Engage in independent and critical thinking and apply theoretical concepts in the field of international relations.

Research Project in International Relations Summative Assessment Guidelines

Extenuating Circumstances

If you are experiencing unforeseen personal circumstances that are affecting your ability to submit within the stipulated deadlines, you are required to communicate these issues to the Unicaf Extenuating Circumstances team in the first instance, via extenuating.circumstances@unicaf.org, for further information on how to make a personal circumstances application for consideration.

Personal circumstances requests may usually only be made within 5 working days of the original deadline unless valid justification, along with appropriate evidence, exists to show that you could not have reasonably communicated the issues any earlier. 

It is important to keep in mind that if the claim is not upheld and you have not submitted by the deadline, the module shall be failed as a result of no submission of the summative assessments.

Academic Misconduct Including Plagiarism

By submitting your assignments, you acknowledge that you have read and agreed with the above statements. 

General Guidance

Your assignments should be word processed (handwritten assignments are not accepted), using time new roman size 12 font, double spaced, with numbered pages and your student number printed as a footer on every page.

The word limits stated for these assignments excludes the reference list at the end of the assignments but includes all text in the main body of the assignment (including direct quotations, in-text citations, footnotes, tables, diagrams, and graphs).

Please be aware that exceeding the word count limit will affect the academic judgement of the piece of work and may result in the award of lower marks

Appendices are not considered a supplement, and thus, will not be assessed as part of the content of the assignments.

As such, they will not contribute to the marks awarded, however it may be appropriate to use an Appendices section for the final Dissertation, which is a useful reference for the reader.

Please note that appendices are not included in the word count 

Most references should come from primary sources (e.g., journal articles, conference papers, reports, etc.) although you can also utilise area specific textbooks.

In the Dissertation, you must ensure that you use the Harvard style of referencing. Please indicate the word count length at the end of your assignments.

Assessment and Marking 

Your summative assessments consist of two connecting elements: a Literature Review (2,000 word-equivalent), due at the end of Week 12, and a Dissertation (15,000 word-equivalent), due at the end of Week 24.

While each of these two elements will be marked out of 100 points, the weighting for the assessments will be as follows: 15% for the Literature Review and 85% for the Dissertation. 

Please be reminded to strictly submit by the deadline.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE PRIMARY DATA FOR YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT THAT SHOULD BE BASED ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY.

Information about IR theories can be found in the ‘Understanding International Relations’

module that you have been taught.

Learning Outcomes Assessed

The aims of the dissertation are to: 

1. Engage in independent and critical thinking and apply theoretical concepts in the field of international relations.
2. Apply knowledge of recent advances within the field of international relations and situate the proposed work accordingly.
3. Identify, access, and critically evaluate relevant research resources.
4. Present and defend research findings in an appropriate and scholarly manner.
5. Examine an appropriate area of research and modify the project after discussion, reflection, and feedback. 

With regards to learning outcomes, after completing the module the student should be able to:

1. Demonstrate advanced knowledge and understanding in a specialised area relating to international relations.
2. Apply appropriate research methodologies in the completion of the project.
3. Organise relevant material in a logical and coherent manner.
4. Sustain a coherent argument throughout the research project.

It is also important that you make sure that you have applied relevant theoretical frameworks and concepts that help answer the research question.

Please be reminded to strictly submit by the deadline.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE PRIMARY DATA FOR YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT THAT SHOULD BE BASED ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY.

Information about IR theories can be found in the ‘Understanding International Relations’

module that you have been taught.

Assessment Guidelines

Students will be evaluated based on two summative assignments (Weeks 12 and 24). In order to pass this module, they need to achieve an overall minimum grade of 50%.

Assessment 1: Literature Review

Your first assessment for the dissertation module will be a literature review focusing on the main body of academic work in which you will situation your dissertation project. You may submit this review, or part of the review, as part of your final dissertation (this will not be considered self-plagiarism).

This is an important part of the process, as it will give you an opportunity to receive feedback on a crucial portion of your final dissertation project. The literature review allows you to demonstrate not only your capacity for independent research but demonstrates where your project fits within the appropriate academic literature.

There are many resources available on how to execute and structure a literature review, but Library Services can be especially helpful during this time.

Below are the rules for how you will present your dissertation project – please note that this applies to the literature review as well.

Please be reminded to strictly submit by the deadline.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE PRIMARY DATA FOR YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT THAT SHOULD BE BASED ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY.

Information about IR theories can be found in the ‘Understanding International Relations’

module that you have been taught.

Assessment 2: Dissertation 

Presentation of the Dissertation:

• The Dissertation must not exceed 15,000-words.
• Your word count excludes footnotes/endnotes, tables, figures, the bibliography, and any appendices. These are in addition to the 15,000-word limit.
• Your title page must state the number of words of the dissertation.
• All significant quotations of fact and opinion from outside sources must be properly referenced by means of in-text referencing (use Harvard style), footnotes or endnotes. Your referencing must comply with academic convention.
• You must use either Arial or Times New Roman 12.
• The text must be double-spaced.
• Only one-sided A4 printing should be used, and adequate margins should be allowed for binding.
• All pages should be numbered.
• A title page must be included. The title page must display on successive lines Liverpool John Moores University
• School of Humanities and Social Science: Department of History Research Project in International Relations: Module LJMU-7502-IRUIC [Title of Dissertation]

[Author]

[Name of supervisor]

[Month and year of submission] [Number of words]

1. A contents page must follow the title page and list by page number the chapters (with titles), subsections, foreword, acknowledgements, bibliography, appendices, and any other relevant material.
2. Where maps, tables or other diagrammatic material are included they should be numbered clearly and listed separately following the main contents list.
3. The dissertation should be prefaced by an abstract not exceeding 200-words which summarises the contents, main arguments, and principal conclusions.
4. A bibliography must be included showing all sources consulted.

Dissertations that do not conform to the above requirements will lose marks.

Please be reminded to strictly submit by the deadline.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE PRIMARY DATA FOR YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT THAT SHOULD BE BASED ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY.

Information about IR theories can be found in the ‘Understanding International Relations’

module that you have been taught.

Assessment Criteria 

The dissertation will be assessed on the extent to which it has demonstrated achievement of the module’s learning outcomes:

1. Has it demonstrated advanced knowledge and understanding in a specialised area relating to international relations?
2. Has it applied appropriate research methodologies in the completion of the project?
3. Has it organised relevant material in a logical and coherent manner?
4. Has it sustained a coherent argument throughout the research project?

It is also important that you make sure that you have applied relevant theoretical frameworks and concepts that help answer the research question 

Dissertations naturally differ in their orientation and content, but to consider the achievement of the learning outcomes the assessors will ask specific questions in marking the work:

1. Does the dissertation demonstrate in-depth knowledge and understanding of a significant area of International Relations?
2. Does it show elements of originality or novelty in methodology, analysis and/or interpretation?
3. Is the argument clear and logical?
4. Is relevant primary and secondary material presented and assessed critically?
5. Are counterarguments mentioned and debated?
6. Is the text well-written and punctuated correctly?
7. Are both factual material and opinions in the text properly referenced by means of footnotes or endnotes?
8. Is the bibliography comprehensive, accurate and presented according to consistent and clear conventions?
9. Has the text been proofread, and any errors removed?
10. Is the overall presentation well-organised and professional?
11. Is the work the candidate’s own, and not plagiarised?

Your final dissertation will be assessed according to the following criteria:

1. Formulation of research problem.

1. Gathering and analysis of primary and secondary source material.
2. Marshalling of evidence to present a sustained argument.
3. Grammar, spelling and fluency of expression.
4. Referencing (Harvard style) and bibliography.
5. Presentation.

All dissertations are double-marked, and a sample of them is read by an External Examiner.

Structure of Literature Review

The Literature Review should include and cover the following sections, aspects, and contents (as shown and stated in the table below).

The percentage mark allocated to each section/aspect of your work is stated below. 

Please be reminded to strictly submit by the deadline.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE PRIMARY DATA FOR YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT THAT SHOULD BE BASED ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY.