What is a Thesis Proposal?

1. What is a Thesis Proposal? A thesis proposal is a document that describes in detail the research project that will become your thesis

2. Why Write a Thesis Proposal? • Clarify exactly what the thesis work will comprise • Establish a baseline of expertise necessary for successful completion of the project • Show whether a student is capable of performing the work needed to complete a thesis • A) writing skills • B) organization • C) motivation

3. Organization of Thesis Proposal • Title Page • Abstract • Introduction & Statement of Research Problem • Background • Methods • Expected Results • Significance of Research Findings • Publishability • References Cited

4. TITLE PAGE Format Example Proposal Title Your name Address or email Thesis Proposal for the Degree of Master of Science Earth & Environmental Sciences Dept. Brooklyn College Date Thesis Adviser: ____________________________ Committee Member: ________________________ Committee Member: ________________________ Graduate Deputy: __________________________

5. Abstract Example Format Abstract from Harry Maisch’s Thesis Proposal • A short (300 word maximum), outline of the proposed research. • It should include statements on: 1. the problems or hypotheses • to be resolved; • research methods; • expected results; • significance of the research; • how the proposed research fits into the historical development of work on this subject.

6. Introduction Example The Introduction is a statements of the research problem addressed by your thesis. It is a full and detailed description of the research questions, problems and/or hypotheses you intend to resolve with this research project. First Page of the Introduction from Harry Maisch’s Thesis Proposal The target length for a proposal Introduction is 2 pages

7. Background Example • General treatment of the research topic, and its historical development. • You should be careful to include: • A full exposition of previous work on this subject • How this material relates to the research you propose. • It must be clear that: • 1. You have the necessary command of the literature relevant to your work; 2. You understand your role in advancing knowledge in your field; • 3. You know how your work fits into the broad picture of research on such subjects. First Page of the Background from Harry Maisch’s Thesis Proposal Geologic Background During the middle Eocene, sea level transgression inundated large portions of the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains of the United States (e.g., Enright, 1969; Gallagher et al., 1996; Browning et al., 1997; Miller et al., 1997a,b; Lear et al., 2004; Sugarman and Stanford, 2006; Miller et al., 2011). Climate alteration at the Eocene–Oligocene boundary documents a global shift from an ice-free, greenhouse Earth to an icehouse Earth with a large Antarctic continental ice sheet (e.g., Browning et al., 1997; Liu et al., 2009; Miller et al., 2009). Global sea level regression that began in the late Eocene and continued into the early Oligocene has been linked to the formation of this ice sheet (e.g., Olsson, 1978; Browning, et al., 1997; Lear et al., 2004; Liu et al., 2009; Miller et al., 1997b; 2009). Subsequent, less significant climatic fluctuations that occurred throughout the Oligocene have been linked to fluctuations in ice sheet mass. During the Oligocene, ice sheet mass has been estimated to have varied between 50 and 100% of its original Eocene–Oligocene extent (e.g., Haq et al., 1987; Miller et al, 1997; Lear et al., 2004; Miller et al., 2011). The target length for proposal Background is 2-4 pages

8. Methods Example • The Methods section contains a full exposition of the research methods you intend to use in your work, and why these methods are appropriate. • This should include: • Field work • Laboratory methods • Analytic techniques (including software) • Statistical testing • Resources and instrumentation available to you must be given and its role in your research fully described. • Work planned for lab facilities outside CUNY should also be discussed. First Page of the Methods from Harry Maisch’s Thesis Proposal Collecting Techniques: Chondrichthyan fossils were collected in the field through sieving the lag deposit between the Shark River and Kirkwood Formations. Gravel deposits directly downstream from the lag were also sieved. Lag sediments containing chondrichthyan fossils were sieved through 5 mm and 1 cm grade mesh. Bulk sampling resulted in the recovery of only a few microteeth (teeth less than 5 mm) with poor taxonomic certainty. The chondrichthyan assemblage utilized for this thesis project consists of over 1000 teeth recovered from stream gravel and lag sediment over a period of nine years. Additionally, chondrichthyan coprolites, osteichthyan teeth, isolated marine and terrestrial mammal bones and teeth, occasional turtle bones and mollusc steinkerns were recovered from the lag sediment. Lab Techniques: Specimens were cleaned with a soft-bristle brush and water to remove any remaining sand and clay. Specimens partially enclosed in matrix were slightly excavated using dental picks, cleaned, air-dried, and coated with diluted water-soluble glue to stabilize the greensand matrix. Matrix specimens were imaged with a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W230 digital camera. An Olympus SZ61 binocular microscope attached to an Infinity 2 Digital Camera was utilized to analyze small specimens and to image specimens for publication purposes. To obtain more detailed images of distinct features seen on certain specimens, these specimens were coated with gold using a Denton Vacuum sputter coater and imaged with an Evex Mini SEM SX-3000 operating in the range of 20kv. The above equipment has been made available for use at William Paterson The target length for Methods is 2-3 pages

9. Expected Results Example First Page of the Results from Harry Maisch’s Thesis Proposal You must describe the kind of information you will acquire in this study, and how it will be useful in resolving the issues that are the focus of your research. It is strongly recommended that you have some preliminary findings already in hand, and include these in your discussion. This will be an important means of demonstrating the viability of your research project, and of your ability to achieve your research goals. This thesis will utilize an assemblage of over 1000 chondrichthyan teeth and associated fossil remains from the Farmingdale locality along Mingamahone Brook collected from 50 field days within the past nine years. Additional collecting trips have been planned for the upcoming field season in order to recover additional chondrichthyan remains. Detailed facies and taphonomic analyses will be vital in reconstructing the conditions under which the Farmingdale assemblage was deposited. Coupling data on the chondrichthyan assemblage with taphonomic interpretations and eustatic records will allow for more precise age determination. The ability to distinguish between distinctly Eocene and distinctly Miocene teeth shows the utility of chondrichthyan teeth as stratigraphic markers and their use in correlating between widely separated regions. With the completion of this project, it is expected that this previously unreported locality, its chondrichthyan assemblage, and the taphonomy of the assemblage will be thoroughly discussed. Due to the middle Eocene and early Miocene age of the formations exposed, lack of Oligocene outcrops, and data from onshore and offshore boreholes, only Eocene and Miocene chondrichthyans are expected to be recovered. Due to the global sea level regression that occurred during the late Eocene, throughout the Oligocene and into the earliest Miocene, no distinctly Oligocene marine fossils, such as Carcharocles angustidens (Agassiz, 1843), are expected to be recovered from this locality (Miller et al., 1997a,b; 2011). This regression would have exposed the underlying Eocene sediment to the atmosphere; beginning the cycle of erosion that continued into the early Miocene prior to sea-level transgression. A more diverse Miocene-aged chondrichthyan fauna with an abundance of Carcharhiniform teeth is expected to be recovered from this locality. Additionally, it is expected that Lamniform teeth will be more abundant in the older sediment. In comparison to Cretaceous chondrichthyan assemblages in the state of New Jersey alone, a faunal turnover in the dominant chondrichthyan orders can be documented and reflects that seen in the modern oceans. The target length for Results is 2-3 pages

10. Significance of Research Findings Example • Discussion and interpretation of your findings, both expected and preliminary. • You will want to show: • Your research addresses the issues that you plan to resolve, • Your methods are effective and form an adequate basis for the work you propose to do. • You must also in your proposal explain • why your work, if successful, would be of • interest to the scientific community, and • how it provides new and significant • insight on questions of scientific • importance. First Page of the Significance section from Harry Maisch’s Thesis Proposal Significance of Research Findings: This project proposes a unique opportunity to document a previously unreported locality and systematically describe the middle Eocene and early Miocene chondrichthyans present in New Jersey. The documentation of this assemblage and its comparison to other middle Eocene and early Miocene assemblages will enhance the known distribution of Paleogene and Neogene chondrichthyans and can aide in analyzing the evolutionary relationships of chondrichthyans post K-Pg mass extinction and during the great Cenozoic radiation of fishes. The Farmingdale assemblage also documents a shift in chondrichthyans from Lamniforms to Carcharhiniforms as the dominant shark order present in the modern oceans. An analysis of the taphonomic conditions under which this lag was formed in addition to the depositional environments of the confining units will enable the reconstruction of the paleoenvironment of southeastern Monmouth County during the middle Eocene and early Miocene. These interpretations are valuable in determining local sea level fluctuations associated with the Eocene–Oligocene, Greenhouse to Icehouse climate shift. Additionally, this project shows the potential for utilizing chondrichthyan teeth in chronostratigraphic interpretation and their importance in regional and global stratigraphic correlation The target length for Significance is 1-2 pages

11. Publishability Example Publishability section from Harry Maisch’s Thesis Proposal The EES Department expects MS thesis work to be published in an appropriate scientific printed or electronic medium, e.g., journal or symposium volume. Thus, you must identify at least one target journal or volume to which your work would be submitted, and explain why these sources are suitable outlets for your work. Finally, you will also need to show that your research project is different from the dissertation projects of other students who are currently working with or have worked with your advisor in the past. The proposed thesis project holds enormous promise for multiple publications and research presentations in high profile, peer-reviewed journals and internationally recognized societies. Currently, only a few reports exist on Eocene and Miocene chondrichthyans from the New Jersey Coastal Plain. The Farmingdale assemblage represents the northern-most, autochthonous occurrence of Eocene and Miocene chondrichthyans in North America and provides an important link to other contemporaneous assemblages across the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains as well as globally. This chondrichthyan assemblage occurs during the great Cenozoic radiation of fishes and documents the transition between lamniforms and carchariniforms as the dominant shark order seen in today’s oceans. The formal documentation of the Farmingdale locality and chondrichthyan assemblage will provide new insights into the distribution and paleoecology of middle Eocene and early Miocene chondrichthyans in North America and elsewhere globally. The continued documentation of chondrichthyan assemblages is imperative in order to further understand evolutionary relationships in chondrichthyans post K–Pg mass extinction, during the great Cenozoic radiation of fishes and in the modern oceans. The initial results of this thesis proposal have been submitted to the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Los Angeles, California and will be presented this October. After the completion of this research project, I intend to publish this material in either the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology or the Journal of Paleontology. I have narrowed the target journals down to these two peer-reviewed journals due to their high standards, global reach, intended audience, and prior publications similar to the project described here. The target length for Publishability is 1-2 pages

12. References Cited Example This is a list of publications cited in the proposal text. The format which your proposal bibliography must follow is that used by the journal, Geology, published by the Geological Society of America. Details of this journal’s bibliographic format can be obtained at the journal’s website: http://www.geosociety.org/pubs/geoguid5.htm Make sure your References Cited section adheres to this format exactly. First page of References Cited section from Harry Maisch’s Thesis Proposal Agassiz, L. 1833–1844. Recherchessur les Poissons Fossils. Volumes 1–5. Imprimerie de Neuchâtel and Soleure, 1,420 p. Ameghino, F. 1906. Les formations sédimentaires du Crétacé supérierur et du Tertiare de Patagonie avec un paralléle entre leurs faunes mammalogigues et celles de l’ancien continent. Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires. 8:1-568. Applegate, S. 1965. Tooth Terminology and Variation in Sharks with Special Reference to the Sand Shark, Carcharias taurus Rafinesque. Contributions in Science, Los Angeles County Museum, 86:1-18. Becker, M., Mallery, C., and Chamberlain, J., 2010, Osteichthyans from the Arkadelphia Formation (Late Maastrichtian) of Hot Spring County, Arkansas, USA, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Vol. 30, pp. 1019-1036. Becker, M., Chamberlain, J., and Wolf, G. 2006, Chondrichthyans from the Arkadelphia Formation (Upper Cretaceous: late Maastrichtian) of Hot Spring County, Arkansas, Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 80, No. 4, pp. 700-716. Becker, M., Earley R., and Chamberlain, J., 2002, A Survey of Non- Tooth Chondrichthyan Hard-Parts from the Lower Navesink Formation (Maastrichtian) in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Northeastern Geology and Environmental Science, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 282-292. Becker, M., Meier, J., and Slattery, W.,1999, Spiral Coprolites from the Upper Cretaceous Wenonah-Mt. Laurel and Navesink Formations in the Northern Coastal Plain of New Jersey, Northeastern Geology and Environmental Science, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 181-187 No target length for References Cited. Use as many pages as necessary

13. Proposal Page Targets Pages Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4 Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3 Expected Results . . . . . . . . 2-3 Significance . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2 Publishability . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2 References *. . . . . . . . . . . . --- (whatever is necessary) TOTAL 12-18 pages + references * it’s the number of references rather than number of pages that is the key. Normally, proposals will need a large number of references (25-50) to demonstrate that you have a working knowledge of your subject.

14. OTHER ISSUES: 1. LANGUAGE 1. Define Terms: You are writing for a broad professional audience many of whom may not be conversant with terminology and methods you use in your proposal. It is therefore imperative that you define any terms, units of measurement, or methodology that are unique to your research area at the first appearance of such items in the text of your proposal. If you are not sure whether a particular item is unique, err on the side of caution, and define it. 2. Language Skills: Thesis proposals must be written in flawless English, so you must give close attention to phraseology, syntax, and the elements of English usage. A. Be sure you carefully proof-read the document before presenting it to your advisor or Thesis Committee. B. If English is not your native language, it would be a good idea to have an accomplished English speaker read over your proposal before preparing the final draft. Poorly written proposals will be rejected out of hand.

15. OTHER ISSUES: 2. FIGURES Examples You should make liberal use of illustrations (photographs, graphs, maps, sketches, etc.). Illustrations must be referred to in the text of the proposal (e.g., “(see Figure 1)"; “Figure 1 shows that”), and must be numbered sequentially in the order in which they appear in the text. Each figure must have an explanatory figure caption associated with it. If you use tables, they also must be numbered, contain an explanatory caption, and be referred to in the text.

16. OTHER ISSUES: 3. STYLE REQUIREMENTS Thesis proposals must be submitted in digital format with all figures and tables incorporated into the text. Proposals must adhere to the following format, which closely follows that of the journal Geology: • Use a common font (e.g., Times New Roman) • Font size of 11pt or 12pt only • Double space text. However, figure captions and table explanations should be single spaced • Pages must have top and side margins of 1 inch to 1.25 inches only • Pages must be numbered sequentially from the title page • Indent the first line of each new paragraph; do not separate paragraphs by a blank line • Major headings should be centered; capitalized; and separated from the text above by a blank line. Subsequent text should follow on the next line. • Secondary headings should be left justified, underlined, and followed by a colon. Text should start on the same line as the heading.

17. OTHER ISSUES: 4. PLAGIARISM You should be careful to give full credit to the work and ideas of others that you use in your dissertation proposal by citing this work in the text of the proposal (e.g., “(Jones, 2005)”; “Jones (2005) shows that”). Full references for all publications thus cited, must be included in the bibliography section of the proposal. The EESC Department will not tolerate plagiarism. To see the Brooklyn College statement on what constitutes plagiarism, and on the penalties incurred when plagiarism is judged to have occurred, click on the following BC website: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/pub/pdf/academicintegritypolicy.pdf. It is important that you know that neither the College nor the Department will accept a student’s unawareness of what constitutes plagiarism as an excuse or justification for the occurrence of plagiarism in a thesis proposal. It is your responsibility to know what plagiarism is, or to learn what it is if you don’t know.