The citation is called:
— borrowing of the author text, when the text is allocated in quotes;
— borrowing formulas, provisions, illustrations, tables, and other elements;
— translated or paraphrased reproduction of the original text;
— analysis of the content of other publications in the text of the work.
In the academic proceedings, the citation is necessarily accompanied by a bibliographic reference to the source. Such a reference is given directly in the text (in parentheses), or as a footnote in a superscript[1] (n) and the bibliographic description at the bottom of the page (under number n). But most of all, at the end of a quote the source number n in the attached list of references is given in brackets [ n ].
The presence of a reference in the scientific work assumes that the author of the work is acquainted personally with this publication and can, if necessary, to support scientific discussion regarding the contents of this source.
If the same material is reprinted repeatedly, the scientist should refer to its latest edition. The citations in educational and reference publications should be limited.
The citations are used to convey the idea of the author’s source without distortion, to identify his views when comparing different points of view, and so on. D. Citations serve as the essential support to the author in the process of formation of the maintenance of its scientific work. Based on the content of citations, the scientist can create a system of conclusive evidence, which is necessary for the objective characteristics of the phenomenon under study. Citations can also be invoked as evidence of certain provisions that the scientist gives.
The citation length depends on the importance of its content to disclose the author's intention. Usually, it does not exceed 5-7 rows, although in some cases it can reach ten pages.
The citation, which makes no reference to the author, called undocumented reference and is considered as a plagiarism. The qualifying work, in which a plagiarism is detected, is not allowed to be defended.
In all cases, the amount of cited quotations must be optimal, that is determined by the needs of the development of the scientific research topics. The scientist must determine whether the source author is worth of the trust, whether to use a citation in a particular context, whether they make sense distortion of the citation source.
Causes of the source meaning distortion can be different: in some cases the words, which are taken from the source, do not define the essence of the author‘s views; in others the quotes are limited to words, that contain only a part of thought, such is more consistent with the interests of the author's research. Sometimes the citation sets out the point of view of the wrong thing, which is considered in this context. There are other semantic errors when quoting.
3.5 Master's thesis
3.5.1 Basic Concepts
Qualifying work is the qualification of teaching and scientific research of a student who performed it at the final stage of student’s education in the high school. Qualifying work is complex and involves the use of knowledge and skills acquired by the student in special disciplines. In most cases, the qualifying work is a continuation and development of the coursework of the graduate student. It provides for the systematization, consolidation, expansion of theoretical and practical knowledge in the specialty and their application in solving specific scientific, industrial and other applications.
Master's thesis (dissertation) is an independent qualification work, which is being prepared for the purpose of public protecting and obtaining the Master's degree. The main objective of the author is to demonstrate the level of his academic qualifications, the ability to independently carry out scientific research and solve specific scientific problems.
The master's work, as the qualification, must meet the following basic requirements:
• relevance of the topic, matching the current state of a particular field of science and the prospects for development, suitability to the practical tasks of the respective sphere;
• study and critical analysis of books and periodicals on the subject;
• study the history and characteristics of the research problem and its current state;
• a clear description of a subject, objectives and methods of research, description and analysis of the experiments conducted by the author;
• generalization of the results, their rationale, conclusions and practical recommendations.
The master's work defense is allowed for the student who meets all the requirements of the curriculum, has fulfilled the production practices, provided his qualifying work to the department and dean within a term and have the positive feedback on it, and passed the state exams.
Master's thesis, on the one hand, is general in nature, as it is the original result of the preparation of a master, and on the other hand, it is an independent original teaching and scientific research of the student, which departments, faculties or other institutions, organizations are interested in, for which the Degree applications can be fulfilled.
The master’s work is subject to the current level of science development in a particular area, and its theme must be relevant. The master's thesis is submitted in a form that allows the scientists to determine how its position, conclusions and recommendations of their novelty are fully reflected and justified. The collection of results, obtained in this work, indicates the presence of the initial skills of scientific work in the author’s chosen field of professional activity.
The master's thesis has all the features typical of scientific work, as it really is the scientific work. First of all, it differs from other scientific works that it performs the qualification function in the system of education and science. That is, it is prepared for the purpose of public defense and awarding of the relevant educational and professional master's level. In this regard, the main task of the author is to demonstrate the level of his academic qualifications, first of all, the ability to carry out independently the scientific research and to solve specific scientific problems.
In general, the sequence of the master's work may be the following:
1. Preparation phase:
• choosing a theme and rationale;
• object of study;
• subject of study;
• purpose of the study;
• research Objectives;
• selection of the literature on the research topic;
• preparation of a preliminary work plan and harmonize it with the supervisor;
• making the job to perform the qualifying work.
2. Work on the text:
• the study of literature and notes;
• the presentation of text work;
• writing the introduction to the work;
• writing conclusions.
3. Stage design work:
• making a list of references and sources;
• making applications and illustrative material;
• literary design and text editing.
4. Preparations for the protection and defense of the qualification work:
• pre-defense qualification works in the department;
• qualification work defense procedure in the State Examination Commission.
3.5.2 Preparatory stage of work
This phase begins with the choice of the work ttheme, its interpretation and justification. From the list of themes proposed by the department, the student chooses the one that best suits his teaching and research interests, and inclinations. Preference is given to the subject, in the development of which the student can show a maximum of creativity and personal initiative. The supervisor helps to determine the limits of the disclosure of the theme, the main issues that will be covered in the study. The preparatory stage of work on the qualifying work is concluded by forming the tasks for its implementation.
The purpose of the study is related to the object and the subject of research, as well as its end result and the way to achieve it. The end result of the study provides a solution to the problem situation, which reflects the contradiction between the typical state of the research object in the actual practice and the requirements of society to its more effective functioning. This result reflects the expected positive effect on performance, which is formulated in two parts: the first part is done in the form of a public utility; the second part is done in the form of specific benefits, referred to the main subject of study.
Research tasks may include:
• solvings of certain theoretical issues which are part of the general problem of research (for example, identifying the essence of concepts, phenomena, processes, further improving their study, the development of symptoms, levels of functioning, efficiency criteria, guidelines and application conditions, etc.);
• a comprehensive study of the practice of solving the problem, identify its model regulations, shortcomings and difficulties, their causes;
• justification of the necessary system of measures to resolve the problem;
• experimental verification of the proposed system of criteria for compliance with its optimality criteria, that is the most important achievement under appropriate conditions results to solve this problem in certain amount of time and effort.
3.5.3 Work on the text of the master's work
The second stage begins with the study of literature and note-taking on the theme of the master's work. The study of literature should start with workes, where the problem is reflected in the whole, and then move to a more narrow research. To get acquainted with the publications, in the first place, it should look to the front page, figuring out where, by whom, and when it was issued. It is necessary to revise the content of that publication to study its structure, the filling of its sections, read the Foreword, which discloses the appointment of the publication, the tasks assigned to it by the author.
In reading the publication, it is necessary to closely monitor the progress of the author's thoughts, to be able to distinguish the main points of evidence and illustrative material.
The introduction is advisable to write after having already completed the formation of the main text of the qualifying work. In the introduction the actuality of the topic, the practical significance of the study; the object, the subject, the purpose and objectives of the study are determined; the methods are discussed, by which it was carried out. It reveals the work structure, and its main content. If a student decided not to deal with certain aspects of the topic, he must indicate this in the introduction.
The mandatory part of the first chapter is a review of literature on the topic of research, in which the most valuable, relevant work (10-15 and more works) are included. The review should be a systematic analysis of the theoretical, methodological and practical novelty, significance, strengths and weaknesses of the work.
The review should not result in a full bibliographic description of publications, which are analyzed. It is enough to put down the serial number in brackets of the bibliographic description of the work in the bibliography next to the text. The review finishing should be a short conclusion on the extent of coverage of the literature the main aspects of the topic.
The logical conclusion of the qualifying work is the conclusion. Their main goal is to summarize the work. The conclusions are presented in a form of concise individual provisions, of guidelines.
Literature
1. Конверський А.Є. (ред.) Основи методології та організації наукових досліджень. Навч. посіб. для студентів, курсантів, аспірантів і ад’юнтів / за ред. А. Є. Конверського. — К.: Центр учбової літератури, 2010. — 352 с.
2. Романчиков В.І. Основи наукових досліджень. Навчальний посібник. – К.: Центр учбової літератури, 2007. – 254 с.
[1] Here is the relevant bibliographic description
