Using Word Effectively while Writing Your Thesis or Dissertation As an efficient tool for authors, Microsoft Word can be incredibly helpful while you write your thesis or dissertation, but only if it is used effectively with an understanding of its…
Using Full Stops Effectively in Abbreviations for Your Thesis or Dissertation
Using Full Stops Effectively in Abbreviations for Your Thesis or Dissertation Academic and scientific writing tends to make frequent use of abbreviations to express a wide variety of concepts and terms as concisely as possible, so it is very likely…
Using the Past Tenses of English Verbs in Theses and Dissertations
Using the Past Tenses of English Verbs in Theses and Dissertations Thesis and dissertation students who struggle with writing English prose that effectively presents their research often have difficulties when it comes to conjugating verb tenses. In this post, I…
Designing the Perfect Title for Your Thesis or Dissertation
Designing the Perfect Title for Your Thesis or Dissertation Visibility and accessibility are key issues to keep in mind when you are designing a title for your thesis or dissertation. Most researchers will find your work, or not, via the…
What Should I Record While Reading Sources for My Thesis?
Taking Useful Notes while Consulting Sources for Your Thesis or Dissertation Chances are that you will be reading many scholarly sources, both primary and secondary, print and digital, as you work on your thesis or dissertation. The time you spend…
Tips for Describing Methodology in a Thesis or Dissertation
Tips for Describing Methodology in a Thesis or Dissertation Writing excellent scholarly text is challenging, and this is particularly the case if you are new to the composition of long and complex research-based documents, as many thesis and dissertation students…
Writing for Your Thesis or Dissertation Supervisor for the First Time
Writing for Your Thesis or Dissertation Supervisor for the First Time There is no universal rule regarding when a thesis or dissertation student should submit the first piece of formal writing to his or her supervisor or primary mentor, or…
Crises and Progress When Writing a Thesis or Dissertation
Crises and Progress When Writing a Thesis or Dissertation There will be crises during the thesis or dissertation process. This is so often the truth that those very few exceptions to the rule come as rarities too delightful to bring…
What Not To Do while Writing a Thesis or Dissertation
What Not To Do while Writing a Thesis or Dissertation Admittedly, there are so many things that postgraduate students should not do while writing a thesis or dissertation that a short post on the topic is little more than a…
Thinking and Reading Critically as a Thesis or Dissertation Student
Thinking and Reading Critically as a Thesis or Dissertation Student Since the ability to think critically is often among the skills attained while achieving an undergraduate degree, it may seem that there is little more to learn in this regard…
Rules for Using Relative Pronouns Correctly in Your Thesis or Dissertation
Rules for Using Relative Pronouns Correctly in Your Thesis or Dissertation The use of relative pronouns is often necessary when producing the kind of formal prose required in a scholarly thesis or dissertation, but using relative pronouns correctly can be…
Scheduling the Dissertation and Producing a Timeline
Scheduling the Dissertation and Producing a Timeline Although some doctoral candidates will reject the idea of a rigid schedule, hoping instead for their research and writing to rush ahead at their own speed towards a satisfactory conclusion, the fact is…
Thesis and Dissertation Support Groups and Writing Buddies
When Going It Alone Is Not the Answer when Writing your Thesis or Dissertation Advanced students writing theses and dissertations rarely proceed in a vacuum without assistance from their supervisors and committee members. No matter how conscientious and encouraging such…
Preparing Effectively for Your Thesis or Dissertation Examination
Preparing Effectively for Your Thesis or Dissertation Examination The examination that determines whether a thesis or dissertation will be approved and the candidate awarded the degree he or she has been working towards for years usually stands as a particularly…
How To Make the Most of Direct Quotations in Your Thesis or Dissertation
How To Adjust, Introduce and Discuss Quotations in Your Thesis or Dissertation When the words of writers or speakers are directly quoted in academic and scientific theses and dissertations, it is usually because those words are exactly what the students…
Planning a Presentation for Your Thesis or Dissertation Examination
Planning a Presentation for Your Thesis or Dissertation Examination Long before you walk into the final examination of your thesis or dissertation, you should know exactly what is expected of you during that examination. Ignorance of your responsibilities will not…
Turning a Critical Eye on Language and Logic in Your Thesis or Dissertation
Turning a Critical Eye on Language and Logic in Your Thesis or Dissertation The language and more so the logic of your thesis or dissertation have probably received critical attention and undergone revisions as you drafted chapters and worked with…
Varying the Structure of Sentences for an Interesting Thesis or Dissertation
Varying the Structure of Sentences for an Interesting Thesis or Dissertation As long as the meaning is clear, the problems, concepts and details described and discussed by academics and scientists may be intellectually stimulating regardless of exactly how individual sentences…
Drafting Your Thesis or Dissertation and Finding Your Perfect Proofreader
Drafting Your Thesis or Dissertation and Finding Your Perfect Proofreader If you are busy drafting chapters of your thesis or dissertation for your supervisor and discovering just how many aspects of a long research text require exacting attention to achieve…
How to Convert Your Thesis or Dissertation into a Journal Article
How to Convert Your Thesis or Dissertation into a Journal Article Successful publication is a vital aspect of an academic or scientific career, so it is an excellent idea to publish your thesis or dissertation as soon as possible either…
Publishing Your Thesis or Dissertation through a University Press
Publishing Your Thesis or Dissertation through a University Press Although discussions about the gradual decline of university presses have been relatively common in recent years, many university presses are not only still producing excellent publications on a regular basis, but…
Carving the Best from Your Thesis for a Publishable Journal Article
Carving the Best from Your Thesis for a Publishable Journal Article When you are in the process of using the work from your thesis or dissertation to write a publishable article for an academic or scientific journal, one of the…
Helpful Tips for Turning a Thesis or Dissertation into Journal Articles
Helpful Tips for Turning a Thesis or Dissertation into Journal Articles Transforming a doctoral thesis into one or more publishable articles is not simply a matter of cutting interesting parts out of the thesis and pasting them together into a…
Designing Research Methods for a Thesis or Dissertation
Designing Research Methods for a Thesis or Dissertation The methods used to conduct advanced research may not be as various as research topics are, but they are undoubtedly numerous. In addition, research methods are always multiplying, with established methods undergoing…
Preparing To Write about Research Results in a Thesis or Dissertation
Preparing To Write about Research Results in a Thesis or Dissertation Meaningful results or findings, the more significant the better, are the primary goal of the advanced research conducted by academics and scientists. This is certainly true of the research…
Explanatory Notes and Thesis Statement Examples for Research Papers
Explanatory Notes and Thesis Statement Examples for Research Papers Thesis statement examples for research papers are especially useful tools for university students because many of the essays and other assignments that must be completed in order to earn course credit…
Creating a Perfect Thesis or Dissertation Title
Every PhD dissertation requires a title, and a good title can have a profound effect. The title is the very first part of your dissertation to be read by your committee members and examiners, and it also serves as one…
Adding a Bibliography and Supplementary Material
Adding a Bibliography and Supplementary Material Although a bibliography may not be strictly necessary when full references are provided in footnotes or endnotes, a list of complete bibliographical references is normally required in a PhD thesis, regardless of the documentation…
Reading Sources and Finding Your Academic Niche when Writing a Thesis
Reading Sources and Finding Your Academic Niche when Writing a Thesis Although most researchers are delighted to discover sources that present information associated with their own research interests, areas of expertise and preferred topics, ‘delight’ is not usually the first…
Footnotes & Endnotes: Advice on Placement, Format & Writing Style
Footnotes & Endnotes: Advice on Placement, Format & Writing Style Footnotes and endnotes are generally placed where they are most relevant in the main text, which usually means immediately after the material to which they pertain, but, as a general…
Footnotes and Endnotes for Adding Extra Material to a Thesis or Dissertation
Footnotes and Endnotes for Adding Extra Material to a Thesis or Dissertation If you are using an author–date or numerical documentation system rather than footnotes or endnotes for providing references in your thesis, you may nonetheless want to make use…
What Should I Include in the Introduction to My Thesis or Dissertation?
Introducing Background, Original Contributions and Ethical Considerations Providing background information on the topic, problem or phenomenon investigated in doctoral research is an important part of a proposal (or thesis) introduction. This information can take many forms depending on the topic…
PhD process: Introducing Methods, Context, Aims and Objectives
PhD process: Introducing Methods, Context, Aims and Objectives | Tips on How to Write a PhD Thesis Among the many purposes of a proposal (or thesis) introduction is a brief description of the methods and approaches that will be adopted…
Introducing Research Questions & Hypotheses in a Proposal or Thesis
Introducing Research Questions & Hypotheses in a Proposal or Thesis Not all proposals (or theses) introduce explicit research questions and hypotheses, but most doctoral research is based on questions and hypotheses whether they are openly stated or not. Research questions…
Introducing the Topic, Its Significance and Your Conceptual Framework
Introducing the Topic, Its Significance and Your Conceptual Framework One of the primary purposes of the introduction in a thesis proposal (as in the thesis itself) is to identify the topic, problem or phenomenon on which the proposal and ultimately…
Writing about Research Goals and Procedures in Your Thesis or Dissertation
Writing about Research Goals and Procedures in Your Thesis or Dissertation Clarity and precision of both thought and writing are essential in a proposal (or thesis) introduction, because everything that follows depends to some degree on that introduction. You may…
Reading with Critical Eyes for Your PhD Thesis or Dissertation
Critical Thinking about Sources when Writing your PhD Thesis or Dissertation While you are taking notes to record the content of a source that you think you may use in your dissertation, it is always important to think critically about…
Coping Effectively with Writer’s Block To Draft Your Thesis
PhD Dissertation: Nipping Writer’s Block in the Bud One of the most effective means of coping with the frustrating and sometimes frightening barrier to progress known as writer’s block is never to give it the chance to develop. An excellent…
Why You Should Take the Time To Format Your Thesis or Dissertation Well
Why You Should Take the Time To Format Your Thesis or Dissertation Well Although the way in which you format the many elements of your PhD dissertation may not seem as important as the intellectual content (the research, results and…
Thesis Student Responsibilities for a Successful Degree
Thesis Student Responsibilities for a Successful Degree Among the many matters discussed between you and your PhD supervisor, the deadlines within which both of you will need to work and the responsibilities that each of you are taking on should…
Benefitting Fully from Committee Feedback
Benefitting Fully from Committee Feedback Receiving feedback on drafts of your dissertation chapters may at times seem a mixed blessing, but it can be a positive and beneficial experience if you cope with it effectively. Since the usual procedure is…
Planning the Dissertation: Contents and Structure
Planning the Dissertation: Contents and Structure | Tips on How to Write a Thesis or Dissertation Every successful PhD dissertation involves careful planning, and in most cases a doctoral candidate will be expected to produce a preliminary outline of the…
The Student–Supervisor Relationship I: Meeting and Working
The Student–Supervisor Relationship I: Meeting and Working The parameters of the PhD student–supervisor relationship vary to such an enormous extent among students, supervisors, departments and universities that it is impossible to generalise about individual experiences. However, it is fairly safe…
Writing an Effective Thesis or Dissertation Abstract | Academic Advice
Writing an Effective Thesis or Dissertation Abstract | Academic Advice There are several matters to keep in mind while writing an abstract for a PhD dissertation. An academic or scientific abstract should briefly and comprehensively summarise the contents of your…
Recording Useful Content when Reading for Your Thesis or Dissertation
Recording Useful Content when Reading for Your Thesis or Dissertation A primary reason why many PhD candidates take notes is to record the useful content they find in previous publications. Such notes are only useful, however, if they are both…
Efficient Note-Taking Practices for Your Doctoral or PhD Research
Efficient Note-Taking Practices for Your Doctoral or PhD Research Although taking notes may seem to some doctoral candidates rather old school, and certain PhD dissertations will require a lot less note taking than others, taking notes remains an excellent means…