Tips to write a winning dissertation

To get your Ph.D. degree, you need to master dissertation paper writing. This path can be thorny for inexperienced students. To make it less demanding, we have gathered general tips to manage research writing at the highest level. Read the tips and combine them with your subject knowledge. This way, you will create an immaculate and high-quality paper.

Dissertation writing: why is it very important

During the studying process, you deal with different paper writing projects. But the last one is the most significant. The dissertation is supposed to test your knowledge and skills obtained during the education process. It aims to test whether you are a great researcher. With a well-designed dissertation project, you can prove you have defined your area of interest and can manage the task. This way, you also show that you can explore the issues profoundly, pose appropriate questions, and use coherent methods to find the answers.

Best ways to choose the topic for the dissertation

This will be the first challenge on your way to dissertation writing. You shouldn’t wait for an appropriate moment or insight. This is time to research the issue and figure out the final topic for the project. If you have difficulty in choosing the topic, read on our tips:

  1. What are your professional interests? What have you always wanted to research? Maybe, you have questions that need to be answered?
  2. Ask your faculty colleagues for help: what they consider to be the most important in the field of your study?
  3. Look for the information and inspiration in professional journals.
  4. Visit the library to find a potential topic.
  5. Find an old dissertation and look for the right topic there.
  6. Make sure to visit appropriate conferences and seminars. There you will learn current trends and discuss the topics.
  7. Last but not least: go to the internet and surf the web.

When creating a topic, make sure the final research will make practical contributions to your study field. Don’t forget it must be manageable in volume and be of great interest. Otherwise, you can leave it halfway down. And the last thing: make sure to consult committee members and receive their support.

Plan your project

In most cases, you won’t have problems with planning your dissertation paper. Universities have clear rules for formatting styles. Thus, you can go to your advisor and ask to clarify the requirements. But in general, the outline is almost the same:

  1. First of all, you need to write an introduction. Make a clear statement, provide sound evidence to support your words, include your objectives, and the purpose of the work. Don’t forget to research the questions and define the terms.
  2. The next step is providing an extensive literature review. Explore the gaps in prior researches and suggest ways to manage them with the help of your dissertation research.
  3. Introduce data analysis and methods used during the research.
  4. Provide the results of your work, write a summary, and show relevant tables.

Talk to your professor

You are the person responsible for the results. Thus, if you need help or advice, you need to ask for help. Don’t hesitate to turn to your supervisor for professional assistance. When asking for help, you may look quite aggressive. To manage the conversation with the professor follows these tips:

  • When the professor shares his knowledge with you, try to be open-minded and listen carefully.
  • Be prepared to ask questions and tell more about your dissertation project.
  • Make sure to speak to the point and not waste your time.
  • Think ahead about possible solutions to the problem to ensure conversation with the professor.

Check and edit the paper

When the paper is ready, you have to check it. This is the last stage but no less important. Proofreading and editing a paper is crucial before submitting it to the committee. Grammar, punctuation, and lexical mistakes can ruin the result of your painstaking work. First, you need to reread the paper right after writing. Then, you have to repeat this step sometime later. Make sure there are no spelling mistakes or awkward sentence structure. Second, ask someone else to read the paper. It can be either a professional editor or a group member. This person needs to have in-depth knowledge in the field and possess a coherent language level.