Top Tips for writing a fantastic dissertation

Writing a dissertation is often the longest and most independent research project that you will do in your education. From experience, this can bring new challenges and long nights at the library.

At Enjoy Education, we are proud to work with a wide range of expert tutors with Masters and PhD qualifications. They have extensive expertise in undergraduate subjects and some even work at universities.

To support your dissertation development, we asked the experts for their advice on dissertation writing to give you top tips on the structure, content and referencing of a strong undergraduate thesis.

Getting Started

Tip 1: Research something that strikes you as interesting. Mood boards, spider diagrams and jotting down quick ideas can spark bigger ideas.

Tip 2: Use the resources provided by your tutor to make a start. Reading something is better than nothing, so pick one book and start writing! When you’re in “writing mode”, set a daily amount of writing to make sure you are ahead of any deadlines. E.g. 1,000 words per day.

Tip 3: Make it fun. For instance, pick a different cafe (with nice treats) every day you’re writing to motivate yourself.

Tip 4: Go to the library to work if you cannot concentrate at home (potentially leave your phone behind) and ask the librarians for help. They offer a wealth of knowledge!

Structure

Tip 1: Remember to use words from the question to frame your sentences, paragraphs and the general structure of your essay. Make it easy for the person reading your essay by staying focused yourself.

Tip 2: Your essay should be like a well-matched outfit. Imagine the introduction as a hat, the body of the essay as the clothes, the conclusion as the shoes. Everything should complement each other and fit together but most importantly your hat must match your shoes!

Referencing

Tip 1: As you do research, create an annotated bibliography with the key points. There are many note-taking apps that can help you with this (I’m a fan of Evernote). Creating hashtags  as you go  on Evernote will help you search quickly for topics and stay organised.

Tip 2: Always, always make a note of page numbers for quotations as you make notes – written or typed. You can use a reference manager to keep track of your notes e.g., Mendeley, Endnote or Zotero.

Tip 3: Use a book’s index wisely if you know you want to research a particular person or event e.g. Jane Austen or the Battle of Bosworth. Use the index to see where an author mentions what you are wanting to read about. The introduction to a large book often provides a good overview of the author’s views and intentions but if you want to use their views a lot, you’ll need to read more than the introduction.

If you’d like some support throughout the process, we work with many fantastic specialists who are on hand to support you to write a brilliant dissertation. Get in touch with our team today to find the specialist who can help you.