Published on
May 24, 2022
by
Tegan George.
Revised on
July 18, 2023.
A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader.
Your glossary only needs to include terms that your reader may not be familiar with, and it’s intended to enhance their understanding of your work. Glossaries are not mandatory, but if you use a lot of technical or field-specific terms, it may improve readability to add one.
If you do choose to include a glossary, it should go at the beginning of your document, just after the table of contents and (if applicable) list of tables and figures or list of abbreviations. It’s helpful to place your glossary at the beginning, so your readers can familiarize themselves with key terms relevant to your thesis or dissertation topic prior to reading your work. Remember that glossaries are always in alphabetical order.
To help you get started, download our glossary template in the format of your choice below.
Published on
May 23, 2022
by
Tegan George.
Revised on
July 18, 2023.
A list of abbreviations is an alphabetical list of abbreviations that you can add to your thesis or dissertation. If you choose to include it, it should appear at the beginning of your document, just after your table of contents.
Abbreviation lists improve readability, minimizing confusion about abbreviations unfamiliar to your reader. This can be a worthwhile addition to your thesis or dissertation if your dissertation topic or field of study uses a lot of abbreviations in papers.
If you only use a few abbreviations, you don’t necessarily need to include a list. However, it’s never a bad idea to add one if your abbreviations are numerous, or if you think they will not be known to your audience.
You can download our template below in the format of your choice to help you get started.
Published on
May 19, 2022
by
Tegan George.
Revised on
July 18, 2023.
The title page (or cover page) of your thesis, dissertation, or research paper should contain all the key information about your document. It usually includes:
Dissertation or thesis title
Your name
The type of document (e.g., dissertation, research paper)
The department and institution
The degree program (e.g., Master of Arts)
The date of submission
It sometimes also includes your dissertation topic or field of study, your student number, your supervisor’s name, and your university’s logo.
Published on
May 15, 2022
by
Tegan George.
Revised on
July 18, 2023.
The table of contents is where you list the chapters and major sections of your thesis, dissertation, or research paper, alongside their page numbers. A clear and well-formatted table of contents is essential, as it demonstrates to your reader that a quality paper will follow.
The table of contents (TOC) should be placed between the abstract and the introduction. The maximum length should be two pages. Depending on the nature of your thesis, paper, or dissertation topic, there are a few formatting options you can choose from.
Published on
May 3, 2022
by
Tegan George.
Revised on
July 18, 2023.
The acknowledgements section is your opportunity to thank those who have helped and supported you personally and professionally during your thesis or dissertation process.
Thesis or dissertation acknowledgements appear between your title page and abstract and should be no longer than one page.
In your acknowledgements, it’s okay to use a more informal style than is usually permitted in academic writing, as well as first-person pronouns. Acknowledgements are not considered part of the academic work itself, but rather your chance to write something more personal.
To get started, download our step-by-step template in the format of your choice below. We’ve also included sample sentence starters to help you construct your acknowledgments section from scratch.
Published on
March 31, 2022
by
Tegan George.
Revised on
June 22, 2023.
An observational study is used to answer a research question based purely on what the researcher observes. There is no interference or manipulation of the research subjects, and no control and treatment groups.
Observational studies are generally used in hard science, medical, and social science fields. This is often due to ethical or practical concerns that prevent the researcher from conducting a traditional experiment. However, the lack of control and treatment groups means that forming inferences is difficult, and there is a risk of confounding variables and observer bias impacting your analysis.
Published on
March 10, 2022
by
Tegan George
Revised on
April 13, 2023.
Academic integrity is the value of being honest, ethical, and thorough in your academic work. It allows readers to trust that you aren’t misrepresenting your findings or taking credit for the work of others.
Academic dishonesty (or academic misconduct) refers to actions that undermine academic integrity. It typically refers to some form of plagiarism, ranging from serious offenses like purchasing a pre-written essay to milder ones like accidental citation errors. Most of which are easy to detect with a plagiarism checker.
These concepts are also essential in the world of professional academic research and publishing. In this context, accusations of misconduct can have serious legal and reputational consequences.
Published on
March 10, 2022
by
Tegan George.
Revised on
June 22, 2023.
An interview is a qualitative research method that relies on asking questions in order to collect data. Interviews involve two or more people, one of whom is the interviewer asking the questions.
There are several types of interviews, often differentiated by their level of structure.
Published on
February 28, 2022
by
Tegan George
Revised on
July 18, 2022.
A plagiarism checker uses advanced database software to scan for matches between your text and existing texts. They are used by universities to scan student assignments. There are also commercial plagiarism checkers you can use to check your own work before submitting.
Behind the scenes, plagiarism checkers crawl web content and index it, scanning your text for similarities against a database of existing content on the internet. Exact matches are highlighted using keyword analysis. Some checkers can also identify non-exact matches (paraphrasing plagiarism).
On the user end, the checker typically provides you with a plagiarism percentage, highlights the plagiarism, and lists the sources. You can get an interactive look at the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker below.
Published on
February 7, 2022
by
Tegan George
Revised on
September 14, 2022.
Plagiarism often involves using someone else’s words or ideas without proper citation, but you can also plagiarize yourself. Self-plagiarism means reusing work that you have already published or submitted for a class. It can involve:
Resubmitting an entire paper
Copying or paraphrasing passages from your previous work
Recycling previously collected data
Separately publishing multiple articles about the same research
Self-plagiarism misleads your readers by presenting previous work as completely new and original. If you want to include any text, ideas, or data that you already submitted in a previous assignment, be sure to inform your readers by citing yourself.
To ensure your text doesn’t contain unintentional self-plagiarism, get your document checked before submission by specialized self-plagiarism software, such as our Self-Plagiarism Checker.
