DCU's Taught Dissertation/Project Guidelines for Supervisor and Student place the responsibility in one sentence: "The success or failure of the dissertation project is the responsibility of each student." Your supervisor guides you and reads agreed parts of your work, but does not proofread and does not give feedback on full drafts. Here is what DCU's own documents say about supervision, submission, ethics and help from others, checked 22 October 2026.
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The guidelines come from the Office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs and carry no date. They apply to dissertations and projects on taught undergraduate and postgraduate awards, and they are a framework: programmes can build their own guidelines on them, and where a programme has none, these guidelines give direction to students and staff. Some parts still contain placeholders for a programme to fill in, which tells you to look for your own module guidance as well.
Every student has an academic supervisor, a lecturer from the School that runs the programme. If the project is industry-related, you may have a second supervisor at the company, but an academic supervisor is always required.
A fictional example of a commentYour conclusion says the measure works, but your interviews mainly show how staff experience it. Could you limit the conclusion to what your data can show?
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Try the free previewAccording to the guidelines, the supervisor discusses the work schedule and plans progress with you, advises on general aspects of the project, talks through any ethical issues, attends interim presentations or oral examinations where the programme has them, and gives feedback on your performance during the project. On drafts, the supervisor reads elements of the dissertation, such as chapters, as agreed in the schedule, and gives feedback in good time.
Decisions about what to do are made together with the supervisor, but it is not the supervisor's role to make sure the tasks get done. Ultimately, the guidelines say, it is the student's dissertation.
The guidelines include a short list of what the supervisor is not responsible for. The first item is "Proof reading drafts for grammatical and spelling mistakes", and the same item rules out feedback on full drafts of the dissertation or project. Arranging supervision sessions is also not the supervisor's job: they follow the agreed schedule.
In practice this means the complete dissertation, read from beginning to end, may not pass through your supervisor's hands before you submit it. How the chapters hang together, whether the conclusion answers the question you set, whether the method chapter matches what you actually did: those are things you have to check yourself, or with a reader your programme allows.
Your supervisor calls a first meeting where the topic is discussed and a schedule of meetings agreed, and the guidelines suggest a Gantt chart for planning and a checklist for each meeting. A careful record of every meeting, with dates, agreed actions and deadlines, is to be agreed between you and your supervisor.
If the relationship becomes difficult, discuss it at a meeting first. If that does not solve it, the matter goes to the Module Coordinator, Project Leader or Programme Chair, and either of you can raise it, as soon as possible.
All students have to comply with DCU's ethics policies, and the guidelines add: "In the event that ethical issues arise within the study, these must be brought to the attention of the supervisor immediately." Guidance is then sought from the right people in the School, the Faculty and, at university level, under the Research Ethics Committee.
The School of Communications handbook (2024-25) shows how submission works there: "Submissions made via Loop will include an electronic equivalent of the academic integrity / plagiarism declaration form". Submitted work and theses may be reviewed electronically for plagiarism and collusion. Detailed guidance on the project itself comes from your module: "Detailed guidelines on preparation and presentation of theses, dissertations and final-year projects are issued separately by the lecturers through the relevant modules."
On extensions, the same handbook says: "Extensions / late submissions are facilitated at the discretion of the lecturer." Other Schools set their own procedure, so read your programme handbook.
The Writing Centre, part of Student Advice and Learning Skills, offers free one-to-one sessions: "The Centre is not a proofreading or editing service, but rather works with students to strengthen their abilities as writers, and encourages them to become editors of their own work." On the people you meet, the page says: "Our Academic Writing Coaches are studying at PhD level and are trained and supervised by the Learning Skills Advisers." You send your brief and the work you have so far before the appointment.
DCU's Academic Integrity Policy (version 5.3) counts as misconduct "Submitting work as your own for assessment, which has been done in whole or in part by someone else", including work produced by a third party for a fee. For research theses there is a separate, explicit rule in DCU's Academic Regulations for Postgraduate Degrees by Research and Thesis: "The use of external professional individuals or organisations for proof-reading or copy-editing of theses on a paid basis is not permitted." That rule is written for degrees by research. It is not stated for taught dissertations or final year projects, so ask your supervisor what is acceptable on your programme. The Communications handbook adds a useful reminder: running a spell-check or grammar-check alone is not proofreading your work.
Esmond evaluates; it does not write. You upload your own draft and get comments in the margin plus a report that shows where your argument, method or use of sources is weaker, and why. It does not write or rewrite your text: it points to the weak spot and offers guidance on how to revise it. Where a comment includes an example, it illustrates a principle; the sentence you submit is one you write yourself.
DCU has no connection with Esmond and has not endorsed it. Esmond uses language models, so using it counts as AI use. Rules on AI vary by university, programme, module and assignment. Check your module or programme handbook before you upload, and if it is unclear, ask your supervisor or module coordinator and declare the use if your institution asks you to.
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This page summarises published institutional guidance and links to the original sources. It is not legal advice and not a ruling on your assignment: what your programme, module or supervisor sets always comes first.
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Under DCU's guidelines for taught dissertations and projects, the supervisor reads agreed elements such as chapters and is not responsible for feedback on full drafts or for proofreading. Your programme may set its own arrangement, so agree it at your first meeting.
For research theses, DCU's regulations say paid external proofreading and copy-editing are not permitted. For taught dissertations and final year projects that rule is not stated; work done in whole or in part by someone else is misconduct, so ask your supervisor first.
No. DCU has no link with Esmond and has not endorsed it. Esmond is an AI tool, so check what your module allows on AI before you upload, and declare any use the way your module asks.
Official guidelines, policies and handbooks, checked 22 October 2026. Quotations are word for word; the rest is our summary. Read the full text at the source.
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