Dissertation Writing Guide: Structure and Content
Key Tips for Dissertation Writing
A dissertation is a scientific work with manuscript rights, which contains the results of theoretical and experimental research. It is being prepared for the defence of obtaining a scientific degree: Candidate of Sciences or Doctor of Sciences. Preparation for the defence of a dissertation is a long-term process that involves several stages:
- preliminary work on the preparation of the dissertation itself (identification of a relevant scientific task and registration of the topic, conducting research, visual presentation of results, etc.);
- writing and designing a dissertation;
- preparation of the dissertation abstract (a concise summary of the dissertation for distribution);
- sending about 100-150 copies to scientific organisations for feedback;
- pre-defence of the dissertation after obtaining a preliminary examination;
- submission of scientific work to the Academic Council;
- preparation for the public defence of the dissertation.
When deciding how to write a doctoral dissertation or research to obtain the status of a candidate of sciences, the most difficult thing to decide is the choice of a specialised academic council or a scientific supervisor. These persons largely determine the course of writing the work. They can provide real consulting help or, conversely, discourage enthusiasm with endless revisions. However, you can avoid all the hard work and get a perfect dissertation without any effort. To do this, you need to find a writing service and order your work from a professional writer. Use this blog to know more about this. In such a way you’ll be able to do another job and solve other issues.
Dissertation Writing Guide
Any dissertation begins with defining the idea that will need to be presented on the pages. This is quite a complex mental process. It requires a clear understanding of the ultimate goal and the goals to be achieved.
Also, an important rule in the list of tips is to remember the purpose of the research. A dissertation is always a qualifying work. It should contain an innovative, breakthrough approach in a certain field of science or practice.
The mistake of many applicants is to underestimate the importance and complexity of the work. Because of this, they exaggerate their abilities. A PhD thesis is not just a lot of pages of typed text interspersed with tables and formulas.
It is important for a candidate’s thesis:
- setting new tasks;
- reflection of new views or interpretations of already known task statements;
- proposal of original and effective solutions to the researched problems.
Therefore, determining the reasons for protecting research work is crucial. If you have sufficient interest and motivation, you can significantly simplify the writing process.
Where to Get Information for Writing
First, the candidate should consult the materials of dissertations, essays, and monographs that researchers have already written on the topic.
This is required for:
- Examining the approaches of other researchers to the problem, determining which areas have not yet been studied and need additional qualitative analysis.
- By studying other people’s works on a topic you are interested in, you can create your idea and outline your way to solve the problem.
- View what literature the authors used in their work and also study it;
- A dissertation that has already been written and defended can serve as a sample for you.
Common Mistakes When Writing Dissertation Research
Based on world practice, we can highlight the following errors:
- Plagiarism. The presence of illegal borrowings in the dissertation. It is not permissible to violate the lower limit on uniqueness.
- Insufficient number of publications with research results. Most often, this happens because there are problems with choosing the right magazine.
- Grammatical, syntactic, and punctuation errors. Of course, isolated cases will not affect anything. But i’ll-read text and grammatical mistakes spoil the impression of your work.
- Use in the sources of items that are not mentioned in the main part. And also, the design of links and footnotes that are forgotten or ignored in the bibliographic list.
Top of the list is the irrelevance of the topic, and this dooms the research to failure.
Practical Tips for Working on a Dissertation
The first tip in dissertation writing is to always have a plan. Moreover, its working version must be compiled at the very beginning. It is important to write down the schedule not only with points of the thesis but also with deadlines. This makes it easier to navigate, organise work, not miss the main thing and not be distracted by unnecessary things.
The main guideline always remains the observance of copyright and the absence of plagiarism, regardless of the topic of the research. The required percentage is very high, so you need to specify the link correctly. To avoid misunderstandings, it is important to check your text for uniqueness.
The Commission does not condone factual errors, distortion of data and use of unverified information. To avoid such a scenario, you need to use official, verified sources.
An important recommendation is to write a conclusion parallel to the introduction and do it after the main text is ready. That way you won’t miss the main point, and you’ll maintain logic.
Final Thoughts
The result of the work is a list of the obtained results and developed recommendations. If the research team makes any intermediate or main conclusions, there is no need to list all the findings. Focus on some of the most important ones and reflect them in detail in the general conclusions.
Pointing out the unsolved tasks in the research will be a manifestation of the author’s culture and level of competence. Such a complete, objective conclusion will serve as a bonus for the defence.
A full-fledged dissertation also includes a properly formatted list of literature, a comprehensive plan, presentation material, an abstract, and a review. You should not neglect any of the elements. All these are components of the way to a successful defence.
