Evaluation process and criteria

Weighted average

The supervisor’s and reader’s evaluation forms offer a few benchmarks to guide the grading of the dissertation. The overall mark for the dissertation is a weighted average of the marks of the supervisor (weight of 8/15) and of the reader (weight of 7/15). If there is a large difference between the marks of the supervisor and the marks of the reader, the academic co-ordinator at the University of Antwerp informs both, asks them whether they stand by their marks, and may decide to ask a third person for an independent evaluation.

Citation of sources

The dissertation must show proper attention to the citation of sources in footnotes or endnotes. Quotations should be made very explicit with quotation marks, indented text and citation of the source in the main text. The number of quotations must remain limited. The list of references should be made very carefully.

Plagiarism

The dissertation guidelines deal explicitely and extensively with plagiarism. After submission, all dissertations are checked for plagiarism. To this end, the academic co-ordinator at the University of Antwerp submits all dissertations to Turnitin, and checks the similarity reports together with the dissertation co-ordinator. Suspicious cases are communicated to both the supervisor and the reader. Proven cases of plagiarism are dealt with according to the Examination and Assessment regulations.