Methodological requirements

During studies in Vilnius University, Institute of International Relations and Political Science students have to prepare various types of written assignments: essays, research papers, and final thesis.

ESSAY is a paper of a descriptive-analytical kind, fitting the requirements of a scientific work. Its aim is to form analytical skills and reassert the knowledge gained throughout the course. The course syllabus should state whether students are required to write an essay or not. The scope and deadline of submitting an essay are set by a course instructor. The grade of an essay forms a part of the overall evaluation of student’s performance in a given course.

TERM PAPER should fit the requirements of a scientific paper, reveal analytical skills and abilities. Its aim is to apply knowledge acquired in various courses and deepen research skills. The course syllabus should state whether students are required to write an essay or not. The scope and deadline of submitting a term paper are set by a course instructor. The grade of a term paper forms a part of the overall evaluation of student’s performance in a given course.

BACHELOR’S THESIS is a final research paper that meets the requirements for analytical research papers at the main university studies. The length of the thesis shall be 80-90 thousand characters with spaces (footnotes are not included). The average number of hours of student work required to complete the thesis is about 910 working hours, or 35 ECTS credits (10 of which are for the BA thesis seminars). The preparation of the bachelor’s thesis is supervised by a thesis supervisor, with whom the student consults individually to coordinate the schedule for the thesis and to discuss any issues arising during the preparation of the thesis. The activities for the preparation of the thesis are organised during the bachelor’s thesis seminars. After fulfilling the requirements of the study program  and successfully defending a thesis, a student is awarded a Bachelor’s degree.

MASTER’S THESIS – is a a final research paper that meets the requirements for analytical research papers at the main university studies. The length of the thesis shall be 100-120 thousand characters with spaces (footnotes are not included). Preparation is considered to take 810-950 working hours and equals 30 ECTS (10 of which are for the MA thesis seminars). Master’s thesis is prepared under a tutor’s supervision, individual consultations and during Master’s seminars. After fulfilling the requirements of a study program and successfully defending a thesis a student is awarded with a Master’s degree.

Written assignments are prepared in accordance with research ethics, taking into account the potential risks of the research to the participants. In general, the risks to the research participant should be minimal. Minimal risk is the level of risk to which the participant is exposed in everyday life. If a participant is exposed to more than minimal risk as a result of his/her participation in the study (e.g. due to negative emotions, stress, etc.), it is necessary to consult with the thesis supervisor about the expediency of the research.

When collecting data, other aspects of research ethics must also be taken into account.
First, every research participant must be informed — in a language they understand — about the purpose, duration, and procedures of the study; the right to refuse participation or withdraw at any stage; any potential discomfort, risks, or other factors that could discourage participation; the expected benefits of the research; how confidentiality will be ensured; and who to contact in case of questions. If necessary, consent may be obtained in writing (Annex 7), in which case the researcher’s full name and contact details must be included. A written consent form is not required if the participant’s involvement poses no more than minimal risk, if the participant’s identity will not be disclosed, or if the study involves observation under natural conditions, anonymous surveys, and the participants’ responses do not endanger their safety, employment status, reputation, or similar interests.

Each participant has the right to refuse participation at any stage of the study or to prohibit the use of data already collected. The researcher must not exert pressure or otherwise force participation. Participants must be treated with respect and integrity, and any quotations must be presented accurately, without distorting the meaning.

Confidentiality must be guaranteed upon the participant’s request. The identity of research participants must not be disclosed to third parties or exposed in any way that could lead to their identification. Confidentiality must be ensured not only during data collection but also during the archiving and storage of data on electronic devices.

Research ethics must also be respected when presenting study results. All results must be published honestly. Confidentiality toward research participants must be maintained. To avoid the risk of participant identification, pseudonyms or initials should be used, and other identifying information must be coded. If there remains a risk of identification, participants have the right to prohibit the publication of their data.

The research must be prepared in accordance with the Rules of Vilnius University on the Processing of Personal Data for the Purposes of Scientific Research.

General structure of written assignments includes:

A title and Bachelor’s/Master’s thesis cover page (see Annex 1).

A bibliographical entry, which is required for Bachelor’s/Master’s theses (see Annex 2).

The Table of Contents/Index lists the chapters, sub-chapters, sections and subsections of the thesis. Numbered in Arabic numerals. Each subsection must be preceded by a chapter or sub-chapter number, which precedes the number of the subsection and is separated by a full stop. The introduction, summary, conclusions, annexes, list of sources and references shall not be numbered.

The Introduction justifies the relevance of the topic, provides a literature review assessing the extent to which the topic has been addressed in the scientific literature, identifies the problem/question/puzzle the paper aims to address, the aim, presents the objectives, and describes the methodology and research methods used. It may also present hypotheses (if appropriate) or defensible claims.

The Research part describes the theoretical and/or analytical framework applied in the thesis and presents the concrete results of the research. This structural part must have chapters, which may be divided into subsections, paragraphs and sub-paragraphs. Every chapter should end with a short conclusion.

The Conclusions (and proposals) contain the main findings, recommendations and suggestions of the work. This part of the bachelor’s/master’s thesis assesses the (theoretical and empirical) significance of the thesis and suggests questions for future research. This part does not need to repeat the results of the individual chapters and sub-chapters, but it is necessary to assess the adequacy of the theoretical basis of the analysis and to confirm or refute the hypotheses of the thesis (if any).

The List of Sources and References contains bibliographical descriptions of the sources and references used, in accordance with the rules for bibliographical descriptions of documents.

Declaration of Artificial Intelligence Usage is a self-reflection form, disclosing the manner of using AI for the written work (see Annex 3).

Appendices contain additional information (e.g. statistics used, results of sociological studies, questionnaires, tables, figures, maps, transcribed interviews (at least summaries of interviews must be provided), etc.). Appendices follow the list of references. The characters of the appendices do not count towards the total thesis character count.

The Summary in English is only required for bachelor’s/master’s theses. It is limited to 5000 characters. This part should include the title of the bachelor’s or master’s thesis, the subject, the research problem, the aims, objectives, research questions and hypotheses, and the main conclusions, recommendations and proposals; it should also assess the significance of the work. If the thesis is written in English, the summary should be written in Lithuanian (international students whose mother tongue is not Lithuanian do not need to submit a summary in Lithuanian).

General requirements for the presentation of written work:

1. In-text citations and references must be properly formatted according to the rules of bibliographic description. The requirements for the formatting of citations and references are given in Annex 4.
2. The written work must be written in a grammatically correct scientific language, without proofreading errors.
3. The text must be written on the computer (left margin 30 mm; right margin 10 mm; top and bottom margins 20 mm each; alignment must be double-sided; each paragraph must be indented 10 mm from the left edge of the page), in 12-point Times New Roman font, with 1,5 line spacing between lines, and with single spaces between words in the text. The standard system font (Computer Modern) with the citation style ‘verbose-ibid’ is allowed for LaTeX users. Handwritten submissions are not accepted.
4. Each table and figure must be accompanied by its author and source (if applicable). If the table or figure was drawn up by the author, a reference to the literature and sources on which the illustrations are based must be included. For all tables and figures without references, the author of the written work shall be deemed to be the author. When numbering tables/figures, the following should be used: Table/figure 1, Table/figure 2, Table/figure 3, etc. If there is only one table or figure in the text, the number is still written.
5. The text should be printed on A4 form of paper pages.

Written assignments – essays and term papers are to be prepared during a semester, under the supervision of a lecturer. Topics should be chosen through consultations with a lecturer, who can also ask to present essays orally or defend them in public. Consultations and presentations of the essay/term paper during the seminars are also possible. Deadlines of submitting written assignments are set by course instructors and must be met precisely.

Procedure for Preparing Bachelor’s Theses

Students choose their bachelor’s thesis supervisor in the 6th semester. The VU TSPMI administration announces available places by May 1st, and students inform the lecturer coordinating the bachelor’s thesis seminars by June 1^st after agreeing on supervision with their supervisor. Students choose the topic of their bachelor’s thesis themselves and coordinate it with their potential supervisor.

By October 21 of the 7th semester, students must upload to the virtual learning environment, along with the supervisor’s confirmation, a review of the selected academic literature (indicating the bachelor’s thesis topic and supervisor). At the end of the review, a preliminary bachelor’s thesis problem must be formulated (3–4 pages).

By December 19, students must submit a project on the chosen topic (4-6 pages), along with confirmation of the supervisor’s acceptance of the project. The project must be prepared in accordance with the requirements set out in . Lecturers coordinating bachelor’s thesis seminars evaluate the submitted research projects and provide comments and recommendations. Lecturers of the bachelor’s thesis seminar evaluate the projects. The topics specified in the research projects are then approved by the bachelor’s study program committee. If the bachelor’s thesis research project is not approved, the student shall submit a new project by February 1, taking into account the comments provided. The title of the bachelor’s thesis specified in the approved research project may be changed at the student’s request on May 1.

Students returning from academic leave or suspension of studies who have completely changed the topic of their final thesis must submit the new topic to the chair of the bachelor’s study program committee within the first two weeks of the semester.

Preparation order of Master’s theses

Master’s theses are prepared under a tutor’s supervision and participation in Master’s

seminars. The goal of Master’s seminars is to develop students’ research skills and provide assistance in their preparation of Master’s theses. To achieve these goals, students’ work in Master’s seminars comprises of individual research work, working with a tutor as well as in a group of students and lecturers throughout the second and third semesters of Master’s studies.

Master’s seminars are organised weekly, and led by the instructor of the Master’s seminar, who gives and evaluates assignments, aiding students to develop their thesis.

The requirements for Master’s seminars (EERS)

During Master’s seminars a student must:

1) choose a tutor, he or she might have (if needed) a consultant as well;

2) choose a research topic;

3) Until the 1st December inform the tutor of Master‘s seminars about the choices;

4) Topics are discussed in the studies committees and approved by the director of the institute. If the topic has been rejected, a student must provide new one by the 25th of January taking into consideration the comments that were made;

5) Provide the review of the literature about the chosen object (pointing out the research problems of the main works, questions, the theoretical basics of the analysis, the conclusions, etc.);

6) Master’s students have to determine the main problem of their research work, evaluate its originality and relevance (for science, society or a target group) on the base of the conducted literature review (having identified unexplored problems, the gaps of other authors, etc.).

7) The approved title of a Master’s thesis following the request of the student can be corrected until the 1st of December in the third semester;

8) In case student want to change the research topic, he or she has to write a request to the Institute‘s director and studies committee. It has to be signed by the tutor of the research project.

To facilitate this, Master’s seminars during the first semester of studies will cover topics of developing a research design, using appropriate research methods and adhering to the Methodical Requirements.

The final versions of VU TSPMI students’ coursework and semester papers are accepted according to the schedule and conditions set by the course lecturers. During the first two weeks of each semester, course lecturers set the date for the submission of written work and inform the students. Student internship reports shall be submitted by January 7th, and bachelor’s and master’s theses shall be submitted by May 15th. For students enrolled in a 1.5-year master’s program, master’s theses shall be submitted by January 10th. If the specified dates are non-working days, the deadline for submitting written assignments is the first working day following the specified date. At the request of students, written assignments may be submitted earlier than the specified deadline, but no earlier than one week before the specified submission date.

Written assignments are uploaded to the Vilnius University Virtual Learning Environment, unless otherwise specified by the lecturer.

Written assignments that lecturers specify to be submitted in paper format are accepted on the specified days from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., on Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. (lunch break from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.). Final Bachelor’s and Master’s theses are submitted in rooms 201 and 205. The submission of the thesis shall be recorded in the VU TSPMI student thesis submission register. [1] This register must be signed by the administrative staff member who accepted the thesis and the student who submitted it.

Students who fail to submit their theses by the specified time without a valid reason will not be accepted. Valid reasons include illness of the student (if the student was ill on the day of submission of the written work) or was on a trip which was approved by the Institute. Students who miss the deadline for submitting written work for valid reasons must submit their written work and a document proving the valid reason (medical certificate or letter from the institute) to the study administrators at VU TSPMI.

Unless otherwise specified in the course program of the subject being studied, students who fail to submit their written work on the specified dates without a valid reason will receive a failing grade for the written work, and their overall course grade will also be failing. In this case, the student must retake the written work during the exam retake session.

Students’ bachelor’s and master’s theses shall be submitted in two bound copies. The supervisors of final theses shall submit permission to defend the final thesis via the VUSIS system. If the supervisor does not agree that the thesis has been prepared properly and is ready to be defended, the student has the right to appeal to the final thesis defence committee with a request to allow the thesis to be defended, stating the reasons in writing. The student must submit the request and thesis to the committee no later than the committee’s first meeting. After considering the student’s request, the final thesis committee decides whether the student is allowed to defend the thesis.

Bachelor’s and master’s theses are reviewed by reviewers appointed by the director of VU TSPMI. The authors of final theses have the right to familiarize themselves with the review no later than 24 hours before the defense so that they can prepare to answer the reviewer’s questions or explain the shortcomings of the thesis. Students must send their final bachelor’s or master’s thesis directly to the assigned reviewer by email within two days of the submission date.

[1] Written works that are uploaded to the Virtual Learning Environment are automatically registered in the system.

Defense of essays and term papers is normally is not required. However, if the professor has certain doubts or questions he may organize a public defense of a specific paper during the examination session.

Procedure for Defending Bachelor’s thesis

The bachelor’s thesis is defended publicly during the Spring or Autumn [1] examination session, provided that at least half of the Bachelor’s Thesis Defense Committee members are present.
No more than 30 minutes are allocated for the defense, with no more than 10 minutes of it reserved for the presentation of the thesis. Questions to the author may concern both the research topic and the subjects studied during the course of their studies. The Bachelor’s Thesis Defense Committee evaluates the thesis using a 10-point grading system, based on the bachelor’s thesis evaluation criteria specified in these guidelines, and taking into account the thesis presentation, responses to questions, and any critical remarks.
The decision regarding the evaluation of the bachelor’s thesis is made on the day of the defense, during a closed session of the committee. Appeals against the evaluation of bachelor’s theses are not accepted.

[1] If a student fails to submit and defend the thesis during the spring session, they may be allowed to defend it during the autumn session.

Defence of the Master’s thesis

The master’s thesis is defended publicly during the spring or autumn examination session at a meeting of the Master’s Thesis Defense Committee, provided that at least half of its members are present. No more than 40 minutes are allocated for the defense, with no more than 15 minutes of it designated for the presentation of the thesis. Questions may be asked regarding both the research topic and the disciplines studied during the student’s academic program. The Master’s Thesis Defense Committee evaluates the thesis using a 10-point grading system, based on the master’s thesis evaluation criteria outlined in these guidelines, and taking into account the presentation, responses to questions, and critical remarks. The decision regarding the evaluation of the master’s thesis is made on the day of the defense, during a closed session of the committee. Appeals against the evaluation of master’s theses are not accepted.

Evaluation of essays and term papers is a part of the overall evaluation of the course. They are graded by course instructors.

Requirements for essays and term-papers:

1. Clearly formulated object and goal of the research.
2. Clearly defined, relevant problem.
3. Well-reasoned results of the research.
4. Valid conclusions.
5. List of the literature provided.

Evaluation criteria for essays and term-papers:

1. Clear structure, conclusions, and overall coherence of the paper.
2. Depth of analysis and substantive thinking.
3. Proper scientific language and adequate use of terminology.
4. Form of the paper (accordance to the methodological requirements).

Grade can be reduced if:

1. The paper does not fit the form requirements.
2. The paper contains word by word quoting of authors without identifying them in the bibliography
3. The paper contains word by word quoting which is not put in the quotation-marks, even if authors of the quotes are identified in bibliography.
4. The paper contains rephrased thoughts of other authors, who are not identified in bibliography.
5. References are not clear or misleading.

A paper which is fully or partly (more than one-third of its volume) written by compiling other authors’ texts or their rephrased thoughts is also considered not to fit the form requirements. It is considered to be a compilation and is evaluated negatively. In the Lithuanian language dictionary, the word “compilation” is defined as “a work that is not independent, consisting of excerpts from other writings, often merely mechanically joined together.”

If the evaluation is negative, the overall assessment for the course is also negative.

The student may eliminate the academic debt for the subject by submitting a revised written assignment during the first two weeks of the new semester. If the revised written assignment is graded negatively, the student may eliminate the academic debt for the subject by attending the course as an external student.

The criteria of the evaluation of Bachelor’s and Master’s theses

The reviews of Bachelor’s and Master’s theses are prepared and the theses are evaluated following these criteria:

1. Accordance with the requirements of the form (The appropriateness of the scope, the accordance with the requirements for structure, balancing of the structural parts, accordance of the titles of the parts with the text, valuable use of the pictures and the tables, presentation of questionnaires, list of the interviewees, statistical data, usage of scientific and correct language, appropriateness of style, etc.);
2. Appropriateness of the object of the thesis, its problem, goals and tasks of the research, questions explored, hypotheses, goals, variables, nature and methods of the research (i.e. clear definition and feasibility of the object, the research problem, the explored questions and the variables; as well as accordance among problems, questions, variables; originality and relevance of work);
3. The basis of the analysis (i.e. Usage of the basis of the analysis, its definition, appropriateness and application in the research);
4. The research part (Accordance of the research part with the introduction, analytical depth of the research, scope of the list of literature, usage of the newest literature, scope and depth of empirical data, clarity and legitimacy of research results, coherence of cause-effect connection, legitimacy and logic of the arguments, etc.);
5. The conclusions (and recommendations) (Clarity of the conclusions, their accordance with the research results, evaluation of the theoretical and/or the empiric value of the theses, provision of proposals and recommendations, the submission of questions for the future research, etc.)

If a written assignment is found to be plagiarized, based on point 7.4.2 of the Vilnius University Study Regulations (regarding dishonesty in the assessment of study results), the student will be expelled from VU TSPMI.

A written work is considered plagiarism if it:

1. Is written verbatim, quoting another author’s ideas (more than half a page, 1,300 characters with spaces) without indicating the source;
2. Written by presenting a set of empirical data (e.g., tables, graphs, figures) without indicating the source;
3. Written in whole or in part (more than 1 page) by paraphrasing another author’s text (the text is presented by changing words and sentences, but without changing the content of the original text) without providing a bibliographic reference;
4. All or part of the text has been used for another course at this or another university.
5. All or part (more than 1 page) generated by artificial intelligence without providing a bibliographic reference.

Students confirm the independence of their Bachelor’s and Master’s thesis when uploading it to VUSIS. In the confirmation of the independence of the work, the student confirms that the written assignment:

1. Was completed by the student themselves and has not been submitted for another course in this or previous semesters;
2. Has not been used at another institute/university in Lithuania or abroad;
3. Does not use sources that are not cited in the paper and provides a complete list of references.
4. Has read the guidelines for written work and is aware that plagiarism in written work is punishable by expulsion from the university.

Essays and term-papers must be submitted with a filled in confirmation, stating that it has been prepared independently and autonomously (see Annex 5).

The same rules apply to group written assignments as to individual assignments. Final (bachelor’s or master’s) theses are written individually. Permission to prepare a group final thesis may be granted by the Institute Council for serious reasons. Students must submit a written request to the administration, which will then be considered at a Council meeting.

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based programs such as ChatGPT can be useful tools in the learning process, but they cannot replace original student work. If AI is used to write papers without disclosing it, academic integrity is compromised and this is considered a serious academic offense.

AI tools have to be used responsibly. AI usage must be fully and transparently disclosed by filling in the Declaration of Artificial Intelligence Usage, which must be added to every written assignment (essays, term papers, bachelor’s and master’s thesis) submitted at VU TSPMI (see Annex 3).

If used in generating text in certain cases, the results of AI tools must be properly cited. If, with the teacher’s consent, material generated by artificial intelligence is used in an assignment, it must be clearly identified:

The author of the content, the date of creation of the text, the organization that created the program, and the website address must be indicated. Example:

Text generated using ChatGPT, March 7, 2023, OpenAI, https://chat.openai.com/chat.

If the AI prompt was not included in the text, it can be included in a footnote:

ChatGPT, response to “Explain how to describe populism,” March 7, 2023, OpenAI, https://chat.openai.com/chat.

It is worth noting that the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style does not provide official recommendations for referencing chatbots or other forms of artificial intelligence. When citing, it is important to check for updates.

The methodological guidelines for written work at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University were approved by the VU TSPMI Council in August 2023 and will come into force on September 1, 2023.

Find the Almanac of the Best Student Essays here.