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A research proposal is a supporting document that may be required when applying to a research degree. It summarises your intended research by outlining what your research questions are, why they’re important to your field and what knowledge gaps surround your topic. It also outlines your research in terms of your aims, methods and proposed timetable .
A research proposal will be used to:
Some universities will specify a word count all students will need to adhere to. You will typically find these in the description of the PhD listing. If they haven’t stated a word count limit, you should contact the potential supervisor to clarify whether there are any requirements. If not, aim for 1500 to 3500 words (3 to 7 pages).
Your title should indicate clearly what your research question is. It needs to be simple and to the point; if the reader needs to read further into your proposal to understand your question, your working title isn’t clear enough.
Directly below your title, state the topic your research question relates to. Whether you include this information at the top of your proposal or insert a dedicated title page is your choice and will come down to personal preference.
If your research proposal is over 2000 words, consider providing an abstract. Your abstract should summarise your question, why it’s important to your field and how you intend to answer it; in other words, explain your research context.
Only include crucial information in this section – 250 words should be sufficient to get across your main points.
First, specify which subject area your research problem falls in. This will help set the context of your study and will help the reader anticipate the direction of your proposed research.
Following this, include a literature review . A literature review summarises the existing knowledge which surrounds your research topic. This should include a discussion of the theories, models and bodies of text which directly relate to your research problem. As well as discussing the information available, discuss those which aren’t. In other words, identify what the current gaps in knowledge are and discuss how this will influence your research. Your aim here is to convince the potential supervisor and funding providers of why your intended research is worth investing time and money into.
Last, discuss the key debates and developments currently at the centre of your research area.
Identify the aims and objectives of your research. The aims are the problems your project intends to solve; the objectives are the measurable steps and outcomes required to achieve the aim.
In outlining your aims and objectives, you will need to explain why your proposed research is worth exploring. Consider these aspects:
If you fail to address the above questions, it’s unlikely they will accept your proposal – all PhD research projects must show originality and value to be considered.
The following structure is recommended when discussing your research design:
We’ve outlined the various stages of a PhD and the approximate duration of a PhD programme which you can refer to when designing your own research study.
Plagiarism is taken seriously across all academic levels, but even more so for doctorates. Therefore, ensure you reference the existing literature you have used in writing your PhD proposal. Besides this, try to adopt the same referencing style as the University you’re applying to uses. You can easily find this information in the PhD Thesis formatting guidelines published on the University’s website.
Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.
Here are answers to some of the most common questions we’re asked about the Research Proposal:
Yes, your PhD research proposal outlines the start of your project only. It’s well accepted that the direction of your research will develop with time, therefore, you can revise it at later dates.
Whether the potential supervisor will review your draft will depend on the individual. However, it is highly advisable that you at least attempt to discuss your draft with them. Even if they can’t review it, they may provide you with useful information regarding their department’s expertise which could help shape your PhD proposal. For example, you may amend your methodology should you come to learn that their laboratory is better equipped for an alternative method.
Ensure you follow the same order as the headings given above. This is the most logical structure and will be the order your proposed supervisor will expect.
Most universities don’t provide formatting requirements for research proposals on the basis that they are a supporting document only, however, we recommend that you follow the same format they require for their PhD thesis submissions. This will give your reader familiarity and their guidelines should be readily available on their website.
Last, try to have someone within the same academic field or discipline area to review your proposal. The key is to confirm that they understand the importance of your work and how you intend to execute it. If they don’t, it’s likely a sign you need to rewrite some of your sections to be more coherent.
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A doctoral dissertation or thesis should be of 50,000 to 80,000 words and should not exceed 1,00,000 words having around 150 to 230 pages.
“One size can’t fit to all.”
A fat person can’t fit into a lean person’s trouser, isn’t he?
The same is true for the most important academic essay as well, the PhD thesis or dissertation or we can say a doctoral dissertation.
The present article illustrates how long should be a PhD dissertation! the number of words, number of chapters and pages. We will also discuss what should be your thesis length and how you can decide it. But before that let’s understand the concept of a doctoral dissertation or thesis.
The doctoral dissertation or thesis is almost the same kind of thing! Some universities prefer to say it as “dissertation” while others say it “a thesis” but ideally, as per the USA PhD structure, the dissertation is considered as a short essay and often applied to denote a thesis to award the master degree.
Notwithstanding, we can use either term to indicate a PhD essay. Either a thesis or dissertation, any of it can be used. So don’t confuse yourself.
The PhD dissertation is an academic essay, structured, formal and concise and precisely written. The whole thesis must be divided into specific chapters each one includes specific information.
For example, the introduction chapter includes general information only while the review chapter must include literature and reviews of all related topics.
The content of the dissertation may vary from chapter to chapter that we will discuss later on. Sections of every PhD dissertation have a definite content and length as well, and therefore the whole thesis has a definite length.
The criteria to write a PhD dissertation (what to write and how to write) vary among universities, some prefer longer essays while some shorter. Let’s not confuse things and let directly into the topic,
Read more: 12 Proven Practical Tips for Academic Writing .
The ideal length of the doctoral dissertation is between 50,000 to 80,000 (actually), however, should not exceed 1,00,000 words.
Do you know? “A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions” is a thesis title of Albert Einstein which has only 17 pages .
The whole doctoral dissertation divides into sections like background (commonly an introduction), review, methods, results, discussion and conclusion.
Besides, Acknowledgement, preface, abstract, index, list of images, list of tables and title page and other pages are there in the thesis but can’t be included in the core content of the doctoral dissertation.
In accordance with the number of pages, a typical thesis has a minimum of 180 and a maximum of 300 pages with an average of 230 pages per dissertation and consider as the ideal length of the doctoral dissertation.
However, here are some of the factors upon which the length of the thesis is decided.
The length of the thesis varies among subjects as some need longer, in-depth explanation whilst some only contain equations or mathematical calculations.
Usually, dissertations of humanities such as history, language and social science are long around 1,00,000 to 1,20,000 words. On the other side, the dissertation of STEM ( Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are shorter around 50,000 to 80,000 words.
Here is the graph of the number of pages and length of the thesis in different subjects.
Another factor is a topic chosen by the prospective student. The length of the doctoral dissertation also depends on a topic selected, independent of the subject.
For example, some topics are shorter and “require to the point” explanation, topics of maths and physics are based on equations and calculations henceforth those theses ideally might be shorter than other topics.
On the other side, a topic that includes not only scientific experiments but also physics or maths and social benefits are usually longer. The reason is that prospective students need to explain the science behind that and its importance for society as well. So it may be huge.
Related article: 16 Proven Tips to Write a Thesis for PhD .
The style of writing, length and structure of dissertation may vary among universities. Universities have their own style and students have to write their thesis accordingly.
Do you know? David Rector’s thesis entitled, “An unstable Adams Spectral Sequence” is the shortest thesis in the world having only 9 pages (as per the MIT library of thesis).
Note that the quality of the doctoral dissertation isn’t associated with the length of it. Consequently, a longer thesis isn’t mean quality work whilst a shorter thesis isn’t mean poor work!
Plenty of research data are available on the length of the doctoral dissertation and the number of pages but interestingly, conclude nothing!
This means, research conduct on 1000 student show that the thesis should have 1,00,000 pages doesn’t infer that you have to write a dissertation of exactly having the same length.
Dr Eva Lantsoght had conducted a poll on Twitter on “what was the word count of your dissertation?”
34% of students voted that their thesis is 80,000 to 1,20,000 words long while 21% of students voted to have a dissertation length of fewer than 40,000 words. However, the study is irrelevant as students aren’t categorized based their subjects. (but it’s just a Twitter Poll!).
As we said, the number of pages or words may deviate among universities, for example, ideally Cambridge university allow 80,000 words in a typical dissertation, however, in the same university the criteria for biology PhD thesis is 60,000 (as per their official website information).
Note that special permission is needed when students exceeds more than the limit decided.
Similarly, Oxford university and Harvard university advised dissertation length of 1,00,000 and 100 to 300 pages, respectively.
No such data or studies define how long exactly a doctoral dissertation should be because as we said, it’s not a major criterion in any university. If you write a thesis in either fewer or more words, the university will never reject it or fail you, based on that.
Irrespective of the length of the dissertation, it must justify the research work done by the prospective candidate. If the examiner thinks that the thesis is too long, they advise you to make it shorter and vice versa, no issue in that.
The only thing matter is that the work should be worth award-winning. However, some universities are strict against the length of the doctoral dissertation. Students need prior permission if their thesis excess the length decided by the university. For example, at Cambridge University, the length of a doctorate dissertation is fixed for different subjects. When exceeded, one has to take permission prior to submit the thesis.
Do you know? Historian Joachim Schuhmacher had written the world’s longest thesis having 2,654 pages.
Now let us discuss how the length of a doctorate dissertation is decided?
The answer to this question gives you an idea of “how many words you have to write”. A single thesis page should have around 325 to 333 pages when using Times New Roman font and double spacing (as per the MLA and APA formate ).
When you write 100 pages it comprises 33, 300 words so when we write 250 pages, it comprises around 83,250 words.
It means one should have to write around 60,000 to 70,000 words (220 to 230) pages for getting a doctoral degree. Again, keep in mind, not the length, the quality of research work and writing precision decides the fate of a student.
Importantly, the ideal length of what we are discussing here only comprises content, we haven’t included other important pages such as a preface, acknowledgment, title page or other related pages. Those are single pages and must be labeled in italic, not in numbers.
Refer university’s official circular or terms and conditions before applying as well as submitting a thesis. Do not trust blindly what others are doing.
What is the conclusion of the present topic? You may wonder I will advise you on how long a doctoral dissertation will be. Right! Well, in that case, I strongly recommended to contact the university and ask to the PhD department regarding requirements.
Keep in mind quality of research matter more rather than the quantity of writing. Still, you need to write a doctoral dissertation longer enough to evaluate.
“Don’t consider yourself as Einstein or David Rector.”
Dr. Tushar Chauhan is a Scientist, Blogger and Scientific-writer. He has completed PhD in Genetics. Dr. Chauhan is a PhD coach and tutor.
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The length of introductions vary depending on your disciplinary area and the nature of your project so before writing one, it may be wise to discuss length and expectations of content with your supervisor. It is also worth taking a look at a range of past theses in your area to see what is expected in your field.
The introduction to the whole thesis can make up roughly 10 per cent of the total word count. So if you are doing a PhD of 80,000 - 100,000 words, you may have a 8,000 - 10,000 word introduction. And if you are writing a Masters thesis of 15,000 - 20,000 words, your introduction could be 1,500 - 2,000 words long. Exegeses tend to be anywhere between seven to 12 pages in length (1.5 cm spacing) and include images and/or diagrams.
Theses that generally have longer introductions do so because they incorporate more substantial background information and/or an extended literature review section.
Theses that have shorter introductions, say eight to ten pages (1.5 spacing) or about 4000 words for a PhD, do so in order to give a broad overview of the research project which is typically followed by a longer background or literature review chapter.
Regardless of the type of project you are doing or thesis you are writing, the introduction to the thesis or exegesis should give a broad overview of the project, as discussed in the page on introductions.
Individual chapters should also have introductions. An introduction to a chapter that is 10,000 words long could be about two to three pages long, whereas in shorter theses the chapter introductions may only be a page or two, or even just a paragraph or two. The length varies depending on how much you need to establish for your reader to understand how the chapter contributes to your research and argument.
One supervisor rejected his PhD student's introduction of 30 plus pages, saying an introduction should be about 'eight pages and should cover context, issues and method in that order.' So the student re-wrote to those instructions. He initially established the context of his research by providing dense background information; he then identified the key issues in the process of defining his research objectives; finally he provided a conventional chapter-by-chapter description of the thesis procedure. |
Timing>>
Chapter introductions
How to write a masters dissertation or thesis: top tips.
It is completely normal to find the idea of writing a masters thesis or dissertation slightly daunting, even for students who have written one before at undergraduate level. Though, don’t feel put off by the idea. You’ll have plenty of time to complete it, and plenty of support from your supervisor and peers.
One of the main challenges that students face is putting their ideas and findings into words. Writing is a skill in itself, but with the right advice, you’ll find it much easier to get into the flow of writing your masters thesis or dissertation.
We’ve put together a step-by-step guide on how to write a dissertation or thesis for your masters degree, with top tips to consider at each stage in the process.
There are slight differences between theses and dissertations , although both require a high standard of writing skill and knowledge in your topic. They are also formatted very similarly.
At first, writing a masters thesis can feel like running a 100m race – the course feels very quick and like there is not as much time for thinking! However, you’ll usually have a summer semester dedicated to completing your dissertation – giving plenty of time and space to write a strong academic piece.
By comparison, writing a PhD thesis can feel like running a marathon, working on the same topic for 3-4 years can be laborious. But in many ways, the approach to both of these tasks is quite similar.
Before writing your masters dissertation, get to know your research topic inside out. Not only will understanding your topic help you conduct better research, it will also help you write better dissertation content.
Also consider the main purpose of your dissertation. You are writing to put forward a theory or unique research angle – so make your purpose clear in your writing.
Top writing tip: when researching your topic, look out for specific terms and writing patterns used by other academics. It is likely that there will be a lot of jargon and important themes across research papers in your chosen dissertation topic.
Writing a thesis is a unique experience and there is no general consensus on what the best way to structure it is.
As a postgraduate student , you’ll probably decide what kind of structure suits your research project best after consultation with your supervisor. You’ll also have a chance to look at previous masters students’ theses in your university library.
To some extent, all postgraduate dissertations are unique. Though they almost always consist of chapters. The number of chapters you cover will vary depending on the research.
A masters dissertation or thesis organised into chapters would typically look like this:
Section | Description |
Title page | The opening page includes all relevant information about the project. |
Abstract | A brief project summary including background, methodology and findings. |
Contents | A list of chapters and figures from your project. |
Chapter 1 – Background | A description of the rationale behind your project. |
Chapter 2 – Literature Review | A summary and evaluation of the literature supporting your project. |
Chapter 3 – Methodology | A description of the specific methodology used in your project. |
Chapter 4-6 – Data analysis and Findings | An overview of the key findings and data from your research. |
Chapter 7 - Discussion and Evaluation | A description of what the data means and what you can draw from the findings. |
Chapter 8 - Conclusion | Main summary of your overall project and key findings. |
Bibliography | A list of the references cited in your dissertation or thesis. |
Appendices | Additional materials used in your research. |
Write down your structure and use these as headings that you’ll write for later on.
Top writing tip : ease each chapter together with a paragraph that links the end of a chapter to the start of a new chapter. For example, you could say something along the lines of “in the next section, these findings are evaluated in more detail”. This makes it easier for the reader to understand each chapter and helps your writing flow better.
One of the best places to start when writing your masters dissertation is with the literature review. This involves researching and evaluating existing academic literature in order to identify any gaps for your own research.
Many students prefer to write the literature review chapter first, as this is where several of the underpinning theories and concepts exist. This section helps set the stage for the rest of your dissertation, and will help inform the writing of your other dissertation chapters.
The literature review chapter is more than just a summary of existing research, it is an evaluation of how this research has informed your own unique research.
Demonstrate how the different pieces of research fit together. Are there overlapping theories? Are there disagreements between researchers?
Highlight the gap in the research. This is key, as a dissertation is mostly about developing your own unique research. Is there an unexplored avenue of research? Has existing research failed to disprove a particular theory?
Back up your methodology. Demonstrate why your methodology is appropriate by discussing where it has been used successfully in other research.
For instance, a more theoretical-based research topic might encompass more writing from a philosophical perspective. Qualitative data might require a lot more evaluation and discussion than quantitative research.
The methodology chapter is all about how you carried out your research and which specific techniques you used to gather data. You should write about broader methodological approaches (e.g. qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods), and then go into more detail about your chosen data collection strategy.
Data collection strategies include things like interviews, questionnaires, surveys, content analyses, discourse analyses and many more.
The data analysis or findings chapter should cover what you actually discovered during your research project. It should be detailed, specific and objective (don’t worry, you’ll have time for evaluation later on in your dissertation)
Write up your findings in a way that is easy to understand. For example, if you have a lot of numerical data, this could be easier to digest in tables.
This will make it easier for you to dive into some deeper analysis in later chapters. Remember, the reader will refer back to your data analysis section to cross-reference your later evaluations against your actual findings – so presenting your data in a simple manner is beneficial.
Think about how you can segment your data into categories. For instance, it can be useful to segment interview transcripts by interviewee.
Top writing tip : write up notes on how you might phrase a certain part of the research. This will help bring the best out of your writing. There is nothing worse than when you think of the perfect way to phrase something and then you completely forget it.
Once you’ve presented your findings, it’s time to evaluate and discuss them.
It might feel difficult to differentiate between your findings and discussion sections, because you are essentially talking about the same data. The easiest way to remember the difference is that your findings simply present the data, whereas your discussion tells the story of this data.
Your evaluation breaks the story down, explaining the key findings, what went well and what didn’t go so well.
In your discussion chapter, you’ll have chance to expand on the results from your findings section. For example, explain what certain numbers mean and draw relationships between different pieces of data.
Top writing tip: don’t be afraid to point out the shortcomings of your research. You will receive higher marks for writing objectively. For example, if you didn’t receive as many interview responses as expected, evaluate how this has impacted your research and findings. Don’t let your ego get in the way!
Your introduction sets the scene for the rest of your masters dissertation. You might be wondering why writing an introduction isn't at the start of our step-by-step list, and that’s because many students write this chapter last.
Here’s what your introduction chapter should cover:
Problem statement
Research question
Significance of your research
This tells the reader what you’ll be researching as well as its importance. You’ll have a good idea of what to include here from your original dissertation proposal , though it’s fairly common for research to change once it gets started.
Writing or at least revisiting this section last can be really helpful, since you’ll have a more well-rounded view of what your research actually covers once it has been completed and written up.
When to start writing your thesis or dissertation.
When you should start writing your masters thesis or dissertation depends on the scope of the research project and the duration of your course. In some cases, your research project may be relatively short and you may not be able to write much of your thesis before completing the project.
But regardless of the nature of your research project and of the scope of your course, you should start writing your thesis or at least some of its sections as early as possible, and there are a number of good reasons for this:
Academic writing is about practice, not talent. The first steps of writing your dissertation will help you get into the swing of your project. Write early to help you prepare in good time.
Write things as you do them. This is a good way to keep your dissertation full of fresh ideas and ensure that you don’t forget valuable information.
The first draft is never perfect. Give yourself time to edit and improve your dissertation. It’s likely that you’ll need to make at least one or two more drafts before your final submission.
Writing early on will help you stay motivated when writing all subsequent drafts.
Thinking and writing are very connected. As you write, new ideas and concepts will come to mind. So writing early on is a great way to generate new ideas.
The best way of improving your dissertation or thesis writing skills is to:
Finish the first draft of your masters thesis as early as possible and send it to your supervisor for revision. Your supervisor will correct your draft and point out any writing errors. This process will be repeated a few times which will help you recognise and correct writing mistakes yourself as time progresses.
If you are not a native English speaker, it may be useful to ask your English friends to read a part of your thesis and warn you about any recurring writing mistakes. Read our section on English language support for more advice.
Most universities have writing centres that offer writing courses and other kinds of support for postgraduate students. Attending these courses may help you improve your writing and meet other postgraduate students with whom you will be able to discuss what constitutes a well-written thesis.
Read academic articles and search for writing resources on the internet. This will help you adopt an academic writing style, which will eventually become effortless with practice.
The easiest way to keep the track of all the articles you have read for your research is to create a database where you can summarise each article/chapter into a few most important bullet points to help you remember their content.
Another useful tool for doing this effectively is to learn how to use specific reference management software (RMS) such as EndNote. RMS is relatively simple to use and saves a lot of time when it comes to organising your bibliography. This may come in very handy, especially if your reference section is suspiciously missing two hours before you need to submit your dissertation!
Plagiarism may cost you your postgraduate degree and it is important that you consciously avoid it when writing your thesis or dissertation.
Occasionally, postgraduate students commit plagiarism unintentionally. This can happen when sections are copy and pasted from journal articles they are citing instead of simply rephrasing them. Whenever you are presenting information from another academic source, make sure you reference the source and avoid writing the statement exactly as it is written in the original paper.
Read your university’s guidelines before you actually start writing your thesis so you don’t have to waste time changing the format further down the line. However in general, most universities will require you to use 1.5-2 line spacing, font size 12 for text, and to print your thesis on A4 paper. These formatting guidelines may not necessarily result in the most aesthetically appealing thesis, however beauty is not always practical, and a nice looking thesis can be a more tiring reading experience for your postgrad examiner .
The length of time it takes to complete your MSc or MA thesis will vary from student to student. This is because people work at different speeds, projects vary in difficulty, and some projects encounter more problems than others.
Obviously, you should submit your MSc thesis or MA thesis when it is finished! Every university will say in its regulations that it is the student who must decide when it is ready to submit.
However, your supervisor will advise you whether your work is ready and you should take their advice on this. If your supervisor says that your work is not ready, then it is probably unwise to submit it. Usually your supervisor will read your final thesis or dissertation draft and will let you know what’s required before submitting your final draft.
Set yourself a target for completion. This will help you stay on track and avoid falling behind. You may also only have funding for the year, so it is important to ensure you submit your dissertation before the deadline – and also ensure you don’t miss out on your graduation ceremony !
To set your target date, work backwards from the final completion and submission date, and aim to have your final draft completed at least three months before that final date.
Don’t leave your submission until the last minute – submit your work in good time before the final deadline. Consider what else you’ll have going on around that time. Are you moving back home? Do you have a holiday? Do you have other plans?
If you need to have finished by the end of June to be able to go to a graduation ceremony in July, then you should leave a suitable amount of time for this. You can build this into your dissertation project planning at the start of your research.
It is important to remember that handing in your thesis or dissertation is not the end of your masters program . There will be a period of time of one to three months between the time you submit and your final day. Some courses may even require a viva to discuss your research project, though this is more common at PhD level .
If you have passed, you will need to make arrangements for the thesis to be properly bound and resubmitted, which will take a week or two. You may also have minor corrections to make to the work, which could take up to a month or so. This means that you need to allow a period of at least three months between submitting your thesis and the time when your program will be completely finished. Of course, it is also possible you may be asked after the viva to do more work on your thesis and resubmit it before the examiners will agree to award the degree – so there may be an even longer time period before you have finished.
Most universities will have a clear procedure for submitting a masters dissertation. Some universities require your ‘intention to submit’. This notifies them that you are ready to submit and allows the university to appoint an external examiner.
This normally has to be completed at least three months before the date on which you think you will be ready to submit.
When your MA or MSc dissertation is ready, you will have to print several copies and have them bound. The number of copies varies between universities, but the university usually requires three – one for each of the examiners and one for your supervisor.
However, you will need one more copy – for yourself! These copies must be softbound, not hardbound. The theses you see on the library shelves will be bound in an impressive hardback cover, but you can only get your work bound like this once you have passed.
You should submit your dissertation or thesis for examination in soft paper or card covers, and your university will give you detailed guidance on how it should be bound. They will also recommend places where you can get the work done.
The next stage is to hand in your work, in the way and to the place that is indicated in your university’s regulations. All you can do then is sit and wait for the examination – but submitting your thesis is often a time of great relief and celebration!
Some universities only require a digital submission, where you upload your dissertation as a file through their online submission system.
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Written by Mark Bennett
You'll need to write a research proposal if you're submitting your own project plan as part of a PhD application. A good PhD proposal outlines the scope and significance of your topic and explains how you plan to research it.
It's helpful to think about the proposal like this: if the rest of your application explains your ability to do a PhD, the proposal demonstrates the actual PhD you plan to do. Of course, being able to effectively plan and explain a research project is one of the key qualifications for being able to complete one, which is why the proposal is such an important part of the PhD application process.
Thankfully, the secret to writing a good research proposal isn't complicated. It's simply a case of understanding what the proposal is for, what it needs to do and how it needs to be put together.
What is a phd research proposal.
First things first, do you need a research proposal for your PhD? It depends on the kind of project you want to do:
As a rule, advertised PhDs are very common in STEM subjects, whereas Arts, Humanities and Social Science students are more likely to propose their own PhDs.
Some PhD programmes actually wait and ask students to develop their research proposal during the degree (usually after they've completed some initial training). This is normal in the USA , but it's becoming more common for some UKRI-funded UK PhDs.
For the purposes of this guide we're going to assume that you do need to write a good research proposal for your PhD application. So let's explore what's involved in that.
There are lots of choices, let us help you to make the right one. Sign up to our weekly newsletter for the latest advice and guidance from our team of experts.
It's natural to be a little intimidated at the thought of structuring a PhD proposal, particularly if you've never written anything like this before.
But here's the thing: a research proposal isn't a fiendish test designed to catch you out and stop you ever doing a PhD. It's actually much more boring than that.
All a research proposal really is is a document that demonstrates three things:
Or to put it even more simply: the PhD is worth doing, it's doable and you can do it.
A successful PhD project has to make a significant original contribution to knowledge. If it doesn't, it won't meet the criteria for a doctoral degree and will probably fail the viva exam .
Your PhD proposal itself doesn't have to meet those criteria (or pass a viva!) but it does need to indicate that your PhD project eventually will.
It does that by first demonstrating that your research topic is original. That means nobody else has studied this same topic (or one very similar) before.
There are all sorts of ways a PhD can be original. You might examine new data or primary sources, to look at existing material from a fresh perspective, or deal with the impact of new events. It doesn't matter how your project is original, so long as your proposal is really specific about what makes it original.
You also need to explain why your proposed research will be academically significant. To do this properly, you'll need to acknowledge relevant existing scholarship and explain how your research will relate to it. You don't need to be exhaustive at this point, but you should be able to show how your PhD will contribute to its field and – ideally – indicate some of the gaps in knowledge it will aim to fill.
The final step in demonstrating your PhD is worthwhile is to suggest what will become possible as a result of your research. How could other researchers use or build upon your results? What might closing those gaps in academic knowledge mean for audiences outside the unviversity?
It isn't enough just to show that your research is worth doing; it also needs to actually be doable.
The length of a full-time PhD is around three to four years in most countries (it's longer in for a PhD in the USA , but you don't spend all that time doing research).
Three years may seem like a long time, but researching a PhD is a lot of work and you'll probably spend at least some of your time on other activities like teaching, conference presentations or even publication.
So, one of the things your proposal needs to do is demonstrate that your project is feasible: that it fits within the scope of a PhD.
The most important criteria for this is to be clear about what you plan to do. It should be obvious from your proposal what the scope of your project is – what is and isn't included within it.
You also need to outline how you plan to go about your research. Where will you start and what order do you expect to proceed in? Is the logic for that obvious? If not, it's probably a good idea to explain it.
Finally, you need to explain the methodology you plan to use. This could include techniques for collecting data and sources, theoretical perspectives for analysing them – or both. You may also need to detail specific equipment you expect to use or fieldwork you'll need to undertake (including trips to archives or other external resources).
None of this needs to be exact or completely final. The key word here is 'plan' – but you do need to have one.
So far we've thought about the project itself: what makes it worth doing and how it's going to get done. But your proposal also needs to address the who and the where: why are you the right person to carry out this research, and why do you want to do it at this particular university?
The first part of this is easier than it probably looks. Writing a good research proposal demonstrates enthusiasm for your project much more convincingly than simply saying you're very interested in it (a classic case of 'show, don't tell').
You also don't need to repeat your grades and academic achievements (other parts of your PhD application will cover those). Instead, try to underline experiences that relate to this project. Has a particular module or Masters dissertation topic prepared you with useful subject knowledge or methodological skills? If so, highlight it.
It's also fine, within reason, to be honest about the skills you don't have and to identify your training needs. This shows you're being practical about your project and thinking seriously about what it will require. Just make sure you can realistically acquire the skills and training you need within the time available (this goes back to the feasibility).
Showing your project is a good fit for the university is also relatively simple. There should already be some reasons why you've chosen this university for your PhD so make sure you explain what they are. Perhaps there's a particular supervisor you'd like to work with , or facilities and resources your research could use. The key is to emphasise the fit between the project and the university – so don't just say you want to research there because it's highly ranked .
Hopefully the above sections have given you a few ideas for the things your proposal needs to include. Let's be honest though, the scariest thing about a proposal isn't deciding what to include: it's actually writing it.
But, if we flip that on its head, we remember that all a research proposal really is is a piece of writing that follows a pretty standard format. And that's a lot less scary.
Because proposals for PhD all have to do the same things, they mostly follow a similar structure. Yours will probably go something like this:
You probably won't need to include a specific conclusion - it should be obvious, by now, what your project is doing, how you're going to do it and why that matters. A quick summary sentence is fine though, if you think it will help.
Being able to effectively communicate academic concepts, ideas and results is a key skill for PhD research in all subjects . Think of your proposal as a chance to demonstrate this.
The good news is that the key principles of good proposal writing aren't that different from other work you've probably done as a Bachelors or Masters student:
Honestly? As long as the university asks for it to be. Most will have guidelines and you should follow them closely if so.
If you honestly can't find a suggested word count for your proposal, then consider asking a prospective supervisor . If you still aren't sure, aim for somewhere between 1,000-2,000 words .
As a very general rule, Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences are a bit longer than STEM proposals (and a lot of STEM students don't have to write one anyway, as we've explained).
Research proposals are a popular topic over on the FindAPhD blog , where we've shared stories of how students wrote theirs , along with mistakes to avoid and a counter-intuitive look at the things a PhD proposal doesn't actually need to do .
Here are a few general tips and mistakes to avoid:
Preparing to write a PhD proposal takes time and effort. None of this is wasted as the process of evaluating and framing your ideas for a proposal will improve your project plan immensely. So will the need to decide which ideas to include.
But you need time and space to do that, so make sure you get it. How long it will take to write your PhD proposal is heavily dependent on your personal working style, but you'll likely need to give yourself at least a few weeks to do a good job.
A good proposal isn't a begging letter. You're approaching the university with a great idea that's going to contribute to and enhance their research. Be honest, be realistic, but don't be unnecessarily humble. They should want you and your project.
You may not need to present original research findings yet, but your proposal does need to present original ideas – and it should be clear why and how those ideas are original.
Make sure you indicate how your project is going to expand, enhance or even correct existing work in your field. Remember that making an "original contribution to knowledge" is a key part of what a PhD is .
A good proposal needs to explain why you want to do your research at a particular university. That's a big part of the feasibility (the fit between project, person and place) and methodology (how are you going to use this university's equipment and archives; when and where will you need to travel).
It's OK to apply to more than one university in parallel, but, in that case, you're writing research proposals .
It can be tempting to search for PhD proposal samples on the internet, but make sure you evaluate what you find. Some websites may host old proposals from previous PhD students, but there's no way of knowing how relevant these are to your subject and university – or if they were even successful! More 'generic' research proposal examples can offer guidance, but they won't be tailored to your specific project.
The best place to look for a PhD proposal sample is your university. Consider asking your supervisor if they can share a good proposal from a previous student in your subject – or put you in touch with a current student you can ask.
We've covered this on the blog , but it's simple enough to include here too.
You're setting out to do a PhD, but you (probably!) haven't done one yet. So you don't need to include research findings, in-depth analysis or a comprehesive literature review. You need to make a case for the research and analysis you want to do.
The advice on this page is necessarily quite general. We're considering adding guides to writing PhD proposals in specific subjects in future but, for now, the best place to get specific advice for your academic field is probably the university you're applying to.
See if you can get some subject-specific tips by contacting a supervisor , or just checking with the admissions team for your department.
And remember: if they give you a structure and a word count, stick to it.
Find out what PhD opportunities are currently available with our FindAPhD course listings .
Mark bennett.
Mark joined FindAPhD to develop our first ever advice articles in 2013 and now serves as our Director of Audience & Editorial, making sure our websites and information are as useful as possible for people thinking about Masters and PhD study. He has a PhD in English Literature from the University of Sheffield, as well as Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Kent and the University of South Wales.
We've answered some of the most frequently asked questions about PhDs, covering course types, applications, funding and the benefits of further study.
Getting ready to apply for a PhD? Our guides explain research proposals, references and entry tests for doctoral programmes.
Our guide explains how to contact a potential PhD supervisor to discuss your proposal or ideas with them before applying.
A checklist of the things you'll need to do when making an international PhD application, from meeting the entry requirements to sorting out your visa.
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Unfortunately, there's no one size fits all answer to this question. However, from the analysis of over 100 PhD theses, the average thesis length is between 80,000 and 100,000 words. A further analysis of 1000 PhD thesis shows the average number of pages to be 204. In reality, the actual word count for each PhD thesis will depend on the ...
A PhD can be anywhere from 50 pages to over 450 pages long. This equates to between about 20,000 words to 100,000 words. Most PhD theses are between 60,000 and 80,000 words long excluding contents, citations and references. A PhD thesis contains different sections including an introduction, methods, results and discussion, conclusions, further ...
Most dissertations are 100 to 300 pages in length. All dissertations should be divided into appropriate sections, and long dissertations may need chapters, main divisions, and even subdivisions. Students should keep in mind that GSAS and many departments deplore overlong and wordy dissertations.
It's a rather short dissertation of approximately 40,000 words as the second part of my PhD requirement is a short story collection (I'm doing a creative PhD). 3. 9 Share. Add a Comment. Sort by: Search Comments. downsideleft. • 4 yr. ago. I wrote 2 to 4 pages per day, 4 days a week with the expectation that I would edit it down by 25 - 35%.
The length of a PhD thesis varies from subject to subject, but all are far longer than those for undergraduate or Masters degrees. Your university will usually set an upper limit - typically between 70,000 and 100,000 words, with most dissertations coming in at around 80,000 words.
A PhD thesis (or dissertation) is typically 60,000 to 120,000 words (100 to 300 pages in length) organised into chapters, divisions and subdivisions (with roughly 10,000 words per chapter) - from introduction (with clear aims and objectives) to conclusion. The structure of a dissertation will vary depending on discipline (humanities, social ...
For the PhD degree, not to exceed 60,000 words (or 80,000 by special permission of the Degree Committee), and for the MSc degree, not to exceed 40,000 words. These limits exclude figures, photographs, tables, appendices and bibliography. Lines to be double or one-and-a-half spaced; pages to be double or single sided.
A thesis must contribute new knowledge to its field, necessitating a deep familiarity with the expected structure, depth of analysis, and submission formalities. Your university guidelines should state how many words in a PhD thesis are needed within your discipline—usually ranging from 60,000 to 80,000 words. Step 2: Choose Your Topic Wisely
An undergraduate dissertation is typically 8,000-15,000 words. A master's dissertation is typically 12,000-50,000 words. A PhD thesis is typically book-length: 70,000-100,000 words. However, none of these are strict guidelines - your word count may be lower or higher than the numbers stated here. Always check the guidelines provided ...
The typical PhD thesis structure will contain four chapters of original work sandwiched between a literature review chapter and a concluding chapter. There is no universal rule for the length of a thesis, but general guidelines set the word count between 70,000 to 100,000 words .
Time to recap…. And there you have it - the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows: Title page. Acknowledgments page. Abstract (or executive summary) Table of contents, list of figures and tables.
So how many words is a Ph.D. thesis? At UWS London, your PhD thesis should not typically exceed 40,000 words for PhD students studying Mathematics, Technology, Science, and Engineering - this excludes ancillary data. For PhD students studying in all other fields, a PhD thesis should not exceed 80,000 words.
The Registrar's Office will review the dissertation for compliance and these formatting elements and will contact the student to confirm acceptance or to request revision. The Harvard Griffin GSAS resource on dissertation formatting best practices expands on many of the elements below. Please carefully review your dissertation before ...
SephirothNoMasamune. •. For my masters (languages), the minimum was 16,000 and the maximum 24,000. For my PhD (languages), my minimum is 80,000 and my maximum is 100,000. It's fairly standard for my discipline I think, though I might be wrong! In my first year I'm expected to write ~20k words for a literature review, so I suppose that's ...
Research theses have a word limit that you must comply with. A PhD thesis should not exceed a total of 100,000 words in length (or 70,000 for most professional doctorates), including scholarly apparatus such as footnotes or endnotes, essential appendices and bibliography. ... Word limits. Doctor of Philosophy—100,000 words; Doctor of ...
Work with your thesis supervisor to plan the structure and format of your PhD thesis. Be prepared to rewrite each section, as you work out rough drafts. Don't get discouraged by this process. It's typical. Make your writing interesting. Academic writing has a reputation of being very dry.
An undergraduate dissertation is typically 8,000-15,000 words. A master's dissertation is typically 12,000-50,000 words. A PhD thesis is typically book-length: 70,000-100,000 words. However, none of these are strict guidelines - your word count may be lower or higher than the numbers stated here. Always check the guidelines provided ...
A typical dissertation runs between 250 and 300 pages, divided into four or five chapters, often with a short conclusion following the final full-scale chapter.There is no set minimum or maximum length, but anything below about 225 pages will likely look insubstantial in comparison to others, while anything over 350 pages may suggest a lack of proportion and control of the topic, and would ...
1. Title. Your title should indicate clearly what your research question is. It needs to be simple and to the point; if the reader needs to read further into your proposal to understand your question, your working title isn't clear enough. Directly below your title, state the topic your research question relates to.
When you write 100 pages it comprises 33, 300 words so when we write 250 pages, it comprises around 83,250 words. It means one should have to write around 60,000 to 70,000 words (220 to 230) pages for getting a doctoral degree. Again, keep in mind, not the length, the quality of research work and writing precision decides the fate of a student.
The introduction to the whole thesis can make up roughly 10 per cent of the total word count. So if you are doing a PhD of 80,000 - 100,000 words, you may have a 8,000 - 10,000 word introduction. And if you are writing a Masters thesis of 15,000 - 20,000 words, your introduction could be 1,500 - 2,000 words long. Exegeses tend to be anywhere ...
Writing a masters dissertation or thesis is a sizable task. It takes a considerable amount of research, studying and writing. Usually, students need to write around 10,000 to 15,000 words. It is completely normal to find the idea of writing a masters thesis or dissertation slightly daunting, even for students who have written one before at ...
Written by Mark Bennett. You'll need to write a research proposal if you're submitting your own project plan as part of a PhD application. A good PhD proposal outlines the scope and significance of your topic and explains how you plan to research it. It's helpful to think about the proposal like this: if the rest of your application explains ...