To: Directors of Studies in History, Themes ... - Faculty of History

To: Directors of Studies in History, Themes & Sources teachers, candidates for Historical Tripos Part I
A. Topic and title
FACULTY OF HISTORY
HISTORICAL TRIPOS PART I
GUIDELINES FOR THEMES & SOURCES LONG ESSAY
(updated text is shaded)
A1. You must write an essay on one of the questions or topics specified in the paper for your option. You
should repeat the essay title in full at the top of the first page of the essay. Please pay particular
attention to any supplementary rubric at the top of your option paper.
A2. Those who wish to devise a specific essay title on a general topic (in options where that possibility is
offered on the examination paper) must consult one of their option teachers by the end of the Easter
Full term.
B. Writing the Themes & Sources Long Essay
B1. The supervision with a class teacher is the only individual tuition permitted for the Long Essay.
(However, you may subsequently approach any of the class teachers for supplementary bibliographical
advice if needed.) Attendance will be taken at each class. Unless a medical or other serious personal
reason for absence is presented at the time with supporting evidence if required, students who fail to
demonstrate reasonable attendance at Themes and Sources classes will be considered to have forfeited
their entitlement to a Themes and Sources supervision arranged by the Faculty.
You should make sure to narrow down your choice of Long Essay topic to one or two topics in
advance of the supervision, and if possible look at some of the suggested reading, so as to make best
use of your supervision.
B2. All students should be given the opportunity in a Themes & Sources class to discuss format, research
methods, and other general issues about the Long Essay.
B3. No supervision or tuition is allowed other than those described in B1 and B2 above without express
permission from the Faculty Board or its Officers. In particular, Directors of Studies and Themes &
Sources teachers must not read or comment on the Long Essay before submission.
B4. The Long Essay is to be written in the student’s own time. You are advised to do most of the reading
and if possible, a draft of the essay over the summer, which will then give ample opportunity for
review and polishing over the Christmas vacation.
B5. Students are advised that it is inappropriate to put work produced for an examination, but not yet
assessed, in the public domain; this includes the presentation of ideas in progress via online blogs.
This is only permissible once work has been examined and candidates have received their results.
C. Presentation
C1. Word limit: Your essay must be not less than 3000 words and not more than 5000 words. It must
employ footnotes for giving references to the primary and secondary sources used (but not for
amplifying discussion in the text). The essay should also provide a bibliography of both primary and
secondary works. For further requirements and advice, students must consult the Faculty Style
Guide, available at www.hist.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/styleguide.pdf. The Style Guide also explains
the serious penalty for exceeding or falling short of the prescribed word limits.
C2. Essays must be typed, unless permission to the contrary has been granted in advance by the Themes and
Sources Convenor, which will only happen in exceptional cases.
C3. It is not necessary to bind the hard copies of your essay, but each should be stapled (with its individual
Cover Sheet).
D. Submission
D1. Due date: This essay is to be submitted to the Themes and Sources Secretary in the History Faculty on
the first Friday of Lent Full Term.

D2. Late submission: Essays submitted late without permission will not be marked. Permission to submit
late will only be given in the most exceptional circumstances. Application for an extension must be
made through your tutor, who should direct his or her letter to the Secretary of the Faculty Board. If
the reasons given in the application are deemed sufficient and if the Secretary of the Faculty Board
concurs with such an extension, the Faculty Board may grant a brief extension, to a specified date by
which the work must be submitted. An essay submitted later than the date specified by the Board or in
the relevant regulation, if no extension has been granted by the Board, will not be accepted.
D3. You must provide two hard copies of your Long Essay and one electronic copy on CD or disk (not
memory stick). It is important that no identifying information appears on any of these copies
except for your candidate number. Regrettably, failure to submit all three copies may result in your
essay not being marked.
The electronic version should be in either Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx) or rich text format
(.rtf). If you are not using Microsoft Word to write your essay you can still usually save it as a Word
document, or in rich txt format. Do not worry if the layout is affected - the examiners will be reading the
printed document and the electronic copy is only used to verify the word count and, possibly, to be
checked with Turnitin anti-plagiarism software. The file names should be in the following formats (.doc
may be replaced by .docx or .rtf depending on the file format you are using:
HistPt1XXX.doc where XXX represents your candidate number (this may be 1, 2, or 3 digits long).
Use your candidate number only - not your name.
You are responsible for providing your own CD. You can copy files to CD on the PWF computers in the
Seeley Library. Please ensure that you allow yourself time to do this.
D4. Sign the Declaration Sheet concerning plagiarism and hand it in separately (unbound) when you
submit the essay.
Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of the work of others as if it were original work. In the context of
an examination, this will mean passing off the work of others as a candidate’s own to gain unfair
advantage. This will not be tolerated by the Faculty of History and, when detected, will lead to serious
penalties, which may (in severe instances) extend to failure to obtain a degree. To avoid such penalties,
candidates must leave examiners in no doubt as to which parts of any submission are original, which
derivative. Work submitted for assessment in the Faculty of History will be subjected to random
screening using Turnitin UK, and will also be subjected to screening if the Examiners judge that there is
reason for investigation of a specific piece of work. The Faculty will select up to five percent of each
submission by use of random number generation for submission to the software. The resulting
originality reports will only be referred to the Examiners responsible for the academic assessment of the
work if there is prima facie evidence of plagiarism or poor academic practice. You will be asked to
affirm your consent to this process at the point of submission of your long essay. For further
information, please refer to the Faculty’s Statement on Plagiarism at:
http://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/plagiarism-student-declaration.pdf.
D5. Complete both Cover Sheets and staple or securely attach one to the front of each hard copy,
ensuring that all information is clearly legible.
D6. Please note that the essay will not be returned after the completion of the class list, but will be retained
by the Board of Examiners like an examination script. If you wish to keep a copy for your own
purposes, you should bear this in mind before submitting the essay.

DECLARATION
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE CANDIDATE AND SUBMITTED WITH
THEMES & SOURCES LONG ESSAYS, HISTORICAL TRIPOS PART I
Option Number: Option Title: Candidate No: Question No:
Essay title: ________________________________________________________________
I declare that this essay is my own work. I have read and understood the Faculty of History’s
statement on plagiarism, including the use of Turnitin originality software, and I declare that my essay
does not include any examples of plagiarism.
Please read the statement and check the box to indicate your agreement.
I agree that this essay may be screened with Turnitin UK (as described in Section D.4 of the
Themes and Sources Long Essay guidelines) and added to the Turnitin UK database. 1
I declare that this essay does not exceed the word limit and contains not more than
_________________ words.
Signed:
_____________________________________________________
Dated:
_____________________________________________________
Candidate’s name:
_____________________________________________________
Candidate’s College:
_____________________________________________________
1 I understand that I may apply for my work to be removed from the database once the examinations have been concluded, but that this will mean
that it is no longer protected against future attempts to plagiarise it.

Do not put your name on this sheet or anywhere on the essay itself
COVER SHEET FOR FIRST MARKER
THEMES AND SOURCES
LONG ESSAY
SUBMITTED FOR THE HISTORICAL TRIPOS PART I
Option No.: Option Title: Candidate No.: Question No.:

Do not put your name on this sheet or anywhere on the essay itself
COVER SHEET FOR SECOND MARKER
THEMES AND SOURCES
LONG ESSAY
SUBMITTED FOR THE HISTORICAL TRIPOS PART I
Option No.: Option Title: Candidate No.: Question No.: