<div class="d-highlight"><h2>Reference system changed at the beginning of 2025</h2>TAMK has switched to a reference system based on APA 7 style. Students who started their studies in January 2025 will follow the new guidelines. Those who started before 2025 can follow the old guidelines, copied in pdf format.</div><h2>For students who started before 2025</h2><figure role="group"><div class="embedded-file"><svg height="25" width="25" aria-hidden="true" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><polygon points="22 18 22 20 2 20 2 18 0 18 0 20 0 22 2 22 22 22 24 22 24 20 24 18 22 18"></polygon><polygon points="12 18 18.55 11.46 17.09 10 13 14.09 13 2 11 2 11 14.09 6.91 10 5.46 11.46 12 18"></polygon></svg>Download<a href="https://content-webapi.tuni.fi/proxy/public/2025-01/kirjallisen-raportoinnin-opas-b-kieliasu-rakenne-ja-liitteet-en-tamk.pdf">Report Guide: B) Report layout, structure and appendices (for students who started before 2025) (PDF, 1.11 MB) </a></div></figure><h2>For students who started in 2025 or later</h2>Guidelines are given below on the details of the linguistic style and structure of the thesis.

In thesis writing, it is important for the text to be clear and understandable for the reader. The writer needs to pay attention to the basics of writing: paragraphs, sentence and clause structuring, word choices, as well as spelling and style. The writing should be in a formal style, which means consistency, clarity, cohesion, and conciseness. The writer should avoid using worn metaphors or trendy expressions. The style is good when as little attention as possible is paid to the language and the reader gets the information as unambiguously and accurately as possible.Present tense is used, for example<ul><li>In the introduction, when describing the aims and purpose of the thesis</li><li>When describing the contents of the thesis</li><li>When defining and explaining concepts</li><li>When referring to tables, images and graphs</li><li>In conclusions and development suggestions</li></ul>Past tense is used<ul><li>When referring to prior research</li><li>When describing the material gathering, implementation and analysis</li><li>When describing the process done in a practice-based thesis</li><li>When reporting results&nbsp;</li></ul>Present perfect is used if what has been done has continued until now and/or is still relevant.

Language

There is a ready <a href="https://intra.tuni.fi/en/handbook/4646/4653/17695?page=28674">thesis template</a>. There are separate instructions on how to add text from another file into the template.

Text in a nutshell:

<ul>
	<li>Font type is Arial</li>
	<li>Font size is 12</li>
	<li>Spacing is 1,5</li>
	<li>Margins are 4 on the left, 2 on the right, 2 at the top and bottom edge</li>
	<li>Both sides are aligned</li>
</ul>

Page layout

The paragraph structures the text conceptually and visually: from one paragraph to another – from one idea, viewpoint to another. A paragraph has to include an issue or idea entity. In fluent texts, the writer expresses how the new paragraph relates to the previous one. Each paragraph has to include a minimum of two sentences. From the viewpoint of readability, the recommended paragraph length is 5-15 lines.In the thesis, blank lines are used to demonstrate the division into paragraphs. Chapters consist of a minimum of two paragraph of text, a mixture of text, tables, lists or figures, but not tables, lists or figures without text. If the chapter uses subchapters, all the text is written under the subchapter headings.If the author wishes to highlight a word or a concept, it can be written in bold when it first appears in the text. Emphasis should be used with consideration and consistency.

Paragraph and division into paragraphs

There is no blank line between the introductory sentence and list items.Gardner (1991, pp.41–43) divided intelligence into seven types which are(no colon because the sentence continues)<ul><li>linguistic (no commas after the list items)</li><li>logical-mathematical</li><li>spatial</li><li>bodily-kinaesthetic</li><li>musical</li><li>intrapersonal, ability to understand oneself (no and-word)</li><li>interpersonal, ability to understand others. (full stop at the end)</li></ul>Richert (1991, p.75) suggests based on clinical experience that individuals develop one of four solutions against external demands and pressure: they react by(no colon because the sentence continues, uniform list items)<ul><li>adapting to others’ expectations</li><li>withdrawing from pressure</li><li>abandoning expectations, rebelling</li><li>exceeding expectations. (full stop at the end)</li></ul>Dunderfelt (2009, pp.90–91) classifies the following feeling-related dimensions: (colon)<ul><li>feeling = experience of something</li><li>emotion = feeling-related interpretation</li><li>feeling-related speech and other behaviour</li><li>physiological basis for feeling</li><li>experiential and bodily feel.</li></ul>When people tell about their flow experiences, they often say as follows:(colon; list items are independent sentences)<ul><li>The experience is possible when activity can be completed from the beginning to the end.</li><li>Activity calls for perfect concentration.</li><li>Activity has objectives.</li><li>Feedback is given on activity.</li><li>Everything happens as by itself without worrying.</li><li>The individual feels she is in control all the time. Self-awareness disappears but returns clearer than ever after the process.</li><li>Perception of time disappears: minutes become hours and hours become minutes. (Uusikylä 2012, p.127.)</li></ul>

Lists

Use of direct quotations should be carefully considered.&nbsp;According to Hirsjärvi et al, (2009, p. 341) it is justified to use direct quotations when it is not possible or meaningful to paraphrase the information, in other words<ul><li>if the matter has been expressed so concisely and persuasively in the original text that it would lose its accuracy or even become distorted when paraphrased</li><li>the author wants to comment, contradict or analyse the thoughts.</li></ul>Direct quotations that are max 3 rows in length, are written exactly as in the original text and inside quotation marks. If the direct quotation is more than 3 rows in length, it is indented by one tabulation (=2,3 cm) and written with the line spacing of 1. Unlike interview citations, it is not put in italics and no quotation marks are used: the indentation itself indicates that this is a quotation. An empty space is placed before and after such quotation.For example:One of the biggest challenges in university level education is getting teachers to relinquish their older methods of teaching (Adam, et al, 2023, p. 9). Instead, the students should spend more time being active participants, both in the classroom and in the online environment.What if students used most of the lesson time to discuss topics that interest them, for which they take responsibility, and the teacher would ask questions, encourage discussion and explore the topic, which could become a diploma thesis and finally a professional work. &nbsp;Sounds idealistic? We are of the opinion that involving students in the education process is crucial. &nbsp;One of the successful methods is coaching. (Adam, et al, 2023, p. 9). THIS PARAGRAPH IS INDENTED BY ONE TABULATION AND HAS LINE SPACING OF 1!Direct quotations from research material are indented by one tabulator and written in italics. If the text contains many quotations from many different informants (e.g. interviewees or survey respondents), quotation marks may be used for clarification.A translation made by the author is not a direct quotation, and thus quotation marks are not used in connection with translations.For more information about using direct quotations, see the page <a href="https://intra.tuni.fi/en/handbook/4646/4653/17695?page=25103">References in text</a>. For more information on how to list interviews into references, see the page <a href="https://intra.tuni.fi/en/handbook/4646/4653/17695?page=25105">List of references.</a>

Direct quotations and citations to the materials

A good title tells the reader the topic and the chosen viewpoint.The headings used in the text should describe the content of the chapter precisely and concisely. Note that each heading can only be used once in the text. Parallel headings should also be similar to each other. There is no full stop at the end of the headings.Main words of the headings are written with initial letters capitalised. The initial letters of most prepositions, articles etc. are not capitalised. As a general rule, any word 4 letters or longer is written with a capital first letter (Plan, Engineering, With, Beyond etc.) - even if it is a preposition. Any shorter articles and prepositions are written with a small first letter (a, the, on, in, for etc.) - unless of course it is the first word of the heading, then it is capitalised. The exception to this rule are pronouns (Your, They etc.), which are always written with a capital first letter in titles.Hierarchical numbering is used in front of headings. The numbers are used to highlight the relationship of matters within the chapter. For example, the subheadings to the main heading need to be equal in concept or significance, and to create a natural analogue.If a main chapter has subchapters of the same level, there must be at least two of them. There can be three heading&nbsp;levels at the most, namely the main heading (e.g. 2), subheading (e.g. 2.1) and subheading subordinated to it (e.g. 2.1.1.)It is possible to use paragraph headings in small text parts in the body text. The paragraph headings are bolded, and the text begins on the following line.For example:Language of the abstract The abstract should be written in a neutral, declaratory style, passive voice, unless the topic of the thesis demands otherwise. Past tense is used when describing the contents of the thesis. The present tense is, however, used with universally valid results or conclusions. The abstract is a consistently structured and concise description of the thesis but does not list the research questions.Abstract tenses The abstract should mainly be written in the past tense. The present tense is however used when it is a question of universally valid results or conclusions.The paragraph headings are not included in the table of contents. They should be used sparingly. Sometimes emphasizing the key word in the main text is sufficient.

Headings

The introduction is the first chapter of the work, and its purpose is to make the reader interested and give preliminary information on the discussed theme. The introduction presents the background, purpose, objective and subject definition of the thesis.

The discussion part of the thesis can be titled DISCUSSION or CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION. Its purpose is to summarize the thesis: it draws the results together and discusses them in relation to the theoretical bases of the thesis. Reliability and ethical viewpoints related to the thesis are also considered in the discussion, if not done before. In addition, it is evaluated if the work was successful, (potential) development suggestions are presented to the client of the work or target group based on the results, and (potential) further research topics are presented. The discussion part works as a pair for the introduction: it should answer the questions set in the introduction.

Introduction and discussion

Thesis appendices&nbsp;are materials that cannot be included into the actual text, such as interview&nbsp;forms, maps, drawings, cost estimates, and charts.Every appendix has to be referred to in the text. Appendices are numbered consecutively in the order they are referred to in the text. Appendices must have a heading&nbsp;and source marking if the appendix material has not been made by the author.If the appendix is longer than a page, the pages of the appendix are numbered. For example, if an appedix consists of three pages, the right upper edge of the first page is to have the marking 1 (3), the second page 2 (3) and the last one 3 (3). The marking (continues) is written on the right lower edge of the first appendix page. All appendix pages are counted into the page numbering. As all heading&nbsp;lines are automatically included in the table&nbsp;of contents&nbsp;in the thesis template, the first page number of multi-page appendices&nbsp;can be moved one line lower in order to avoid it being included in the table of contents.

Appendices

Make files accessible. The most important thing to remember is to pay attention to the accessibility early on when creating a document.<a href="https://intra.tuni.fi/en/handbook?page=8494">Accessible files</a><a href="https://intra.tuni.fi/en/handbook?page=14030">Alternative text for images</a><a href="https://libguides.tuni.fi/theses">Library's instructions</a>

Report Guide: B) Report layout, structure and appendices

Reference system changed at the beginning of 2025

For students who started before 2025

For students who started in 2025 or later

OpenLanguage

OpenPage layout

OpenParagraph and division into paragraphs

OpenLists

OpenDirect quotations and citations to the materials

OpenHeadings

OpenIntroduction and discussion

OpenAppendices

OpenAccessibility