What Not to Do When Writing a Thesis or Dissertation: A Practical Guide

What Not to Do When Writing a Thesis or Dissertation: A Practical Guide

Writing a thesis or dissertation is one of the most significant academic tasks a postgraduate researcher undertakes. It demands sustained intellectual commitment, careful organisation, methodological precision and clear scholarly communication. Yet it is also a process full of potential pitfalls—mistakes that can slow progress, undermine clarity, weaken arguments or create long-term structural problems that are difficult to fix.

Many guides focus on what students should do, but knowing what not to do is equally important. Avoiding common errors early can save countless hours of rewriting, reduce stress and strengthen the overall quality of your work. This article outlines major “don’ts” that apply across disciplines and explains why they matter, providing detailed examples relevant to humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering and applied research.

1. Do Not Begin Writing Without a Plan

One of the most damaging mistakes is beginning to write without a clear roadmap. Unlike shorter assignments, a thesis cannot be assembled through spontaneous inspiration. It requires a coherent argument across multiple chapters, each of which must contribute to the overall research narrative.

A strong plan should include:

• a preliminary table of contents;
• a list of research questions and how each chapter addresses them;
• chapter-level sub-sections;
• a rough sense of what evidence/supporting data belongs where;
• notes on how each chapter links to the next.

For example, a social-science dissertation might divide the findings chapter into:

• themes emerging from interviews,
• statistical correlations from survey data,
• triangulation of qualitative and quantitative insights.

Without this, writers often produce pages that later require deletion or heavy reorganisation. Planning dramatically reduces wasted work.

2. Do Not Base Your Structure on Research Instruments

Another frequent mistake is structuring results according to the order of survey questions, interview prompts or laboratory procedures. Instruments help collect data, but they do not dictate a scholarly narrative.

For example:

• Showing findings “Question 1, Question 2, Question 3…” looks mechanical and does not support argumentation.
• Presenting lab steps chronologically prevents emphasis on patterns, themes or meaning.
• Organising interview results participant-by-participant misses cross-case analysis.

Your findings should be structured around themes, research questions or conceptual categories. This shows synthesis, a core skill examiners evaluate.

3. Do Not Save Your Good Ideas “For Later”

Postgraduate writers often experience bursts of insight—interpretations, connections, theoretical links—only to lose them by the time they return to the chapter. Capturing ideas immediately is essential.

Strategies include:

• leaving placeholder notes in your draft (e.g., “Insert paragraph about X here”),
• keeping a dedicated “Ideas for Later Chapters” document,
• writing a short paragraph immediately even if placement is unclear,
• using voice notes when away from your desk.

Even if an idea does not belong where it emerged, you will have a draft to refine later.

4. Do Not Neglect Source Information

A surprisingly common and costly mistake is failing to record citation details at the moment you encounter them. Students often assume they will remember where quotations or findings came from, but memory quickly collapses under the weight of dozens or hundreds of sources.

Time-saving shorthand is acceptable, as long as it is meaningful to you:

• (Smith 2019, p. 44)
• (blue book p. 88)
• (third study – reliability section)
• (Donne, Flea, l. 3)

Inaccurate or forgotten citations lead to frustration, lost time, and—most serious of all—risks of unintentional plagiarism.

5. Do Not Hide Important Findings in Weak Positions

The placement of information strongly affects emphasis. Critical results buried at the end of a long sentence lose impact.

Weak phrasing:

“A and B aligned with expectations, but the most surprising finding was C.”

Stronger phrasing:

“The most surprising result was C. Unlike A and B, C suggests…”

Additionally, when presenting data using tables or figures, ensure they are:

• clearly labelled,
• numbered sequentially,
• explained directly in the text.

Avoid vague phrases like “the table above.” Instead write:

• “See Table 3 for the distribution of responses across all categories.”

This ensures clarity and reader comprehension.

6. Do Not Overload Your Thesis With Irrelevant Material

Many students mistakenly believe that more content equals stronger scholarship. In reality, irrelevant material weakens clarity and hides your argument under unnecessary detail.

To test relevance, ask:

• Does this directly support my research aims?
• Is this level of detail required or excessive?
• Does this belong in the main text or the appendix?

Quality always outweighs quantity in academic writing.

7. Do Not Ignore Logical Flow Between Chapters

A thesis should read as a cohesive document, not a collection of unrelated essays. Chapters must connect logically through transitional explanations.

Strengthen continuity by:

• opening each chapter with a preview of its goals,
• ending each chapter with a forward-linking paragraph,
• using parallel terminology across chapters,
• referencing earlier arguments when relevant.

For example:

“These methodological choices shaped the nature of the data analysed in Chapter Five.”

8. Do Not Write Entire Chapters Before Receiving Feedback

Writing in isolation for months can lead to structural mistakes that require large-scale rewriting. Supervisors prefer to review outlines, partial drafts or key sections early so they can guide your approach while changes are still manageable.

Regular feedback prevents:

• misaligned research questions,
• methodological inconsistencies,
• excessive literature summary,
• unsupported conclusions.

Frequent consultation keeps your project aligned with academic expectations.

9. Do Not Edit Either Too Early or Too Late

Good academic writing balances drafting and refining. Editing too early interrupts your creative flow, while editing too late creates enormous revision workloads.

Use phased editing:

• Stage 1: Free writing to explore ideas.
• Stage 2: Structural editing for chapter logic.
• Stage 3: Paragraph-level refinement.
• Stage 4: Sentence-level clarity and style.
• Stage 5: Grammar, punctuation, and formatting checks.

This staged approach keeps the writing process efficient and focused.

10. Do Not Neglect Backup and Version Control

Data loss is sadly common among postgraduate students. Devices fail, files corrupt and incorrect versions are sometimes saved over correct ones.

Prevent catastrophic loss by:

• saving your work in cloud storage,
• maintaining external backups,
• keeping multiple file versions (e.g., Chapter4_v3.docx),
• enabling automatic save features.

Losing even a single chapter can set research back for weeks or months.

11. Using AI Tools Responsibly During Thesis Writing

AI tools are becoming increasingly common in academic work, but universities and publishers now closely monitor similarity rates and generally prohibit any form of AI-assisted content creation. This includes generating text, re-paraphrasing ideas, rewriting arguments, or altering the structure of your academic prose. Even seemingly simple actions—such as paraphrasing, rewording or stylistic rewriting—can be classified as content generation, which many institutions strictly forbid.

Because of this, AI tools should never be used to produce, rewrite, paraphrase, summarise or expand any part of a thesis or dissertation. Your analyses, interpretations and explanations must remain entirely your own. AI usage must be limited to tasks that do not modify academic content, such as identifying spelling errors, highlighting punctuation issues, or pointing out unclear phrasing without rewriting it. Any use beyond surface-level proofreading risks violating academic-integrity requirements and may increase similarity scores during authorship checks.

If you need support improving clarity, style or coherence, the safest and academically compliant option is to work with a qualified human proofreader or editor. Human editors can refine language while preserving your original scholarship and ensuring compliance with institutional policies. Ultimately, your thesis must reflect your own academic thinking, with AI restricted strictly to non-creative, non-substantive proofreading tasks permitted by your university.

12. Final Thoughts

Writing a thesis or dissertation demands discipline, clarity, accuracy and consistent attention to scholarly standards. By knowing what not to do—and by avoiding the pitfalls outlined in this guide—you can save time, prevent unnecessary frustration and strengthen the quality of your entire research project.

A successful thesis is built not only from the ideas and data it contains but also from the decisions you make during the writing process. Avoiding common mistakes, practising responsible AI usage, maintaining strong organisation and consulting your supervisor regularly will support a smoother, more productive and more confident research journey.