Guidelines for Term Papers
Guidelines for term paper examinations in Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs in the Faculty of Arts as of winter semester 2018/19
General information on term papers
All procedural rules for term paper examinations are based on the applicable examination regulations.1 Registration for term papers cannot take place until the requirements specified in the examination regulations have been satisfied, in particular until all required study achievements and any compulsory attendance requirements have been satisfied and recorded in BASIS. Please note the information on examination dates, two-semester modules and module examination components below. Once you have registered for a term paper, you must submit it during the same semester and no later than the end of the semester. Please note the following special information for students enrolled under the 2018 examination regulations: This also applies if you are studying under the 2018 examination regulations and the twelve-week period to which you are entitled for completion has not yet ended. The deadline for submission is September 30 for the summer semester and March 31 for the winter semester. The corresponding registration deadlines end two weeks before these dates, as the 2018 examination regulations require a minimum two-week period for completing term papers. Registration is possible starting May 1 in the summer semester and November 1 in the winter semester, as soon as the achievements and requirements mentioned above have been recorded. Please see the current faculty study calendar on the Examination Office Dates and Deadlines web page for further details. Also please consult the FAQ for the applicable examination procedures.
Late submission will result in an unsuccessful attempt being recorded. Requests for deadline extensions due to illness must be submitted to the Examination Office in timely fashion before the deadline. Please note the information on late submission or failure to submit registered term papers further down this page.
Late submission will result in an unsuccessful attempt being recorded. Requests for deadline extensions due to illness must be submitted to the Examination Office in timely fashion before the deadline. Please note the information on late submission or failure to submit registered term papers further down this page.
Procedure for term paper examinations
- Registration for a term paper takes place in the semester it is submitted. Please ensure that you first talk with your examiner about your plan to write a term paper with him or her in a topic area of the module before registering. You cannot withdraw after registration. Failure to submit will lead to an unsuccessful attempt being recorded. Please be sure to carefully check the registration periods for term paper examinations in the current semester, which are available on the Dates and Deadlines page.
- Immediately after registration, print the Term Paper Examination Form provided in BASIS for topic specification and grading and take the form to your examiner without delay for final approval of your topic or send the form to your examiner by email if the course took place online. Please note that you can only download the form during the registration period, not afterwards. Your examiner/supervisor will enter the topic and submission deadline. Term paper topics should be specified by mutual agreement between student and examiner. In principle, however, students do not have the right to choose a specific topic, i.e. the examiner specifies the topic. Note: the topic agreement must be signed no later than the deadline for term paper registration, namely two weeks before the end of the semester.
- After completing the paper, attach the term paper form and submit both in printed form to the examiner (not (!) the Examination Office) within the deadline. Late submission will result in an unsuccessful attempt being recorded. Deadline extensions are only possible in justified exceptional cases. Requests for extensions must be submitted to the Examination Office together with supporting documentation (see “Submission deadline” further down this page).
- Your examiner will review the paper and note the grade on the form. The grade will then be recorded during the applicable grading period in the institute concerned. You can then view the recorded grades in your transcript in BASIS.
- Ask your examiner/supervisor to provide feedback on your paper and the reasons for the grade.
- Once the grade has been recorded, the institute will forward the paper to the Examination Office together with the Term Paper Examination Form for archiving.
Note: topic specification by the student and examiners, which normally takes place in person, can currently be performed electronically in summer semester 2022 as in the previous coronavirus semesters, if the module courses for which the term paper has to be written as a module examination are still being held fully or partially online or in hybrid form. The topic specified in the examiners’ email is binding. Please also generate the registration form immediately after registering the term paper in such cases. The form can no longer be generated after the registration period. The term paper must be submitted to the examiners electronically (text file or PDF, incl. signed Declaration of Academic Integrity) together with the topic email and the registration form generated in BASIS and completed by the student. The candidate must also mail a printout of the term paper, the completed registration form and signed Declaration of Academic Integrity to the examiners.
Electronic registration in BASIS and printing the form
First talk with your chosen examiner/supervisor about your plan to write a term paper with him or her. Then register the term paper in BASIS and prepare the topic agreement as follows: Select "Prüfungen anmelden" (Register examinations) in BASIS, choose the appropriate module examination in the module tree and register for it electronically. After this, download the "Term Paper Examination Form" as a PDF file and follow the procedure described above to have your examiner record the topic, the date the topic was assigned and the submission deadline (or proceed as described in the paragraph following "Note"). The date of registration in BASIS and the date your topic agreement is reached with your examiner should be as close to each other as possible. Note: this must be completed no later than two weeks before the end of the semester.
Please refer to the current faculty study calendar or the Dean’s Office web page for registration deadlines. Please note that the registration deadlines for term papers are different from the deadlines for registering written and oral examinations.
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1. The Examination Office of the Faculty of Arts currently administers the examination procedures for the consecutive degree programs for the following faculty examination regulations:
Examination Regulations for the bachelor’s degree programs of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Bonn dated August 5, 2013, as amended by current amending regulations (hereinafter referred to as BPO 2013)
Examination Regulations for the master’s degree programs of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Bonn dated June 18, 2013, as amended by current amending regulations (hereinafter referred to as MPO 2013)
Examination Regulations for the bachelor’s degree programs (Bachelor of Arts) and consecutive master’s degree programs (Master of Arts) of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Bonn dated August 17, 2018, as amended by current amending regulations (hereinafter referred to as BMPO 2018)
Examination Regulations for the bachelor’s degree program in Psychology and consecutive master’s degree program in Psychology of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Bonn dated August 17, 2018, as amended by current amending regulations (hereinafter referred to as Psychology BMPO 2018)
Examination Regulations for the bachelor’s degree program in Psychology and consecutive master’s degree program in Psychology of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Bonn dated August 28, 2020, as amended by current amending regulations (hereinafter referred to as Psychology BMPO 2020)
Examination Regulations for the consecutive master’s degree programs in Dependency and Slavery Studies and Slavery Studies of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Bonn dated August 28, 2020, as amended by current amending regulations
Steps for preparing and printing the Term Paper Examination Form:
1. Select “Info über angemeldete Prüfungen” (Information about registered examinations) from the “Funktionen” (Functions) menu:
Note: the registered examination is not shown until the “Info” button next to the corresponding academic discipline is clicked (not the button next to the degree!). A list of registered examinations is then shown, followed by two links. The second link is for the Term Paper Examination Form.
2. Print the Term Paper Examination Form
Clicking the associated button creates a PDF document that already contains the basic data for each term paper. If you have registered for more than one term paper, a document containing all of the term papers registered for this academic discipline is created.
Term paper FAQ
We have collected a number of questions that are frequently asked about term papers. Please contact us if you have any other questions.
When should a term paper be written?
As explained above, registration for a term paper is possible once all applicable requirements have been satisfied and recorded.
In the interests of your learning and study success, we recommend that you always write term papers in the semester in which you complete the last of the required prerequisites (study achievements, any compulsory attendance requirements).
Although term paper examinations generally have topics related to a course you attended, unlike other forms of examinations, such as seminar talks, they are not completed as part of the course itself. In theory, therefore, you could also register for a term paper at a later time. Please note, however, that if you register for a term paper later than during the semester in which you completed the last required prerequisite, you are not entitled to have an instructor from a course you previously attended as your examiner. If available, he or she can be assigned to you by the department. You are also not entitled to attend further courses in the module or to any related changes to your transcript of records. Experience has shown that when students postpone term papers, it is a sign of various problems they are having with their studies.
If you would like to postpone a term paper, we therefore urgently ask that you discuss your planned study schedule with your degree program manager to avoid potential problems that might arise as a result.
Term papers for two-semester modules and module examination components
For two-semester modules, it must be noted that registration as described above is not possible until all of the requirements specified in the examination regulations (study achievements, any compulsory attendance requirements) have been satisfied. This could mean that a topic agreement cannot be reached with an examiner from a course in the first semester of the module until the end of the second semester of the module.
In the case of module examination components, on the other hand, registration for a required term paper is possible when the requirements for the examination component have been satisfied. You do not have to wait until all of the prerequisites specified for the module have been satisfied.
Length and formal requirements
According to the examination regulations, term papers must be 20,000 to 40,000 characters long (10 to 20 DIN A4 pages) for a bachelor’s degree program and 30,000 to 50,000 characters long (15 to 25 DIN A4 pages) for a master’s degree program. Deviations from this rule could lead to grade reductions. Your institute or examiner will inform you of the formal requirements for the paper (cover page, formatting, citations).
Submission deadline
Term papers must be submitted no later than March 31 in the winter semester and no later than September 30 in the summer semester. Note: If you are studying under the 2018 examination regulations, you have a maximum of twelve weeks for completion after the topic is assigned, which means your submission deadline could be earlier! Requests for deadline extensions must be submitted to the Examination Office and are only possible in special cases. See the section below.
Late submission or failure to submit registered term papers
It is generally not possible to withdraw from a term paper once it has been registered as a form of examination in BASIS. This is because, from a legal point of view, work has already started on the examination and it must be completed during the current semester.
Term papers that are submitted late are therefore considered unsuccessful attempts.
Deadline extensions can only be granted for valid reasons, in particular if you were prevented from submitting the term paper by the deadline due to illness or due to reasons beyond your control. The reasons provided must be credibly substantiated in writing and submitted to the Examination Office without delay. In case of illness, you must present a medical certificate proving you were unable to participate in the examination due to illness. Requests for deadline extensions must be submitted to the Examination Office in writing or using the contact form, along with the original or a copy or scan of the Term Paper Examination Form.
Grading periods
According to current examination regulations, a four-week grading period applies to all bachelor’s degree programs. According to current examination regulations, a six-week grading period applies to all master’s degree programs.
Grading
The department or institute assigns the grades by recording them in BASIS. You can check whether your grades have been assigned during the applicable grading period by viewing your transcript in BASIS.
Feedback and access to records
Ensure that your examiner gives you the opportunity to receive feedback on the reasons for your grade. Since term papers are sent to the Examination Office for filing after they have been graded, access to the records can naturally also be arranged with the Examination Office after this has occurred. However, you can only learn the reasons for the grade from the department.
Regardless of whether access to the records will take place in the department/institute or Examination Office, please follow the procedure described in the FAQ to submit a request.
Failing grades and repetitions
If you fail a term paper, please contact your examiner/supervisor for feedback and your degree program manager to discuss the further steps you should take.
The following rules apply: the examination can be repeated at the earliest in the following semester. Another attempt is only possible if the maximum number of permissible repetitions has not yet been reached (according to the applicable examination regulations, three attempts are permitted for term papers; due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, provisions were made for additional free attempts in the semesters from summer semester 2020 up to and including summer semester 2021 (see the FAQ)). Otherwise, the module examination is considered definitively failed. Students lose their right to examination as a result and are deregistered from the degree program by the Student Registry once the examination board’s decision that the final attempt has been failed has come into force. Repeat attempts must also be registered in BASIS. There are generally two possibilities for repetitions:
You only repeat the examination. After discussion with the degree program manager and an examiner for the module concerned, you prepare a new paper on a different topic. This is made binding with a new topic agreement and electronic registration following the procedure described above.
You attend a new course in the module concerned so you can attempt another examination later with the instructor of that course. In this case, after submitting a written request to the Examination Office (no form required), the previous course, including any related study achievements, will be deleted. The module number, number of the course to be deleted and of the failed examination must be provided for this purpose.
Please remember to always have the procedure approved by your degree program manager and your (previous or, if applicable, new) examiner.
Objections
If you file an objection against the assigned grade, you have the formal right to access the records for the term paper in the Examination Office. To exercise this right, please arrange a date with the Examination Office for accessing the records. To arrange access to the records you must first submit a request using a form available in the Examination Office download area. Please submit the completed and signed form using the Examination Office contact form. Also see the question about accessing records in the FAQ. The objection must be sent in writing to the examination board, to the attention of the head of the examination board office (Examination Office). The decision on the objection is made by the examination board.
Help with problems and questions
If you have difficulties registering a term paper in BASIS, please first check whether you have actually already satisfied all of the requirements specified in the examination regulations for registering the term paper. This includes admission to the bachelor’s or master’s examination procedure and, if necessary, specifying a profile, specialization, academic discipline, range of complementary modules or first language, if such a choice is mandatory for your degree program. You can then contact BASIS support. Your examiner is generally the best person to ask if you have questions about content or formalities. If you have general difficulties with concept development and the writing process, please contact your degree program manager. The University of Bonn Writing Lab might also be able to help you. Your degree program manager can help with difficulties with the examination procedure that you are unable to clarify with your examiner. The Examination Office will be involved in special cases.
Contact
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