how do dissertations get marked

Dissertation Structure & Layout 101: How to structure your dissertation, thesis or research project.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Reviewed By: David Phair (PhD) | July 2019

So, you’ve got a decent understanding of what a dissertation is , you’ve chosen your topic and hopefully you’ve received approval for your research proposal . Awesome! Now its time to start the actual dissertation or thesis writing journey.

To craft a high-quality document, the very first thing you need to understand is dissertation structure . In this post, we’ll walk you through the generic dissertation structure and layout, step by step. We’ll start with the big picture, and then zoom into each chapter to briefly discuss the core contents. If you’re just starting out on your research journey, you should start with this post, which covers the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis .

*The Caveat *

In this post, we’ll be discussing a traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout, which is generally used for social science research across universities, whether in the US, UK, Europe or Australia. However, some universities may have small variations on this structure (extra chapters, merged chapters, slightly different ordering, etc).

So, always check with your university if they have a prescribed structure or layout that they expect you to work with. If not, it’s safe to assume the structure we’ll discuss here is suitable. And even if they do have a prescribed structure, you’ll still get value from this post as we’ll explain the core contents of each section.  

Overview: S tructuring a dissertation or thesis

• Acknowledgements page
• Abstract (or executive summary)
• Table of contents , list of figures and tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Results
• Chapter 5: Discussion
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Reference list

As I mentioned, some universities will have slight variations on this structure. For example, they want an additional “personal reflection chapter”, or they might prefer the results and discussion chapter to be merged into one. Regardless, the overarching flow will always be the same, as this flow reflects the research process , which we discussed here – i.e.:

• The introduction chapter presents the core research question and aims .
• The literature review chapter assesses what the current research says about this question.
• The methodology, results and discussion chapters go about undertaking new research about this question.
• The conclusion chapter (attempts to) answer the core research question .

In other words, the dissertation structure and layout reflect the research process of asking a well-defined question(s), investigating, and then answering the question – see below.

To restate that – the structure and layout of a dissertation reflect the flow of the overall research process . This is essential to understand, as each chapter will make a lot more sense if you “get” this concept. If you’re not familiar with the research process, read this post before going further.

Right. Now that we’ve covered the big picture, let’s dive a little deeper into the details of each section and chapter. Oh and by the way, you can also grab our free dissertation/thesis template here to help speed things up.

The title page of your dissertation is the very first impression the marker will get of your work, so it pays to invest some time thinking about your title. But what makes for a good title? A strong title needs to be 3 things:

• Succinct (not overly lengthy or verbose)
• Specific (not vague or ambiguous)
• Representative of the research you’re undertaking (clearly linked to your research questions)

Typically, a good title includes mention of the following:

• The broader area of the research (i.e. the overarching topic)
• The specific focus of your research (i.e. your specific context)
• Indication of research design (e.g. quantitative , qualitative , or  mixed methods ).

For example:

A quantitative investigation [research design] into the antecedents of organisational trust [broader area] in the UK retail forex trading market [specific context/area of focus].

Again, some universities may have specific requirements regarding the format and structure of the title, so it’s worth double-checking expectations with your institution (if there’s no mention in the brief or study material).

Acknowledgements

This page provides you with an opportunity to say thank you to those who helped you along your research journey. Generally, it’s optional (and won’t count towards your marks), but it is academic best practice to include this.

So, who do you say thanks to? Well, there’s no prescribed requirements, but it’s common to mention the following people:

• Your dissertation supervisor or committee.
• Any professors, lecturers or academics that helped you understand the topic or methodologies.
• Any tutors, mentors or advisors.
• Your family and friends, especially spouse (for adult learners studying part-time).

There’s no need for lengthy rambling. Just state who you’re thankful to and for what (e.g. thank you to my supervisor, John Doe, for his endless patience and attentiveness) – be sincere. In terms of length, you should keep this to a page or less.

Abstract or executive summary

The dissertation abstract (or executive summary for some degrees) serves to provide the first-time reader (and marker or moderator) with a big-picture view of your research project. It should give them an understanding of the key insights and findings from the research, without them needing to read the rest of the report – in other words, it should be able to stand alone .

For it to stand alone, your abstract should cover the following key points (at a minimum):

• Your research questions and aims – what key question(s) did your research aim to answer?
• Your methodology – how did you go about investigating the topic and finding answers to your research question(s)?
• Your findings – following your own research, what did do you discover?
• Your conclusions – based on your findings, what conclusions did you draw? What answers did you find to your research question(s)?

So, in much the same way the dissertation structure mimics the research process, your abstract or executive summary should reflect the research process, from the initial stage of asking the original question to the final stage of answering that question.

In practical terms, it’s a good idea to write this section up last , once all your core chapters are complete. Otherwise, you’ll end up writing and rewriting this section multiple times (just wasting time). For a step by step guide on how to write a strong executive summary, check out this post .

Need a helping hand?

Table of contents

This section is straightforward. You’ll typically present your table of contents (TOC) first, followed by the two lists – figures and tables. I recommend that you use Microsoft Word’s automatic table of contents generator to generate your TOC. If you’re not familiar with this functionality, the video below explains it simply:

If you find that your table of contents is overly lengthy, consider removing one level of depth. Oftentimes, this can be done without detracting from the usefulness of the TOC.

Right, now that the “admin” sections are out of the way, its time to move on to your core chapters. These chapters are the heart of your dissertation and are where you’ll earn the marks. The first chapter is the introduction chapter – as you would expect, this is the time to introduce your research…

It’s important to understand that even though you’ve provided an overview of your research in your abstract, your introduction needs to be written as if the reader has not read that (remember, the abstract is essentially a standalone document). So, your introduction chapter needs to start from the very beginning, and should address the following questions:

• What will you be investigating (in plain-language, big picture-level)?
• Why is that worth investigating? How is it important to academia or business? How is it sufficiently original?
• What are your research aims and research question(s)? Note that the research questions can sometimes be presented at the end of the literature review (next chapter).
• What is the scope of your study? In other words, what will and won’t you cover ?
• How will you approach your research? In other words, what methodology will you adopt?
• How will you structure your dissertation? What are the core chapters and what will you do in each of them?

These are just the bare basic requirements for your intro chapter. Some universities will want additional bells and whistles in the intro chapter, so be sure to carefully read your brief or consult your research supervisor.

If done right, your introduction chapter will set a clear direction for the rest of your dissertation. Specifically, it will make it clear to the reader (and marker) exactly what you’ll be investigating, why that’s important, and how you’ll be going about the investigation. Conversely, if your introduction chapter leaves a first-time reader wondering what exactly you’ll be researching, you’ve still got some work to do.

Now that you’ve set a clear direction with your introduction chapter, the next step is the literature review . In this section, you will analyse the existing research (typically academic journal articles and high-quality industry publications), with a view to understanding the following questions:

• What does the literature currently say about the topic you’re investigating?
• Is the literature lacking or well established? Is it divided or in disagreement?
• How does your research fit into the bigger picture?
• How does your research contribute something original?
• How does the methodology of previous studies help you develop your own?

Depending on the nature of your study, you may also present a conceptual framework towards the end of your literature review, which you will then test in your actual research.

Again, some universities will want you to focus on some of these areas more than others, some will have additional or fewer requirements, and so on. Therefore, as always, its important to review your brief and/or discuss with your supervisor, so that you know exactly what’s expected of your literature review chapter.

Now that you’ve investigated the current state of knowledge in your literature review chapter and are familiar with the existing key theories, models and frameworks, its time to design your own research. Enter the methodology chapter – the most “science-ey” of the chapters…

In this chapter, you need to address two critical questions:

• Exactly HOW will you carry out your research (i.e. what is your intended research design)?
• Exactly WHY have you chosen to do things this way (i.e. how do you justify your design)?

Remember, the dissertation part of your degree is first and foremost about developing and demonstrating research skills . Therefore, the markers want to see that you know which methods to use, can clearly articulate why you’ve chosen then, and know how to deploy them effectively.

Importantly, this chapter requires detail – don’t hold back on the specifics. State exactly what you’ll be doing, with who, when, for how long, etc. Moreover, for every design choice you make, make sure you justify it.

In practice, you will likely end up coming back to this chapter once you’ve undertaken all your data collection and analysis, and revise it based on changes you made during the analysis phase. This is perfectly fine. Its natural for you to add an additional analysis technique, scrap an old one, etc based on where your data lead you. Of course, I’m talking about small changes here – not a fundamental switch from qualitative to quantitative, which will likely send your supervisor in a spin!

You’ve now collected your data and undertaken your analysis, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. In this chapter, you’ll present the raw results of your analysis . For example, in the case of a quant study, you’ll present the demographic data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics , etc.

Typically, Chapter 4 is simply a presentation and description of the data, not a discussion of the meaning of the data. In other words, it’s descriptive, rather than analytical – the meaning is discussed in Chapter 5. However, some universities will want you to combine chapters 4 and 5, so that you both present and interpret the meaning of the data at the same time. Check with your institution what their preference is.

Now that you’ve presented the data analysis results, its time to interpret and analyse them. In other words, its time to discuss what they mean, especially in relation to your research question(s).

What you discuss here will depend largely on your chosen methodology. For example, if you’ve gone the quantitative route, you might discuss the relationships between variables . If you’ve gone the qualitative route, you might discuss key themes and the meanings thereof. It all depends on what your research design choices were.

Most importantly, you need to discuss your results in relation to your research questions and aims, as well as the existing literature. What do the results tell you about your research questions? Are they aligned with the existing research or at odds? If so, why might this be? Dig deep into your findings and explain what the findings suggest, in plain English.

The final chapter – you’ve made it! Now that you’ve discussed your interpretation of the results, its time to bring it back to the beginning with the conclusion chapter . In other words, its time to (attempt to) answer your original research question s (from way back in chapter 1). Clearly state what your conclusions are in terms of your research questions. This might feel a bit repetitive, as you would have touched on this in the previous chapter, but its important to bring the discussion full circle and explicitly state your answer(s) to the research question(s).

Next, you’ll typically discuss the implications of your findings? In other words, you’ve answered your research questions – but what does this mean for the real world (or even for academia)? What should now be done differently, given the new insight you’ve generated?

Lastly, you should discuss the limitations of your research, as well as what this means for future research in the area. No study is perfect, especially not a Masters-level. Discuss the shortcomings of your research. Perhaps your methodology was limited, perhaps your sample size was small or not representative, etc, etc. Don’t be afraid to critique your work – the markers want to see that you can identify the limitations of your work. This is a strength, not a weakness. Be brutal!

This marks the end of your core chapters – woohoo! From here on out, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

The reference list is straightforward. It should contain a list of all resources cited in your dissertation, in the required format, e.g. APA , Harvard, etc.

It’s essential that you use reference management software for your dissertation. Do NOT try handle your referencing manually – its far too error prone. On a reference list of multiple pages, you’re going to make mistake. To this end, I suggest considering either Mendeley or Zotero. Both are free and provide a very straightforward interface to ensure that your referencing is 100% on point. I’ve included a simple how-to video for the Mendeley software (my personal favourite) below:

Some universities may ask you to include a bibliography, as opposed to a reference list. These two things are not the same . A bibliography is similar to a reference list, except that it also includes resources which informed your thinking but were not directly cited in your dissertation. So, double-check your brief and make sure you use the right one.

The very last piece of the puzzle is the appendix or set of appendices. This is where you’ll include any supporting data and evidence. Importantly, supporting is the keyword here.

Your appendices should provide additional “nice to know”, depth-adding information, which is not critical to the core analysis. Appendices should not be used as a way to cut down word count (see this post which covers how to reduce word count ). In other words, don’t place content that is critical to the core analysis here, just to save word count. You will not earn marks on any content in the appendices, so don’t try to play the system!

Time to recap…

And there you have it – the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows:

• Acknowledgments page

Most importantly, the core chapters should reflect the research process (asking, investigating and answering your research question). Moreover, the research question(s) should form the golden thread throughout your dissertation structure. Everything should revolve around the research questions, and as you’ve seen, they should form both the start point (i.e. introduction chapter) and the endpoint (i.e. conclusion chapter).

I hope this post has provided you with clarity about the traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below, or feel free to get in touch with us. Also, be sure to check out the rest of the  Grad Coach Blog .

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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36 Comments

many thanks i found it very useful

Glad to hear that, Arun. Good luck writing your dissertation.

Such clear practical logical advice. I very much needed to read this to keep me focused in stead of fretting.. Perfect now ready to start my research!

what about scientific fields like computer or engineering thesis what is the difference in the structure? thank you very much

Thanks so much this helped me a lot!

Very helpful and accessible. What I like most is how practical the advice is along with helpful tools/ links.

Thanks Ade!

Thank you so much sir.. It was really helpful..

You’re welcome!

Hi! How many words maximum should contain the abstract?

Thank you so much 😊 Find this at the right moment

You’re most welcome. Good luck with your dissertation.

best ever benefit i got on right time thank you

Many times Clarity and vision of destination of dissertation is what makes the difference between good ,average and great researchers the same way a great automobile driver is fast with clarity of address and Clear weather conditions .

I guess Great researcher = great ideas + knowledge + great and fast data collection and modeling + great writing + high clarity on all these

You have given immense clarity from start to end.

Morning. Where will I write the definitions of what I’m referring to in my report?

Thank you so much Derek, I was almost lost! Thanks a tonnnn! Have a great day!

Thanks ! so concise and valuable

This was very helpful. Clear and concise. I know exactly what to do now.

Thank you for allowing me to go through briefly. I hope to find time to continue.

Really useful to me. Thanks a thousand times

Very interesting! It will definitely set me and many more for success. highly recommended.

Thank you soo much sir, for the opportunity to express my skills

Usefull, thanks a lot. Really clear

Very nice and easy to understand. Thank you .

That was incredibly useful. Thanks Grad Coach Crew!

My stress level just dropped at least 15 points after watching this. Just starting my thesis for my grad program and I feel a lot more capable now! Thanks for such a clear and helpful video, Emma and the GradCoach team!

Do we need to mention the number of words the dissertation contains in the main document?

It depends on your university’s requirements, so it would be best to check with them 🙂

Such a helpful post to help me get started with structuring my masters dissertation, thank you!

Great video; I appreciate that helpful information

It is so necessary or avital course

This blog is very informative for my research. Thank you

Doctoral students are required to fill out the National Research Council’s Survey of Earned Doctorates

wow this is an amazing gain in my life

This is so good

How can i arrange my specific objectives in my dissertation?

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• Cookies & Privacy
• GETTING STARTED
• Introduction
• FUNDAMENTALS

Getting to the main article

Choosing your route

Setting research questions/ hypotheses

Assessment point

Building the theoretical case

Setting your research strategy

Data collection

Data analysis

CONSIDERATION TWO

Where to find the best marks.

Not every chapter, or every section of every chapter, is going to land you lots of nice marks, especially the particularly nice marks that are needed for a top grade. Some sections are fillers - necessary, but expected for a standard mark - whilst others give you the chance to show why your dissertation is significant, worthy of a higher mark. In Route #1: Replication-based dissertations , where these different sections are will depend on (a) the route you adopted (i.e., Route A: Duplication , Route B: Generalisation or Route C: Extension ) and (b) your specific dissertation focus. Therefore, in the sections that follow, we explain what you should consider based on whether you adopted Route A: Duplication , Route B: Generalisation or Route C: Extension :

Route A: Duplication

When following Route A: Duplication , there are three main areas to focus on to get a good mark: (a) justifying duplication; (b) the creation and execution of a strong sampling strategy; and (c) the appropriateness and accuracy of your statistical analysis and comparisons.

Justifying duplication

Presenting a strong justification to duplicate previous research is very important to getting a good mark when following Route A: Duplication because more often than not, duplication is not considered to be a sufficient contribution, whether you are a student performing a dissertation, or even a seasoned academic. Therefore, you need to stress, right from the start of Chapter One: Introduction , the importance of testing the reliability , internal validity and external validity of the original study, as well as any other reasons that are specific to your dissertation.

Creating and execution of a strong sampling strategy

As you'll know, when pursuing Route A: Duplication , you cannot always rely on applying the sample sampling strategy as the one used in the main journal article. However, the characteristics of the sample and population you study should mirror , as closely as possible, the ones used in the main journal article. This enables you to make close comparisons between the findings in the main journal article and those from your dissertation. For this reason, when writing up Chapter Three: Research Strategy , you need to pay close attention to explaining and justifying not only the strengths and weaknesses of your sampling strategy, but also the fit between your sampling strategy and the one followed in the main journal article. This will strengthen your case when discussing the generalizability of your findings (i.e., the external validity of your findings) in Chapter Five: Conclusion .

The appropriateness and accuracy of your statistical analysis and comparisons

Comparing your findings to those in the main journal article is particularly important in Route A: Duplication , so being able to make such comparisons in Chapter Four: Results is essential for a good mark. In addition, you need to remember that since you're doing a quantitative dissertation, the appropriateness and accuracy of your statistical analysis is vital to getting a good mark. You can succeed in everything you do up until this stage, and then perform the wrong analysis or interpret it incorrectly, failing to answer your research questions/hypotheses, which can seriously jeopardize the mark you're awarded for your dissertation. Now this doesn?t mean that you have to do fancy analysis. You just need to make the right choices, which means: (a) thoughtfully analysing your data, which leads to choosing the correct statistical tests (i.e., appropriateness ); and (b) accurately interpreting the results from these statistical tests in order to answer your research questions/hypotheses (i.e., accuracy ). These are things that you need to first explain and justify in the Data Analysis section of Chapter Three: Research Strategy , and then demonstrate throughout Chapter Four: Results .

Route B: Generalisation

When following Route B: Generalisation , there are three main areas to focus on to get a good mark: (a) the theoretical justification for your type of generalisation, (b) the external validity of your findings, and (c) the appropriateness and accuracy of your statistical analysis and comparisons.

The theoretical justification for your type of generalisation

As you?ll know, each approach within Route B: Generalisation is underpinned by different theoretical justifications (i.e., the reasons to carry out a treatment-based generalisation will be very different from a population-based generalisation ). This makes it particularly important to theoretically explain and justify your particular approach . More often than not, such theoretical justifications will come from a critical analysis of the main journal article or from your understanding of the literature (i.e., STAGE FIVE: Building the theoretical case ). In either case, high marks come from being able to theoretically justify the approach you have adopted, something you will do briefly in Chapter One: Introduction , but mainly in Chapter Two: Literature Review .

The external validity of your findings

Since the purpose of Route B: Generalisation is to make generalisations across populations, settings/contexts, treatments or time, demonstrating that your dissertation was externally valid is important to getting a good mark. To do this, you will need to explain in Chapter Three: Research Strategy how you reduced threats to external validity through the research strategy you set, as well as discussing how such threats could have affected your findings (i.e., something you will do in Chapter Four: Results and the Research Limitations section of Chapter Five: Discussion/Conclusion ).

You're doing a quantitative dissertation, so the appropriateness and accuracy of your statistical analysis is vital to getting a good mark. You can succeed in everything you do up until this stage, and then perform the wrong analysis or interpret it incorrectly, failing to answer your research questions/hypotheses, which can seriously jeopardize the mark you?re awarded for your dissertation. Now this doesn?t mean that you have to do fancy analysis. You just need to make the right choices, which means: (a) thoughtfully analysing your data, which leads to choosing the correct statistical tests (i.e., appropriateness ); and (b) accurately interpreting the results from these statistical tests in order to answer your research questions/hypotheses (i.e., accuracy ). These are things that you need to first explain and justify in the Data Analysis section of Chapter Three: Research Strategy , and then demonstrate throughout Chapter Four: Results . In addition, since the purpose of Route B: Generalisation is to make generalisations across populations, settings/contexts, treatments or time, comparing your findings with those in the main journal article is important for a good mark. Such comparisons will help to show the extent to which the results from your dissertation are similar to those of the main journal article (i.e., how far the results can be generalised to other populations, settings/contexts, treatments, or time; that is, how externally valid the hypotheses that were tested are).

Route C: Extension

When taking on Route C: Extension , there is a lot of potential to get high marks, especially when compared with Route A: Duplication and Route B: Generalisation , which do not have the same level of originality and independent thought . However, three areas in particular that you should focus on in order to get a good mark are: (a) the theoretical justification for your type of extension; (b) a thoughtful approach towards research quality; and (c) the appropriateness and accuracy of your statistical analysis.

The theoretical justification for your type of extension

As you'll know, Route C: Extension is more than just replication because the changes you make to components of the main journal article, such as the research design , constructs/variables , methods and measurement procedures , and/or data analysis approach adds a great deal more originality and independent thought to the traditional replication routes (i.e., compared with Route A: Duplication , and even Route B: Generalisation ). This makes it particularly important to theoretically explain and justify your particular approach within Route C: Extension (i.e., whether a population and context/setting-based extension , design-based extension or method or measurement-driven extension ). Such theoretical justifications can come a critical analysis of the main journal article or from your understanding of the literature (i.e., STAGE FIVE: Building the theoretical case ), or an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the research design, methods and measurement procedures used in the main journal article (i.e., STAGE SIX: Setting the research strategy ). In either case, high marks come from being able to theoretically justify the approach you have adopted, something you will do briefly in Chapter One: Introduction , but mainly in Chapter Two: Literature Review and the appropriate sections of Chapter Three: Research Strategy .

A thoughtful approach towards research quality

Whilst you will pick up more marks for carrying out a dissertation with greater originality and independent thought , this counts for little if your results cannot be trusted. Focusing on research quality is so important to a good mark in all approaches to Route C: Extension because of the changes that you make to the research strategy of the main journal article - whether some aspect of the research design , research methods and measures , or sampling strategy - any of which can significantly affect the quality of your findings. Implementing a thoughtful approach towards research quality means that you have carefully considered and incorporated all aspects of research quality into your research strategy (i.e., internal validity , external validity , reliability and construct validity ). By doing this, you demonstrate not only the ability to produce a dissertation with greater originality and independent thought, but also the ability to effectively carry out such a dissertation in the field. This makes the Research Quality section of Chapter Three: Research Strategy particularly important in your write up.

The appropriateness and accuracy of your statistical analysis

You're doing a quantitative dissertation, so the appropriateness and accuracy of your statistical analysis is vital to getting a good mark. You can succeed in everything you do up until this stage, and then perform the wrong analysis or interpret it incorrectly, failing the answer your research questions/hypotheses, which can seriously jeopardize the mark you're awarded for your dissertation. Now this doesn't mean that you have to do fancy analysis. You just need to make the right choices, which means: (a) thoughtfully analysing your data, which leads to choosing the correct statistical tests (i.e., appropriateness ); and (b) accurately interpreting the results from these statistical tests in order to answer your research questions/hypotheses (i.e., accuracy ). These are things that you need to first explain and justify in the Data Analysis section of Chapter Three: Research Strategy , and then demonstrate throughout Chapter Four: Results .

• Subject Guides

Academic writing: a practical guide

Dissertations.

• Academic writing
• The writing process
• Academic writing style
• Structure & cohesion
• Criticality in academic writing
• Working with evidence
• Referencing
• Assessment & feedback
• Reflective writing
• Examination writing
• Academic posters
• Feedback on Structure and Organisation
• Feedback on Argument, Analysis, and Critical Thinking
• Feedback on Writing Style and Clarity
• Feedback on Referencing and Research
• Feedback on Presentation and Proofreading

Dissertations are a part of many degree programmes, completed in the final year of undergraduate studies or the final months of a taught masters-level degree. 

Introduction to dissertations

What is a dissertation.

A dissertation is usually a long-term project to produce a long-form piece of writing; think of it a little like an extended, structured assignment. In some subjects (typically the sciences), it might be called a project instead.

Work on an undergraduate dissertation is often spread out over the final year. For a masters dissertation, you'll start thinking about it early in your course and work on it throughout the year.

You might carry out your own original research, or base your dissertation on existing research literature or data sources - there are many possibilities.

What's different about a dissertation?

The main thing that sets a dissertation apart from your previous work is that it's an almost entirely independent project. You'll have some support from a supervisor, but you will spend a lot more time working on your own.

You'll also be working on your own topic that's different to your coursemate; you'll all produce a dissertation, but on different topics and, potentially, in very different ways.

Dissertations are also longer than a regular assignment, both in word count and the time that they take to complete. You'll usually have  most of an academic year to work on one, and be required to produce thousands of words; that might seem like a lot, but both time and word count will disappear very quickly once you get started! 

Find out more:

Key dissertation tools

Digital tools.

There are lots of tools, software and apps that can help you get through the dissertation process. Before you start, make sure you collect the key tools ready to:

• use your time efficiently
• organise yourself and your materials
• manage your writing
• be less stressed

Here's an overview of some useful tools:

Digital tools for your dissertation [Google Slides]

Setting up your document

Formatting and how you set up your document is also very important for a long piece of work like a dissertation, research project or thesis. Find tips and advice on our text processing guide:

University of York past Undergraduate and Masters dissertations

If you are a University of York student, you can access a selection of digitised undergraduate dissertations for certain subjects:

• History  
• History of Art  
• Social Policy and Social Work  

The Library also has digitised Masters dissertations for the following subjects:

• Archaeology
• Centre for Eighteenth-Century Studies  
• Centre for Medieval Studies  
• Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies  
• Centre for Women's Studies  
• English and Related Literature
• Health Sciences
• History of Art
• Hull York Medical School
• Language and Linguistic Science
• School for Business and Society
• School of Social and Political Sciences ​​​​​​​

Dissertation top tips

Many dissertations are structured into four key sections:

• introduction & literature review

There are many different types of dissertation, which don't all use this structure, so make sure you check your dissertation guidance. However, elements of these sections are common in all dissertation types.

Dissertations that are an extended literature review do not involve data collection, thus do not have a methods or result section. Instead they have chapters that explore concepts/theories and result in a conclusion section. Check your dissertation module handbook and all information given to see what your dissertation involves. 

Introduction & literature review

The Introduction and Literature Review give the context for your dissertation:

• What topic did you investigate?
• What do we already know about this topic?
• What are your research questions and hypotheses?

Sometimes these are two separate sections, and sometimes the Literature Review is integrated into the Introduction. Check your guidelines to find out what you need to do.

Literature Review Top Tips [YouTube]  |  Literature Review Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]

The Method section tells the reader what you did  and why.

• Include enough detail so that someone else could replicate your study.
• Visual elements can help present your method clearly. For example, summarise participant demographic data in a table or visualise the procedure in a diagram. 
• Show critical analysis by justifying your choices. For example, why is your test/questionnaire/equipment appropriate for this study?
• If your study requires ethical approval, include these details in this section.

Methodology Top Tips [YouTube]  |  Methodology Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]

More resources to help you plan and write the methodology:

The Results tells us what you found out . 

It's an objective presentation of your research findings. Don’t explain the results in detail here - you’ll do that in the discussion section.

Results Top Tips [YouTube]  |  Results Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]

The Discussion is where you explain and interpret your results - what do your findings mean?

This section involves a lot of critical analysis. You're not just presenting your findings, but putting them together with findings from other research to build your argument about what the findings mean.

Discussion Top Tips [YouTube]  |  Discussion Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]

Conclusions are a part of many dissertations and/or research projects. Check your module information to see if you are required to write one. Some dissertations/projects have concluding remarks in their discussion section. See the slides below for more information on writing conclusions in dissertations.

Conclusions in dissertations [Google Slides]

The abstract is a short summary of the whole dissertation that goes at the start of the document. It gives an overview of your research and helps readers decide if it’s relevant to their needs.

Even though it appears at the start of the document, write the abstract last. It summarises the whole dissertation, so you need to finish the main body before you can summarise it in the abstract.

Usually the abstract follows a very similar structure to the dissertation, with one or two sentences each to show the aims, methods, key results and conclusions drawn. Some subjects use headings within the abstract. Even if you don’t use these in your final abstract, headings can help you to plan a clear structure.

Abstract Top Tips [YouTube]  |  Abstract Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]

Watch all of our Dissertation Top Tips videos in one handy playlist:

Research reports, that are often found in science subjects, follow the same structure, so the tips in this tutorial also apply to dissertations:

Other support for dissertation writing

Online resources.

The general writing pages of this site offer guidance that can be applied to all types of writing, including dissertations. Also check your department guidance and VLE sites for tailored resources.

Other useful resources for dissertation writing:

Appointments and workshops 

There is a lot of support available in departments for dissertation production, which includes your dissertation supervisor, academic supervisor and, when appropriate, staff teaching in the research methods modules.

You can also access central writing and skills support:

• << Previous: Reports
• Next: Reflective writing >>
• Last Updated: Apr 3, 2024 4:02 PM
• URL: https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/academic-writing

Dissertation Subject Guide

• Welcome to Dissertation guide!
• Choosing a topic
• Scoping searches
• What type of review?
• Methodology
• Search strategy
• Grey Literature
• Reference Management Software (Endnote etc.)
• Screening papers: PRISMA
• Critical Appraisal
• Data Extraction
• Data Synthesis
• Data Analysis
• Common errors to avoid
• Writing up dissertation

Welcome to the Dissertation guide!

Navigate by using the tabs on the left for the step by step process of writing your dissertation. This guide concentrates on systematic reviews and scoping reviews.

Throughout this guide there will be relevant links, ebooks, articles and videos 

the process

This is a step by step guide guide to help you through your dissertation process for systematic reviews, literature reviews and scoping reviews.

Writing a dissertation can seem daunting. But here's some basic steps to think about before you get started:

Needing help before you get started? Look at: 

Referencing, literature searching, learn smart: apps, tools and video tutorials, learn smart: organising your work, time management bites.

• Next: Choosing a topic >>
• Last Updated: Apr 23, 2024 2:22 PM
• URL: https://libguides.dundee.ac.uk/dissertation

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Mark my words: 10 tips for surviving the summer term marking influx

The 'glorious twelfth' for academics is upon us, open season for a tidal wave of incoming student assignments. How do we contend with this influx? My strategies fall into two camps: coping strategies for the here and now, and actions to ease the pain next time round.

Five tips for the short term

1) Mark little and often . With the best will in the world, I would defy anyone to mark more than four to five undergraduate dissertations of 8-10,000 words in a day. It takes me around an hour and a half to read and set down comments and arrive at a mark for each. Four will snaffle six hours for starters. There's also the question of fairness to the student: will you be able to concentrate and deal equitably with dissertation seven, as you did the day's first?

2) Commit to returning deadlines . Consider which assessments need to be returned soonest, for example to adhere to institutional agreements such as 'return of marked work within 20 working days'. If it can wait, then so be it. It also helps to mark batches of the same assignment to avoid dipping across levels, topics and assignment types.

3) Mark the work, not the student. Though it's worth adding that when my university brought in blind marking – with only a student number on the assessment not a name – our part–time, mature distance-learners insisted on putting names to work because they were proud of what they'd done.

4) Match up your words and numbers . If you write "excellent, faultless, 73%" be clear about why the student lost 27%. Always mark across the full 100 marks. If it's dire then don't let it by with more than 30%; if it really is (virtually) faultless, then why not a mark in the 90s? By and large, avoid (as the Beatles lyric ) number nine – 39%, 69% and so on – it's a hostage to litigation and dispute.

5) Be constructively critical . It's not our job to trip up students, but to reward and offer insight on how to improve next time. Personally, I favour text comments and overall pluses and minuses set down on a cover sheet. In this way, the student (and staff member) can make sense of, and justify, how they reached a particular mark. Finally, get a colleague to second mark fails and outstanding pieces and be sure to draw the external examiner's attention to them.

Five ways to improve assessment next time

1) Spread out hand-in dates . Embrace, where appropriate, formative assessments that take place in the first seven weeks of a module. Also consider implenting either/or submission deadlines – most of the courses I teach offer a choice of November or January.

2) Embrace variety of assessment . My vocational undergraduate courses encompass essays, group tasks, reports, individual reflective pieces, portfolios, posters, live project analysis and more. When designing assignments, think about what learning outcomes you are assessing and why, and ask yourself: is this an appropriate vehicle for doing so?

3) Go electronic where possible . Using a secure virtual learning environment such as Moodle automatically logs submission dates and times and makes it easy to track changes and return marked work. External examiners have open access to assessment material and it also reduces paper consumption and the chances of a slipped disc for the postman.

4) Exams aren't one size fits all. Open book papers, time-constrained tasks, online quizzes and multiple choice – yours doesn't have to be a bog-standard closed examination. In in doubt about which format is appropriate, remember again that assessment exists to facilitate learning – and make it so.

5) Make your feedback legible . You are not a doctor delivering an illegible prescription. My script is so poor that I provide handwritten comments using block capitals. At £9,000 tuition fees, the least we lecturers can do is provide readable and meaningful commentary to our students.

James Derounian is principal lecturer in community development and local governance at the University of Gloucestershire – follow him on Twitter @ArmenianJames

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional . To get more articles like this direct to your inbox, become a member of the Higher Education Network .

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What Is a Dissertation? | 5 Essential Questions to Get Started

Published on 26 March 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 5 May 2022.

A dissertation is a large research project undertaken at the end of a degree. It involves in-depth consideration of a problem or question chosen by the student. It is usually the largest (and final) piece of written work produced during a degree.

The length and structure of a dissertation vary widely depending on the level and field of study. However, there are some key questions that can help you understand the requirements and get started on your dissertation project.

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Table of contents

When and why do you have to write a dissertation, who will supervise your dissertation, what type of research will you do, how should your dissertation be structured, what formatting and referencing rules do you have to follow, frequently asked questions about dissertations.

A dissertation, sometimes called a thesis, comes at the end of an undergraduate or postgraduate degree. It is a larger project than the other essays you’ve written, requiring a higher word count and a greater depth of research.

You’ll generally work on your dissertation during the final year of your degree, over a longer period than you would take for a standard essay . For example, the dissertation might be your main focus for the last six months of your degree.

Why is the dissertation important?

The dissertation is a test of your capacity for independent research. You are given a lot of autonomy in writing your dissertation: you come up with your own ideas, conduct your own research, and write and structure the text by yourself.

This means that it is an important preparation for your future, whether you continue in academia or not: it teaches you to manage your own time, generate original ideas, and work independently.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

During the planning and writing of your dissertation, you’ll work with a supervisor from your department. The supervisor’s job is to give you feedback and advice throughout the process.

The dissertation supervisor is often assigned by the department, but you might be allowed to indicate preferences or approach potential supervisors. If so, try to pick someone who is familiar with your chosen topic, whom you get along with on a personal level, and whose feedback you’ve found useful in the past.

How will your supervisor help you?

Your supervisor is there to guide you through the dissertation project, but you’re still working independently. They can give feedback on your ideas, but not come up with ideas for you.

You may need to take the initiative to request an initial meeting with your supervisor. Then you can plan out your future meetings and set reasonable deadlines for things like completion of data collection, a structure outline, a first chapter, a first draft, and so on.

Make sure to prepare in advance for your meetings. Formulate your ideas as fully as you can, and determine where exactly you’re having difficulties so you can ask your supervisor for specific advice.

Your approach to your dissertation will vary depending on your field of study. The first thing to consider is whether you will do empirical research , which involves collecting original data, or non-empirical research , which involves analysing sources.

Empirical dissertations (sciences)

An empirical dissertation focuses on collecting and analysing original data. You’ll usually write this type of dissertation if you are studying a subject in the sciences or social sciences.

• What are airline workers’ attitudes towards the challenges posed for their industry by climate change?
• How effective is cognitive behavioural therapy in treating depression in young adults?
• What are the short-term health effects of switching from smoking cigarettes to e-cigarettes?

There are many different empirical research methods you can use to answer these questions – for example, experiments , observations, surveys , and interviews.

When doing empirical research, you need to consider things like the variables you will investigate, the reliability and validity of your measurements, and your sampling method . The aim is to produce robust, reproducible scientific knowledge.

Non-empirical dissertations (arts and humanities)

A non-empirical dissertation works with existing research or other texts, presenting original analysis, critique and argumentation, but no original data. This approach is typical of arts and humanities subjects.

• What attitudes did commentators in the British press take towards the French Revolution in 1789–1792?
• How do the themes of gender and inheritance intersect in Shakespeare’s Macbeth ?
• How did Plato’s Republic and Thomas More’s Utopia influence nineteenth century utopian socialist thought?

The first steps in this type of dissertation are to decide on your topic and begin collecting your primary and secondary sources .

Primary sources are the direct objects of your research. They give you first-hand evidence about your subject. Examples of primary sources include novels, artworks and historical documents.

Secondary sources provide information that informs your analysis. They describe, interpret, or evaluate information from primary sources. For example, you might consider previous analyses of the novel or author you are working on, or theoretical texts that you plan to apply to your primary sources.

Dissertations are divided into chapters and sections. Empirical dissertations usually follow a standard structure, while non-empirical dissertations are more flexible.

Structure of an empirical dissertation

Empirical dissertations generally include these chapters:

• Introduction : An explanation of your topic and the research question(s) you want to answer.
• Literature review : A survey and evaluation of previous research on your topic.
• Methodology : An explanation of how you collected and analysed your data.
• Results : A brief description of what you found.
• Discussion : Interpretation of what these results reveal.
• Conclusion : Answers to your research question(s) and summary of what your findings contribute to knowledge in your field.

Sometimes the order or naming of chapters might be slightly different, but all of the above information must be included in order to produce thorough, valid scientific research.

Other dissertation structures

If your dissertation doesn’t involve data collection, your structure is more flexible. You can think of it like an extended essay – the text should be logically organised in a way that serves your argument:

• Introduction: An explanation of your topic and the question(s) you want to answer.
• Main body: The development of your analysis, usually divided into 2–4 chapters.
• Conclusion: Answers to your research question(s) and summary of what your analysis contributes to knowledge in your field.

The chapters of the main body can be organised around different themes, time periods, or texts. Below you can see some example structures for dissertations in different subjects.

• Political philosophy

This example, on the topic of the British press’s coverage of the French Revolution, shows how you might structure each chapter around a specific theme.

This example, on the topic of Plato’s and More’s influences on utopian socialist thought, shows a different approach to dividing the chapters by theme.

This example, a master’s dissertation on the topic of how writers respond to persecution, shows how you can also use section headings within each chapter. Each of the three chapters deals with a specific text, while the sections are organised thematically.

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Like other academic texts, it’s important that your dissertation follows the formatting guidelines set out by your university. You can lose marks unnecessarily over mistakes, so it’s worth taking the time to get all these elements right.

Formatting guidelines concern things like:

• line spacing
• page numbers
• punctuation
• title pages
• presentation of tables and figures

If you’re unsure about the formatting requirements, check with your supervisor or department. You can lose marks unnecessarily over mistakes, so it’s worth taking the time to get all these elements right.

How will you reference your sources?

Referencing means properly listing the sources you cite and refer to in your dissertation, so that the reader can find them. This avoids plagiarism by acknowledging where you’ve used the work of others.

Keep track of everything you read as you prepare your dissertation. The key information to note down for a reference is:

• The publication date
• Page numbers for the parts you refer to (especially when using direct quotes)

Different referencing styles each have their own specific rules for how to reference. The most commonly used styles in UK universities are listed below.

You can use the free APA Reference Generator to automatically create and store your references.

APA Reference Generator

The words ‘ dissertation ’ and ‘thesis’ both refer to a large written research project undertaken to complete a degree, but they are used differently depending on the country:

• In the UK, you write a dissertation at the end of a bachelor’s or master’s degree, and you write a thesis to complete a PhD.
• In the US, it’s the other way around: you may write a thesis at the end of a bachelor’s or master’s degree, and you write a dissertation to complete a PhD.

The main difference is in terms of scale – a dissertation is usually much longer than the other essays you complete during your degree.

Another key difference is that you are given much more independence when working on a dissertation. You choose your own dissertation topic , and you have to conduct the research and write the dissertation yourself (with some assistance from your supervisor).

Dissertation word counts vary widely across different fields, institutions, and levels of education:

• An undergraduate dissertation is typically 8,000–15,000 words
• A master’s dissertation is typically 12,000–50,000 words
• A PhD thesis is typically book-length: 70,000–100,000 words

However, none of these are strict guidelines – your word count may be lower or higher than the numbers stated here. Always check the guidelines provided by your university to determine how long your own dissertation should be.

At the bachelor’s and master’s levels, the dissertation is usually the main focus of your final year. You might work on it (alongside other classes) for the entirety of the final year, or for the last six months. This includes formulating an idea, doing the research, and writing up.

A PhD thesis takes a longer time, as the thesis is the main focus of the degree. A PhD thesis might be being formulated and worked on for the whole four years of the degree program. The writing process alone can take around 18 months.

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Dissertation - Marking Criteria

The text below is an extract from the MSc handbook for students

Each dissertation is independently marked by two examiners; one of these is normally the supervisor. An external examiner moderates the assessment. The examiners may conduct an oral examination if they wish to check the depth of the student's understanding and to ensure that the dissertation is the student's own work. Students must obtain a pass grade on the dissertation to pass the MSc degree. The examiners give up to 100 points where the points translate to the following categories:

85 − 100:   An exceptionally high level of understanding and outstanding  research potential.

70 − 84.99:   Very high competence and excellent research potential.

60 − 69.99:   Evidence of some creativity and independence of thought.

50 − 59.99:   Sound understanding of the literature, but lack of accuracy or originality.

0 − 49.99:   Insufficient or no understanding of the topic, poor quality of work.  

The points are given according to the following guidelines:

Knowledge of subject (25)

21 − 25:   Deep understanding and near-comprehensive knowledge.

18 − 20:   Deep understanding.

15 − 17:   Very good understanding.

12 − 14:   Sound knowledge of relevant information.

10 − 11:   Basic understanding of the main issues.

0 − 9:   Little or no understanding of the main issues.

Organisation of material (25)

21 − 25:   Of publishable quality.

18 − 20:   Arguments clearly constructed; material very well-organised.

15 − 17:   Well-organised; aims met with no significant errors or omissions.

12 − 14:   Coherent and competent organisation.

10 − 11:   Lack of clarity in written presentation or aims only partially met.

6 − 9:   Major flaws in arguments; aims of project not met.

0 − 5:   Arguments are missing/deficient. Disorganised or fragmentary.

Originality, interpretation and analysis   (20)

17 − 20:   Significant originality in the interpretation and/or analysis;  project aims challenging.

14 − 16:   Some originality; evidence of excellent analytical and problem- solving skills.

12 − 13:   Good attempt to interpret and analyse existing literature.

10 − 11:   Minor flaws in interpretation/analysis of existing literature.

5 − 9:   Poor interpretation/analysis or project aims too simple.

0 − 4: Little or no interpretation or analysis; project aims trivial.

Evidence of reading (10)

8 − 10:   Independent reading including research papers.

6 − 7:    Good use of outside reading.

4 − 5:    Some evidence of outside reading.

0 − 3:    Little or no evidence of outside reading.  

Bibliography and referencing   (10)

9 − 10:   Of publishable quality.

7 − 8:    Good referencing and bibliography.

5 − 6:     Either poor bibliography or poor referencing.

3 − 4:    Poor bibliography and little or no referencing.

0 − 2:    No bibliography and little or no referencing.

Style, spelling, punctuation and grammar (10)

9 − 10:   Incisive and fluent, no errors of spelling, punctuation or grammar.

7 − 8:    Very minor errors of spelling, punctuation or grammar.

4 − 6:    Some errors of spelling, punctuation or grammar.

0 − 3:    Many errors of spelling, punctuation or grammar.

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Library Guides

Dissertations 1: getting started: starting your dissertation.

• Starting Your Dissertation
• Choosing A Topic and Researching
• Devising An Approach/Method
• Thinking Of A Title
• Writing A Proposal

What is a Dissertation?

A dissertation is a research project completed as part of an undergraduate or postgraduate degree. Typically, a dissertation will enable you to present your findings in response to a question that you propose yourself. It is probably the longest piece of academic work you will produce. At undergraduate level, word count requirements can range anywhere from 5,000 to 8,000 words while a Masters level dissertation can be 10,000 to 15,000 words long! 

Why are you required to write a dissertation? 

A dissertation is a core requirement of most university degrees. 

The dissertation will enhance your employability. For instance, you will develop transferable skills in inter-personal communication, data collection and analysis, report writing and effective time-management.  

While it is demanding, writing a dissertation is your chance to explore, in depth, a topic that interests you. Therefore, ensuring you choose a topic you are passionate about will make your experience more rewarding and even enjoyable! 

Supervision Advice

A supervisor will be assigned to you to assist with guidance on how to prepare, produce and improve your dissertation.  

The supervisor’s role is to: 

Assist in the organisation of the project in the early stages of preparation 

Advise you on the feasibility of what you plan to do 

Advise on methods and ethics of your research  

The supervisor is not expected to: 

Proofread your work 

Provide you with a topic or research question 

Direct the research  

Ensure that a dissertation is of sufficient quality to pass: this is your responsibility 

To get the best out of your time with your supervisor, you should: 

Check formal requirements early 

Check arrangements for supervisions and how your supervisor likes to work 

Organise regular supervision meetings and prepare work for each one 

Let your supervisor know how you work best 

Using Dissertation Marking Criteria

Your dissertation, like your previous assessments, will be marked against a set of assessment criteria which is published in your module or course handbook and posted on Blackboard.  

Assessment criteria are intended to: 

Ensure you meet the learning outcomes. 

Help you understand how your work is assessed. 

Allow tutors to focus their feedback. They will let you know what you are doing well and what needs improvement. 

Dissertation assessment criteria usually specifies what the tutor expects in terms of: 

Clarity: have you expressed your ideas clearly? 

Relevance: does your work fit into/fill a gap in existing research/literature on similar topics? 

Originality: does it offer a fresh perspective on a topic? 

Meeting course requirements: does it meet the word count / deadlines, for example? 

Before starting your dissertation, it is essential that you check what is expected of you and how your work will be graded. It is also useful to regularly check what you have written every few weeks and after you have finished to see if you are on track to meet the assessment criteria.  

First Steps

Ready to get started but uncertain how to begin? These are normally the first steps of dissertation writing:  

Choose a topic 

Conduct a literature search 

Devise research question(s) / hypotheses 

Devise your approach (e.g. if undertaking primary research, you will need to devise your methodology, methods, etc.) 

Think of a title 

Plan your time 

Write a proposal (if requested)

These steps are addressed in the tabs of this guide.

• Next: Choosing A Topic and Researching >>
• Last Updated: Aug 1, 2023 2:36 PM
• URL: https://libguides.westminster.ac.uk/starting-your-dissertation

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7 steps to writing a dissertation

While you may be experienced in revising and writing essays, your dissertation requires careful planning, extensive research, and time management to succeed

Your dissertation is a key part of your degree course and a testament to your ability to conduct research, analyse data, and write a clear argument. Dissertations can be challenging, but they are also rewarding experiences that allow you to explore a topic in-depth and make a significant contribution to your field of study.

To achieve your academic goals, it is important to act on feedback, use your supervision time to your advantage, and demonstrate a strong knowledge of your subject. Whether you're writing an undergraduate, Masters , or PhD dissertation, these seven steps can help you stay on track.

1. Choose your topic wisely

Selecting the right topic is the foundation of a successful dissertation. It is important to choose a topic that is:

• Relevant to your academic discipline and interests. This will ensure that you are passionate about your topic and have the necessary background knowledge to conduct meaningful research.
• Intriguing and thought-provoking . A well-chosen topic will inspire you to ask interesting questions and develop original insights.
• Specific enough to allow for in-depth analysis, yet broad enough to provide enough research material. A topic that is too narrow may be difficult to research or produce meaningful findings, while a topic that is too broad may be difficult to cover in the allowed time and word count.

Consider your career goals and what topics are relevant to the field you hope to work in after graduation. It's also important to be open to change, as it's common for students to modify their dissertation topic as they explore the subject more.

Once you have identified a potential topic, seek guidance from your supervisor. They can help you to refine your choice, identify relevant sources, and develop a research plan.

2. Check what's required of you

Read your marking criteria carefully. It is also important to consult the module guidelines and follow the instructions on any additional parts to your main assignment, such as a project plan, literature review or a critical reflection.

Neal Bamford, associate lecturer at London Metropolitan University, reports that his marking process always begins by 'distilling criteria to what students need to provide and how many marks this is worth.'

'Several dissertations I mark don't include a project plan in their submission. This is worth 20% of the overall mark, so students lose out on a significant portion of their grade'.

Before you begin to plan, make sure you understand what's expected of you. Find out:

• what academic writing looks like in your discipline
• the word count
• when and where you must submit your dissertation.

3. Conduct in-depth research

Research at this stage in the process is often referred to as a literature review. This is where you are expected to gather relevant sources, articles, and studies from libraries, and online academic resources to identify the existing research on your topic and to develop your own research questions.

'Form your own opinion and argue for it using research. A history of the topic is always helpful, as it shows that you understand how things got to this point in time,' says Neal.

Be sure to take careful notes on each source and organise them for easy reference. You need to critically evaluate and analyse the sources to ensure their credibility and relevance to your research. This will be helpful when citing your sources in the writing stage.

Don't forget to seek guidance from your advisor throughout the research process. They can provide you with valuable feedback, relevant sources, and support.

4. Develop a strong thesis statement

A well-defined thesis statement is a roadmap for your dissertation. It should concisely state your main argument or research question and provide a clear direction for your paper. Your thesis statement will guide your entire writing process, so take the time to fully understand it before you begin to write.

When writing a thesis statement:

• Be specific and focused - avoid broad or vague statements.
• Remember that your thesis needs to be arguable - it should be a statement that can be supported or proved false with evidence.
• Make sure your thesis is realistic - you need to be able to research and write about it in the allotted time and space.

Once you have a draft of your thesis statement, share it with your supervisor and other trusted peers. They can provide you with feedback and help you to refine your statement.

If your research disproves your original statement, it can be a disappointing experience. However, it is important to remember that this is a normal part of the research process.

'Many of my students believe that if they don't find the answer they're expecting, then their work is worthless,' says Neal.

'This is not the case. You don't have to find the answer to produce valuable research. Documenting your process and conclusions, even if they are inconclusive, can help others to avoid repeating your work and may lead to new approaches.'

5. Proofread and edit

After working on your dissertation for such a long time, it can be tempting to end the process once you have finished writing, but proofreading is an essential step in ensuring that it is polished and error-free.

To help with the proofreading process:

• Read your dissertation aloud . This can help you to catch errors that you might miss when reading silently.
• Change your environment to see your work with fresh eyes.
• Focus on one thing at a time such as grammar, spelling, or punctuation to avoid getting overwhelmed.

To edit your dissertation, begin by reviewing its overall structure and flow. Make sure that your arguments are well-organised and that your ideas are presented in a logical order.

Next, check your grammar, spelling, and punctuation carefully. You can use a grammar checker, but it is important to proofread your work yourself to identify stylistic or subject-specific errors.

'Make sure you understand the reference style your university prefers. Formatting and labelling of images, tables etc. is vitally important and will be marked,' says Neal.

You should also ensure that your dissertation is formatted using the correct font, font size, margins, and line spacing.

6. Seek feedback and finalise

Once you have made your final revisions, seek feedback from your advisor or board members.

To get the most out of your feedback, be specific about what you are looking for. For example, you might ask for feedback on the overall structure and flow of your dissertation, the strength of your arguments, or the clarity of your writing.

Be open to feedback, even if it's negative. Remember that your advisor is there to help you improve your work, so it's important to take the time to understand and implement the feedback you receive.

Once you have addressed all the feedback, you can prepare your final submission. It's important to follow the guidelines carefully before submitting. Be sure to hand in your dissertation on time, as late submissions may be penalised or even rejected.

Online hand in is the most common method of dissertation submission, and you will typically need to upload a PDF file to an online portal. Follow the instructions carefully - you may need to provide additional information, such as your student ID number or the title of your dissertation.

Some institutions still require dissertations to be submitted in hard copy. If this is the case, you will need to submit a bound copy of your dissertation to your department office. You may also need to pay the binding fee.

Be sure to check with your advisor or department office for specific instructions on how to submit your dissertation in hard copy. You may have to submit multiple copies of your dissertation, and you be required to to include a title page, abstract, and table of contents.

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Just got my dissertation grade back and I am gutted :-(

Icanonlytry · 28/01/2012 15:56

Can you investigate it and dispute it? If it is so out of character, it is worth looking into.

There should be separate reports from each of your markers and then an agreed feedback sheet to you. I would ask to see them (they cannot be witheld if you ask) as it might throw up discrepancies, or suggest, as Linerunner says that one of them hasnt read it properly. Normally UG dissertations are not marked externally as a matter of course but you can ask for it to go to a third internal marker as far as I know - most departments would do this. However, it would be better for you if you can put forward some reasons why you believe it deserved more than a 2:2 rather than just complaining. TBH if I marked a dissertation at 56% it would be quite poor and I would need to provide significant reasons why it was marked so low. I know its hard doing this with an infant - I've been there and you have my sympathies - but after three years you cant throw it away. Ask for an extension and then as Linerunner says, ask on here - its surprising how varied the knowledge is!

I am a lecturer (not in your field) and I agree with Mytholmroyd, it sounds like there is a big mismatch between the comments and the grade. In my field, a 56 for a dissertation would have comments that were more along the lines of 'your literature review demonstrated some familiarity with the field but the range of sources cited was too narrow and lacked engagement with theoretical perspectives' etc. I would get hold of a copy of the assessment criteria, map the comments against them, and query this. IME most students get their best mark for their dissertation, and it is very unusual for the mark to fall this far below their average. If it's not that an error has been made in marking it, then you might well have grounds for complaint about the adequacy of your supervision.

when I was choosing my title my supervisor said that certain types of dissertations cannot be marked high because the marking criteria was biased to other types so you could do a flawless lit based dissertation but never get a first in it because the criteria is aimed more at lab/field/survey based ones does that ring any bells?

I imagine that leadership doesn't need to be you leading but also being led, if that helps? The reflective account do you have notes of things you've done? As its reflective it can be based in the past and ML would be an understandable reason for it to be a fairly long time ago.

There are quite a few books on reflective writing, if that helps.

I have just received my UG dissertation result and I am devastated. The feedback has not been issued yet but I got 58% and this is 20% lower than my marks for the rest of the year. In the days leading upto the deadline I had a massive dispute with the old programme leader regarding the supervision and I feel really sabotaged... Surely I can't have got 20% less in this assignment than every other assignment this year! I was predicted a first class degree and now it's down the drain.....

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EPQs: writing up your dissertation

The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) is an opportunity for you to work independently on a topic that really interests you or that you think is important. It is equivalent to an A-level qualification. These articles are designed to help you if you are enrolled on an EPQ.

See previous article in series: Finding and using evidence

Writing up your dissertation.

Being able to communicate well is an essential skill for both university and working life. One of the aims of the EPQ is to help you develop your skills in using different communication tools, so you can communicate what you have found clearly and appropriately for different audiences.

Communication is also a vital part of the research cycle. The progress of research thrives on the exchange, review and discussion of ideas. Writing is one of the ways in which we communicate what we have found out and share it with others. 

Sharing the results of your research by writing well and effectively gives your readers the opportunity to learn from the work you have done.

This article offers suggestions and support for developing your skills in writing in the academic style that is needed for your EPQ dissertation.

Getting organised .

It’s worth considering a few practical points first. The start of writing is a good time to gather your material together and get yourself organised. 

• Don’t lose your work
• Timings & deadlines
• Organise your records
• Laying out the document
• Tables, graphs and charts

You don’t want to find yourself a few days – or hours – from the submission deadline when a computer breakdown or accident means you lose everything you’ve done.

It has happened before, and you don’t want it to happen to you!

Build a routine for backups into your work pattern. For example, when you sit down to write, save a copy (named, for example, Version 1, Version 2 ... Version 25 ...) of the existing document before you make any changes.

And back up your backup. Once a week, make a backup copy of your files (your dissertation, your notes and the resources you have collected) to an external hard drive, memory stick or cloud storage.

Work out how much time you have to write your dissertation, and how much time you want to allocate to each section. (There’ll be more on this shortly under ‘Structuring the dissertation – Start with the structure’.)

Make sure you know – and have written down! – the deadlines for submitting your dissertation, including deadlines for any draft versions your teacher might want to see. Use these to help plan your writing time.

There are many tools to choose from to keep yourself on track.  For example, you could create a table with a list of tasks.

Or you could make a simple Gantt chart, using a spreadsheet. If you use Microsoft Excel, it has some Gantt chart templates. The advantage of a Gantt chart is that it makes it easier to see how you can overlap some tasks, and you can mark important milestones such as submission deadlines .

As you have gone through the process of collecting and analysing the evidence you need to answer your research question, you will have gathered records of:

• what you looked for (the search terms you used in your searches)
• where you looked (search engines, websites, etc.)
• what you read / watched / listened to (academic papers, articles, videos, podcasts, etc.)
• the notes you made on your reading, listening and watching
• the data you have gathered.

All these sources contribute to the content of your written dissertation. Hopefully you have good records, but if you got a bit behind, now is the time to sort them out and remind yourself what you did and what you found out.

If you need a reminder of what information you need to keep, look back at  Article 2 – Finding and using evidence .

Organising your records and keeping a note of the sources you mention in the text as you write helps you build a comprehensive reference list.

There is more information on how to set out your reference list later in this article (see ‘Structuring the dissertation – Referencing styles’ ).

Laying out your document in a clear and neat style helps make your readers’ life easier.

For the  text , use a classic font such as Arial, Helvetica or Times New Roman. It’s best to avoid quirky fonts such as Comic Sans, or difficult to read fonts such as Lucida handwriting.

For easy reading, the  font  shouldn’t be too small. 11 or 12 point is a popular choice for the main (or body) text, which is usually black in colour. You can use larger fonts for headings and sub-headings, and perhaps make them bold or a different colour.

Generous margins also make the document easier to read. As a guide, around half the area of the page should be white space; on an A4 page, that means margins of about 2cm all round.

Use the paragraph styling tool . It’s well worth investing some time learning to use paragraph styling in  Microsoft Word  and  Mac Pages ; it can really speed up the creation of long documents and help you produce good-looking work.

This tool gives you control over the appearance of the text in your document. For example, you can use it to include automatic numbering for your headings ( Word  or  Pages ). This means you don’t have to manually change all the numbering if you insert a new heading or delete one that is no longer useful. You can also use automatic numbering for figure and table captions. Or, if you decide you don’t like the font you have used, you can change it in the paragraph style and it will be changed throughout the document.

Some kinds of evidence – such as numeric data – work well when displayed as graphs, charts and tables.

Readers should be able to make sense of the graph, chart or table without explanation.

Look at Table 2. Is it clear what information the creator wanted to share?

A better example can be seen below in Table 3:

Graphs and charts need titles too. They should also have axis titles (naming what is plotted on each axis, with the relevant units) and axis labels (the values plotted).

When it comes to plotting graphs, using different shapes or line styles can help readers distinguish different data points or collections of data on a single graph. You can use contrasting colours, but keep in mind that too many colours can be distracting for the reader. And some readers – for example, people who are colour-blind or have vision problems – might not be able to distinguish between certain colours, so choose carefully.

Look at Figure 3. Does it have all the elements of a good graph? Could anything be improved?

This has many of the requirements of a good graph. The title explains what the graph is about, the axes are labelled and the four search terms are each given their own colour, with a key to show which is which.

It could be made better by:

• making the graph larger, so that the four lines are more separate
• choosing different colours – the orange for ‘Perseverance’ and the yellow for ‘astrobiology’ are difficult to distinguish from each other.

Evidently, something interesting must have happened in mid-February to cause this spike in searches – you might remember that on 18 February 2021, the NASA Mars Perseverance Rover mission landed on Mars!

Structuring the dissertation .

Facing a blank page and the prospect of writing 5000 or so words can feel daunting. But you can structure the way you write to help make the task easier.

• Start with the structure
• Facing the blank page
• The narrative arc
• Finishing things off
• Referencing styles

Starting with the structure will help you consider how you want the dissertation to flow, and how to allocate your time and effort.

This example, taken from the Edexcel documentation, gives a suggested word count for the different sections of a ‘research review’ dissertation. All the exam boards publish their requirements, so you should  check the requirements for your board and the type of EPQ you are doing .

A ‘research review’ dissertation would probably follow something like the structure above. For other kinds of project, check with your teacher or look at the exam board’s requirements.  Knowing what structure the exam board is expecting helps you to know where to focus your effort.

In Table 4, you can see that the biggest section of the dissertation is the discussion/development/analysis of the argument, so it would make sense to spend the largest part of your writing time on this section. Look back at the Gantt chart under ‘Getting organised – Tables, graphs and charts’ for an example of time allocated in this way.

You’ve opened a new document.  You know the sections you need to include.

How do you get started on the sentences that will fill the gaps in between?  Two researchers offered suggestions from their experience.

Robert, a space scientist, says he usually works out the first paragraph in his head before sitting down to write.

• Ann’s summary

This is how Charlotte described her approach. First step, open a Word document!

Second step, write titles and sub-headings on the page. These can be working titles that you can come back to and polish once you have developed the document. But getting that structure down on the page is a key step for Charlotte in building the document and working out how the manuscript is going to flow. Once she’s broken the document up into sections, it feels much less daunting for her. Instead of starting at word one of six thousand, she’s working on smaller, more manageable chunks – word one of a hundred, or two hundred.

Step three is to write down the aims, objectives and scope of the document. And then she goes on to write the conclusions. And she says yes, that’s not a typo – if you’ve done a good job of researching the topic, developing the aims and objectives and making your notes, then writing the conclusion first should be relatively easy. The benefit of writing the end of your manuscript before the beginning is that you’re less likely to go off on tangents when you’re writing the rest of the manuscript, because you know where you’re heading.

If you feel you’ve thoroughly researched your topic and you’re still finding it hard to work out what your conclusions are, then it may be a good idea to turn your research notes into a presentation, during which you can ask yourself ‘what key message do I want the audience to walk away with?’, and that will be your conclusion.

Step five: write the remaining sections of the dissertation, justifying and building your arguments for each conclusion.

Charlotte’s main points

Charlotte’s steps are:

• Open a Word document!
• Write titles and sub-headings on the page.
• Write down the aims, objectives and scope of the document.
• Write the conclusion – ask yourself ‘what key message do I want the audience to walk away with?’
• Write the remaining sections, justifying and building your arguments for each conclusion.

Headings and sub-headings

Charlotte described how she likes to set up the headings and sub-headings that structure her writing, even though she knows they might change as the document develops.

Using descriptive headings, such as ‘The history of ...’ tells the reader what to expect in that section or chapter. This is sometimes called ‘signposting’, because the headings and sub-headings guide the reader around your work. 

As well as descriptive headings, you can number your headings and sub-headings: 

• Section 1: An introduction to… 
• Section 1.1 : The history of ... 

This means you can refer the reader back and forth (e.g. ‘see Section 1.2’), which cuts down repetition and wasted words.

Both approaches have the merit of getting something on to the blank page, which makes it look much less scary.

Whether you start with an opening paragraph, a set of headings, or another method that works for you, getting those first few words on the page is one of the biggest hurdles to clear.

Narrative – the story thread that runs through any piece of work we create – is important in any piece of writing.  Stories keep people’s attention, as storytellers have known for hundreds of years. Writers, broadcasters and podcasters continue to make use of this fact today.

One way to think about how you shape your story is to consider its narrative arc. Yes, even the most ‘science-y’ of dissertations has a story.

Click on the crosses on Figure 6 to find out more about the components of the narrative arc.

Figure 6   The narrative arc

Points on the narrative arc

Description : A parabolic curve representing the narrative arc of a story. The first half of the curve rises to a peak, showing the points that   build interest  in the story. The second half falls back to the baseline, showing how we  reflect   on the details of the story and bring it to a close.

– In the Introduction , attract the reader’s attention at the start, perhaps by telling them what got you interested in the question; a personal interest, an ambition or a desire to know more about a topic.

– In the Introduction , describe the journey to your research question. Make sure you do actually tell your reader what your question is (you’d be surprised how often people forget that!)

Information

– In the Research Review section, you show the reader how you found your evidence; tell them about the keywords you used, the mindmaps, flowcharts, tables you made; what information was important and what was not; what stayed in and what didn’t.

– This is your analysis of the material you found, showing how you pulled together the information you uncovered in your review and what it meant for your question. However, this isn’t an absolute rule; where you put the analysis depends on the kind of dissertation you are writing.

– Tell the reader what you found out and how it relates to what is already known.

– Use the Conclusion to round off your story. What’s the answer to your research question? What did you discover? What’s still not known?

There are a couple of sections of the dissertation that are best dealt with towards the end of the writing process: abstract and bibliography.

The abstract

At the beginning of the dissertation, you should provide a short summary or abstract.

An abstract is like a trailer for a film or television programme. It gives the reader a sense of what’s in the dissertation. However, unlike a trailer, it’s OK to give away the ending! Someone who only reads the abstract, and never looks at the dissertation, should still understand the scope of your work.

For this reason, it’s easier to write the abstract towards the end of your writing time, when you have a complete picture of your work in your mind.

The abstract is usually quite short (perhaps only 200 words) and is written in one paragraph. That’s not much space, so what should you include?

A typical abstract would tell the reader:

• why  you did this research –  the question you set out to answer
• how  you did the research –  the methods you used to collect the data and where you looked for it
• what  you found out –  a summary of your main findings
• the  key message  –  the answer to your question; if your readers could remember just one thing from your dissertation, this would be it.

One way to approach writing the abstract is to read through your dissertation section by section. For each section, write one or two sentences that summarise the main point. Click on ‘example’ to see what we mean.

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is growing rapidly among young people, but the usefulness and safety of some therapies is controversial. Therefore, I investigated the question: what are the best places to reach young people with information about CAM?

Using Google Scholar, I searched for articles using different combinations of these search terms: ‘alternative medicine’, ‘complementary medicine’, understanding, knowledge, motivation, CAM. I filtered the results to keep only articles that related to the use of CAM by young people. I defined ‘young’ as people under the age of 25. I downloaded twenty complete papers, articles and other resources from open access sources and the Open University research repository.

Use of CAM by young people has increased since 2000. Young women use CAM more than young men. The most common sources for getting information about CAM are friends and family and social media.

Key message

The best way to provide information for young people about CAM is through social media.

Take away the headings and polish the sentences and you have an abstract:

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is growing rapidly among young people, but the usefulness and safety of some therapies is controversial. Therefore, I investigated the question: what are the best places to reach young people with information about CAM? Using Google Scholar, I searched for articles using different combinations of these search terms: ‘alternative medicine’, ‘complementary medicine’, understanding, knowledge, motivation, CAM. I filtered the results to keep only articles that related to the use of CAM by young people. I defined ‘young’ as people under the age of 25. My search found twenty relevant papers, articles and other resources, which I downloaded from open access sources and the Open University research repository. My results show that young people’s most common sources for information about CAM are friends and family and social media. Therefore, I believe that using social media is the best way to provide information about CAM for young people.

The bibliography or reference list

The last thing to include in your dissertation is the bibliography or reference list * .

Your reference list shows the people who read (and mark!) your dissertation how well you have researched your subject and how your arguments are supported by evidence from other people’s research. 

It is also evidence of how you have been open and honest in your work. Readers can use it to find the sources that you used and check that you have read and used them correctly. 

Using your reference list, a reader should be able to find that source for themselves if they want to follow up an idea or check something you have written. Including a reference list helps you avoid plagiarism (passing off someone else’s work as your own), because readers can check the original source if they have any doubts.

If you need a reminder of what information you should keep, look back at  ‘Finding and using evidence – Keeping track’ .

* A reference list is a list of all references to other people’s work that you have mentioned in your dissertation. A bibliography is a list of references, plus the background readings or other material that you have read but not actually mentioned.

The Open University Library Services’  Referencing and plagiarism   page has lots of help and pointers to further information about references and referencing styles.

If you go on to study at university, and have to write essays, assignments and reports, you will be asked to set out – or ‘style’ – reference lists in a specific way. There are many different referencing styles; which one you are asked to use will depend on the subject you are studying and the university’s requirements.

For the EPQ, check the requirements of your exam board or ask your teacher what these are.

Even if you aren’t asked to use a specific style, you should aim to include as much information about the sources as possible. The minimum information would be:

• the authors’ (or creators’) names
• the year the source was published
• the title of the article or book chapter, or the name of the artwork, film or video
• the title of the journal or the book in which the article/chapter appeared
• for books – the name of the publisher
• for online sources – the name of the website and the page on which the article appeared, the URL of the website, and the date on which you read the article*.

*The date you found the article is important for online sources, as websites sometimes disappear or are changed. If the reader can’t find the same article but knows when you found it, that suggests they can trust the source.

These examples are laid out in the Harvard referencing style, which is a style used in many university subjects.

Books and ebooks

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title . Edition if later than first. Place of publication: publisher. Series and volume number if relevant.

Mukherjee, S. (2011)  The Emperor of all Maladies .  London: Fourth Estate.

Article from an academic journal

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) ‘Title of article’, Title of Journal , volume number (issue number), page reference. Doi: doi number if available OR Available at: URL (Accessed date)

Ungar, S. (2008) ‘Global bird flu communication: hot crisis and media reassurance’,  Science Communication ,  29(4), 472-497. DOI: 10.1177/1075547008316219

Article from a newspaper or magazine

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) ‘Title of article’, Title of Newspaper , Day and month, Page reference if available. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Rice-Oxley, M. (2021) ‘Do good things come to those who wait?’,  The Guardian ,  26 February. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/26/do-good-things-come-to-those-who-wait (Accessed 26 February 2021).

Organisation (Year that the page was last updated) Title of web page . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

BBC Online (2020) How New Zealand relied on science and empathy . Available at: bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-52344299 (Accessed 17 September 2020).

Writing clearly .

Good writing takes time, effort and energy. Being able to produce clear, readable, logical and well-argued pieces of writing is important in both university and in your working life.

• Precise & concise
• Keep it simple
• A word about style
• Quoting others

Blaise Pascal was a seventeenth-century mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher and writer.  He once wrote:

‘ Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte ’ .

–Blaise Pascal, Provincial Letters, Letter XVI, December 1656.

Translation:  ‘I wrote this very long [letter] because I didn’t have the time to make it shorter’.

What do you think Pascal meant by this?

Claire, whose research looks for evidence of how we might ‘ sniff’ for life , produced a mind map of what she thinks Pascal meant (Figure 9). The audio below describes her process.

Claire’s mind map takes us on quite a journey. Starting from Pascal’s premise that it’s better to write short than long, slower than quicker, makes her think about the need for concision, to look for concise words, words that are specific and measured, not being confusing, the need to choose the right word. Not always easy in English, where one word can have a variety of meanings. 

She suggest perhaps using a thesaurus, but that could lead down the pathway of having too many words to choose from and not being able to decide which one to pick. Thinking about the dissertation, she introduces a word we all dread – waffling! No one wants to be a waffler, and giving too much information might make your readers’ heads explode. 

And yet we must explain our concepts, because we want our writing to be understood by everyone but that means a balance with explaining too much. We need to give enough detail to make our point understood, and scientific, if it’s that kind of research question, without being too complicated. All in all, it comes down to the need to simplify.

More tips from Ann

As Pascal – and Claire – suggest, taking out what isn’t needed is as important as putting in what is.

Writing clearly and to the point takes time, effort and energy. Allow yourself plenty of time to draft, review, get feedback, edit ... draft again, review again, get more feedback, edit again … … check, proof-read, finish.

As we established earlier, your dissertation will have a word allowance. EdExcel, for example, suggests a research review dissertation should be around 6000 words. That sounds like a lot, but then, you’ve done a lot of work that needs to be included.

The exact figure will depend on the exam board’s requirements and the kind of EPQ you have carried out, so check before you start writing, or ask your teacher.

The best writers keep things as simple as possible. It’s a way of being kind to your readers and making the task of reading easier.

However, keeping things simple isn’t simple. As Steve Jobs, the designer and co-founder of Apple said: ‘Simple can be harder than complex: you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple’. The same applies to writing.

When you’ve done a complex piece of work, it’s tempting to think you can only describe it in complex language. But you should try to avoid the pitfall of using over-complicated language. You don’t want to run the risk of sounding pompous or making your text too difficult to understand.

You’ve almost certainly come across simple questions with unnecessarily complicated answers before. Here’s an example. Which is the best answer to this question?

The Up Goer Five challenge

To practise writing in simple language, you can take the Up Goer Five challenge. This is a project by the artist Randall Monroe, creator of  XKCD . 

The challenge is to explain a  hard idea using only the ‘ten hundred’ most common words  in the English language.  As an example, how might we explain ‘astrobiology’?:

We think about where we might find living things. We take stuff from places – dry places, cold places, hot places – and we put it in stuff that we think has what living things need to grow. We wait, then we use a seeing-small-things tool to look for the living things. At the moment, we look at stuff from here but one day, we want to look at stuff from other stars.

Have a go at using the  Up Goer Five text editor  (which has a  link to the ten hundred most common words ) to explain an idea related to your research topic. If you find it tricky to think of an idea, here are a few to get you started:

• global warming and its consequences
• what causes earthquakes
• the problems caused by the misuse of antibiotics.

You wouldn’t write your dissertation in this style, but experimenting with writing like this helps develop skills in keeping things simple, avoiding jargon and complicated language and writing in short sentences and paragraphs.

We all write in different ways every day, depending on who we’re writing for. The style of a textbook is different from the style of a WhatsApp message; we write an email to a family member in a different style from the way we would write a personal statement for a university application.

When we write anything, we start by thinking about our readers and the kind of writing they are expecting to see.

For the EPQ dissertation, start by checking the requirements of the exam board you are studying with. It is very likely that the exam board will want the dissertation to be written in a formal style; the kind of style you will have seen in the academic articles and books you drew on in your research.

Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work as your own. It is, essentially, theft of someone else’s work. 

Learning alongside a friend, discussing ideas or sharing your thoughts can be helpful and valuable. We have also encouraged you to take notes on everything that you find. So, it is likely that you have ideas you want to present in your report that are not entirely your own.

Plagiarism can occur in a variety of ways. It can mean copying someone else’s text and passing it off as your own, or copying and pasting text/images from a web page and pretending they are your own work. It can also overlap with what is called ‘collusion’, which means collaborating with someone to share work on a task that you are expected to complete by yourself.

Try this interactive resource from OpenLearn to understand some of the challenges and ways to avoid plagiarism. This is aimed at university students, but it will be relevant for the EPQ.

All my own work

Plagiarism comes in all shapes and forms. Step into the shoes of a university student to learn the challenges and temptations facing her during her assignment, and help make it all her own work.

Level: 1 Introductory

There will be points in your dissertation when you want to present ideas that have come from someone else’s work. How can you do this while avoiding plagiarism?

Identify your sources

If you have used an image, graph or chart created by someone else, identify where the image has come from and who made it.

You might remember this image from  Article 1 , in the section on dealing with feedback.

This image comes from an online picture library, creazilla.com. They have placed it in the ‘public domain’, which means it can be re-used freely. Show this information in the image caption within your work.

If you create a graph, chart or table yourself, identify the source of the data, as you saw earlier in ‘ Getting organised – Tables, graphs and charts ’.

If you find a phrase or a sentence in a source that helpfully illustrates a point you are trying to make, you can quote that in your work. You must quote it exactly as the authors wrote it. After the quote, you give the name of the author, the date of publication and the page where the quote is from. Then give the full reference in your reference list (see ‘ Structuring the dissertation – Referencing styles ’). For example:

This shows that the format of an infographic can influence people’s responses to the evidence. For example, ‘ graphs commonly used to show descriptive statistics, such as line or area graphs, may also appear “scientific” and create a pseudo sense of trustworthiness ’ (Li et al., 2018, p. 4).

The quote marks (‘…’) show which words are the quote.  

We use the Latin phrase ‘et al.’ (meaning ‘and others’) when an article has more than three authors, so that the reader doesn’t have to read through a long list of names. In the reference list, you would see the full list of authors along with the other source details:

Li, N., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D., Wilson, P. and Rose, K. (2018) ‘Communicating data: interactive infographics, scientific data and credibility’,  Journal of Science Communication, 17(2), A06. DOI: 10.22323/2.17020206

When you paraphrase, you express an idea that has come from someone else in your own words. You might do this to re-state the idea in simpler language, or to bring together the ideas of several writers on the same topic. Paraphrasing can also help you show that any new ideas you’ve put together from your research are supported by earlier research.

You should show where the ideas you have paraphrased came from, but because you are not directly quoting, you need only give the authors’ names and the date of publication. For example:

My survey of fifty young people aged 16 to 18 showed that their social media posts were most often connected with current events. This is supported by earlier research, which shows that the most common topics for young people’s posts are current events, health and fitness, and celebrity and entertainment news, closely followed by science and technology (Hargittai, Füchslin & Schäfer, 2018) .

In the reference list, you would see:

Hargittai, E., Füchslin, T. and Schäfer, M. (2018) ‘How do young adults engage with science and research on social media?’,  Social Media + Society, July-September 2018, 1-10, DOI: 10.1177/205630511879772

Although your dissertation must be all your own work, you can ask for help to review what you have written.

How do you ask for help, then, while keeping the dissertation all your own work and avoiding plagiarism?

Reviews – who and when?

Before you ask someone to review your work, you can check some things for yourself. 

Check the  spelling  and  grammar . Microsoft Word has built-in tools, or you can use online ones such as  Grammarly . The more technically correct your writing is, the more your reviewers will be able to focus their energy on the content.

Then  read it all through yourself . Some people like to read through silently, line by line, others prefer to read the text out loud. You can record yourself and listen back later, or use the Read Aloud function in Word, if you’re using that software. This has the advantage of using a different part of your brain – when you listen, you hear mistakes that you just don’t see in writing.

After you have reviewed it yourself, ask others to do the same. Getting someone else’s feedback on your work is immensely valuable. This is where you can collaborate with friends or classmates – if you ask them to review your work, you can offer to review theirs. And families can help too; even if they don’t know anything about your topic, the questions they ask will help you review your work.

• Michael asks for help
• Who could you ask for help?

Listen to the audio in the next tab about how Michael, who is a microbiologist, asks for help. When does he do this, and who does he ask?

Michael turns to his colleagues, his family and his senior colleagues at work. He asks for help at different stages: perhaps when he’s struggling a little, when he’s written the first draft and later on at the final stages, when he’s finished editing.

For Michael, feedback is incredibly important, not only for the actual content of the work, but for assessing how easy it is to understand. And he felt it’s always important to consider reviews of our writing from the viewpoint that the reviewer wants to help us improve our work, not criticise it. In terms of who he asks, first he calls on his peers; when he was at school, friends in his class and year, and now his colleagues, who can comment on the content of the work and how easy it is for them to follow. When he was at school, he also turned to his parents. During high school, his parents helped with input on grammar, spelling and how easy it was to understand. Now, his wife performs that role. As he says, by having someone from outside the field review your work, you can gain valuable insights. He also thinks about his seniors – in his current job, his senior colleagues will read multiple drafts of a manuscript before it’s complete. This is always an advantage – it allows him to get input from someone more experienced and means the work is improved.

In terms of when, he asks for help when he’s struggling, perhaps to find the right direction for a piece of work. Discussing the work with a friend or a teacher can start him developing insights on where it should start. Certainly after completing and spell-checking a first draft, he’ll ask for help.

And of course it’s always important to go back and review after editing, because when you change a piece of work, it’s easy to introduce errors, as well as fix them.

Conclusion.

Other articles in this series...

EPQs: designing your research question

You’ve already decided to do an EPQ, so it might seem a little odd to start this resource by asking you to consider why you want to do a research project. People do an EPQ for all sorts of reasons. Why do you want to do an EPQ?

EPQs: finding and using evidence

Finding the evidence that will help you understand a topic or answer a question is an important stage in the research process. And once you have found it, you will need to examine it closely and carefully, to judge how reliable it is and whether it is useful to help you answer your question.

EPQs: why give a presentation?

What are the guidelines for the presentation?

Become an OU student

Ratings & comments, share this free course, copyright information, publication details.

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For further information, take a look at our frequently asked questions which may give you the support you need.

Dissertation Guidelines Checklist

Click on the different tabs below to expand more information.

Your dissertation needs an abstract which concisely summaries your document. Your abstract should be within the first section of your dissertation before you start the main text.

Your abstract should:

Be brief: Your abstract should be no more than half a page. It should give a busy academic the gist of what your dissertation is about.

Outline your study: Write two or three sentences on the aims and objectives of your study and how you intend to achieve them. You might want to break apart your research question into the main themes you will be considering.

Provide some context: Identify a key piece of lite rature, theory or perspective that will underpin your research and results.

State your key findings: Briefly outline the most striking results from your study in light of your research question.

Touch on your recommendations: What do recommend should be done next in light of your results and research findings? Should further research be conducted? Should there be a change in policy or working practice? Who might benefit from the results of your study?

For more information on writing a summary  visit our guide .

Does every figure and photograph have a caption and is it referred to in the text? A caption is a short piece of text immediately below the figure or photograph that describes what it is.

You need to have captions for every figure, photograph, image or table in your dissertation. This caption should give a description and any relevent references.

You can add a caption to an image in Word by right-clicking on the image/table/figure etc.. and selecting ‘Insert Caption’. This will open a dialogue box for you to type in your caption text.

You will need to select whether it is a caption for a figure or table and where you want the caption to appear, usually captions for figures appear below and captions for tables appear above.

The figure/table number will automatically update.

Watch the video to see how to add captions.

Have you got each chapter starting on a new page?

Throughout your dissertation you need to ensure that each chapter or section starts on it’s own page. To make sure this you can add a page break in Word. This will ensure that the chapter always starts on it’s own page, no matter what content is added or removed before it.

To insert a page break, go to the ‘Insert’ tab and select ‘Page Break’. You can also use the shortcut – Enter + Ctrl.

Have you adjusted the margins? Left hand – 30mm Right hand – 20mm Top – 20mm Bottom – 20mm

In order to allow your dissertation to be bound correctly you need to have specific margins applied to the document. To apply custom margins in Word go to the page layout tab and click the Margins drop down. Go all the way to the bottom of the drop down and select ‘Custom Margins’.

This will open up a dialogue box in which you can input the following margins:

• Left – 3 cm
• Right – 2 cm
• Bottom – 2 cm

Your title page needs to have a left Margin of 2 cm. For this you will need to have this page as a separate section to the rest of your document. Check out the section about referring to page numbers to see how to add section breaks to your document.

Page Numbering

Have you numbered all the pages? Have you got all the compulsory pages?

The guidance states that you are required to have a seperate page numbering system for the first 6 pages of your dissertation, before the start of chapter 1 and no page numbering on your title page. This first numbering system must be in lowercase roman numerals.

Before the start of your first chapter you should have the following pages (if applicable):

• Table of contents
• Table of figures/tables
• Glossary of terms
• Statement of originality
• Acknowledgements

It is possible to add different page number systems to a large document using a ‘Next Page Section Break’. This break will split your document into sections and allow you to change the formatting of each section independently.

You can add a section break from the ‘Page Layout’ tab and using the ‘Breaks’ drop down to select ‘Next Page section Break’.

Watch the video below demonstrating how to add the different numbering systems to your dissertation.

Punctuation

Is the punctuation accurate?

You should aim to have correct punctuation throughout your dissertation. For information on punctuation usage please visit our  Punctuation Guide .

Are the quotations presented consistently and accurately?

To ensure that your quotes are presented consistently throughout your document you can use a ‘Quote’ text style in Word. This will allow you to specify specific formatting for Quotes which can easily be applied to text.

To modify the ‘Quote’ style within word you will need to locate it from the ‘Style’ drop down on the home tab. If you right click on the style you can choose to modify it.

A suggested style might be:

• Alignment: Justified
• Spacing:Before: 12pt After: 12pt Line Spacing: Single
• Indentation:Left: 1cm Right: 1cm

Once you have set up the style you can easily apply it to your quotes by highlighting the text and selecting the ‘Quote’ style.

Have you provided adequate references to material consulted for the dissertation?

Are the references complete and presented consistently and accurately?

Marjon currently uses the 6th edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style. You need to ensure that your dissertation is correctly and consistently referenced throughout to avoid plagiarism. Every instance where you have referred to a source of information (published texts, images, websites to name but a few) should be correctly referenced both within the text and in a reference list. Some courses also require a bibliography – check your Module Handbook for more details.

For full details about how and when to reference, please read the Marjon APA Reference Guide , or read our Referencing FAQs.

You may consider using a Reference Management System to help generate your citations and reference list within your dissertation. The University can support users of Mendeley . If you have any questions about Mendeley , please contact [email protected] or book onto a Mendeley AIM session . We also have a series of videos on setting-up and using Mendeley.

In your dissertation, your reference list must be in alphabetical order, it is possible to sort your list using the ‘Sort’ option in word. This option can be found on the ‘Home’ tap in the paragraph group.

Alternatively, you can watch the short video below on sorting the reference list in Word. Other word processing software will have a similar option.

APA 7th edition The 7th edition of the APA referencing style has now been published. However, Marjon will not be officially adopting this referencing style until September 2020. Owing to the wealth of supporting information available on the internet, Marjon students writing their dissertations in the 2019-20 academic year are permitted to use the 7th edition of APA should they wish. Regardless of which edition they choose to use, they should ensure that they are consistently using the same referencing style throughout. In other words, you should not mix the referencing conventions of the 6th and 7th editions within the same dissertation.

Saving your Work

Have you saved it to your N Drive? Emailed it to your Marjon account? Do you have electronic copies on memory stick in Word format)?

Your dissertation is a large and important document, you do not want to risk only have it saved on a memory stick etc… Your N drive is backed up everyday and is a safe place to store your document, it is also good practice to email yourself a copy. Both these measures will help you avoid losing anything important if, for example, you lost your memory stick.

Spelling & Grammar

Is the spelling and grammar accurate? Have you made use of the Spelling and Grammar check facilities in Word and proof read your work?

You should aim to have correct spelling and grammar throughout your dissertation. Your dissertation is a long document so you should make use of the built-in Spelling and Grammar check.

This can be found from the ‘Review’ tab in Microsoft Word (other word processing software will have a similar feature).

Clicking the ‘Spelling & Grammar’ button will open a dialogue box, this will give you the option to make changes suggested by Word or keep the text as it is.

For further support and guidance on the use of Microsoft Word please visit the  ITTS LearningSpace  page or contact the  ITTS team .

Statement of Originality

Have you included a completed statement of originality? See Student Handbook Guidance on Major Assessment Tasks for suggested text. 

You need to include a statement of originality in the first section of your dissertation, before you begin the main text. The statement of originality should include the following text:

I confirm that I have fully acknowledged all sources of information and help received, and that where such acknowledgement is not made, the work is my own.

Signed………………………

Dated……………………….

Table of Contents

Have you included a table of contents? Ensure that the section headings and page numbers referred to in the list of contents match up with the actual headings and page numbers in the document.

Your dissertation needs a table of contents which lists the sections of your document. You can easily set this up by applying heading styles to your main and sub headings. You can modify the heading styles by right clicking on the style and clicking modify.

Once you have applied heading styles throughout your document you can insert an automatic table of contents from the ‘References’ tab. This table of contents will take your headings and automatically add page numbers. You can then right click on the table to refresh it when changes are made to the document.

Watch the video below to see this in action.

Table of Figures

Is every table, diagram or photograph and map referred to in the text included in a table of figures/tables?

Once you have added captions to all the figures and tables in your document (see section above) you can add a list of figures and list of tables to your document using the built it options in word.

To do this you need to go to the ‘References’ tab and select ‘Insert Table of Figures’, from this dialogue box you will need to select either ‘Figure’ or ‘Table’ from the ‘Caption Label’ dropdown.

Watch the video below demonstrating how to add a list of figures.

Is the body of the text in a conventional font (such as Arial or Calibri font size 12)?

Your dissertation needs to be in either Arial or Calibri font, size 12. You can change the font style and size from the home tab in Word. In order to ensure you  apply the correct font throughout the document you can edit the ‘Normal’ text style to ensure it uses the correct font. To modify the style, locate it from the home tab and right click and select modify.

Have you included a title page? See Student Handbook Guidance on Major Assessment Tasks for suggested text. 

You need to include a specific title page at the start of your dissertation. This has a set layout to ensure it fits with the Marjon dissertation front covers. The image below shows how the front cover should be laid out.

The box containing the dissertation title must be in a specific place on the page to fit the box on the front cover.  You also need to ensure you change the margins for the front page only back to 2cm all round.  The dimensions and positioning are show below:

• Height: 5cm
• Width: 10cm
• The box should not have a border
• PositionHorizontal: Absolute position – 5cm – to the right of – page Vertical: Absolute position – 6.6cm – below – page Make sure to select the ‘Lock anchor’ option. Make sure the text is aligned ‘Middle’ in the box

Watch the video below to see how to ensure your dissertation title is in the correct position on the page.

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Q. How can I get a copy of a dissertation that I need for my research?

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Answered By: Dartmouth Libraries Last Updated: Aug 20, 2023     Views: 14376

Try to find the dissertation online:

First, check the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database to see if it is available in full text. Dissertations from 1997 to present are available in full text from ProQuest. In addition, most Dartmouth dissertations from 1993 to the present will be available online in ProQuest.  You may find some pre-1997 dissertations in ProQuest as well.

Dissertations may also be available at no cost from the issuing institution's website. In addition to checking their web site, try using search tools such as Google Scholar or the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations .

If you still haven't found the dissertation, try checking ROAR to see if the university where the dissertation was written has a digital repository. If it does, try searching the repository for the thesis or dissertation.

Find out if the dissertation was published:

Some dissertations are subsequently published by academic presses. A quick way to find out is by searching for the author in WorldCat . Remember, the title of the published book may be different than the dissertation.

Requesting Dissertations:

If the dissertation was submitted to one of the Ivies, try requesting it through Borrow Direct .

Foreign dissertations are often available at the Center for Research Libraries. If you find the dissertation you need in the CRL Dissertation Catalog , you can request it through Interlibrary Loan .

All other requests for dissertations should be made through Interlibrary Loan .

• The Library will first try to borrow the dissertation directly from the holding institution.
• If it is unavailable for loan, the Library will try to purchase an electronic copy from a commercial supplier, such as ProQuest.
• The average cost for a dissertation is $32.  Any costs exceeding $35 will be chargeable to you, provided that you agree to move forward with the purchase and pay the additional charges.

See also the Library's Research Guide for Dissertations & Theses.

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