Tried and true methods of composing a dissertation

Writing a dissertation can be an extremely stressful time for students. The sheer time, effort and knowledge required is a very tall task. But the good news is that your professors have deemed you capable enough of tackling this mammoth task. Now, dissertations cannot be written overnight, and require months, and sometimes years, of planning and execution. This article will go through the tried and true methods of composing a top-notch thesis that is sure to bring you success.

Plan

Before you start composing your work, you need to adequately plan your work. The best way to plan for a thesis is to jot down what you roughly aim to write in each section of your work. This will ensure that you keep on track when you are writing your actual work, and that you have a framework for reference if you are stuck when writing your work.

Another aspect of dissertations that many students find hard to cope with, is the fact that, for many pieces, there is no set due date by when you should finish. This means many students can find it hard to plan and write without knowing a specific date by which their work is due. The way to counter this is to simply create your own due date! Since dissertations are to be written over a period of many months, set your own schedule. For example, you could aim to complete your methodology by a certain month, and another section by the end of another month. What this does is ensure that you know exactly what you have to complete and by when.

Topic

This is another area many students falter at, and it is choosing a topic to write about for their thesis. What trips up many students is the fact that they are told to write about something that is ‘original’. Many students mistake this for researching and writing about something completely revolutionary to their field.

However, this is not the case or aim of a dissertation. You need to remember that all theses are built upon existing research. Improving an already existing method can be counted as ‘original’. It does not necessarily need to be something that is completely groundbreaking.

Research

You need to gather good sources to include in your paper. Your paper needs to implement the latest literature and research pertaining to your topic. The introduction of your paper will talk about the latest research that has happened in your field, as you need to give background information about the topic you are writing about.

The best place to find the latest literature is to visit journals devoted to your topic. This is an open source for which literature is constantly submitted and updated by academics. Many times you will need to pay to access the literature, but it is an investment worth making. This will also further your knowledge into your topic, and many times you may see something that was not covered during lectures.

Editing

Editing and proof reading is a large part of writing paper. Due to their sheer size, it is best to tackle the editing section by section. Focus on one section and look out for the following:

• Punctuation and grammar
• Whether or not the structure makes sense and your writing flows logically
• If you have included the correct sources