The thesis is a written report on individual research with a clear academic character. The thesis is not programmatic and not a report of the state of the art in the field.

The thesis is written independently by the student under supervision of a member of the academic staff. - The general aim of the thesis is that students display adequate knowledge, understanding, and ability in the field of study to successfully participate in academic discussions, and contribute to these with their own research.

The thesis should take the form of a publishable article of 20-30 pages (7000-10000 words). There is a possibility of actually submitting the article to a journal in the field after the thesis is completed. The layout should follow the existing standards in the journal Argumentation. The thesis should contain an appendix with relevant material that is not to be published in the article but provides essential extra information about the research and the choices that have been made.

The thesis should always have a title page (with title thesis, name of student, student number, e-mail address student, university, faculty, name of MA programme, date of completion thesis, supervisor, second reader), a table of contents and a list of references containing all the literature that is mentioned in the text.

See the regulations and rules below.