II. Thesis content and contribution
Comment in particular on:
1. The appropriateness of the text to the business context
2. Dataset description and preparation of the data (provided this is not an
“abstract solution”)
3. Methods/approach chosen
4. Contribution of the thesis (modelling/analytics, interpretation/evaluation of
results, implementation (if applicable), proposal of a new approach to achieve the goal)
III. Work with literature, formal requisites and layout
Comment on the work with literature/sources, formal requisites and layout of the text.
IV. Ethics
Assess whether the data were treated ethically and the thesis was written in accordance with the MU
Code of Ethics.
V. Issues recommended to be explained in detail during the defence
Write your questions for the defence.
VI. Conclusion
Summarize the main points and state how they affect your evaluation of the thesis. If relevant for
your evaluation, you can mention the Student’s work in the long run (applies to the supervisor).
First name and surname (including academic titles) and signature of the supervisor/reviewer of the
final thesis
(external reviewers will state the name of their home institution)
In Brno on . . . . . .
^[1]^ first name and surname (including academic titles; external reviewer also name of
institution) and role (supervisor/reviewer)
Appendix No. 6: Binding Rules of Authorship at the Faculty of Economics and Administration MU
In accordance with the Student Disciplinary Code of the FEA MU, plagiarism is a wilful disciplinary
offence, which is decided on in accordance with the Student Disciplinary Code of the FEA MU.
Plagiarism is understood as “unauthorised imitation or adoption of an artistic or scientific work
without acknowledging the model or author” as defined by Akademický slovník cizích slov (1998)
(Academic Dictionary of Foreign Words), p. 593. In academia and elsewhere, plagiarism also means
hiring someone else to write a thesis or a purchase (loan, theft) of a thesis. Such definition also
corresponds to the handbook Ochrana autorských práv (Copyright Protection), published by the
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the CR (Holcová et al., 2005, pp. 8, 16).
Details of the below rules can be found in learning materials for the courses: ESF:BDX_AKAP
Academic Writing and ESF:BKE_AAOP Academic and Professional Writing, see
https://is.muni.cz/auth/do/econ/sm/akap/index.html. In this appendix, we shall provide basic
principles and brief examples.
Where the source of information need not be attributed
Common knowledge and the author’s findings resulting from his/her investigation, including his/her
own views, attitudes, judgements, measurement results etc. need not be specifically attributed in a
scholarly text. However, in case the author utilizes his/her formerly published texts (e.g. a
Bachelor’s thesis for the purposes of writing a Master’s thesis etc.), such texts must be properly
referenced (self-citation). Repeated publication of the author’s own text is not possible unless
duly referenced.
Where the source of information must be attributed
In all the other cases where the academic author works with information acquired from a third
party, sources must be attributed. The source may be private (e.g. private e-mail correspondence)
or public (published book, published article). The nature of the source determines the manner of
referencing in a scholarly text.
Private sources of borrowed information
Private information is information that has never been published. In the academic context it
includes data provided for research whether self-collected from survey respondents or internal
confidential data of cooperating companies. The source is acknowledged directly at the point of the
text where the borrowed information is used, e.g. expressly in the text (“based on information
provided by XYZ, s.r.o. ...”) or by reference below a table, graph or illustration (e.g. in the
form “Source: author’s own research”, “Source: data of XYZ, s.r.o.” etc.). Bibliographic entries
for private information are not created in the bibliography and other cited sources at the end of
the thesis.
Public sources of borrowed information
This includes all published works regardless of language, territorial origin or whether they were
published in printed, electronic or any other form. An essential attribute of public information is
that the reader of the scholarly text is able to access the sources of the information without the
author’s assistance (e.g. through purchasing the book, internet search, library loan, visiting a
certain place etc.). The range of information that can be borrowed is relatively wide. It includes
any information that is not generally known, e.g. ideas, theories or opinions of other persons,
facts, statistics, graphs, charts, diagrams, direct quotations or paraphrasing another person’s
text or speech, etc.
This group also includes a special set of information represented by official documents. Although,
in the public interest, these are not copyright protected, they must be cited in the same way as
copyrighted documents. Section 3 of Act No. 121/2000 Coll. specifies an official document as a
legal regulation, general measure, public deed, public register and collection of its deeds, as
well as an official draft of an official document and other preparatory official documentation,
including a certified translation of such a work, parliamentary and senate publications,
commemorative municipal books (municipal chronicles), etc.
The source of public information must be attributed through citation. The FEA MU requires adhering
to these binding rules, which are based on ISO 690 standard: Information and documentation –
Guidelines for bibliographic references and citations to information resources.
Citation techniques
A list of references in the form of standardized entries, usually placed at the end of the thesis,
forms an integral part of a scholarly text. Each citation in a scholarly text consists of three
parts: borrowed information with a reference to the reference list entry, and the reference list
entry itself.
1. Borrowed information may be a direct copy of the original information (i.e. a verbatim text, an
identical picture, graph, table etc.) as well as the paraphrasing of the original idea. The
verbatim text is called a quotation, is placed into parentheses in the text and is referred to as a
direct quotation. A reformulated borrowed idea is called a paraphrase, is not specifically marked
in the text and is referred to as an indirect quotation. It is admissible to combine direct and
indirect quoting; however, a reference to the work cited must be present. In case you quote a
translated text whose original is in another language, you point out this fact in a note (own
translation).
2. Reference to the reference list entry is a clear identifier of the work cited. This reference
is placed immediately before or after the quotation or paraphrase in the text and is a key for the
reader, which can be used to find the corresponding reference list entry. The FEA MU usage is to
state the surname of the author together with the year of publication of the cited work (the
Harvard system), e.g. in this case, Novák (2012) defines the gross domestic product as a “sum of
all goods...” (p. 39) etc. In case a more precise location (usually the page number) in the
original document can be specified, such specification is added to the reference (no mater whether
a quotation or a paraphrase); e.g. …there is no rain without droplets ((Mládková, 2015, p. 145), or
e.g. Kornai (2006, p. 437) states that “...”.
3. Reference list entry, also bibliographic entry or bibliographic citation. It is a guide for the
reader on how to access the original cited document as easily as possible and without risk of
confusion. The reference list entry contains such requisites as the title, author, year of
publication, publisher, international identifiers and other relevant information. The order and
format of the entry is given by the relevant citation standard (see below).
If borrowed information is not accompanied with a reference to the reference list entry and/or the
reference list entry proper, it is a case of plagiarism, i.e. presenting someone else’s ideas as
your own. If the original text is substantially reformulated while the main information of the
original text is maintained without attributing the source, this is also deemed plagiarism. It is
not the extent of non-cited information that decides on whether the work is an act of plagiarism; a
single sentence, a few words or a special phrase or expression may also constitute plagiarism.
Plagiarism is also the case where only a part of borrowed information is referenced whereas another
part coming from the same source is not referenced.
Format of reference list entries
ISO 690 specifies the binding order and mandatory elements in the reference list entry depending on
the type of document cited. Scholarly texts most often use the following format (non-mandatory
items are underlined):
* Monographs: Author or authors, year of publication. Title: subtitle. Ancillary title. Edition.
Another creator. Place of publication: Publisher, Edition, Volume, Number. Identifiers. Notes.
* Article in a scholarly journal: Author or authors, year of publication. Article title. Journal
title. Ancillary title. Edition, Year, Number, Pages. Identifiers. Availability and access.
Location. Notes.
* Paper in proceedings or chapter in a book: Author or authors, year of publication. Title of
contribution. In: Editor or editors of the proceedings or book. Title of the proceedings or book.
Ancillary title. Edition. Another creator of the proceedings or book. Place of publication:
Publisher, Edition, Volume, Number, Pages of the contribution. Identifiers. Notes.
Mandatory information is entered if known. Edition need not be entered if it is the 1st edition.
Common identifiers include ISBN, ISSN and DOI.
Citation example
The following example illustrates the expected citation format in academic works created at the FEA
MU. The Harvard style of referencing is used, based on the author’s surname (if possible, written
directly in the text or in parentheses) and year of publication of the cited source (always given
in parentheses immediately after the name or names of the authors). If the cited document has more
authors, it is sufficient to enter the surname of the first one and add “et al.”. Where it is
possible and required by the context, the cited page number is given. Reference list entries are
listed alphabetically in the bibliography.
· Shotola (2001) notes that a distinction needs to be made between primary and secondary
groups.
Forsyth (2013) defines a primary group as “a small, long-lasting group characterized by frequent
interaction, solidarity, and high interdependence among members of that group, which substantially
influences the attitudes, values, and social outcomes of its members” (p. 11, own translation).
However, the team-based learning method is designed for secondary groups and builds on more
challenging group tasks.
Therefore, it is recommended to form groups with 5 to 7 members; for teams with fewer members,
there is a concern that they will not be able to handle the group tasks (cf. Michaelsen and Sweet,
2008, p. 60; Michaelsen et al., 2014, p. 59).
* FORSYTH, Donelson R., 2013. Group dynamics. 6^st edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage
Learning. ISBN 978-1133956532.
* MICHAELSEN, Larry K. and Michael SWEET, 2008. The essential elements of team‐based learning.
New directions for teaching and learning, year 2008, No. 116, pp. 7–27. ISSN 1536-0768. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1002/tl.330
* MICHAELSEN, Larry K., Neil DAVIDSON and Claire Howell MAJOR, 2014. Team-based learning
practices and principles in comparison with cooperative learning and problem-based learning.
Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, year 25, No. 3-4, pp. 57–84. ISSN 1052-4800.
* SHOTOLA, Robert W., 2001. Small groups. In: BORGATTA, Edgar F. and Rhonda J.V. MONTGOMERY
(eds), Encyclopedia of sociology. 2nd edition. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, vol. 4, pp.
2610-2622. ISBN 978-0-02-864853-8.
Citation principles
Besides the above mentioned, the following rules must be observed when citing:
* The manner of referencing the reference list entries as well as the format of the entries must
be consistent throughout the thesis. The Harvard style of referencing is required: references are
entered directly in the text, footnotes are not used for this purpose.
* According to ISO 690, surnames of authors are written in upper-case letters and the name of the
book, journal, proceedings or other main document cited is typed in italics.
* Longer quotations (three and more lines) should be typed in a different font size and/or with
increased left indentation.
* Reference must be made to the version that was cited. If a quotation is borrowed from another
than the primary document, such fact must be pointed out (e.g. in the reference list entry, by
adding “Quoted from” + the bibliographic entry of the document used).
* Each scholarly work requires a substantial personal input of the author (increasing from a
seminar paper to Bachelor’s thesis to Master’s or doctoral) and honouring the principle that
borrowed ideas shall be used to a “reasonable” extent only.
Bibliography
* Akademický slovník cizích slov, 1998. 1st edition. Praha: Academia. ISBN 80-200-0982-5.
* BIERNÁTOVÁ, Olga and Jan SKŮPA, 2011. Bibliografické odkazy a citace dokumentů: dle ČSN ISO 690
(01 0197) platné od 1. dubna 2011 [online]. Available at:
http://www.citace.com/soubory/csniso690-interpretace.pdf
* ČSN ISO 690, 2011. Informace a dokumentace – pravidla pro bibliografické odkazy a citace
informačních zdrojů. Praha: Úřad pro technickou normalizaci.
· HOLCOVÁ, Irena, Veronika KŘESŤANOVÁ and Martin VOBORNÍK, 2005. Ochrana autorských práv:
Informační materiál pro učitele k výuce na základních a středních školách. Praha: Ministerstvo
školství, mládeže a tělovýchovy. Available at: http://www.msmt.cz/file/38411
Other recommended materials:
* BRENNECKE Patricia, 2012. Academic Integrity at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: A
Handbook for Students [online]. Massachusetts: MIT. Available at:
http://web.mit.edu/academicintegrity/handbook/handbook.pdf
· ČERNIKOVSKÝ, Petr, Tomáš FOLTÝNEK, Josef FONTANA, Zuzana GOJNÁ, Dita HENEK DLABOLOVÁ,
Tomáš HOLEČEK, Jan HRADECKÝ, Irena KOZMANOVÁ, Jan MACH, Radka ŘÍMANOVÁ, Klára TESAŘÍKOVÁ ČERMÁKOVÁ,
Adriana VÁLOVÁ, František VOREL and Helena VORLOVÁ, 2020. Jak se vyhnout plagiátorství: Příručka
pro studenty. Praha: Univerzita Karlova, Nakladatelství Karolinum. ISBN 978-80-246-4790-6.
Available at: https://www.akademickaetika.cz/prirucka-pro-studenty/