Getting a PhD is a difficult procedure. It entails developing original ideas, figuring out how to arrange them, writing from plans, improving the content, and finishing it quickly and to a high standard. This page outlines a thesis guide:
Front Cover
- Research title
- Student Name
- Degree
- Year
This thesis is submitted to the Department of [NAME], University of [NAME], in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Word Count
The primary text may not exceed 100,000 words. Appendices (if any), necessary footnotes, introductions, statements, bibliography, and index are not counted against the word limit.
Declaration
I declare that this thesis is entirely my own work, and except where otherwise stated, describes my own research.
Dedication
This thesis is dedicated to ...
Abstract
Insert a one-page work abstract here. It should just take a few words to set the scene and explain your motivation before describing your major contributions to science and major findings.
Writing an effective abstract is challenging, but it's worthwhile since it boosts the impact of your work by encouraging readers to read your articles and enables automated search engines to accurately index your work for discovery (and subsequently citation). It must first be organised logically, much like your thesis: introduction/motivation, methods, findings, and conclusion. Certain journals, especially academic journals. Your abstract needs to contain the following significant components:
- Motivation: What makes the issue and the outcomes important to us? However, if your work is an incremental improvement on a problem that is widely acknowledged as important, it is probably better to put the problem statement first to indicate which component of the larger problem you are breaking down to work on. If the problem isn't obviously interesting, it might be better to put motivation first. This section ought to discuss the significance of your work, the difficulty of the field, and the potential effects of success.
- Problem: What challenges are you attempting to overcome? What is the focus of your work (a broad approach or one tailored to a particular circumstance)? Take care not to overuse jargon. The problem statement should occasionally come before the motive, but this only works when the majority of readers are aware of the significance of the issue.
- Approach: How did you approach the situation in order to resolve it or advance it? For a real product, did you employ simulation, analytical models, prototype creation, or field data analysis? How many applications did you look at? What significant variables did you regulate, disregard, or measure?
- Results: What are the outcomes? Particularly, the majority of excellent engineering papers come to the conclusion that one item is so much more precise, sensitive, specific, faster, or otherwise superior to another. Put the outcome there in numerical form. Avoid results that can be summed up with words like "very," "small," or "significant." The latter term, significant, is exclusively used in statistical analysis. If you do use the word "significant," be sure to provide the p-value, the test, and the data used to conduct the test. Compare your outcomes (in terms of numbers) against industry leaders or standards. If you must be ambiguous, you are only permitted to do so when you can discuss improvements by orders of magnitude. There is a conflict here because you shouldn't publish data that are simple to misread, while at the same time. If you must be ambiguous, you are only permitted to do so when you can discuss improvements by orders of magnitude. There is a conflict here since on the one hand you don't have a place for all the cautions, but on the other side, you shouldn't supply figures that are readily misconstrued.
- Conclusions: What repercussions does your response have? Is it going to transform the world (unlikely), be a significant victory, be a good hack (i.e., a shortcut that saves time, money, or effort), or will it just act as a road sign warning that this path is a waste of time? (All of these outcomes are helpful.) Are your findings universal, possibly general, or unique to a certain situation? Don't make your case too strong. Don't declare success in areas unrelated to your experiments.
Acknowledgements
Write something like: Without..., this thesis would not be possible. To my mentor and friend, I couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you for all of your support along the way. Include organisations that provided funding, any scholarships you received, and persons who assisted you (such as your supervisor but also colleagues).
Preface
Acknowledgements and funding bodies
Authorship
Ethics Approval
Copyright
Conflicts of Interest
Patents
Source Code and Open Source
Presentations, Conferences and Other Publications
Sharing results before Publication
Disclaimer
Footnotes
Sensitive Data
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Appendixes
List of Publications and Presentations
Abbreviations
Glossary
Bibliography
End Notes
List of References
Chapter 1: Introduction
The context and motivation for the problem, as well as an assessment of current solutions, should all be presented in Chapter 1. Be sure to specify the issue. The chapter usually closes with an explanation of the remaining thesis's contents, outlining the "story" you will tell.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
A thorough review of the body of work in the field should be included in Chapter 2. You must demonstrate that you are completely aware of prior research in this area and others like it and that you are not just restating it. Cite all pertinent works, describe what they accomplished, and then afterwards justify how what you propose to do either builds upon or is unrelated to those works.
Theory: In the theory section, you define and clarify important theories, concepts, and terms in order to contextualise your study within a theoretical framework. It is crucial to explain why and how you used these particular theories, concepts, and phrases in your unique study at this point.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
The data collection technique utilised is explained and supported in this chapter. This chapter also describes the data analysis process you used. Start by outlining the approach you took and why it was the best option. You should cite sources from the method's reference material while doing this. Next, describe in detail the entire data collection and analysis procedure. Although the methods and analysis techniques used in this part vary, many of the following topics are frequently covered:
Chapter 4: Data Analysis
You present the findings of your research in the outcomes section. Organise the findings in accordance with your queries, for instance, in accordance with themes or patterns you have discovered. Following is some broad guidance on outcomes: Separate the two terms, results and analysis. When you proceed to analyse the results, let them speak for themselves and be obvious. Save your overarching conclusions and discussion for the discussion part because the results section is mostly for reporting your findings. To demonstrate how you have organised the results, use subheadings. If using figures, diagrams, and tables makes it easier to grasp the results, do so.
Chapter 5: Data Discussion
This chapter only discusses the outcomes of your data analysis. Discussion of other research publications or the ramifications of your findings are not included in this chapter. Typically, you start by describing any descriptive or exploratory/confirmatory analyses that were performed (for example, reliability tests and factor analyses). The outcomes of the hypothesis tests are the next topic you discuss. Then you talk about any ex-post analysis. All numerical data should be represented and condensed in tables and/or figures. This chapter is typically organised by the themes or categories that emerged from your study for qualitative and historical studies. It is frequently good to give a brief descriptive (e.g., demographic) description of the participants initially if you have performed focus groups or interviews. Then, to substantiate the generalisations established, data from focus groups, interviews, or historical artefacts are directly quoted and paraphrased. This analysis occasionally also incorporates data from field notes or other interpretive sources.
Chapter 6: Conclusions and Future Work
Your findings, interpretations, and conclusions should be compiled in this chapter. Be specific about your contributions. Discuss restrictions and offer ideas for future work.
Appendix
All significant and pertinent information must be provided within the context of the thesis and its main sections because this is optional and the content of the annexe/appendix is not reviewed. Additional details on protocols, observations, calculations, etc. could be included in the annexe. This can entail, among other things, the incorporation of the original data or a more thorough statistical analysis. Keep in mind that the annexe pages should have consistent page numbers with the main text.
- Appendix 1: Timeline for Completion
- Appendix 2: Lab Diary
Thesis Report Drafting Guidelines
- Size and language: The thesis report should be no more than 300 standard pages long. The report must be written in English. The front page, table of contents, bibliography, appendix, figures, tables, and models are excluded from the calculation of regular pages.
- Writing style: The thesis report should be composed using academic writing techniques. In essence, academic writing is concise, straightforward, and clear. You articulate in the discipline's terminology. Any idea or hypothesis you put forth needs to be supported. You provide support for any methodologies and claims in the form of data or references to scholarly, peer-reviewed research (scientific journal articles). You talk about your actual findings in relation to the used techniques and pertinent peer-reviewed studies. A conclusion must be drawn based on the information you have and your actual findings.
- References: It's crucial to provide accurate citations when quoting passages from the literature. References appreciate the contributions of others and tell the reader about the sources you consulted. Plagiarism is not permitted and, in severe circumstances, can result in a student's expulsion from the university.
- Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the practice of presenting another person's words as your own without properly citing your sources. Because it is stealing someone else's work and because you are graded on something that isn't actually yours, plagiarism is regarded as a very serious offence. When you use someone else's work, such as in quotations, reproductions, interpretations, translations, figures, illustrations, etc., you must always give credit to the original author. When you create a text, it must be obvious which passages are the result of your own thoughts and which are the result of your interpretation of the knowledge of other people.
- Paper: Use paper that is A4 size (210 x 297 mm). Use high quality plain white paper that is opaque enough for everyday reading and of decent quality.
- Binding: The binding edge margin must be at least 40 mm (1.5 inches) wide, and all other margins must be at least 20 mm (.75 inches). With the exception of indented quotations and footnotes, typescripts should always utilise double or one-and-a-half spaces.
Submission of Final Thesis
Before the degree can be granted, you (the student) must submit one electronic copy in Portable Document Format (PDF) to the Faculty/School, with the necessary corrections and amendments approved by one or both of the examiners (as indicated on the Examination Result Form).
Further Reading:
Boland, A. (2017). Doing a Systematic Review: A Student's Guide, SAGE Publications Ltd; Second edition (8 November 2017) [ISBN: 978-1473967014]
Dunleavy, P. (2003). Authoring a PhD: How to Plan, Draft, Write and Finish a Doctoral Thesis or Dissertation (Palgrave Study Guides), Red Globe Press; Third edition (28 April 2003) [ISBN: 978-1403905840]
Oliver, P. (2013). Writing Your Thesis, SAGE Publications Ltd, Third edition (August 2013) [ISBN: 978-1446267851]
Wallace, M. (2021). Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates (Student Success), SAGE Publications Ltd; Fourth edition (27 April 2021) [ISBN: 978-1529727647]
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