Last Minute Tips Prior to Dissertation Submission

Done Dissertation
Aug 8, 2017 · 3 min read

After weeks and months of hard work and dedication, doctoral students complete their dissertations. Writing a dissertation is a huge challenge for students due to the fact that they are not used to such lengthy assignments and that too on one specific narrowed down topic. In return of that much of hard work and sacrifices, students expect a first or at least a second class degree but imagine receiving a lower grade just because you were unaware of some tips that are necessary to consider before submitting the dissertation.

You may receive help with dissertation and guidance from several sources throughout the researching and writing phase, there are a few things that you should check before finally submitting the dissertation. Following are some of them:

1) Proofreading: Although very obvious, proofreading the dissertation is highly important because minor spelling and grammatical errors can cost you your grade. While writing, students are least concerned about these factors and hence it is a common practice to proofread the dissertation once you are done with it completely. However, some students merely ‘waste’ their time by proofreading it twice. Expert academic writers and editors claim that it is highly unlikely that anyone would find any error in the second proofreading attempt and hence once before submission is enough.

2) Clarity of sentences: Going through the entire dissertation in a few hours could be very challenging and therefore aim to complete your dissertation well before the stipulated deadline. Read each and every sentence thoroughly, not to check whether or not the information is correct but to see if all the sentences makes sense. Proofreading will not help in this regard and hence students sometimes end up writing unclear sentences which may lead to misinterpretation and eventually to a lower grade. This is because an ambiguously written sentence may demonstrate a completely different meaning than what you might wanted to deliver.

3) Focusing on quantitative data: While there are less chances of errors in qualitative information, you might want to revise the numbers and tables you included in the dissertation. Surveys and questionnaires are unlikely to be wrong but there is a high probability of writing a wrong number or equation, especially the signs of negative and positive. Therefore, it is advised to go through them again so that you can make corrections if there are any mistakes.

4) Page number counts: In an attempt to write an outstanding and error-free dissertation, students often forget to add page numbers even if they add an index page. This is a quite common mistake so check thoroughly if you have numbered all the pages in the dissertation and have done so correctly. Wrongly numbered pages can also create some confusion and graders might not tolerate such confusions since they have to go through so many more dissertations.

5) Proper binding is safe: A day or two before submission, check that the dissertation is properly compiled and bound strongly so that none of the pages get misplaced under any circumstance. If this happens, the student stands responsible for losing the grade he actually deserved.

6) Going through institution requirements: Finally when dissertation is completed and all the above tips have been taken into consideration and implemented, make sure you have everything that your institution requires along with the dissertation. This may include some forms and checklists.

So if students keep these tips in mind prior to submission, they would not need any dissertation help and would receive a decent grade on their degree.

Author bio: Williams Carlton is the senior professor of psychology at a university in Paris. He earned his doctoral degree in educational psychology and has always enjoyed interaction with students.