Is Masters Degree or Master’s Degree Correct
Is masters or master’s degree correct? Is it masters or master’s degree? The correct way of spelling these two words is with the apostrophe. In fact, the s in the word master’s actually indicates a possessive. In other words, it is about the degree of a master. The only case when you are supposed to capitalize master is when you’re speaking regarding a specific title: Master of Science.
To tell you the truth, the same rules should be applied to a bachelor’s degree. As a matter of fact, it is not necessarily inevitable for you to be a bachelor in order to get a bachelor’s degree. However, you ought to be good at demonstrating mastery for getting a master’s degree. Due to the fact that you should make sure you know how to spell the degree you have in a correct way, try not to misspell them as bachelors degree and masters degree.
Bear in mind, master’s degree is spelled with an apostrophe because you can be awarded this degree exclusively in case you’ve got enough knowledge in a particular field. As a result, you can be called a master of this certain area of study.
Example: Jane made up her mind to enroll in the Oxford University for getting a master’s degree.
When you need to refer to a degree in a specific field, don’t forget to leave out the s and the apostrophe. Capitalizing of both the field and the word “master” is what you’re supposed to do.
Example: Basically, writing a thesis is considered to be the last essential step before you are allowed to get awarded a Master of Arts degree in the field of Linguistics.
Quite often, such terms as Master of Sciences, as well as Master of Arts, are abbreviated. Truly speaking, the rules how you can do it are different from each other and depend upon the university you study in or the style guide you use.
Bachelor’s Degree or Bachelors Degree
Obviously, when it comes to bachelor’s degree, it should also follow the spelling rules that concern master’s degree. If you’re talking regarding the degree in general, there is no need to capitalize it, and the bachelor’s ought to be written as a possessive.
Example: If you’re not eager to persevere in studying, you’ll never be able to get a bachelor’s degree.
When it comes to a specific degree, you should capitalize not only the word bachelor, but the field of study, too.
Example: Thanks to studying at a prestigious college, he has managed to get awarded with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.
What is the correct way of writing masters degree?
In order to provide you with an answer to this question, I’ve made up my mind to consult the MLA Handbook that was specifically written for writers of research papers. Apart from that, I needed to look into a few university dissertation guidelines.
When it is about speaking generically, you’re supposed to write master’s degree:
- Julian has in the long run succeeded in earning his master’s degree.
Concerning a specific degree, don’t forget to capitalize Master:
- She was studying at State University and thanks to this, she holds a Master of Fine Arts.
Bear in mind, before abbreviating academic degrees, make sure that you resort to checking the style book due to the fact that it governs your work.
To illustrate, these are the guidelines you can find on the site of Ohio University:
- For abbreviating academic degrees, remember to use periods.
- Ex. Dr. Epp received his M.A. Ph.D., and A.B. from the University of Pennsylvania.
On the contrary, in accordance with Northeastern University, namely the MLA guide, a writer ought to drop the periods. To tell you the truth, there is only one exception and it regards the word Honorary since it should be Hon.
It is important to mention that according to Wikipedia, not all universities prefer using the same abbreviations concerning the master’s degree.
