How To Write a Dissertation: Format, Style, Process & Steps

20 Jan, 2025
Author : David Brown

Key Takeaways

  • Comprehend the meaning of the dissertation paper.
  • There are some key differences between the dissertation and the thesis.
  • Take an insight into the steps to follow while writing the dissertation paper.
  • There are certain formats and requirements to fulfill when you start writing your dissertation.
  • Learn about the research gap.

A dissertation is a lengthy write-up that can be written by in-depth research of the chosen topic. Usually, students write dissertations at the end of their program to prove the knowledge they have gained while studying that particular program. 

Writing a research paper can be daunting as it is a very lengthy writing and it takes so much time and knowledge to write this paper though it looks similar to a research paper, it's not as it has a more detailed version and has the sections which don’t come in a research paper. It counts as one of the most difficult papers. 

In this blog, you can find the step-by-step procedure for writing a dissertation, and you can do it without worry. 

What is a Dissertation?

In almost every university and every degree, students get this dissertation assignment to do but does every student know the meaning of this dissertation? Let’s encounter it right here so you no longer confuse yourself with the dissertation and thesis. A dissertation permits students to show their findings for a specific question or topic. 

What does a dissertation want in the response? It usually tests the student's research and analytical skills that they have gained during their studies at the university. Additionally, it impacts your final grades as well. Although mentors give some guidance and insightful tips for writing a dissertation if you have any difficulty or find it complicated to gather the essential tips to write your dissertation you can get assistance from multiple dissertation writing services

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Difference Between the Dissertation and the Thesis

In this part, you will encounter the difference between the thesis and the dissertation through some key points.

  • The first and foremost difference is the program thesis will be written at the end of the results of the Master’s program whereas the dissertation written in the initial phase of the Ph.D. 
  • A thesis consists of research while ensuring that the written context in the thesis is what we researched and all the information is correct and if it is with the examples it would be even better. Whereas the dissertation gives you the chance to write about your findings and new theories of the already existing theories. 
  • A thesis is a work that showcases the learning outcomes of existing information, whereas when we talk about the dissertation it develops a unique concept based on the researcher or the student’s research. That could be on theoretical and practical results. 
  • Lastly a master’s thesis consists of 100 pages when we talk about the length on the other hand the dissertation is way longer than this and even includes research information and background. While writing a dissertation one should keep these things in mind must include a grant proposal, ideation of the research topic, and making sure that it is three times more lengthy than the usual master’s degree. 

These are just a few key differences between thesis and dissertation but if anyone wants in-depth knowledge about these two writings then they must read the above-linked write-up as well for the complete difference from the minor to major things covered.

Steps/Process of Writing a Dissertation

Steps/Process of Writing a Dissertation

1. Selecting a topic

Choosing the right topic is one of the essential things in any write-up and when it's about writing the dissertation it plays the utmost crucial role. Try to present your idea in such a form that it seeks an answer means the topic should be in question format. Make sure your research paper has an ample amount of information that fulfills the requirements of the page. In the past years, we have noticed that students find difficulty in choosing the topic for their masters level degree so do not take this as a light task and learn about how to choose a dissertation topic for a master's.  

2. Start with the required research

After choosing the topic start the research part and research your topic from its tiniest thing to the advanced or the fullest of the topic covering all the important areas of studies and observations. Write all the doubts and questions that arise while researching. 

3. Research proposal submission 

For the transformed and advanced dissertations, those students who are doing doctoral programs, need to submit a research proposal before you start. In that proposal, you can discuss your intentions for your dissertation, which includes several parts like how you plan to address a research gap the point you feel should be in the research, and what methodology will you be using in the dissertation. Then it gets passed or rejected by the supervisors based on its merit and proposal. 

4. Do the main research

Once you have submitted the research proposal and after getting acceptance to continue on your dissertation topic you will need to do research and need to be aware of two types of research one is primary research which consists of reference materials that are directly connected to the events such as eye-witnessed events and the data which came from scratch. Primary research is used more in dissertation research which is the reason you must have a complete understanding of primary research including the benefits of the research paper

On the other hand, you will notice that secondary research is different from primary research and is more based on sources like books, articles, or historical events and the things that have already happened and consist of data that one can use in their dissertation. Thus both the primary and secondary data are different from each other and important as well. So doing research and incorporating it adequately is very crucial in dissertation writing. Learning every detail for both is important make sure that you go through the advantages and disadvantages of secondary research as well to get an overall understanding of the topic. 

5. Outline your dissertation writing

Research helps you well structure your dissertation writing before you start it. You can consider the outline as an official part of writing a dissertation as it is an important element for any organization. You can rearrange topics, points, and other evidence accordingly before those parts are written. 

6. Start with your first draft

 Your first draft of your dissertation paper or an introductory part should be simple enough so it can be readable and comprehended easily 

7. Get a consultation with your mentors and advisors 

Get advice from an advisor or your preferred mentor who has enough experience in the same field or has already given advice or mentored numerous students in their previous careers. 

Write the first draft and get checked by the mentor so they can evaluate the mistakes if there are any. Do not think that you know everything and that your dissertation would be perfect without any consultation or mentorship. Then you must end up with the incorrect dissertation. So must get a consultation from your preferred mentor. 

8. Collect the feedbacks 

Giving importance to the feedback is one of the important elements of dissertation writing, seek someone’s help who can review your dissertation write-up. A person should have enough experience in the same field from which you have chosen your dissertation topic. So they can provide you the useful insight and how you can improve your paper. The more feedback you get the more your paper will get creamed. 

9. Write your final draft

After writing all the important sections and after getting feedback from the professor or your mentor make the changes that are required to polish your dissertation. Then prepare your final draft to correct all the mistakes and make sure to format your paper adequately. Make sure to re-read this final draft as well as it can further enhance your writing and if any mistake or point is missing you can add it right there. 

10. Proofread and edits

The second last step is to proofread your written dissertation from start to end so that if there is any grammatical error or any other spelling or awkward sentence is written anywhere you can correct it and make your paper error-free. 

11. Defend your dissertation 

In a few programs, you will need to give a verbal presentation in front of a panel of experts on your chosen topic. This is called a dissertation defense in this verbal round the experts or the panel members will ask you various questions related to your dissertation so they can evaluate whether the research is reliable. Try to give your best response to the asked question. As it can impact the degree it can be one of the deciding key points whether you will receive the degree or not.

What is the Research gap?

We have frequently seen one terminology in the whole blog “Research Gap”, Many of you who haven't collected much information about dissertation writing must be thinking what is the research gap? So let’s encounter this query of yours. 

In simple language, a research gap is an unanswered question or unresolved problem in a field of studying which you are doing research. It is an essential question and it is impacting on the research paper quality. 

What is the Length of the Dissertation? 

There is no certain answer to how lengthy a dissertation is. The word count depends on multiple parameters like a field of study, school, or country. Also, make sure to understand the dissertation word count breakdown for each section of the dissertation.

These are the rough estimations to give you an idea you can consider while writing your dissertation paper.

  • Bachelor’s: 10,000 to 15,000 words (30-35 pages)

  • Master’s: 18,000 to 22,000 words (65 to 80 pages)  

  • Doctorate: 80,000 to 100,000 words (200 to 300 pages) 

Format of the Dissertation and its Requirements

Title page 

The first impression is very impactful we all have heard this statement. This is also implemented in the writing as well, Yes title page is that first impression. The title of your dissertation should concisely explain the topic you are working on. Anyone who sees or reads the title page should know what exactly your dissertation paper is based on.  So one should know how to write a dissertation title page

Acknowledgment

Acknowledgment itself states its meaning as giving credit or thanks. Whoever helped you in writing the dissertation you can address and name those people by writing a dedication speech. But make sure to keep your writing as much as you can. A dissertation is a very formal writing paper.

Abstract

In the section of the abstract, you need to write a summary of what you are going to cover in the whole dissertation, especially the methodology along with all the major key points. Make sure to keep it concise in the 300 to 500-word limit as you don't need to over-explain all the things in this section.

Table of content

In this section, one needs to list all the titles, headings, subheadings, and other things like page numbers. Furthermore, the table of contents also consists of the rest sections like the bibliography, appendices, and other optional sections like a glossary.

List of figures and tables

Your dissertation may include some figures and tables showing some data-related findings, these visuals can enhance the entire look of your dissertation. Make sure to include the visual graphs and images in your dissertations.

List of abbreviations

If you have used numerous abbreviations then you must add their expanded form and list below on one page what that particular abbreviation stands for. Why is it important? It is more important because not everyone knows the terminologies and things you have added to your dissertation. So that must be well-explained so no one will face problems while reading it.

Glossary

A glossary is written in place of a dictionary if you have included any hard vocabulary or hard words then you need to add their meaning as well. Otherwise, it can break the flow of reading for the reader or the

Introduction

The basic of the paper starts with the introduction for any kind of chapter and write-up it sets up your research topic and provides the necessary contest of the entire topic and the things mentioned in detail in the dissertation. In short, you can provide a glimpse of the dissertation paper and the context in a considered manner.

This part usually comes in sequence with how you have listed headings and what is the context in the particular section. But make sure not to explain much and not to give entire detail. Just make sure it gives an outline of the heading or sections.

Now, many of you will think about how much it should be in numbers so it is observed in many write-ups that your introduction should be 10% of your entire dissertation so if your dissertation is 30,000 words your introduction should be 3000 words and you need to incorporate all the points in those 3000 words.

Literature review

Whenever you are writing any kind of research-related work you need to collect data from two types of sources one is primary and the other one is secondary those already written or established correctly somewhere. As name itself gives that meaning of what is contained in it.

Literature review means you need to review or read a particular article or written thing. You can consider their finding and support them accordingly or even point out our flaws if you find any. One of the key parts of the literature review is the research gap as it shows your interest and skill of analysis and you have researched well that you can analyse and find the loop wholes or you can say the gap is in the already published source or you are keen to explore more. On e can not leave this section or to be bad on this section.

Methodology

Methodology itself describes the meaning of it, that is how you have done your research, so the reader or the professor can verify its credibility. You can also take the name of any book, article tool, and equipment used in your research and prove that the information you have provided is reliable and correct. You can further mention a few things such as hurdles you have faced how you have overcome and by which method you have resolved the issue.

Results

In this section, you can write about the results of what findings you have found in this dissertation’s research work. In this section, you can present your data or analysis you have done. You can attack the visual results like graphs or charts.

Discussion

In this section, you can discuss your perspective if you have any new theories or can write about it here. Or can also discuss the already published findings on what you think about particular things and can state your perspective. If any student still finds difficulties in writing this part they must understand how to write dissertation discussion section in more detail. 

Conclusion (For Dissertation)

Similar to usual conclusion writing this section includes all the concluded context in the paragraph or page that what the dissertation is all about. Make sure not to include any further information in this section which is not available in the blog.

Bibliography

The bibliography consists of a list of resources you have taken inspiration or ideas from, along with their publishing year and other information. It can be written in three types, one is in APA style and the other two are in MLA and Chicago. Check which one suits according to your dissertation. 

Appendices

This section consists of things that are not crucial for the dissertation but still relevant to the paper and hence they need to be mentioned at the end of the book or dissertation. 

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Conclusion

Dissertation writing can be hectic enough and here we have provided all the necessary information related to dissertation writing. This can aid with your queries related to dissertation writing. This blog has discussed the definition of the dissertation which gives you an idea of what a dissertation is many times students like you get confused between thesis and dissertation, which is the reason we have provided you an explanation of that as well, for getting a better understanding of the topic. You are provided with the information on how to write a dissertation step-by-step and with the accurate format of the dissertation. 

If one can still find issues in writing their dissertation they can seek help with writing services with a request of "write my dissertation" as here you will find experienced writers who will write on their behalf with the right formatting and structure according to their field of education or study.     

Frequently asked questions

Dissertation is a lengthy paper that comes in a research paper category, that is longer than usual research paper and it is crucial for a Ph.D. student. They need to write it at the initial phase of the Ph.D. to prove the knowledge and skills they have learned in a master’s program they have pursued.

There are multiple steps that one needs to know before start writing a dissertation paper. Here are the steps to follow , 1. Selecting a topic 2. Start with the required research 3. Research proposal submission 4. Do the main research 5. Outline your dissertation writing 6. Start with your first draft 7. Get a consultation with your mentors and advisors 8. Collect the feedbacks  9. Write your final draft 10. Proofread and edits 11. Defend your dissertation

A dissertation usually depends on the time you are writing if it is in your Bachelor’s it will be approximately 10,000 to 15,000 words (30-35 pages), in the Master’s it will be 18,000 to 22,000 words (65 to 80 pages) and in the Doctorate's 80,000 to 100,000 words (200 to 300 pages).

Dissertation is quite lengthy research work usually written at the beginning of the doctoral program, whereas a thesis is written at the end of the master’s program. Another major difference is the content of the thesis, one needs to write the paper by going through the already happened events and published research work and theories. Whereas, in the dissertation, one can present their research idea which can be new as well, and also write the research gap in the already researched topic.

Two elements are fulfilled in the purpose of dissertation writing one is to check the knowledge and skill of a student and what they have learned in the whole degree. Second, it also contributes to a new research work with a research gap.

The fundamental chapters of a dissertation are the introduction, literature review, result, discussion, methodology, research gap, and conclusion Furthermore, the dissertation includes supplementary sections also such as appendices, glossary, abstract, and bibliography.

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