Scope and approval of literature for projects
VOLUME OF REFERENCE LITERATURE
The curriculum and regulations of the programme Communication and Digital Media includes specification of the number of pages of reference literature required in the project report, referred to as the reference literature of the project report.
Reference literature is the literature listed in the reference list or bibliography of the project report. In other words, this is literature which is used in some way in the project report, and which project group members are expected to be able to discuss at the exam.
Requirements regarding reference literature are described under each semester in the curriculum and regulations, and variations will apply between modules.
The definition of a standard page stipulated by the curriculum and regulations also applies to the reference literature (cf. Volume of the project report).
The purpose of stipulating the requirements regarding reference literature is to contribute to aligning expectations between students, supervisors, internal and external examiners.
REFERENCE LITERATURE MUST BE APPROVED BY SUPERVISORS
If reference literature is not approved by the supervisor(s), students will not be able to register for the project exam. This means that it is not sufficient to choose 1000 pages; the quality of the literature must be sufficient, and it must be relevant as regards the examination objectives described in the curriculum and regulations.
It must be pointed out that supervisor-approved literature is no guarantee that the project report will be awarded a high grade, or even a pass grade. Approval by the supervisor only suggests that the supervisor deems the reference literature in question to be sufficient for passing the exam. Your and your group’s studies and processing of the literature, your general problem based project work and the oral exam will still be decisive for the final assessment of your project.
CONDITIONS FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE REFERENCE LITERATURE
As course literature is adapted to the theme and learning objectives of the module, literature included in the module’s teaching activities or the equivalent should always be approvable as part of the reference literature - even as a major part. However, students are also expected to supplement their course literature with research literature on the specific problem area of their project.
When approving literature which is not included in the literature of the project module or any other modules of the semester, the supervisor must ensure that the approved literature is research literature. Research literature may be journal articles or books published by academic publishers following peer review, or which is deemed to be research literature due to its recognition or application in academia.
Books, articles or other sources disseminating research etc. to a lay audience are not approvable as reference literature. However, sources which are not includable in the reference literature may be included as data or examples of work practices or systematics.
Since reference literature must be approved well in time of project submission, students are of course allowed to add more literature during the final phase of their project work - even if this means that the final reference list will exceed 100 pages per ECTS. Literature which has already been approved for the list must only be removed following approval by the supervisor (and with a possible addition of new literature).
Please note that reference literature may also reflect well-considered deselections. If the group’s literature review includes literature which, following concrete assessment, is no longer used in the project, this deselected literature will still be considered part of the volume of reference literature.
PROCEDURE
The procedure for the approval of reference literature must be organised so as to comply with the students’ legal rights and to ensure that supervisors have reasonable working conditions. This means that reasonable deadlines for supervisor approval must be set, and that students must have reasonable time for revising any non-approved reference literature. From the very beginning of the project work period, reference literature should be included as an important theme during supervision. Students must make an effort to submit the best possible basis for approval of their reference literature in their first attempt; this will ensure that no more supervision time is spent on this than absolutely necessary.
If the reference literature in the shape of an approved reference list or a literature review has not been approved, students will not be allowed to submit their project report.