How to Write Dissertation

Hi All, No matter how good is your idea, no body will understand it if you cannot articulate the idea clearly in the report. You should always use the spelling and grammar checker before you submit your report. Well, these tools may give you wrong advice if the sentences are too complex in structure. Therefore you should write your report in simple and short sentences unless your are confident in writing sentences with complex structure. A dissertation is a very formal academic document. The following are some common mistakes in the student dissertations: 1. Wrong format: Each course defines its own format for the dissertations. You must try your best to adhere to the format. Well, there are always some flexibility in the format. But the wording in the cover page and declaration form must not be changed. 2. Inconsistent in numbering and captions: As in any formal reports, there should be proper numbering and captions/titles for each chapter, section, sub section, table, diagram and figure. I have seen dissertations where such elements are missing or inconsistent. Inconsistency in a report may cause misunderstanding. 3. Use of abbreviation without explanation: A general guideline for using an abbreviation is that you should always introduce the full expanded form when you use it for the first time in the report. Subsequently you can use it freely in the report. If there are too many abbreviations in your report, you might consider introducing a "List of Abbreviations". 4. Dangling Citations: It is annoying to see a report that cites some articles, but cannot find the sources in the References. This makes the evaluators suspect the work because it is very likely that the students copy the text, including the citations, blindly. 5. Use of Chat English: Many young people like to write in Chat language -- they chat and blog everyday. But you should not use it in a dissertation which is a formal document. 6. Use of Personal Language: It is not good to use 'I', 'We', or 'You' in an academic report. Therefore, it is tricky to to put across your own insight in an academic report for critical review. For the trick of stating the opinion without being personal, refer to http://www.mondofacto.com/study-skills/writing/how-to-use-academic-writing-style/02.html. 7. Use of Contraction: It is not good to use contractions such as "can't", "don't", "it's", etc, in an academic report. You should avoid using contractions. You should write in full format such as "cannot", "do not", "it is".