Thesis Guide for the Smeal College of Business
The Schreyer Honors College has a description of the honors thesis and offers advice about how to choose a topic, find an advisor, and budget one’s time (located at https://www.shc.psu.edu/academic/thesis/).
ADVISORS: A useful resource may be Advising the Senior Thesis, by Ken Kirpatrick, Sheila Reindl, Christine Cozzens; for a synopsis see Linda Simon’s adaptation at: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/sr.html.
The Thesis
The Schreyer Honors College states that the goal of the undergraduate honors thesis is to “demonstrate a command of relevant scholastic work and to make a personal contribution to that scholarship.”[1] As the Honors College further explains, “a thesis is problem-oriented and identifies something of importance whose answer or best interpretation is not fully known or agreed-upon by people who make their careers in the field, and it proceeds towards the answer or best interpretation.”
The thesis is likely to be one of the most challenging and rewarding assignments of a student’s undergraduate career. In the process of identifying a topic, narrowing a topic to a specific question, formulating and articulating a cohesive hypothesis, collecting and analyzing data, and generating inferences, students will build on what they have learned in their coursework, gain insights into scholarship and methods pertaining to their major, and develop their talents as writers and thinkers. Once the thesis is completed students will have the satisfaction of presenting their work publicly and knowing they have produced a work of scholarship that will be permanently archived in the Penn State Library system.
The Smeal College of Business expects honors theses to be based on thorough research and to offer an original interpretation. The nature and extent of the research may vary according to the question pursued and the field of study. Students are also expected to situate their research and analysis within the scholarship of the field and to clearly articulate and support the significance of their project and its contribution. Students whose work involves extensive research should be careful not simply to present a narrative or an inventory of their sources, but to center the thesis on the analysis and interpretation of their research in such a way that their thesis makes an argument. Advisors should help determine the appropriate balance between primary and secondary research and between presentation of the evidence and interpretation. Ultimately, students should remember that an acceptable honors thesis is not an extended term paper but a piece of social scientific research. Since the various business disciplines are applied in nature to have relevance to the broader business community, Smeal honors theses are expected to be empirical in nature: students should gather and analyze data as part of the thesis process to offer an (at least partial) answer to their primary research question.
[1] See the Schreyer Honors College academic information for more general best practices on the thesis process.
Length
A typical Smeal thesis length is 40‐100 pages of text (300 words/page), plus the bibliography and notes. The text must be double‐spaced.
References and Bibliography
You must identify the source of every quotation and every idea, conclusion, or inference you have drawn from the work of another author or source. You are free to choose the form of the footnotes or endnotes, but you must be consistent. Consult a guide such as the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations; The Chicago Manual of Style; and A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.
The thesis must include a complete bibliography citing all the materials used for the thesis. See the above source for format.
Style and Usage
The thesis is a formal piece of scholarly writing. Do not use colloquial expressions or contractions. Remember that the thesis is important—it is a source of pride and will be archived. Go over the final draft and correct awkward phrasing; be sure to eliminate all errors in typing, spelling, and grammar.
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Schedule of Key Dates for the Smeal Honors Thesis
Three Semesters before Graduation (SPRING SEMESTER OF STUDENT’S THIRD YEAR)
A Thesis Proposal is due to the Schreyer Honors College in the spring semester of the third year—typically April 15th for those planning to graduate in the spring of their fourth year (i.e., if the student is planning to graduate in Spring 2027, the proposal is filed in Spring 2026). The Thesis Proposal outlines the scope of the proposed research and any special needs the student might have to pursue this topic, for examples, the need to travel to archival collections or order microfilm.
This proposal will be approved by (1) the thesis supervisor (that is—the Department faculty member who will be your primary advisor on the thesis), (2) the honors advisor (who can also serve as the thesis supervisor, but then an additional reader will need to approve the thesis), and (3) the Schreyer Honors College. This means the student must have a fairly well defined topic and thesis supervisor one full year before the thesis is due. BA 412H is an elective honors course offered by the Smeal College that is partially designed to help students meet this objective.
It is incumbent upon the student—in the months preceding the time of submission of Thesis Proposal—to identify and approach a faculty member of their department as a potential thesis supervisor, someone whose field is relevant. Ideally, this is someone whom the student already knows. The student should explain their research interests and ask the faculty member to serve as thesis supervisor. Students are not permitted to ask a retired (i.e., emeritus, emerita) faulty member to serve as a thesis supervisor.
Narrowing down your list of potential thesis supervisors should really be done, at the latest, during the second semester of your third year (to give you plenty of time to have investigatory conversations).
As required, all theses should be read and reviewed by the thesis supervisor, your department’s honors advisor, and perhaps, a secondary reader. Again, a secondary reader is only required if your thesis supervisor is also your department’s honors advisor.
There are many opportunities to apply for scholarships to study abroad and to conduct thesis research in the summer following the third year. All Schreyer Honors College students are strongly encouraged to apply for such funding to pursue thesis research full‐time over the summer following their third year.
One Year before Graduation
The student will be enrolled in the equivalent of two semesters of study in the final year of enrollment. The student registers for XXX 494H twice (first (usually fall) semester of thesis research/writing and second (usually spring) semester of thesis research/writing). You should arrange regular meetings with your thesis supervisor advisor in order to meet the requirements for 494H. By registering for the 494H sequence, students will earn 6 honors credits total (which will count toward the required 14 for the junior/senior block) for writing their thesis.
General Advice: The more time the readers have to read the student’s work the better they can comment, and the more the student can benefit from their expertise. Expect the need for significant revisions. Be considerate of your supervisor’s busy schedule and recognize the constraints of your own schedule. Try to complete sections of the thesis ahead of the suggested schedule—the sooner you have a complete draft, the better.
The following schedule offers a guide for the spring semester of the fourth year:
| End of Semester Week | Thesis Milestone |
| 2 | First Third |
| 5 | Second Third |
| 7 | Final Third |
REGARDING THE SECOND READER: A second reader is another Penn State Faculty member, who has specialized knowledge in the thesis topic, and agrees— by the request of the student and/or the thesis supervisor / honors advisor—to read the thesis draft and offers constructive guidance and advice. The second reader provides a helpful supplementary role, and the Smeal College encourages thesis writers to seek out, and garner the advice of, an appropriate second reader.
Unless the thesis supervisor and departmental honors advisor are the same person, a second reader is not required for thesis approval, but, again, such input is greatly encouraged. It is recommended that the student contact the intended second reader no later than the second month of the final semester.
The student will receive a grade from the thesis supervisor (then passed along and recorded by the honors advisor) for 494H based on the quality of the student’s thesis as well as the student’s participation in meetings.The following steps are needed to successfully complete an Honors Thesis in the Smeal College of Business:
- A complete draft of the Honors Thesis must be filed with the Schreyer Honors College in early March for spring graduation or early November for fall graduation as part of a format review.
- A complete draft of the Honors Thesis is required to be submitted to the thesis supervisor and honors advisor (or second reader) no later than three weeks prior to the final Schreyer Honors College deadline for thesis submission to be eligible to graduate with honors from the Smeal College of Business. Exceptions to this requirement will only be granted in extenuating circumstances.
- In early April for spring graduation or late November for fall graduation, the final version of the Honors Thesis must be submitted to the Schreyer Honors College through the Student Records System. The thesis supervisor and honors advisor (or second reader) will review the submission and either accept or reject the submitted version of the Honors Thesis. The Smeal College of Business upholds rigorous standards for the Honors Thesis, and a thesis may not be approved if it is not deemed to be up to those standards.
Final Note: Only those students whose full thesis draft is submitted to the thesis supervisor and honors advisor at least three weeks prior to the final Schreyer Honors College deadline are permitted to file their thesis with the Schreyer Honors College. If the student’s thesis is deemed insufficiently developed, the student may be asked to defer graduation or to forego graduating with honors.
After Thesis Submission
To receive final approval of the Honors Thesis with the Schreyer Honors College, students in the Smeal College of Business are required to publicly present their thesis research in one of the following venues:
- Smeal Research Poster Session
- Penn State Undergraduate Research Exhibition
- Non-PSU Undergraduate Research Conference
The appropriate venue should be selected by the student with advice from their thesis supervisor and/or honors advisor.
Approved: 01-10-15
Revised: 01-24-18
Revised: 02-06-20
Revised: 01-03-22
Revised: 08-25-25