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University of Bergen
Department of Comparative Politics

Guidelines for Assignments/Papers and Home Essays

The following guidelines apply to all assignments, take-home exams, and semester essays submitted to the Department of Comparative Politics. It is expected that these guidelines are read and followed.

Main content

Formal rules

  • The word limit is stated in the course description in the form of the maximum number of words. You can write shorter than the word limit, but not longer (there is no plus/minus 10 %-rule). Words in title page, tables, figures, bibliography, appendix and table of contents do not count in the word total for assignments or exams, and also not for the number of pages for the master thesis.
  • Use 12 point, Times New Roman font, 1.5 line spacing, all margins 2.5 cm. Include page numbers in your document.
  • Use the standard cover page: It is available for downloading here SAMPOL - Forside_Front Page.docx.  Fill in candidate number, the course code, and word count.
  • If there are multiple questions, always clearly identify the question you are answering.
  • Do not use footnotes for bibliographic references. Footnotes may be used for narrative text that is supplemental to the main body of the text. Words in footnotes do count in the word total.
  • Do not use ibid., idem., op. cit., loc. cit. or other shortened citations. Place tables and figures where they fit best in the text (or at the end if it is difficult to fit in large figures or tables).
  • Bibliographic references should be placed directly in the text, following the following format: parenthesis, last name of author, space, year of publication of referenced source, comma, space, page number, parenthesis, period. When a source is authored by more than three people, the first author’s name should be presented, followed by “et al.”.
  • The master thesis (SAMPOL350 and the bachelor thesis (SAMPOL260) shall have an abstract. The abstract does not count towards the word limit in assignments or exams or number of pages in the master thesis. An abstract is a short overview of an academic work that includes the research question, purpose, theory, methods, results and conclusion. If other courses demands an abstract, this will be specified in the exam question, and the abstract will not count towards the word limit. 

Academic Integrity and Academic Independence

Academic integrity and academic independence are fundamental to all written work and are emphasized in grading according to the general grade descriptions of the Norwegian Association of Higher Education Institutions.

The University of Bergen has guidelines for proper source usage in written student work. These guidelines are about academic integrity. It is important that you familiarize yourself with these guidelines and that you follow them in your work with assignments and exams. See the guidance for correct source usage and principles of academic integrity: https://www.uib.no/en/sa/165062/academic-integrity-and-cheating. "Søk og Skriv" also offers a good guide on how to cite: https://www.sokogskriv.no/en/Links to an external site.. The University of Bergen also recommends a course in digital source criticism, Digi101: https://www4.uib.no/emner/DIGI101. (only available in Norwegian)

Specific Guidelines on the Use of ChatGPT and other AI Assistants

The Faculty of Social Sciences has created guidelines for the use AI Assistants and chat robots: https://www.uib.no/en/svf/179105/students-use-artificial-intelligence-ai.... For assignments submitted to the Department of Comparative Politics we follow what is referred to as Category 2 in the guidelines of the Social Science Faculty. This means:

  • It is not allowed to submit text that is generated or edited by AI.
  • Submitting text where the whole or parts of the text are generated or edited by AI is considered cheating.
  • All the text submitted for evaluation must be written by the student.

Proper Source Usage in Written Student Work

  • The following guidelines are called the "Chicago author-year" style and are taken directly from "Søk & Skriv," where one can also find several examples for other types of citations: https://www.sokogskriv.no/referansestiler/chicago-forfatter-aar.htmlLinks to an external site.Links to an external site..
  • References should be placed directly in the text in the following format: parentheses, author's last name, space, year of publication, comma, space, page number, parentheses, period. If there are more than three authors, only the first author is mentioned, followed by et al. (et al. = Latin, and others) in the running text.
  • Referencing can be done either by direct quotation, paraphrasing, or general reference to the work.

Examples:

  • Inclusion is a dimension where we see variation among different types of political regimes (Dahl 1971, 11).
  • This discussion has mainly focused on ethnic diversity, economic inequality within social groups, and inequality between social groups (Ivarsflaten and Strømsnes 2013, 323).
  • Offensive realism and neorealism are two variants of the realist theory in international politics (Mearsheimer 2001; Waltz 1988).
  • The degree of ethnic diversity correlates positively with the likelihood of civil war (Jones et al. 2011, 23–25).

Guidelines for the Bibliography

The bibliography should appear at the end of the assignment and include only sources cited in the main text. The reference list should follow the format requirements outlined below, which include examples of how to reference the most common sources (for one or more authors): books, book chapters, articles, and internet sources.

  • The reference list should be written with the authors alphabetically ordered (by the first author when there are multiple authors).

  • When you have several works by the same author, they should be arranged by publication year in ascending order: the oldest first, the newest last.

  • When listing multiple works by the same author consecutively, replace the author's name with an em dash: —.

  • Use a hanging indent in the reference list, meaning all lines after the first in each entry are indented, for example:

    Carr, Edward Hallett. 1985. The Bolshevik Revolution, 1917-1923. Vol. 1 of History of the Russian Revolution, 1917-1923. New York: Norton.

    Foster, John Bellamy, and Robert W. McChesney. 2012. The Endless Crisis. New York: Monthly Review Press.

    Vertiainen, Juhana. 2001. “Understanding Swedish Social Democracy: Victims of Success?” In Social Democracy in Neoliberal Times: The Left and Economic Policy Since 1980, edited by Andrew Glyn, 34-57. New York: Oxford University Press.

The following guidelines are called the "Chicago author-year" style and are taken directly from "Søk & Skriv," where you can also find a variety of examples for other types of citations: http://sokogskriv.no/kildebruk-og-referanser/referansestiler/chicago-forfatter-aar/Links to an external site..

Examples:

Book

  • Format: Last name, First name. Year of publication. Title. City of publisher: Publisher.
    • Example: Klass, Morton. 1995. Ordered Universes: Approaches to the Anthropology of Religion. Boulder: Westview Press.

Book with Two Authors

  • Format: Last name, First name, and First name Last name. Year of publication. Title. City of publisher: Publisher.
    • Example: Foster, John Bellamy, and Robert W. McChesney. 2012. The Endless Crisis. New York: Monthly Review Press.

Chapter in Edited Book

  • Format: Last name, First name. Year of publication. “Chapter title.” In Book title, edited by First name Last name, pages of the book chapter. City of publisher: Publisher.
    • Example: Vertiainen, Juhana. 2001. “Understanding Swedish Social Democracy: Victims of Success?” In Social Democracy in Neoliberal Times: The Left and Economic Policy Since 1980, edited by Andrew Glyn, 34-57. New York: Oxford University Press.

Book in Multi-Volume Work

  • Format: Last name, First name. Year of publication. Title. Volume number of Title. City of publisher: Publisher.
    • Example: Carr, Edward Hallett. 1985. The Bolshevik Revolution, 1917-1923. Volume 1 of History of the Russian Revolution, 1917-1923. New York: Norton.

Article in Printed Periodical

  • Format: Last name, First name. Year of publication. “Title.” Name of Journal Volume number, (issue number): pages.
    • Example: Obstfeld, Maurice. 1998. “The Global Capital Market: Benefactor or Menace?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 12, (4): 9-30.

Article in Electronic Periodical

  • Format: Last name, First name. Year of publication. “Title.” Name of Journal Volume number, (issue number): pages. URL/DOI.
    • Example: Ween, Gro, and Simone Abram. 2012. “The Norwegian Trekking Association: Trekking as Constituting the Nation.” Landscape Research 37, (2): 155-171. doi: 10.1080/01426397.2011.651112.

Article in Internet Newspaper

Internet Page without Author

Internet Page with Author

18.08.2025