UNIVERISTY OF
HUMAN NUTRITION PROGRAM
NUT 560J: RESEARCH IN
NUTRITION
THESIS GUIDELINES
Submission of a thesis based on either
library research or a special research project, is a requirement for graduation
from the Human Nutrition Program at UB. The thesis may be completed at any time
during matriculation in the Program but students usually register for Nut 560J
at the time that 4th semester classes are taken. Students have one
semester to complete the thesis after all courses have been completed. Due
dates for the thesis are August 31st and January 15th for
students completing coursework in the spring and summer, respectively for the
campus program.
Distance
Learning students who choose to take this course as their elective have till
the end of the semester that they registered in to complete the thesis
Most students choose to submit a
thesis based on library research using peer-reviewed nutrition literature. In
some cases, original research completed by the student will be acceptable as an
alternative to library research. As indicated below, the format varies for each
form. However, prior approval of the
thesis advisor is mandatory for both forms.
A thesis based on a literature review
is best completed on a topic related to human nutrition that is of special
personal interest to the student. Enthusiasm and, thus, motivation to carry out
the required library research is likely to be greater than for a topic that is
only of superficial interest.
Sufficient current scientific
nutrition literature should be available on the selected topic. It is important
to understand that a literature review needs to be objective; that is, it
should include both supportive and contradictory studies. Nearly all topics in
nutrition contain contrary studies. It is obligatory that the student include
these contradictory studies in the thesis,
If the topic selected is too broad,
your thesis advisor will work with you to limit it. The nutrition literature on
most topics encompasses hundreds or even thousands of studies and it is
inadvisable to attempt to write a thesis that effectively covers such broad
topics. This is one reason why it is necessary for the thesis advisor to be
contacted for topic selection before beginning the review.
After your topic has been approved
by your thesis advisor, it will be necessary to submit a thesis outline for his
or her approval. At the beginning of this is a
statement of the purpose of the thesis, followed by subtopics and/or supporting
statements based on the literature. Each major statement can be subdivided into
secondary statements. Each entry in the outline may consist of phrases,
sentences, or even paragraphs.
Only papers in the English language
should be used as references. Also, only published peer-reviewed papers will be
acceptable. Articles published only on-line and not available in libraries will
not be accepted. Only one form for
citation of references are acceptable and this is
described below.
The thesis must be written using standard English syntax, grammar, and spelling. Any thesis
that does not conform to standard English usage will
be rejected until the errors are fully corrected. There are no exceptions to
this requirement. Students for whom English is a second language may need to
obtain outside assistance in this context, because it is not the role of the
thesis advisor to do this.
Formats
for the literature review and original research follow:
Literature
Review Original Research
Title
Page
Title Page
Table
of Contents
Table of Contents
Abstract Abstract
Introduction
Introduction
Literature
Review
Hypothesis
Discussion
Methods
Conclusion
Results
References
Conclusion
References
Since
original research projects are rarely submitted, students wishing to do this
will receive personal instruction from the thesis advisor.
Organization of the
Literature Review Thesis:
Title Page:
The title page must follow the
format shown in the appended section. Make sure that your title is appropriate
and descriptive of the content of your paper.
Table of Contents:
This section provides a listing of
the thesis contents in numerical order.
Abstract:
The abstract is the last section of
your paper to be written, although it is placed first in the final thesis. The
abstract summarizes the significance, content, and conclusion of the thesis. It
should not exceed 250 words and is to be written in entire sentences. It should
include the objectives of the literature review, definitions of any unusual
terms, findings from the literature, and significant conclusions based on the
literature. A reader should be able to obtain all the important information
about your thesis from the abstract, without reading the entire paper.
Introduction:
This section is designed to express
the purpose and scope of the paper. Clarifications, definitions and
controversial issues are also discussed here. Historical references pertinent
to the paper may also be provided but the literature is not reviewed in this
section.
Literature Review:
This section is the most lengthy portion of the paper and encompasses a review
of studies in the scientific literature that pertain to the chosen topic. It is
best to begin by perusing relevant chapters in books or review papers. In fact,
it would be prudent to observe review papers to serve as models for your
thesis.
Avoid citation of books because these
may be more difficult to find and are generally not o peer-review.
Opposing viewpoints may be included
in the review but these are to be critiqued in the following section.
You may paraphrase the studies but
avoid direct quotations, even if quotation marks are used. Quotations are
generally absent from scientific papers.
Although some secondary sources are
acceptable, avoid using them extensively. Doing so would constitute a review of
reviews, and this is unacceptable for the thesis. Similarly, meta-analyses
should also be avoided or used minimally. Instead, rely upon primary sources,
especially those that incorporate a double-blind, placebo-controlled research
protocol. Remember that observational (epidemiological) studies can never be
used to prove cause and effect relationships. They can
only be used as supportive evidence.
Do not rely primarily on experimental
studies using animals or tissue culture since their findings may not be
extrapolated to humans. However, such studies can be incorporated into the
paper for providing supportive evidence.
It is important to base your thesis on
the recent biomedical literature. In general, papers that are more than a
decade and a half old are unacceptable, except when they are of historical
interest. The nutritional literature becomes quickly outdated. Accordingly, a
thesis primarily based on the older literature is unacceptable.
Discussion:
This section comprises your own
ideas about the literature that you have surveyed. Those studies that
incorporate unsound methodology should be noted as being less credible than
those that are methodologically sound. Try to point out other strengths and
weaknesses of the cited studies. Discuss alternative explanations and suggest
possible future studies that may clarify ambiguous findings. Creativity,
originality, and critical thinking are qualities that help to distinguish a
superior thesis from an ordinary one.
Conclusion:
Conclude your thesis with a
statement summarizing the main
findings and suggesting possibilities for
future research.
References:
All references should be cited in
this section in the numerical order in which they are presented in the paper.
References should be cited in the body of the paper by number. Correct
references are mandatory and no thesis will be accepted if references are in
error. It is imperative that references never be copied from another
publication and that you do not cite any references that you haven’t read. The
format for citations should be that used by Nutrition Reviews, samples of which
follow:
and milk
energy output of women in less-developed countries. In: Picciano
M, Lonnerdal B, eds. Mechanisms
regulating lactation and infant nutrient
utilization.
3.
Academy Press, 1990;90-111.
4.
Lin
MH, Gurthrie J, Frazao E. Nutrient contribution of food away from home. In:
Frazao E, ed.
Journal abbreviations are those used
by the National Library of Medicine, such as those cited in PubMed or Medline.
Supportive information:
Any graphs, figures, tables, etc.
should be incorporated directly into the text in the order that they are
mentioned in the paper.
Specifications
The paper should be a minimum of 25
typed double-spaced pages on 8 and 1/2 x 11 inch paper high quality paper.
Roman numerals should be used for pages preceding the Introduction, that is,
the Table of Contents is numbered ii. The introduction is page 1. Give or mail
two copies of the completed thesis to Terri Roma, Coordinator, Human Nutrition
Program,
Thesis Advisor:
Barry S. Kendler, PhD, FACN, CNS. CDN.
barry.kendler@manhattan.edu 718-405-3388
THE ROLE OF ANTIOXIDANTS IN REDUCING THE
RISK
OF CANCER IN HUMANS
By
Davida K. Jones
A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty
of
THE
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
For the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE
In
Human Nutrition
January 23, 1998
Approved by:
_____________
Advisor
ADDENDUM TO THESIS GUIDELINES 09/06/07
The
procedure for submission of the thesis is as follows:
1. Select a topic (or topics) that you are
interested in researching.
2. E-mail the title of the topic to Dr. Kendler
at: bkendler@bridgeport.edu
3. Upon receipt of the title, Dr. Kendler will
either approve it as
suitable, suggest modifications, or he will ask you to
submit another title.
4. After approval of the title, an outline of
the thesis should be
emailed to Dr. Kendler for his approval and/or suggestions.
Include your mailing address.
5. Following approval of the outline, a
CAREFULLY written first draft should be e-mailed to Dr. Kendler, who will make
corrections, grade the first draft, and mail it back to you. If all of the
corrections on the first draft are implemented, you will have the opportunity
of receiving a higher grade. If numerous corrections are made on the first
draft, the final grade will be lower than if only a few corrections are made.
6. The final draft must be written using
Microsoft Word and sent to
Dr.
Kendler on disc, so that it may be evaluated to ascertain that it was not
plagiarized; that is, the thesis MUST be entirely original and
portions of it must NOT be copied from any material in
print.
Accordingly,
quotations are not allowed. The software program designed to detect plagiarism
is called Turnitin. Any thesis found to be plagiarized will automatically
result in a failure.
7. Allow at least three weeks for this process.
If requested, Terri
Roma
will inform you of the thesis deadline. There are NO extensions for failing to
meet the specified deadline and there will be NO expedited mailing by UB. Lack
of preparation and proper planning on your part will not constitute an
emergency for your thesis advisor or program coordinator.
8. Two copies of the properly bound, corrected
thesis should be mailed to:
Terri
Roma
Program
Coordinator
Human
Nutrition Institute