Final Year Project

Handbook
Revised: JAN 2025

FACULTY OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATICS

MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY

These notes are intended to guide students and faculty staff involved in CPT6314 &
CPT6324 (Project I & Project II) operating as part of the degree programs in the Faculty of
Computing and Informatics, Multimedia University.

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 © Multimedia University 2024

Final Year Project Handbook

January 2025

All rights reserved.

The information contained in this handbook is accurate at the time of printing but is subject to
change without prior notice.

FYP Contacts
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lim Tek Yong Deputy Dean/ Academic & [email protected]
International Relations

Dr. Mohana Muniandy Coordinator / FYP Committee [email protected]

Mr. Khairil Bin Anuar Member / FYP Committee [email protected]

Ms. Noor Ain Bt. Rosly Member / FYP Committee [email protected]

Mdm. Azlina Binti Ahmad Assistant Manager / FCI [email protected]

Mdm. Noridawati Mohd Lat FYP Admin. Officer [email protected]

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... 3

1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 3
2. GRADING AND ASSESSMENT................................................................................ 4
3. THE FYP REPORTS ........................................................................................... 5
3.1. WARNING NOTICE ...................................................................................... 5
3.2. SUBMISSION OF REPORTS ............................................................................. 5
3.3. INDIVIDUAL REPORTS .................................................................................. 6
3.4. THE INTERIM REPORT (FYP 1) ....................................................................... 6
3.4.1. SUGGESTED CONTENTS OF THE INTERIM REPORT.......................................... 6
3.4.2. SUGGESTED ORDER OF THE INTERIM REPORT .............................................. 8
3.5. THE FINAL REPORT (FYP 2) .........................................................................10
3.5.1. SUGGESTED CONTENTS OF THE FINAL REPORT ............................................10
4. GUIDELINES FOR REPORT PREPARATION ................................................................11
5. REFERENCES AND CITATIONS ..............................................................................20
6. OTHER POINTS TO NOTE ON WRITING REPORT ........................................................21
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................21
APPENDIX A: CITATION STYLE FOR REFERENCE LIST .....................................................21
APPENDIX B: FORMS AND MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION .............................................29

1. INTRODUCTION
The project is the most important part of the degree programme. Students must
successfully undertake this project to obtain the said degree. This guide is created solely to
aid students and staff to have a better understanding of project’s requirements.

Students are strongly advised to have read and understood this guide before they begin to
embark the project.

Every student undertaking a degree programme is required to complete an individual

project under the supervision of a staff member. Even group projects will have individual
scopes for each member of the group.

This document is intended to explain what doing a project is about, how you should go
about doing a project, how the project proposal should be written, how the project will be
assessed, and other helpful information.

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On this computing / IT project, you are required to demonstrate the ability to do
independent work, in the form of a project, as well as taking taught courses. The project is
intended to give you the opportunity:
i. To study a particular area of your specialisation in depth.
ii. To explore new topics beyond the taught areas independently and to work on a
particular problem within this area.
iii. To give you the necessary training and experience in project research, development,
and management.
iv. To communicate your findings and results.

In doing your project, you are expected:

i. To demonstrate an understanding of the particular problem you are addressing on.
ii. To identify and apply appropriate formal techniques adopted in project development
such as the problem analysis, design models and development methods, all of
which should be reflected in the documentation of your project dissertation.
iii. To manage your time critically and submit the needed project deliverable’s.
iv. To produce relevant project reports with a high degree of accuracy, originality and
creativity in presenting its content.

2. GRADING AND ASSESSMENT

You will receive a grade for final year project (FYP) 1 course: CPT6314 and another grade for
final year project (FYP) 2 course: CPT6324. The assessment will be based on your general
effort, written reports, and presentations. It is important that you demonstrate good project
management, application of technical knowledge and skills, can explain your work well in the
presentations, and document your work clearly in the reports to obtain good marks in the final
assessments.

The following tables describe the components of the grade:

Final Year Project 1 (100%)
Categories Percentage
Project Management 20
Project Analysis & Design 50
Structure of Documents 10
Oral Presentation 20

Final Year Project 2 (100%)

Categories Percentage
Project Management 20
Execution 35
Research Paper / Commercialisation Proposal 5
Report 30
Poster Presentation 10

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 BREAKDOWN OF FYP1 ASSESSMENT

Project Management: 20%

• Project Planning and Tracking
• Attitude and Professionalism
• Technical Competency
Project Analysis & Design: 50% (Previously known as Execution. Focus is on content
creation and methodology)
• Problem Statement, Project Objectives, and Expected Findings/Deliverables:
5%
• Literature Review/Background Study: 20%
o Depth and Breadth of Content
o Quality and Relevance of Sources
o Quantity of Sources
o Organization and Synthesis
o Comparative Study
• Conceptual Framework / Requirements Gathering, Data Collection, and
Analysis: 15%
• Significance of Study / Solution Design and Methodology: 10%
Structure of Documents: 10% (Previously named as Report)
· Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation
· Writing Style and Organization
· Use of Figures, Tables, and Graphs
· Proper Abbreviations, Citations & References (APA Referencing Style)
· Appendices
Oral Presentation: 20%
· Vocal Delivery, Organization, and Use of Materials (10%)
· Prototype* or proof-of-concept Demonstration (10%)

*A prototype can be a simple, two-dimensional visual representation of a web page,

app interface, or product layout, as long as it effectively persuades the examiners to
support your project.

3. THE FYP REPORTS

3.1. WARNING NOTICE

TAKE NOTICE that the unauthorized copying, reproducing, sharing and/or downloading
of any copyrighted material or an attempt to do so, whether by use of the University’s
facilities or outside networks / facilities, whether in hard copy or softcopy format, shall
constitute an infringement under the Copyright Act 1987 and shall be a strict liability
offence.
3.2. SUBMISSION OF REPORTS
Please take note that no submission will be accepted after the stipulated deadline.
Therefore, kindly ensure that you submit the soft copy of your report in eBwise and to the

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moderator, within the stipulated deadline. Students who are caught to have plagiarized will
be STRICTLY penalized, a failed grade.
3.3. INDIVIDUAL REPORTS
Each student needs to produce individual report regardless of whether the project is done
individually or in group. This includes Interim (FYP 1) report. Meaning that, for group projects,
the members of the group CANNOT submit the exact same copy of the report for evaluation.
For group projects, the supervisor will normally divide the project into different scopes for
each member of the group. Therefore, you are expected to report on the tasks that have been
assigned to you in relation to the project. No parts of the report should be the same. This is to
let the students to experience the practical aspect of technical writing during their
undergraduate program. In addition, each student will be evaluated individually for the
report.

3.4. THE INTERIM REPORT (FYP 1)

• Each student must submit the following items on the stipulated deadline in eBwise.
o Softcopy of FYP Interim Report along with minimum of six (6) meeting logs,
Turnitin Similarity Index Report (Overall Similarity Index <=20%) etc.
• Please refer to eBwise for details of various deadlines for FYP.
• You must attach the soft copies of the Final Year Project1 Meeting Log sheets as an
appendix to the report.
• The recommended structure of this report is discussed below, together with
suggestions on the appropriate contents of each section.
• There is a great diversity in the types of projects undertaken by students, and that may
influence the weight or emphasis given to the various sections of your report.

3.4.1. SUGGESTED CONTENTS OF THE INTERIM REPORT

The following are the suggested contents of the Interim Report (FYP 1):
Content Description
Declaration Student should declare with signature saying the report has been
done by them and no plagiarism has been done. Please refer to
Figure 3 and Figure 4.
Acknowledgements
Abstract In one page, certainly not more than two, summarize the main
features of your project; describe what problem you are solving
and how you propose to solve it. This brief overview should give a
snapshot of the overall structure of your final year project.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Give an overview description of the project. How did the problem
Introduction present itself to you in the first place? Describe the nature of the
problem in detail. Define the project objectives (in an itemized

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 manner) and goals and outline the scope of your project.
Introduction should cover problem statement, project objectives,
deliverables (application-based)/expected findings (research-
based), scope, and organization of the chapters.
Chapter 2: Describe what you have discovered in your literature search or
Background Study / market survey. Does this problem exist anywhere else? Who is
Literature Review working on it? How have others solved it? Give references to some
of the main articles/books/Web pages discussing this problem.
The background study covers the related applications
(application-based).
The literature review must be relevant and cover current major
concepts of the research project (research-based).

Chapter 3 For application-based projects, describe the requirements

Requirements gathering techniques (e.g. questionnaire, interview, observation)
Analysis / and analysis of results.
Theoretical
Framework For research-based projects, describe the main theoretical
concepts of the domain to be investigated in the project. Discuss
problems to be further investigated or ideas to be proven in the
research project.

Chapter 4: System Outline your approach in detail for solving the problem. Describe
Design / Research the proposed solution methods and the progress, you have
Methodology achieved.

For application-based projects, describe the system

requirements and use technical drawings or tools to represent the
requirements (e.g., UML diagrams, context diagrams, Entity-
Relationship diagram etc.).

For research-based projects, describe the approach to obtain the

results, that will prove the concept as described in Chapter 3.
Describe how the prototype or simulation works, using technical
diagrams.

Reference on your formal specifications and design documents

can be placed in the appendix.
Discuss the implementation of a prototype or proof-of-concept of
your solution and describe its behaviour.
Chapter 5: Lay out the project implementation plan for the next semester.
Implementation Discuss the project’s target and milestone dates. If you will be
Plan implementing your project in discrete stages, describe them.
Chapter 6: Summarise what have been achieved related to the objectives,
Conclusion and what is to be achieved in the next phase of the project. You

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 can also describe issues experienced during the project such as
problems encountered.
References Include here all references of materials you have referred to within
your report. You must cite all references at the appropriate places
in the report where needed (Note that it is compulsory to prepare
the citation in APA style, see Section 4 for details).
Appendices Some of the highly technical details from the above sections can
be placed in the appendix and referenced from the body of the
report. Include all relevant technical documentation, such as
specification documents, design documents, and prototype code
listings.
Soft copies of the Final Year Project1 Meeting Log sheets should
be attached as an appendix as well.

In summary, the Interim Report is written in the style of a working document rather than a
finished report. It introduces your problem, looks at what others have done in this area,
presents a proposed solution, and describes an implementation plan.

3.4.2. SUGGESTED ORDER OF THE INTERIM REPORT

The suggested order of the Interim Report is given below:

Cover of the Interim Report

Title Page of the Interim Report
Copyright page of Interim Report
Declaration Page of Interim report
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Table of Contents
List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Abbreviations/Symbols
List of Appendices

FOR RESEARCH BASED PROJECTS:

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background of the Research
1.2 Problem Statement
1.3 Research Purpose
1.4 Objectives of the Research
1.5 Research Questions
1.6 Project Scope
1.7 Significance of the Research
1.8 Summary

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Literature Review on selected topics
2.2.1 Subtopic literature review
2.3 …
…
2.6 Summary
Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework
Chapter 4: Research Methodology
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Proposed Methodology
4.3 Research Framework
Chapter 5: Data Analysis Plan
Chapter 6: Conclusion
References
Appendices
• Appendix A: FYP I Meeting Logs
• Appendix B: Turnitin Similarity Index Page
• Appendix C: If needed, include technical documentation, such as
specification documents, design documents, and prototype code listings

FOR APPLICATION BASED AND APPLICATION AND RESEARCH BASED PROJECTS:

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Overview
1.2 Problem Statement
1.3 Project Objectives
1.4 Project Scope
1.5 Project Limitations
1.6 Methodology
1.7 Target Audience
1.8 Summary

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Overview
2.2 Title
2.2.1 Sub title
2.3 …
…
2.6 Summary
Chapter 3: Requirements Analysis
3.1 Overview
3.2 Fact-Finding Techniques
3.2.1 Justification
3.2.2 Questionnaire Design

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 3.2.2.1 Analysis on results
3.2.3 Observation
3.2.3.1 Analysis on results
3.3 Requirement
3.2.1 Functional Requirements
3.2.2 Non-functional Requirements
3.2.3 User Requirements
Chapter 4: System Design
4.1 Overview
4.2 Rich Picture Diagram
4.3 Use Case Diagram
4.4 Activity Diagram
4.5 Class Diagram
4.6 Sequence Diagram
4.7 Interface Design
4.7.1 …
4.8 Summary
Chapter 5: Data Analysis Plan
Chapter 6: Conclusion
References
Appendices
• Appendix A: Gantt Chart
• Appendix B: FYP I Meeting Logs
• Appendix C: Turnitin Similarity Index Page
• Appendix D: If needed, include technical documentation, such as
specification documents, design documents, and prototype code listings

3.5. THE FINAL REPORT (FYP 2)

• Each student must submit the following items on the stipulated deadline in eBwise.
o Softcopy of FYP Final Report along with minimum of six (6) meeting logs,
Turnitin Similarity Index Report (Overall Similarity Index <=20%) etc.
• Please refer to eBwise for details of various deadlines for FYP.
• You must attach the soft copies of the Final Year Project 2 Meeting Log sheets as an
appendix to the report.
• The recommended structure of this report is discussed below, together with
suggestions on the appropriate contents of each section.
• There is a great diversity in the types of projects undertaken by students, and that may
influence the weight or emphasis given to the various sections of your report.

3.5.1. SUGGESTED CONTENTS OF THE FINAL REPORT

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 The suggested order of the Final Report is given below:

Cover of the Final Report

Title Page of the Final Report
Copyright page of Final Report
Declaration Page of Final report
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Table of Contents
List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Abbreviations/Symbols
List of Appendices
Abstract

FOR RESEARCH BASED PROJECTS:

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework
Chapter 4: Research Methodology
Chapter 5: Data Analysis and Results
Chapter 6: Discussion
Chapter 7: Conclusion and Recommendations

FOR APPLICATION BASED AND APPLICATION AND RESEARCH BASED PROJECTS:

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Chapter 3: Requirements Analysis
Chapter 4: System Design
Chapter 5: Implementation
Chapter 6: Testing
Chapter 7: Conclusion

References
Appendices
• Appendix A: Project Gantt Chart (updated from FYP1)
• Appendix B: FYP 2 Meeting Logs
• Appendix B: Turnitin Similarity Index Page
• Appendix C: If needed, include technical documentation, such as
specification documents, and design documents

4. GUIDELINES FOR REPORT PREPARATION

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This section describes the publication guidelines for preparation of the Interim Report
described in the previous section.

Type Guidelines
Length of Interim A typical interim report is within the range of 9,000 to 12,000
Report words, double-spaced which is approximately 40 pages. This limit
does not include the preliminary pages and appendices.

Cover and Title The cover of the Interim Report must contain the project id and
Page title, student id and name, programme of study, university name,
and month and year of submission.
See Figure 1 for the cover page, and Figure 2 for the title page.
• Top, Bottom, Left and Right margin: 25.4 mm

Document Layout The following are the guidelines for preparing your Interim Report:
• Line spacing: Line spacing is one and half spacing. Double-
spacing for the next paragraph and should start with a
paragraph indents (12.7mm). For tables or charts, single
spacing should be used.
• Font:
o Thesis body:
 All normal Arial font (not bold and narrow type)
 Alignment: justified
o Chapter heading: Arial (14 pt.-Bold)
o Sub-heading: Arial (12 pt.-Bold)
o Sub-sub-heading: Arial (12 pt.-Bold)
• Any typographical errors must be carefully corrected. Any pages
that contain poorly made corrections will be rejected.
• The minimum-sized page margins are as follows:
o Left: 38 mm
o Right: 28 mm
o Top: 28 mm
o Bottom: 28 mm
• Page numbers are to be placed at least 15-20 mm from the edge
of the page at the bottom centre of the page. Every page except
the title page must be numbered.
o Title page is “i” but is not numbered.
o Preliminary pages are to be numbered in lower case
Roman numerals (ii, iii, iv etc).
o The text pages (starting from Introduction) are to be
numbered in Arabic numerals and all pages must be
numbered consecutively, irrespective of chapters.

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 Illustrations can be a real enhancement to your report, breaking up
Illustrations long blocks of text and providing relief for both the eye and the mind.
The original of an illustration is preferred, but reduced scale black-
and-white or colour is acceptable. If the original is too big, the size
can be reduced up to 50%. For all materials, the minimum left
margin is 38 mm.
Quoted Materials If you take an illustration or more than a few words of text from a
book or other source, you must quote it and give the source. Using
the words or pictures of others without explicitly acknowledging
them is plagiarism, a serious violation of scientific ethics. When you
use the words of others, you must place quote marks around the
material that you have taken and follow the quote with a reference
to the work from which the material was taken. There are many
forms of reference. One of the most common is to use the author’s
name followed by the year of publication and the page number
containing the quoted material. This reference will then be included
in the Bibliography at the end of your report. For example: An
algorithm is defined as a “well ordered sequence of primitive
operations that halts in a finite amount of time.” (Smith 1995,
p.123)
Result One of the most important parts of the report is the presentation of
Presentation results. However, do not simply include massive printouts of raw
data. That will be virtually unintelligible to a reader. Instead,
organize and present your data in a way that focuses on and
highlights the important ideas. It may be a table, chart, or graph, but
be sure to spend adequate time preparing high-quality visualization
aids that enhance your final report.

All your tables, charts, figures, and graphs should be numbered

and have titles. Figure captions should be placed below the
figures, while table captions must be placed above the tables.

An example of figure numbering scheme:

Figure 1.2. Graph of Average Running Time
where the digit 1 in the figure number is the chapter where the figure
is contained, the digit 2 is simply a sequential number within the
chapter that uniquely identifies this figure, and “Graph of Average
Running Time” is the title of this figure.

All figures and tables should be placed after their first mention in
the text. They should be referred in the text, for example:

Figure 1.3 depicts the icon often used to represent delight.

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 Figure 1.3: A smiley

The caption for the figure is placed after the image.

Table 1.1: The caption should be placed before the table

A B C D
(1) 0.279 0.312 -
(2) 1.68 0.168 0.025

Illustration, tables, or figures requiring more than one page should

have the number of caption and the “continued” at the top of each
additional page. For example:
Table 3.1 (continued)

Here are some other things to remember when presenting your

results:
• All rows and columns should have an appropriate title.
• All units should be clearly indicated.
• Tables should be referred to in the text by their table number.
• The analysis and meaning of the values contained in the table
should be fully elaborated in the body of the text.
• Make the visual large enough so that all the text and data values
can be easily read.
• Where appropriate, use colour to highlight your chart and make
it easier to understand and interpret.

Diagrams • Diagrams can include graphs and figures. They can be

numbered together or separately with photographs. Diagrams
should be easy to understand. Every diagram should be
numbered using an Arabic number at the bottom (chapter
number followed by figure number) and should be given an
informative title. Pictures should be pasted on the page,
numbered and titled.
o Every diagram should have a relevant title and must be
numbered.
o Coordinate units (abscissa) should be written clearly in the
graph.

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 o All the data points and lines should be clear - generally they
should not be more than 2 or 3 curves in every diagram.
o The types of the different data points must be shown in a
legend.
o Every diagram should be referred to and elaborated in the
text.

The gridlines should be in appropriate intervals.

Each candidate will be given a Project ID Number by FYP Committee. The Project ID Number
consists of the following codes:

THE PROJECT ID CCCCC-SS-TTTTT-NNNN

e.g. FYP01-IS-T2430-0001

CCCCC refers to course name

SS Refers to specialisation:
SE = Software Engineering
DS = Data Science
CS = Cybersecurity
GD = Game Development
IS = Information Systems
TTTTT stands for the term the student enrolled for FYP (e.g. T2430)
NNNN stands for students Project ID Number (in chronological order) i.e.
0001

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FINAL YEAR PROJECT INTERIM REPORT

<APPROVED PROJECT ID>

<APPROVED PROJECT TITLE>

<STUDENT’S ID>
<NAME IN CAPITAL LETTERS>

<PROGRAMME OF STUDY>

<SUBMISSION MONTH AND YEAR>

Figure 1: Layout for the Cover Page of the Report

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 <APPROVED PROJECT ID>
<APPROVED PROJECT TITLE>

BY

<STUDENT’S ID AND NAME IN CAPITAL LETTERS>

PROJECT INTERIM REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF

<PROGRAMME OF STUDY>

in the

Faculty of Computing and Informatics

MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY
MALAYSIA

<Submission Month and Year>

Figure 2: Layout of Title Page of the Report

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© <Year of Report submission> Universiti Telekom Sdn. Bhd. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Copyright of this report belongs to Universiti Telekom Sdn. Bhd. as qualified by

Regulation 7.2 (c) of the Multimedia University Intellectual Property and
Commercialisation Policy. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or
introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the
express written permission of Universiti Telekom Sdn. Bhd. Due acknowledgement shall
always be made of the use of any material contained in, or derived from, this report.

Figure 3: Layout Copyright page of the Report

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 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work has been done by myself and no portion of the work
contained in this report has been submitted in support of any application for any other
degree or qualification of this or any other university or institution of learning.

Name of candidate:
Faculty of Computing & Informatics
Multimedia University
Date: DD: MM: YYYY

Figure 4: Layout Declaration page of the Report

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5. REFERENCES AND CITATIONS

It is mandatory to follow The American Psychological Association (APA) citation style for
the report.

The APA reference style is used which includes the following categories: periodicals,
books, brochures, book chapters, technical and research reports, proceedings of
meetings and symposia, doctoral dissertations and master’s theses, unpublished work,
reviews, audio visual media, and electronic media.

Any material taken/referenced from another source must be identified, and a brief
reference to its source included in the text. A complete reference to the document
should be included in the Bibliography at the end of your report.

Every reference quoted or cited in the report must be included in the list of references and
numbered accordingly. Citation is required for statement which expresses a fact that
goes beyond the common knowledge of the readers.

A reference list cites works that specifically support a particular article. The reference list
must be double spaced, and entries should start with a paragraph indent; entries will then
be typeset with hanging indents.

Accepted abbreviations in the reference list for parts of books and other publications are:
DESCRIPTION ABBREVIATION
Chapter Chap.
Edition Ed.
Revised edition Rev. ed.
Second edition 2nd ed.
Editor (Editors) Ed. (Eds.)
Translator(s) Trans.
no date n.d.
Page (pages) p. (pp.)
Volume (as in Vol. 4) Vol.
Volumes (as in 4 Vols.) Vols.
Number No.
Part Pt.
Technical Report Tech. Rep.
Supplement Suppl.

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6. OTHER POINTS TO NOTE ON WRITING REPORT

• A project report should be written with the intended group of readers in mind.
It should be in a logical form with a convincing explanation to persuade the
reader to accept the conclusion of the report. It should be written clearly and
be easy to understand. Avoid excessive technical language and do not use
slang. As far as possible, all statements should be supported by numbers and
data.
• The writer should be able to defend all statements by referring to reliable
research or the research findings.
• Symbols or nomenclature used should be defined. Standard symbols or
acronym normally accepted in the engineering field can be used.
International System Units (S.I) should be used. If you use other units, SI
equivalent units should be in brackets.
• Equations and formulae should be typed. You are encouraged to use
equation editors e.g. Microsoft Equation. Avoid using more than the
necessary lines by giving alternatives, for example:

( y / x) = ax + b is preferred compared to:

y
= ax + b
x

APPENDICES

Appendices, including nomenclature for specialized notation, must be useful and

must be referred to in the text. It consists of supplementary illustrative materials,
original data and equations as well as quotations too long for inclusion in the text or
not immediately useful to an understanding of the subject. It provides the reader with
detailed information that would be distracting to read if put in the text.

APPENDIX A: CITATION STYLE FOR REFERENCE LIST

The American Psychological Association (APA) reference citations in text is used to
provide information for readers to locate the source of information listed in the
alphabetical selected bibliography or references at the end of dissertation or thesis.

1. IN-TEXT CITATIONS
The APA format uses an author-date method for citing sources.

If you do NOT quote a source directly, you need only the author's last name and the
year of publication in your in-text citation. If you DO quote a source directly, you also
need to include the page number for the reference.

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 SHORT QUOTATIONS:
For quotation less than 40 words long, it should be incorporated into the text and
enclosed by double quotation marks [" "]. For example:

As Smith (2020) concludes, "There is significant evidence to suggest that X

equals to Y" (p. 123).

OR

More recently, scientists have found "significant evidence to suggest that

X is Y" (Smith, 2020, p. 123).

LONG QUOTATIONS:
For quotations over 40 words long, it must be placed as a block of text set apart from
the rest of the paragraph. Block quotations should start on a new line, be indented 5
spaces from the left margin, and be double spaced (like the rest of the essay). Omit
quotation marks. Your citation should come at the end of the quotation, as follows:

More importantly, Smith's (2020) evidence suggesting that X and Y

are the same is quite compelling:
Abcbda bdab cdabcd abc dabc dabcd ab cdab cda bcd
abcd abcd abcd abc dab cda dabcd bcda bcdab abcb cdab
cdab cd abc dabcda bcdbcdab cdabc abdbacba cdabcd
abcd ababa baba baba bababd bcd abcd bcdab cdabcd
abcd. (p. 123)

PARAPHRASE AND SUMMARY:

When you paraphrase or summarize another source, you must acknowledge that
source. You should, where possible, include the page reference for the ideas you are
paraphrasing/summarizing. For example:

Smith (2020, p. 123) insists Y and X are the same.

Final Year Project Handbook

2. REFERENCING BOOKS

A WORK BY TWO AUTHORS:

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Name both authors; use the word "and" in the text and use the
ampersand in parentheses.

 With signal phrase: The study by Jones and Smith (2024) concludes
...
 Without signal phrase: Their study concludes that X is Y (Jones & Smith,
2020)

A WORK BY THREE TO FIVE AUTHORS:

Name all authors the first time you cite the source; in subsequent citations, use only
the first author's last name and the phrase "et al".

 With signal phrase: The study by Jones, Smith, Ali, Rushdie and
Murakami (2023) concludes . . .
 Without signal phrase: Their study concludes something and
something else (Jones, Smith, Ali, Rushdie & Murakami, 2023)
 In subsequent citations, with signal phrase: The study by Jones et
al. (2023) concludes . . .
 In subsequent citations, without signal phrase: Their study
concludes something is somewhere (Jones et al., 2023)

A WORK BY SIX OR MORE AUTHORS:

Use the first author's last name followed by "et al" in the signal phrase
or parentheses.

 With signal phrase: The study by Powell et al. (2020) argues . . .

 Without signal phrase: Their study concludes the Abcabcabc
(Powell et al., 2020)

A WORK BY AN ORGANIZATION OR AGENCY:

Use the organization's name as if it were an author.

 With signal phrase: The Canadian International Development

Agency (2021) notes that . . .
 Without signal phrase: Since 2011, Canada's budget for international
development has increased by 10% (Canadian International
Development Agency, 2021).

TWO OR MORE WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR IN THE SAME YEAR:

Use lower-case letters (a, b, c) with the year to distinguish between entries.

23
  Smith's study (2020a) suggests that . . .

ORDER OF SEVERAL WORKS BY THE SAME FIRST AUTHOR

Use the following rules to arrange the
entries:

Single author entries by the same author are arranged by year of publication, the earliest first
Kim, K. S. (1991) Kim, K. S. (1994)

INDIRECT SOURCES:
When you need to use a source cited in another source, name the original in your
signal phrase and include the secondary source in both your in-text citation and
your references list.

 Dorosz argues that . . . (as cited in Smith, 2020, p. 123).

BOOK WITH SINGLE AUTHOR:

Last Name, Initials. (Date). Title of Book. City: Publisher.

Smith, J.A. (204). Great Dogs of North America. (4th ed.). Toronto: Dog
Press.

BOOK – TWO AUTHORS:

Last Name, Initials, & Last Name, Initials. (Date). Title of Book. City:
Publisher.
Smith, J.A., & Jones, J.C. (2002) Great Dogs of North America. Toronto: Dog
Press.
Final Year Project Handbook

BOOK – MULTIPLE AUTHORS:

24
 Last Name, Initials, Last Name, Initials, Last Name, Initials, & Last Name,
Initials. (Date). Title of Book. City: Publisher.

Smith, J.A., Dorosz, C., Mann, T.T. (2008). The Way it Is. Toronto: ABC Press.

Last Name, Initials. (Date). Title of Chapter. In Initials Last Name (Ed.),
Title of book (pp. range). City: Publisher.

Smith, J.A. (1999). Dogs of Canada. In P.A. Jones (Ed.), Dogs (pp. 34- 56).
City: Publisher.

CHAPTER IN EDITED BOOK:

ABSTRACT:
Last Name, Initials. (Date). Title [Abstract]. Periodical Title, volume, page.

Smith, J.A. (2004). Great Labradors [Abstract]. Dogs for All, 14, 12.

ENTIRE EDITED BOOK:

Last Name, Initials, & Last Name, Initials. (Eds.). (Date). Title of work. City:
Publisher.

Smith, J.A., & Jones, J.C. (Eds.). (2002). Dogs of the World. Toronto: Dog
Press.

REFERENCE BOOK WITH NO AUTHOR:

Title (ed.). (Date). City: Publisher.

Dogs of North Canada (2nd ed.). (2001). Toronto: Dog Press.

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 REVIEW OF A BOOK:

3. REFERENCING JOURNALS, E-BOOKS AND WEBSITES

JOURNAL ARTICLE – SINGLE AUTHOR:

Last Name, Initials. (Date). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume, page
number range.

Smith, J.A. (2004). Great Labradors. Dogs for All, 14, 12-50.

Last name, Initials. (Date). Title of review [Review of the book/article Title].
Journal Title, volume, pages.

McDonald, K. (2005). Dog Days [Review of Great Dogs of North America].

New York Review of Books, 25, 13-15.

JOURNAL ARTICLE – MULTIPLE AUTHORS:

Last Name, Initials, Last Name, Initials, & Last Name, Initials. (Date). Title
of article. Title of Periodical, volume, page number range.

Smith, J.A., Jones, J.C., & Campbell, S.D. (2002). Great Labradors. Dogs for
All, 12, 9-16.

ONLINE PERIODICAL (WITH DOI):

Last Name, Initials. (Date). Title of Article. Title of Periodical, volume

number, page range. doi: 000000000/000000.

Smith, J.A. (2004). Great Labradors. Dogs for All, 14, 12-50. doi:
Final Year Project Handbook

99.1234/1234567898836.

26
ONLINE PERIODICAL (NO DOI):

Last Name, Initials. (Date). Title of Article. Title of Periodical, volume

number, from URL.

Smith, J.A. (2004). Great Labradors. Dogs for All, 14, from
http://www.dogs.com/docs

ONLINE PERIODICAL (NO DOI; EXISTS AS PRINTED AND ELECTRONIC

VERSIONS)

Smith, K. (2008). The world is round. [Electronic version]. Earth and

Planetary Studies, 66, 123-132.

ARTICLE FROM A DATABASE (I.E., RETRIEVED FROM LIBRARY'S ONLINE

DATABASE):

Last Name, Initials. (Date). Title of work. Retrieved month day, year, from
source.

Smith, J.A. (2005). . (2004). Great Labradors. Dogs for All, 14, 12-50.
Retrieved January 17, 2006, from Zoological Record database.

ONLINE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title of Article. Name of

Newspaper. Retrieved URL.

Summerji, P. P. (2008, August 1). New Crime Legislation Criminal.

Nowhereville Times. Retrieved from http://nowherevilletimes.ca

27
REFERENCE LIST

ORDER OF REFERENCE IN THE REFERENCE LIST

Alphabetize names
Arrange entries in alphabetical order by the surname of the first author, using the
following rules for special cases:

Alphabetize letter by letter

Alphabetize the prefixes M’, Mc, and Mac literally, not as if they were all spelled Mac.
Surnames that use articles and prepositions (de, la, du, von, etc.) are alphabetized
according to different rules for different languages. Alphabetize entries with numerals as if
the numerals were spelled out

Single author entries precede multiple author entries

Kaufman, J. R. (1991)
Kaufman, J. R., and Wong, D. F. (1989)

References with the same first author and different second or third authors
Kaufman, J. R., Jones, K., and Cochran, D. F. (1982)
Kaufman, J. R., and Jones, K. (1980)

References with the same surname are arranged alphabetically by the first initial.
Eliot, A. C. (1983)
Eliot, G. R. (1980)

References by the same author (or by the same two or more authors in the same order)
with the same publication date.
They are arranged alphabetically by the title (excluding A or The) that follows the date.
Exception: If the references with the same authors published in the same year are identified
as articles in a series (e.g. Part 1 and Part 2), order the references in the series order, not
alphabetically by title

Lowercase letters - a, b, c, and so on - are placed immediately after the year, within the
parentheses
Kaufman, J. R. (1980a). Control …
Kaufman, J. R. (1980b). Roles of …

Order of works with corporate authors or with no author, or agency, association, or

institution as author
Alphabetize corporate authors, such as associations or government agencies, by the first
significant word of the name. Full official names should be used (e.g. American
Final Year Project Handbook

Psychological Association, not APA). A parent body precedes a subdivision (e.g. University of
Michigan, Department of Psychology).

If there is no author, the title moves to the author position and the entry is
alphabetized by the first significant word of the title.

Entry of non-western names (Authors and Corporate Bodies)

For the entry of non-western names, reference is made to Mohammed M. Aman (Ed.).
(1980).

28
 Cataloguing and classification of non-western material:
Concerns, issues and practice: London: Oryx Press.

APPENDIX B: FORMS AND MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

(All forms are downloadable at the FYP eBwise)

• Meeting Log: Each student must submit FYP Meeting Log sheet to supervisor
at every meeting. The Meeting Logs (soft copies) must be attached as an
appendix to FYP reports.
• FYPI Interim Report Submission Form: Each student (whether group or
individual project) must submit this form in eBwise within the stipulated
deadline, along with the following.

o Softcopy of Project: FYP Interim Report with a minimum of six meeting logs,
Turnitin Similarity Index Report page (Overall Similarity Index <=20%) etc.
in the appendices.

29