Proposal Writing Guide
Preliminary section (front matter)
The bulk of this section contains rather standard items
that you can copy and paste from the SPU guidelines on
proposal writing. Of course you cannot copy everything.
You certainly cannot copy someone else’s abstract. Below
is a summary of the sections and what should go into each
of them.
Cover Page
This is the first page of the proposal which presents the
topic of the study, the student’s name and number and
statement of the award for which the student is carrying
out the proposed research. The month and year are also
presented at the foot of the page. Note that the structure is
this page is stipulated by the University hence all you
need to do is copy the wording as per the stipulation.
Title page
SPU guidelines stipulate inclusion of a title page, which
looks quite like the cover page but also contains the
names of the student and supervisors.
Declaration page
This too is stipulated by SPU. Just copy the statement as
stipulated by the University. You will not be penalised for
plagiarism!
, Dedication
This should be a phrase (e.g. To my mother) or a sentence
(e.g. This work is dedicated to my mother). If you feel
like adding a little something to why you are dedicating
the work to her, you should present those reasons in the
acknowledgement section. In other words, dedication
should be a short and precise statement or phrase rather
than an articulation of reasons for the dedication.
Acknowledgement
It is always a good practice to thank those who assisted
you in your research endeavour. You may wish to start
with your supervisors starting with the first supervisor.
Note that it is a good practice to thank each of them
individually and clearly appreciate their different roles or
contributions rather than to lump the two together. Be
specific in your gratitude. After thanking your
supervisors, you may wish to thank anyone else who
helped you along the way such as your parents or
colleagues.
Table of contents, list of tables, and list of figures
These should be generated automatically in MS Word.
Never type them. Automatically generated lists are
extremely easy to update, and that is a skill you need to
learn early if you do not already know have it. You can
2
Preliminary section (front matter)
The bulk of this section contains rather standard items
that you can copy and paste from the SPU guidelines on
proposal writing. Of course you cannot copy everything.
You certainly cannot copy someone else’s abstract. Below
is a summary of the sections and what should go into each
of them.
Cover Page
This is the first page of the proposal which presents the
topic of the study, the student’s name and number and
statement of the award for which the student is carrying
out the proposed research. The month and year are also
presented at the foot of the page. Note that the structure is
this page is stipulated by the University hence all you
need to do is copy the wording as per the stipulation.
Title page
SPU guidelines stipulate inclusion of a title page, which
looks quite like the cover page but also contains the
names of the student and supervisors.
Declaration page
This too is stipulated by SPU. Just copy the statement as
stipulated by the University. You will not be penalised for
plagiarism!
, Dedication
This should be a phrase (e.g. To my mother) or a sentence
(e.g. This work is dedicated to my mother). If you feel
like adding a little something to why you are dedicating
the work to her, you should present those reasons in the
acknowledgement section. In other words, dedication
should be a short and precise statement or phrase rather
than an articulation of reasons for the dedication.
Acknowledgement
It is always a good practice to thank those who assisted
you in your research endeavour. You may wish to start
with your supervisors starting with the first supervisor.
Note that it is a good practice to thank each of them
individually and clearly appreciate their different roles or
contributions rather than to lump the two together. Be
specific in your gratitude. After thanking your
supervisors, you may wish to thank anyone else who
helped you along the way such as your parents or
colleagues.
Table of contents, list of tables, and list of figures
These should be generated automatically in MS Word.
Never type them. Automatically generated lists are
extremely easy to update, and that is a skill you need to
learn early if you do not already know have it. You can
2
