Master of Science in Information Systems - Handbook for essays

COMP696 is a capstone 3-credit research course designed for MSc IS students who select the essay route to complete the program. A graduate student (i.e., student) usually begins COMP696 after completing their foundation, core, and elective courses. The course outcome is an essay that should meet the following criteria:

• Providing a comprehensive critical survey of a selected research topic.
• Applying and synthesizing the competencies acquired during the program of study to identify the research problem of the topic.
• Recommending solutions to the identified research problems.

Step 1. Mini-Proposal

Before enrolling in COMP696, the student should submit a mini-proposal using the format in Appendix A to a prospective supervisor.

The student can select a topic and a supervisor from the suggested graduate research topics. The student may also propose a new research topic not listed in the suggested topics and contact the faculty members listed in the program faculty profiles.

If the student cannot find a supervisor, they should submit the mini-proposal to the graduate program director (i.e., program director). The program director reviews the mini-proposal and distributes it to the faculty.

Note: The mini-proposal (and each of the steps that lead to the completion of the research) is the responsibility of the student; therefore, the onus is on the student to demonstrate that the proposed investigation is worthy of an essay.

Step 2. Registration

Along with evidence that the student has completed all the credits necessary to take COMP696, the student should submit the mini-proposal to the program director before final registration in the course can be approved.

Step 3. Essay

The essay process can be broken down into the following phases.

I. Scoping Phase

The purpose of the scoping phase is to clearly identify and define research questions or issues that have been introduced in the mini-proposal. The student should clearly identify the research problem or issue to be examined. This activity is often the most difficult part for the student, and it is important they work closely with the essay supervisor.

II. Initializing Phase

The student, with the help of the supervisor, should explore the viability of the research and identify the research methodology, resources, and support required to complete the research successfully. The student may also discuss the Ethics Policies, Guidelines, and Permissions and the Student Academic Misconduct Policy with the supervisor.

III. Essay-Writing Phase

The aim of the essay-writing phase is to formally document the methods, findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the student’s research consistent with the program learning outcomes. The student should review the literature on related work as completely as possible. The student may also refer to this article. The student must write an essay by following the APA style or IEEE Style.

Step 4. Essay Submission

The student may follow the submission schedule and then send the draft of the complete essay to the essay supervisor for comments and feedback. The supervisor may request that the student revise the draft until the supervisor determines the draft is ready to be reviewed by an essay review committee.

During this phase, the student should undertake the following steps:

• Produce the final essay.
• Complete the oral defense of essay (if necessary).
• Submit the final essay.
• Identify lessons learned.

Step 5. Optional Oral Defense

Occasionally, the student may be required by the supervisor to defend their essay online orally through an oral defense in any of the following scenarios:

• The committee cannot reach consensus in its assessment of the essay.
• The committee needs to verify the ownership and authorship of essay content.
• The student disagrees with the committee.

The oral defense should be organized by the supervisor. The student should discuss with the supervisor the conduct and procedure to be used during the oral defense.

Some guidelines to consider are as follows:

• During the oral defense, the student will be allowed to refer to the essay and other supporting materials (such as data-gathering instruments) related to their research.
• Essay committee members may ask specific questions to clarify or challenge the findings, conclusions, or recommendations of the essay, or they may ask general questions which relate to any of the program competencies.
• Essay committee members will discuss the results of the oral defense after the student has logged off from the defense.
• The supervisor will advise the defending student of the results. This will normally be a short time after the oral defense has been completed.

Important: Once the essay has been submitted for examination, the student cannot make changes unless requested by the committee.

Step 6. Assessment and Optional Revision

The committee members should produce written assessments of the student and the essay using the Essay Assessment Form (see Appendix D). The supervisor should share their written assessment with the student before submitting it to the program director.

The committee will use these written assessments as the basis for their final examination of the completed essay. The chair of the committee will communicate their decision (Acceptable, Acceptable with Minor Revisions, Acceptable with Major Revisions, or Not Acceptable) to the student.

The student is responsible for revising the essay according to the essay committee’s requested changes to the essay. If the committee requests changes, a copy of the revised essay should be submitted to the supervisor for validation of the revisions before the student submits three final copies of the revised essay. The student will not be recommended for graduation until the essay is validated.

Step 7. Final Submission

A copy of the PDF version of the approved essay and supporting materials must be submitted to the AU program advisors at fst_grad_success@athabascau.ca before the student can be authorized for graduation. The program advisors will send the student instructions on graduation and load the essay to the AU Digital Thesis and Project Room (DTPR).

1. Essay Review Committee

Every student writing an essay will be supervised and assisted by an essay review committee approved by the program director. The role of the essay review committee is to:

• review documents to verify that they meet the program learning outcomes and the minimum academic requirements established by AU.
• assess students’ abilities to demonstrate the required competencies for the essay.

All essay review committees must have the following minimum membership:

• Supervisor
• Reviewer

The program director will become involved only if the supervisor and reviewer disagree.

2. Supervisor

The supervisor is charged with the responsibility of mentoring the student throughout the completion of the essay. The supervisor should be an AU faculty member who is a knowledgeable and experienced authority in the area of the student’s interest. The supervisor is responsible for providing direction and support within reasonable limits in maximizing the possibility that a conscientious and hard-working student will succeed. The supervisor will also be responsible for assembling the essay review committee. The responsibilities of the supervisor are to:

• guide the student to identify research topics and develop their essays.
• help the student ensure that their essay conforms to the guidance in Ethics Policies, Guidelines, and Permissions.
• undertake regular consultations with the student during completion of their essay.
• review and provide comments on all drafts of the essay.
• consult with other committee members.
• assess completion of the competencies as described in the program learning outcomes.
• determine whether an oral defense of the essay is required.
• communicate the success or failure of the essay to the program director.
• circulate copies of the draft essay to the reviewer for review and comments.
• produce a written assessment of the student after the essay has been submitted.

The supervisor may be selected in one of the following ways:

• Faculty members may request that specific graduate students be assigned to them based on mutual research and academic interests.
• Graduate students may request that they be assigned to a specific faculty member.
• The program director may assign students to individual faculty members to ensure that an equitable distribution of work is maintained within the program.

Note that potential supervisors are not obligated to accept an essay mini-proposal that has been submitted to them for consideration. The reasons for refusing to accept a mini-proposal or to take on the role of supervisor are varied; for example, the supervisor may have limited expertise in the area, the mini-proposal may be weak, or the supervisor may be supervising a sufficient number of students.

3. Program Director

The program director will not vote unless there is a dispute between the supervisor and the reviewer. The responsibilities of the program director are to:

• arbitrate all disputes between the supervisor and the reviewer, as required.
• reassign existing or appoint new essay reviewers, as required.
• ensure both the supervisor’s and reviewer’s essay reviews meet or exceed the academic standards established by the university.
• act as the final reviewer of the essay when the supervisor or the reviewer recommends that a student essay be rejected.
• approve all essays as Completed when recommended by the essay supervisor and the reviewer, on behalf of the program faculty.
• authorize students to graduate when all program requirements related to the essay have been satisfied.

4. Reviewer

The supervisor should communicate to the program director the name of the selected reviewer and send them a copy of the essay draft. The reviewer can be inside or outside of SCIS and preferably outside of AU.

The responsibility of the reviewer is to review the essay and provide comments on the draft of the essay produced by the student. Normally, the reviewer must be hold a PhD or equivalent in the IS field.

5. Student

The responsibilities of the student are to:

• review and understand this essay handbook.
• review and understand registration and other requirements that apply to the essay route for completion of the MSc IS program.
• identify a topic, problem, or issue that will meet the program mission as the basis of the essay.
• discuss the topic, problem, or issue with the supervisor.
• complete the essay, in accordance with the essay proposal and in accordance with the AU ethics policies and the AU Research Integrity Policy.
• regularly communicate essay progress to the supervisor.
• ensure both the draft and the final essay conform to AU policies and guidelines.

6. Changing Committee Members

A committee member, the student, or the program director may initiate changes in the supervisor or the reviewer at any time. Changes in a committee member may be required for the following reasons:

• The student changes their research direction and requires a supervisor with interests more closely aligned to their research interests.
• The student has irreconcilable academic, intellectual, or personal differences with the supervisor or reviewer.
• The supervisor or the reviewer is unable to reconcile their academic or personal differences with the student, and to continue would jeopardize the student’s chance of success.
• The supervisor is unable to work with the reviewer, or vice versa.
• The supervisor or the reviewer becomes ill or unavailable for a long period of time and therefore is unable to complete their functions successfully.
• The supervisor or the reviewer is unable to effectively perform their duties.
• Other reasons known to the program director necessitate a change.

A change in the supervisor should have minimum impact on the research essay. In all cases, the chair of SCIS or the program director should be made aware of the need for any changes in the essay review committee and will, where necessary, undertake an investigation. If the change is deemed necessary, then the program director will assign new members and reform the committee as required.

1. Essay Quality Standards

The essay should meet or exceed the content, layout, and production standards set by the university and the program. The student should consider the following quality issues when producing the essay.

Content Quality Considerations

• Did the literature review consider all appropriate sources of information?
• Did the student properly address the problems identified in the essay proposal using valid tools or methods?
• Does the final version of the essay adequately describe how the student applied the research methodology and steps described in the original essay proposal?
• Are the data-gathering techniques described or attached to the final version of the essay?
• Does the final version of the essay describe the reliability and validity of all data-gathering techniques?
• Does the final version of the essay demonstrate the proper and effective use of statistical analysis or qualitative analysis tools?
• Are the findings, conclusions, and recommendations in the essay supported by collected evidence and other information described in the literature review?
• Does the essay conform to the research ethics policies of AU?
• Will the essay stand up to rigorous academic scrutiny?

Production Quality Considerations

• Do the essay layout, citations, references, and format conform to the selected APA or IEEE Style?
• Is the essay free of spelling or grammatical errors?

2. Assessment Criteria

The essay and supporting materials will be assessed based on their ability to meet the program mission to provide leadership in:

• assessing the integration of the IS function, IS technologies, and scientific scope of an issue or problem pertaining to sustaining or enhancing IS in the enterprise;
• identifying, evaluating, and comparing, from all perspectives, solutions or goals and alternative strategies; and
• preparing plans for and securing action.

University Assessment Criteria

The essay must be a sustained, creative, independent, and original piece of applied work. AU requires that:

• the essay must be conducted according to sound research and inquiry methods.
• the essay must be open to critical examination and review by peers, scholars, and practitioners in the student’s major field of study.
• the essay must be defensible by the author, in that all claims, observations, or recommendations made must be supported by intellectual and practical constructs.
• underlying empirical evidence and methods used to analyze the problem and develop recommendations should be available for review upon request.
• the essay must demonstrate a thorough understanding of the program learning outcomes.
• the essay must be presented in a manner that is suitable for evaluation and cataloguing.

Supervisor and Reviewer Assessment Criteria

The supervisor and the reviewer will base their assessment of the essay on an examination of four key areas: critical reasoning, communication, knowledge and skills, and perspective. These key areas are outlined in the Essay Assessment Form.

3. Grading

After completing a final review of the essay, the essay review committee members will discuss the results. The majority of the committee members must agree on one of the following grades:

• Acceptable: No modifications are required to the essay. The student will be allowed to submit the essay and apply for graduation.
• Acceptable with Minor Revisions: Some minor modifications are required to the essay. When these modifications have been completed, the supervisor will review the changes with the student. If the changes conform to the direction provided by the essay committee, the student will be allowed to submit the essay and apply for graduation.
• Acceptable with Major Revisions: Major modifications, further justification, or additional research is required before the majority of the essay committee members would consider the essay acceptable. When the essay has been revised, the essay supervisor will review the changes with the student. If the changes conform to the direction provided by the essay committee, then the student will recirculate the essay to all committee members for review. The essay supervisor will discuss the results of the second review with the members. If the majority of committee members consider the revised essay to be acceptable, then the student will be allowed to submit the essay and apply for graduation.
• Not Acceptable/Rejected: If a majority of the essay review committee members reject a student’s essay, the essay plus all essay assessment documents and other supporting materials will be passed to the program director for review. The program director will determine whether the student should withdraw from the program or be given an opportunity to complete a second essay. Students who are required to withdraw from the program will receive a letter from the program director explaining the reason for the decision.

4. Student Appeal Procedures

Students will have an opportunity to appeal their assessment if the essay is deemed to be Not Acceptable/Rejected.

• This appeal should be directed to the chair of the School of Computing and Information Systems (SCIS) for review and consideration.
• Students must submit a Letter of Appeal to the chair of SCIS explaining their reasons for the appeal.
• The letter must be received within 60 days of being informed that their essay was considered Not Acceptable/Rejected.
• Students who submit a Letter of Appeal will receive a formal decision from the chair of SCIS within 30 days of the receipt of their letter.

1. Guidelines for Using Human Subjects in Research

A student whose essay involves human subjects must follow the research ethics policies of AU. These policies may require that the student submit the research proposal to the Research Ethics Board (REB) for review and potential revision. The student should discuss the research ethics policies and the role of the Research Ethics Board with the supervisor from the outset of the research.

2. Confidentiality in Research

Students must adhere to corporate, government, or nonprofit organization confidentiality guidelines. They should become thoroughly cognizant of these guidelines before producing an essay proposal. Potential research that requires students to restrict their investigative or reporting methods should be avoided, per the Publication of Research Policy.

Some organizations may require nondisclosure agreements, which restrict the use and/or dissemination of specific information that may provide outside organizations with an insight into an organization’s competitive advantage or corporate strategies.

Issues of confidentiality and nondisclosure must be thoroughly explored with the research sponsor. Nondisclosure agreements or restrictive practices that curb the ability of the student to complete the essay should be avoided.

Some examples of restrictive practices are as follows:

1. An organization reserves the right to restrict the type of data that is reported in the final version of the essay.
2. An organization limits distribution of the final version of the essay; therefore, other researchers’ ability to use the essay is restricted.
3. An organization does not permit the student to describe productivity data or financial information in the essay.

3. Intellectual Property (IP)

The completion of an essay may result in the creation of new knowledge, processes, or tools. Ownership of such new knowledge, processes, or tools can often be complicated, especially if the outcome of the research has potential commercial applications. In most cases, the owner of the new knowledge, process, or tool is the originator of the idea (e.g., the student).

Some examples of IP are:

• a completed computer program used for training.
• a written report and its supporting data.
• a set of evaluation instruments produced to gather data.
• a database used to collate and analyze data.
• a video recording.

Note: Ideas are not considered intellectual property until they have been recorded in some medium that others can read, review, touch, and/or see.

Ownership of Intellectual Property

The issue of intellectual ownership becomes difficult when the person conducting a research study is either a paid employee or a paid contractor of the firm that the research is being completed for. In these situations, ownership of any intellectual property should be clarified before the research is undertaken.

Clarifying Ownership

The method of clarifying ownership before a study is completed could be as simple as a statement in the Letter of Agreement or as complicated as a legally binding research contract.

Research contracts often stipulate that intellectual property (which could be copyrighted) may be jointly owned, and the agency or company participating in the research effort has the authority to exploit the knowledge, processes, or tools for commercial gain.

AU and Intellectual Property

AU holds no claim on the intellectual property produced as a result of the research but may be willing to assist in the patent process. The university will only approve projects that protect the rights of the student to freely publish and defend the results of the research.

Copyright and the University

Copyright is the right to copy, distribute, publish, and/or sell all or part of an academic, artistic, or commercial product. The author of an AU project or research product owns the rights to their product and should claim copyright on the title page of the essay.

As a condition for the award of the degree, the student is required to sign a form giving permission to the university to make the essay available for inspection, to copy and circulate the essay for scholarly purposes, and to make use of the material and ideas in the essay in the preparation of papers for publication.

At the request of the author and/or where circumstances warrant, an essay may be withheld from circulation for up to one year to allow such activities as patent protection or other legal steps to be completed.

Copyright permission is required for:

• a chapter or substantial excerpt from a book or journal.
• material copied from a website.
• screen captures from a website.
• charts and tables.
• images.
• audio or video clips.

For a more comprehensive description of copyrighted material and when permission should be sought, see the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) resource A Guide to Copyright.

Copyright permission is not required for:

• anything you write or create.
• short passages or quotes.
• items in the public domain.
• links to websites.
• ideas.
• titles.

Note: Open access materials, such as items licensed under a GNU General Public License or a Creative Commons License, are usually less restrictive and can often be reproduced for non-commercial purposes, provided you acknowledge the source. Carefully review any such license or agreement attached to the works, as copyright requirements can vary. If in doubt, contact the rights holder of the work.

Expediting Copyright Permission Requests

• For materials from published books, journals, online journals, or e-books, submit your permission request to the publisher. Publisher contact information can be found using an online search or a print directory.
• For materials taken from a website, submit your permission request to the website administrator.
• For unpublished works, submit your request to the author.
• For photographs, submit your request to the photographer.
• For artistic works, submit your request to the museum or archive that houses it. You may need to obtain permission from the artist as well.
• For video clips or audio clips, submit your request to the producer or distributor of the work.

If you have difficulty locating a rights holder, contact a copyright collective or the Copyright Board of Canada.

Requesting Copyright Permission

If available, complete and submit the copyright permission form provided on the publisher’s website. Fill out the form as completely as possible; incomplete forms or missing information will delay your request. If you are submitting a copyright permission form online, remember to make and keep a copy for your files. If no online form is available, use Appendix C as your guide.

Pending Copyright Permission Requests

Before you can include the cited material in your essay, you must receive written consent, in digital or physical form, from the rights holder. Obtaining rights holder permissions can be a lengthy process. Ensure that you allow sufficient time to complete your project with or without the material you want to reproduce. Following up on your initial request often helps to expedite a response from the rights holder. Keep in mind that many publishing houses may not respond to requests for several weeks.

Note: If you are adapting the rights holder’s material in any way, your permission request form must describe how you intend to modify the material.

Negotiating Copyright Permissions

Copyright permissions can range from fairly inexpensive to quite costly. However, because your request is for non-commercial use, the rights holders may waive or significantly reduce any copyright fees.

If you are denied permission to reproduce the requested material, you may want to follow up with the rights holder by requesting further details, elaborating your intended use, and/or offering to provide a draft for review. If the denial is absolute, you must remove the item from your essay.

Inserting Copyright Acknowledgments

All copyright acknowledgement statements (i.e., credit lines) must appear on the first page where the reproduced material appears in your essay. If the rights holder has not provided such a statement, then include a complete bibliographic citation, plus the phrase “Reproduced with permission.”

Submitting Copyright Agreements

All written responses from copyright holders granting permission for the inclusion of their materials in your essay must be submitted to the MSc IS administrative assistant along with the final version of your essay. Ensure that you make and keep copies of all permission agreements for your files.

The template for the essay mini-proposal is shown as follows.

Please follow the MSc IS Essay Template.

Notes:

1. The length of the essay will vary depending on the type of essay and the amount of evidence collected. Students should make every effort to write concisely. The main body of the essay (excluding front and back matter, such as appendices and references) should be between 50 and 80 pages in length.
2. Individuals who elect to produce an alternative media (such as a video, book) should still produce a supporting report that illustrates to the essay review committee how they successfully completed their essay to create the alternative media product.

Fill in the fields indicated with square brackets. Modify the body of the letter as needed to fit your situation.

• Essay Assessment Form