Printing (for examination)

The thesis should be printed on white A4 paper between 70g/m2 and 100g/m2. If A4 paper is not to be used, permission must be sought from the Academic Board for Concessions and Discipline.

• Large illustrations should be folded to fit A4 size and should not extend across both pages of the thesis
• If the thesis contains photographs good photocopies may be substituted
• If colour is used, the quality must be of a good standard for reproduction purposes
• The thesis may be printed on one or both sides of the paper. Where both sides of the paper are used, the paper must be sufficiently opaque to avoid show-through
• Each chapter should begin on a new page
• The left margin should not be less than 40mm, to allow for binding, and others should not be less than 15mm
• It is recommended that a laser writer printer is used. Where copies are produced by any photocopying processes, these must be of a permanent nature.

Binding

Soft-binding (for examination)

• For MPhil candidates three soft-bound copies of the thesis must be submitted to the Research Office for examination – one each for the Chair, the examiner and the supervisor (if present)

• For PhD candidates four soft-bound copies of the thesis must be submitted to the Research Office for examination – one each for the Chair, the two examiners and the supervisor (if present).

Soft-bound copies can be either ‘perfect bound’ or bound with a comb binder.

Other material

Other materials, such as DVDs, must also be included with the submission, but should be kept separate from the main thesis copy. These materials should be marked clearly to avoid being lost. Slides can be made and kept in the Slide Library by Information Services.

Hard-binding (after examination - for personal or department use)

The College now requires the final revised thesis to be submitted electronically and therefore no longer requires a bound copy of your final thesis. However, if you wish to have copies bound yourself, we recommend the following format:

• the binding should be of a fixed type so that leaves cannot be removed or replaced
• the front and rear boards should be sufficiently rigid to support the weight of the work when standing upright
• each volume should not be more than 70mm thick
• the colour of the binding should be black
• the outside front board should bear the title of the work in at least 24 point type
• the name and initials of the candidate, the qualification and the year of final submission should also be shown on the front board
• the same information (excluding the title of the work) should be shown on the spine of the work.

Bookbinders

The following may be of help for having your thesis soft-bound or if you wish to have hard copies bound for your own purposes.

F J Blissett & Co Ltd
Roslin Road
London
W3 8DH
Tel: 020 8992 3965
Fax: 020 8993 1815
theses@blissetts.com
http://www.blissetts.com/

Collis-Bird & Withey
1 Drayton Park
London
N5 1NU
Tel: 020 7607 1116
http://www.thesisbookbinding.co.uk/

Homerton Bookbinders
166a Glyn Road
London
E5 0JE
Tel: 020 8986 4424

Exhibiting

It was recently agreed by Senate that the RCA Graduation Show should become a Summer Show which would enable students who were not yet eligible to graduate to exhibit their work. Since then, departments have been free to decide whether their students should exhibit in the summer prior to examination, or the summer after examination (or, indeed, exhibit at all). However, this freedom has led to some confusion. In order to clarify this for future years, the following recommendations have been approved:

• Wherever possible, research students should exhibit after the submission of their thesis for examination
• When the Show is professionally curated, the departmental Research Coordinator should ensure that the curator is fully aware of the nature of each of their exhibiting research student exhibits, in order that their individual requirements can be accommodated
• All Show publicity material should list the student as MPhil/PhD by Project/Thesis student: simply listing as ‘MPhil’ or ‘PhD’ is misleading.
• The Research Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that the Research Office has an up to date list of all exhibiting students and their publicity details (images, text etc.)
• The Show Catalogue should be clear about the status of the research students.

Guidance for student participation in conferences and publication of work

Originality
It is common in science-based subjects for work to be published during the period of research, and this is the model often seen in art and design. Publication may generate critical peer appraisal and may offer opportunities, such as access to facilities. However, it is important to note that work published during the period of study can only be work in progress, and this should be stated clearly within the publication. The primary submission of research is as a thesis or other form required for examination for the award of the degree and nothing published before this should compromise the need for this final submission to be original. Students should be aware that others may benefit from their work before they can deliver their thesis; this places even more responsibility on researchers to be familiar with publications in their field of study. Consult with and receive approval from supervisors and Heads of Department before embarking on the public presentation of work. If there are conflicting views on the suitability of a particular forum or publication, it may also be necessary to consult with the Director of Research.

There is a tradition in some institutions and cultures for research supervisors to be included, automatically, as co-authors. In some cases this may be to the student’s advantage and that is generally how it is seen by supervisors. Where research students are being invited to contribute to supervisor’s or another collaborator’s work, rather than the work being solely their own, there are usually benefits in the association.

It is the policy of the RCA that co-authors should have contributed significantly to the work to be published, and researchers should be able to determine what the level of significance is. Since your research presented for the award of your degree must be your own, this clearly circumscribes the contribution that supervisors or other can make.

However, where supervisors are not contributing as co-authors, they should certainly be acknowledged. Since the published work arises from your research degree studies, they will have influenced the work in some way through direct or indirect support and advice, critical appraisal, or more specific teaching and guidance, and they may provide editorial input to the publication. It is essential that the role of supervisors is acknowledged, since this helps to reinforce the status of the work as part of on-going research for an academic degree and encourages a wider sphere of influence for each publication.

Publication
Students who are interested in having their thesis published should firstly identify a publisher who publishers within their field. They should then send the publisher a one page outline summarising the content of the proposed book. This should be adapted from the thesis and include a paragraph summarising each chapter and a profile of the intended audience for the book. This proposal should be accompanied by a sample chapter, rewritten in book not thesis form, demonstrating to the publisher the author’s writing style.