Master of Science - Information Systems - Handbook for projects

The project route provides an opportunity for an MSc CIS student to focus on an investigation that is of interest to that individual and that culminates in an original contribution to the discipline of Computing and Information Systems. With respect to the implications of this choice for the student, the project route consists of foundation courses (3–12 credits), core courses (15 credits), a minimum of one elective course (3 credits), and a project (9 credits). The project is carried out under the supervision of a committee and would normally be completed near the end of the student's program. To complete the credit requirements for the project, the student must register for all of the following 3-credit blocks:

• COMP697. The student may register for COMP697 and start the project only after completing the required foundation and core credits. The course focuses on developing a proposal for the project and forming a project supervisory committee.
• COMP698. The student can enroll in COMP698 any time after they have successfully completed COMP 697. This course focuses on implementing the project.
• COMP699. The student should enroll in COMP699 in the term in which they anticipate completing the project work. By the end of this course, the student should produce the final project report and schedule the oral presentation.

Note: The project courses are not conventional courses; however, they are treated similarly for administrative purposes. The student must register for these courses in sequence and will be given a mark of Pass or Fail according to the project supervisory committee’s decision after completion of each course.

Requirements

The project addresses the increasing need to integrate a broad range of technologies. It offers the student the opportunity to synthesize the ideas presented earlier in the program and to implement comprehensive systems across an organization.

This integration can be viewed from three perspectives: enterprise integration, IS function integration, and IS technologies integration. The integrative project should deal with the development of technologies for intra- and inter-organizational systems in the form of an integrated technical architecture (hardware, software, networks, and data) to serve organizational needs in a rapidly changing competitive and technological environment. The project must also satisfy an acceptable combination of the following criteria:

• It deals with a novel exploratory implementation, the results of which will be of some interest to a portion of the IS community.
• It involves novel implementation techniques.
• It involves the implementation of a practical piece of nontrivial software whose availability could have some impact on the IS user community.
• It examines a practical problem or series of problems that can be adequately addressed in reasonable time and effort.

Selecting a Research Topic and Supervisor

Research work formally begins after the student has completed their foundation and core courses. However, the student is encouraged to begin the process of identifying a research focus area, a research topic, and a prospective supervisor when they enter the program. A research topic can come from the student’s workplace or personal interest, interactions with the SCIS faculty members, and/or the research topics list. The student should use the Mini-Proposal Template (see Appendix A) to write a mini-proposal for the project.

The student should submit the mini-proposal to their prospective supervisor if one has been identified. Otherwise, they should submit it to the graduate program director. The prospective supervisor reviews the student's mini-proposal and agrees (or does not agree) to act as the supervisor. If the prospective supervisor agrees to act as the student's supervisor and approves the mini-proposal, the supervisor forwards the mini-proposal and agreement to supervise to fst_grad_success@athabascau.ca. Once the prospective supervisor receives the approval from the program director, then the student can register for COMP697.

If the prospective supervisor does not agree to act as the supervisor, the student must either modify the mini-proposal in accordance with the prospective supervisor's recommendations for resubmission (if the supervisor agrees to accept the mini-proposal again), submit the mini-proposal to another potential supervisor, or write a new mini-proposal.

If the student cannot find a prospective supervisor, they should submit the mini-proposal to the program director. The program director will review the mini-proposal and will assist the student in finding a supervisor.

Notes:

1. The effort expended in writing the mini-proposal (literature review, interactions with the program director, and the presentation of the mini-proposal to prospective supervisors) are NOT factors that impact the acceptance or rejection of the mini-proposal.
2. The mini-proposal (and each step in the project process) is the individual student's responsibility, and the onus is on the student to demonstrate that the proposed investigation is worthy of being deemed a project.
3. After the supervisor approves a mini-proposal, the content of the mini-proposal, such as methods, tasks, or goals, is still changeable. Anything in the mini-proposal can be changed if both the supervisor and the student mutually agree during the period of the project research.

COMP697: Research Proposal Writing

The research proposal writing step consists of three smaller steps: scoping, proposal writing, and supervisory committee formation.

Scoping

The purpose of the scoping phase is to clearly identify and define research questions or issues that have been introduced in the mini-proposal. The student should clearly identify the research problem to be examined. This activity is often the most difficult part for the student to complete. Thus, it is important that the student works closely with the supervisor to select an appropriate research topic.

During the scoping phase, the student should undertake the following steps:

• Identify research interests. Identify related problems and issues.
• Identify a potential project sponsor if needed.
• Review possible research project ideas with the supervisor.

Proposal Writing

The purpose of this phase is to define the research idea in the form of a draft project proposal. The aim of a project proposal is to describe in detail the problems to be examined during the project research. It identifies the research questions, describes the supporting literature, and lists the potential participants. The student should refer to the Project Proposal Template in Appendix B, which details the requirements of the proposal.

The final proposal should be no more than twenty-five (25) A4 pages in length, including references and excluding supporting appendices.

The student should discuss Ethics Policies, Guidelines, and Permissions and the Student Academic Misconduct Policy with their supervisor.

You are encouraged to present and discuss your project proposal with your peers on the COMP697 discussion board. This peer review may take different forms of formal and informal presentations and discussions (e.g., poster presentations, abstracts, or draft proposals).

If there is a sponsor for the project, the student must fully understand the problems and issues important to the sponsor. This can be achieved by involving the sponsor in the development of the draft project proposal and final project proposal.

All areas that involve the sponsor, their subordinates or superiors, or processes that may potentially be out of the ordinary for the normal workflow should be reviewed with the sponsor before the project proposal is submitted and approved by the supervisor and project sponsor. The project sponsor can serve in the co-supervisor role.

Supervisory Committee Formation

After generating a project proposal reviewed and approved by the supervisor and sponsor (if applicable), the supervisor should set up a project supervisory committee consisting of the supervisor, sponsor (if applicable), and one or two other committee members. The supervisor should initiate the Project Supervisory Committee Form (see Appendix C), which should be completed by all the committee members and approved by the program director.

During the establishment of the project supervisory committee, the program director must verify that:

• no intellectual or personal differences exist with the committee members.
• no conflict of interest exists with the committee members.

The draft project proposal must be reviewed by the supervisory committee. During the completion of the review, the student must verify that:

• all committee members accept the project proposal.
• the resources and funds required for completing the project are available.
• the sponsor (if applicable) is committed to implementing the project in accordance with the project schedule.

After reviewing the project proposal with the project supervisory committee, the student will incorporate the comments of all reviewers and produce a final draft of the project proposal. The final project proposal must conform to applicable AU policies. The project proposal should be submitted to the supervisory committee members and the graduate program advisors.

If a sponsor is involved in the project, before starting COMP698, both the student and sponsor must sign a Letter of Agreement (see Appendix D). The Letter of Agreement will act as an informal contract between the student, the organization participating in the study, the sponsor, and AU. These commitments should be described in the Letter of Agreement signed by all parties. An original signed copy of the Letter of Agreement must be forwarded to the program director, the supervisor, the project sponsor, and the graduate program advisors at fst_grad_success@athabascau.ca .

The supervisory committee’s review and approval of the project proposal and signing of the supervisory committee form might not occur until after the completion of COMP697. In this case, the student must ensure that formal research project approval is received as soon as possible after the completion of COMP697 and certainly no later than one month following the end of this course.

COMP698: Implementation

The purpose of the implementation stage is to ensure that the student effectively manages the successful completion of a research project in accordance with the approved project proposal and produces a project that satisfies the requirements of the program and the university. The recommended steps within this stage include:

• conducting initial meetings with project potential participants.
• determining the hardware and software environment and tools.
• working out the testing plans (cases) of the system to be implemented.
• assessing test findings.
• producing a draft project report or advancement report.
• discussing and reviewing a draft project report with committee members.

The draft project report must be assessed and approved by the supervisor and project sponsor (if applicable).

COMP 699: Project Report Writing and Oral Defense

The aim of the closing phase is to produce a final project report that satisfies the requirements of the program and the university and to ensure that the student has completed all the requirements for degree completion.

If applicable, the student should brief the project sponsor and other study participants about the findings, conclusions, and recommendations contained in the draft project. The student should seek final feedback from all involved parties before submitting the final project.

The student should produce the project report in accordance with the Project Report Style Guide and Template (see Appendix E).

The student should consider the following quality issues when producing the project report:

• Does the literature review consider all appropriate sources of information?
• Does the student properly address the problems identified in the project proposal using valid tools or methods?
• Does the final project report adequately describe how the student applied the research methodology and steps outlined in the original project proposal?
• Does the final project report clearly describe the student’s contributions throughout the project?
• Are the hardware and software environment, the running environment, the user manual, testing cases, experimental settings (e.g., subjects), and data gathering techniques (when appropriate) described in or attached to the final project report?
• Does the final project report demonstrate the proper and effective use of software engineering tools, such as UML diagrams, statistical analysis, or qualitative analysis tools when appropriate?
• Are the developed software package, findings, conclusions, and recommendations in the project supported by collected evidence and other information described in the literature review?
• Does the project conform to the research ethics policies of AU?
• Will the project stand up to rigorous academic scrutiny?

Important: Once the project has been submitted for examination, the student must not make changes to the project report unless requested to do so by the committee.

Oral Defense

The student is required to defend the project orally through an oral defense.

The oral defense should be organized by the supervisor. The student should discuss with the supervisor the procedure to be used during the oral defense.

Some guidelines to consider are as follows:

• During the oral defense, the student will be allowed to refer to the project report and other supporting materials (such as data-gathering instruments) related to conducting the research.
• Each committee member may ask specific questions to clarify or challenge the findings, conclusions, or recommendations of the report. They may also ask general questions that relate to any of the program competencies studied by the student.
• Essay committee members will discuss the results of the oral defense after the student has logged off from the defense.
• The supervisor will advise the defending student of the results. This will normally be a short time after the oral defense has been completed.

Assessment

After the oral defense, each committee member will evaluate the project report and the oral presentation by using the evaluation form in Appendix G. For more information, please see Section 4, Assessment.

Project Report Revision

The student is responsible for revising their submitted project report according to the supervisory committee’s requests for changes to the project. If the committee requests minor revisions, a copy of the revised project report should be submitted to the supervisor for validation of the revisions. If the committee requests major revisions, a copy of the revised project report should be submitted to the project supervisory committee for validation of the revisions. The student will not be recommended for graduation if the revised project is not validated.

Project Report Submission

Project submission

The Project report must be formatted in accordance with the template and style (see Appendix E).

Submission of Project Thesis

A copy of .pdf version of the approved Project and supporting materials must be submitted to Athabasca University before students can be authorized for graduation. These Project copies should be submitted to the Program Office. The Project will be reviewed by the Program Coordinator and forwarded to the Athabasca University Digital Thesis and Project Room (DTPR) services for processing.

The .pdf version of the essay must be submitted to the graduate program advisor for the program.

Working with the Project Sponsor

As the project closes, the Project Sponsor should not be faced with any surprises or unanticipated Project material. Sponsors should be aware of findings, conclusions and recommendations before they read the draft project report. As findings, conclusions and recommendations solidify, they should be discussed fully with the Project Sponsor. The purpose of these discussions is not to change the intent of the Project but to ensure that conclusions are founded in proper fact. Often, Project Sponsors have insights that they have failed to communicate to the graduate students. The student should clarify these insights before the final project report is published and submitted.

Application to Graduate

Once the program requirements have been met, the student must contact graduate program advisors for information on the process to apply for graduation.

The Student

The student is responsible for planning, implementing, and completing the research project.

The student should:

• review and understand this handbook.
• review and understand registration and other requirements that apply to the project route for completion of the Master of Science – Computing and Information Systems program.
• identify a research problem that will meet the program learning outcomes.
• complete the research project in accordance with both the project proposal and the applicable AU policies.
• regularly communicate project progress, including any problems, to the supervisor and the sponsor.
• produce a draft of the research report and submit it to the supervisor.
• produce a final project report that conforms to the Project Report Style Guide and Template (see Appendix E).
• Give an oral defense.

The Project Supervisory Committee

The role of the project supervisory committee is to:

• provide guidance and assistance to the student during the entire research process.
• provide professional advice and feedback to the student during the project research.
• review documents to verify that they meet the minimum academic requirements established by AU.
• assess the student’s ability to demonstrate the required program learning outcomes by completing the Project Evaluation Form (see Appendix G).

The following sections go over the specific roles and processes related to the project supervisory committee.

The Supervisor

The supervisor is charged with the responsibility of mentoring the student throughout the project process. The supervisor should be a permanent faculty member at AU and a knowledgeable and experienced authority in the student's area of interest. The supervisor is responsible for providing direction and support within reasonable limits to maximize the possibility that a conscientious and hard-working student will succeed.

The responsibilities of the supervisor are:

• organizing the project supervisory committee by completing the Project Supervisory Committee Form and submitting to fst_grad_success@athabascau.ca.
• serving as the chair of the project supervisory committee.
• ensuring that the project sponsor (if applicable) is supportive of the project as described in the project proposal.
• approving the project proposal.
• undertaking regular consultations with the student during completion of the project.
• briefing the project sponsor on their role and responsibilities as a project supervisory committee member.
• ensuring that the student applies rigorous research methodologies in the project.
• reviewing and providing comments on all drafts of the project produced by the student.
• circulating the approved draft of the project report to the other committee members for review and comments.
• in consultation with other committee members, assessing the student’s demonstration of the competencies described in the project contract.
• acting as the recording secretary for all project supervisory committee meetings.
• communicating the success or failure of the student's project to the program director.

As the chair of the committee, the supervisor should:

• arbitrate all disputes among members of the project supervisory committee, as required.
• re-assign existing or appoint new project supervisory committee members, as required.
• ensure the project supervisory committee’s review of each project report meets or exceeds the academic standards established by AU.
• act as the final reviewer of the project report if the project supervisory committee recommends that a student's project report be deemed Not Acceptable/Rejected.
• approve the project report as completed when recommended by the project supervisory committee.

Selecting the Supervisor

The supervisor may be selected as follows:

Faculty members may request that a specific student be assigned to them based on mutual research and academic interests. The student may request to be assigned to a specific faculty member. The program director may assign students to individual faculty members to ensure that an equitable distribution of work is maintained within the program.

Note: Potential supervisors are not obligated to accept a project mini-proposal submitted to them for consideration. The reasons for refusing to accept a mini-proposal or to take on the role of supervisor are varied; for example, the supervisor may have limited expertise in the area, the mini-proposal may be weak, or the supervisor may be supervising a sufficient number of students.

The Sponsor or Co-Supervisor

If the project needs support from an organization or persons for resources such as financial support, equipment, or data, the student should find a sponsor, who may be a workplace mentor, domain expert, community-based mentor, or applied practitioner with practical experience in the area of study being demonstrated by the student. Otherwise, the sponsor and the supervisor can be the same person.

The responsibilities of the sponsor are:

• assisting the student in identifying and articulating the problems to be examined during the project.
• agreeing to provide the resources and support described in the Letter of Agreement (see Appendix D)
• reviewing and providing comments on the project proposal.
• providing the resources, facilities, funds, and/or personnel needed to support the successful completion of the project as described in the project proposal.
• where appropriate, facilitating the timely collection of data.
• reviewing the project findings, conclusions, and recommendations with the student.
• completing the project assessment form at the end of the project.

The sponsor may be any one of the following individuals:

• an academic who has a well-defined research project.
• a workplace supervisor or an individual who has ownership of the workplace problem to be examined.
• an individual or organization that needs assistance in reorganizing, problem solving, improving performance or any reason that may require the intervention of an outside consultant.

Selecting a Project Sponsor

To qualify as a project sponsor, an individual must be willing to sponsor the student's project research and assist the student where required. The program director must approve the assignment of the sponsor.

When selecting a project sponsor, the student should identify an individual who will:

• demonstrate enthusiasm and support for the project.
• have an authoritative understanding and knowledge of the issues of the project.
• have the resources, time, and/or funds to commit to the project and provide them freely where appropriate to support the project goals and objectives.

Sponsor Letter of Agreement

The aim of the Letter of Agreement is to act as an unofficial contract between the student and the project sponsor. It is the responsibility of the student to produce the Letter of Agreement, based on the Letter of Agreement Template (see Appendix D). The student and the sponsor should sign the Letter of Agreement after the sponsor has agreed to support the research project and before the project proposal is approved by the committee. A signed Letter of Agreement should be forwarded to the supervisor, the sponsor, and the program director. The Letter of Agreement should describe the roles and responsibilities of the student, the project sponsor, and the supervisor during the research project. The letter should clearly indicate what resources, expenses, and other support the research project requires and who is responsible for providing them. The Letter of Agreement should be tailored to meet the specific requirements of the project.

Important: The Letter of Agreement acts as a contract, and its content should be considered carefully.

Manager-Employee Relationships

If a manager-employee relationship exists with the potential sponsor, the requesting student must feel confident that the project can be completed without bias or judgment based on their previous working relationship with the potential sponsor.

Managing Project Sponsor Expectations

The student conducting the study must attempt to develop a professional and trusting rapport with the project sponsor. The student must understand and attempt to meet the sponsor's expectations for the outcome of the proposed project. These expectations may change through the life cycle of the project.

Supervisory Committee Members

The responsibilities of a supervisory committee member are:

• filling out and signing the Project Supervisory Committee Form.
• reviewing the draft project proposal produced by the student and providing comments on it to the student.
• reviewing the draft project report produced by the student and providing comments on it.
• attending all project supervisory committee meetings.
• attending the student’s oral presentation.
• completing the Project Assessment Form and submitting it to the program advisors.

The committee members can be from inside or outside of the School of Computing and Information Systems. Normally, a supervisory committee member must hold a PhD or equivalent in the IS field.

Changing Committee Members

A committee member, the student, or the program director may initiate changes in the project supervisory committee at any time.

A change in committee members may be required for the following reasons:

• A student changes their research direction and requires a supervisor with interests more closely aligned to their research interests.
• The student has irreconcilable academic, intellectual, or personal differences with one or more of the committee members.
• A committee member is unable to reconcile academic or personal differences with the student, and to continue would jeopardize the student's chance of success.
• A committee member is unable to work with the other members of the project supervisory committee.
• A member of the committee becomes ill or unavailable for a long period of time and therefore is unable to complete their functions successfully.
• A committee member is unable to effectively perform their duties.
• Other reasons known to the program director necessitate a change.

Potential Impact of Changing the Supervisor or the Project Sponsor

A change in the project sponsor may require a major change in the project's research question or methodology. If this is the case, the student should assess the potential impact of the change and discuss this matter with the supervisor. The supervisor must determine how to minimize the impact of any potential change and provide advice to the student on how to recover any lost ground.

Changing the supervisor should have minimum impact on the research project, assuming that the new supervisor has similar experience and interests as the previous supervisor.

In all cases, the program director should be made aware of the need for any changes in the project supervisory committee and will, where necessary, undertake an investigation. If changing the supervisor is deemed necessary, then program director will assign new members and reform the committee as required.

Project Report Quality Standards

The report should meet or exceed the content, layout, and production standards set by the university and the program. The student should consider the following quality issues when producing the project report.

Content Quality Considerations

• Does the literature review consider all appropriate sources of information?
• Does the student properly address the problems identified in the essay proposal using valid tools or methods?
• Does the final version of the essay adequately describe how the student applied the research methodology and steps described in the original essay proposal?
• Are the implementation and testing techniques described in the report?
• Does the essay conform to the research ethics policies of AU?
• Will the report stand up to rigorous academic scrutiny?

Production Quality Considerations

• Do the report layout, citations, references, and format conform to the selected APA or IEEE Style?
• Is the report free of spelling and grammatical errors?

Assessment Criteria

The report and supporting materials will be assessed based on the ability of the student to meet the program mission to provide leadership in:

• assessing the integration of the IS function, IS technologies, and scientific scope of an issue or problem pertaining to sustaining or enhancing IS in the enterprise;
• identifying, evaluating, and comparing, from all perspectives, solutions or goals and alternative strategies; and
• preparing plans for and securing action.

University Assessment Criteria

The report must be a sustained, creative, independent, and original piece of applied work. The following criteria should be met:

• The report must be conducted according to sound research and inquiry methods.
• The report must be open to critical examination and review by peers, scholars, and practitioners in the student’s major field of study.
• The report must be defensible by the author, in that all claims, observations, or recommendations made must be supported by intellectual and practical constructs.
• Underlying empirical evidence and methods used to analyze the problem and develop recommendations should be available for review upon request.
• The report must demonstrate a thorough understanding of the program learning outcomes.
• The report must be presented in a manner that is suitable for evaluation and cataloguing.

Project Supervisory Committee Assessment Criteria

The project supervisory committee will base their assessment of the report on the criteria that are outlined in the Project Assessment Form in Appendix G.

Grading

After completing a final review of the student’s report and the oral presentation, the supervisory committee members will discuss the results. The majority of the committee members must agree on one of the following grades:

• Acceptable: No modifications are required to the report. The student will be allowed to submit the project report and apply for graduation.
• Acceptable with Minor Revisions: Some minor modifications are required to the report. When these modifications have been completed, the supervisor will review the changes with the student. If the changes conform to the direction provided by the committee, the student will be allowed to submit the report and apply for graduation.
• Acceptable with Major Revisions: Major modifications, further justification, or additional research is required before the majority of the committee members would consider the report acceptable. When the report has been revised, the supervisor will review the changes with the student. If the changes conform to the direction provided by the committee, then the student will recirculate the report to all committee members for review. The supervisor will discuss the results of the second review with the committee members.

The committee may decide whether the student needs to do another oral presentation.

If a majority of the committee members consider the revised report to be acceptable, then the student will be allowed to submit the report and apply for graduation.

• Not Acceptable/Rejected: If a majority of the supervisory committee members reject a student’s report, the report plus all report assessment documents and other supporting materials will be passed to the program director for review. The program director will determine whether the student should withdraw from the program. The student who is required to withdraw from the program will be sent a letter by the program director explaining the reason for the decision.

Student Appeal Procedures

The student will have an opportunity to appeal their assessment if the report is deemed to be Not Acceptable/Rejected.

• This appeal should be directed to the chair of the School of Computing and Information Systems (SCIS) for review and consideration.
• The student must submit a Letter of Appeal to the chair of SCIS explaining the reasons for the appeal.
• The letter must be received within 60 days of notification that the project report was considered Not Acceptable/Rejected.
• The student who submits a Letter of Appeal will receive a formal decision from the chair of SCIS within 30 days of receipt of the letter.

Research Ethics

Guidelines for using Human Subjects in Research

Should the project involve research that involves human subjects, the project must conform to the AU policy governing research involving human subjects. Examples of use of human subjects include but are not limited to:

• interviews with individuals or groups.
• on-site job observations that involve human subjects who must provide personal data.
• review of personnel files or assessment reports.
• psychological testing.
• lab work, evaluation, or testing programs involving targeted subjects.

Research Ethics Policy and Research Ethics Board

Students whose projects involve human subjects must follow the research ethics policies of AU. These policies may require that the student submit their project proposal to the Research Ethics Board (REB) for review and potential revision. The student should discuss the research ethics policies and the role of the REB with the supervisor from the outset of the project. The research ethics policies and related application forms for ethical reviews are available on the university website.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality in Research

The student must adhere to corporate, government, or nonprofit organization confidentiality guidelines and should become thoroughly cognizant of these guidelines before producing a project proposal. Potential projects that require the student to restrict their investigative or reporting methods should be avoided, per the Publication of Research Policy.

Policies Governing Confidentiality

Some organizations may require nondisclosure agreements, which restrict the use and/or dissemination of specific information that may provide outside organizations with an insight into an organization’s competitive advantage or corporate strategies.

Restrictive Practices

Issues of confidentiality and non-disclosure must be thoroughly explored with the project sponsor. Nondisclosure agreements or restrictive practices that curb the ability of the student to complete the applied project should be avoided. Some examples of restrictive practices are as follows:

• An organization reserves the right to restrict the type of data that is reported in the final project report.
• An organization limits distribution of the final project report, thereby restricting other researchers’ ability to use the essay.
• An organization does not permit the student to describe productivity data or financial information in the project report.

Intellectual Property (IP)

The student and committee members can refer to the Faculty of Graduate Studies' guidelines. The completion of an applied research project may result in the creation of new knowledge, processes, or tools.

The ownership of the new knowledge, process, or tools can often be complicated, especially if the outcome of the research has potential commercial applications. In most cases, the owner of the new knowledge, process or tool is the originator of the idea (e.g. the AU master's degree candidate). Some examples of intellectual property are:

• a written report and its supporting data.
• a set of evaluation instruments produced to gather data.
• a database used to collate and analyze data.

Note: Ideas are not considered intellectual property until they have been recorded in some medium that others can read, review, touch, and/or see.

Ownership of Intellectual Property

The issue of intellectual ownership becomes difficult when the person conducting a research study is either a paid employee or a paid contractor of the firm that the research project is being completed for. In these situations, the ownership of any intellectual property should be clarified before the research is undertaken.

Clarifying Ownership

The method of clarifying ownership before a study is completed could be as simple as a statement in the Letter of Agreement or as complicated as a legally binding research contract. Research contracts often stipulate that intellectual property (which could be copyrighted) may be jointly owned, and the agency or company participating in the research effort has the authority to exploit the knowledge, process, or tool for commercial gain.

AU and Intellectual Property

AU holds no claim on the intellectual property produced as a result of the research project but may be willing to assist in the patent process. The university will only approve projects that protect the rights of the student to freely publish and defend the results of the research.

Copyright and the University

Copyright is the right to copy, distribute, publish, and/or sell all or part of an academic, artistic, or commercial product.

The author of an AU project or research product owns the rights to the product and should claim copyright on the title page of the project report.

AU Conditions of Copyright

As a condition for being awarded the degree, the student is required to sign a form giving permission to the university to make the project report available for inspection, to copy and circulate the project report for scholarly purposes, and to make use of the material and ideas in the project report in the preparation of papers for publication.

Copyright Protection

At the request of the author and/or where circumstances warrant, a project report or research product may be withheld from circulation for up to one year to allow such activities as patent protection or other legal steps to be completed.

Copyright Permission

Copyright permission is required when the student wants to include a substantial amount of someone else's work in the project report. Examples include:

• a chapter or substantial excerpt from a book or journal
• material copied from a website
• screen captures from a website
• charts and tables
• images
• audio or video clips

For a more comprehensive description of copyrighted material and when permission should be sought, see the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) resource A Guide to Copyright.

Copyright permission is not required for:

• anything you write or create.
• short passages or quotes.
• items in the public domain.
• links to websites.
• ideas.
• titles.

Note: Open access materials, such as items licensed under a GNU General Public License or a Creative Commons License, are usually less restrictive and can often be reproduced for non-commercial purposes, provided you acknowledge the source. Carefully review any such license or agreement attached to the works, as copyright requirements can vary. If in doubt, contact the rights holder of the work.

Requesting Copyright Permission

• For works from published books or journals, the student submits the request to the publisher.
• For materials taken from a website, the student submits the request to the website administrator.
• For unpublished works, the student submits the request to the author.
• For photographs, the student submits the request to the photographer.
• For artistic works, the student submits the request to the museum or archive that houses it.
• For videos or audio, the student submits the request to the producer or distributor of the work.

If you have difficulty locating a rights holder, contact a copyright collective or the Copyright Board of Canada.

If available, the student completes and submits the copyright permission form provided on the publisher's website. The student should fill out the form as completely as possible; incomplete forms or missing information will delay the request. If the student is submitting a copyright permission form online, they should remember to make and keep a copy for their files. If no online form is available, use the Copyright Permission Request Letter shown in Appendix F as the template.

Pending Copyright Permission Requests

Before including the cited material in the project report, the student must receive written consent from the rights holder. Obtaining rights holder permissions can be a lengthy process. The student needs to ensure sufficient time to complete the project with or without the material to reproduce. Following up on the student's initial request often helps to expedite a response from the rights holder. Keep in mind that many publishing houses may not respond to requests for several weeks.

Note: If the student is adapting the rights holder's material in any way, the permission request letter must describe how the student intends to modify the material.

Negotiating Copyright Permissions

Copyright permissions can range from fairly inexpensive to quite costly. However, because the student’s request is for non-commercial use, the rights holders may waive or significantly reduce any copyright fees. If the student is denied permission to reproduce the requested material, the student may want to follow up with the rights holder by requesting further details, elaborating the intended use, or offering to provide a draft for review. If the denial is absolute, the student must remove the item from the project report.

Inserting Copyright Acknowledgments

All copyright acknowledgement statements (i.e., credit lines) must appear on the first page where the reproduced material appears in the project report. If the rights holder has not provided such a statement, then the student must include a complete bibliographic citation, plus the phrase "Reproduced with permission".

Submitting Copyright Agreements

All written responses from copyright holders granting permission for the inclusion of their materials in the project report must be submitted to the program advisors along with the final version of the project report.

• Project Mini-Proposal Template

• Project Proposal Template

• Project Supervisory Comittee Form

• Project Sponsor Letter of Agreement template

• Project Report Style Guide

• Copyright Permission Request Template

• Project Assessment Form