Guidelines for the Final Examination

1.1. Nature of the Final Examination

The final examination for the attainment of the Master’s Degree LM-2 R consists in the preparation and public discussion of a dissertation produced in an original manner by the student, under the supervision of a supervisor, on a topic relevant to the field of archaeology and consistent with the educational objectives of the Master’s Degree Programme.

The dissertation must demonstrate:

• an in-depth knowledge of the topic addressed;
• the ability to process, analyse and interpret data with methodological correctness of the Study Plan’s disciplines;
• the conscious adoption of the theoretical and methodological tools specific to the archaeological discipline;
• mastery of appropriate technical-scientific language, precise and consistent with the specialist terminology of the field.

The final examination therefore takes the form of a scientific research work, in which the candidate is required to demonstrate not only advanced subject-related competences, but also critical autonomy, methodological rigour, and the ability to organise and communicate results.

The dissertation is prepared in written form and may be supplemented by graphic, photographic, digital, audiovisual, multimedia or other documentation, functional to the full understanding and enhancement of the research contents.

The study plan provides for three options for the final examination:

A) Final examination;

B) Final examination with Preparation for the Final Examination Abroad (subject to assignment or eligibility for funding for theses abroad, according to the procedures indicated on the Master’s Degree Programme website);

C) Final examination with Internship abroad and Preparation for the final examination abroad (see point B).

1.2. Choice of Topic, Supervisor and Co-supervisor(s)

As a rule, the dissertation is requested within a course included in the study plan; however, it is possible to undertake the final examination within a course not included in the plan, provided that it is consistent with the specific educational objectives of the Master’s Degree Programme, subject to the submission of a specific application.

Within the chosen course, the dissertation may be carried out on the basis of:

• a project agreed with the supervisor and co-supervisor(s);
• laboratory or excavation activities carried out in connection with the course;
• experiences gained through a curricular internship, selected in the study plan in the first year or by choosing option C of the final examination in the second year (see 1.1).

The supervisor normally coincides with the academic coordinator of the course’s scientific discipline. In agreement with the supervisor, at least one co-supervisor is identified, who collaborates in the development and final assessment of the dissertation. The role of co-supervisor may be assigned to:

• a Professor of the Master’s Degree Programme;
• a Professor of another correlated Degree Programme;
• an external scholar with recognised expertise in the thematic area of the research.

Depending on the nature and complexity of the research, more than one co-supervisor may be appointed.

1.3. Examination Committee and Admission to the Final Examination

The final examination is public and is assessed by a specific Examination Committee, appointed by the Master’s Degree Programme Council, normally taking into account the indicated co-supervisors. External members to the Department may also be appointed to the Committee, if they have been assigned the role of co-supervisor.

Members of the Committee are required to attend the sessions for which they are appointed and to ensure continuous presence.

For admission to the defence, the student must have acquired all the ECTS credits required, with the exception of those related to the final examination.

1.4. Dissertation Defence

The oral presentation of the thesis must last 10 minutes and must be supported by a presentation (ppt/pptx/pdf format).

It is recommended to:

• highlight original results;
• avoid excessively descriptive sections;
• ensure the quality of the slides.

1.5. Final Assessment

The final grade is awarded by the Committee on the basis of the final examination, which consists in the discussion of the dissertation, also taking into account the overall academic career of the student. The final grade is expressed out of one hundred and ten (110). The examination is passed with a minimum mark of 66/110.

The final examination may be awarded a score according to the following scale:

The 4 points (Excellent) may be awarded only in the presence of at least two of the following merit criteria:

• degree completed within the prescribed time;
• at least 3 distinctions (lodi);
• dissertation of good methodological and formal quality;
• high-quality discussion.

Any distinction (lode) in the final grade is proposed by the co-supervisor and awarded unanimously by the Committee.

1.6. Rules of Conduct During Graduation Sessions

Graduating students and their guests are required to comply with the following rules of conduct during graduation sessions:

• filming during the defence is forbidden;
• celebrations must take place exclusively outside University buildings, ensuring sober and appropriate behaviour and avoiding any excess;
• it is strictly forbidden to dirty indoor and outdoor University buildings with food, drinks, confetti or similar materials;
• it is strictly forbidden to display posters, signs etc. inside or outside the building.

2.1. Aims of the Dissertation

The dissertation represents the concluding moment of the two-year Master’s Programme and must demonstrate:

• clarity of exposition: it is essential that the candidate’s arguments are expressed through sentences with a linear structure, without redundancies and articulated, where possible, into relatively short periods; grammar and syntax must be correct. The linguistic style must be appropriate to academic and scientific argumentation;
• completeness: it is necessary that all information useful for understanding the candidate’s line of reasoning is presented accurately;
• theoretical soundness and scientific rigour: it is essential that the topic under discussion is developed through solid bibliographic research;
• mastery of the methodological tools specific to the discipline, capacity for critical analysis and research autonomy: the dissertation must explicitly set out the adopted methodological framework and describe the research tools and techniques used. The results are discussed autonomously in relation to the reference literature and should, where possible, contribute elements of new conceptual and/or applicative understanding. The dissertation must always be placed, including critically, within a reference theoretical framework based on scientific literature that is as up to date as possible.

2.2. Structure of the Dissertation

Dissertations do not follow rigid categories, but must be conceived as a work that integrates, in variable and mutually coherent forms, multiple dimensions. In particular, the dissertation may combine elements of compilative and/or experimental research with activities carried out within curricular internships and/or with study or research experiences conducted abroad (see 1.1), providing a unified enhancement of the theoretical, methodological and practical competences acquired by the student during their educational path.

Indicatively, the dissertation is structured according to an organic and scientifically coherent framework, suitable for presenting clearly the theoretical approach, the methods of data collection and analysis, as well as the interpretation of the results.

The dissertation normally consists of the following parts:

Title page, which must include:

• the name of the University and of the Degree Programme;
• the full title of the dissertation;
• the name of the supervisor;
• the name of any co-supervisor;
• the name of the graduating student;
• the academic year and the graduation session.

The template of the title page is available on the Master’s Degree Programme website:

https://corsi.unibo.it/magistrale/archeologia/prova-finale-modalita-e-scadenze-disci

Table of contents, which must list in a complete and orderly manner:

• chapters;
• sections;

with the indication of the corresponding page numbers, so as to make the logical and thematic structure of the dissertation immediately recognisable, including any sections dedicated to catalogues, plates, graphic apparatuses and appendices.

Introduction, which provides the reader with the interpretative key to the entire work and presents in a concise form:

• the research topic and its positioning within the panorama of archaeological studies;
• the scientific objectives of the final examination;
• the initial hypotheses and the main research questions;
• the reference context (geographical, cultural, chronological, etc.);
• the adopted theoretical and methodological framework;
• the methods of data acquisition (excavation, survey, study of stored materials, archives, museum collections, databases, etc.);
• any difficulties encountered during the research;
• the structure of the dissertation, with a brief presentation of the contents of each chapter.

Main body, which constitutes the scientific core of the dissertation and is organised into chapters, subdivided into numbered sections (and, where appropriate, subsections). It normally includes:

• the historical-archaeological framing of the territorial, settlement or cultural context under study;
• the review of the literature (state of the art), aimed at outlining the development of studies on the topic, the main interpretative approaches and the issues that remain open;
• the description of the investigation methodologies, in their various articulations (stratigraphic excavation, surface survey, geophysical prospection, material analysis, archaeometry, photogrammetry, GIS, remote sensing, exhibition projects, etc.);
• the presentation of the data corpus (finds, structures, contexts, stratigraphic units, complexes, movable materials), organised according to scientifically grounded criteria;
• the analysis;
• the discussion of the results, in which the evidence is critically interpreted in the light of the theoretical framework and through comparison with the literature.

Where provided for, the materials catalogue may constitute an autonomous chapter of the main body or be placed in an appendix, according to what is agreed with the supervisor.

Conclusions, which represent the moment of critical synthesis of the entire research path and must:

• recall the initial objectives and hypotheses;
• summarise the main results obtained;
• highlight the scientific contribution of the thesis within the framework of archaeological studies;
• point out the limits of the investigation;
• indicate prospects for future development of the research (new excavation campaigns, expansion of contexts, analytical approfondissements, comparative studies, etc.).

Bibliography and webography, which systematically collect:

• monographs;
• journal articles;
• conference proceedings;
• excavation reports;
• repertories and catalogues;
• scientifically accredited digital resources.

All references cited in the text must be reported in full, according to a citation style and abbreviation criteria uniformly agreed with the supervisor (see 2.3).

Plates, graphic and photographic apparatuses, which must be:

• numbered progressively and provided with appropriate references in parentheses within the text;
• accompanied by captions;
• provided with an indication of the source;
• placed within the body of the text or collected in a separate section.

Any appendices, which collect supporting materials such as, for example:

• extended catalogues;
• Stratigraphic Unit records;
• analytical tables;
• inventory lists;
• archaeometric data;
• epigraphic or documentary transcriptions;
• GIS outputs and databases.

2.3. References and Bibliography

The references used for the preparation of the dissertation must be of an academic nature and scientifically reliable. It is mandatory to always indicate precisely all references used. Plagiarism constitutes a serious violation of ethical and academic standards and is subject to severe sanctions. Where critical issues are identified, dissertations may be subjected to verification procedures through institutionally designated software.

Reference system

The bibliographic reference system must be agreed with the supervisor prior to the start of the final drafting of the dissertation. Whatever style is adopted, it must be applied in a rigorously uniform manner throughout the entire dissertation, in full compliance with its formal conventions.
In order to enhance the readability of the dissertation, generally characterised by a complex bibliographic apparatus, the adoption of the Author–Date system, widely used in the international scientific tradition, is recommended.

This system makes it possible to limit the use of footnotes and, where appropriate, to refer to sources directly within the body of the text.

Final bibliography

All sources cited in the text must appear exclusively in the final bibliography, which:

• is placed in a separate section at the end of the dissertation (see 2.2);
• is organised in alphabetical order by author;
• provides complete identification data for all works.

In particular, each reference should contain at least the following elements (according to the structure agreed with the supervisor):

• surname and first name of the author(s);
• year of publication;
• title of the work;
• where applicable, the title of the host volume (for essays in collective works) or the title and number of the journal and issue (for articles);
• place of publication;
• page numbers in the case of essays, book chapters, conference proceedings contributions, and journal articles;
• in the case of online resources, web address/DOI and date of consultation.

Webography

Online resources must be:

• scientifically reliable;
• correctly cited;
• accompanied by the full URL and the date of last consultation.

2.4. Format and Style of the Dissertation

The final dissertation must comply with criteria of clarity, uniformity and readability, both in printed and digital versions. In particular:

• the indicative length of the thesis must be at least 40,000 words, unless otherwise agreed with the supervisor. The minimum lenght of the dissertation is not influenced by the choice of the modalities of the Final Examination.
• tables, figures, charts and images must always:
  • have progressive numbering (e.g. Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc.; Pl. 1, Pl. 2, etc.; Tab. 1, Tab. 2, etc.),
  • be provided with an explanatory caption including the indication of the source;
• particular care is required with regard to grammatical and syntactic correctness.

Page layout and typographical choices

It is advisable to adopt graphic solutions aimed at enhancing the readability of the text both on paper and on screen, including:

• internal double-sided layout;
• all pages must be numbered progressively;
• page margins must be set uniformly as follows:
  • top margin: 2.5 cm;
  • bottom margin: 2 cm;
  • side margins of 2 cm with right and left text justification;
• 5 line spacing;
• text must be fully justified;
• the use of italics, bold type and lists must be consistent and functional to the structure of the text;
• the choice of a common linear typeface, 12-point size, in particular:
  • Times New Roman, Arial or Garamond.

2.5. Use of Artificial Intelligence for the Preparation of the Thesis

As indicated by the University Policy, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) may support the study activities of the student community, including the thesis, provided that it is used in compliance with the University guidelines.
For details, see the sections “Generation of structure for papers or theses” and “Drafting of the thesis” (https://www.unibo.it/it/ateneo/statuto-norme-strategie-bilanci/intelligenza-artificiale/Casi-uso-GenAI-comunita-studentesca-valutazione).

3.1. What is AMSLaurea

AMSLaurea (https://amslaurea.unibo.it/) is the institutional repository of the University of Bologna for dissertations, which allows for:

• digital preservation;
• the assignment of a permanent link (URI);
• indexing in the main scientific search engines.

3.2. Upload Procedure

The student:

1. uploads the dissertation on Studenti Online;
2. enters the title, supervisor, co-supervisor(s), abstract and keywords;
3. signs the deposit declaration;
4. chooses whether to:

• publish the thesis;
• not publish it.

The choice made at point 4 is irreversible.

3.3. Publication Options

If the student opts not to publish the thesis, they still have the possibility to publish the metadata.

If the student opts to publish the thesis, they may choose:

• immediate open access;
• access after an embargo period;
• access limited to UniBo users.

The supervisor:

• approves the metadata;
• may make access more restrictive if necessary.

In view of the irreversibility of the choice, the Master’s mDegree Programme recommends publishing the dissertation with an embargo, so that:

• it is correctly deposited;
• it is visible exclusively to the supervisor;
• it is not accessible to the external public.

This option protects:

• sensitive data;
• unpublished materials;
• images of archaeological assets;
• future scientific publications.

The embargo may be extended and may subsequently be transformed into open access. In order to extend the embargo, it is necessary to write to helpdesk.amslaurea@unibo.it before its expiry.

For further instructions on thesis deposit, see here.

Following authorization for publication, you will be required to sign the declaration form, a document through which you give consent to make your thesis publicly available in AMS Laurea. This document can be downloaded from SOL after completing the thesis upload. It is essential to sign it and send it, together with a copy of your ID, to the email address helpdesk.amslaurea@unibo.it. Without this step, the thesis cannot be published.

3.4. Copyright

The student is the exclusive holder of the copyright on their dissertation. The use of third-party materials (images, plates, texts, data) requires prior written authorisation. Here are the guidelines on copyright and the dissertation.