10 Tips For Writing A Research Paper Thesis

If you’re set to undertake your thesis writing shortly, it is best to arm yourself with expert insights and suggestions that will help ease the entire process for you. Highlighted below is a compilation of the most valuable tips anybody setting off to write a thesis can learn about.

• Tip #1
• Understand Your Motivation For Actually Undertaking Thesis Research & Writing One
  • There are several reasons why we have theses –
  • The thesis is an opportunity to bring together everything you have learned during your course; from how to analyze and evaluate data, how to read critically, how to make a case, and how to write succinctly and persuasively.
  • By the time you write your thesis, you should have had the chance to practice all of these skills in previous work.
  • The thesis marks a transition between student thinking and academic thinking.
  • It’s a skill to be able to summarize someone else’s arguments in an essay, but it’s another to be able to present your research in context.
  • It can be said that the thesis is the first step toward the next level of study.
  • This is the main assessment of your degree.
  • This pressure does not help the writing process; but you don’t have to worry.
  • By going through the tips listed in this blog, you’ll begin to understand what’s exactly expected of you and also how to achieve it.
  • This is easier said than done – but trust us, you’ll understand once you finish reading this blog.
  • The skills you use in writing a thesis are transferable and will help you show your future employer that you are able to –
    • Meet deadlines
    • Write coherently
    • Summarize the work of others
    • Work independently
    • Produce reports
    • Undertake research
    • Organize your thoughts

• Tip #2

What Does A High-Quality Thesis Look Like?

• Each subject and each university will have different guidelines and expectations for a thesis.
• Be sure to read your institution’s guidelines and your department’s guidelines before you even start thinking about your research topic.

 

• Length Of The Thesis
  • There will be a word limit for your dissertation, usually around ten thousand words.
  • You’ll probably get a leeway of plus or minus five to ten percent on the word count before you get penalized, but don’t take that for granted.
  • By structuring your dissertation and assigning a word limit to each section, you should be able to avoid going over the word count.
  • Be strict with yourself.
  • There’s nothing worse than reading a good piece of work and having to penalize it for having too many words.
  • Be sure to allow time for editing, and you should be able to reduce your word count when writing or editing your memoir.
  • Reading up on more of our blogs on ideal thesis writing styles and processes will prove to be of tremendous help.

 

• The Structure Of The Thesis
  • Generally speaking, all theses will contain these sections, although they could be called something different, or some of the sections could be combined –
    • Overview
    • Summary and lists of figures/tables
    • Introduction
    • Context or literary criticism
    • Method or Methodology
    • Results
    • Interpretation
    • Conclusion
    • Appendices
    • Bibliography

• Tip #3

Nailing Your Literature Survey Plays A Major Part In The Final Outcome

• In most cases, desk research identifies a lot of material – probably more than can reasonably be covered in a master’s thesis.
• Thus, the subsequent step in undertaking a literature review is to map and identify key works and material from the literature.
• This exercise has two objectives.
• It is necessary that you show the person who is correcting your dissertation that you are aware of the extent of the literature relating to your subject.
• But it is also necessary for your mental health, as well as to meet the expectations of the proofreader, to show that you know how to prioritize the literature and discover the key works, theories, or ideas that will be of value in the research of your topic.

 

• Description Of The Literature
  • Defining and mapping the literature pertinent to your research project entails a step-by-step process that goes from general to specific. It involves a ton of editing.

 

• Map Out Your Literature Sources

Devise a “map” indicating the location of all relevant literature. The first step consists in identifying the different fields of literature likely to lend themselves to study without, at this stage, detailing any of them. By literature, what is meant is a collection of books and articles that address the same issues and respond to each other in developing debates on a topic. It ensues from this definition that there’ll be several pieces of literature rather than one solitary and unified literature work. But it’s up to you to draw the boundaries between them. This can be done by browsing textbooks and following the references they give and by tapping into journal literature via abstracts from bibliographic databases (such as Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, or otherwise).

The main theme of the thesis is often indicated in the center of the map in bold type. There will be a number of key researchers who will have written research papers, particularly focussing on your subject of interest. There will also likely be a large body of literature, mostly in journals.

In the literature review, it is crucial to recognize the main literature pertinent to a project without going into detail and to explain why it might be important. The important skill at this stage is being able to condense or refine large volumes of literature so that the essential points of view or arguments they contain can be presented in a small number of words.

• Make Your Case For Choosing The Literature That You’ve Selected

Normally, the literature map will contain more fields than can be handled in the literature review. It is vital to bring them down to three at the most. In the first stage of the literature review, credit can be scored for showing an awareness of the vast scope of the literature. In this phase, credit can be obtained by choosing the key literary works that will be useful for the particular study in progress. The choice of literature will reflect the angle or perspective you want to take on a topic.

• Offer A Comprehensive Overview Of Your Chosen Literature

At this stage, it is necessary to give a more detailed description of the selected literature. When you write this chapter, the overview will provide the bulk of the material. It is important to put sufficient thought into how you are going to structure it.

The way not to structure a review of literature is to work through a list of works one at a time. Doing so in cartoon form isn’t recommended. Reading an annotated list is very boring, especially since the first sentence of each paragraph has exactly the same structure. Quotations are technically correct but supplemented. Do we really need the title of the book or journal to be specified in the text? A writer who tells readers if he/she liked a work does not constitute a criticism, although it could be a criticism. Importantly, there is no account of the ideas, theories, and material that are presented in the works cited.

• Tip #4

The More Effort You Put Into Strategizing, The More Time You Save

• How simple it is to waste time, procrastinate and be inefficient.
• Yet, it could be said that we make the most of life by the way we make the most of our time.
• And, especially when it comes to writing a thesis, it is crucial to manage time appropriately and not let it slip away.
• By reaching the ABD (“All but dissertation”) stage, you have already succeeded in this regard.
• These time management tips are meant to help you spend your time in the most productive manner while writing your dissertation.
• Although the tips focus on writing a dissertation, some apply more generally to academia.
• Remember that only you can decide how best to manage your time.
• At least a few tips can help you or point you in the correct direction as you conquer time and your thesis.

 

• Plan Well Ahead
  • Set a goal for completing your doctorate program and develop your game plan accordingly.
  • Typing up your game plan and/or writing down your goals on a calendar, such as when you want draft chapters completed, will help you stay on track, and you can modify your schedule if needed.
  • Consult with your mentor/research guide and others as you devise your strategy.
  • Ask yourself if you’ve got enough funding to complete your job without applying for outside grants or finding job opportunities.
  • Of course, applying for grants and getting employed takes time, so keep that in mind when developing your game plan.

• Don’t Hold Off On Writing For Too Long
  • Start writing as soon as possible.
  • Some people prefer to start writing after completing their research, while others are determined to write and research at the same time.
  • Both methodologies have their pros and cons, but the search can be endless, and at some point, you have to stop.
  • A good stopping point can be when you don’t discover any new information that might change your interpretations.
  • However, be aware that you will most certainly discover additional research that you will need to do once you begin the writing process.
  • So, allow yourself time to do more research when you come to the writing stage.
  • Bear in mind that it normally takes at least a year’s time to write a decent thesis; in fact, a year is considered a short period of time.

• Make Time For Subsequent Tasks (Editing, Proofreading, & So Forth)
  • Allow plenty of time to send your drafts to your mentor and other readers, get their feedback, and incorporate their feedback.
  • The most important person you can work with is your advisor, and you should prioritize their input above all else.
  • You might wish to set up regular meetings with your mentor where you discuss ideas or drafts in person.
  • Be aware that it’s not uncommon to have to wait as long as a month or more to get feedback on a draft.
  • Talk to your advisor about what’s realistic for them, and you might also want to talk to their other advisors to see what their experiences have been.
  • Consult with your mentor/research guide to find out what format they want the drafts to be in.

• It can be impactful to submit drafts to your mentor or others that are not fully polished.
• This way, you get feedback on your ideas as you develop them and can make sure you’re headed in the right direction.
• On the other hand, submitting well-written and polished drafts may require you to develop your arguments further.
• You may also want to see if another faculty member, ideally a member of your committee, will be a second reader.
• Check with him or her if you need to submit individual chapters or a complete draft.
• In some cases, you might find that an advisor would prefer to wait to give you feedback until you complete a full draft of your thesis.
• The reason they cite is that too much advice at the same time can stunt progress because it takes energy to figure out which direction to go.
• It is always best to begin by following your adviser’s lead.
• You can, however, ask an outside reader (from another institution) to read the chapters as you finish them, and it could prove to be helpful.
• Others find it helpful to be part of a writing group. Ideally, a writing group will offer a supportive community where you discuss one another’s work and nurture each other during the dissertation process.
• In addition, meeting group deadlines for the dissemination of your work can boost your thesis.

• Know What Advice To Take & What To Discard
  • You probably won’t be able to use all of the suggestions that are offered to you.
  • Some suggestions may not be feasible or may be irrelevant.
  • Remember that you know your job better than anyone in the world, and you have to determine for yourself what is possible to achieve for the thesis.
  • Be open to challenges, however.
  • Heeding some tips may require you to work harder than you previously thought possible.
  • However, the end result might well be worth it.
  • In any case, create a notes file in which you type ideas to pursue when / if you have time for the thesis or the book.
  • These ideas can also be useful for articles and conference papers.

• Leave Sufficient Time For Proofreading & Editing
  • Save enough time for proofreading/editing, reading your work aloud, and formatting your dissertation according to your school guidelines.
  • First-time thesis writers often have no idea that the process of finalizing their theses could take months – it can take a lot of time to make changes, insert them, and read work aloud, which is the best way to catch the typos, clumsy wordings, etc.
  • When preparing the final draft of your thesis, you may come across inconsistencies that you will have to correct.
  • For instance, did you spell Washington D.C. with or without a comma?
  • Do your best to keep your spelling and grammar consistent, so you don’t have to streamline them later.
  • It’s also crucial to get your footnotes organized as you go so you don’t risk plagiarism and have to dig deeper later to find the sources you want to cite.
  • Above all, don’t wait until the final day to submit your thesis.
  • Plan ahead in order to do it well before; this way, you have time to take care of the last details that take longer than expected.

• Tip #5

Devise A Meticulous Schedule & Stick To It

• Work on your writing for a specific number of hours and/or cover a certain number of topics per day.
• Some people plan to devote at least two hours to their writing each day; others make sure they write two pages every day.
• Discover a strategy that works best for your schedule.
• When you write your thesis, make sure to work on the writing and research components for at least three to four hours a day.
• You can allow yourself to miss one day a week but try to make up those hours.
• You also find it beneficial to dedicate at least one full day per week entirely to the thesis.
• Although everyone has varying peak times for writing, it’s generally a good idea to work on your thesis first thing in the morning.
• This helps you prioritize it and integrate other activities into it instead of integrating it into other activities.
• You may find that you are working beyond your allotted time or writing more pages than expected when you’d not have obtained these results if you had started work later in the day.

 

• Use Of Daily Worksheets To Your Advantage
  • Draw your weekly schedule on a sheet of paper.
  • At the very top of the page, mark down all every day of the week.
  • Vertically, list the times you are awake during the day.
  • Next, create grids by drawing in lines so that you have cells for each of these times of every day.
  • Mark when you will do your thesis and your non-thesis-related tasks.
  • Also, be sure to schedule time for hobbies and social activities.
  • Work on your writing for periods as short as thirty minutes or less.
  • Don’t underestimate what you can accomplish in short periods of time – filing, editing, and writing at shorter intervals is worth it.
  • You could even begin using commercial breaks for thesis writing.
  • This advice may be far-fetched, but the fact is that dissertation work can be rushed over and over again.
  • Along the same lines, if you plan to work until 5 in the evening, stick to that time and don’t finish your work by 4:55.
  • You’ll probably be astonished at how much work you can complete in the five minutes that remain.

• Adhere to a disciplined schedule and get to know yourself.
• Many academics love that we don’t inhabit a 9 to 5, Monday to Friday world, but sticking to a disciplined schedule helps ensure you’re productive.
• The beauty of our job is that you can tailor your schedule to suit your requirements and preferred working style more than in most other professions.
• Some scholars choose to work 9 to 5 days, five days a week.
• Most history teachers and graduate students work many more hours.
• It will likely require a bit of trial and error to come up with an achievable work schedule, but you’ll find that it provides an important structure to ensure you stay disciplined and productive.

• Tip #6

Prioritize Every Task That You Have To Undertake

• Prioritizing your thesis work to seamlessly achieve your goals.
• Determine what your most pressing thesis tasks are and what other related work you could do away with entirely or decrease.
• For instance, you could maintain a working bibliography of new work on your thesis topic.
• You can flip through journals to find these works and write them down in a Word document.
• But, when writing your thesis, you may tend to focus your energies elsewhere.
• Getting chapter drafts should become a priority.
• Additionally, you can do a quick search of the library for recent books and/or ask your mentor/research guide and other experts what new books they recommend checking out.
• Finish a task if it takes less than five minutes.
• While it’s good to delay low-priority tasks, you don’t want to spend so much time taking notes to complete the task that it would have been better if you’d have gone ahead and done it first.
• Likewise, sometimes it is more efficient to complete a task when it is in your mind.

 

• Balance Is Key
  • Find a balance between being too organized and not organized enough.
  • Being meticulously organized can be counterproductive.
  • However, if your disorganization is making you waste a ton of time, then you should focus on organization.
  • For example, you can sometimes be lax in the reclassification of Manila files containing archival documents.
  • You would soon discover that it’s best to sort through your pile of Manila files again because leafing through them to find particular files can become too time-consuming.
  • Make sure to maintain an organizational system for your electronic documents and files.
  • For instance, you can organize your paper documents by subject by chapter in binders and also maintain a binder of biographical information organized alphabetically.
  • You can also use any one of the umpteen free tools available these days, which can help you manage your thesis files.

• Cut Off Unnecessary Tasks
  • Limit activities other than writing the thesis and your most necessary obligations.
  • Even seemingly small obligations can take a lot of time and/or energy.
  • Learn to say no even if it results in someone else potentially getting hurt.
  • Simplification is key.
  • At the same time, be open to selecting opportunities that are manageable and don’t interfere with timely finishing.
  • Sometimes activities such as participating in conferences and academic events can help you with your thesis in unexpected ways.
  • These activities can provide new perspectives for your work, offer you a nice break from writing so that you return to your thesis work rejuvenated, or give you professional depth.
  • This may be the only time when you can seize these opportunities.
  • When you get a job, you’ll have to juggle teaching and other responsibilities.

• Save All Material (Even Those That Aren’t Immediately Relevant)
  • Keep the “tangent” and “for the book” files. It is worth remembering this point.
  • You’ll likely find that once you’ve immersed yourself in a subject, it’s simple and tempting to begin exploring many different angles.
  • However, at some point, you have to decide what you will focus on.
  • You should create Word documents of such files for every chapter of your thesis.

• To-Do Task Lists Help Greatly
  • Create lists to assist you with managing your tasks.
  • You can maintain a “to do” list where you separate priority items from non-priority ones.
  • In addition, you can spread the non-thesis projects over several weeks (about one per week) to avoid doing them all at the same time or too early and therefore having them monopolize the time of the thesis.

• Tip #7

Guard Yourself Against Overload By Pacing Your Tasks

• Have “filler” chores to do when you feel exhausted or need mental rest.
• You might want to create a list of these filler tasks to refer to when the time comes.
• For example, you can categorize documents, organize your files, work on developing the course you’re teaching next semester, or search your library’s catalog for recent books on your topic.

 

• Maintain A Thesis Journal
  • You can choose to write daily, weekly, or whenever you want.
  • You might wish to keep track of the work you’ve done and/or use it to write down your ideas and/or use it to vent during stressful times.
  • You’ll find that you are always more productive after taking the time to write in your thesis journal.
  • Plus, it’s a good place to write down your goals.
  • Research has shown that you’ve got a better chance of fulfilling your goals if you write them down.

• Think Of Yourself As A Full-Time Worker
  • Imagine working in a more structured workplace.
  • Sometimes it can be helpful to think of your job as if you’re billing your hours for someone or as if you’re working for a boss at a 9 to 5 job.
  • If you’ve had a job, you’ll know how your boss will probably urge you to be efficient rather than overly perfectionist or thorough, which is good advice for many thesis writers.

• Be Wary Of Digital Overload
  • Limit your use of email and personal electronic devices.
  • In order to fully concentrate on your writing, turn off your mobile phone and check your emails less often.
  • If you teach, you can make it clear to students that you’ll only check your email at specific times of the day and not on weekends.
  • If you’re in the stock market, you might want to check it once a day or less.
  • Another effective way to manage emails is to limit the time you spend on them when you check them.

• Look To Add Value To Your Previous Work
  • Use and build on your past work when writing your thesis.
  • Can you rely on your conference materials?
  • Can you use the lecture notes you took while studying for your comprehensive exams?
  • Building on previous work is not only effective but can also help you understand your own intellectual trajectory.

• Don’t Take On Massive Tasks; Tackle Them Bit By Bit
  • Break down big tasks into small, manageable tasks.
  • Divide your chapters into subsections and write accordingly.
  • Find other ways to divide your work.
  • This way, what may seem like the overwhelming task of writing a thesis becomes more manageable.
  • Set deadlines for even small-scale tasks to ensure you are efficient.

• Don’t Shy Away From Seeking Advice
  • Solicite advice from others.
  • You could potentially pick up a ton of insights from an article, books, online sources, and conversations with others who have gone through the thesis process, including your mentor/research guide, other professors, and graduate students.
  • Many books and articles deal with time management issues, and you may want to consult professionals such as a learning services counselor at your school or a thesis writing service such as United Innovator.

• Don’t Yearn For Immediate Results
  • Thesis work can be inherently slow and not have tangible results initially, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t accomplishing a lot.
  • The “preparatory work” before actually starting to write takes a lot of time – thinking, doing archival work, processing and summarizing your archival work, creating sketches, etc.
  • All of this work serves to better prepare you for your writing.

• Don’t Underestimate The Power Of Taking Breaks
  • Taking breaks will help your productivity. We are not machines, after all.
  • By sometimes taking more breaks than you really need, you’ll likely come back to work feeling energized.
  • Another great way to stay energized and motivated is to leave your writing in such shape that when you start next time, you’ll know what to say.

• Finishing Your Thesis Should Be Your Main Priority
  • Remember that the finished product is what matters.
  • As they say, the best thesis is a done thesis.
  • You can have all the innovative ideas in the world, but what matters is what you ultimately produce.

• Tip #8

Non-Native English Speakers

• The challenges facing international thesis writers are immense.
• Not only are they faced with the prospect of writing a thesis, but they often do so in a non-native language.
• The issue of writing in a second language is an issue that is approached differently at each university.
• There are numerous English language training and academic writing courses that one can enrol in.
• That said, there’s also a lot of cultural baggage that one has to learn to put aside when approaching thesis writing.
• Some end up plagiarising heavily.
• This could partly be a language problem, but in some cultures, it is considered more respectful to write someone else’s words verbatim rather than paraphrasing an idea and quoting the word/idea as we would understand it as the right way to do it.
• Luckily, world-class thesis writing services such as the one offered by United Innovator are there for this very reason – to help non-native speakers achieve a thesis that they can be proud of.

• Tip #9

Plagiarism Is A Huge No No

• When writing a thesis, it is often vital to include excerpts from journal articles, books, or research reports.
• These excerpts serve to support your arguments and set the context for your research.
• It is important that you mention the author(s) of the work you have extracted.
• Plagiarism is characterized by the stealing and passing off of ideas or words of others as one’s own.
• Taking someone’s exact words without using quotes is obviously plagiarism.
• Paraphrasing another author’s writing without offering due credit to him/her falls into the category of plagiarism.
• Presenting another person’s ideas as if they were your own is plagiarism.
• Plagiarism may not be intentional, but it is the responsibility of the student to cite others where appropriate.
• This is not only an ethical question but also a legal question.
• United Innovator’s team of thesis writing specialists can help you avoid this.

• Tip #10

Don’t Forget To Take Note Of Any Potential Ideas Worth Exploring In The Future

• Recommendations for further research are frequently generated during research.
• Such recommendations can be valuable to other researchers, especially other graduate students, who are looking for ideas for research topics.
• For instance, when doctoral students are looking for suitable topics for their dissertations, they are advised to review the last chapter of completed dissertations or the discussion sections of professional journals to get ideas from other scholars on areas worthy of consideration.

• In addition to providing ideas for research topics, the recommendations section contains suggestions on how to improve or expand your study.
• As you consider how you could improve or expand your study, ask yourself the following questions –
  • What additional independent variables require further study?
  • What important dependent variables should be investigated?
  • What methodological improvements are needed? What questions remain unanswered?
• These and other questions prompt recommendations for further research.

• Data gaps like these may have weakened your study and may have led to reservations in support of some of your predictions.
• Thus, their resolution is important for the purpose of expanding the knowledge base in your field of study.
• Similarly, qualitative researchers may ask similar questions related to research designs in the qualitative tradition.

• Be certain that your recommendations are based on your results and not on an opinion.
• The generalisation of these recommendations beyond the scope of your research should be avoided.
• It is always best to stay close to the data.
• Furthermore, be careful not to make recommendations without considering their possible consequences or without considering their practicality.
• Finally, be careful that your recommendations are not stated so that they sound like conclusions.

Hopefully, these tips will help ease the process of writing a top-quality thesis for you. There’s always the option of expert assistance available in the form of a globally renowned thesis writing service such as United Innovator that you can reach out to anytime you feel overwhelmed or intimidated by the task ahead of you.