Dissertation Write-up
Those of you who are busy with your Masters or Honours projects and dissertations during summer should be aware that the “write-up” phase of your project is as important as the research phase. This warning goes more to students of engineering and science subjects such as Mechanical, Bio-informatics, Marine, Computer, Physics etc. as they usually prefer to finish their research first and then start the write-up. If you haven't done any write-up yet, start today otherwise you will most probably not finish your dissertation on-time.
It might not seem difficult before you start, but writing up a decent dissertation takes a long time and requires a lot of editing and reviewing. Poor write-up will ruin your work even if your research is first class. Apart from your supervisor (who knows how good you are), a few other people also read and mark your work, including a number of tough external examiners. They don't know you personally and it is only your dissertation that represents you and your knowledge before them.
Moreover, starting your write-up in an early stage would let you find out your average progress speed, and would help you manage your time in order to meet your deadline (usually mid/late September). It is also easier for your supervisor to correct your write-up as you make progress during summer. They usually become very busy towards the end and may not be able to help you correct a few hundred pages in a few days. In some universities, failure in submitting the dissertation on-time means No Masters! No extensions! Becareful.
Apart from your own supervisor, your university's English Language Unit may also offer help and correction services for your dissertation. This is the unit which is usually in charge of pre-sessional English courses for international students.
Finally, here are some online sources from my bookmarks that might be useful for you:
- Writing Tips (University of Newcastle Upon Tyne - Engineering)
- Writing a Thesis (University of York - Social Sciences)
- The Writing Centre (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA - General)
- Preparing a Masters Dissertation (University of Glasgow - History & Archaeology)
- Writing and Presenting your Thesis or Dissertation
- Achieve Competence in Writing Style (ARIES)
Let me add another suggestion: Make a few backups of your dissertation after you complete each major step and store it in different places other than your primary storage (backup on floppy, e-mail it to yourself, store it in your Yahoo Briefcase,...). You don't want to lose 80,000 words if you spill coffee on your laptop. It's better to be extra careful at the final stage. You know the Murphey's Law!
(at July 20, 2004 05:37 PM)
Good point, I will have it in mind as I am starting to work on my research from next week!
(at July 20, 2004 06:48 PM)
Just want to add one important suggestion .
if you have personal drive in your university ,be carefull ! since it is not reliable .dont save all your files just in your personal drives . I saw last month one of our PHd student lost all of his files which he had saved in his personal drive
(at July 21, 2004 12:58 AM)
thanks for the notice, I also agree that we should make additional backups. not necessarily because the university system is not reliable, because of unpredictable accidents that always happen. by the way the yellow/black icon of the guy banging his head on the keyboard is "very me" :)))
(at July 21, 2004 05:09 PM)
(Hints from a lecturer).
Remember that Microsoft Word is a buggy program. It is safer to keep each chapter or section as a seperate file.
If you have a number of illustrations in the text, it is much better to use a proper DTP program such as InDesign or PageMaker. These will keep your pictures at the position on the page where you want them.
Before starting, make a list of the topics. Then put them in order. Then make a more detailed list. Then you can write the full text on each topic in any order.
Do not just start at the beginning without a detailed plan of exactly what topics you are going to cover.
(at July 25, 2004 11:57 AM)
(Hints from a lecturer).
Remember that Microsoft Word is a buggy program. It is safer to keep each chapter or section as a seperate file.
If you have a number of illustrations in the text, it is much better to use a proper DTP program such as InDesign or PageMaker. These will keep your pictures at the position on the page where you want them.
Before starting, make a list of the topics. Then put them in order. Then make a more detailed list. Then you can write the full text on each topic in any order.
Do not just start at the beginning without a detailed plan of exactly what topics you are going to cover.
(at July 25, 2004 11:58 AM)
Thanks Don for the tips. What would you say about the word processor in Open Office? Is it reliable?
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