A Comprehensive Guide To Writing A Postgraduate Dissertation

There is certainly no unanimous approach as to what the best way to structure your thesis would be. That said, and you being a postgraduate student, you are the only person that can decide what structure suits your research topic best. But do not hesitate to consult your instructors or superiors as well. Going through former students’ thesis in your university library can also be a great aid.

Exclusivity

Every postgraduate dissertation is exclusive to some degree, and that’s the way it should be done. You need to stand out with your article. That being said, you can always follow one of the two basic formats widely used and still add your own personal touch to it. If you wish to follow convention, your article can be written in the form of a book, complete with chapters, table of contents, an appendix, bibliography, etc. If you wish to stray a little, you can write your paper as a sequence of periodicals. This has an added advantage, the simple reason being; you do not have to re-write the same for publication. But before you determine which path to pick, consult with your instructors or superiors on whether it would be acceptable.

Time Management

Start writing your thesis as early as possible. Remember, writing is not an easy task for every person. For some, it flows naturally, for others it means lots and lots of practice. Even if you do not have the final transcript in mind, write everything down on paper. Making notes while an idea is still fresh in your head will help you gather this information at a later date and structure it wisely into a proper presentation format. Also, writing and thinking go hand in hand. The more you write about something, the more you tend to think about it, resulting in abstracts that may improve your knowledge of the topic you are doing the dissertation on.

Organizing

You should establish a competent method to organize your bibliography. This will prevent you from being overwhelmed by oodles of data that you will no doubt collect during your research. You can do this by using innumerable free software downloads available for keeping notes; Notepad, Google Keep, eNotes, etc. Just run a search for notes on the Android or iOS web/app store.

Plagiarism

Never plagiarize. It may end up costing you your degree even though you might have done it inadvertently. If you are citing a source, make sure you give credit where it is due.

No matter what, keep practicing and get organized. You already have a big task on your shoulders. What you don’t need is added confusion and the frustration that comes with not finding materials that you have already spent time on researching and having to do it all over again.