Avoiding Common Mistakes While Writing A PhD Thesis
How to avoid mistakes while creating a PhD thesis
You should be very careful while writing your PhD thesis. The following are the common mistakes students make while writing a thesis. Be sure to avoid them.
- An incomplete bibliography
- Avoid generalizations
- The abstract must begin with “my original contribution”
- Referring and quoting books that you have not read
- Spelling mistakes or typos
- Repetitive conclusion
A bibliography is the glossary of your thesis and is considered the key to the theory. It is very important to include all the new terminologies and words from other languages that you have come across in your research in the bibliography. These terms may sound familiar to you because you have been working on the subject since long but the examiner needs to be briefed. An incomplete bibliography may lead to rejection.
You are writing a very important piece of academic writing. Make sure you do not generalize it by using words like “some” “Etc.” “others”. Be specific about your subject and mention each term that you have found in your research. General statements can be confusing and show lack of dedication and efforts on the student’s end.
It is very important to write this sentence in the beginning of your abstract. Do not think that it is pre-understood that you have written this work all by yourself. You must mention it before the thesis starts. If you do not write the examiner may not even proceed to the rest of your thesis considering that your work is not original.
If you have included a reference to a book make sure you have read it thoroughly. The examiner would want to know if you have just picked up some lines or have actually read it. He will check you by asking you more about that book. If you fail to answer this will give a very bad impression and all your efforts will go in vain.
The worst thing you can do in a thesis is submit it without proof reading it well enough. Even if you have done it once it is advisable to do it twice. If there is a typing error or a spelling mistake spotted in your writing it will decrease the quality of work and the dissertation committee may be very furious on such careless mistake.
The conclusion is most important part of the thesis. The examiner and the committee are very interested in it because it is a summary of the whole research work.