Important information on word count for the thesis

Students must not make requests for extensions to the thesis word limit justified on the basis of the student doing interdisciplinary research (and thus having to address literature and debates across disciplines), and/or doing qualitative methods. The use of both is common in the Humanities, and themselves not justification for an increase in word limit. It is critical that the intellectual and scholarly scope of the thesis be set out, at an early stage, so that the thesis does not exceed the 80,000 word limit. There are instances where this limit is justifiably exceeded, for example, where research requires the translation of material into other languages. In most cases, however, the thesis can be edited down to the word limit; appendices (which are not included in the word limit) may also be used where extensive data must be retained for reader reference.

Leaving requests for word limit extensions until a short time before submission, if the request is turned down, can put students and their supervisors in a difficult situation, since this puts even more pressure in these final weeks not only to complete but to make difficult editing decisions.