Wise thoughts about dissertation writing and editing

The sheer amount of writing and knowledge required makes it no mean feat to achieve. The positive, however, is that your professors have deemed you good enough to tackle this colossus task and you should take confidence in this fact. They don’t just let anyone undertake thesis writing! However, it is still good to read up on how to compose a top-notch thesis, and you can get many tips by reading some of our wise thoughts on the topic.

Topic

The first obstacle many students face in their dissertation writing is to choose an adequate topic. When students are tasked to write a dissertation, they are told to compose one focusing on an original topic. This misleads many students into thinking that their work must be revolutionary to their field of study, and must change the outlook of their subject field. However, what many fail to realise is that any new topic is built upon existing research.

Thus, your work does not necessarily need to be a new and revolutionary thought to your subject field, it can be an improvement on an existing model or theory, or perhaps something which adds further to the already existing body of work. Another important aspect to remember about the topic you choose is that it should allow you to introduce many different research sources.

Including the latest research and bringing readers up to date with the latest happenings in the field makes up for a very large part of your work, and your lecturers will be looking for evidence of you having done this research. This should show you that the topic you choose builds upon the knowledge that already exists, and does not always need to be something complete different and revolutionary to your subject.

Research

You must do diligent research on your topic before you begin writing. Not only is this research necessary to implement into your writing, but it also furthers your own knowledge which can be useful when composing your thesis. There are many methods and resources you can make use of to conduct good and thorough research into your subject.

The first, and most popular, method is to search for sources online. You can simply find a plethora of literature on your subject through a simple search engine query. Another useful approach to the research is to go on the faculty site of your subject. Here, you will find the latest papers written on the subject by your own professors, and it will surely impress them if you can cite them properly in your dissertation.

Visiting online journals related to your chosen topic is perhaps the best way to gather sources online. These journals will have all the popular research that has been submitted in your topic area going back decades. You can use this centralised system to gather a plethora of different sources.

The second, and very popular, method is to visit your university or college’s library and read the relevant literature into your subject. Many times, these books will have research that is relevant to your thesis that cannot be found online.

Editing

Since a dissertation is so large and consists of thousands of words, you need to employ a sound strategy when editing. Go through your thesis section by section. There are many things you should be keeping an eye out for:

• Does your argument sound logical?
• Have you backed up your claims using good research and sources?
• Punctuation and grammar

If you notice any mistakes, it is best to note this so you can remember it and come back to it later.