This page provides information on the rules and regulations that all students must adhere to when submitting academic papers in the Department of English. Academic papers combine students’ own ideas and findings with those they have learned about in classes and from reading puplications on a paraticular topic. They are a vital component of academic studies, from the first proseminar paper to the BA and MA theses at the completion of a study programme.
All academic papers must have a title page including the student’s name, paper title, date of submission, course instructor, and title of course on a title page. Use 1.5 space throughout, with a 2.5 cm margin all around, in 12-point Times New Roman font or similar.
All academic papers in the Department of English must follow the stylistic guidelines laid out in the Chicago Manual of Style. Detailed information on Chicago author-date reference style is available on the website The Chicago Manual of Style Online. For quick information on how to cite sources correctly, go to the Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide. Make sure to click on “author-date” (we do not use the “notes and bibliography” style in our department)
The Department of English has a firm policy on plagiarism. Plagiarism consists of intentionally misrepresenting someone else’s work, words, or insights as your own and counts as a serious offense in the academic community. Most dictionaries define plagiarism quite briefly as “intellectual theft”. As such, it is contrary to all principles of academic integrity and cannot be tolerated.
All students are obliged to familiarize themselves with the contents of our Anti-Plagiarism Declaration. All academic papers submitted in the department must be accompanied by a signed Anti-Plagiarism Declaration.
The AAU writing center provides professional support for academic and scientific writing processes. It offers individual consultations and courses on academic writing in English. Writing tutors will assist you with finding a topic, a research question, a thesis statement, or an appropriate structure for your texts (essay, response paper, proseminar paper or seminar paper, BA or MA thesis, dissertation, research paper,…), and they also facilitate text revision as well as the integration of feedback. For further information please contact info.schreibcenter [at] aau.at
