Posted: June 11th, 2015
Medical Entomolgy
Maryan gulled dissertation (1)
Title: Current status of ITNs and IRS for African malaria vector control in the era of insecticide resistance: Are there sufficient novel and effective insecticides available for their replacement?
Overview: The proposed project will be looking at how the use of ITN and IRS has progressed over the years in controlling the malaria vector in African countries. Particular attention will be paid to the rise of insecticide resistant vectors and how chemicals used in ITN and IRS has changed to adapt to the situation. With the recent increase of insecticide resistant vectors, many new novel insecticides are being tested to replace the current insecticides in use. The project will assess available new novel insecticides and whether they can be adapted for use with ITN and IRS to combat malaria in Africa.
Objectives: Aim:
• To review and assess novel insecticides available that could reduce vector resistance to currently used insecticides
• To look at ways of limiting vector resistance, by using a combination or alternating insecticides that are currently available. Assessing novel insecticides in the market that could be used to replace currently used insecticides.
Words limit: 7000 words
ABOUT THIS HANDBOOK
All students taking a masters course at LSHTM are required to carry out a project, and to write it up and submit it in the form of a ‘project report’ which counts for a major component of your degree.
This handbook is designed to bring together all general guidance from the School and from your course about project work. It consists of two parts –
- Part 1 contains School-wide information that applies to all MSc project reports.
- Part 2 contains important further course-specific information that applies for your MSc.
Each course’s specific version of the handbook, along with all forms that you may need to complete, will be available on Moodle (log in at ble.lshtm.ac.uk) under the course site for your MSc.
Version information:
This handbook has been approved by the Associate Dean of Education (Quality Management & Enhancement), with specific guidance regarding Risk approved by the Safety Office, and guidance regarding Ethics by the Chair of the MSc Research Ethics Committee.
Last updated November 2014.
Note that ‘School-wide’ information given in this handbook applies only to projects for LSHTM MSc degrees taught face-to-face in London, under School regulations. Different guidance may apply for Distance Learning courses, or intercollegiate MSc courses taught jointly with other University of London colleges for which projects come under the other college’s remit.
In the event of any inconsistency between the information in this handbook and any other School document, please contact your Course Director. Where an interpretation may be required, advice should be sought from the Associate Dean of Education (Quality Management & Enhancement).
© London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, 2014
CONTENTS
PART ONE: SCHOOL-WIDE INFORMATION.. 3
1.1 Project lengths and learning times. 4
1.2 Permitted project types. 4
1.3 Project objectives as part of your masters degree. 5
1.4 Stages in the project report process. 5
1.5 How your project will be assessed. 7
2.1 Matching you with a project supervisor 7
2.2 Different supervisory roles. 7
2.4 Frequency of contact with supervisor 9
3.1 Pre-planning (Stage 1 of planning & approval process) 10
3.2 Initial planning (Stage 2 of planning & approval process) 10
4.1 Proposal development (Stage 3 of planning & approval process) 12
4.2 Starting to complete the CARE form.. 12
4.3 CARE Section 1 – Administrative Details. 13
4.4 CARE Section 2 – Project Filter 14
4.5 CARE Section 3 – Overview of Project……………………. 14
4.6 CARE Section 4 – Methodology…………………………… ………………….. 15
4.7 CARE Section 5 – Experience of Investigators..…………………………. 15
4.8 CARE Section 6 – Participant Oversight…………………………………… 16
4.9 CARE form Section 7 – Funder…………………………………………….. 16
4.10 CARE form Section 8 – Interventional Studies………………………….. 16
4.11 CARE form Section 9 – Drug and Device Information………………….. 16
4.12 CARE form Section 10 – Human Tissue Samples………………………. 16
4.13 CARE form Section 11 – Local Approval…………………………………. 16
4.14 CARE form Section 12 – MSc Specific Information……………………… 18
4.15 CARE form Section 13 – Signatures……………………………………….. 18
4.16 Proposal approval (Stage 4 of planning & approval process) 19
4.18 Recording approval and submitting the CARE form.. 22
4.19 Revisions during the approval process. 23
4.20 Revisions after final approval 24
5.1 Laboratory work safety requirements. 26
5.3 Arrangements with external institutions. 27
5.5 CARE Section 12 – Risk Assessment Aspects. 29
5.6 Restricted Travel Safety form.. 31
6.1 Ethics policy for MSc students. 32
6.2 CARE Section 5 – Ethics Approval Process. 33
6.3 Maintaining confidentiality. 35
6.4 Information Sheets and Consent Forms for study participants. 35
7.2 Other possible sources of funding. 38
8.1 Key points to consider before travelling. 38
8.2 International requirements for visas, passports etc. 39
9.3 Seeking further assistance. 41
10.1 Copyright and IPR agreements. 42
10.2 Setting restrictions on access to your work. 43
10.3 Data Protection principles. 43
10.4 Publication of project reports. 43
11.1 Length of project report 44
11.2 Format of project report 44
11.3 Structure of project report – named sections. 46
11.5 Plagiarism and assessment irregularities. 50
12.1 Writing the Acknowledgements section. 52
12.2 Proof-reading and help with writing or language. 54
13.2 Required formats for both printed and electronic copies. 56
13.3 Submission of both printed and electronic copies. 57
14.1 General marking criteria. 58
14.2 What the examiners will be looking for 59
PART TWO: COURSE-SPECIFIC PROJECT INFORMATION.. 61
Objectives of the project report 61
Identifying a project topic – how the process works for this MSc. 61
Types of project report permitted for this MSc. 61
Expected time commitment of projects. 61
Identifying a supervisor – how the process works for this MSc. 61
Further course-specific information. 61
OTHER RESOURCES – FORMS
These will be available on Moodle under the course site for your MSc, or on the web/intranet as indicated.
Forms all students are expected to complete:
Combined Academic, Risk Assessment and Ethics Approval (CARE) form, available via LSHTM Ethics Online (LEO) at: http://leo.lshtm.ac.uk. Queries regarding the LEO system should be sent to [email protected]
Forms for those travelling overseas:
- Travel Insurance form, available at https://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/travel/travel_approval_form.docx
Forms which may be relevant for specific courses only:
- ITD Project Choice form
Other general forms which may be of use:
- Agreement template for assigning ownership of Copyright (CR)
- Agreement template for assigning Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
PART ONE: SCHOOL-WIDE INFORMATION
All students taking a masters course at LSHTM are required to undertake a project report – that is, to carry out and write up an independent piece of work on a topic that is relevant to the MSc course or stream that you are studying. The project must be carried out by you, but you will have support from a supervisor (who may or may not be your personal tutor), and may also have access to co-supervisors or technical advisors where relevant.
As the outcome of this process, you will submit a project report which is marked and forms a large component of your final degree grade. To do this successfully, it is important to be aware of the deadlines and time requirements for project work. While specific deadlines may vary between courses, the key phases are:
- From as early as January (if not before), you should be actively thinking about what you will do for your project in the summer.
- In February and March (while still undertaking taught modules), you will need to turn your idea into a formal proposal and get approval to go ahead with it from School staff.
- By the end of April, you should expect to have received all required approvals, and may be able to start doing preparatory work or getting arrangements confirmed.
- During the summer (after the exams are over), you will normally undertake the main part of your project work – including research or data collection, analysis and writing-up.
- The deadline for submitting your project report will be at the end of the summer (start of September).
1.1 Project lengths and learning times
The topic you wish to address should be specific enough to be answered within the time and resources you have available.
School Regulations set out criteria for a ‘standard length’ project, which will apply for the vast majority of MSc students.
- The notional learning time for a standard length project is suggested as 450 hours, typically consisting of: 50 hours on selection of topic and preparation of proposal; 300 hours carrying out work involved in project; and 100 hours on writing up the project report.
- The recommended word count for a standard length project report is about 8,500 words (with a minimum of about 7,000 and an absolute maximum of 10,000). Certain courses (at present, MSc Medical Statistics only) set a page limit rather than a word limit, of 50 pages with prescribed formatting.
For specific courses (at present, MSc IID only), regulations also allow for ‘extended’ projects to be undertaken. Further details are given in Part 2 of the MSc IID project handbook. Extended projects require additional learning time, with work on the project during both D and E timetable slots, and a word count of 10,000 words (absolute maximum 12,000 words) recommended for the final project report.
Project reports may encompass a wide variety of approaches. Individual MSc courses will set criteria on what constitutes a valid project type for that course.
Examples of different types of project include:
- Field-based research project – undertaking primary data collection away from LSHTM, followed by analysis of the results. Such projects may cover a spectrum of work; from collecting samples to bring back to the lab, to social research.
- Laboratory research project – which may be based either in LSHTM labs or at institutions elsewhere.
- Analysis of an existing dataset – may be based on work done or data collected by you prior to or during the course; or use data provided by School staff, or others, or which is in the public domain.
- Protocol for new study – an MSc project may consist of designing a detailed proposal for a larger scientific study, addressing all relevant issues.
- Policy report – typically involves reviewing a policy issue using data from grey and other literature and/or from ‘original sources’ to draw conclusions and make recommendations for policy.
- Systematic literature review – undertaking a comprehensive and original review of the literature on a relevant subject.
The specific types of project permissible for your MSc are listed in Part 2 of this handbook. You can also see copies of past students’ project reports for your MSc on the Library site at www.lshtm.ac.uk/library/collections/mscprojects.html
1.3 Project objectives as part of your masters degree
The project report is an essential component of MSc study at LSHTM. Presenting a project report will enable you to demonstrate your ability to carry out and write up an independent piece of work on a topic that is relevant to your course. The project report provides 25% of the credits for your overall degree. It also contributes towards 30% of your final degree GPA and classification, i.e. playing an even stronger part in indicating how well you have done overall and whether you may obtain a distinction.
Your project report should indicate to the markers that you are able to:
- demonstrate understanding of a substantive portion of the body of knowledge covered by the course curriculum;
- demonstrate the ability to think critically and develop original ideas;
- analyse data or literature and form conclusions based on this analysis;
- demonstrate independent research skills;
- demonstrate an awareness of the practical aspects of planning and conducting a study, including potential problems and pitfalls;
- produce an extended piece of writing that is clear and coherent;
- demonstrate the ability to present research findings and/or policy recommendations in a clear and systematic format;
- where appropriate, reflect on social or ethical issues relating to the research; and
- demonstrate familiarity with either conventional research-reporting or policy-reporting styles, including project layout and referencing.
Given the wide variety of projects undertaken at the School, project work should aim to fulfil these objectives in general terms, without necessarily fulfilling each individual statement.
The specific aims of the project for your MSc are listed in Part 2 of this handbook.
1.4 Stages in the project report process
The various stages in preparing and undertaking a project report, including deadlines, may differ from course to course. You will find the specific key dates and deadlines for your MSc in Part 2 of this handbook. However, key stages and milestones are similar across all courses.
The following division into standard major ‘stages’ may be helpful:
| Stage | Tasks (plus suggested timing) | Key milestones | Deadline |
|
1: Pre-planning |
Consider from early Autumn term. · Choose standard or extended project (where offered).
|
§ Linked to selection of Term 2 and Term 3 modules. |
Mid-November |
|
2: Initial planning |
Consider from late Autumn term, and certainly from early January. · Start thinking about topics, and discuss ideas with staff. · Consider type of project to carry out (data collection, lab research, policy report, literature review, etc.) · Identify and approach potential supervisors where necessary. · Identify external placement where appropriate.
|
§ Identification of supervisor. § Identification of project topic. |
End January |
|
3: Proposal development |
Undertake work in January-February. · Draft project proposal and discuss with supervisor and/or other staff (incorporate their feedback).
|
§ Initial submission of draft CARE form to supervisor. |
Mid-End February |
|
4: Proposal approval |
Put forward through approval stages from late February to early March. · Completion of final project proposal as CARE form. · Obtain academic, risk assessment and ethics approval.
|
§ Obtain supervisor approval then Course Director approval. § Obtain approval from Faculty Safety Supervisor if necessary. § Submit final CARE form to MSc Research Ethics Committee by their absolute deadline. § Once all approvals received, submit approved form to TSO.
|
End March (for Ethics)
c. End April (final form to TSO) |
|
5: Undertaking project |
Last prep work in April; main project work from June to end August. · Reviewing literature. · Data collection. · Data analysis. · Writing report.
|
§ Finish data collection § Finish first draft report, for supervisor’s comments § Submission of final project report. |
Early Sept |
More specific guidance relating to these stages appears later in this handbook:
- For stages 1 and 2 above, see Section 3 “Starting to plan your project”.
- For stages 3 and 4 above, see Section 4 “The project approval process” (which includes notes on use of the CARE form).
- For stage 5 above, see both Section 9 “Undertaking research for your project report” and Section 11 “Writing up your project report”.
Note that the deadlines indicated above relate to standard project reports, but may differ for extended projects. Specific deadline dates are given in Sections 4.7 and 13.1.
1.5 How your project will be assessed
All MSc project reports are marked by two markers, who jointly agree a grade on the School’s standard scale from 0 to 5. The specific marking criteria that will apply for your course are given in Part 2 of this handbook; while further general information, including things you can expect the markers to be looking for, is given later in Part 1, under Section 14 “Project assessment”.
- Please ensure you understand how your project will be marked from an early stage, as you start planning your proposal.
- You should also particularly pay careful attention to the marking criteria when you reach the writing-up stage.
All students should have a project supervisor, to guide you in planning, undertaking and writing up your project work. This is an important relationship. Supervision arrangements may vary considerably between courses (see Part 2 of this handbook for further specific details relating to your MSc); and the nature of your relationship with your supervisor may also depend on the project type or topic you are undertaking. However the following notes, especially on frequency of meetings and what you can or cannot expect your supervisor to do, should apply for most projects.
2.1 Matching you with a project supervisor
The process by which students are matched with supervisors (and sometimes also with project topics) varies considerably between MSc courses. The particular process for your MSc is spelled out in Part 2 of this handbook.
In some cases a supervisor may be assigned to you, or will be attached to the project topic that you have been able to select from a list. In other cases, you may need to ‘find’ a supervisor yourself, approaching members of academic staff with appropriate expertise, or staff from other institutions or organisations. It may sometimes be appropriate for your personal tutor to become your project supervisor.
Course Directors will ensure that no student is without a supervisor – please contact your Course Director if you are having any problems in identifying a suitable supervisor.
In the event that you are dissatisfied with supervision arrangements, you should first discuss this with your supervisor and attempt to resolve any problems directly with them. If you are still dissatisfied, you can then speak to your Course Director. It is sometimes possible to change supervisor during the course of a project; indeed this may be appropriate if your plans or project topic change significantly, or if your original supervisor will no longer be available during key stages. However, changes are discouraged unless absolutely necessary because of the disruption they can cause.
2.2 Different supervisory roles
Your supervisor, once identified, is the person who gives you guidance about your project overall, and fulfils the criteria set out in Section 2.3 below on the ‘role of supervisor’. Supervisors may be members of LSHTM staff (whether based at the School in London, or at research sites elsewhere); or they may be ‘external’ (i.e. based outside the School and not a member of School staff).
If a person who is not a member of School staff agrees to act as your supervisor, they should familiarise themselves with what your course requires for an MSc project (as per Part 2 of this handbook), and be willing to take on the responsibilities outlined in section 2.3 below. In such cases, your Course Director should approve the external supervisor’s appointment, and ensure that you also have a designated member of LSHTM staff (known as a ‘School supervisor’) available to provide guidance from the School’s perspective. The School supervisor may potentially be your personal tutor, your Course Director, a staff member acting as ‘Projects Organiser’ for your course, or someone else.
Other individuals may also be involved in supervising or assisting with your project. They may be closely involved in specific parts of your project – for instance directing you in carrying out specific laboratory procedures, working with you during fieldwork, or advising you on statistical techniques for a specific part of your analysis – or involved with the project as a whole, though lacking the responsibilities of your ‘main’ supervisor. Such staff are referred to as ‘co-supervisors’ if they are academics, or as ‘technical advisors’ if they are not academics (e.g. staff working for an NGO).
It can be perfectly normal and appropriate for you to have a greater level of direct contact with a co-supervisor or technical advisor (be they external or internal to LSHTM) than with your ‘main’ supervisor. Day-to-day advice in the course of fieldwork or lab work may often be primarily given by co-supervisors or technical advisors, while your main supervisor may only need to give advice on the strategic direction of the project.
Note that your main supervisor may also delegate substantive supervisory responsibilities (including responsibilities for approving your project proposal and reading and commenting on your draft final project report) to an internal or external co-supervisor, provided everyone involved agrees to do so.
The role of your supervisor is to provide you with guidance and advice, and to support your learning during the project report. However, the final content of the project report is your responsibility alone; it must be your own work, reflecting your own abilities and the skills and knowledge you have acquired during the course and during the period of supervision.
- In the planning stages, you must write the project outline. In some cases your supervisor may identify the dataset and define the research question for you to investigate, but you are responsible for specifying the analytical approach.
- Similarly during the course of the project, your supervisor will normally provide guidance, but should not tell you what to do or what to write, or carry out specific actions such as writing text/commands or running STATA analyses for you.
- Where you encounter specific challenges, you may find it helpful to have a discussion with your supervisor about situations similar to that which you now face, then apply what you learn from such a discussion to your project report.
- Sometimes the data you are analysing will belong to your supervisor. However, your supervisor should not direct the analysis beyond your level of ability. In some cases your supervisor may carry out further analysis after the project report has been submitted, but the project report must be your work alone.
- When writing-up the project, as a general rule your supervisor can be expected to read or criticise one written draft of the project report – so long as the draft is ready with sufficient time to do this (e.g. a minimum of 1 week).
- It is up to you to ensure that meetings are planned to allow adequate reading time; it may be helpful to jointly agree target dates with your supervisor, for when they can expect to receive your draft and when they will be able to give you feedback after this.
- Rather than have your supervisor read through a single final draft of your project just before you submit it, it may be much more helpful to adopting a ‘write as you go’ approach and get supervisor feedback on individual chapters as you draft them during the course of the project.
- Note that your supervisor is not expected to correct your English when reading or commenting on your work, though may advise where further improvement is necessary.
You should quite clearly understand that it is not your supervisor’s responsibility to make sure that the project report submitted is of at least a ‘pass’ standard. Rather, their responsibility is to provide guidance and support to ensure your best efforts can be directed into appropriate work, so that your final project report will be a good example of your ability and knowledge.
| Checklist – role of the supervisor |
| Things the supervisor can do –
· The supervisor may identify the dataset. · The supervisor may define the research question. · The supervisor can advise on development of the project proposal, including giving feedback and making specific suggestions for how to complete the CARE form. · The supervisor should give their approval for the final project proposal using the CARE form –including confirming the appropriateness of the risk assessment, and advising the student on seeking ethics approval where required either by the School or locally. · The supervisor should provide guidance over the course of the project, particularly on overarching elements but also on specific aspects where appropriate. · The supervisor may insert ‘comments’ electronically. · The supervisor will usually provide feedback on a penultimate draft of the project report (provided this is given to them in good time, according to a jointly-agreed timetable).
|
| Things the supervisor should not do –
· The supervisor is not expected to correct the student’s English. · The supervisor is not responsible for deciding the final content of the project report. · The supervisor must not write the project outline. · The supervisor must not specify the analytical approach. · The supervisor should not tell the student what to do. · The supervisor should not tell the student what to write. · The supervisor should not write text/commands for the student. · The supervisor should not track-change text electronically. · The supervisor should not run STATA analyses for the student. · The supervisor is not responsible for ensuring that the project is of at least a “pass” standard. · The supervisor should not rewrite a project report.
|
If your main supervisor is not a member of School staff, you should clearly establish with them from early on as to what support they will or will not expect to provide – including things like availability and frequency of contact, or what they can arrange for you in terms of facilities and practical support (e.g. travel, accommodation, administrative assistance etc.)
Disabilities
You may wish to inform your supervisor if you have a disability or ongoing medical condition – e.g. physical or sensory impairments, learning disabilities such as dyslexia or dyspraxia, or difficulties affecting emotional or mental well-being. Even if you have already declared a disability to the School, such information is treated confidentially and supervisors will not automatically be advised. Supervisors are likely to be able to support you better if they are aware of your specific circumstances. The Student Advisor can help with any queries about disabilities – please see further information at http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/studentadvice/disability
2.4 Frequency of contact with supervisor
Your supervisor acts as an advisor, not a collaborator, so you must expect to do most of the work independently.
During the initial planning and proposal development stages, you should seek advice from your supervisor about the general topic and direction of your project. Supervisors will often suggest useful points and ideas you might not otherwise be aware of or have considered. Your supervisor can reasonably be expected to give you feedback on one full draft project proposal during these planning stages, but not more detailed input (e.g. they should not do your literature search for you). Your Course Director can give advice and feedback if no supervisor has yet been appointed.
Moving into the main (summer) period of project work, and particularly during the early stages, the supervisor should normally organise regular sessions with you – e.g. meetings, phone calls, email briefings. It is usually helpful to agree a timetable of work for the project report with your supervisor from early on; and you should agree the plan of analysis and the structure of the report at a relatively early stage, including chapter titles and sub-headings.
The exact amount of contact time will vary according to your needs, the type of project involved, and any particular difficulties or problems that may arise. However the total contact time you can expect between yourself and your supervisor over the summer period is between 6 and 10 hours. This includes all contact, whether by telephone, email or face to face. The one thing that the supervisor can be expected to do in addition to this 6-10 hours contact is to read through and comment on one full draft of your project.
- Note that some courses set more prescriptive requirements for how supervisor contact should be managed – e.g. recommending up to three substantive meetings with the supervisor, corresponding to 3-6 contact hours, topped up to max. 10 hours by additional contacts such as emails.
- Lab-based work in particular may often involve students being in contact with their supervisors on more or less a daily basis. In such scenarios, “technical” contact such as setting up equipment, handling materials and demonstrating or carrying out procedures is not expected to count towards the max. 10 hours supervision time. However, strategic advice on the project overall or approaches to be taken should count towards the supervisory guidance quota.
- Please see Part 2 of this handbook for more details on how supervisor contact is expected to operate for your MSc.
The primary responsibility for maintaining contact with your supervisor rests with you as the student. You should consult them from early on about your plans, and jointly agree on how they will give input as your work progresses. There may be periods where your supervisor is unavailable, e.g. if travelling or undertaking their own research; they should let you know when this is the case. If you feel that your supervisor is not sufficiently available to give you necessary support, you should let them know – do not allow this to delay your work. If you are still dissatisfied, you should let your Course Director know.
In some instances, your personal tutor may also be your project supervisor. This is standard practice for certain MScs. In cases where students have an external co-supervisor who will undertake the majority of supervision, it is also common practice for the personal tutor to act as School-based co-supervisor, with more limited responsibilities (e.g. focused on proposal approval).
If your personal tutor is to act as your project supervisor, you should note the distinct shift in their role and responsibilities at this time. Whilst during the rest of the course your personal tutor will give you as much support as is reasonably possible, there is a clear limit to the level and amount of supervision they can give for the project – a maximum of 10 hours contact time under any circumstances. The same applies if your MSc Course Director is also your (co-)supervisor.
Such arrangements need to be strictly followed, as the project report counts substantially towards your overall assessment and equality of conditions needs to be ensured.
As the summary table given earlier (under ‘Overview of the project process’) indicates, you should work through key stages of “pre-planning”, “initial planning”, and “proposal development” for your project, before seeking all required approvals and then beginning any substantive project work.
The pre-planning and initial planning stages are described below. These early stages should not necessarily require a great deal of work; but the key point to be aware of is that you should start actively thinking about your “project report” from as early as the Autumn term.
3.1 Pre-planning (Stage 1 of planning & approval process)
- Consider from early Autumn term. Deadline for this stage will be approx. mid-November.
This does not apply for all courses, but MSc students on some ITD courses will be asked to make a decision early on about whether they wish to undertake a ‘standard’ or ‘extended’ project. This decision is linked with the number and type of teaching modules selected, and the deadline for it is the same as that for module selection – around mid-November.
3.2 Initial planning (Stage 2 of planning & approval process)
- Consider from late Autumn term, and certainly from early January. Deadline for this stage will be approx. end January.
Initial ideas
All students should find it helpful to begin to think about potential project areas at an early stage in the academic year. It will always be useful to consider what type of work or topic area will best suit you and your expertise, or fit with your career goals for after the course. You may wish to explore a number of different ideas with a variety of staff before coming to a decision.
Your chosen topic must be relevant to your MSc course. Further specific guidance is given in Part 2 of this handbook; but if in any doubt, please speak to your supervisor, tutor or Course Director before spending any time investigating options that may not be relevant or appropriate.
Course-specific approaches
The process by which a possible project topic emerges is a dynamic one, and varies considerably between MScs – please see Part 2 of this handbook for further guidance. Some courses assemble a list of potential projects (e.g. see the ITD Project Choice form for lab-based ITD projects), or a list of potential project supervisors, or both. Others leave it to students to come up with a project idea – usually after discussion with your personal tutor, who may also be your project supervisor.
Type of project
The project idea or topic area you decide on will help determine what type of project you undertake, and vice versa. Each MSc or MSc stream will set and define specific allowed project types – please see Part 2 of this handbook for details.
Identifying a supervisor
Your supervisor should also normally be identified at this stage. As noted previously, on some courses a supervisor will be assigned or may be responsible for a particular project topic available on a list; but for other courses, you may need to approach staff with relevant expertise to ask them to act as a supervisor or advisor. Specific notes on how this process will work for your MSc are given in Part 2 of this handbook. It is not always necessary to identify a supervisor during initial planning, and your Course Director can provide advice if no supervisor has yet been appointed.
Identifying external placements
Where appropriate (although note that this may not be relevant or even permitted for certain courses), your initial exploration of project ideas may lead you to identify a potential external placement – e.g. in a hospital, college, research institute, NGO headquarters, field station or so on. Sometimes such links may be suggested by your supervisor or Course Director; or this may perhaps be an organisation that you know of or have some previous experience with.
It will usually be appropriate to contact such institutions/organisations at this stage, to find out whether a placement will be possible, and identify a suitable member of staff who can support you while there (e.g. as main supervisor, co-supervisor or technical advisor).
Guidelines on good research practice
At this point, you may find it helpful to read through the School’s “guidelines on good research practice” at http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/governanceandresearchintegrity/index.html, as well as the guidance in this handbook (especially the course-specific information in Part 2). This may help clarify your thinking about how specific aspects of the project might best be carried out.
Completing initial planning
The initial planning stage has a clear ‘endpoint’, by which time you should know the type of project you will be doing, who your supervisor will be, and the likely topic. Although the final title of your project may not emerge until the writing up stage, the broad topic area should normally be decided on now. This stage should usually be completed by the end of January, or a couple of weeks before the hand-in date for your draft project proposal – to allow your supervisor to check the details and for you to make any final amendments.
Setting a work schedule
Good project management is key to a successful project – setting a plan and schedule from early on, then following this through.
- You should develop a timetable, prepare a clear project outline/structure you can follow through in main research, and always be conscious of what is or isn’t feasible.
- It’s extremely helpful to do as much groundwork and preparation as possible ahead of the project starting ‘properly’ in the summer. Once your main research is underway, aim to maintain a steady productive pace. Beware the temptation to think you can cram everything in at the end!
- Always plan to set aside specific writing-up time after completing the main research or data collection.
The next main stages in the project planning process are developing your proposal and getting it approved. These two stages are closely linked; you will want to seek and incorporate feedback from your supervisor (and possibly other staff like your Course Director) as you develop your proposal, then your supervisor and Course Director will then be the first people you need to seek approval from.
You must complete the School’s Combined Academic, Risk assessment and Ethics approval (CARE) form, to obtain the formal approvals the School requires before you undertake substantive project work. The CARE form is also intended to be a useful tool for project development, helping to give shape to your proposal and acting as a reminder about important areas to consider.
It is vital that you obtain full approval before starting work on your project, so please pay careful attention to the notes below. Further guidance about how proposal development and approval should operate for your MSc specifically is given in Part 2 of this handbook.
4.1 Proposal development (Stage 3 of planning & approval process)
- To be done in January-February; deadline for this stage will be approx. mid-February.
Having identified the project type and topic you would like to carry out (as per the previous ‘initial planning’ stage), proposal development is where you shape your ideas into a more specific plan. This is likely to include:
- Adding more details about the background to this topic, your intended approach, and expected outcomes.
- Following up to confirm any major aspects like who your supervisor will be (if not previously confirmed) or setting up an off-site placement for the summer (if this is part of your plans).
- Seeking advice and feedback from others – particularly from your supervisor, but potentially also from other staff such as your personal tutor or Course Director, other students, or past colleagues and personal contacts.
It is recommended that you use the CARE form when you begin to develop specific details of your proposal – this should save you some work later, as you will need to put information into this format for approval purposes. Typically you may produce several drafts of the CARE form, revising them in turn after discussions and feedback from your supervisor or others, before you submit a final version for approval.
Your supervisor can reasonably be expected to give you feedback on one full draft project proposal, or your Course Director can give such feedback if no supervisor has yet been appointed.
The final milestone of the ‘proposal development’ stage will be to submit a final project proposal for approval, using the CARE form.
Deadlines relevant to each MSc will be confirmed by Course Directors.
4.2 Starting to complete the CARE form
The Combined Academic, Risk assessment and Ethics (CARE) form is intended as a way to comprehensively summarise the work you intend to do in your project, so that staff have sufficient information to give approval. It will also prompt you on a number of key points you need to think about.
Past example CARE forms
You may find it helpful to look at actual examples of completed CARE forms, based on past students’ projects, when reading the more general guidance given below. These are available on the web at www.lshtm.ac.uk/edu/taughtcourses/studentforms/careforms.html Note that these were completed using a previous version of the form so the question order is different.
Structure of the CARE form
The form is divided into five main sections, covering: (1) administrative details which cover basic information about the type of submission; (2) project filter to set the appropriate questions for your study; (3) overview of the project including the academic content of proposal; (4) description of your background and experience; (5) project methodology; (6) participant information (might not be applicable); (7) funder details (might not be applicable); (8) intervention study information (might not be applicable); (9) drug and device information (might not be applicable); (10) human tissue samples information (might not be applicable); (11) details of local approval (might not be applicable); (12) MSc specific information on (12a) data sources, intellectual property and permissions and (12b) risk assessment, and (13) declarations and signatures.
Based on the project filter in section 2, this will enable and disable questions specific to your study. You will then need to complete each question as they will all apply to your study.
Questions in the CARE form have been agreed on behalf of the School’s Learning & Teaching Committee, Safety Committee and MSc Research Ethics Committee, and may not be altered.
Use of electronic form
The form should be completed online at http://leo.lshtm.ac.uk. The link can be found on the Moodle course site for your MSc, which will also have a copy of this handbook and all other forms and information that may be relevant for your course. You can access this by logging in at ble.lshtm.ac.uk using your School username and password.
The online form is saved automatically as you navigate between questions. You can share the form, or save as a pdf to send to your supervisor and course director, as required.
Drafts and versions
Completing the CARE form is an iterative process – you are not expected to get it all done at once, and may need to return to the form on several occasions. You should use the website to work through the proposal development stage of the process, to eventually come up with a version ready to be approved.
It can be helpful to start work on a first draft of the CARE form as you begin to discuss initial project plans with your tutor, supervisor or Course Director – from January, or even earlier. Alternatively, you can just fill it out ‘all at once’ later on, when you have worked out your plans more fully.
You can share the form on LEO with your supervisor so they can review it as you complete it. Your supervisor may write on the “post-it” notes included within the system.
When saving the pdf version of the CARE form to share with others, be careful about how you save the electronic files. It is very helpful to date or number different versions. Files should ideally be named in the following format (which particularly helps staff like Course Directors who have to deal with a great many forms):
“[MSc title]_[Year of Submission]_[Surname]_[Forename]_
CARE_[Version]”
For example, “PH_2014_Chadwick_Edwin_CARE_v01_Jan19th.pdf”
Please ensure you keep an electronic copy of all versions of the form that you submit to staff for approval, and that you can always identify the most recent version – especially where you have had to incorporate amendments based on staff feedback about a previous version.
Any other documentation you need to provide, e.g. consent forms when submitting to the MSc Research Ethics Committee, should be saved in a similar format but changing the word ‘CARE’ in this. For example,
“PH_2014_ Chadwick_Edwin_EthicsConsentForm_v01_Jan19th.doc”
Who should fill in CARE
The CARE form should normally be filled out by you the student writing in the first person, e.g.
- “I will be based at MRC Fajara, The Gambia…”
However, it may be appropriate for supervisors to edit parts of the CARE applications, or to supply specific or standard text to help answer certain questions. To help distinguish such contributions they should normally be written in the third person, e.g.
- “The student’s CV will be submitted to the Scientific Co-ordinating Committee at MRC Fajara, to inform them of her visit during this project and participation in the broader study into which this fits as a component and for which ethics approval has already been given from the MRC and Gambian Government.”
A note about abbreviations
You should be careful to ensure that any abbreviations you mention in your proposal are defined in full the first time they appear in the CARE form. Even if you think the term is so obvious that it can simply be given as an abbreviation and doesn’t need an explanation, please bear in mind that your form may be considered by staff other than your supervisor or Course Director – it may be unintelligible or difficult to understand if it is not defined. In particular, the Ethics Committee membership consists of about half biologists/medics, and half in law, social science or lay positions; one group may know quite well what an undefined abbreviation stands for, but the other may not. Writing your application clearly and spelling out or defining abbreviations is helpful and reduces the potential for delays in approval.
4.3 CARE Section 1 – Administrative Details
Section 1 of the CARE form constitutes a “cover sheet” of important basic information about your proposal or submission
- Project title: You will need to come up with a draft project title for the purposes of the CARE form. This doesn’t have to be the final title you use for the actual project report you end up writing; for now, it can just be a working title for the type of work you intend to carry out. If you already know precisely what your project will focus on, that’s great and you can say so; but otherwise, it’s fine to give a fairly generic title – typically, saying what kind of project you will be doing in what subject area and perhaps in relation to a specific location or data source. For example,
“Data analysis of factors associated with vaccination coverage and timing of vaccination in young Tanzanian children”.
- The form asks for your name and email contact details, so that staff (e.g. reviewers from the Ethics Committee) can contact you with any queries. You should not give your candidate number anywhere on the CARE form.
- The form also asks you to confirm supervisor details. You may not have had your project supervisor’s name fully confirmed by the time you submit the form for approval; if so, you can state the status in question 3c(iii). Where no supervisor has yet been identified, you should also supply the name of your personal tutor. All these details can be updated again if they are confirmed or changed later in the course of the CARE approval process.
- If you haven’t had a supervisor confirmed but you still know what you intend to do for your project, this shouldn’t delay you completing the form. Personal tutors or Course Directors may approve proposals when the supervisor is still to be confirmed.
- However, if there are difficulties in identifying or confirming a supervisor, and the nature of your project is likely to depend on who they are, you should speak to your Course Director and personal tutor to ensure that you can develop a proposal and get it approved within the deadlines. There may be some flexibility with course-level deadlines, but you should not miss the School-wide deadline for submission of proposals to the MSc Research Ethics.
4.4 CARE Section 2 – Project Filter
This section contains filter questions to tailor the form to your proposal. For example, in question 4, you need to select the type of study. By selecting “literature review”, this will disable questions on informed consent and on drugs and devices. Ensure that you select the appropriate answer to these filter questions, as if there is an error and the wrong type of form is populated, this may result in a delay in starting the study.
- Project type: Details about permitted ‘project types’ for your MSc are given in Part 2 of this handbook. Some courses are quite flexible about allowed project types, including the use of hybrid approaches. However other courses have very defined criteria for the type of work permitted, e.g. not allowing projects that require collection of new data.
4.5 CARE Section 3 – Overview of Project
This section of the CARE form allows you to describe the main features of what you intend to cover in your project, with a general project outline plus points about general feasibility.
You are likely to benefit from discussing this section of the form with your supervisor, tutor or Course Director, and may need to go through several drafts and revisions before it is finished. Once you’ve got this section reasonably complete, you should be in a better position to answer the questions in the next sections – though be aware that questions and answers on those topics may also prompt you to come back and revise academic elements in this section.
Project Outline
Academic requirements for projects, i.e. what you summarise in a ‘project outline’, will differ between courses – further details and guidance are given in Part 2 of this handbook.
- Normally the project outline should not exceed 750 words total. The form is only intended to sketch out your project plan, not the project itself, so there should be no need to go into comprehensive detail.
- The CARE form is designed so that you do not have to duplicate information. Please remember that sections such as the project outline serve a variety of purposes – e.g. as a basis for the Course Director to give academic approval, and for other staff to understand your proposal and give ethics or risk assessment approval.
To give further guidance on some of the specific questions asked:
- Hypothesis (Q12): Not every project will need a specific hypothesis; this depends on project type.
- Aim (Q13): The overall aim of the project may simply be to investigate the hypothesis, if one is put forward.
- Specific objectives (Q14): While these don’t necessarily have to be highly specific at the proposal stage, setting out sensible objectives now helps demonstrate that your project has been properly thought out.
- It can be helpful to check how your objectives meet ‘SMART’ criteria: are they Specific, rather than too woolly or general? Are they Measurable, to help allow you to reach a conclusion about what your work has found? Are they Achievable, given the limited resources you will have for your project (just you doing the work)? Are they Relevant to the project topic, and to the criteria your project will be marked on? And are they Time-bound, i.e. achievable within the limited time you will have to carry out the project (it may be helpful to start drawing up a project time-plan even at this proposal stage)?
- Equally however, it is often fine to give quite generic objectives like “Reviewing the literature and making policy recommendations as appropriate based on the weight of evidence” – simply to indicate that this is one of the things you are setting out to do.
4.6 CARE Section 4 – Methodology
This section (questions 15-21) should cover both data collection and data analysis. It is good to include a provisional data analysis plan, e.g. listing statistical techniques to be used.
Feasibility (questions 19-20b)
The Feasibility sub-section of the CARE form asks about things that might prevent you from carrying out a successful project, and back-up plans for such scenarios. This will be relevant for all students to answer, no matter what type of project you are doing. While projects that involve fieldwork and data collection may have higher risks or more things to go wrong, desk-based projects also have the potential to encounter problems – e.g. for literature reviews, if too many or too few articles are identified in the search, or if comparisons across articles are difficult due to the use of different measures or concepts.
Some examples of the kind of feasibility issues to consider, drawn from actual project proposals by past students, include:
- “Dangers of getting insufficient numbers of clients entered into study, or a large number of participants withdrawing from the study part-way through.”
- “Failure to access/obtain appropriate interviews with former WHO senior staff.”
- “The project is planned to take place from June – August, which coincides with lower seasonal peaks of mosquitoes in the area and may affect results.”
- “Incorrect storage of net samples prior to chemical assay could affect analysis.”
- “Potential difficulties dealing with the advanced statistical methods required.”
- “Frequency of outcome variables being insufficiently high to warrant further investigation.”
- “Supervisor will be based on another continent and if contact is difficult this may pose problems.”
Some further examples of how to sketch out a potential back-up plan include:
- “If the literature search produces insufficient information on the specific topic of HIV transmission among sex workers in Cambodia, to widen the scope of the project to become a broad-based review of gender violence and inequality in Cambodia and whether these issues may be partly responsible for driving the HIV epidemic.”
- “If there are problems with the ABI3130xl machine (genetic analyser) the planned processing of samples could be delayed or prevented, in which case alternative genotyping methods would be applied to undertake a parallel approach within the time frame of the project report.”
- “If the data for analysis is not available, I would do a policy review of health rights in Costa Rica for undocumented and immigrant communities.”
You should also consider what you would do if there are delays with permissions – in particular, what you would do if ethics approval is required but not initially granted. For example:
- “If ethics approval is not granted for the collection of primary data, then as outlined above the emphasis of the project will be on undertaking a cost-effectiveness model using available estimates and carrying out probabilistic sensitivity analysis.”
- “If ethics approval is not initially granted, I would expect to confer further with the LSHTM MSc Research Ethics Committee and revise my proposal based on their feedback in order to gain approval. If there is a problem with obtaining local approval, I may need to abandon the human data collection element and switch to a pure literature review on the same topic.”
Your answers in this section may also link up with details you give in the later Risk Assessment section. This may also be an opportunity to give contextual information on possibilities like natural phenomena or transport issues – e.g. whether travel may be affected during a monsoon season.
- CARE Section 5 – Experience of Investigators
You should provide brief details of your experience in relation to the project, as well as upload a short CV. Templates are available by following the link in the help section for that question.
4.8 CARE Section 6 – Participant Oversight
This section looks at the information provided to participants for your study, as well as how they will be consented. Further information is provided in this handbook in section 6.4 on how to prepare the information sheet and consent form.
Note for studies where you will be undertaking a secondary data analysis, or using data fully in the public domain, you will not need to complete this section.
The section also looks at confidentiality of data. Further details are provided in section 6.3 of the handbook.
4.9 CARE form Section 7 – Funding
Any details of funding available for the project should be provided here. This includes any travel grants or other funds awarded to you.
4.10 CARE form Section 8 – Interventional Studies
This section is for any student undertaking an interventional study for their project. An interventional study is defined as: “interventional studies include all trials based on random allocation of interventions and also non-randomised interventions where participants or groups of participants are given treatments (of whatever nature) that they would not otherwise be receiving in the ordinary course of events and which are allocated by the investigator”.
Most students will not undertake this type of study as their project report due to the length of time it takes to set up a trial.
4.11 CARE form Section 9 – Drug and Device Information
Following on from Section 8, this section only appears for drug and device trials, therefore it is unlikely that a student will need to complete this.
4.12 CARE form Section 10 – Human Tissue Samples
Students may take, or use human tissue samples during their project report. As there is specific legislation in the UK which guides how we handle and use human tissue samples, it is important that students are familiar with appropriate laboratory techniques.
Further information is available on the tissue section of the intranet: https://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/support/research/humantissue/
4.13 CARE form Section 11 – Local Approval
For this, you need to think about whether any approvals or permissions are required in relation to your project from bodies outside LSHTM.
A wide range of external bodies may require you to seek approval or permission for work that falls under their remit. This could include local ethics approval (from an ethics committee associated with the institution or organisation running the research site you will be working at, or a national or regional body or government department in the country concerned), research governance approval (e.g. to work in an NHS facility in the UK), appropriate permission to work with vulnerable groups such as patients or children, etc.
Note that work with animals is not in the remit of the LSHTM MSc Research Ethics Committee; but for any such work, you should be aware of and expected to follow the LSHTM policy on the use of animals in biomedical research, available at http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/support/research/animalspolicy.pdf. Such work is also very likely to require some form of external approval.
If local approval is necessary you should outline the requirements in brief, demonstrating that you have investigated them. For example:
- “The Ministry of Health and Social Services of Namibia require a detailed summary of the proposed project, with covering letter, in order to give local ethics approval.”
- “Barking and Dagenham Primary Care Trust will require me to undergo some pre-engagement checks, to be determined by them, but have confirmed that they will not need me to have an NHS Research Passport as I will not be interacting with individuals in a way that has any direct bearing on the quality of their care.”
In some cases, local ethics approval that is required for the work you are undertaking will already have been granted – generally, where you will be doing research that is part of or spun off from a larger ‘parent’ study that has already been given comprehensive ethics approval. If necessary approvals have already been granted you should make this very clear, quoting approval reference approval numbers and if possible giving web links to documents or attaching a copy/scan. For example:
- “Ethics approval has already been given by the MRC and Gambian Government Scientific Co-ordinating Committee (SCC) and Joint Ethical Committee (JEC), in Letter L2011.28 of 28th April 2011, for a broader study into which this project fits as a component. A copy of this is attached. My CV will be submitted to the SCC and JEC to inform them of my visit and participation in the work during this project.”
Sometimes, local ethics committees will require that you get ethics approval from the School before they are willing to give their local approval. In such a case, you should apply for School ethics approval and make very clear that “local approval has not yet been given because it requires School approval first”. The School’s MSc Research Ethics Committee can then give you their approval in the normal way, and you can use this to get local approval.
- If local approval is not granted, then this will make your School approval invalid. In any cases where local ethics approval is required, you must not start work until you have obtained full approval both locally and from the School.
- Where local approval is required and is duly received, details should be included with your final project report submission (usually giving physical copies of the approval document as well as an electronic scan).
There may also be cases where you are working away from LSHTM with human subjects or human data, but cannot identify a relevant local ethics committee or believe that no formal approval is required. If you indicate that local approval is not required, you should briefly explain why, including what you have done to check this.
You should always be able to demonstrate some kind of appropriate local support for the work you will be doing, e.g. correspondence with local government officials or an involved Non-Governmental Organisation. For example:
- “My data collection in Kigoma, Tanzania will comprise semi-structured interviews about local nutrition matters with up to a maximum of 15 individuals, to be identified via ‘snowball’ recommendations from my two lead contacts in Mtanga Village (who are a village Councillor and the village primary school Head teacher). I do not believe this will require formal local approval. Attached are copies of correspondence from my contacts, plus a copy of a letter setting out my intended work which I have sent to the District Executive Director, Kigoma Rural District.”
If you will be working at the invitation of an NGO or similar responsible body, you should give details about your relationship with them and their work in the country in question. For example:
- “The Red Cross already have relevant wide-ranging permissions to work with refugee groups in this area. I will be working under their auspices as a volunteer, and they have agreed that I can carry out my health and sanitation survey as part of this work (see letter of confirmation attached).”
Where you have identified that approval is required, you will be responsible for following up to obtain it, and should not undertake substantive work until it has been confirmed as granted. It is always useful to apply for local approval as far ahead of your project as possible, as approving organisations can sometimes take a long time to consider and respond to applications.
It is the responsibility of each student and their supervisor to ensure that all applicable ethics approvals are in place before the start of the study.
- Details of local ethics approval need to be included in CARE form submissions to the LSHTM Ethics Committee.
- Copies of any local ethics approval or similar documentation will need to be bound in to your final project report.
4.14 CARE form Section 12 – MSc Specific Information
Data sources, intellectual property and permissions
At this stage of project planning, you should also consider whether any issues around data sources, intellectual property rights, copyright or other permissions may apply for your project. It is each student’s responsibility to seek and gain any requisite permissions. Please don’t simply assume that this is not relevant – if you are unfamiliar with these issues, further notes are given in Section 10 “Copyright and Intellectual Property” later in this handbook, and extensive guidance and resources are available on the School website/intranet. Speak to your supervisor in the first instance if anything is still unclear.
- If you expect to use existing data previously collected by others, you should explain how you intend to gain permission to use it, think about methods by which you are likely to be able to access it, and consider what kind of restrictions may apply to your access or what you can write or publish about it (e.g. data usage limitations to prevent identification of individuals).
- If you intend to use public domain data, for purposes of ethics approval it is important to make clear that this is fully public domain – i.e. available to any member of the public, without any restrictions or requirement for special permission, and does not enable the identification of living people.
- The form also prompts you to indicate whether any data rights permissions or usage limitations will apply to data collected or used in the project – e.g. if the body granting permission needs you to ensure that no personally identifying information appears in your final report (this is a very standard requirement); or if the owner of the dataset you will be using will only grant you permission to use it for the specified purpose of your LSHTM project report. For example:
- “Data will belong to the MRC Unit in The Gambia. I will be permitted to analyse and present the data in my MSc project report, but not to make the results available to others. The right to incorporate my project data together with other existing data into a future publication will be retained by my supervisors at MRC The Gambia, with the assurance that I would be appropriately credited.”
- In many cases you may be working with data that belongs to LSHTM, for example a dataset provided by your supervisor. If so, you should discuss whether it is necessary to sign any specific agreements in advance about intellectual property rights or copyright. Standard forms are available for this (in the same place as the CARE form, on the Moodle site for your course) which may be adapted to suit specific requirements.
- You should tick the appropriate box to indicate which type of agreement may be applicable, if any – including with external parties. Copies of forms and agreements should also be supplied where possible, even if they are still in draft, when the CARE form is submitted for approval.
The risk assessment will be covered in more detail in section 5.5 of this handbook.
4.15 CARE form Section 13 – Signatures
Electronic signatures act as authorisations on behalf of all parties required to sign the form (supervisor, course director, faculty safety supervisor etc). These need to be obtained after the final draft of the form is completed online and can be requested by different people. This will lock the form and will no longer be editable. Should you need to make changes to the form after requesting signatures, this will unlock the form and void signatures. You will then need to request these again.
- The first item is a “Student Declaration” for you to sign electronically. You will need to electronically sign the form before submitting the CARE form to the MSc ethics committee. Signing the form will confirm that you will carry out the project as stated on the form, particularly with regard to safety and ethics requirements, and note the date. Affirming this declaration in this way before submitting it to a member of staff will be regarded as the equivalent of a signature, which you agree to abide by.
- You will also need to obtain the electronic signature from your Supervisor and Course Director. They need to be registered on the LEO system before requesting their signature. Where appropriate, the Faculty Safety Supervisor may also need to sign the form before it can be submitted to the MSc Research Ethics Committee. Further guidance on the process of submitting the form for approval is given in Section 4.16 of this handbook.
You must click on “submit” once you have received all relevant signatures. Otherwise your form has not been submitted to the MSc ethics committee and will not be approved.
Please be aware that approval does not signify that a report which sticks rigidly to the proposal is guaranteed to pass.
- Later sections of the CARE form
Detailed guidance about filling in the sections on Safety and Risk Assessment in the CARE form is given later in this handbook. NB that you must in absolutely all cases fill out all questions in the CARE form section 12 as these will confirm whether you will be required to do a more substantive risk assessment.
4.16 Proposal approval (Stage 4 of planning & approval process)
- To be put through approval stages from late February to early March. For most courses, key date of this stage will be to submit CARE form for Ethics approval by late March, with subsequent deadline for lodging final approved CARE form with TSO by approx. end April.
The School requires that all students obtain appropriate approvals for intended projects before starting work.
- Academic approval (from your supervisor and Course Director) is necessary to ensure you do not work on a project which would be unsuitable for the MSc you are studying.
- Risk assessment approval (from your supervisor and Course Director, and possibly from further staff such as the Faculty Safety Supervisor) is a requirement of the School.
- Ethics approval is another very important aspect. Not all projects will need ethics approval, but you are required to submit your application to the MSc Ethics Committee for their initial review. You should also investigate, and make clear in your CARE form, whether you are likely to need any forms of local approval for work you may be doing away from LSHTM. Please be aware that any work in breach of ethics requirements is liable to be disqualified and given an automatic fail grade.
Key steps in the approval process
Approvals should be obtained in a specific order – first from your supervisor, then your Course Director, then the Faculty Safety Supervisor if necessary, and finally the MSc Research Ethics Committee. A final copy of the CARE form should be submitted to TSO once fully approved.
| Approval step | Instructions |
| Proposal development | Complete the CARE form, get feedback from your supervisor or tutor, and edit or re-draft as required. You may need to go through several drafts before this is ready. You should attempt to fill in all sections at this stage, including for risk assessment and ethics.
Ø When ready, share with your supervisor on the LEO system. |
| Supervisor approval | Supervisor scrutinises the form, particularly for academic content and risk issues. They may wish to speak to you about specific points.
* Course Directors or personal tutors can give approval if your supervisor is still to be identified or confirmed.
You should incorporate their feedback (see notes on revising the form) Ø If approved, you may then request that the supervisor sign the final version of the CARE form on the LEO system. Ø If not approved, the supervisor will inform you and should give feedback about what you need to change or improve. You should go back to the proposal development stage, and make changes incorporating their feedback. |
| Course Director approval | Course Director (CD) scrutinises the form, to confirm it is academically suitable for the MSc and that any key risks have been identified. They may wish to speak to you about specific points. * For courses with more than one Course Director, only one needs to give approval.
Ø If approved, you may request that the CD sign the form electronically. If relevant, the Faculty Safety Supervisor will also be able to sign the form electronically before submitting to the MSc Research Ethics Committee. Ø If not approved, the CD will inform you and should give feedback about what you need to change or improve. You should go back to the proposal development stage to make changes incorporating their feedback and put a revised form through for supervisor and CD approval. |
| (Faculty Safety Supervisor approval)
* where relevant – esp. as indicated by answers to Question 43c and 48a and b of the CARE form |
In certain cases only, relating to work with hazardous substances as clearly indicated on the form, you will need to seek specific approval from the Faculty Safety Supervisor (FSS).
* This step is only likely to be required for ITD courses. You should incorporate their feedback (see notes on revising the form) Ø If approved, the FSS may sign the form electronically on the LEO system; then submit to MSc Research Ethics Committee. If not approved, the FSS will inform you and should give feedback about what you need to change or improve. You may be able to simply re-submit for FSS approval if changes will not require fresh approval from your supervisor and CD. |
| Ethics approval
|
All studies will be submitted to the MSc Ethics Committee for review. Queries regarding the ethics review process or with the LEO system may be sent to [email protected] . Your form will be scrutinised by a member of a sub-group of the MSc Research Ethics Committee, who may also wish to contact you with queries or to clarify any specific matters.
* Please also include any other relevant documentation, inc. copies of information sheet and consent form for collecting data from human subjects, confirmation of local ethics approval received, etc. Ø If approved, the MSc Research Ethics Committee will inform you via an approval letter– and may also have further comments. You should then submit the final approved form to TSO. Ø If not approved, the MSc Research Ethics Committee will inform you and should give feedback. This may include cases where they simply need you to revise the proposal based on their input before it can be approved. You can re-submit for ethics approval, and will need to obtain new signatures from your Supervisor, CD and FSS as the CARE form will have changed. (see notes on revising the form). More substantial revisions may need you to go back to the proposal development stage. |
| Submission to TSO
|
When all required approvals have been obtained, you should submit a final copy of the CARE form to the Teaching Support Office by email – see section 4.18 below for full instructions including email addresses to use. The form can be saved at any time in pdf format. Please also retain an electronic copy as you will need to include it (without the front sheet) in your final project report.
|
Please also see Section 4.19 “Revisions during the approval process” later in this handbook for details about reasons why staff may not approve proposals at certain stages, and what to do if so.
Other approval steps – peer review of proposals
PHP courses use an additional ‘staff peer review’ sub-stage in the approval process, which comes between proposal development and formal supervisor approval. In this, the draft CARE form is sent to two tutors, neither of whom are the designated supervisor, who provide brief written comments on the draft project proposal. The comments are returned to the student, who should discuss further with the supervisor and revise their draft form accordingly before submitting it for formal supervisor approval.
Other approval steps – local ethics approval
If approval is required from an external body (e.g. local ethics approval, NHS research governance approval), then this must be followed up and obtained separately – see more detailed guidance later in this handbook, under Section 6 “Ethics Approval”. Such approval does not have to be obtained prior to getting the CARE form approved; but it should always be in place before you commence the local work in question.
Other approval steps – restricted travel
In the very rare case that you wish to undertake a project in a country or region to which the Foreign & Commonwealth Office advises against travel, you will also be required to complete a separate Restricted Travel Safety form, get it endorsed by your supervisor and Course Director, and then put forward for approval by the Safety Policy Adviser and Chief Operating Officer of the School. Such approval is not normally given, and may only be granted in exceptional circumstances. Further guidance about this is given in Section 5.7 of this handbook.
School-level project deadlines (covering submissions to the MSc Research Ethics Committee and lodging approved CARE forms with TSO) are set out below. Please also take careful note of the specific course-level deadlines for obtaining supervisor and Course Director approval, as given in Part 2 of this handbook. For extended projects (MSc IID only), please be aware that different deadlines will apply; those mentioned below are for standard-length projects.
Any students having problems finalising their proposal or obtaining approval should ensure their Course Director is aware before the deadline is reached.
The most critical School-level deadline is for Ethics approval. For 2014-2015, the standard deadline for students to submit a completed CARE form to the MSc Research Ethics Committee is Friday 10 April 2015 (two weeks after the end of Term 2).
- Course deadlines should have been set to allow you time for your supervisor, Course Director, and where relevant Faculty Safety Supervisor, sufficient time to review and authorise the form electronically and incorporate their feedback ahead of the Ethics deadline. Staff may be away, and it’s important to get their input at as early a stage as possible.
- The MSc Research Ethics Committee submission deadline has been set to enable the Committee to deal with the substantial workload of reviewing a very large number of student projects in time for work to commence in the summer. It should be strictly adhered to, and applies across the School (with the exception of two MScs where projects are almost all undertaken overseas, and an extra two weeks are allowed to confirm local ethics approval).
- Note that ITD MSc projects, if taking place overseas have a slightly later MSc Research Ethics Committee submission deadline of Friday 17 April 2015. This has been specially agreed for these projects only. (If unsure if this affects you please check with your supervisor or Course Director).
Ethics approval will typically take 4 to 5 weeks from the point of submission, though this can be longer if the project is particularly complex. Normally, you should expect to have all approval in place by around the beginning of May, i.e. early in Term 3.
The date by which a final approved CARE form should be submitted to the Teaching Support Office is ideally no later than Friday 08 May 2015. Course Directors and TSO Administrators will work together to check that all students have submitted completed proposals by that time.
- There is some flexibility in this deadline for submission to TSO, and it may be amended at the request of Course Directors (see Part 2 of this handbook).
- However, please remember that you must not commence the main work of the project until you have received all required approvals. This is particularly important for anything involving lab work or field-based data collection, or with ethics implications
- For ITD MSc projects taking place overseas, a later MSc Ethics Committee submission deadline applies, and the date by which approved CARE forms should be lodged with TSO is Friday 22 May 2015 for these courses only.(If unsure if this affects you please check with your supervisor or Course Director).
Staff will endeavour to accommodate late submissions, but the School reserves the right to defer approval or marking of projects for which proposals are submitted at an unduly late stage.
- If you anticipate delays in being able to submit a proposal for approval, you should let your supervisor, Course Director and (where relevant) the MSc Research Ethics Committee know as soon as possible.
- However please be aware that if you fail to meet the deadlines for submitting your proposal (the Ethics deadline is particularly critical), you risk approval being delayed, during which time you will not be permitted to start work. This may make it necessary to defer the work, or marking, to the following academic year; and thus delay completion of your degree.
- Even if you are permitted to proceed with a late-approval project for marking in the same academic year, you should be aware that late submissions are likely to jeopardise the quality of your work, which may affect marks.
You will not be penalised if there are delays on the part of staff in approving your proposal; but you should always let your supervisor and Course Director know if such a delay is preventing you from beginning work.
4.18 Recording approval and submitting the CARE form
Staff members’ formal approval for the CARE form should be obtained via the signatures section in the LEO system. Note that this should only be done after you have finalised the form, incorporating any comments, as should you edit the form after signatures are requested, these will be voided and a new request sent through.
Contacting staff
When ready, you should email the relevant member of staff informing them that you will be finalising the form and a request will be made for them to authorise the form by signing electronically. Ensure that your supervisor, CD and FSS have all registered on the LEO system. In section 13 of the CARE form, you will be able to click on “request signature” and sign the form as applicant.
Staff responding to you
Having received your request for approval via the LEO system, staff may first wish to discuss specific items with you face-to-face or by phone, or may email you back with specific queries. However the response to your request for authorisation will be as follows:
Either: The staff member will confirm by signing electronically the form
Or: The staff member may clearly specify that they are not giving approval at the present time, and advise on what you need to change or do differently in your proposal in order to gain approval.
- Section 4.19 below gives further guidance on what to do where revisions are requested.
The process should work in this way for all involved staff (supervisor, Course Director, Faculty Safety Supervisor) as they each give any required approvals. Once all parties have authorised/signed electronically your CARE form, you will then be able to submit to the MSc ethics committee by clicking on “submit”.
You should email staff at their LSHTM email addresses unless they are based externally or have specifically asked you to use another address.
Communications with the MSc Research Ethics Committee should go via the [email protected] address. Once you have submitted the application, you will receive an ethics reference number which is important to keep a record of.
Note that the School’s Safety Policy Adviser is a different role to that of Faculty Safety Supervisor. The Safety Policy Adviser does not need to see or sign off individual CARE forms, and is only likely to become involved in cases where you submit a separate request to work in a country or region to which the Foreign & Commonwealth Office advise against travel.
Saving approval details
Once you have received an email from the LEO system giving approval, you should ensure you save a copy. You may later be asked to provide this as evidence of approval. The LEO system will retain copies of all correspondence which you can access at any time. You can save copies of the approval letters and application form to your hard drive.
To save a copy of an email:
- Open up the email in the School’s webmail application, select from the “From: “ part of the message title down to the end of the relevant part of the message text, then copy and paste into whichever word-processing package you are using.
- Make sure you capture all relevant message header details (who it’s from, the date and time, who it was sent to, the subject, the filenames of any attachments) as well as the main message.
- Save a copy with an appropriate filename, along with your copy of the form it is approving.
Submitting final approved CARE form to TSO
Once you have received all necessary approvals, you must email a final approved version of the form in pdf format to your Course Administrator in the Teaching Support Office. TSO will retain this as the School’s master file version.
As noted previously, you should aim to have your CARE form fully approved and submit a final version to TSO by Friday 08 May 2015(or Friday 22 May 2015 for ITD MSc overseas projects). There is some flexibility in this date, and it may be adjusted by Course Directors. However if you are having any problems finalising the proposal or obtaining approval, please let your Course Director know – they will want to check that all students are on track with their project plans by May at latest.
The final approved CARE form plus copies of all emails granting approval (saved as separate files) should be emailed to the relevant TSO projects email address for the Faculty your MSc is in, as follows.
| MSc | Dept | Initials | Email address |
| Public Health Eye Care | ITD | PHEC | [email protected] |
| Control of Infectious Diseases | ITD | CID | [email protected] |
| Demography & Health | EPH | D&H | [email protected] |
| Epidemiology | EPH | EPI | [email protected] |
| Global Mental Health | EPH | GMH | [email protected] |
| Immunology of Infectious Diseases | ITD | IID | [email protected] |
| Medical Entomology for Disease Control | ITD | MEDiC | [email protected] |
| Medical Microbiology | ITD | MM | [email protected] |
| Medical Parasitology | ITD | MP | [email protected] |
| Medical Statistics | EPH | MS | [email protected] |
| Molecular Biology of Infectious Diseases | ITD | MBID | [email protected] |
| Nutrition for Global Health | EPH | NGH | [email protected] |
| Public Health – all streams | PHP | PH | [email protected] |
| Public Health in Developing Countries | ITD | PHDC | [email protected] |
| Reproductive & Sexual Health Research | EPH | RSHR | [email protected] |
| Tropical Medicine in International Health | ITD | TMIH | [email protected] |
- The email subject header should say “Approved CARE form” followed by the initials of your MSc (as per the table above) and followed by your name. For example “Approved CARE form – MSc PH – Edwin Chadwick”.
- Please check that the relevant approval boxes have been filled in correctly on the form, and that all other relevant sections have been filled out as required.
Please also ensure you retain an electronic version of the final approved form as you will need to include it with your final project report in due course. You will be able to access the application form at any time via the LEO system.
4.19 Revisions during the approval process
During all stages of the process, staff are likely to give you feedback on your proposal and may request amendments before they approve it. This may be fairly informal, particularly with supervisors and Course Directors advising on ‘draft’ proposals and suggesting changes to make. Members of the MSc Research Ethics Committee who are reviewing your project may also get in touch with queries, feedback or requests for aspects to be revised.
The following notes set out what you need to do when making revisions to the CARE form after it has first been put forward for approval.
Approval given, with feedback or minor revisions
Sometimes staff will give approval but at the same time make further suggestions for aspects to improve. If so, you should update the form to incorporate their feedback before passing it on to the next stage of approval. You should also give those staff a copy of the revised form, for the record. Remember that updating the form will void any signatures received and you will not be able to submit to the MSc Research Ethics Committee until all signatures are in place.
Approval withheld
If staff are not willing to approve the proposal as it stands –– then they should return the form to you unapproved, letting you know why and discussing revisions you should make before they can give approval.
Approval being withheld does not mean your project is being rejected – rather, it will usually be that staff require you to further develop or clarify it in order for them to give endorsement. Where you need to make revisions, you will need to assess whether they are minor (and can just be re-submitted to the same person), or major (requiring you to go back to an earlier stage in the approval process).
Making minor revisions
It is permissible to make small changes to your proposal even after it has been approved by some or all involved staff, without having to get it “re-approved”, provided such changes are minor and do not affect the previously-approved aspects. For example:
- If prompted by the Faculty Safety Supervisor, you could add some notes about additional precautions to be taken with pathogens – provided these do not affect the main approach to project work already agreed with the supervisor and Course Director.
- If prompted by the MSc Research Ethics Committee, you could add further details about local ethics approval you will be seeking before commencing work at a non-LSHTM site – provided this does not affect any other aspects of the planned project.
When you have made revisions, you should re-submit the updated form for approval by the person who requested them. If they withheld their approval previously, it needs to be formally given before you move on to the next step in the approval process.
Making major revisions
If you need to update your proposal after it has been approved by some or all involved staff, and the revisions are significant enough to make a material difference to the academic content of the project, risks involved or ethics considerations, then you should seek re-approval from all relevant staff.
For example:
- If the Faculty Safety Supervisor requests changes, e.g. to use a completely different procedure for handling pathogens, which would affect the academic content of the project and change the risk considerations your supervisor and Course Director had already approved.
- If the MSc Research Ethics Committee requests changes, e.g. in your proposed data handling methods for assuring the confidentiality of participant data, which would affect the academic content of the project already approved by your supervisor and Course Director.
Such re-approval should usually be quick and straightforward, since the staff involved will already have read the main part of your proposal. It is helpful to identify such revisions within the CARE form itself – e.g. stating “[Details added on recommendation of Faculty Safety Supervisor]” where you have added information about precautions with pathogens.
In the rare instance that objections to your proposal are so major as to necessitate an entirely new proposal (e.g. if the proposal is judged too high-risk or inappropriate on safety or ethics grounds), you will be told this, and asked to discuss further with your supervisor. In any such cases, you may ask for a deadline extension to give you sufficient time to work through the process again.
Updating the Student Declaration
If you update the CARE form in any of the ways detailed above at any point after submitting it for approval by staff, you will need to re-sign the student declaration and obtain all signatures again.
4.20 Revisions after final approval
Once you start your main research work, after your final CARE form has been fully approved, your actual project may begin to develop in ways that differ from your original proposal. Usually this will be fine, as a natural outcome of scientific method and the process of discovery. However you must consult staff if, in the course of the project, you need to significantly alter your approach from that set out on the CARE form – including any changes affecting safety, risk assessment or ethics matters. Such changes should be discussed with your supervisor first.
If the changes relate to academic aspects only, and your supervisor is made aware of and happy with them, then that is fine – but you should explain any more notable changes in your final project report, e.g. in an annex.
If the potential changes relate to safety, risk assessment or ethics, your supervisor will advise on whether updated approval needs to be sought from relevant staff – e.g. the Faculty Safety Supervisor for lab safety issues, or the MSc Research Ethics Committee for ethics issues.
NB that if you make such changes without checking with your School-based supervisor, you may be liable to penalties from the School – potentially including failing your project. If you have a supervisor at another institution, checking with them will not be sufficient. However, if your School-based supervisor has been informed, they will be responsible for advising you correctly.
LSHTM has a legal ‘duty of care’ towards you in all studies you undertake as part of your degree, and you in turn have a duty to undertake these in line with School policies and procedures. This is particularly important in relation to projects, for which you as a student (rather than LSHTM staff) have substantive control over how, where and when you work.
To comply with this duty of care and related insurance requirements, the School requires a risk assessment to be carried out for all MSc projects. This should be done using the CARE form, which has been designed to highlight and prompt any further consideration of key issues. Approval of this section of the CARE form must be obtained from your project supervisor and Course Director, plus your Faculty Safety Supervisor where relevant, before work begins.
- If your project will involve laboratory work or work away from LSHTM (especially field-based work) or significant travel (especially overseas), then important safety issues will need to be considered and addressed as part of the CARE form.
- If your project work will be only be carried out either (i) at LSHTM, but not in labs or involving hazardous activities, or (ii) in libraries elsewhere in the UK, or (iii) at your personal residence in the UK, then work as these locations is considered as standard study and does not require detailed risk assessment information in the CARE form.
You should also be aware that any accidents during the course of project work which result in an injury must be notified to the Safety Policy Adviser in the form of a factual report.
Comprehensive information about safety at the School can be found on the School’s safety web-pages at http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/safety . Note that where safety guidance documents refer to ‘risk assessment’ or a ‘risk assessment form’, then for MSc project reports this means the CARE form. You do not need to complete a risk assessment other than using the CARE form.
LSHTM students registered on intercollegiate courses for which projects come under the other college’s remit (i.e. MSc HPPF with LSE and MSc Vet Epi and One Health with RVC) should normally follow the other college’s risk assessment processes. However if you are on such a course but your project work is primarily being done at or through LSHTM (e.g. in LSHTM labs), you should check with your LSHTM Course Director or Faculty Safety Supervisor as to whether you need to carry out an LSHTM risk assessment.
5.1 Laboratory work safety requirements
It is vital to ensure that additional safety training is given to you before any laboratory based project begins and that a high degree of suitable supervision is maintained during the practical work. If you as a student have any concerns about your training, please don’t hesitate to speak to your supervisor.
Please specifically be aware that:
- The CARE form needs to be approved by the Faculty Safety Supervisor before commencing any work with hazardous substances such as pathogenic organisms, human blood or radiochemicals.
- All MSc students expecting to work in a lab setting must read the School’s lab safety manual, at: http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/safety/laboratory/laboratory_safety_for_msc_students.pdf, and have had their project risk assessment (CARE form) approved before gaining access to the laboratory.
- Practical work should be overseen by your project supervisor, or another nominated member of the research group, until such a time as you (the student) are considered competent to continue without direct supervision. Work outside normal school hours will not be permitted without approval of the project supervisor and Faculty Safety Supervisor.
- As well as basic laboratory skills, it is important that you (the student) are given adequate training in use of central lab equipment, such as ultra centrifuges. Such equipment not only poses a threat to personal safety if used incorrectly, but damage caused by misuse can be very expensive.
- Projects involving use of infective stages of category 3 pathogens will not be permitted.
- Projects involving genetically modified organisms or radioisotopes must be cleared with the Faculty Safety Supervisor well in advance.
- If a supervisor is likely to be absent during the course of a project, a suitable designated alternative must be nominated in advance.
All supervisors of laboratory based MSc project reports should also be aware of the requirements above. Completed CARE forms should demonstrate understanding of all major lab-based risks relevant to the project.
Some LSHTM MSc courses allow projects to be undertaken off-site – e.g. elsewhere in London or the UK, or overseas. The location and type of work may vary greatly, from laboratory-based studies to field observation and interviews with health personnel.
It is important to make yourself aware of any potential risks or safety issues which may apply for any work you may be carrying out away from School buildings. You should discuss this with your supervisor as part of the process of completing the CARE form and getting it approved. Further guidance or restrictions to be aware of are given in Section 5.5 later in this handbook, about completing “CARE Section 12b – Risk Assessment”.
Work away from the School does not just mean fieldwork or primary data collection – it may apply for many other types of project, e.g. doing data analysis at another institution, placement work doing policy research at a non-governmental organisation, work in a library or archive outside the UK as part of a literature review project, etc.
The only areas where work done away from the School will not require a detailed risk assessment are for library-based work elsewhere in the UK, or for work at your personal/family residence in the UK or overseas – though you still need to make clear that you will be going there.
Code of Practice on off-site work
If working away from the School, you must also read the guidance and information available at https://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/travel/index.html/ This contains a wealth of important and useful information, to be borne in mind before and during travel – including about risk assessment and safety responsibilities in general; guidance on what to consider when preparing for off-site work, including completing the risk assessment; field surveys and social research; accident reporting; emergency procedures; travel health overseas, including School procedures and advice from the Department of Health; School travel insurance; and more. Completed CARE forms should demonstrate understanding of these issues.
If you will be doing fieldwork, your completed CARE form should demonstrate that relevant points, precautions and good practice have been considered, and you should indicate how you plan to minimise risks. You should take a broad view of all issues that might affect you in the field – e.g. interactions with the public (what kind of people you will be visiting/interviewing and where); working or travelling alone (noting modes of transport to be taken and times of day you would plan to travel), etc.
Restrictions on off-site work
It is also very important to note that restrictions may apply in where you may conduct work off-site or overseas, and whether this is permitted at all.
- The School does not permit work in countries to which the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office advises against travel.
- Furthermore, certain courses may not permit any substantive off-site work or collection of new project data, e.g. because the academic content of the project is intended to showcase the skills you have learnt being applied to existing data. If this is the case for your course, it will be made clear in Part 2 of this handbook.
Contact arrangements
At the time you are filling out the CARE form, you won’t necessarily have a final itinerary or be able to provide full details of how to contact you while you’re away. However, you should have all this information by the time you set off for your work outside the School. You should discuss intended contact arrangements with your supervisor, as per question about this on the CARE form, to agree by what methods (e.g. email, Skype, phone, face-to-face meetings) and how frequently you expect to be in communication or how easily contactable you expect to be.
You should also make clear on the CARE form about your ability to call for emergency medical assistance and/or evacuation services in the event of an accident – in the case of overseas projects, assistance or services may be located at a considerable distance from the off-site location (e.g. on another continent). More information about such procedures is given on the safety web-pages.
Before departure you should ensure that you have details of all key contacts to take with you. If travelling overseas, you should particularly ensure you take contact numbers for Medical Evacuation (via insurers), insurers, details of the appropriate in-country high consulate or embassy, and any relevant NGO or other local contacts.
It is recommended that you give your supervisor a latest itinerary and contact sheet just prior to departure – including both contact details for ‘standard’ work, and emergency contact details (e.g. the main offices of the organisation you will be working at) in case they should be required.
You should also confirm your supervisor’s contact details for this period – many LSHTM staff tend to travel or work abroad during the summer months, and they themselves may not be easily contactable by standard routes such as email.
5.3 Arrangements with external institutions
Projects undertaken away from the School are normally expected to be based at an established site or with a specific organisation – e.g. at a hospital, college, research institute, NGO office, field station, or similar – for the main data collection element. In some cases your LSHTM project supervisor will be able to arrange this or facilitate appropriate contacts for you to make the arrangements; or you may wish to set this up directly yourself using your own contacts.
- Your project supervisor should ensure that local arrangements comply with the School’s requirements. This means ensuring that the host institution meets its duty of care towards you, and that all legislation appropriate to the country is taken into account, including arrangements for ethics approval.
- If you have initiated the contact leading to the placement or co-supervision arrangements, you may need to follow up on these matters on behalf of your supervisor, in order for your project proposal to be approved by the School.
- The information you give in the CARE form should help demonstrate that you have sought and received appropriate and up-to-date information about the research site, including health and safety advice.
- Where specific hazards may be involved at the local site (e.g. work with pathogens, blood or radiochemicals when based in a lab outside the School), please ensure you seek out and read local safety guidance in addition to LSHTM manuals and guidance.
You should usually have support at this ‘local site’ from a co-supervisor or technical advisor who is a member of staff at the institution or organisation involved; or sometimes, an LSHTM member of staff will be based at the site and able to act as your main or co-supervisor. This should be confirmed when arranging your work at the site, and details should be given on the CARE form as part of your risk assessment. If no-one at the site is able to formally act as your co-supervisor or advisor, it is even more important to ensure that you obtain written agreement in advance about exactly what support or facilities the site will be able to provide to you.
It may often be appropriate to arrange to do your project at your normal place of employment – e.g. where you have been and/or will be working before and after the course, or where you may still be working part-time while studying part-time. However in such circumstances, you should be careful to distinguish between your role as a staff member at the institution/organisation, and your role as an LSHTM student carrying out a project. You should make arrangements on the same basis as set out above, i.e. ensuring that a more senior member of your employer’s staff knows what you will be doing for your LSHTM project and can confirm that this is satisfactory.
Risk assessment is particularly important for project work you wish to undertake outside this UK. You will also need to request specific LSHTM travel insurance for any overseas travel.
Travel Clinic advice (required prior to travel)
All students should obtain medical advice prior to any travel overseas for your MSc project. Students with pre-existing health problems, such as diabetes, hypertension, respiratory disorders, immune-suppression or taking long term medication, are strongly advised to seek advice from a travel health specialist.
The School has an agreement with the Travel Clinic at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases for them to provide students with a health advice consultation and any necessary vaccinations, anti-malarials or medication for MSc project work overseas. The cost of this will be paid by the School, up to a set maximum, provided this is booked through the School.
- School-supported appointments cannot be made until after your CARE form has been approved by your supervisor and Course Director.
- As soon as your CARE form has been approved, you should complete the ‘Health Consultation Request’ form available from the Teaching Support Office. Please give details of the country or countries you will be visiting, plus any more specific information you can provide about the area(s) where you will be working.
- Take the completed form to be signed by the Team Manager for your Faculty in the Teaching Support Office (Kevin Jones for EPH, Lindsey Dowsen for ITD, or Lisa Grisolia for PHP). If you are unsure which Faculty your course comes under, see your Course Handbook.
- TSO will then fax the signed form to the Travel Clinic, so that they have a copy to hand when you telephone to make an appointment. The original form, plus two copies, will be returned to you.
- Please then telephone the Travel Clinic to make an appointment – the form gives telephone numbers. Depending on the country/area you are visiting, your appointment will either be with a doctor or a nurse.
- The Travel Clinic of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases is located at Mortimer Market (off Tottenham Court Road), Capper Street, London WC1E 6JB. Please take the original TSO-signed form plus one copy when you go to the Clinic; these will be taken from you. The other copy is for you to keep.
Further related details are given on the School’s Safety web-pages at http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/safety/travel
Travel insurance
If you will be travelling outside the UK primarily for the purpose of your MSc project, you must register for the School’s free travel insurance. This provides emergency medical and insurance cover to members of staff and students working abroad on School business. Full information about this is available at http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/overseas/insurance
The procedure to register for the School’s travel insurance is as follows:
- Any student travelling overseas as part of your studies should complete the “Travel Approval and Insurance Application” form, available at http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/overseas/insurance/travel_insurance_and_approval_form.docx
- This will need to be approved by an appropriate School signatory (check with your Course Director), and returned to the Finance Office (contact [email protected], or telephone +44 (0)20 7927 2076.).
- You must check whether the area to which you are travelling is the subject of a Foreign Office Advisory Notice (see fco.gov.uk/travel). Travel to such areas of risk is not normally permitted, and a special Restricted Travel Safety form must be approved for this – see sub-section 5.6 later in this chapter.
- Travellers, who are pregnant, or who have a pre-existing medical condition, must check with their doctor that they are fit to travel.
- If you are a non-UK national and wish to be repatriated to your home country in the event of a medical emergency, you must specifically notify [email protected]. Note that should this then occur, medical insurance under the School’s policy will not be valid in your home country after such repatriation. Otherwise however, you would normally be repatriated to the UK and fully covered in the UK under this scheme.
- European nationals who will be travelling within Europe are expected to obtain the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), available from the Post Office, from the website https://www.ehic.org.uk/Internet/home.do or by telephoning 0845 606 2030. Cards are valid for 3 or 5 years and can be renewed up to 6 months before their expiry date.
- If your partner or family members will be accompanying you, they can be added to your application for insurance coverage, but you must reimburse the School for the associated cost of covering them.
- Please ensure you send in your application for insurance well before you travel. At the very latest, it should be with the School’s Finance Office 5 days before the date of departure; or at least 15 days before departure if they have a pre-existing medical condition, are pregnant, or are planning to travel to an area of risk as highlighted on the Foreign Office website.
You must not travel overseas for project work unless you are covered by the School’s insurance and carrying an emergency assistance card. You may not use your personal insurance in place of the School’s insurance.
Advice for Emergencies
Please be aware of the following advice relating to the School’s free travel insurance in case an emergency occurs:
- Always call the helpline before going to a hospital. Make sure that other people know that you have emergency medical insurance and that they should call the helpline on your behalf, if you are unable to do so.
- Keep a note of the emergency no with you at all times, and keep your emergency assistance card, or details of the insurance, where they can be found easily if you are unable to call the helpline yourself.
Key information is as follows:
- Emergency Telephone number: +44 20 8762 8326
- Insurance company name: AIG (Formerly Chartis Insurance UK Ltd)
- The School’s Policy No is 10005152 (policy is in the name of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine)
The LSHTM Safety Manager and the Finance Office insurance section ([email protected]) should also be informed of any accident or emergency as soon as possible.
Local support overseas
For project work overseas, the School encourages arrangements where you will have access to support from a member of LSHTM staff at the overseas site – whether such staff take the formal role of supervisor, or act as a co-supervisor.
The information you give in the CARE form should indicate which person(s) or other sources of information, with relevant experience and knowledge, have given you advice you on local issues that may pose risks in the region or country to which you intend to travel.
Health awareness on returning from travel overseas
It is important to note that if you are unwell on return from project work overseas:
- If feverish or acutely unwell with no clear cause, go direct to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases on the 2nd floor of the Mortimer Market centre to be assessed by the doctor on duty.
- If not acutely unwell as above, visit your GP requesting a referral to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases for more detailed investigations.
- Any febrile illness within three months after return from a malaria-endemic region should raise the suspicion of malaria and travellers should immediately seek urgent attention from their local A&E department or the Hospital for Tropical Diseases for a blood film.
- If not based in London after return from such travels, please seek appropriate alternative medical attention if unwell.
5.5 CARE Section 12 – Risk Assessment Aspects
Section 12 of the CARE form covers safety and risk assessment. The School has a duty of care towards you as a student, and therefore needs to know where you will be working during your project and whether any specific hazards may be involved. You in turn are expected to give full and relevant information for this risk assessment, and to be responsible for ensuring your own safety during project work.
Bear in mind that you may not be able to fully answer all questions in this section of CARE until you have a fairly clear idea of the academic approach your project will take (as described in the guidance earlier on developing your proposal). Therefore as you finalise your CARE form, you may need to update your risk assessment answers so they fully reflect your intended project.
You should aim to give sufficiently detailed information in this section of CARE to enable staff reviewing the form to satisfy themselves that adequate safeguards will be in place for your project – e.g. to confirm that you have sought relevant safety advice and identified potential local issues prior to work at an external site or travel overseas; to note travel safety advice you will be following; to clarify how much support will be available to you at an external site; or to describe particular issues or hazards you have identified, and the steps you are taking to avoid problems with them.
You should normally have discussed the intended work with your supervisor, and it can be very helpful to write down the key points from this discussion and include them at relevant points in the CARE form. This can save repeating the same discussion later on with your Course Director, Faculty Safety Supervisor, or even members of the MSc Research Ethics Committee. If such discussions do not take place until after you have submitted a version of CARE for sign-off by your supervisor, you or your supervisor can still update the form to include specific points you have talked about (see guidance given earlier on making revisions to CARE during the approval process).
Some examples of completed CARE forms based on past students’ projects, indicating the kind of information you may need to give in the Risk Assessment section of CARE, are available at www.lshtm.ac.uk/edu/taughtcourses/studentforms/careforms.html
Note that the section on risk assessment is now in Section 12 on the LEO system. All questions have remained the same.
Types of risk
This sub-section of CARE should be completed by all students. These answers, about intended location(s) and potential hazards of project work, will determine which subsequent sections you may need to complete (as indicated on the form).
- You need to make explicit where your project will take place – ticking all relevant boxes that apply. If you will be working only at LSHTM, at libraries elsewhere in the UK, or at your home in the UK then this should not present risk assessment concerns and you will not need to give further details. However if you will be doing any other form of work in the UK or abroad (especially anything involving fieldwork, isolated work, work with organisations, interactions with other people, or any significant travel) then you will need to complete later sections of the form. If you will be working at your personal residence outside the UK, you also need to say so as this is relevant to the School’s insurance.
- You then also need to indicate whether you will be working with any hazardous materials, whether the project may involve any other hazardous activities, and whether any special requirements may apply. If you tick ‘Yes’ to any of these questions, you will need to complete whichever sub-section is relevant later on.
Work away from LSHTM
This sub-section of CARE should be completed if you will be doing any work away from LSHTM (i.e. other than work at home or visits to UK libraries).
- The questions here prompt you to give as much relevant information as possible about where you will be based, whether you will be supported by LSHTM or external staff during your time away from the School, the type of work you will be carrying out, and your arrangements for contact with your main supervisor while away.
- Be aware that certain courses do not permit non-desk-based projects (i.e. those covered by this section). If this is the case for your MSc, it will be made clear in Part 2 of this handbook.
Work outside the UK
This sub-section of CARE should be completed by students who will be doing any work outside the UK. As well as covering work abroad at a research site or in the field (for which you should also have filled in the previous sub-section), this covers any work you may expect to be doing at your family home or personal residence in your home country, if your home country is not the UK.
- You need to tick to indicate what form of work you will be doing while abroad, i.e. based at home only, or spending any time at a research site, or spending any time in the field (you may be doing either of the last two options, or even both).
- You must also name the regions(s), country or countries involved, and check their status on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) Travel Advice Notices available via fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/travel-advice-by-country .
- There are some entire countries, or specific regions within countries, to which the FCO advise against travel (see the ‘Warnings’ section on the right-hand side of the FCO webpage linked above; this links through to full lists). The School will not normally permit project work to be undertaken in such regions. In exceptional circumstances only, requests may be considered by the Safety Committee – for which a separate form is required.
- Otherwise, even if the FCO does not advise against travel to the country or region in question, you should still find they provide useful information about current issues of which you should be aware – e.g. as well as an overall travel summary, they will give information on safety and security, local laws and customs, entry requirements, health, risks such as natural disasters, and other or general information.
- You should also be aware that for travel overseas, you will need to obtain travel advice and any relevant vaccinations, and obtain travel insurance, well in advance of departure. You should confirm this on the CARE form. Free LSHTM travel insurance can be applied for using a separate form, as described earlier (and project work should be the primary focus of your trip).
Work with hazardous substances
This sub-section of CARE should be completed by students who will be doing any work with hazardous substances including pathogenic organisms, human blood or radiochemicals. NB that this will require approval from the Faculty Safety Supervisor. Work of this nature will apply mostly for ITD courses.
- While the questions in this sub-section of CARE should be self-explanatory, further guidance is available in the School’s lab safety manual for students at http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/safety/laboratory/laboratory_safety_for_msc_students.pdf . If you have any specific concerns or queries, please talk to your Faculty Safety Supervisor.
- Guidance about whether health surveillance may be necessary, and related occupational health issues, is given both in the main lab safety manual and in additional appendices available via the safety web-pages at http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/safety
Precautions against hazards
This sub-section of CARE should be completed if any potentially hazardous activities are likely to be carried out during the project.
- This is intended as a catch-all section, for you to indicate any aspect of the project you believe may involve risks or hazards. It may cover any work with pathogens, blood or radiochemicals (as referred to in the sub-section above); work with any other hazardous substances such as dangerous chemicals or highly flammable material; or any other risks – including broader contextual/environmental issues for any work outside LSHTM or the UK, such as conflict, crime, endemic disease, lack of medical facilities, poor sanitation, poor vehicle safety in public or private transport, dangers in travel outside hours of daylight, political matters that may be unsafe to discuss except with trusted individuals, etc.
- Please number all distinct hazards, and use the same numbering when detailing the corresponding precautions to be taken against them.
- You should not normally need to write at length or go into significant detail. For example, a potential hazard might be
“6. Access to field site is by private transport only, with local vehicle safety and road safety known to be poor”;
with precaution
“6. Transport to and from site has been arranged using trusted and seatbelt-equipped vehicle owned by NGO responsible for field site”.
- If the project supervisor feels that it is appropriate in light of the risks identified in this sub-section, the Faculty Safety Supervisor’s approval may also need to be obtained as part of the risk assessment / CARE approval process.
Special requirements
This sub-section of CARE should be completed if any special requirements or other concerns need to be taken into account for you as a student, study participants or colleagues.
- This should include any factors relevant to participation in the project. For example: potential need for emergency medical care; availability of appropriate first aid; medical conditions; disability-related matters; allergies; food and diet; provision of drinking water; access/mobility/transport matters; language issues; religious restrictions; childcare requirements; emergency plans including fire safety; etc.
- This could obviously be a very long list. You are not expected to note every conceivable requirement or eventuality, but simply to think about and note any matters that might have a significant impact on the way you plan and carry out your project. For example: location of work; legal requirements that will apply for the project site; arrangements for contact and communication between student and supervisor; whether any specific aspect of the project may potentially result in a need for medical treatment; etc.
5.6 Restricted Travel Safety form
Projects are not normally permitted to be undertaken in areas of high risk as defined by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO). If you are hoping to travel abroad, you should always check their Travel Advice Notices at www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/travel-advice-by-country to see whether the FCO advise against travel to the country or region concerned. Question 46 of the CARE form specifically prompts to check this.
The School does not normally permit such travel for project work. In exceptional circumstances only, requests with clear justification may be considered by the Safety Committee and require approval by the Safety Manager and Secretary & Registrar. Requests must be put forward using an additional ‘Restricted Travel Safety form’.
Where such permission is sought
- Your main CARE form (particularly the project outline in sections 3 and risk assessment in section 12b) should already have been completed with an explanation of why the work needs to be undertaken in the area in question.
- You then need to fill out the Restricted Travel Safety form, with further relevant details about you, your proposed trip, and justification as to why an exception to the School’s normal policy on travel to high-risk areas should be made in your case. The form itself gives fairly detailed guidance about the kind of information you should provide.
- Your project supervisor and Course Director should already have approved the overall risk assessment as part of the CARE form, but should additionally indicate on this form as to whether they support the request to work in the country or region indicated.
- Staff do not have to support such student requests. If the project can reasonably be undertaken elsewhere without affecting the academic quality of the work, they would be expected to encourage that instead.
Approval process for restricted travel permission
- When complete, students should send an electronic copy of the Restricted Travel Safety form and their CARE form to the Safety Manager (contact details given on Safety intranet pages at http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/safety).
- The Safety Policy Adviser will circulate the application for consideration by a specialist sub-group of the Safety Committee, for a decision to be made within 10 working days.
- If approved by this sub-group, the Safety Manager will forward the request to the Chief Operating Officer for final approval and notification to the School’s insurers.
- Students will be informed of the final decision if the request is approved.
Important notes for cases where permission has been granted
- Permission will be required for every trip to an area that the FCO define as high-risk or to which they advise against travel; and it must not be assumed that such permission will always be granted.
- During the course of project work, if a request arises for either additional or new trips to countries or regions on the FCO advised-against list, then the above approval process must be repeated in full. A new Restricted Travel Safety form and a revised CARE form should be submitted to the Safety Policy Adviser. The revised version of the CARE form should clearly indicate new trips and any other changes; but the CARE form itself will not normally need re-approval provided you are not proposing to amend the actual type of work being carried out.
6.1 Ethics policy for MSc students
This chapter constitutes the School’s formal policy and guidance on ethics approval for MSc projects – please ensure you read it carefully.
- The key point is that (in line with staff research studies), any student projects involving human participants, or human data must be given formal LSHTM ethics approval before they can proceed. The term ‘human data’ includes any documentary data (e.g. case studies, records from interviews), datasets or biological samples.
- The only projects which will not require LSHTM ethics approval are those not involving any human data whatsoever, or for which the only human data involved is fully in the public domain (i.e. available to any member of the public without having to register for use) and cannot directly or indirectly enable the identification of living people.
- All projects will be submitted via the LEO system. The administrator will triage the project and either: Confirm that ethics approval is not required (for reasons stated above)
Or
- Will forward to the MSc Research Ethics Committee for full review
- You will also need to investigate and obtain any local ethics approval (i.e. from bodies external to LSHTM) that may be required for the work being undertaken.
These requirements have been set by the MSc Research Ethics Committee, who may seek clarification of any point in your project proposal, or request amendments before they can approve it. Filling out the CARE form carefully, in light of this guidance, will help minimise such queries when they scrutinise your application and thus reduce the possibility of approval being delayed.
NB that you may be liable to fail your project if you breach the School’s ethics requirements.
- If you do not gain ethics approval which is subsequently judged to have been necessary, whether from LSHTM or an external body, you may be liable to fail.
- If you breach the School’s ethics guidelines in the course of carrying out your project, e.g. deviating from the approved methodology and approach, you may be liable to fail (although Exam Boards have discretion to treat minor or accidental breaches proportionately).
- If, after your CARE form has been approved, you need to change aspects of your project approach that may affect ethics (e.g. collecting a new type of data from human participants), then this may be permissible but you will need to apply for an amendment via the LEO system. You should follow the procedures for this given earlier in this handbook under Section 4.20 about making “Revisions after approval”. LSHTM ethics approval is given based on the proposal submitted in the CARE form, and it is very important that the study you carry out is consistent with what the MSc Research Ethics Committee has approved.
Staff responsibilities
Project supervisors or tutors are jointly responsible with their students for:
- Checking whether LSHTM or local ethics approval is likely to be required for the work proposed (including whether any non-fully-public-domain human data is involved, whether the work falls within the scope of ethics approval previously given for data collection and usage, etc.)
- Ensuring that applications are made to the School’s MSc Research Ethics Committee where required.
- Making certain that any required approvals have been given before student projects commence.
- Ensuring that documentary evidence of both local and LSHTM approval is received and held on file.
Course Directors also have a responsibility to ensure that applications are made to the School’s MSc Research Ethics Committee where required.
If you have any queries on ethics-related matters which cannot be answered by your supervisor or Course Director, please contact the MSc Research Ethics Committee via [email protected]
Intercollegiate courses
For LSHTM students registered on the MSc HPPF, MSc Vet Epi or MSc One Health joint courses, projects come under the remit of LSE or RVC respectively as ‘lead college’ responsible for projects, and should follow their ethics approval processes as appropriate.
For students registered on the MSc GMH joint courses, LSHTM is the lead college responsible for project assessment, but ethics approval should follow the supervisor – i.e. if your supervisor is based at King’s/IoP, follow their approval procedures; if your supervisor is a member of LSHTM staff, follow the School’s ethics approval procedures.
6.2 Ethics Approval Process via CARE form
Not all projects will require ethics approval. However, it is vital that you consider any ethics issues that may be pertinent to your project. The CARE form is designed to facilitate such consideration.
Some examples of completed CARE forms based on past students’ projects, indicating the kind of information you may need to give in the Ethics section of CARE, are available at www.lshtm.ac.uk/edu/taughtcourses/studentforms/careforms.html
Note that these were completed on the previous version of the form and therefore the question order has since changed.
Note that even if your project has already been granted local (i.e. external) ethics approval at the site you will be undertaking it, you must still apply to the LSHTM MSc Ethics Committee for your project. LSHTM has a duty to consider ethics implications for all research involving humans, their tissue or their data being carried out by our students. Even if this work has already been approved by an organisation with which the School has long-established links (e.g. nearby hospitals, other colleges of the University of London, or collaborative research sites), LSHTM’s own specific approval must still be given.
Please also remember that supervisor approval should always be obtained before submitting your completed application to the MSc Research Ethics Committee. Academic approval from Course Directors should also have been obtained by this stage.
Project outline
You should also ensure that the project outline given in sections 3-5 of the CARE form contains sufficient detail to allow the MSc Research Ethics Committee to make an informed decision without reference to other documents. This should include the purpose, methods and procedures of the activities you will be carrying out with human subjects or participants, or human data; as well how you will obtain data, including whether specific permissions or limitations will apply, or whether the data is fully public domain.
For projects using human data, datasets or biological samples collected in a previous study or studies, you should make sure that the project outline states the new work to be done in your project, and describes how this will build on the previous work (e.g. by allowing you to cross-reference against previous data to obtain new results).
For projects collecting any new human data, datasets or biological samples – whether as an entirely new study, as part of an ongoing study, or in addition to a previously-set-up study – you should make sure that the project outline contains sufficient detail about things like purpose, methods and procedures to enable the MSc Research Ethics Committee to make an informed decision without reference to other documents.
Scope of study
In section 2 (project filter), you are given the option to select the type of study in question 4 which will help the MSc ethics committee administrator determine whether further review by the ethics committee is required.. In essence, you will need approval from the MSc Research Ethics Committee if your project will be based on human subjects or data involving human subjects. This includes any documentary or qualitative data about individuals, any datasets or quantitative data, or anything based on human biological samples e.g. blood or stool samples.
- The only exception to this is for projects which will only use human data that is fully and unequivocally in the public domain – for example published statistics on birth and deaths, notifications of infectious diseases, hospital activity indices or published national Demographic and Health Surveys. LSHTM ethics approval is not required to use such data and the MSc ethics committee administrator will advise you of this via email.
- To be “unequivocally public domain”, data must be available to any member of the public, without any restrictions or requirement for special permission, and must not enable the identification of living people either directly or by linking with other data.
- Anything for which you must go through a ‘gate-keeper’ to gain access, or to which you have privileged access (e.g. as an employee of a particular organisation), will not count as fully public domain.
- If you are conducting a literature review, be aware that some forms of ‘grey literature’ may not necessarily be in the public domain.
- Other types of project which do not involve human data will not normally require LSHTM ethics approval (e.g. a literature review using published literature only).
Projects using only previously-collected human data
For studies where you are using previously-collected data (i.e. selected “study using data from secondary sources) in question 4 of the CARE form, this will activate questions 41 in section 11 (local approval). You will need to give details of the purpose and methods of the original study or studies, the original approval(s) granted, and whether your analyses will still be covered by the original permissions granted (if not, then explaining how you will obtain permission or retrospective consent); as well as further details on the work you intend to carry out.
If you are planning to use data previously collected in an ethics-approved study, you must check that this will not in any way breach or go beyond the terms of the approval originally granted. Information about the conditions under which such data was collected, and the ethics approval it received at the time, should be available to you. Your CARE form should make clear that you have checked and confirmed that your plans remain consistent with the earlier approval.
If you are planning to use data previously collected as part of routine service provision (e.g. relating to a hospital or medical service), you must also check that these data have approval for use in research.
Where you are making use of work for which local or LSHTM ethics approval was previously granted, the approval reference number should always be cited. Web links to the approval documentation should be given if possible, as well, a copy/scan of relevant approval documentation should normally be attached.
Projects collecting any new human data
Sufficient details regarding the work to be carried out should be detailed in the relevant sections of the CARE form.
Where you are making use of work for which local or LSHTM ethics approval was previously granted, the approval reference number should always be cited. Web links to the approval documentation should be given if possible, and if not, then a copy/scan of relevant documents should normally be attached.
Submitting the CARE form to the Ethics Committee
Please see Section 4.8 “Recording approval and submitting the CARE form” earlier in this handbook for details about how to submit your completed and supervisor-approved CARE form to the MSc Research Ethics Committee. For any queries, please contact [email protected]
Once you have submitted the CARE form via LEO, you will receive a notification that it was transmitted. The ethics administrator will review the application and will send you an email detailing:
- The application is valid and has been circulated to the MSc ethics committee for review. THIS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN APPROVAL, or
- The application is not valid and you are requested to re-submit with additional information, or
- No ethical review is required as it meets the criteria (literature review, secondary data analysis fully in the public domain, not using any human tissue or data). A letter will also be sent out.
After your application is validated, the ethics administrator will forward onto the committee for review. This process takes approximately 4-5 weeks. Please account for this time in your planning. The MSc ethics committee WILL NOT accept any applications after 1 July 2015, including re-submissions, aside from those which meet the criteria for not requiring ethical review. Amendments to approved projects may be submitted after this date.
Following the review, you will receive one of the following responses:
- Favourable opinion/approval: The committee has approved the project. There may be conditions attached to the approval which you will need to adhere to (eg the LSHTM ethics approval is contingent on receiving local ethical approval prior to starting the project)
- Unfavourable opinion: The committee has not approved the study and will provide reasons. You will need to re-submit the application on LEO and will be issued with a new reference number.
6.3 Maintaining confidentiality
Ethics approval is required not just for studies gathering biological data, but also for studies collecting questionnaire information – including ones mainly or only involving interviews with health professionals. Such interviews can be as stressful as those with patients and others.
Students should pay particular attention to preserving confidentiality in studies involving small numbers of participants even when data have been anonymised. Anonymity does not guarantee confidentiality.
For example, if data on participants are cross-tabulated by smaller sub-groups with resulting small numbers, it may be possible for someone who knows the background to the study to identify individuals. To give an extreme example, if there is only one person in a sub-group shown as a man, of a particular age, working in a particular area, identifying that person could be very easy.
There are three main ways of avoiding this possibility:
- Ensure that there are never less than, say, five individuals in a sub-group.
- Describe the results for the initial group as a whole, i.e. not broken down into any sub-groups.
- Give each participant the option in the consent form of not being quoted at all, anonymously or otherwise, or included in any of the analyses. This approach does mean that some data may be unavailable for analysis, but experience so far has shown that it is very rarely adopted.
Further standard guidance about how to store confidential information, such as interview transcripts or personal data about individuals, is being developed by the MSc Research Ethics Committee.
6.4 Information Sheets and Consent Forms for study participants
Studies will require written information sheets and separate consent forms. Please remember that these should be concise and easily understood by lay people.
The three main ways of obtaining consent are as follows:
- Participant reads information sheet and signs consent form. This should be witnessed where possible.
- Information sheet is read to participant who agrees verbally and signs or marks his/her agreement. This should be witnessed where possible. A record is kept of this procedure and agreement.
- In exceptional circumstances, verbal agreement only will be accepted, without either signature or mark. Reasons should be fully explained on the Ethics application form. A record that consent was given by each individual should be kept.
Groups of participants within a study may require different information sheets, depending on their characteristics and different components of the study.
Information Sheets
Information sheets should include the following information –
- Study title and investigator’s name and contact details.
- Explanation that the research is being undertaken as part of a Masters’ degree.
- The overall objective of the study, why is it important and the reason why the subject’s cooperation is requested.
- Explanation that taking part in the research is entirely voluntary and withdrawal possible at any time without having to give a reason.
- What will happen to participants if they take part.
- What inconvenience or discomfort this will involve. Detail this inconvenience or discomfort, for example –
- Number and amount of blood samples
- Number and duration of hospital visits and the likely discomfort
- The risks involved, including the possible side effects of a new drug being tested.
- Explanation of the arrangements if something goes wrong.
- Who will be responsible for the confidentiality of the material and its use or disposal at the end of the study.
- The manner in which the data and/or samples will be collected, handled, stored, who will see them and what will happen to the material at the end of the study.
- That in randomised trials, participating involves random allocation either to an experimental treatment or to orthodox or no treatment. The reasons and advantages for randomisation should be explained in appropriate lay language.
- Request consent for long term follow-up through medical records or other use of medical records for which participants have not given explicit consent. If in doubt contact the Chair of the MSc Research Ethics Committee via [email protected]
- The financial arrangements should be set out, for example –
- Expenses incurred which would normally be reimbursed.
- Any other financial payment. This should not amount to a financial incentive or inducement to take part in the study.
- State the ethics committees which have approved the study.
Consent Forms
Consent forms should include the following information and statements (see also under Confidentiality, above) –
- Study title and investigator’s name and contact details.
- “I have read the information sheet concerning this study [or have understood the verbal explanation] and I understand what will be required of me and what will happen to me if I take part in it”
- “My questions concerning this study have been answered by …………..”
- “I understand that at any time I may withdraw from this study without giving a reason and without affecting my normal care and management”
- “I agree to take part in this study”
Name Participant…..Signature Participant ………… Date ……………
Name Student………Signature Student…………… Date………………
NB: For children and young adults (usually under the age of 18), the consent of the parents or guardians must be obtained in line with local custom and practice. If this is not possible, this should be explained on the ethics application and the agreement of the child should be obtained to the degree possible dependent on the age of the child.
Further guidance
Further detailed guidance about patient information sheets and consent forms, as well as many areas of research ethics, is provided by the National Research Ethics Service at www.nres.nhs.uk/applications/guidance and on the ethics webpage: http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/governanceandresearchintegrity/ethicscommittees/index.html
Costs, particularly for travel, can be a significant factor in undertaking a project. While your fees cover the costs of standard School resources, facilities and staff support available during the project period, the School cannot necessarily cover all the many and varied costs which individual projects may entail. It is very sensible to consider such costs from as early as possible in planning your project, to give yourself time to explore potential sources of funding or financial support where this would be helpful.
The Registry maintains web pages with links to extensive details of potential funding available:
- Please see lshtm.ac.uk/study/funding for details of potential funding for both students and prospective applicants to the School.
- For details of funding specifically for current LSHTM students, including Trust Fund awards (about which further details are given below), please see lshtm.ac.uk/study/funding/sourcesoffundingforstudentsregisteredatlshtm.html.
Please check these web pages for the most up-to-date details, as they are updated regularly during the year – in particular, many details about funding available for 2014-15 students are expected to be updated in early 2015. All relevant application forms will be available either direct from these web pages, or via the Registry in Keppel St.
The following information is intended to give an overview of the types of funding available – though note that this may be subject to change, and the Registry web pages should be checked for definitive information.
The School sets aside some specific funding, known as ‘Trust Fund Awards’, to assist students with the cost of MSc project reports. Further information about this will be released on the web in early 2015 (link to be available via www.lshtm.ac.uk/study/funding/sourcesoffundingforstudentsregisteredatlshtm.html), including about eligibility, how to apply, and links to application forms.
Eligibility to be considered for a Trust Fund Award
- The carrying out of the project should be beneficial to the School, i.e. it may be an extension of an existing project which may lead to further collaboration or raise the profile of the School in a certain country/region.
- The student must be able to justify financial need.
- Either the student or Faculty must be able to contribute towards the total cost.
- All applicants are expected to have gained ethics clearance and risk assessment approval prior to application.
Please note that the majority of trust fund awards are allocated to projects whose subject matter is related to tropical disease (HIV is considered a tropical disease for the purposes of the Trust Funds). However students with other projects are also encouraged to apply.
What the Trust Funds cover
- For successful applicants, a Trust Fund award will cover the costs of return flights to the main project destination. Internal overland travel is not usually covered.
- In exceptional circumstances, costs other than international travel may be covered; but this must be agreed in advance.
The Trust Funds application process
- Applicants are asked to complete the application form, including the project supervisor’s statement, and return it to Registry. The form is available via the Trust Funds page linked above.
- The Registry aim to process applications within approximately 3 weeks (but this is not guaranteed and there is a possibility it may take longer). Applicants will be informed of the outcome by email.
- Funds will be released on production of a receipt of payment for international travel (confirmation of reservation will not be considered sufficient). The School will aim to reimburse successful applicants within 14 days of receiving a receipt.
- Deadlines for receipt of forms and submission of receipts are given on the web page.
Remember that making an application does not mean you are guaranteed to be awarded the funds. Only a limited amount of funding is available, so only a small proportion of students can benefit. If you cannot afford to travel unless you receive a Trust Funds award or other such grant (e.g. from external organizations), it is highly advisable not to pay or make a non-refundable booking until you’ve had such funding confirmed.
7.2 Other possible sources of funding
Other sources of funding may also be available depending on the course you are studying for and/or the type of research you wish to undertake. The web pages mentioned at the start of this section will provide further information. Some of the notable awards on offer, for which you may be encouraged to apply if eligible, include:
- The Dr Helena Vrbova Scholarship
- The African Student Scholarship
- The Dr Gordon Smith Travelling Scholarship
- Chadwick Scholarships
If seeking financial assistance for your project, you are also encouraged to make your own further investigations of potential funding sources, including following up with personal contacts. Many organisations exist which may be prepared to offer assistance to the right student and project. Students from outside the UK should particularly check possible funding sources in your home country, which are unlikely to be detailed on the Registry pages.
Many students undertake projects away from LSHTM – whether elsewhere in the UK, or (particularly) overseas. This may mean going to your home country, or to another country or an area/region you are less familiar with. This does not just apply to fieldwork or primary data collection, but to all types of project – e.g. NGO placements, desk-based work at another institution, using libraries outside the UK when conducting a literature review project, etc. All such travel must be very clearly indicated in the risk assessment section of your CARE form.
Also, while certain courses actively encourage project work abroad or ‘off-site’, please be aware that certain courses do not permit this; details will be given in Part 2 of this handbook if so. And there are certain countries (or regions within countries) to which travel is absolutely forbidden – namely those for which ‘travel is advised against’ by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
8.1 Key points to consider before travelling
Before arranging any travel associated with project work, it is vital that you read the comprehensive guidance given in Section 5, Safety and Risk Assessment, earlier in this handbook.
In particular, please see guidance in:
- Section 5.2 on work away from LSHTM – e.g. make sure that you read the LSHTM Code of Practice on Off-Site Work; compile an itinerary plus details of all key contacts, and give your supervisor a copy before you leave.
- Section 5.3 on arrangements with external institutions/organisations – e.g. clarify in advance about what support and facilities you can expect while based off-site.
- Section 5.4 on work outside the UK – e.g. get clinic advice and immunisations/medicines, and register for the School’s free travel insurance where relevant prior to travel.
- Section 5.5, about the Risk Assessment section of CARE – e.g. give appropriate details in the sections of the CARE form on ‘work away from LSHTM’ and ‘work outside the UK’.
- Section 5.6, on restricted travel – it is vital that you check the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s website for advice on travel to the relevant countries or regions. The School does not permit project work to be undertaken in areas to which the FCO advise against travel.
And please be aware of relevant guidance elsewhere in this handbook:
- Section 2 on supervision – be clear about how and how often you can expect to be in contact with your supervisor whilst away from the School.
- Section 7 on funding – you may wish to seek financial assistance to help with aspects of your project such as flight costs
- Section 8.2 below on visas – you should ensure you are well aware of any official requirements of the country to which you are travelling.
For all students, it is highly advisable to ensure that full approval has been obtained for your project (including risk assessment and ethics approval) before making final payments or non-refundable bookings for travel.
8.2 International requirements for visas, passports etc.
If you will be travelling outside the UK as part of your project work, please be very careful to:
- Check and ensure you obtain/meet any visa or entry requirements that apply.
- Ensure that you get the right type of visa, in sufficient time before you travel.
- Check that your passport (and any other relevant documents) will be valid for a sufficient length of time after your intended trip.
Checking visa and entry requirements
For all international travel, it is very important to ensure you check and arrange a visa and anything else that may be required, in good time before travelling. Remember that other countries will assess your visa or entry eligibility primarily based on your nationality. It may also be relevant that you are a student.
- If you have UK nationality, then the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) Travel Advice website at https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice gives comprehensive information for all other countries in the world – each should have a section on ‘Entry requirements’, covering things like visas, how long your passport must be valid for, medical and immunisation-type requirements, etc. The UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) also give advice on visas and formalities for UK students studying abroad, at ukcisa.org.uk/ukstudent/visas.php
- The Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s specific advice may not be applicable if you are from Europe or Overseas. You will need to directly check the destination country’s requirements for your nationality. That country’s embassy in the UK will be a good place to start – they should tell you whether people of your nationality need to apply for visas before travelling to their country, and will also be likely to issue any visa. The FCO give embassy contact details at fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/foreign-embassies-in-uk.
Remember that the embassies of different countries will not all be equally efficient – some may take a while to process visa applications. It’s always advisable to investigate properly and get your application in as early as possible.
Getting the right type of visa
It is also very important to ensure you arrange to get the right type of visa. Getting the wrong kind can cause all sorts of problems, including deportation or even jail – this has actually happened to LSHTM students in recent years. Different countries may classify project work as requiring a student visa, or a work visa, or only a tourist visa, or perhaps something else. This may also differ depending on your nationality – so a fellow student might be coming to do a very similar project in the same country, but need a different type of visa.
Please don’t simply rely on advice from a local supervisor, though it’s good to get such advice. Always check directly with the embassy of the country concerned, and get very clear guidance from them – in writing if possible – to confirm that your arrangements will be appropriate.
Validity/expiry dates for passports and other documents
It is likely that to be granted a visa, you will need to have a passport which will remain valid for a set period of time after your intended trip (e.g. 3 months beyond). If you get delayed in the destination country for any reason and your passport expires in that time, it is likely to cause problems. It may therefore be advisable to renew your passport in good time before you get a visa and travel.
Getting a visa for project travel may also potentially depend on the expiry date of other documents. As an example of the kind of things to be aware of: if you are an international student who has come to the UK from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) but want a shorter-term visa to visit an EEA country for your project, this is likely to depend on your UK student visa being valid for at least 3 months (for some countries, perhaps even 6 months) longer than your proposed project trip. Most international MSc students at LSHTM will have UK visas valid till mid-November, hence your project travel might need to finish by mid-August at the latest.
Finally, if you required a visa to study in the UK and intend to come back after your project trip, be careful about the timing. It may be inadvisable to try to re-enter the UK after your School registration has finished (from mid-September), even if your UK visa has a little more time left on it (e.g. up to mid-November). This is because UK border officials could decide you are not entering the country for the reason your original visa was granted, i.e. to study, and could thus refuse you entry at Immigration.
Every project is different, and approaches to the main work of carrying out a project can vary greatly. Please see Part 2 of this handbook for more guidance relating to your particular MSc, and speak to your supervisor regarding specific approaches to the type of project you are undertaking.
The notes below set out some supporting resources and guidance which may be helpful.
9.1 Preparatory project work (before main research work)
- Last preparatory work (after planning and approval, but before commencing main project work) should be done around April, ahead of main project research commencing from approx. early June.
Having developed your project proposal, you can undertake preparatory work and background research (e.g. literature searching, desk-based work) ahead of receiving full approval. However, be aware that staff may require some changes to your approach before approving the proposal, and so be careful about starting preparatory work if your topic or approach may change later.
Preparatory work is likely to be necessary in parallel to taking your last taught modules; and you will probably need to stop and put project work on hold for the period where you revise for and take the summer exams.
As noted earlier, you must not commence the substantive work of your project – e.g. field research, lab work, subject interviews, collection of any data on human subjects – until you have received all necessary approval. It is your responsibility to ensure that the project is undertaken in accordance with the School’s policies and procedures.
Structured planning
From as early as possible, it is always a good idea to try to come up with a plan and timetable for carrying out your main project work. This may not need to be too detailed – but breaking the work down into specific ‘chunks’ may help turn a daunting overall prospect into an achievable set of tasks, while setting yourself small-but-regular deadlines can help keep everything on track.
LSHTM guidelines on good research practice
The School has “guidelines on good research practice” which apply to all research conducted by staff as well as students. Please familiarise yourself with these (they are just 12 pages long), and ensure your research is conducted in accordance with them. The guidelines are available at http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/governanceandresearchintegrity/index.html
The guidelines set out the School’s expectations with regard to good research practice, and cover relevant principles as well as information on and links to related policies and procedures. Many of the points mentioned in the guidelines, such as about ethics & confidentiality or health & safety, are also covered in this handbook (e.g. if you are collecting human data, please be aware of the guidance on maintaining research data/samples and records). However certain points, e.g. about financial management and accountability, are less likely to be relevant to MSc projects.
Literature searching
The Library provide a number of excellent resources to assist with literature searching and finding information – see www.lshtm.ac.uk/library/guidance/index.html
As you identify useful source information during your literature search, it can be very helpful to store the details using reference management software (such as EndNote), so that they can easily be referenced later on when you are writing-up. More guidance about this is given in the separate Academic Writing handbook, available at www.lshtm.ac.uk/edu/qualityassurance/academicwritinghandbook.pdf
Past projects in the Library
The Library holds copies of all past MSc project reports for the last seven years. These will give you an idea of the breadth of topics covered by students in previous years, and if you haven’t already done so it is a good idea to look through them, to get a better idea of what is expected from you over the summer.
The majority of past projects are available electronically – please see the Library’s Collections and Resources site at www.lshtm.ac.uk/library/collections/mscprojects.html
Making arrangements with external institutions
As noted in the earlier section 5.3 “Arrangements with external institutions”, if you plan to carry out your project at an established site or with a specific organisation away from the School then you should ensure that suitable support arrangements have been agreed with them beforehand. In general, the earlier you can do this the better.
It highly recommended that you get advance confirmation of what support or facilities you can expect at the site – having something agreed in writing, e.g. in an email, is often a wise move. The same applies for expected support from an external co-supervisor or technical advisor.
9.2 Main project work (Stage 5 of project, after planning & approval)
- After last preparatory work in approx. April, main project work to be done from approx. early June to end August. Final submission deadline for the project will be at the beginning of September.
You should not normally begin your main research work until after the summer exams. From that time until the hand-in date you will be undertaking the project. This may include data collection, literature searching, data analysis and interpretation as appropriate.
Remote access to School resources
If your research requires you to go overseas, you should still be able to access your School email account and the School’s network resources. Please see the IT Services (ITS) site at www.lshtm.ac.uk/its , which includes Remote Desktop access software you can install on your home computer or laptop. For further advice, please contact or call into the IT Services helpdesk, open Monday to Friday, 09.00-17.00, in Room LG1 (Keppel Street lower ground floor), or e-mail [email protected] .
When working away from the School, staff and students can gain remote access to the majority of the School Library’s web-based resources (such as databases and electronic journals) using remote access software available via the ITS page as above. Further information about library resources is available at www.lshtm.ac.uk/library . Electronic journals can be accessed via the Library catalogue, or alternatively via the SFX E-journal portal at http://lshtmsfx.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/lshtm/az . Note that users wishing to make use of electronic journals are required to read the guidelines for their use and abide by the terms set out therein.
Employment during project work
Note that full-time students are expected to be able to concentrate fully on project work in the period from after the summer exams (from early June) until the project hand-in date (start of September). Part-time students are expected to spend the same amount of time on project work so as to achieve the same standard; this is likely to require very careful balancing of studies with part-time employment during the project period, and it may be helpful to have done more preparatory or substantive work from earlier on.
In either case, you as a student are responsible for managing your time commitments and activities; and if you do take on or continue employed work during the course of project work, it should be within the criteria set out by the School – see note on ‘Employment and Studies’ in your MSc course handbook.
9.3 Seeking further assistance
If you are ever faced with a problem, do not be afraid to ask for help – your tutor, project supervisor and Course Director are there to help you in any way they can, and student representatives can also provide support and take up matters on your behalf.
If you have a personal issue, e.g. something affecting the amount of time you can spend on the project, it may be helpful to let relevant staff know – for example, it may be possible to be granted an extension to the deadline by which you need to hand in your project report. The Student Advisor is also available to help with personal matters.
If you are experiencing difficulties with academic aspects of the project, you should consult your supervisor in the first instance. While the project is intended to be a piece of independent research, this does not mean you have to do everything yourself – in many cases it may be fully appropriate for someone else (be they your supervisor, another member of staff, a research assistant, a doctoral student or an external advisor) to give assistance with work such as lab preparation and techniques, advanced statistical methods, etc. What is vital in such cases is that you cite their assistance appropriately in your final project report, and that the time you have ‘saved’ through their assistance can then be invested in taking your own work a stage further than you could otherwise have gone. Section 12 of this handbook, “Recognising the contribution of others”, has further guidance on this.
If your ‘main’ project (co-)supervisor, i.e. the person on whose guidance you are most reliant, is not a member of LSHTM staff, then it can be challenging if you feel they are not giving you all the support you feel you require. In such a case, always let a member of School staff, such as your Course Director or personal tutor, know that you are experiencing difficulties. They may be able to arrange additional support.
- COPYRIGHT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Copyright and intellectual property rights are important issues to be aware of when utilising the work of others in your project report. This is not just about ensuring that you correctly reference everything you make use of (see separate guidance in Section 12 of this handbook on referencing, citing and avoiding plagiarism); but you also need to be sure that you are allowed to make use of this work. You should be certain about whether any restrictions may apply in the way you communicate, disseminate or even publish work that you have produced based on the work of others.
- Copyright subsists in any original work (or part of that work) from the moment it is created. The rights holder (usually the author, but in some cases the employer) is granted certain rights which are protected by law over how the work may be used – this includes copying.
- Intellectual property (IP) is an intangible asset whose broadest scope covers all types of knowledge, but which is generally focused on patents, know-how, copyright, trademarks, brand names, designs & secrets. Most forms of IP can be protected legally (with the exception of know-how and secrets) and the resulting proprietary rights are referred to as intellectual property rights (IPR).
The copyright of your final project report, and related IPR, will normally legally belong to you as the author of the work. There may be exceptions to this however – usually where your research is subject to the terms and conditions of a specific agreement which covers these matters. Note that the School’s standard registration form, signed by all students when registering, authorises the School (and the School Library) to make copies of student projects publicly available.
If you are making use of the work of others in your project report (e.g. using data collected by a third party), their copyrights and intellectual property rights also need to be carefully respected.
Especially if you are unfamiliar with these issues, please look through the guidance on the Library’s web pages at www.lshtm.ac.uk/library/guidance/copyright/index.HTML. An expanded version of the guidance presented here is also given in the Academic Writing handbook, at www.lshtm.ac.uk/edu/qualityassurance/academicwritinghandbook.pdf
10.1 Copyright and IPR agreements
You should ensure that you talk to your supervisor about copyright and IPR as part of the proposal development stage of your project, i.e. when filling out the CARE form. You should also review these issues again around the point of submitting your final project report, when you know what work and data you have ended up using in your project, and whether any specific agreements may now apply or be needed.
Copyright or IPR agreements won’t be necessary for the majority of LSHTM projects, but may be appropriate in some cases – particularly:
- To clearly assign and specify ownership of IPR for data collected during the course of the project (e.g. in the lab with help from LSHTM staff; or in the field, working with an external organisation).
- To clarify permissions given for use of data or other copyrighted materials provided by the School or an outside party – which will usually remain the copyright property of the original party even where incorporated in your project report.
Where research funding is provided by an external sponsor, a specific contract will normally apply; contract terms may often assign ownership of copyright or IPR to the sponsor, or impose specific restrictions such as on publication. Similarly, where your work is to be undertaken in collaboration with an external organisation (e.g. working with their staff or at their facilities), it is very helpful to reach a clear agreement with them before you begin about the copyright and IPR of the results. This can avoid problems later on, e.g. if you or they want to do something specific with the work.
Likewise, where LSHTM staff (such as your supervisor) have supplied data or other key elements of your project and own the corresponding copyright or intellectual property rights, the position of both parties should be set out in a specific agreement.
- Standard forms are available for this (available on Moodle), which provide a template for formal agreements between student and supervisor.
- These template forms may be edited as appropriate to create a specific agreement for each individual piece of work.
- Once agreed, a copy of the final signed statement should be lodged with the Teaching Support Office, to be kept in your student file. You should also keep a copy for yourself.
Note that all students must notify the School, through their supervisor, of any invention, device, material, product, method or process, computer software or other potentially valuable result which it is considered might have industrial or technical significance, whether patentable or not, developed or invented during the course of a students’ research or study whilst a registered student of the School and make assignment of their rights to the School. However, it would be unusual for MSc projects to generate significant new intellectual property meriting such notification.
10.2 Setting restrictions on access to your work
The School’s standard policy, as described on the registration declaration form, sets a standard right of access to student project reports for purposes of study and research. In rare cases, you (or external organisations or funders you are working with) may wish to restrict such access by others, e.g. not wishing to have your final project report placed in the School Library.
A restriction of access might typically be requested in relation to exploitation of the research or pending a patent application. It may only be granted by special permission of the School up to a maximum period of 2 years, as further outlined on the registration form. Restrictions will not normally be granted except where the thesis is said to contain sensitive or confidential material or material that would infringe the rights of third-party holders of copyright.
10.3 Data Protection principles
As a registered data user, the School must comply with the Data Protection Principles of the Data Protection Act in relation to any “personal data” held by staff or students – i.e. anything which relates to living individuals who can be identified from the data. Work involving personal data will almost invariably require approval via the LSHTM MSc Research Ethics Committee.
Broadly, the Data Protection Principles state that personal data shall be:
- fairly and lawfully processed;
- processed for limited purposes;
- adequate, relevant and not excessive;
- accurate;
- not kept longer than necessary;
- processed in accordance with the data subject’s rights;
- secure, and
- not transferred to countries without adequate protection.
Students needing to use personal data in connection with their academic studies or research must abide by the Data Protection Principles, and should seek the advice of their supervisor before constructing or maintaining files of personal data. Further information is available on the School’s Data Protection webpage at http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/dataprotection. Guidance on maintaining research data/samples and records is also given in the School’s guidelines on good research practice, at http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/governanceandresearchintegrity/index.html
10.4 Publication of project reports
MSc student project reports may sometimes result in papers published in peer reviewed journals. As you prepare for submission, your supervisor will often be in a position to suggest whether your report is likely to be of publishable standard; or your supervisor, Course Director or personal tutor may advise you about this after the project has been marked.
Normally, MSc project work should not be submitted for publication until after it has been marked. Further editing would then be required (e.g. adjusting to the house style of the journal concerned, revising to meet a different word limit, incorporating feedback from staff and further changes you yourself want to make), making the published paper different to the original project report.
Before a project report is submitted for publication, you should also resolve any issues of authorship and obtain any relevant copyright/IPR permissions. Your Acknowledgements section should help answer questions about how primary and secondary authorship may apply for you and your supervisor/s. More detailed guidance is given in the Academic Writing handbook, at www.lshtm.ac.uk/edu/qualityassurance/academicwritinghandbook.pdf
- WRITING UP YOUR PROJECT REPORT
Project reports take a wide variety of forms, depending on the type of project undertaken. However, there are a number of elements common to all project reports, and these appear below. Additional information relating to your MSc may be given in Part 2 of this handbook.
It is highly advisable to take a ‘write as you go’ approach throughout your project work – meaning that as you undertake preparation and then main research, you should write up what you’re doing in roughly the form you want it to appear in your final report. This is likely to make your life much easier as you approach the submission date, and lead to a better-quality project. Writing the final report should ideally be a case of just drawing together notes you have already written, rather than trying to piece together what you had or had not done three months previously. Remember that the project report is what gets assessed and needs to be right; no matter how good the on-the-ground research work has been, if it’s badly written-up you will get a poorer mark.
The recommended and maximum length of project report are prescribed by the School’s formal Examination Procedures and Regulations, agreed by the Senate. This also covers submission deadlines, and penalties for breaching the word limit or deadlines. The relevant paragraphs run as follows – please pay close attention to them:
2.9.3 The recommended minimum length for the Standard Length project is 7,000 words, with an absolute maximum of 10,000 words. The recommended length for the Extended Project is 10,000 words, with an absolute maximum of 12,000 words. The word count should be stated on the front cover of the project. The electronic version of the submitted project should include all substantive content and numeric data in a form electronically recognisable as text (e.g. as paragraphs or tables) which can be word-counted by standard software packages. Numbers in tables should be counted as corresponding to one word each, as per standard software packages.
2.9.4 All the main content of the project (from the Introduction to the Conclusions) should be included in the word count or page count – this also covers any tables or footnotes. Preliminary pages such as the Cover sheet, Title page, Acknowledgements, Abstract and Contents may be excluded. The Reference list is excluded. Appendices are excluded and should only include material which the examiners are not required to read in order to examine the project, but to which they may refer if they wish.
The recommended word count for a standard length project report is about 8,500 words. The recommended minimum is 7,000 words; it can be perfectly appropriate to write only 7,000 words, especially if you can present substantive work succinctly, but less is not generally recommended (although there is no specific penalty for writing less). However you absolutely must not exceed the maximum limit of 10,000 words – any projects submitted that go over this length will not be marked, and will need to be revised and re-submitted the following year.
MSc Immunology of Infectious Diseases are the only course which offer the ‘extended project’ option (maximum length 12,000 words) mentioned in paragraph 2.9.3 above.
MSc Medical Statistics (only) set a ‘page limit’ (50 pages with prescribed formatting) rather than a word limit for project reports. Med Stats students should see Part 2 of this handbook for details, which replace the above paragraph 2.9.3. This option cannot be chosen by students on other courses.
Certain MSc courses may set specific requirements on presentation and may penalise poor, unclear or confusing presentation. Any such criteria that apply for your MSc will be described in Part 2 of this handbook.
Otherwise, the following formatting criteria are suggested as good standard practice for the presentation of all project reports:
- Use A4 paper size (210x297mm) – normally printing hardcopies in black ink on white or light-coloured paper, and setting electronic copies up the same way (to ensure the report is as readable as possible by markers).
- Print all pages double-sided – this is strongly recommended for environmental reasons.
- Use standard Arial 11-point font for your main text. You may wish to put specific headings in larger font sizes; and could potentially use ‘different’ fonts (e.g. Calibri) for specific elements of text – for example to help distinguish verbatim quotes, which should also usually be indented and surrounded by quote marks.
- Set line spacing at 1.5, and leave a one-line gap between separate paragraphs.
- Use margins of 2.54cm (1 inch) all round the page.
- Number all pages, with numbers to be included in footer. Page numbers may appear outside the 1-inch margin. You can set your own numbering scheme, e.g. starting from the title page as page 1; but make sure it is consistent. If you want to label the first page of the Introduction as page 1, then preceding pages (such as the Contents and Abstract) should be numbered in Roman numerals.
- Tables may be presented in an alternative font, of no less than 8-point size, and single-linespaced – to help improve visual appearance or fit to the page.
Remember that attractive presentation is no substitute for good quality content. You should aim to present your work in a clear, readable and consistent way. Don’t spend undue time formatting your report that might be better spent improving your descriptions of the work or analysis undertaken. For example, there is unlikely to be substantial benefit from going to the trouble of providing colour photographs in a project report about a literature review; but on the other hand it may be helpful for markers to see colour photographs of microscopy samples in lab projects.
The following points about how to present aspects of your report are worth specifically noting.
Headings
It is helpful to break up your text with headings and sub-headings at appropriate points, to assist the reader to grasp the subject matter and structure of the text. Such headings should be short and relevant, encapsulating the content of the text under them. If different levels of headings and sub-headings are required, work out a hierarchy of heading styles in advance using capitals, bold, italics and underlining as desired.
Abbreviations
You should ensure that any abbreviations or acronyms are defined in full the first time they appear in your project report. This is good practice, even if you think the term is so obvious or well-known in the discipline that it can simply be given as an abbreviation and doesn’t need an explanation. While your markers will be qualified experts, their background may be from a different part of the world or a slightly different strand of the subject area. Spelling things out should remove any risk of ambiguity or misunderstanding.
Tables and figures
Within your work, you may have a variety of non-text items such as tables (grids of data) or figures (such as photographs, diagrams, graphs and maps). These should be set out distinct from the text; numbered separately and consecutively, e.g. ‘Table 1’ for the first table and ‘Figure 1’ for the first figure; and referred to by these numbers in the text – do not use phrases like “Table above” or “Figure below”.
When presenting tables:
- Each table should have: a table number; a table heading; column headings; data in columns; and a legend making the table understandable without having to read the text
- Immediately beneath column headings put the units of measurement of the data, where applicable (e.g. % or years). If there is no room for complicated units (e.g. “number of infant deaths per 1000 live births and stillbirths”) put these details in a footnote to the table.
- If possible keep the column headings concise so that they can be written horizontally. They may contain obvious abbreviations.
- Tables with adequate headings and captions should be self-explanatory, but they usually need comments in the text.
- As a rule, tables should be presented vertically on the page; but if a table is too wide for this, it may be presented sideways. If a vertical table is too long to fit onto one page, put “continued…” at the bottom of the first page, and at the top of the second put “Table XYZ continued:” then repeat the column headings.
- If the table has been reproduced from another document, the source should be cited.
When presenting figures:
- Each figure should have: a figure number; a concise title; the figure itself with appropriate labelling; and a legend and explanatory notes so that the figure can be understood without reference to the text.
- Graphs may only indicate approximate values. If precision is required, exact numbers should be given, either at annotated at points on a curve, or in the text or associated tables.
- Graphs, diagrams and maps will usually be produced in appropriate computer software packages and “copied and pasted” into the electronic version of your project report.
- Photomicrographs must include a scale bar or indicate magnification.
- Figures with appropriate labels and notes should be self-explanatory, but they usually need comments in the text.
- If you reproduce a figure from another document, always give a reference to the source.
11.3 Structure of project report – named sections
All project reports need to be properly organised with appropriate section headings. Although there is likely to be considerable variation between MScs regarding the specific recommended approach, (please check Part 2 of this handbook) a number of general principles apply and are set out below. As a minimum, all projects reports should normally include the following –
- Title page
- Contents
- Abstract
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Aims and objectives
- Materials and methods
- Results
- Discussion
- Recommendations
- Reference list
Further annexes or appendices may also be supplied; but note that markers are expected to be able to assess the project based on the main content, without having to read any appendices.
Title page
TSO will provide a template file for the title page, covering the following:
| London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine |
| MSc PROJECT REPORT: >Title<
· Give the full title of the project report (see further note about this below). |
| Candidate number: >Candidate number<
· Give your candidate number, but not your name. |
| Supervisor: >Supervisor<
· Optional – you do not have to give the name of your supervisor on the title page; they may be named in the acknowledgements. |
| Submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MSc in >Course name<
· Give the full name of the MSc on which you are registered. |
| Academic Year: 2014-2015 |
| Date of submission: >Date<
· You only need to give the month and year of submission – TSO will record the precise date the final version is received |
| Word count: >Word count<
· Should be based on the main content of the project only (see further note about this below). Where a page limit applies, a Page count should be given instead of a Word count. |
| Project length: >Standard/ Extended<
· The vast majority of MSc projects will be Standard length. Extended projects may only be undertaken on MSc IID. |
Note that the project report title should convey the key features of the project – typically saying what type of project it was, in what subject area, and in relation to which specific locations or data sources.
- You will have come up with a draft project title for the purposes of the CARE form. This can be amended during the writing-up process to better reflect the approach your final report takes.
- The final title should be agreed with the supervisor before you submit your project report, and should not exceed 30 words.
The word count should cover the main content of your report, i.e. from the Introduction to the Conclusions (including any tables or footnotes in these sections). It does not need to include preliminary pages such as the Title page, Contents, Abstract or Acknowledgements; and it does not need to include the Reference list or any Appendices.
- Standard word-processing packages will allow you to highlight the text you want, and check how many words this specific text contains.
- All the substantive content and numeric data in your main report should be electronically recognisable as text – so paragraphs or tables should not be included in the form of ‘pictures’.
- For courses where a page limit rather than a word limit applies (MSc Medical Statistics only – described further in Part 2 of this handbook), a page count should be given rather than a word count. Only pages from the Introduction to the Conclusions will need to be counted.
Contents
A Contents list should be included, clearly indicating the page number of each major section and the headings used within each major section.
It may be helpful to make use of the features provided in most standard word-processing packages to create a “table of contents” automatically.
- To do this, you will usually need to ensure that you apply specific built-in ‘heading styles’ for chapter and section headings as you write your document.
- After you’ve specified the headings to include, the software should be able to automatically create a contents page at a point you indicate, which displays those headings in a format of your choosing, and automatically inserts the page numbers they relate to.
- The contents list and page numbering will be updatable at the click of a button if you make any further edits to the main content.
Structured Abstract
All project reports should include a structured Abstract, not exceeding 300 words, on a single standalone page. This should appear before the main body of the project report (which will start with the introduction) – typically just after the Title page or the Contents, as you see fit.
The Abstract may usually be structured into four key sections:
- Background – summarising the problem being considered.
- Methods – describing how the study was performed.
- Results – listing the salient results.
- Conclusions – stating the principal conclusions.
An example of an abstract for a lab-based project (taken from a published paper) is given below:
COLON CANCER: Increased expression of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is associated with an elevated level of the antiapoptotic c-IAP2 protein in human colon carcinomas
ABSTRACT
Background: High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a non-histonechromosomal protein implicated in a variety of biologicallyimportant processes, including transcription, DNA repair, V(D)Jrecombination, differentiation, and development. Overexpressionof HMGB1 inhibits apoptosis, arguing that the molecule may actas an antiapoptotic oncoprotein. Indeed, increased expressionof HMGB1 has been reported for several different tumour types.In this study, we analysed human colon carcinoma for HMGB1 aswell as for c-IAP2 expression levels. c-IAP2 is an antiapoptoticprotein which may be upregulated as a consequence of nuclearfactor B (NFB) activation via HMGB1.
Methods: A comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH) database comprising 1645 cases from different human tumour types was screened to detect cytogenetic changes at the HMGB1 locus. Immunohistochemical staining of human colon tissue microarrays and tumour biopsies, as well as western blot analysis of tumour lysates, were performed to detect elevated HMGB1 and c-IAP2 expression in colon carcinomas. The antiapoptotic potential of HMGB1 was analysed by measuring caspase activities, and luciferase reporter assays and quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis were employed to confirm NFB activation and c-IAP2 mRNA upregulation on HMGB1 overexpression.
Results: According to CGH analysis, the genomic locus containing the HMGB1 gene was overrepresented in one third (35/96) of coloncancers. Correspondingly, HMGB1 protein levels were significantlyelevated in 90% of the 60 colon carcinomas tested compared withcorresponding normal tissues evaluable from the same patients.HMGB1 increased NFB activity and led to co-overexpression ofthe antiapoptotic NFB target gene product c-IAP2 in vitro. Furthermore,increased HMGB1 levels correlated with enhanced amounts of c-IAP2in colon tumours analysed by us. Finally, we demonstrated thatHMGB1 overexpression suppressed caspase-9 and caspase-3 activity,suggesting that HMGB1 interferes with the apoptotic machineryat the level of apoptosomal caspase-9 activation.
Conclusions: We identified in vitro a molecular pathway triggered by HMGB1 to inhibit apoptosis via c-IAP2 induction. Our data indicate a strong correlation between upregulation of the apoptosis repressing HMGB1 and c-IAP2 proteins in the pathogenesis of colon carcinoma.
(Volp et al, Gut 2006 55: 234-242)
Acknowledgements
Your project report should include an Acknowledgements section, normally placed towards the beginning (before the Introduction to your work proper – i.e. it should not be included in the word count for your project). This should have two main elements:
- A formal ‘acknowledgement of academic support’ that describes the amount of interaction you have had with your supervisor or other experts in developing your project.
- An additional ‘acknowledgement of other support’ to recognise other assistance you have received, including practical, administrative and personal matters.
Detailed guidance on what to put in the Acknowledgements section is given in Section 12.1, along with an example.
Main Report – Introduction
The start of the main content of your project report should be presented as a formal introductory section – which might typically account for between 10% and 30% of the overall word count.
- This should give a detailed background of the work which has led up to the project, including a review of the literature if appropriate. As throughout your entire project report, every piece of published work you mention should be specifically referenced.
- The Introduction should finish by describing the gap in knowledge that your aims and objectives will address.
Main Report – Aims and Objectives
You should include a concise statement of your project report’s Aims (the overall goal of the work) and Objectives (what you hoped to be achieved during the project work itself). This section should normally consist of just a few lines. If your project has involved primary research then it will normally be appropriate to indicate the specific research question or hypothesis addressed.
Main Report – Materials and Methods
This section should contain a detailed description of all the methods used during the project.
- If your project is a lab-based study, you must also describe the materials used and their origin. However detailed protocols are not usually required.
- If you had practical assistance in the collection of the data (e.g. if you were provided with samples by the project supervisor or if you were part of a team carrying out field work), then this must be clearly stated along with the role you played in generating the data specified.
Main Report – Results
The results (either positive or negative) of the study should be explained in a logical order.
- Tables and figures should be included where appropriate, with explanatory legends.
- In the case of laboratory studies, not every experiment or piece of work undertaken needs to be included.
Main Report – Discussion
This section should be a summary of what the results show, along with an explanation of their meaning. The results should be analysed in the context of other published work, for which the references must of course be cited; and the reason(s) for any negative results (or unsuccessful experiments) should be considered.
Main Report – Recommendations
The discussion should end with a paragraph linking the current findings with recommendations for further work. However, it may be appropriate to present the recommendations as a separate section. Your recommendations must follow from your findings and your analysis of them, and not simply be a list of unrelated ‘good ideas’.
Reference list
At the end of your project report, you must always give a full list (presented in a recognised style) of all references that appear earlier in the report. This is mentioned in Section 12.1 below, with comprehensive guidance provided in the Academic Writing handbook.
Annexes or Appendices
Further information may also be supplied as appendices to your main report. This should be supplementary material that does not form part of the main academic content of your report, but is perhaps felt to provide helpful further context or details. Project markers are not expected to read any appendices and this material will not be taken into account in marking the project.
A reference or citation is a way of properly acknowledging where you make use of the work of others, and the proper presentation of citations and references is an important part of any piece of academic writing. LSHTM MSc graduates are expected to be able to cite and reference correctly, and you should demonstrate this through your project report. The key requirements are that you should (i) take care to acknowledge the work of others wherever you make use of it; (ii) reference such items in a consistent manner using a recognised citation system; and (iii) give a well-presented reference list at the end of your work.
Extensive further guidance on this is given in the separate Academic Writing handbook, which covers referencing and citing, avoiding plagiarism or assessment irregularities, and other more general useful points about writing skills and styles. This is available at www.lshtm.ac.uk/edu/qualityassurance/academicwritinghandbook.pdf
You are strongly advised to read the Academic Writing handbook and ensure you fully understand LSHTM’s expectations about referencing. The following guidance represents only a brief introduction to this topic.
Referencing systems
You should always use a recognised citation system. This will determine how you present references in the main body of your work, and how you present the bibliography or reference list at the end. Whichever system you use should be used consistently throughout your piece of work – do not ‘mix and match’ different referencing styles. The two most commonly-used and recognised citation systems are known as Harvard and Vancouver, and work as follows:
- Author/date (Harvard) system: In this style of referencing, the author’s name and date of publication should be quoted in the text, e.g. “as confirmed by Abrams (1969)” or “as confirmed by another study (Abrams 1969)”. If there are two authors then both should be named, e.g. (Sewell and Foster 1976). If there are more than two authors use et al., e.g. “(Gillespie et al. 1983)”. The reference list or bibliography should be arranged by alphabetical order of the author’s name – an example (for a Journal Article) would be:
Ganapati R, Naik S S, Acharekar M Y and Pade S S (1976) Leprosy endemicity in Bombay: an assessment through surveys of municipal schools, Leprosy Review 47: 127 – 31.
- Numbering (Vancouver) system: In this style, references should be numbered sequentially in the text, either in brackets, e.g. “as confirmed by Abrams (3)”, “as confirmed by other studies (3)” or as a superscript, e.g. “as confirmed by Abrams.3 ” (note that it is usual to place superscripts after punctuation). Both the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and the Lancet describe the use of this system for references in their instructions to authors. The reference list or bibliography should list the references in numerical order, i.e. the order in which they appear in the text – an example (for a Journal Article) would be:
- Ganapati R, Naik SS, Acharekar MY and Pade SS. Leprosy endemicity in Bombay: an assessment through surveys of municipal schools. Leprosy Review 1976; 47: 127-31.
Your MSc course may specify a particular citation system to use – please check if so in Part 2 of this handbook. Otherwise, the best system to use is likely to depend on the type of project you are doing and the conventions of the field you are working in. It may be helpful to note that –
- The Harvard system is commonly used in the social sciences, and tends to be a good system to use for more discursive work.
- The Vancouver system may aid clarity and readability where the same item is cited many times, since you just need to give the same numeric reference in each case rather than cluttering up your work with repetitions of the same author-and-date details. This tends to be a good system to use for more technical work, e.g. in relation to lab-based experiments. It is also well respected in medical writing, being the house style of the BMJ and the Lancet. While a potential drawback is that insertion of an extra reference will require the renumbering of all subsequent references, using reference manager software like EndNote (see below) will take care of this automatically.
Referencing tables and figures:
Most tables and figures are likely to be your own work, but it is also perfectly reasonable to include items that are the work of others – e.g. tables of published demographic data, anatomical diagrams, photographs from field sites, etc. However these must be referenced as clearly as you would any direct text quotation.
The reference list
All references or citations given in the main body of your text should be compiled in a specific reference list at the end. This should be clearly and consistently presented, and follow a prescribed format. It should give sufficient details about each reference, above and beyond the citation given in the main text, enabling readers to look up the original source material if desired.
Different types of source material will need to be referred to in different ways in the reference list. The citation system you use will also affect how the list is ordered and the types of details that need to be given in it. Comprehensive guidance on how to do this is given in the Academic Writing handbook; but be aware that different information and presentation will be required when referencing different types of source material, e.g. –
- Journal articles
- Books
- Part of an edited volume
- PhD theses
- Conference papers (where proceedings have otherwise been published)
- Official reports and other forms of ‘grey literature’ or non-authored works
- Material from websites
- Material from other media – e.g. film/television/radio documentaries
The Academic Writing handbook also gives guidance on sources which you should not normally include in a reference list – such as personal communications, encyclopaedias (including open-content collaborative resources like Wikipedia, which are definitely not considered a reliable source of information for academic work), or other secondary sources.
Using a reference manager
You are strongly encouraged to use some form of reference management software when preparing your project report, and should aim to learn to use one (if you have not previously done so) by at least the time you come to start your literature search. The application recommended by the School is called EndNote, although there are other alternatives, described in the Academic Writing handbook, which will do broadly the same thing.
- EndNote stores and manages bibliographic data, linking in to word processing packages like Microsoft Word. It will allow you to easily insert correctly-formatted citations throughout your report, and automatically prepare a reference list at the end.
- EndNote will present references in whichever format you desire (e.g. Harvard or Vancouver – with the option to re-format from one to the other with a single button-click); and can automatically adjust for any later edits or alterations, for example renumbering in Vancouver style if an extra reference is added.
- EndNote can retrieve comprehensive reference information directly from many online databases, saving you the time of manually reproducing them.
- Once inputted, your references can be sorted and grouped, and you can add your own notes, tags and comments – e.g. so when writing up a particular section of your report, you can easily review sources you had earmarked during your literature search as being relevant to that topic.
Using EndNote can greatly simplify your referencing – maintaining accuracy while reducing the amount of timing you need to spend in inserting or updating references. The IT Training Unit provide guides to using the software (see http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/its/ittraining , then follow the link for ‘Learning Materials’), and run a standard workshop covering the basic features of EndNote.
11.5 Plagiarism and assessment irregularities
When writing up MSc project reports, it is vital that you are aware of the School’s rules on plagiarism and related issues, and understand how to avoid breaching these rules. Please ensure you are familiar with this guidance on plagiarism, cheating and other assessment irregularities given in both your MSc student handbook and in the Academic Writing handbook – these both include a worked example on how to use and cite sources correctly.
The following notes recap key guidance about plagiarism. For specific issues where you are unsure about what is permissible, please ask your supervisor, tutor or Course Director for advice.
LSHTM definition of plagiarism
Plagiarism is the copying or use of the work of others, whether intentionally or unintentionally, as if it were your own. Such work may come from any source whether published or unpublished, in print or online – including words, images, audio recordings, diagrams, formulae, computer code, performances, ideas, judgements, discoveries and results.
To avoid plagiarism:
- Where any use or mention is made of the work of others, it should be acknowledged.
- A recognised citation system should be used.
- Quotations must accurately refer to and acknowledge the originator(s) of the work.
- Direct quotations, whether extended or short, must always be clearly identified.
- Paraphrasing – using other words to express the ideas or judgements of others – must be clearly acknowledged.
- Work done in collaboration with others must appropriately refer to their involvement and input.
- Use of your own past work should be referenced as clearly as the work of others.
Based on this definition, you should apply the following principles in your work:
- Sources: You must acknowledge all sources from which you have drawn – whether published works such as journal articles or books; grey literature such as conference proceedings, reports from organisations and government agencies etc.; material from the internet, whether or not it has a named author; unpublished materials such as lecture/tutorial notes or other students’ work; and even exchanges such as emails or conversations with other people – be they staff, students, friends or others. If you wish to make use of any of your own previous work, e.g. elements of essays done for other assessments, you should indicate and cite this as clearly as any other source.
- Quotations: You must always clearly identify any directly copied quotations (such as sentences, phrases or even striking expressions), e.g. by placing them inside quotation marks. A series of short quotations from several different sources, if not clearly identified as such, constitutes plagiarism just as much as does a single unacknowledged long quotation from a single source.
- Paraphrasing: You must equally clearly indicate where you have paraphrased or summarised another person’s words, ideas or judgments – referring to that person in your text (e.g. by giving a reference in a footnote or bracket after the paraphrasing) and including the work referred to in your reference list.
- Referencing: You should use a recognised citation system throughout your project report and provide a full reference list at the end.
Note that failure to observe the rules, even unintentionally, may constitute plagiarism and be penalised. Most cases of plagiarism are not due to students deliberately copying the work of others and trying to pass it off as their own, but because information they used was not appropriately acknowledged or referenced. The School recognises that occasional slips in attribution or similarity of text may happen with even the most diligent student, and all relevant factors will be taken into account in consideration of any case. However, please do not be tempted to copy material; plagiarism is easy to detect (the School checks all student project reports using the plagiarism detection service Turnitin UK), and the risks are very high. It is not unusual for one or two students a year to fail their project report due to plagiarism.
Other forms of potential assessment irregularities are described in the Academic Writing handbook. You should also be very careful to avoid any possibility of research misconduct – this means things like not following appropriate research protocols/procedures for avoiding unreasonable risk or harm to humans, animals or the environment; or not exercising due care in handling of privileged/private information collected about individuals. Please see further details in the School’s Guidelines on Good Research Practice, at http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/governanceandresearchintegrity/index.html
LSHTM MSc project reports should always be the work of the student submitting them; but it is normal for support and input to be received from a range of other sources. The project supervisor, in particular, should always have provided meaningful support. Other individuals may also be involved, whether from within or outside the School, such as co-supervisors, technical advisors, and technicians involved in the compilation of data, support with analysing statistics, etc. In some cases, students may be working as part of a team when undertaking their project.
In addition to correctly citing and giving references for all source material you have used (as described in the preceding two Sections, 11.4 and 11.5), your project report should also clearly indicate where you have received direct assistance from others. Project assessors must always be made aware of any such support or input, to be able to mark all work fairly.
- You should always include an Acknowledgements section at the start of your work, indicating both (i) academic support you have received from your supervisor(s), technical advisors etc., and (ii) any other support you have received, e.g. to note practical help or personal thanks.
- Acknowledgements can (and generally should) be given anonymously, referring to people by role/relationship rather than by name – for example Supervisor, Research Assistant, fellow-student, friend or family member.
- The contribution of others should also be clearly indicated at relevant points throughout your project report – to make clear if and where you received help with aspects such as laboratory procedures, statistical analysis, literature review, etc.
- Project data does not necessarily have to be collected by you as a student. It is expected that many projects will use existing datasets (subject to required permissions having been given). Use of provided data or other material should also be made clear in your report.
The important point is that all support or input you receive during the project should be specified, to distinguish the main body of work done by yourself from any other supporting/enabling work where you had help from others. Levels of support may vary from student to student, and depending on the type of work involved – some projects will naturally require closer hands-on supervision. It may be entirely appropriate to receive additional support in a particular area, provided your supervisor agrees and feels this is in line with the project marking criteria for the MSc; but it is important that you give a clear acknowledgement of where and how much help you have received, so that you can be marked on the work that you yourself have done.
For example: if a project is done as part of a larger research initiative and elements are designed by the Principal Investigator, this should be made clear and less detail will need be given on those elements. However if this is not made clear (i.e. if information about support or input received is incorrect or omitted), then be aware that such work might be marked down or subject to penalties under the School’s assessment irregularity procedures.
12.1 Writing the Acknowledgements section
As mentioned under Section 11.3 on structuring your project report, you should always give a specific Acknowledgements section that clearly indicates the contribution of others to your work. This should have two main elements:
- An ‘acknowledgement of academic support’ that describes the amount of interaction you have had with your supervisor or other experts (e.g. co-supervisors or technical advisors) in developing your project – e.g. specific advice or ideas, aspects undertaken collaboratively, statistical support, etc. Typically this should consist of four short structured paragraphs covering the following:
Project development: Describe the roles of you, your supervisor and anyone else in –
- Identifying the area for investigation and/or initiating the project.
- Developing the project study design – e.g. whether this was done wholly independently by you, or incorporated suggestions/constraints/criteria from the supervisor (recap if so), or whether the nature of the project gave you limited opportunity to contribute to the design.
Contact, input and support: Describe general levels of input and support given by –
- Your supervisor (including how often you discussed or worked on the project with them).
- Individuals other than your main supervisor, such as co-supervisors or technical advisors (including how often you discussed or worked on the project with them).
Main research work: Describe any more specific academic input or assistance you received from the supervisor or others whilst doing your research –
- Extent to which you worked alone or collaboratively (and for the latter, which specific project elements required more direct support or assistance from the supervisor or others).
- Extent of any help given by the supervisor or others in finding appropriate references, background literature or key readings.
- Extent of any assistance in analysing and interpreting results (including results having been checked by others, or advice given on how to proceed with analysis).
Writing-up: Describe any assistance received from your supervisor in writing-up your report –
- Whether the supervisor has read or advised on drafts of the report (and if so, how many drafts; or if not, why it was not possible for them to read a draft).
- Extent of advice given on the structure and content of the report, any material provided, and/or corrections given after reading drafts.
- An ‘acknowledgement of other support’ to recognise any other assistance you have received, including practical, administrative and personal matters. Typically this should be about one or two paragraphs long, specifying and thanking those responsible for –
- Practical assistance that has enabled but not specifically altered the academic content of your work – e.g. assistance with collecting data in the field or in a lab, support in respect of a specific disability, translation services, editing & proofreading, etc.
- Any specific permissions you were granted for your work – e.g. for use of copyrighted material, use of a specific dataset, use of a patented process, etc.
- Any assistance with finance and resources or similar – especially any funding or grants which have supported the work done, but also support such as access to facilities or resources which might not have been automatically available.
- Any personal acknowledgements to recognise and express appreciation for other people who have supported your work, but in ways which didn’t directly change what you covered or how you wrote it up. These might be family, friends, staff or others – e.g. to thank them for encouragement, support, motivation, inspiration or similar. Who and what you may choose to mention is completely up to you.
You should also briefly indicate where you have received such ‘other support’ at appropriate points throughout your main project report – e.g. mentioning translation services at the point where you describe or make use of the translated work.
Anonymity
Note that while MSc project reports are intended to be anonymous (you are not allowed to give your name and should only identify yourself by candidate number), it may sometimes be appropriate to name particular staff such as your supervisor or co-supervisors or technical advisors in the acknowledgements section. However for personal acknowledgements it is generally better to express thanks to ‘my family’ or to friends using first names only, to help retain anonymity.
Example of an Acknowledgements section
Acknowledgements should be clear and simple, specifying input/assistance received with general thanks to the individuals or groups involved. The following example is intended to illustrate typical good practice.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Acknowledgement of academic support
I would like to sincerely thank all those who have helped shape this project and make it successful.
Project development: The project idea arose from my past experience working in malaria control in Zambia, although the specific focus was worked out following discussions with my supervisor – particularly to concentrate on incidence among children and on the specific geographical areas selected. The local placement was identified by my supervisor. My supervisor also provided the baseline dataset which influenced what I did or did not ask about in my additional data collection. I sourced the further demographic projection datasets myself.
Contact, input and support: I had three planning meetings with my supervisor, each about half an hour long, while developing my original proposal and getting it approved; plus further email exchanges. Two meetings in May and June helped refine my questionnaire, sketch out an analysis plan, and agree the travel and fieldwork plans. Once in Zambia I was based in the office of my local co-supervisor, who provided regular practical advice; I was also intermittently in contact with my LSHTM supervisor by email. After returning to London I had two meetings with my supervisor, to discuss initial findings and then a first-draft report.
Main research work: As preparatory reading, my supervisor suggested I read two specific papers by Zurovac and Ndhlovu, but otherwise all references cited were identified through my own literature search. In Zambia, while I worked alone on the data analysis, aspects of the project design and data collection elements were further refined with advice from my local co-supervisor Martin Situmbeko. Translation assistance was provided by Mubiana Macwan’gi. Data collection was carried out primarily by the community health workers involved. On returning to London I received statistical advice and help with Stata from Alex Johnson, my supervisor’s Research Assistant, who also helped cross-check my analysis.
Writing-up: My supervisor read and commented on some rough initial findings from my fieldwork, and then my first full draft of this report. These did not require any major revisions.
Acknowledgement of other support
I am very grateful to Martin Situmbeko and Mubiana Macwan’gi for all their help with arrangements for my visit as well as providing office space and computer facilities; and to Christine Katango and her team of community health workers for all their data collection work. I also received an LSHTM ‘trust funds’ grant for my travel, without which the project would not have been possible. My supervisor gave me full permission to use the baseline dataset against which comparisons have been made. My fellow-student Aldene McCarthy kindly proof-read this report before submission.
Finally, I would like to thank my family for their support and encouragement during all this work.
Agreeing the Acknowledgements section
It is important to allow your supervisor to see a draft of the Acknowledgements section before you submit your final project report. Normally this should be provided as part of the full draft of the project that you send your supervisor to read in the run-up to project submission. The report need not have been finalised by then, but it should be clear whether you are set to receive any last input.
Your supervisor may suggest revising elements of the statement in line with their perspective on the amount of support you have received. Please consider their suggestions carefully. In the unlikely event that you and your supervisor fundamentally disagree about how to record the level of support you have received, the matter should be referred to your MSc Course Director.
12.2 Proof-reading and help with writing or language
The report you submit should be your own work – i.e. consisting of your own ideas and judgments, expressed in your own words. However, many students will wish to seek some further assistance with use of language.
It is entirely appropriate to ask a fellow student, family member or friend to ‘proof-read’ a final draft to help identify any spelling or grammatical mistakes or similar, or give comments on your choice of words. You may also ask a peer (e.g. a fellow-student) who knows the academic subject area to give comments on the content of the project. However, you must always make the final decision about what is included and how it is expressed; and you should give appropriate acknowledgement to the assistance you have received in producing your final report.
You should not have anyone else extensively edit or rewrite your project for you – e.g. in such a way that the language used no longer represents your own expression of the work done, or such that another person has made decisions about the content or presentation of the work put forward. In particular, you should be aware that the use of ‘professional’ (paid) editors is strongly discouraged by the School.
If English is not your first language, please be reassured that you will not be marked down for minor imperfections. You are simply being asked to produce a readable scientific report that puts your points across clearly. Well-structured organisation (such as distinct main sections), clear presentation (such as uncluttered short paragraphs and sensible use of lists, bullet points or tables) and unambiguous phrasing (e.g. using short descriptive sentences) are more important than attempting to write in complicated or ‘wordy’ English.
However, whatever your standard of English, you should make sure you proof-read your report before submission and correct any obvious errors. If markers see evidence of unnecessarily poor writing that demonstrates insufficient attention to accuracy in reporting your work or checking what you have written, this may result in you being marked down.
You are required to submit 3 copies of your project report (2 hardcopies and 1 electronic copy) to the Teaching Support Office by a strict deadline. The hardcopies will be sent on to markers, while the electronic copy will be used in plagiarism checking, made available for markers based away from the School, and constitute the file copy stored by the School’s Library.
NB that all copies must be received by the deadline – even if the electronic version is emailed in on time, if the hardcopies are late then the submission will be treated as late. Also note that multiple electronic copies of a submission will not be accepted – only the first copy will be accepted.
Deadlines and file format requirements have been set based on the School’s formal Examination Procedures and Regulations, agreed by the Senate. These also set out the potential penalties for late submission or breach of criteria – which you should aware of, as follows:
Deadlines and other submission criteria
2.9.5 Both an electronic file and a bound paper hardcopy of the project report are required to be submitted, and should be submitted at the same time. The deadline for both these elements to be received shall normally be 12 midday on the project hand-in day, as set by the Faculty Taught Course Director. It is recommended that hardcopies be printed out double-sided for environmental reasons. File format requirements for the electronic versions will be set by the Teaching Support Office on the advice of Taught Course Directors, and highlighted to students.
2.9.6 Students should submit their project report giving only their candidate number. The School cannot guarantee anonymity; however, every attempt should be made to keep project reports anonymous during initial marking.
Breach of criteria
2.9.7 Projects which are over the required length should not be marked and should be automatically given a null (zero) grade. The student may submit a revised version for consideration at the final Board of Examiners meeting of the following year, i.e. as a re-sit.
2.9.8 Projects which are submitted after the notified deadline without having been granted an extension should not be marked, and should be automatically given a null (zero) grade. The student may submit a revised version for consideration at the final Board of Examiners meeting of the following year, i.e. as a re-sit.
Extension of deadlines
2.9.9 Extension of an assessment deadline may only be granted by a Faculty Taught Course Director. This applies to all types of assessment (in-course, projects etc). To facilitate ensuring consistency across Faculty and to aid new Taught Course Directors, a central record of extension requests and agreements is kept by Registry.
13.1 Deadlines
Having written up your project report, there will be a set deadline by which it must be submitted. For the 2014-15 academic year, the hand-in deadlines for courses across the School’s three Faculties will be as follows:
- PHP MSc project reports must be handed in by 12 noon on Monday 07 September 2015
- EPH MSc project reports must be handed in by 12 noon on Tuesday 08 September 2015
- ITD MSc project reports must be handed in by 12 noon on Wednesday 9 September 2015
You may of course submit your project report ahead of this deadline. However, if you anticipate any problems in being able to complete your report by the deadline, you should contact your Taught Course Director.
For reasons of equity with other students, deadline extensions cannot be given simply if you are running late; but illness, bereavement or other compassionate reasons will be treated with due seriousness.
Advice for part-time students on when to undertake and submit the project
For all part-time MSc students, it is strongly advisable to undertake your project at the end of year 2. Doing the project after you have completed all your modules, rather than only half of them, will mean that you can consolidate a wider and deeper volume of learning and achieve a better-quality final project.
The project should be expected to entail more intensive work than other parts of the MSc, and you should plan for this from well in advance – setting appropriate time aside (and quite possibly booking time off work) during summer of year 2.
Part-time students are also welcome to start preparatory work in year 1, e.g. mapping out potential avenues of work and doing literature searching – particularly if you are certain about the topic you want to cover and approach you want to take.
If your personal circumstances are such that it would be more helpful for you to start substantive project work/research from the summer of year 1 (e.g. due to external work commitments/changes, childcare arrangements etc), this is also entirely permissible and you can get your CARE form approved in Year 1 in order to do so.
Normally students who start their project in year 1 would not be expected to complete and submit until the standard deadline in year 2. If you anticipate major problems in finding sufficient time for project work in year 2, then you can potentially complete the project in year 1 – handing it in for that year’s standard project deadline, to be marked after that. However, it should be stressed that this is much less academically desirable than waiting until summer of year 2 to do the project.
If you don’t submit for the standard deadline in year 1, you will be expected to hand in for the standard deadline in year 2 – projects will not be marked outside of that standard schedule.
13.2 Required formats for both printed and electronic copies
You will need to ensure that your main project report is presented in the manner required (with both printed and electronic copies being identical); that you attach or ‘bind in’ all additional required forms and documentation; and the electronic version of the submission is formatted in an appropriate file type and has a clear filename.
Presentation requirements
Please check that both printed and electronic copies of your project report are presented like so:
- The Title page should give all the specific information set out earlier in this handbook (see under section 11.3, “Structure of project report – named sections”), including project title, candidate number, MSc course, academic year, date of submission, word count, and whether Standard Length or Extended.
- The main content of the report should be formatted and presented as described earlier in this handbook (see under section 11.2, “Format of project report”).
- Your submission should be anonymous, identifying you by candidate number only – do NOT include your name anywhere in the project report. Note that while you may need to acknowledge supervisors, co-supervisors or institutions/establishments/off-site locations which you worked at during the project and this could potentially make you ‘identifiable’, please be reassured that all project markers are required to act with strict objectivity in all cases.
Other forms and documentation
You must also submit the following forms and documentation as created during your project.
- Approved CARE form (always required) – but without your name appearing on the cover sheet. You can either save a version of the file with the first page removed, or just with your name and email address blanked out (you can put your candidate number in instead). You may also wish to anonymise information such as supervisor contact details.
- Evidence of local ethics approval received (where this was required). Again you should anonymise this, i.e. blanking out your name.
- Any other relevant documentation – for instance, where you have produced documents such as information sheets and consent forms for study participants, copies should normally be included as part of either the main project report or appendices. You may need to anonymise such documents, i.e. blanking out your name if it appears.
These documents should be included to give markers full visibility of proposals made, approvals received and materials used in developing and undertaking your project.
Binding requirements for hardcopy submission
For the hardcopy of your project report submission, all documentation required should be bound into a single document, with the main project report presented first. It is recommended that you use either spiral binding or heat binding.
- The School has a duplication service offering (for a small fee) black-and-white printing, photocopying, binding and print finishing. This is located in room LG23 on the lower ground floor of the Keppel Street building – see http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/estates/photocopying
- The Audio-Visual Services Unit also offer colour printing (again for a small fee). They are located in room LG24 on the lower ground floor of the Keppel Street building – see lshtm.ac.uk/its/staffservices/av/
- NB that these School services get extremely busy close to hand-in deadlines, so you should aim to get any documents for binding etc. to them in good time before then. Leaving it till the day of your deadline will be too late.
- A number of shops/companies in the area around the School offer other binding services, including spiral binding. Your TSO Course Administrator may be able to recommend one.
File requirements for electronic submission
The electronic copy of your project report submission should be presented as follows:
- The main project report (from the title page through to the reference list and all appendices) should provided as one file, named in the format [Candidate Number]_[MSc]_[Year of Submission]_Project, e.g. “1234_PublicHealth_2014_Project”.
- The CARE form plus any other relevant documentation (as set out above) should be compiled together as a second file, named in the format [Candidate Number]_[MSc]_[Year of Submission]_FurtherDocs, e.g. “1234_PublicHealth_2014_Project_FurtherDocs”.
- The recommended file format for submission is Adobe Acrobat (.pdf), which is fully supported by software on the School’s network. If you are working on your own computer and do not have PDF capabilities or cannot access the School network, you may alternatively submit your file in Rich Text Format (.rtf), which is supported by almost all PC and Apple Mac word-processing packages, or as a Microsoft Word .doc or .docx. Certain courses may specific particular file formats to be used in submissions – please check if so in Part 2 of this handbook.
- All text in your files must be electronically recognisable as text, i.e. highlightable and copyable in whatever package it opens in, such as Adobe Reader for PDF files. If scanning material in, be careful to check that the file does not treat text as a ‘picture’ (other than for items such as graphs and charts where labels etc. may form part of a picture-object).
Compiling documentation into a single file can sometimes generate questions among students.
- The best option is probably to create PDF copies of all the individual files/documents you want to include, which you can then easily “string together”. You can create a PDF document by selecting “Save as PDF” when working with a document in any Microsoft Office 2007 package (such as Word or Excel) on the School network. The School network then provides the Adobe Acrobat / Adobe Writer package which allows PDF documents to be manipulated, appending one file to another to create a single file – to do so, click on the “Document” menu, then select the “Insert Pages” option.
- Otherwise, it is likely that most documents you are working with will be in a word-processing format such as Microsoft’s .doc or .docx. You should be able to copy and paste all the content together in a single file, which you could then save in an appropriate format.
- Please contact the Computing Advisory Service if you have any queries or problems.
Further guidance and advice
The Teaching Support Office can give you further advice or guidance on how to supply documents in the correct format. However, please let them know in good time before the submission deadline if you have any queries, concerns or problems.
Staff will do their best to help students who have late-breaking problems on the day of the deadline, but TSO tends to be extremely busy on those days. It is always better to raise your query as far ahead of the deadline as possible – otherwise if you leave it to the day of the deadline, TSO staff may be unable to help you as fully as might be desired.
13.3 Submission of both printed and electronic copies
The required printed and electronic copies of your project report, presented and formatted as described above, should be submitted as follows:
Hardcopies (copies 1 and 2)
These should be physically submitted to TSO by the deadline. You can hand them in yourself or get someone else (whom you can rely on!) to hand them in for you. If you will not be at the School but will have finished writing up your report in good time ahead of the deadline, you may wish to send them by post or courier – in which case you should ensure you use a service that gives you proof of postage and delivery, leaving adequate time for them to arrive by the deadline. Submission by post or courier is not generally recommended.
The printed copies must be identified by your candidate number only.
Electronic copy (copy 3)
An electronic copy of your project should be emailed to TSO by the deadline.
- The email subject header should give the initials of your MSc (as per the table below) followed by your student candidate number – for example “CID 123456”.
- The email should have two attachments – the main ‘Project’, and the additional ‘Further documents’ such as your CARE form.
- While your email will necessarily include your name and email address, the attachments should be identified by your candidate number only.
Please use the relevant Faculty email address for your MSc, as listed:
| MSc | Faculty | Initials | Email address |
| Control of Infectious Diseases | ITD | CID | [email protected] |
| Demography & Health | EPH | D&H | [email protected] |
| Epidemiology | EPH | EPI | [email protected] |
| Global Mental Health | EPH | GMH | [email protected] |
| Immunology of Infectious Diseases | ITD | IID | [email protected] |
| Medical Entomology for Disease Control | ITD | MEDiC | [email protected] |
| Medical Microbiology | ITD | MM | [email protected] |
| Medical Parasitology | ITD | MP | [email protected] |
| Medical Statistics | EPH | MS | [email protected] |
| Molecular Biology of Infectious Diseases | ITD | MBID | [email protected] |
| Nutrition for Global Health | EPH | NGH | [email protected] |
| Public Health – all streams | PHP | PH | [email protected] |
| Public Health in Developing Countries | ITD | PHDC | [email protected] |
| Public Health Eye Care | ITD | PHEC | [email protected] |
| Reproductive & Sexual Health Research | EPH | RSHR | [email protected] |
| Tropical Medicine in International Health | ITD | TMIH | [email protected] |
When carrying out and writing up your project report, it is very important to understand how it will later be assessed. Please see Part 2 of this handbook for the specific marking criteria that apply for your course.
Project requirements will differ considerably from MSc to MSc; but the School uses a standard grading scale to ensure comparability of standards across all students. The final mark for your project report will be reported either as a numeric gradepoint or a gradepoint average (GPA) on this standard grading scale, which runs from 0 – 5.
The particular system that applies for your MSc course is set out in Part 2 of this handbook.
- Most MScs use marking schemes under which markers agree a single overall grade.
- However certain MScs use component-based marking schemes, allowing the award of a project GPA rather than an integer gradepoint. In these cases, it should have been made clear to you in advance what proportion of the marks are awarded for particular sections of the project report, such as the introduction, aims and objectives, materials and methods, results, discussion and recommendations.
The following table indicates the qualitative descriptors which relate to each gradepoint, ranging from 5 (Excellent) through to 0 (Very poor); and broadly describes the kind of factors that work at each level is expected to achieve –although please be aware that the specific criteria for your course in Part 2 of this handbook will be more definitive.
| Grade point | Descriptor | Typical work should include evidence of… |
| 5 | Excellent | Excellent engagement with the topic, excellent depth of understanding & insight, excellent argument & analysis. Generally, this work will be ‘distinction standard’. |
| 4 | Very good | Very good engagement with the topic, very good depth of understanding & insight, very good argument & analysis. This work may be ‘borderline distinction standard’. |
| 3 | Good | Good (but not necessarily comprehensive) engagement with the topic, clear understanding & insight, reasonable argument & analysis. |
| 2 | Satisfactory | Adequate evidence of engagement with the topic but some gaps in understanding or insight, routine argument & analysis. |
| 1 | Unsatisfactory / poor (fail) | Inadequate engagement with the topic, gaps in understanding, poor argument & analysis. |
| 0 | Very poor (fail)
|
Poor engagement with the topic, limited understanding, very poor argument & analysis. |
| 0 | Not submitted (null) | Null mark may be given where work has not been submitted, or is in serious breach of assessment criteria/regulations. |
The project is worth 45 credits under the LSHTM credit system, and must be passed (with at least a grade 2 or above) in order to pass the MSc.
14.2 What the examiners will be looking for
The specific criteria which will apply for marking project reports on your MSc are set out in Part 2 of this handbook. This should describe the scientific, academic and critical skills being assessed, and identify which elements of the project you will be expected to demonstrate them in. A typical example would be as follows –
| Element | Student Skills |
| Background, literature and theory elements | Critical thinking |
| Data analysis and conclusion sections* | Ability to analyse data and draw conclusions* |
| Data collection and findings sections | Independent research skills |
| The entire written report | Clear coherent writing |
| Style, presentation and referencing of the project | Familiarity with writing conventions |
| * Data may be either qualitative or quantitative and may include the literature identified as part of your review | |
In all cases (unless specifically stated to the contrary), examiners will be looking to see:
- Evidence of learning: Your project report should be your own work, and include original thinking, though you should discuss and review your ideas with your tutor. If you make use of any work conducted by others, this should be appropriately referenced (see Section 11.4 on Referencing, earlier in this handbook).
- Evidence of scientific and academic standards: Including –
- Whether the main project report is structured in an appropriate way;
- How well you make the case for your study design in the light of your research question;
- Whether the project meets the stated aims and objectives set out in the project report;
- Appropriate and competent use of methods for data collection or generation and analysis;
- Convincing well-argued conclusions; and
- A full reference list of all sources of knowledge, data and ideas in the project report, whether these were published in paper form or obtained via the internet.
- Evidence of critical skills: Your project report should demonstrate your ability to integrate your skills in conducting an independent piece of research, including –
- Critical thinking;
- Analysing data and drawing conclusions;
- Clear and coherent writing; and
- Presenting your findings in an appropriate way.
A little after the project hand-in deadline, you will be emailed and asked for your feedback about the project experience. Projects are a hugely important part of MSc study at LSHTM, and feedback about any areas where the School has scope to make improvements or enhancements is very helpful for future students. Your comments will be much appreciated.
After your project report has been marked, your LSHTM supervisor will be sent a copy. You may also wish to send copies to others who assisted you, e.g. co-supervisors or technical advisors at external sites. The Library will make all projects of pass standard or above available to future students.
Where you have achieved a good mark and your project report has particularly interesting or original features, you may be encouraged to consider submitting it for publication in a peer-reviewed journal (see notes about this earlier on in this handbook, under Section 10 on Copyright). Your supervisor, Course Director or personal tutor may be able to offer you further advice on this.
14.4 Project re-sits
A small proportion of students each year will fail their project and be required to re-sit. Such cases will be followed up in line with the School’s re-sits policy, (www.lshtm.ac.uk/edu/taughtcourses/exams_assmt_staff/resits_policy.pdf). There are three types of re-sit which Exam Boards can require students to undertake:
- ‘Revision and re-submission’: to make corrections and submit a revised project (based on the same core material) within two months of the student being notified of this. An extension or deferral beyond two months may be requested if necessary. Written feedback and guidance about the corrections required will be provided.
- ‘Further data collection’: to collect new data and revise/update the project (based on the same basic topic) for the following year’s deadline. This may be most common where data previously collected has been insufficient or flawed.
- ‘New project’: to do a new project on an entirely new topic – where there are fundamental problems in the original submission that cannot simply be revised. This should be submitted for the following year’s deadline.
For ‘revise and re-submit’ projects, students are allowed one further meeting with either their supervisor or Course Director (up to 2 hours further staff support time in total) to help clarify how to address markers’ feedback; but supervisors should not be expected to read a revised draft.
For ‘further data collection’ and ‘new’ projects, the School will endeavour to provide the same level of supervision as for original projects – namely 15 hours contact time maximum, across a single period of no longer than 12 weeks (period to be agreed between the supervisor and student). Students may request a different supervisor for such re-sit work.
PART TWO: COURSE-SPECIFIC PROJECT INFORMATION
Identifying a project topic – how the process works for MSc MEDIC/MP
MEDIC/MP students develop their own project with guidance from their project supervisor. The following questions should be used as a guide for assessing whether the project is suitable:
Does the project address a Medical Parasitology (for MP students) or Medical Entomology (for MEDiC and MP students)?
Are the aims and objectives clearly stated?
Are the methods appropriate and clearly described?
Is the project feasible with the time and resources available?
Does the project require local ethical approval?
Most MEDIC/MP students discuss ideas for projects with their tutor/supervisor early in 2014 and use the CARE form to draft the project protocol. Once both student and supervisor are satisfied with the CARE form this is submitted to the CD who either gives approval based on the questions identified above or identifies issues for further review. The student obtains approval for the project from the relevant ethics committees at LSHTM and relevant institutions local to the project setting.
Types of project report permitted for students on MSc MEDIC/MP
There are four types of project acceptable on the MSc MEDIC/MP;
- Field Based project – a research project based predominantly in the field, usually in a disease endemic country, where the student shows some evidence of independence. The report consists of: a literature review (to set the scene for the specific objectives of the project), appropriate experimental design, a section on data interpretation of data, and a discussion (where the relevance of the results are discussed in the context of previous findings).
- Laboratory Based project – a research project based predominantly in the laboratory, either at LSHTM or with an external collaborator, where the student shows some evidence of independence. The report consists of: a literature review (to set the scene for the specific objectives of the project), appropriate experimental design, a section on data interpretation of data, and a discussion (where the relevance of the results are discussed in the context of previous findings).
- Literature Review – a comprehensive, systematic and original review of the literature on a relevant subject (further guidance below).
- Data analysis project – an analysis of primary or secondary data collected before or during the course (further guidance below).
Guidelines for the composition of each paper-based project type are shown on the following pages, and you should discuss these with your supervisor. Grading criteria (5-0) are also given.
Unless stated otherwise, projects must contain an abstract, comprising four sections: Background – summarising the problem being considered; Methods – describing how the study was performed; Results – listing the salient results; Conclusions – stating the principal conclusions of your work.
- Literature Review Project (MEDIC/MP)
An important skill is to identify, assess and synthesise evidence, including scientific literature. A literature review involves a comprehensive and original review of the literature on a relevant subject and synthesis of findings. Systematic literature reviews are encouraged where possible.
Aims. Literature review projects have two aims:
- i) to demonstrate an ability to carry out a literature review independently
- ii) to demonstrate an ability to apply the knowledge gained during your MSc in the analysis and synthesis of findings through the inclusion of a critical appraisal..
Topic Selection. You should discuss your choice of topic with your tutor or supervisor and identify an innovative angle in your question. Do not replicate an existing review unless you wish to update it or consider that it is flawed in some way. A literature review is ‘secondary research’ in which existing literature constitutes the data to be analysed. Take time to think about and develop a good review question. The topic should be an important one for in either Medical Parasitology (for MP students) or Medical Entomology (for MEDiC and one that interests you. You should think carefully about the scope of your review and the criteria that you use to decide what literature is relevant to the question you pose and how this should be gathered. If your question sets out to test a hypothesis then pre-determined, systematic search and appraisal methods might be necessary. If your question seeks to develop theory, your review may involve more inductive and less pre-determined methods of enquiry. If your question is too broad/narrow you will find that there is too much/little literature available to you and this means that the project is not feasible.
It is always useful to do some exploratory literature searches before deciding on your topic. By using databases such as Pub Med and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (both available through the Library website) you can get some idea of how much literature there is on your review question and whether anyone else has already done a review on it. You should also think about where you can find the literature and how easy it will be to access.
Data. The principal sources of data are likely to be:
(a) published literature including scientific journals and books
(b) grey literature – reports which have not been through the peer-review process*
(c) other documents from NGOs, international organisations, governments, consultancies, industry associations, etc
* you may need ethical approval from the supplying organisation to include these in your review
Literature review content.
In addition to the sections listed in the Reports Content and Structure the main report for a literature review should normally contain:
- a) The Introduction. The introduction should contain information on the background of your study, its aims and objectives and how you intend to approach the work.
– The background sets out a justification for the study – why it is important and its relevance to public health in low-income countries. The relevant context might include outlines of relevant policy initiatives, epidemiological or demographic data on the extent of ‘the problem’ and an account of the health setting.
– Aim and Objectives. The aim is a statement of the overall intention of the study – what you hope to achieve – and the specific objectives are the steps you will take to achieve the aim – how you will achieve it. The aim of your work can be expressed as a hypothesis to be tested, or as a research question to be answered. It must be described clearly and your supervisor must agree that it is feasible. The other sections of the report (methods, results/findings, discussion) should all relate closely to your stated aim and objectives.
– Approach: Your introduction should include a brief outline of the method you intend to use to address the research question and a justification for the approach.
- b) The methods you use in your literature review to include: your search strategy and the criteria for including or excluding literature; how you assess the quality of the literature; and how you draw together/synthesise the findings from the literature. Where relevant, evidence that relevant ethical issues were considered and appropriately dealt with should be included.
- c) The results and analysis: A literature review is more than just presenting the reported findings from different sources. Your review needs to demonstrate evidence of critical appraisal of the literature (e.g. by assessing the methodological quality and/or conceptual clarity of the literature you review) and a clear approach to synthesising the data in a public health context.
The review should synthesise evidence from your literature-base to address the research question. Is the evidence sufficient to answer your question? Is the literature consistent? If not, you should explore why there are differences. Formal methods for combining the results from quantitative and/or qualitative studies (meta-analysis) do exist, but these are not taught in the MSc and are not expected to be used in the report.
- d) The discussion should include an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of your review methods, the implications of your findings, how this work adds to our understanding of the topic and any implications for further research.
In addition you must include details of database searches (the terms you use and how they were combined) in an appendix.
- Data Analysis Project – primary or secondary sources (MEDIC/MP)
A research project gives you the opportunity to conduct research by using data that you may have collected either before or during the course, or to analyse data collected by an existing project. The data may be qualitative or quantitative.
Aims. The research project has two aims:
- i) to demonstrate your ability to carry out a small investigation independently
- ii) to demonstrate your ability to apply the knowledge gained during your MSc.
Topic Selection. You should discuss your choice of topic with your tutor and identify an original angle on Medical Parasitology (for MP students) or Medical Entomology (for MEDiC and MP students). It may be possible to contribute to a larger research project conducted by staff at LSHTM. Take time to think about and develop a question on a topic which is interesting to you and in which you would like to develop some expertise.
Data. The principal sources of data for a research project are likely to be:
(a) existing data from qualitative or quantitative studies*
(b) primary data appropriate to a small or pilot study*
(c) published data including scientific journals and books
(d) unpublished reports*
* these sources of data may need ethical approval from the supplying organisation
Data analysis project content.
The main report of a research project should contain:
(a) Introduction. The introduction should contain information on the background of your study, its aims and objectives and how you intend to approach the work.
– The background sets out a justification for the study – why it is important and its relevance to Medical Parasitology (for MP students) or Medical Entomology (for MEDiC and MP students. The relevant context might include outlines of epidemiological or demographic data on the extent of ‘the problem’ and an account of the health setting.
– Aim and Objectives. The aim is a statement of the overall intention of the study – what you hope to achieve – and the specific objectives are the steps you will take to achieve the aim – how you will achieve it. The aim of your work can be expressed as a hypothesis to be tested, or as a research question to be answered. It must be described clearly and your supervisor must agree that it is feasible. The other sections of the report (methods, results/findings, discussion) should all relate closely to your stated aim and objectives.
– Approach: Your introduction should include a brief outline of the method you intend to use to address the research question and a justification for the approach.
(b) Methods Section: Specific details of the research design, data collection methods and analysis used should be stated. In this section you should demonstrate a grasp of general methodological issues including validity, data management, coding and categorisation, and the analysis strategy. The specific methods used should be appropriate and justified (e.g. study design, sampling strategy, instruments used, statistical or evaluation methods). Where relevant, evidence that ethical issues were considered and appropriately dealt with should be included.
(c) Appropriate presentation of results. Relevant results (descriptive and analytical) must be presented in a lucid form. This may be tabular and narrative form, as appropriate and presented in a way which aligns to the study aims, objectives and methods.
(d) Discussion. This should include a critical review of your results and appropriate discussion of their public health implications. Where applicable, you should consider the implications of your findings for our understanding of the topic, methodology or policy and how the findings relate to previous research, including any implications for policy, practice or further research.
Note that in a qualitative study the results and discussion may comprise one section, while in a quantitative study they should remain separate.
You should include a discussion of limitations of the project and any problems you may have had in implementing the proposed method should be identified.
(e) Conclusions and recommendations which should flow from your results.
Previous MEDIC Project Titles & Supervisors
2007-2008
IAN BURNISTON
Sandfly bloodmeal analysis to identify the hosts of the visceral leishmaniasis vector Phlebotomus argentipes in Nepal.
Supervisor: Dr Mary Cameron [email protected]
VANESSA CHEN-HUSSEY
Comparative field evaluation of a recently developed human odour baits for mosquito monitoring on the China-Myanmar border.
Supervisor: Dr Nigel Hill (Deceased)
ROBI OKARA
Assessing approaches to mapping the main Anopheles species in Kenya.
Supervisor: Dr Simon Hay [email protected]
HMOODA TOTO
Assessing mating competitiveness of Anopheles arabiensis carrying a dieldrin
resistance gene for the purpose of malaria control in Sudan.
Supervisor: Dr Mary Cameron [email protected]
IVAN MOHAMMADI
Testing of a novel combination treatment of chlorfenapyr and alphacypermethrin in
malaria transmission control (ITNs & IRS) against resistant mosquitoes.
Supervisor: Dr Mark Rowland [email protected]
SAMANTHA PERERA
Comparison of morbidity indicators for Schistosoma haematobium infection in
praziquantel-naïve school aged children in Tanzania, East Africa.
Supervisor: Dr Alice Norton (formerly Imperial College, London)
2008-2009
MELISSA BELL
Vectors and reservoir hosts of Trypanosoma cruzi in Manabi Province, Western Ecuador.
Supervisor: Prof Michael Miles [email protected]
CRYSTAL SZE SHAU LEE
The behaviour and identification of mosquito vectors in ricefields and villages in Attapeu Province, Laos.
Supervisor: Dr Nigel Hill (Deceased)
OIHANE MARTIN
Carriage of antimicrobial resistance genes by calyptrate flies in different
environments of Central Spain.
Supervisor: Dr Mary Cameron [email protected]
ANGELA RORY
Cross Sectional Study Comparing Species Compostion Across Areas Affected by the Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectric Project, Laos PDR.
Supervisor: Dr Nigel Hill (Deceased)
SALAH TAHIR
To evaluate the effectiveness of recently developed odour baited resting boxes in the trapping of Anopheles arabiensis in Sudan.
Supervisor: Dr Mary Cameron [email protected]
2009-2010
IAN BANKS
Determination of black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, larval growth rates in human faeces of different dietary origin and rate of reduction of human faeces.
Supervisor: Dr Mary Cameron [email protected]
FRANCESCO BINAZZI
Testing the use of human blood spots to detect antibodies to the saliva of the visceral leishmaniasis vectors Phlebotomus argentipes and Lutzomyia longipalpis.
Supervisors: Dr Matt Rogers [email protected] & Dr Mary Cameron [email protected]
GODFRIDA CLEMENT
Measurement of the “effective” and “protective” distance of metofluthrin and transfluthrin area repellents.
Supervisor: Dr Sarah Moore [email protected] [email protected]
SARAH DERAEDT
Efficacy of DEET repellents against mosquitoes in Laos.
Supervisor: Prof Steve Lindsay [email protected]
CORINE NGUFOR
Evaluation of combination LLIN and IRS with chlorfenapyr in experimental huts in southern Benin.
Supervisors: Dr Mark Rowland [email protected] & Dr Raphael N’Guessin Raphael.N’[email protected]
PETER WING
A study of georeferenced distribution data for two myiasis species.
Supervisor: Dr Martin Hall [email protected]
PETER WINSKILL
Risk factors for exposure to malaria vectors in rural villages in NE Tanzania.
Supervisors: Dr Mark Rowland [email protected] & Dr Matt Kirby [email protected]
2010-2011
MAUREEN CHEGE
Evaluation of Scoronr-treated sheets after two months use against malaria vectors in a community randomized trial in NE Tanzania
Supervisor: Dr Matt Kirby [email protected]
XANTHIPPI CHORAITI
Exploring the possible causes of a malaria outbreak in a group of villages in Moshi, North Tanzania despite application of IRS and LLINs for malaria reduction
Supervisor: Dr Mark Rowland [email protected]
JESSICA DUPREZ
Incrimination of Chrysomya albiceps (diptera: Calliphoridae) as a vector of diarrhoeal disease in The Gambia.
Supervisor: Prof Steve Lindsay [email protected]
BENJAMIN FRANCIS
Does carbon dioxide or water vapour attract gravid Anopheles gambiae and An. arabiensis?
Supervisor: Prof Steve Lindsay [email protected]
NADIA JELVEZ – SERRA
Behavioural responses of Lutzomyia longipalpis to three potential sugar sources.
Supervisors: Dr James Logan [email protected] Dr Mary Cameron [email protected]
ANNE LEONARD
Rainwater collection tanks as risk factors for dengue and chikungunya vectors in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
Supervisor: Dr Alex Hiscox [email protected]
JOHANES MAU
Susceptibility of Anopheles Mosquitoes to Pyrethroid Insecticides in East Timor
Supervisor: Prof Steve Lindsay [email protected]
FRANCESCA STUBBINS
ProVector – A small scale field evaluation
Supervisor: Dr Sarah Moore [email protected] [email protected]
EDWARD SULSTON
Development of new lures to be used in odour baited traps against the Old Screw-worm Fly Chrysomya bezziana.
Supervisors: Dr Mary Cameron [email protected] & Dr James Logan [email protected]
JONATHAN THORNTON
Evaluation of sticky traps for collection of Culex quinquefasciatus.
Supervisor: Mr Seth Irish [email protected]
2011-2012
ADAM HENDY
Impact of permethrin -impregnated school uniforms against Stegomyia(Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes in Thailand: an investigation of behaviour, resistance and residual effects.
Supervisor: Dr James Logan [email protected]
YASSAR KADOOM
To identify and determine the quality of the antibiotics in the malaria drug cocktails collected in Cambodia.
Supervisor: Dr Harparkash Kaur [email protected]
2012-2013
ANEESA JAFFER
The effect of Pyriproxyfen (PPF) impregnated nets on fecundity and fertility of An. gambiae at different feed feeding intervals.
Supervisor: Dr Richard Oxborough [email protected]
SARAH KELLY
Sub-lethal effects of Transfluthrin Coils on blood-feeding behaviour, fecundity
and fertility of female Stegomyia aegypti
Supervisor: Dr Lena Lorenz [email protected]
ROBERT MOAR
Investigating if Anopheline or Culicine mosquitoes demonstrate a decreased
repellence of DEET after previous exposure?
Supervisor: Dr Nina Stanczyk [email protected]
LAURA PEARSON
The ecology and prevalence of ticks and their pathogens in suburban areas,
what are the risks to public health?
Supervisor: Dr Emma Weeks [email protected]
SOPHIE RICHI
Bionomics of the Leucosphyrus group of Anopheles mosquitoes and
experimentation with outdoor trapping techniques
Supervisor: Dr Chris Drakeley [email protected]
2013-2014
TAL-BETH COHEN
Attractiveness to mosquitoes of native Kenyans versus non-natives.
Supervisor: Dr James Logan [email protected]
MARYAN GULLED
Formulations of Entomopathogenic Fungi to Reduce Malaria Transmission
Supervisors: Drs. Paul Matewele & Mary Cameron [email protected] & [email protected]
AUSTIN MOENCH
The role of latrines in fly borne diarrhoeal disease transmission
Supervisor: Dr Jeroen Ensink [email protected]
YVONNE OGECHI
Evaluating the molecular markers of drug resistance in two regions of Nigeria with marked difference in malaria transmission patterns.
Supervisors: Drs Colin Sutherland & Mary Oguike [email protected] and [email protected]
MSc MEDiC or MP Project Assessment (Field or Laboratory based): Criteria for Grading
| Grade for Component 1 (Contributes 30% of overall project Grade)
Research question and appraisal of literature
· Range of reading · Independent literature searching · Critical evaluation of previous work · Relation to research question · Rationale for aims and objectives
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5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
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· Extensive reading that has been thoroughly critically evaluated and explicitly related to the research question. · Very good evidence of independent research for sources. · Very clearly formulated research question and / or aim. Clear subject-based focus. · Excellent and convincing rationale. · Explicit, precise and achievable objectives. |
· Wide reading that has been critically evaluated and clearly related to the research question.
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· Adequate level of reading with limited evaluation. Some deviation from the research question. · Some evidence of independent research for sources · Understandable research question and/or aim with some subject focus. · Adequate rationale. · Acceptable objectives with a few that are not achievable. |
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| Grade for Component 2 (Contributes 30% of overall project Grade)
Methodology, Analysis and Interpretation
· Appreciation of methodological issues · Rationale for research approach · Information gathering and analysis · Reliability and validity · Awareness of strengths and weaknesses
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5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| · Very clear appreciation of relevant methodological issues.
· Excellent rationale for research approach and data collection methods. · Extremely systematic and appropriate information gathering and analysis. · Uses most reliable and valid methods available. · Critical awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken. |
· Very good appreciation of relevant methodological issues.
· Clearly presented rationale for research approach and data collection methods. · Very competent and appropriate information gathering and analysis. · Uses reliable and valid methods. · Some awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken. |
· Familiarity with key methodological issues.
· Competent rationale for research approach and data collection methods. · Competent information gathering and analysis. · Appropriate methods but without full awareness of reliability and validity issues. · Some awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken. |
· Some awareness of the methodological issues.
· Appropriate rationale for research approach and data collection methods. · Adequate information gathering and analysis. · Largely appropriate methods but with only some awareness of reliability and validity issues. · Little awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken.
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· Limited awareness of methodological issues.
· Defensible rationale for research approach and data collection methods. · Weak information gathering and analysis but sufficient information gathered to allow for a possible reworking of data. · Generally appropriate methods but with limited awareness of reliability and validity issues. · Little awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken. |
· Little awareness of methodological issues.
· Inappropriate or non-existent rationale for research approach and data collection methods. · Methods generally inappropriate and with very limited awareness of reliability and validity issues. · Poor and inappropriate information gathering and analysis, not capable of being reworked. |
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Grade for Component 3 (Contributes 30% of overall project Grade)
Discussion and Conclusions/Recommendations
· Presentation of data · Analysis of data · Evaluation and application of theory · Discussion of data · Implications for further research
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5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| · Data presentation is very clear
· Excellent analysis – thorough, accurate and rigorous analysis with critical use of the best available analytical techniques and approaches. · Convincing evidence of ability to analyse, evaluate and apply theory. · Discussion of data is logical, succinct and very coherent. · Compelling account of the position of own research in relation to previous work. · Clear and perceptive insight into implications of research for future work and field in general. |
· Data presentation is clear
· Very strong analysis – thorough, accurate and rigorous with use of the best available analytical techniques and approaches. · Very good evidence of ability to analyse, evaluate and apply theory. · Discussion of data is logical and coherent. · Strong account of the position of own research in relation to previous work. · Very good insight into implications of research for future work and field in general. |
· Data presentation is satisfactory
· Systematic analysis – largely thorough, accurate and/or rigorous with use of valid analytical techniques. · Good evidence of ability to analyse, evaluate and apply theory. · Discussion of data is largely sound but with some weaknesses in logic / coherence. · Satisfactory account of the position of own research in relation to previous work. · Good insight into implications of research for future work and field in general. |
· Data presentation is adequate
· Systematic analysis – adequate, but only shows some awareness of appropriate analytical techniques and approaches · Some evidence of ability to analyse, evaluate and apply theory. · Discussion of data is adequate but with some inaccuracies and weaknesses in logic / coherence. · Adequate account of the position of own research in relation to previous work. · Some insight into implications of research for future work and field in general. |
· Data presentation is poor
· Analysis weak but shows some awareness of appropriate analytical techniques and approaches. · Little evidence of ability to analyse, evaluate and apply theory. · Discussion of data has significant flaws · Limited awareness of the position of own research in relation to previous work. · Limited insight into implications of research for future work and field in general. |
· Data presentation is very poor
· Analysis very weak and shows very limited awareness of appropriate analytical techniques and approaches. · Very little evidence of ability to analyse, evaluate and apply theory. · Discussion of data is largely incoherent. · Very limited awareness of the position of own research in relation to previous work. · Very limited insight into implications of research for future work and field in general. |
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| Grade for Component 4 (Contributes 10% of overall project Grade)
Presentation and Communication
· Referencing · Presentation · Use of language, spelling and grammar |
5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| · Fully and appropriately referenced.
· The best presentation appropriate for purpose using visual sources (figures, diagrams) to maximum effect. · Language very clear, accurate and used to maximum effect with outstanding command of grammar and spelling and thorough editing. |
· Very good referencing.
· Effective presentation appropriate for purpose with successful use of visual sources. · Language clear, accurate and effective with very good command of grammar and spelling and very few typographical errors. |
· Generally well referenced.
· Appropriate presentation with capable use of visual sources. · Language appropriate, clear and accurate but with some minor errors; good command of grammar and spelling but some typographical errors. |
· Adequately referenced.
· Adequate presentation with capable use of visual sources. · Language appropriate, mostly clear and accurate but with some large errors; adequate command of grammar and spelling but some typographical errors. |
· Competent referencing but some inconsistencies.
· Largely adequate presentation with some effective use of visual sources. · Language generally clear but with significant errors; fair command of grammar and spelling but frequent typographical errors. |
· Poorly referenced.
· Inadequate presentation with ineffective use of visual sources. · Very unclear language with serious errors; poor grammar and spelling with frequent typographical errors. |
MSc MEDiC or MP Project Assessment (Literature Review): Criteria for Grading
| Grade for Component 1 (Contributes 30% of overall project Grade) – Research question (or basis for project) and appraisal of literature
· Identification of themes for review · Independent literature searching · Critical evaluation of previous work · Rationale for aims and objectives
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5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| · Highly relevant and insightful subject for review.
· Conducted the review independently but may have received advice on aspects of it. · Clear evidence of an in-depth understanding of the subject matter. · Excellent Rationale with clearly formulated aims and explicit, precise and achievable objectives.
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· Relevant and insightful subject for review.
· Conducted the review independently but may have received suggestions from the supervisor. · Clear evidence of a very good understanding of the subject matter. · Very good rationale with clear aims and well-defined and achievable objectives.
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· Good subject choice and relevant to the course.
· Conducted most of the review independently and demonstrated an ability to understand and implement suggestions by the supervisor. · Evidence of a good understanding of the subject matter, taking into account the difficulty of the topic. · Good rationale with appropriate objectives, most of which are achievable.
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· Subject choice was relevant to the course but may lack new insight.
· Candidate was directed towards the topic and the strategy for the review by the supervisor, but made an appreciable personal contribution. · Evidence of understanding of the subject matter, and an ability to organise the material. · Competent rationale with appropriate objectives, several of which are achievable.
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· Subject choice was not relevant to the course and/or lacks a focus.
· Failed to grasp the essential requirements for a sound review paper or failed in important respects to understand advice from the supervisor. · Evidence of limited understanding of its subject matter. · Rationale poorly articulated and justified; unachievable objectives. |
· Not submitted or a study with very little merit.
· Failed to grasp the essential requirements for a review paper and failed to understand most of their supervisor’s advice. · Limited evidence of any understanding of the subject matter. · Inadequate rationale and unachievable objectives. |
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| Grade for Component 2 (Contributes 30% of overall project Grade) – Methodology, Analysis and Interpretation
· Rationale for search strategy · Criteria for including or excluding sources · Assessment of quality of literature · Evidence of a critical appraisal of literature · Ability to synthesise findings from literature
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5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| · Excellent rationale for themes to be analysed and approach to be used.
· Very clearly defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. · Extremely rigorous, systematic search · Excellent ability to synthesise |
· In-depth rationale for themes to be analysed and approach to be used.
· Clearly defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. · Very competent and appropriate search · Very good ability to synthesise |
· Good rationale for themes to be analysed and approach to be used.
· Good attempt to define inclusion and exclusion criteria. · Competent search · Good ability to synthesise |
· Competent rationale for themes to be analysed and approach to be used.
· Satisfactory attempt to define inclusion and exclusion criteria. · Satisfactory search · Satisfactory ability to synthesise |
· Unsatisfactory rationale for themes to be analysed and approach to be used.
· Undefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. · Weak search · Analysis is weak with an inability to synthesise |
· Poor rationale for themes to be analysed and approach to be used.
· Undefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. · Poor search · Analysis is poor |
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Grade for Component 3 (Contributes 30% of overall project Grade) – Discussion and Conclusions/Recommendations
· Assessment of review methods. · Evaluation and application of theory · How does the work add to the understanding of the topic · Implications for further research
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5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| · Excellent awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken.
· Excellent evidence of ability to evaluate and apply theory. · Excellent account of the position of own research in relation to previous work · Reached original new insights. |
· Very good awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken.
· Very good evidence of ability to evaluate and apply theory. · Very good account of the position of own research in relation to previous work. · Reached some original new insights |
· Good awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken.
· Good evidence of ability to evaluate and apply theory. · Good account of the position of own research in relation to previous work. · One or two original new insights provided |
· Some awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken.
· Satisfactory evidence of ability to evaluate and apply theory. · Satisfactory account of the position of own research in relation to previous work. · Satisfactory evaluation and attempt to apply theory |
· Lacking awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken.
· Little evidence of ability to evaluate and apply theory. · Limited ability to position own research in relation to previous work. · Limited ability to evaluate and apply theory |
· Little awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken.
· No evidence of ability to evaluate and apply theory. · Very limited ability to position own research in relation to previous work · Inability to synthesise, evaluate and apply theory |
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| Grade for Component 4 (Contributes 10% of overall project Grade) – Presentation and Communication
· Referencing · Presentation · Use of language, spelling and grammar |
5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| · References accurate, appropriately presented.
· Excellent presentation · Potentially publishable with little further work. |
· References accurate, appropriately presented.
· Very well presented and contains only a limited number of minor errors. · Perhaps publishable after further work. |
· Only minor inaccuracies in references
· Good presentation and contains no serious errors · Coherent throughout with a good structure |
· Perhaps contains one or two major inaccuracies in referencing.
· There should be no more than a few serious errors in the report. · Understandable, but structure needs improvement
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· References have major inaccuracies.
· There are a substantial number of major errors in the report, which may be poorly presented. · Poor structure and difficult to understand
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· References have major inaccuracies.
· Large numbers of serious errors, or report very poorly presented. · Lacks coherency |
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