21 June 2023

Earlier this month, the new tool for assessing legal master's theses went live. It will replace the old form on Intranet definitively from 10 July.

Why did we select this new tool?

• Accessibility: The first reviewer - supervisor or second reader - who reviews a certain thesis uploads the thesis (PDF) as well as any relevant information about thesis and student. The next person in line will receive a notification. This data can also be uploaded by a third party (coordinator or secretariat).
• Administration: The forms are linked to the files of enrolled master students; if you type in the student number, the name will appear. 
• Integration Turnitin: Plagiarism tool Turnitin is integrated in the form.
• Autosave: Everything you enter in the form is saved automatically every five seconds.
• Support: Administrative staff can enter some of the thesis data (apart from the assessment itself) and check which assessments are in the system.

The new tool will be leading from 10 July when the old thesis guidance form will be taken offline. Please take note of the following when working with the form:

• The texts - especially the English ones - still contain the occasional typo's, awkwardly phrased sentences, etc. The names of the educational programmes in the menus of the English version are also still in Dutch. All these issues will be addressed over the upcoming period.
• The layout of the PDF files of the completed forms will receive an update to make them more attractive and easier to navigate.
• The Turnitin tool is linked to the thesis supervisor form. It is not possible to save a form permanently until the Turnitin check has been completed. This also applies to the form of the second reader!
• The person who first completes an assessment form for a particular thesis is required to upload it in PDF format and add it to the online form. The online form system is also intended to serve as a thesis archive.

Those wishing to try out the form can do so using a 'fake' thesis assessment based on the data of test student 'Elkö Láudy' with student number 1234567.

Please note: the old form on Intranet will remain available until 10 July for thesis assessments that have yet to be completed. Please use the new tool for new thesis assessments from now on. 

More information and a link to the form can be found here. If you any questions, or any problems when using the thesis assessment tool, please contact LTC@law.leidenuniv.nl.