How to Write a Ph.D. Paper: Simple Tricks That Will Impress the Board
There are several tricks to creating a Ph.D. Dissertation that will impress the board and possibly get you published.
- Finish On Time
- Write the Introduction Last
- Things to Keep You Busy When Not Writing
- Revise, Revise, Revise – That’s When the Magic Happens
- Make Sure To Have a Thank You Page to All Who Helped You
The dissertation is not just an exercise in scholarly research, it is also a test of your ability to meet the kind of scholarly deadline you’ll have for book length publications in the future. The best way to make progress is to write—just write. Write every day and put down at least five pages every day whether you think its bad or not. The dissertation is really your insights into the subject coupled with scholarly research. You probably have your theories already right there in you. Put them down and get chapter one on its way.
The Introduction is a very important part of the dissertation—one that summarizes your entire argument. You don’t know all the discoveries and mutations of the topic at hand your dissertation will undergo over the course a year (or more) length project. So write this last not first and get started with the meat of your project.
There are all kinds of very important tasks that can give you a feeling of accomplishment when you’re not actually writing. Work on your works cited, making it perfect and polished and correct. Work on formatting your text with dissertation formatting rules.
Work on a perfect title page, with the perfect font and perhaps an epigraph that casts a wonderful tone over your project. Work on better titles for your chapters, or your dedication page. Work on better introduction to your quotes, and make sure your quotes and citations are done without a mistake. Work on revision, revision, revision—make those sentences sing. That’s when the magic happens—is during revision not during the first jottings.
Make sure to thank all board members or dissertation committee members who helped you during the composition of your dissertation. Also, thank any other instructors whose teaching inspired you as a student and in whose classes you learned the material necessary to carry your learning into such a lengthy study. You might want to also thank your family or anyone else important to your success in life.
