What is a project report?

A Project Report is typically a study of publishing practice that emerges from MPub students’ professional placements. It is not, however, a simple summary of the student’s placement work. Instead, it is a critical discussion, analysis, or commentary on a specific aspect of the publishing industry, drawing on both the hands-on experience and professional knowledge you have accrued during your project placement andsupplementary research. 

A Project Report is typically around 10,000 words in length, not including notes and bibliography. The intended audience is future Publishing students and researchers. It should be written in a simple and direct style, with the goal of clearly communicating your ideas to readers who are familiar with the basics of publishing practice but will not necessarily know the specific contexts surrounding your chosen topic. This topic will ideally arise directly from the work completed during your professional placement, in collaboration with your Supervisor. 

It is impossible to understand the genre of the Project Report without reading some. All completed Project Reports are available in SFU’s Institutional Repository, Summit. Some project reports that are particularly clear examples of the genre are: 

• Cubbon, Kelly. Scrutinizing blurbs: How book cover endorsements highlight the centrality of marketing in publishing (2022)
• Fleerackers, Alice Louise. Mizuki Reimagined: Japanese-to-English Manga for the Young North American Reader 
• Hudnall, Ariel Breath. A Deeper Dive into the Cookbook Buyer: An Analysis of BookNet Canada Data and the Cookbook Industry
• McCarthy, Casey. Treasure hunting and storytelling: The role of picture research in publishing Simon Fraser University’s institutional memory
  
• Mills, Dana. An Inside Look at “Quietly” Helping MEC Launch Good Times Outside
• Miller, Monica. From Press to Imprint: Examining UBC Press’ Acquisition of Purich Publishing

Unlike essays for courses, the Project Report is not submitted for a grade. Instead, you will work closely with your Supervisor, Reader (a second faculty member from the Master of Publishing), and Industry Supervisor (generally your direct supervisor during your professional placement) to write a Project Report that meets the standards of the Master of Publishing. The Project Report is not complete until all three members of the Supervisory committee have signed off on it. That means that both the proposal and the report itself will require multiple rounds of revision. The timelines that follow take those revisions into account. 

Back to Master of Publishing Project Report Guidelines