What is a thesis like?

A development-oriented thesis starts from a practical problem that requires a solution. The aim of the thesis is to develop, implement and evaluate new products, services or operating methods.

The thesis typically includes a working life‑oriented functional component that results in a concrete output such as a product, guidelines, service, plan, event, publication, multimedia product, concept or modelling. Often, an external client is involved, but the thesis can also focus on your own company or business idea.

In the written report, you present the theoretical background and describe the product’s development stages coherently. In the report, the solutions related to the output are justified and the results are discussed in relation to the knowledge base.

A thesis requires you to define a research problem or research question and to apply appropriate development and research methods. Data can be collected, for example, from literature, manuals, workshops, interviews or observations.

In the development process, you can either start by working on the output and develop the knowledge base later or proceed in parallel with both parts.

An example of a development-oriented thesis process:

In a research-oriented thesis, you conduct working life-oriented applied research, in which you solve a limited problem or assignment related to your professional field. In the study, you can use quantitative or qualitative methods, and the data may consist of, for example, measurements, interviews or surveys.

In the report, you present the objectives of the thesis, the research problem and the delimitation of the topic. In the literature review, you relate the topic to theories, models and previous studies, utilising professional literature and other sources. In the report, you also describe the study’s implementation, data collection and analysis methods.

Finally, you will review the results of the study, draw conclusions and present possible proposals for further development or further research.

An example of the process in a research-oriented thesis:

A diary-based thesis is suitable for a student who works in a position relevant to their degree programme and wants to develop, for example, practices in their own workplace. The thesis is based on a research problem or research question to which you seek answers by reflecting on your own work.

The thesis includes a work-related diary as well as a report presenting the theoretical basis and development perspective on the chosen topic. Similarly to other types of theses, theoretical background is acquired from literature and expert interviews.

The diary is written daily, and a weekly analysis is used to reflect on the past week from the perspectives of competence development and the research question. The monitoring period usually lasts 10–13 weeks and can be continuous or divided into several phases.

The thesis includes reflection, idea generation, and conclusions that help deepen your expertise and highlight the outcomes of the development process.

An example of a diary-based thesis process:

In a portfolio-based thesis, you bring together the projects and learning tasks you have completed during your studies and, if necessary, prepare new outputs. This type of thesis may also include outputs produced in working life or during leisure time.

The key is that the outputs form a coherent professional entity that serves as a knowledge base for the work. A portfolio-based thesis is a lengthy process that consists of outputs produced at different stages and allows the chosen theme to be examined from multiple perspectives.

The thesis includes a written report in which the outputs are combined and tied to a professional knowledge base.

An example of a portfolio-based thesis process:

Reviews can be divided into the following categories:

1. Descriptive reviews (e.g., narrative reviews, literature reviews, scoping reviews)
2. Systematic literature reviews (including umbrella reviews)
3. Meta-analysis and meta-synthesis (quantitative meta-analysis and qualitative meta-synthesis)

At Lapland University of Applied Sciences, a review may be used as one approach to completing a thesis. However, as it is a theoretical research method, it is not considered the primary option, and the choice must be justified.

For a Master’s degree thesis (UAS Master’s degree), a literature review may be appropriate when the student possesses the academic skills required for the systematic use of databases, critical reading of scientific articles, and conducting analyses. For Bachelor’s degree theses, a review is not the primary method for completing a thesis; however, it may be selected when there are justified reasons for doing so. Students are encouraged to discuss the suitability of a literature review with their programme’s thesis coordinator or supervisor.

The commissioning party may be either an external organisation or Lapland University of Applied Sciences.

A thesis agreement must always be made either with the external commissioning organisation or, if there is no external commissioner, with Lapland University of Applied Sciences. Theses are published in Theseus either in the public collection or in the restricted-access collection.

Article-Based Thesis at Lapland University of Applied Sciences

Article-based reporting is suitable for practice-oriented theses whose topic is particularly current, future-oriented, or of broad public interest within the field. Demonstrating competence through an article-based thesis may provide greater visibility, which can be beneficial, for example, for further academic studies. A thesis may include one or more professional or scientific articles presenting the results of research or development work.

A thesis is always the student’s own work and evidence of their professional competence. An article-based thesis is a demanding thesis format that requires strong expertise, supervision, and a structured guidance process. The student and thesis supervisor agree on the article-based thesis format during the thesis planning stage. The supervisor discusses with the student the required procedures and division of responsibilities related to the publication process. The supervisor decides whether the article is accepted for assessment.

An article-based thesis consists of an article or articles and a report.

Article

• In the context of a thesis, an article refers to a research-based text intended for publication in a journal or online publication.
• An article-based thesis consists of a report and at least one Class A article (peer-reviewed scientific publication) or Class B article (non-peer-reviewed scientific publication).
• An article-based thesis may be assessed as a thesis even if the article manuscript has not yet been submitted to a journal or other publication channel for review and has not been accepted for publication.

Report

• In an article-based thesis, the primary focus is on the article(s) written by the student(s). In addition to the article(s), a concise report describing the objectives, implementation, and overall scope of the work is prepared. The report should be approximately 10–15 pages in length. In multidisciplinary Master’s-level (YAMK) thesis articles (MONT), no separate report is required. In such cases, the article itself serves as the thesis and should be approximately 25–30 pages long.
• The student prepares the report using the Lapland UAS thesis template. The report consists of an introduction, main body, and discussion.
• If there are multiple students, they agree among themselves on authorship according to the division of work. If their contributions are exactly equal (50/50), they may share first authorship.

Introduction

• In the introduction to the article-based thesis report, the student defines the objectives, theoretical framework, and methods of the article(s). If there is more than one article, the introduction explains how the articles are related and what overall entity they form.
• If there are multiple students, the introduction clearly defines each student’s contribution to the planning, implementation, and manuscript preparation of the thesis.
  • The description of article authorship must follow principles of ethics and responsibility. CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) is a standard used in scientific publishing that defines 14 different contributor roles. Its purpose is to make the division of responsibilities in research transparent and precise. Official definitions can be found at: CRediT – Contributor Role Taxonomy.

Main Body

• The content of the main body depends on whether the article can be published immediately in Theseus. Whether the article can be published in Theseus (restricted or open collection) depends on the parallel publishing policy of the intended publication channel (e.g., scientific journal or online publication).
• Parallel publishing means that an article is published in two places: the primary publication (e.g., a journal) and an open repository (e.g., Theseus). Not all journals permit parallel publishing.
• The possibility of parallel publishing must be verified from the journal’s author guidelines or editorial office.

1) Parallel publishing permitted

If parallel publishing is allowed, no main body section is written. In this case, the article manuscript(s) are attached as appendices to the thesis, allowing readers direct access to the article content.

2) Parallel publishing not permitted

If the publication channel does not allow parallel publishing at all, the article cannot be published in Theseus. In this case, the thesis must include a main body section, but the actual article is not made publicly available.

3) Parallel publishing permitted only after journal publication

If the journal allows parallel publishing only after it has published the article, an embargo must be requested from LUC Library Services. This should also be agreed upon with the supervisor. An embargo means that the work becomes openly available only at a later date. The embargo period may be a maximum of two years from the publication of the article. In this case, a main body section is required.

• The main body section is written when the article cannot be published immediately in Theseus (cases 2 and 3). The main body is a brief content description of the thesis report that presents the key content of the work without including the actual article. It serves as a substitute text when the article cannot be published. The section describes the aim of the work, research questions, methods, and data in general terms, as well as the main results and conclusions. It also identifies the journal to which the article(s) will be submitted and includes the bibliographic details of the article(s) (journal title, publication year, publisher).
• The text should be concise (1–2 pages) but sufficiently clear for readers to understand what was done and what results were achieved.

Discussion

• A discussion section is always required, regardless of whether the article is included in the report.
• The discussion presents an evaluation of the significance and applicability of the article results for the needs of working life or broader societal development.

Plagiarism Check

• All theses at Lapland UAS are checked using Turnitin.
• The report of an article-based thesis is checked according to Lapland UAS’s general plagiarism-checking guidelines.
• For the article(s), plagiarism checking is conducted only when the article is ready for submission to a publisher. The student requests the supervisor to perform the plagiarism check without storing the manuscript in Turnitin’s main repository. This is done using Turnitin’s “draft” or “no repository” setting. The supervisor uploads the resulting plagiarism report to Wihi as a file. The student and supervisor agree on which descriptive text (e.g., introduction, abstract, etc.) will be included in the Wihi review process. The supervisor approves this and records in the comment field that the article has been checked elsewhere and notes the results.
• After the plagiarism check, the article is ready for submission to the publisher. The publisher will often conduct its own plagiarism check as well.

Assessment

• The supervision and assessment of an article-based thesis follow the same principles as other theses. Assessment is based on the official Lapland UAS thesis assessment criteria.
• The assessed entity includes both the report and the article manuscript(s).
• An article manuscript is ready for assessment when it meets the requirements of the intended publication and when the student(s) and supervising teacher have agreed on the assessment.
• Graduation is not delayed if the article is not published or is published later.
• Any further development of the article is agreed separately between the student and the supervisor.

Depositing the Thesis in Theseus

• The thesis report must be deposited in Theseus.
• The report deposited in Theseus must indicate the publication to which the article has been submitted or is intended to be submitted. The article manuscript may be stored in the non-public section of Theseus.
• Alternatively, an embargo may be set for the thesis. In that case, the report is published in Theseus only after the article has been published. Publication may be postponed for a maximum of two years (the limit set by the library). The report must include the main results and the bibliographic details of the article(s) (see section “Report”, Main Body).
• If the article(s) have already been published before the thesis is deposited in Theseus, the report must include the article bibliographic details.

Selecting a Publication Channel

• Although an article-based thesis can be assessed without submission to a journal, review by a publication channel, or publication, the goal is generally to publish the article in a professional or scientific publication.
• An individual article may only be submitted to one publication channel at a time. The publication channel must have an editorial board. Information about the editorial board can be found on the publication’s website. The editorial board is responsible for publication decisions and quality assurance.
• The student and supervisor jointly select the publication channel(s). Once a publication channel has been selected, the student familiarizes themselves with the author instructions and publication requirements.
• The student is responsible for ensuring that the article complies with the publication channel’s guidelines.
• The thesis results must be previously unpublished and reported in the article manuscript. If an embargo is used, the results may also be presented in the report’s main body section.

From Assessed Manuscript to Publication

• The article is primarily the student’s work and is assessed as a thesis. The original manuscript is therefore authored by the student, although others may contribute reasonably during the writing process. Once the thesis has been assessed, the author group may be expanded to include experts whose expertise can strengthen specific aspects of the article. The description of article authorship must be prepared carefully, ethically, and responsibly (see Introduction, CRediT taxonomy).
• After the article-based thesis (report and article/article(s)) has been assessed and archived according to instructions, work on preparing the article for publication continues.
• In addition to the student and supervisors, authors of the published article may include members of an RDI project within which the thesis was completed. The student and supervisor jointly decide on additional authors and their roles.
• Any additional authors are listed after the student(s), and the supervisor is listed last.
• For a thesis article to be published in Lumen, as part of the Northern Makers publication series, or as a Northern Makers podcast, the contribution of the supervisor or another Lapland UAS staff member must account for at least 30% of the article content.
• If the student cannot continue revising and finalizing the article after the thesis process, this must be agreed with the supervisor. In such cases, the author order may be changed. For example, the supervisor may become the first author and assume primary responsibility for the publication process. The student nevertheless remains one of the article authors.
• All authors must approve the manuscript before it is submitted to the publisher.
• The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the journal and for handling feedback concerning the article. It is often beneficial for the supervisor to act as corresponding author because publication agreements frequently exist between publishers and higher education institutions. However, the student may also serve as corresponding author if agreed separately.

Partially Accredited Thesis: Article as Demonstration of Competence

These guidelines also apply to partially accredited theses, with the following exceptions:

• The final-stage article related to partial accreditation of a thesis (Master’s level, 10 ECTS) may also be a Class D publication (see section “Article”).
• The article serves as the demonstration of competence; no separate report is required.
• Supervision, storage of draft versions, commenting, and final archiving of the article are carried out in Wihi.
• The article (demonstration of competence) is not deposited in Theseus as a thesis.
• Assessment is conducted in Peppi.

Publication Points

PUBLICATIONS WORKING GROUP INSTRUCTIONS FOR STAFF REGARDING LAPLAND UAS PUBLICATION CHANNELS

• Articles generate publication points in accordance with the criteria established by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.
• When a teacher is an author of an article or other joint publication, they:

1. Submit the manuscript or other publication draft to the publisher on behalf of all authors;
2. Report the published work to the Justus publication information system, provided that their contribution to the publication content is at least 30%; and
3. If the above condition is met, are entitled to a publication reward in accordance with the University of Applied Sciences’ current publication reward guidelines.