Faculty of Business and Economics

Chair of Business Information Systems, esp. Business Engineering OR
Information Systems in Trade and Industry

Thesis/Paper Title

Master Thesis OR Diploma Thesis

to obtain the academic degree of “Master of Science/Diploma XYZ“ OR

Research Paper (Belegarbeit) OR

Seminar Paper

Course Name

Submitted by:	Last name, first name(s)
Email:	firstname.lastname@mailbox.tu-dresden.de
Student ID:	1234567
Study program:	Program name
Chair:	Prof. Dr. Susanne Strahringer OR Prof. Dr. Martin Wiener
Supervisor:	Supervisor name
Working period:	DD.MM.YYYY – DD.MM.YYYY

Abstract

The abstract introduces the study topic and research objectives/questions (including a brief motivation), outlines the methodological approach used, as well as summarizes the study’s key findings and contributions. The length of the abstract is limited to one page (max).

Table of Contents

List of Figures	III

List of Tables	IV

List of Formulas	V

List of Abbreviations	VI

1	Introduction (Heading 1)	1

2	Template Use	1

2.1	Headings (Heading 2)	1

2.2	Standard Text and Accentuations	1

2.3	Bulleted Lists and Numberings	1

2.4	Figures, Tables and Formulas	2

2.4.1	Figures (Heading 3)	2

2.4.2	Tables	2

2.4.3	Formulas	3

2.5	Footnotes	3

2.6	Headers	3

2.7	Abbreviations	3

2.8	References	3

2.9	Index Tables	3

2.10	Declaration of Academic Integrity and Originality	4

References	5

Appendix A: Appendix Title	VII

Appendix B: Appendix Title	VIII

List of Figures

Figure 1: Meaningful figure caption (Source, 1979, p. 25)	2

Figure 2: Pointer on how to set the correct page number for the appendix	4

List of Tables

Table 1: Meaningful table caption	2

Table 2: Use of Arabic and Roman page numbers	4

List of Formulas

Formula 1: Binomial theorem	3

List of Abbreviations

Abbr.	Abbreviation
…	…

Introduction (Heading 1)

This MS Word template is used for academic (student) papers supervised at the Chair of Business Informatics, esp. Business Engineering of TU Dresden. Using the template saves time and enables students to write their paper in a uniform layout.

Template Use

The use of this template requires basic MS Word skills. The following general information therefore focuses on the specifics in using the styles embedded in the template.

Headings (Heading 2)

There are three basic types of headings:

Chapter headings (level 1) are formatted in the style Heading 1.

Subchapter headings (level 2) are formatted in the style Heading 2.

For headings in subchapters (level 3), the style Heading 3 is used.

Moreover, the template makes use of some additional formatting styles:

The headings of the Abstract and Table of Contents are formatted in the style TOC (Table of Contents). The headings of the other index tables (list of figures, tables, formulas, and abbreviations) are formatted in the style TOX. All index tables are not numbered.

For the References and Appendix headings, the style Heading 1 (see chapter headings above) is used again, but without numbering.

Standard Text and Accentuations

For standard text, the style Standard is to be applied. To accentuate text (foreign words, names), italics are being used.

Bulleted Lists and Numberings

For bulleted and numbered lists, the style List Paragraph is used.

This is a sample text (List Paragraph).

More sample text.

And another sample text (List Paragraph).

And so on.

Figures, Tables and Formulas

Figures (Heading 3)

Figures are centered and need to be aligned with the text width (i.e., they must not reach into the left or right page margins). Further, each figure requires a meaningful caption, which may include a literature reference. A figure caption can be added by right-clicking on the figure (context menu option “Insert Caption”). Doing so will automatically add the figure to the List of Figures. For figure captions, the style Caption is used.

Figure 1: Meaningful figure caption (Source, 1979, p. 25)

Each figure must be referenced at least once at an appropriate place in the running text. Students need to make sure that figures are easily readable, even if they are printed in black and white.

Tables

Tables are to be formatted as follows: For text within the table, the style Table Contents is to be used. The column headers are to be formatted in bold. The width of the table should cover the full width of the text (100%). Like figures, each table requires a corresponding caption, leading to the automatic inclusion in the List of Tables. Table captions are placed above the table and are (also) formatted in the style Caption.

Table 1: Meaningful table caption

Column header 1	Column header 2	Column header 3
A	B	C
D	E	F
G	H	I
…	…	…

To improve readability, table rows can be formatted in an alternating color scheme, such as the one used in Table 1.

Formulas

To integrate a formula into the running text and label it appropriately, students should use a table with only one column and remove the table borders. Using the Caption function of MS Word, a corresponding formula caption can then be added by selecting, or creating, the label Formula.

Formula 1: Binomial theorem

Footnotes

For footnotes, the style Footnote Text will be automatically used. Please note that all footnotes need to end with a full stop.

Headers

The header contents are automatically updated and depend on the first-level heading. Please make sure not to delete any of the page/section breaks between the title page, the index tables, the actual content chapters, and the appendices. Doing so would lead to problems with the header contents and formatting.

Abbreviations

Each abbreviation that is not included in common dictionaries (e.g., Merriam-Webster) must be included in the List of Abbreviations. Also, the first time an abbreviation (abbr.) is mentioned in the running text, it needs to be spelled out and the abbreviation needs to be specified in parentheses. The List of Abbreviations follows the List of Formulas (if relevant) or the List of Tables. All abbreviations need to be manually added to the List of Abbreviations (in alphabetical order).

References

The Chair of Business Informatics, esp. Business Engineering uses the referencing style APA 7th Edition (https://apastyle.apa.org), including the specification of page numbers. Please consult the APA guidelines for detailed instructions. To ensure that literature sources are correctly referenced, it is advisable to use a corresponding software tool, such as Citavi or Mendeley.

Index Tables

The Table of Contents, as well as the index tables for figures, tables, formulas, and abbreviations are already included in this MS Word template. If the template is used correctly (i.e., use of the prespecified captions and formatting styles), the index tables only need to be updated. Index tables that are not relevant for the given work need to be removed.

Please note that Roman page numbers are used for the Abstract and the above-mentioned index tables. The Roman page numbering is then continued in the Appendix, as also illustrated in the following table (see “Example” column).

Table 2: Use of Arabic and Roman page numbers

Section	Page number type	Example
Title page	N/A	---
Abstract	Roman	I
Table of contents	Roman	II
List of figures	Roman	III
List of tables	Roman	IV
List of formulas	Roman	V
List of abbreviations	Roman	VI
Running text & References	Arabic	1 – n
Appendix	Roman	VII

The page numbers for the Appendix need to be adjusted manually. To do so, double-click on the header of the corresponding page, go to the menu item Page Number under “Header & Footer”, and select the function Format Page Numbers (see also Figure 2). Next, enter the correct page number under “Page numbering: Start at”.

Figure 2: Pointer on how to set the correct page number for the appendix

Declaration of Academic Integrity and Originality

All academic (student) papers to be submitted at the Chair of Business Informatics, esp. Business Engineering need to conclude with a Declaration of Academic Integrity and Originality. For this declaration, please use the text components provided at the end of this document and add the required information.

References

The literature sources included in the reference list are to be formatted in the style Sources. If possible, the DOI link for each source should be added. Below is a sample reference list following the APA standard.

Bacharach, S. B. (1989). Organizational theories: Some criteria for evaluation. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 496-515. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.1989.4308374

Bock, M., & Wiener, M. (2017). Towards a taxonomy of digital business models – Conceptual dimensions and empirical illustrations. Proceedings of the 38th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), Seoul.

Bock, M., Wiener, M., Gronau, R., & Martin, A. (2018). Industry 4.0 enabling smart air: Digital transformation at KAESER COMPRESSORS. In N. Urbach, & M. Röglinger (Eds.), Digitalization cases: How organizations rethink their business for the digital age (pp. 101-117). Springer.

Burton-Jones, A., McLean, E. R., & Monod, E. (2015). Theoretical perspectives in IS research: From variance and process to conceptual latitude and conceptual fit. European Journal of Information Systems, 24(6), 664-679. https://doi.org/10.1057/ejis.2014.31

Gregor, S. (2006). The nature of theory in information systems. MIS Quarterly, 30(3), 611-642.

Sutton, R. I., & Staw, B. M. (1995). What theory is not. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(3), 371-384. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393788

Weber, R. (2012). Evaluating and developing theories in the information systems discipline. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 13(1), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.17705/
1jais.00284

Wiener, M., Mähring, M., Remus, U., Saunders, C. (2016) Control configuration and control enactment in information systems projects: Review and expanded theoretical framework. MIS Quarterly, 40(3), 741-774.

Yin, R. K. (2013) Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Sage Publications.

Appendix A: Appendix Title

Text

Appendix B: Appendix Title

Text

Declaration of Academic Integrity and Originality

I hereby confirm that I have written this work, entitled

„Thesis/Paper Title“

by myself, without any external support, and without the use of any sources other than those cited in the text. All intellectual property taken directly or indirectly from external sources is distinctly marked as such.

The work has not been submitted to another examination office in this or in similar form and has not been published.

I agree that the work will be checked for plagiarism with the help of a software service.

Dresden, DD.MM.YYYY

_____________________________________	_____________________________________

First and last name	Signature

This is a sample text for a footnote without a literature reference.