phd thesis title examples

The Savvy Scientist

Experiences of a London PhD student and beyond

Thesis Title: Examples and Suggestions from a PhD Grad

Graphic of a researcher writing, perhaps a thesis title

When you’re faced with writing up a thesis, choosing a title can often fall to the bottom of the priority list. After all, it’s only a few words. How hard can it be?!

In the grand scheme of things I agree that picking your thesis title shouldn’t warrant that much thought, however my own choice is one of the few regrets I have from my PhD . I therefore think there is value in spending some time considering the options available.

In this post I’ll guide you through how to write your own thesis title and share real-world examples. Although my focus is on the PhD thesis, I’ve also included plenty of thesis title examples for bachelor’s and master’s research projects too.

Hopefully by the end of the post you’ll feel ready to start crafting your own!

Why your thesis title is at least somewhat important

It sounds obvious but your thesis title is the first, and often only, interaction people will have with your thesis. For instance, hiring managers for jobs that you may wish to apply for in the future. Therefore you want to give a good sense of what your research involved from the title.

Many people will list the title of their thesis on their CV, at least for a while after graduating. All of the example titles I’ve shared below came from my repository of academic CVs . I’d say roughly 30% of all the academics on that page list their thesis title, which includes academics all the way up to full professor.

Your thesis title could therefore feature on your CV for your whole career, so it is probably worth a bit of thought!

My suggestions for choosing a good thesis title

Make it descriptive of the research so it’s immediately obvious what it is about! Most universities will publish student theses online ( here’s mine! ) and they’re indexed so can be found via Google Scholar etc. Therefore give your thesis a descriptive title so that interested researchers can find it in the future.
Don’t get lost in the detail . You want a descriptive title but avoid overly lengthy descriptions of experiments. Unless a certain analytical technique etc was central to your research, I’d suggest by default* to avoid having it in your title. Including certain techniques will make your title, and therefore research, look overly dated, which isn’t ideal for potential job applications after you graduate.
The title should tie together the chapters of your thesis. A well-phrased title can do a good job of summarising the overall story of your thesis. Think about each of your research chapters and ensure that the title makes sense for each of them.
Be strategic . Certain parts of your work you want to emphasise? Consider making them more prominent in your title. For instance, if you know you want to pivot to a slightly different research area or career path after your PhD, there may be alternative phrasings which describe your work just as well but could be better understood by those in the field you’re moving into. I utilised this a bit in my own title which we’ll come onto shortly.
Do your own thing. Having just laid out some suggestions, do make sure you’re personally happy with the title. You get a lot of freedom to choose your title, so use it however you fancy. For example, I’ve known people to use puns in their title, so if that’s what you’re into don’t feel overly constrained.

*This doesn’t always hold true and certainly don’t take my advice if 1) listing something in your title could be a strategic move 2) you love the technique so much that you’re desperate to include it!

Thesis title examples

To help give you some ideas, here are some example thesis titles from Bachelors, Masters and PhD graduates. These all came from the academic CVs listed in my repository here .

Bachelor’s thesis title examples

Hysteresis and Avalanches Paul Jager , 2014 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group – direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

The bioenergetics of a marine ciliate, Mesodinium rubrum Holly Moeller , 2008 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor – direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Functional syntactic analysis of prepositional and causal constructions for a grammatical parser of Russian Ekaterina Kochmar , 2008 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof – direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

Master’s thesis title examples

Creation of an autonomous impulse response measurement system for rooms and transducers with different methods Guy-Bart Stan , 2000 – Bioengineering – Imperial Professor – direct link to Guy-Bart’s bioengineering academic CV

Segmentation of Nerve Bundles and Ganglia in Spine MRI using Particle Filters Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2012 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist – direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

The detection of oil under ice by remote mode conversion of ultrasound Eric Yeatman , 1986 – Electronics – Imperial Professor and Head of Department – direct link to Eric’s electronics academic CV

Ensemble-Based Learning for Morphological Analysis of German Ekaterina Kochmar , 2010 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof – direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

VARiD: A Variation Detection Framework for Color-Space and Letter-Space Platforms Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2010 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist – direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

Identification of a Writer’s Native Language by Error Analysis Ekaterina Kochmar , 2011 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof – direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

On the economic optimality of marine reserves when fishing damages habitat Holly Moeller , 2010 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor – direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Sensitivity Studies for the Time-Dependent CP Violation Measurement in B 0 → K S K S K S at the Belle II-Experiment Paul Jager , 2016 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group – direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

PhD thesis title examples

Spatio-temporal analysis of three-dimensional real-time ultrasound for quantification of ventricular function Esla Angelini – Medicine – Imperial Senior Data Scientist – direct link to Elsa’s medicine academic CV

The role and maintenance of diversity in a multi-partner mutualism: Trees and Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Holly Moeller , 2015 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor – direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Bayesian Gaussian processes for sequential prediction, optimisation and quadrature Michael Osborne , 2010 – Machine Learning – Oxford Full Professor – direct link to Michael’s machine learning academic CV

Global analysis and synthesis of oscillations: a dissipativity approach Guy-Bart Stan , 2005 – Bioengineering – Imperial Professor – direct link to Guy-Bart’s bioengineering academic CV

Coarse-grained modelling of DNA and DNA self-assembly Thomas Ouldridge , 2011– Bioengineering – Imperial College London Senior Lecturer / Associate Prof – direct link to Thomas’ bioengineering academic CV

4D tomographic image reconstruction and parametric maps estimation: a model-based strategy for algorithm design using Bayesian inference in Probabilistic Graphical Models (PGM) Michele Scipioni , 2018– Biomedical Engineer – Harvard Postdoctoral Research Fellow – direct link to Michele’s biomedical engineer academic CV

Error Detection in Content Word Combinations Ekaterina Kochmar , 2016 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof – direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

Genetic, Clinical and Population Priors for Brain Images Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2016 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist – direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

Challenges and Opportunities of End-to-End Learning in Medical Image Classification Paul Jager , 2020 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group – direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

K 2 NiF 4 materials as cathodes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells Ainara Aguadero , 2006 – Materials Science – Imperial Reader – direct link to Ainara’s materials science academic CV

Applications of surface plasmons – microscopy and spatial light modulation Eric Yeatman , 1989 – Electronics – Imperial Professor and Head of Department – direct link to Eric’s electronics academic CV

Geometric Algorithms for Objects in Motion Sorelle Friedler , 2010 – Computer science – Haverford College Associate Professor – direct link to Sorelle’s computer science academic CV .

Geometrical models, constraints design, information extraction for pathological and healthy medical image Esla Angelini – Medicine – Imperial Senior Data Scientist – direct link to Elsa’s medicine academic CV

Why I regret my own choice of PhD thesis title

I should say from the outset that I assembled my thesis in quite a short space of time compared to most people. So I didn’t really spend particularly long on any one section, including the title.

However, my main supervisor even spelled out for me that once the title was submitted to the university it would be permanent. In other words: think wisely about your title.

What I started with

Initially I drafted the title as something like: Three dimensional correlative imaging for cartilage regeneration . Which I thought was nice, catchy and descriptive.

I decided to go for “correlative imaging” because, not only did it describe the experiments well, but it also sounded kind of technical and fitting of a potential pivot into AI. I’m pleased with that bit of the title.

What I ended up with

Before submitting the title to the university (required ahead of the viva), I asked my supervisors for their thoughts.

One of my well intentioned supervisors suggested that, given that my project didn’t involve verifying regenerative quality, I probably shouldn’t state cartilage regeneration . Instead, they suggested, I should state what I was experimenting on (the materials) rather than the overall goal of the research (aid cartilage regeneration efforts).

With this advice I dialled back my choice of wording and the thesis title I went with was:

Three dimensional correlative imaging for measurement of strain in cartilage and cartilage replacement materials

Reading it back now I’m reminder about how less I like it than my initial idea!

I put up basically no resistance to the supervisor’s choice, even though the title sounds so much more boring in my opinion. I just didn’t think much of it at the time. Furthermore, most of my PhD was actually in a technique which is four dimensional (looking at a series of 3D scans over time, hence 4D) which would have sounded way more sciency and fitting of a PhD.

What I wish I’d gone with

If I had the choice again, I’d have gone with:

Four-dimensional correlative imaging for cartilage regeneration

Which, would you believe it, is exactly what it states on my CV…

Does the thesis title really matter?

In all honesty, your choice of thesis title isn’t that important. If you come to regret it, as I do, it’s not the end of the world. There are much more important things in life to worry about.

If you decide at a later stage that you don’t like it you can always describe it in a way that you prefer. For instance, in my CV I describe my PhD as I’d have liked the title to be. I make no claim that it’s actually the title so consider it a bit of creative license.

Given that as your career progresses you may not even refer back to your thesis much, it’s really not worth stressing over. However, if you’re yet to finalise your thesis title I do still think it is worth a bit of thought and hopefully this article has provided some insights into how to choose a good thesis title.

My advice for developing a thesis title

Draft the title early. Drafting it early can help give clarity for the overall message of your research. For instance, while you’re assembling the rest of your thesis you can check that the title encompasses the research chapters you’re included, and likewise that the research experiments you’re including fall within what the title describes. Drafting it early also gives more time you to think it over. As with everything: having a first draft is really important to iterate on.
Look at some example titles . Such as those featured above!
If you’re not sure about your title, ask a few other people what they think . But remember that you have the final say!

I hope this post has been useful for those of you are finalising your thesis and need to decide on a thesis title. If you’ve enjoyed this article and would like to hear about future content (and gain access to my free resource library!) you can subscribe for free here:

Minor Corrections: How To Make Them and Succeed With Your PhD Thesis

2nd June 2024 2nd June 2024

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626 Dissertation Topics for Ph.D. and Thesis Ideas for Master Students

If you are about to go into the world of graduate school, then one of the first things you need to do is choose from all the possible dissertation topics available to you. This is no small task. You are likely to spend many years researching your Master’s or Ph.D. topic and writing the text. This means that choosing a dissertation topic should not be taken lightly.

No worries! Just read this article by our Custom Writing service, and you’ll find:

a collection of great thesis topics on finance, education, management, law, etc.
a range of tips on choosing a killing Ph.D. topic.
👍 Top 10 Dissertation Topics
🆚 Thesis vs Dissertation
🔝 Top 10 Thesis Topics
🎓 Thesis Topics List
✅ How to Choose a Topic

👍Top 10 Dissertation Topics

Ethical alternatives to animal testing.
What’s the future of the Dead Sea?
Does accent affect singing ability?
The importance of corporate values.
How does inflation affect small businesses?
Is homeschooling the future of education?
How does Tourette’s syndrome affect one’s daily life?
How to conduct market analysis for e-commerce.
Has globalization affected cultural appropriation?

🆚 Dissertation vs. Thesis: Is There a Difference?

People often consider a thesis and a dissertation to be the same thing. Yet, there is an important distinction between them. The key difference is that you need a thesis to complete a master’s degree, while a dissertation is necessary for obtaining a doctorate. Keep in mind that it’s vice versa in European higher education.

Here are some other differences:

	Thesis	Dissertation
	A thesis is usually shorter than a dissertation at approximately 100 pages.	A dissertation is usually 200-300 pages long.
	In a thesis, you build your work on an already existing idea.	In a dissertation, you need to present entirely original hypothesis.
	A thesis involves preliminary research.	A dissertation requires deeper original research.

Despite these differences, theses and dissertations have a lot in common:

You need them to complete a degree.
Both require certain levels of expertise and writing skills.
You defend an argument in both of them.
Plagiarism is prohibited in both theses and dissertations.

🔝 Top 10 Thesis Topics for 2024

The consequences of obesity.
The influence of social media .
Economic development and happiness.
Feminism in the United States.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Racism in schools and colleges.
Overeducation in the labor market.
DNA evidence in criminal justice.
Sales forecasting techniques.
Wage difference among athletes.

🎓 Thesis Topics & Ideas

Below, you’ll find a collection of excellent topics for a thesis. To simplify the task, it’s not a bad idea to use a topic chooser. We’ve also prepared a checklist that will help you make the right choice. If you agree with the following statements, you’ve chosen a good thesis topic:

You are interested in this subject. It will be easier for you to work on it if you like your area of research. Remember that you will have to spend long hours looking through various data. You need to stay motivated.
The topic is helpful in your career path. Choose a topic that you can apply to further research if you plan to pursue your career in the academic field. Choose something that you can use in your CV if you decided to work in the industry.
There is enough available research data. Don’t choose a topic that is too trivial or uncommon. It is essential to find enough relevant information. Consult your supervisor to understand if you can proceed with it.
The topic isn’t too broad or too narrow. Otherwise, it will be harder for you to find credible sources and relevant data.
You already have an understanding of it . Make a list of thesis topics that include the issues you have researched before. It will save you some time and allow you to evaluate your opportunities.
Your topic is unique. Make sure there are no other papers that explore exactly the same issue. The value of your work is your original contribution to the research. If somebody has already investigated the topic, there is not much sense in proceeding with it.

The picture shows the main characteristics of a good thesis topic.

Wondering where to find the most current topic for your research? We’ve collected them below.

Computer Science Thesis Topics

Computers surround us everywhere. From hospitals to home offices, it’s impossible to imagine life without them. A doctorate in computer science can allow you many career opportunities!

The latest developments in AI use for healthcare services . Healthcare in the US is expensive for its citizens. One way to reduce the cost is using computer algorithms. This technology research topic lets you explore how AI helps physicians with their tasks.
Computer security for public institutions. Several allegations about hackers stealing data from the US government emerged in recent years. With this dissertation idea, study public cybersecurity. Also, discuss ways to improve cybersecurity practices.
Visual recognition system architecture: real-time object detection. Discuss a system based on neural networks capable of detecting objects. Focus on the virtual environment. You can alter this trending topic in computer science for real-life settings.
Blockchain application outside financial technologies. Analyze and discuss the implications of using blockchain systems outside of the fintech sector. For example, study its use for public services and in government agencies. This topic allows exploring ways of applying established algorithms.
Machine learning and text structures. Discuss ways of visualizing text categorization. Focus on complex hierarchical structures of texts. This topic is suitable for postgraduates.
Encrypted search: security, performance, and usage. Discuss the use of encryptions to protect data. Say how we can improve it for effective information search.
Use of computers in education . Study how algorithms can improve learning. This topic can be altered for other fields. For example, choose AI in business or agriculture.
Graphics and visual computing: current state and the future. By now, CAD programs are an integral part of every engineer’s tool kit. Your thesis can analyze the potential of those programs. What would improve their performance? Is there a chance that they will become obsolete?
Multimedia databases parsing and indexing. Netflix and YouTube require technology to search across their multimedia databases. This dissertation can be a survey on best practices. Or, add a company name to the title and focus your research on it.
AI Marketing: the use of algorithms to improve advertising. In the previous list of research question examples, you can choose a narrow marketing theme. Then, discuss the implications of such algorithms.
Study computation of models for virtual environments .
Cybersecurity challenges for automated vehicles.
AI and vehicle automation: potential safety gaps.
Computer graphics: perspectives for medical imaging.
Research the use of computer algorithms for medical analysis.
Discuss the role of bioinformatics in healthcare improvement.
How is a computer-aided design used in creating automobile parts?
Review the best practices for System Level Testing of distributed systems.
Agile project management for software engineers.
Software development risks analysis for successful employment.
Study the security mechanisms for WLAN networks .
Malicious botnets and network worms: an overview.
What are the best practices in ICT systems development?
Web-based document management systems using XML.
Best algorithms for cluster generation.
Methods for improving Open Web Architecture.
Analyze software solutions for the increased energy efficiency.
Protection of systems against terror attacks: a case study and analysis.
New methods of risk management during software development.
Analyze how Web space requirements are changing.
Analyze how e-publishing is affecting libraries.
New methods for studying the behavior of malware, viruses, and worms with the use of secure programming and runtime environments.
Analyze redundancy and fault recovery in the 4G wireless network.
Analyze the implementation and analysis of the optimal algorithm vs the heuristic algorithm for the generation of clusters.
Analyze how full-text databases affect search engines.

Humanities and Art History Thesis Topics

Do you want to put your passion into words? Would you like to share your ideas with the world? Then pursuing a Ph.D. in the arts or humanities is the right path for you.

The history of cinema : past and present. With this history dissertation topic, focus on how cinema developed. Explore the period starting from the first short films by the Lumiere brothers. Finish the discussion with modern-day Hollywood examples.
Art or commerce: a case study of Hollywood films. Discuss the intersection between artistic expression and profit. This exciting arts topic focuses on modern cinema. You can use examples of art-house movies and modern commercially successful ones.
Hollywood vs. Bollywood . Compare the two distinct film production centers for this art thesis. Next, discuss how local cultures impact Hollywood and Bollywood movies’ direction, genres, and plots.
The use of visual tools in interior design . This dissertation topic is an intersection between arts and computer science. The focus is on how visualization tools help to create design projects.
Racism in the 21st-century literature. Focus on how the narratives about racism have changed. Include examples from poetry and prose of this era. Compare it to works published in the past.
The cultural aesthetic of Afrofuturism in literature. This dissertation idea allows you to explore the intersection of arts. Specifically, see how culture, philosophy of science, and history manifest in Afrofuturism.
The social value of ecopoetry. Analyze how literature that focuses on ecological problems. Discuss environmental consciousness and environmental issues.
Graphic novels: the best examples and implications for the development of literature. What does it mean when literary classics are converted into graphic novels? Incorporate the question if graphic novels can become part of the literary canon.
Theater of the Absurd in the 1950s and 1960s. Discuss this form of theatrical art. Examine how it emerged and why it became influential.
Post World War II art: cinema and literature. Use examples of films and literary works. Discuss major works of the post-WWII era and their themes.
Futurism and the Czech avant-garde : the artistic connection between Europe’s East and West.
Study the phenomenon of the hero archetype.
Assess dancing as a form of meditation.
Review the common elements of various African dances.
Folk dances across Western Europe.
Discuss regional dances and dance as a ritual.
Animation as a modern art form.
Research the art of glass-making and its prospects for the future.
Analyze the cultural impact of The Beatles beyond music.
Literature censorship in the US.
Examine the intersection of ecology and arts.
Heidelberg Project: is it a model for creating art in urban areas?
Study kinetic sculptures of the 20th century.
What characterizes social activism in 20 th -century rock music?
Jazz in the 21st century: a potential for revival.
The history of design in various periods of human existence (the ancient times, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, etc.).
Design as art.
Philosophy of design.
Separate branches of design ( interior design , car design, toy design, etc.).
Stylistic peculiarities of a certain designer.
Web design as a modern quintessence of design.
Social significance of design.
The birth of Communism as it relates to Stendhal.
The relationship between politics and literature in the 19 th century.
An analysis and case study of artists and art during times of war.
How contemporary art is related to American suffering.
Analyze of how racism relates to the family unit.

List of Science Topics for Your Thesis

A dissertation in science will probably require you to run numerous experiments. Many of them will probably go wrong. But the one that does work might be the next big breakthrough! Find a suitable research theme in the following list of topics:

Bacterial injections for the treatment of cancer tumors. Injecting bacteria into tumors is a fairly new approach to treating cancer. Review the mechanism of action and evaluate the potential of this method for curing cancer.
Computer imagining and AI for cancer detection. Examine how AI-assisted cancer screening improves accuracy. Include early detection implications and usage in hospitals.
Ethics of organ donations and transplantation. With this dissertation topic in science, examine the ethics of encouraging people to donate their organs. Include the implications for medical research and practice.
An epidemiological and molecular approach to cancer prevention. This topic idea suggests assessing the current understanding of how cancer develops as well as potential prevention strategies.
Ways of speeding up vaccine development and testing. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the process of vaccine development is relatively slow. It takes a long time to ensure proper testing. You may discuss these issues in your biochemistry dissertation.
The current state of research into ultra-fast rechargeable batteries. The topic of batteries and energy attracts lots of attention. With this topic, you can examine how to improve the design of aluminum-ion batteries. Include ways to decrease their charging time.
Nanotechnologies in drug delivery: electrospraying. Current research shows the great potential of nanotechnologies. In particular, the electrospraying technique makes nanoparticle delivery more efficient.
Prevalence of various Helicobacter Pylori virulence in a population. Conduct quantitative research and examine a sample of patients to determine the number infected with Helicobacter Pylori.
The relationship between gut microbiota and the person’s appetite. Your research can explore the theory that the gut microbiome has varied effects on the person’s body. Review the implications for obesity treatment for different gut microbiomes.
The age of antibiotics: is it over? Examine the use of antibiotics and the reasons for its decline. Discuss the evolving nature of bacteria that require remedies other than antibiotics. Include quantitative data in this dissertation for a specific type of disease.
CRISPR method for studying human DNA.
The study of human evolution: latest discoveries.
Denisovans from Siberia: a new type of hominid discovered.
Study the use of AI in archeology.
Conduct a study of the Neanderthal genome sequence.
What are the ways of improving solar cell efficiency?
The carbon footprint of modern production: how do companies damage the environment?
Research the use of cesium in solar panels.
The era of supercapacitors: are we ending the use of batteries?
Assess the efficiency of Robot Suits for people with permanent paralysis.
Microscale medial robots: potential applications.
Look into stem cell mobilization and its mechanisms.
Discuss the ethics of automated cars.
Space robotics: can we design robots capable of exploring space?
Evaluate the efficiency and potential of lithium-based rechargeable batteries.
Morality and ethics of stem cell research.
Is behavior controlled or affected by genetics and to what level.
A look at methods of improving risk factors post-stroke.
Analyze of Chinese herbal practice and its relevance to conventional medicine.
Analyze the effect schools have on childhood obesity.

New methods of using existing data to gather information that is useful.
An in-depth look at the factors affecting the decline of the immune system with age.
Analyze of the potential effect of nanotechnology on health and the environment.
Analyze of toxicity levels of inhaled nanoparticles.
The usefulness of nanotechnology in curing some types of cancer.
An analysis and case study of the treatment of patients who have experienced a loss of memory.
Analyze the use of DNA typing of remains to identify missing people and the victims of crime.
The response of immune deficiency diseases to the activation of T-cell subsets.
The influence and importance of IT in the field of biomedicine.

Architecture Thesis Topics

Architecture is more than just aesthetics. That’s become especially clear ever since the doctrine “form follows function” gained traction. Whether you’re into baroque or Bauhaus, there’s plenty to discover about architecture.

Religious architecture in the British Empire. Research the transformation of religious buildings and how it affected architecture in general.
Modernist architecture in the USSR at the beginning of the 20th century. Compare modernist architecture in the USSR with other countries.
Urban greening and its influence on buildings’ design. The dissertation proposal can include green roofs as the main point of research.
Brutalism and its history in New York. Provide historical research of brutalism in New York and discuss how it affects modern architecture.
Modern-day aboriginal settlements in Australia. Using examples from media and research, indicate how aboriginal settlements are perceived and handled today.
Transformation of the urban design in the 21st century. Using London, Hong-Kong, and New York as examples, provide an in-depth discussion of changes in the urban design.
The architectural history of Seattle. Conduct research and write a proposal that will compare different architectural styles seen in Seattle.
Integration of culture in environmental design. In this proposal, you can use large cities in Asia as primary examples of the synergy between culture and architecture.
The architecture of residential buildings during the second half of the 20th century. Choose one or several large cities (e.g., Berlin, Miami, Kyoto) as the basis for your research.
The history of Moscow Avant-Garde. Use both Soviet and modern Russian research on Avant-Garde to present the topic accurately.
Use of computer visuals in architecture.
Review the trends in modern furniture design.
Ecology and architecture: integration of green technologies.
Discuss the multiculturalism of contemporary urban architecture.
The history of architecture in urban areas of the US: the study of New York.
Modern city design case study.
Research ways of using wood in modern architecture.
Commercial architecture: aesthetics and usability.
Evaluate the design of municipal buildings in the US.
Creativity in postmodernist architecture.
How do we integrate smart home technology into architecture?
Small scale homes: a study of growing interest in small housing.
Discuss the use of lighting in building design.
Study innovations in structural design in the digital age.
What are the implications of inclusive architecture?
Sustainable architecture: recycling spaces and materials.
Renewable energy in home design.
Assess open concept homes for American families.
Conduct a study of family homes design.
Research architecture suitable for middle-class families.

Thesis Topics in English Literature & World Literature

Was your New Year’s Resolution to re-read the 100 most influential classical works? Then you might want to consider writing a thesis in advanced higher English. Check out these engaging prompts:

In-depth stylistic analysis of The Trial by Franz Kafka . Explain what stylistic devices Kafka used in his story.
The influence of The Hound of the Baskervilles on the development of modern detective stories. Prepare several comparisons of The Hound with modern detective stories to pinpoint its influence.
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum : women characters in Heinrich Böll’s fiction. Using the book mentioned in the topic, examine how the German writer depicted women in his prose.
Analysis of the terrorism portrayal in modern journalism: The New York Times case study. Pick several articles related to terrorism published in NYT and describe in detail how it is portrayed (keywords, images, etc.).
A formalist approach to Dostoevsky: analysis of The Brothers Karamazov . Provide the reader with an explanation of the formalist approach and use it to analyze the novel.
The depiction of sexual violence in young adult literature. Pick several YA novels published in the 2010s for your research.
The use of repetition in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot . Analyze how repetition is used for emphasis and other effects in the play.
Feminism and gender in Margaret Atwood’s Cats’ Eye . Review the book from a feminist point of view and discuss how gender issues are presented in the book.
How does Phillip K. Dick use intertextuality in The Man in the High Castle ? Find as many references to other literary and historical sources as you can and elaborate how Dick uses them and for what aims.
The influence of Steppenwolf on postmodern American literature: the contribution of Herman Hesse. Using Steppenwolf as the primary source, discuss what characteristics common for postmodern literature Hesse uses in this novel.
How does racism manifest itself in classical literature?
Discuss the oppression of women in The Handmaid’s Tale.
Gender roles in The Miniaturist and A Doll’s House : a comparison.
Moral ambiguity in David Harrower’s works.
Literary techniques in the Perks of Being a Wallflower.
The setting in The Murder in the Rue Morgue and its influence on the detective genre.
Review the tropes first introduced in The Moonstone.
Study the depictions of police’s work in Skinner’s Rule .
Assess the influence of Victorian Gothic horror on popular culture.
Social criticism in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Analyze cyberpunk elements in Gibson’s Neuromancer.
Themes of social equality in modern literature.
Research the views on Native American writers in Nature’s Poem.
Critique of contemporary children’s literature .
Gothic elements in Charlotte Bronte’s works.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Dracula : a comparative analysis.
Terror in The Picture of Dorian Gray .
Examine the connection of mental health and society in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye .
Magical realism and romanticism in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.
How does the cut-up technique contribute to the narration in William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch?

Criminal Justice Thesis Topics

Are you a forensic science student who prefers research to actual police work? In that case, a dissertation in criminology is a great idea. This way, you can work on preventing crime from the comfort of your desk.

Recidivism rates among underage Latino first-time offenders: a quantitative study. Research a group of first-time offenders of a particular age (e.g., 18 to 25 years old).
A comparative analysis of the incidents of gun violence in the USA during the 2010s. Choose several prominent examples and compare them to each other.
Troublesome statements: the role of witnesses in potentially false accusations. In this dissertation, you can write about the unreliability of statements, using documented examples.

The patterns of drug trafficking in Germany’s largest cities: a case study of Berlin and Hamburg. Analyze the changes in these patterns in the 2010s.
Money laundering and corruption in the United States in the 21st century. Using media reports, create dissertation research about corruption schemes.
Mental health and self-perception of second-time sex offenders. Determine if their self-perception changes.
School shootings in the USA: causes and risk factors. Using recent and historical data, analyze the cases of mass shootings.
The influence of cyberbullying on suicide rates among Australian adolescents (13-17 years old). You can base your dissertation report on various research on cyberbullying published in Australian scholarly journals.
Child abuse and its influence on serial killer’s perception of victims. Discuss interconnections between abuse and potential sadistic behavior.
The history of forensic interviewing in the USA. Present research and practices that contributed to its development.
Use of artificial intelligence for forensic investigations.
Criminal behavior at a young age and its implications for the future.
Drug use: pattern of recurring arrests among American youth.
Incarcerated parents: the impact on the child’s perception of crime.
Research the reforms of the US criminal justice system.
Propose strategies for improving the juvenile detention system.
Police officer’s abuse of power: analysis of reports.
Race and criminal justice: the case of War on Drugs.
What are the possible alternative forms of incarceration?
A study of public perception of modern serial killers.
Training of sniffer dogs.
The implications of eyewitness testimony.
Abuse in Hollywood: a case study of Harvey Weinstein.
Bias against African Americans during investigations.
A study of college violence.
Legal implications of medical marijuana legalization .
Ethics of criminal justice: the problem of confidentiality.
Review the challenges linked with domestic violence investigations.
Suggest ways of preventing crimes in schools.
Gender bias during crime examinations.

Geography Thesis Topics

If you enjoy unveiling Earth’s secrets, this section is for you. Here you’ll find geography dissertation ideas ranging from studies of movement to regional phenomena.

Species that became extinct in the 20th century: qualitative research. Address the human influence on various species.
Current issues in the exploration of Arctic. Discuss difficulties and specifics of such explorations.
A comparison of urban back gardens in the USA and the UK. You can compare their design and other features (for example, vegetation used for decoration).
The causes and outcomes of floodings in the USA in the 2010s. Address climate change as one of the leading causes.
Prevention of ecosystem changes with modern technology. Provide various examples of how technology is used to sustain ecosystems.
Changes in travel destinations in the 2000s: a comparison of the USA and Canada. Demonstrate what changes in preferences were documented in these countries and show what destinations were especially popular.
The perception of environmentally friendly technologies and their impact on the environment by citizens of large metropolitan areas: a case study of Miami. Explain how various projects based on environmentally friendly technologies are launched in Miami.
A negative impact of global warming on weather conditions in Iceland. Discuss how tourism in Iceland is affected by these changes.
The influence of industrialization on climate change. Address the causes of climate change, using industrialization and its consequences as a basis.
Compare Greenfield and Brownfield land use for construction projects.
Investigate the significance of red salmon for Kamchatka.
The social impact of climate change : a study of migration patterns.
The potential of community gardening in underprivileged neighborhoods.
Study the link between the strengths of hurricanes and climate change.
What can be done to stop gentrification in your community?
Evaluate coastal tourism, its effect, and implications.
The impact of reservoir locations on water quality.
How did industrialization affect the development of Chicago?
Study soil pollution levels in your community area.
Conduct an analysis of air quality in your city.
Eco-tourism, its history, and perspectives.
Differences in soil chemistry across several locations.
The impact of organic farming on water quality in your area.
Compare the sustainability of organically vs. conventionally farmed tomatoes.
Research air pollution levels and data on airborne illnesses in your area.
What’s the relationship between rock climbing and cliff vegetation?
Study the changes in soil fertility upon volcanic eruption.
How does the Chernobyl disaster continue to affect the surrounding area?
Determine the patterns of floods in a particular area of your choice.

Sociology Thesis Ideas

Sociology studies how humans live together. A dissertation is a great way to dive deeper into a particular subject. You can get as specific as your heart desires! Check out our sociology thesis topics:

Single parent stigma and its influence on family’s quality of life and parent-child relationships. Present examples from recent research that illustrate how the dynamics of these relationships change over time due to stigma.
Women empowerment in Saudi Arabia in 2000s: breakthroughs and challenges. Discuss how this empowerment affected legislation and women’s rights.
Long-term alcohol addiction and self-perception in young adults. With the help of research, demonstrate whether self-perception of these adults transforms significantly due to their addiction.
Adoption and its influence on parent-child relationships. Present and discuss challenges that such families face.
Comparison of traditions related to family dinners in the USA and the UK. What specific differences are there and how can they be explained?
Influence of the emo culture on suicide rates in high school students. Address the influence of such cultures on adolescents’ behavior.
The rates of secularization in elderly individuals living in urban and rural areas. Compare the rates and explain why they are different.
Influence of forced outing on transgender individuals and concomitant changes in their quality of life. Explain the effects of forced outing and why this impact is dangerous.
Comparison of anti-nuclear movements in Germany and Japan in the 21st century. Explain in detail what differences and similarities are prominent.
Performance rates of teenagers in schools in low-income neighborhoods: a case study of Boston schools. When writing your dissertation proposal, consider various factors (poverty, limited access to technology, etc.) that affect performance rates of these teenagers.
Black Lives Matter movement’s immediate impact on racism.
Research causes of minority bias in the US.
Affirmative action and its impact on the perception of varied racial groups.
The impact of religion on people’s attitudes towards race.
Review the challenges of the US LGBT community.
Bias towards transgender studies.
Social activism against gender discrimination in the 21st century.
The impact of social assistance in schools on a child’s future.
Research the changes in education after WWII.
Analyze scholarship policies in the US.
The impact of student debt on youth’s perception of education in the US.
Outcomes of public vs. private schools: a comparison.
Research the preservation of culture in American immigrant families.
Applying Marx’s conflict theory to social justice movements.
Assess changing trends in social norms in a country of your choice.
Attitudes towards prejudice among people of different social backgrounds.
Comparison of women’s rights in Western and Middle Eastern countries.
The impact of capitalism on one’s social values.
How does capitalism benefit society across multiple post-soviet countries?
Compare healthcare access in autocracies vs. democracies.

💡 Dissertation Topics for Ph.D. students

Below you’ll find a list of excellent dissertation ideas in different fields of study. They are more difficult than thesis topics and require more research. Jump to the section that interests you and find the topic that suits you best! But first:

What Makes a Good Ph.D. Topic?

Usually, universities would expect your dissertation to be original and relevant in the field of the research. Moreover, it would be worthwhile if it has the potential to make a change.

This checklist will help you see whether you’ve made the right choice. Your dissertation topic is good, if:

You have an opportunity to research it fully. You need to know that there is enough data and a theoretical basis. Do some prior research to understand if you will be able to answer all your dissertation questions.
You can fill the gaps in the existing knowledge. Your research matters if you can provide some new information that contributes to the field of your studies.
Your dissertation title is catchy. Try to make it worth the reader’s attention from the first glance.
You can evaluate how much time you need. It is vital to understand all the stages of your research and the challenges you might face to plan your work.
You know the subject well. You will need to explore your topic in-depth. It’s good to have some previous knowledge about it. Starting the research from the very basics will take more time and effort.
You have enough resources to investigate it. Both time and money matter in this case. You need to do high-quality research and meet your deadlines.

Dissertation Topics in Education

Learning is a lifelong experience, and the importance of schools cannot be overestimated. Research in this area is critical to improving education standards. Have a look at these topic ideas to get inspired:

Gamification as tools for enhancing learning abilities: theory and practice. Many studies have been conducted on different learning approaches. For young learners, engagement is as critical as the outcome. Therefore, this work focuses on gamification and its effect on children’s improvisation and learning.
Studying the connection between classroom quality and the learning outcome in kindergarten. Children are strongly affected by their environment, especially when it comes to learning. This dissertation topic example is all about looking into different classroom settings and their effect on kids’ learning outcomes.
Evaluating the process of implementation of inclusive education in the US. Professionals argue that inclusive education carries multiple benefits for all students (not just those with limited abilities.) However, it is quite a challenging process to implement all the changes.
Factors influencing the decision to transfer to the higher education abroad. In this work, you can focus on finding out the reasons for such a decision. Why do undergraduate students choose to leave their home country? What are the most important factors?
Online education vs. traditional face-to-face lessons for adult learners: compare and contrast. Online courses have their own benefits. However, would adult learners prefer them to in-person classrooms? How does it affect their learning and motivation?
How does working as a taxi driver and navigating change a person’s brain?
To what extent can reality television be disempowering for students?
The role of homework in the lives of immigrant adolescents.
The impact of teachers’ shocking behaviors in fostering students’ creativity.
The determinants of flossing behavior in college students .
The classification of drinking styles in the college-age population.
Integrating the computer into the curriculum: why you can’t simply plug it in.
The preconditions for serious music-making avocation in computer science students.
Adult graduate difficulties with learning new technologies.
The effect of academic performance on the health of students.
The impact of mathematic coaching on students’ self-esteem .
The influence of internet on the emotional maturity of students.
Academic achievements of students who decide to become teachers.
Is it true that students are more likely to do homework given by good-looking professors?
Informal learning in rural areas via social networks.
Educational blogging for professors: the social networks of educationists.
Does learning existentialism cause suicides?
Is it possible to reduce summer learning loss without students’ consent?
Can we reject classical math and do it at the same time? Yes, we can.
What are major career prospects with a degree in Liberal Arts?
Using electronic games in museums as an effective education tool.

Business Dissertation Topics

There are many things a business administrator should keep in mind. Finances, marketing, and development are just the tip of the iceberg. So, the choice of topics is practically endless. Check out this selection to narrow down the possibilities:

How are business strategies adjusted to the globalization process? Small businesses’ perspective. Globalization means huge and profitable opportunities. To seize them, all businesses and companies should make some changes in their strategies. Investigate what would be the best action plan for them.
Cultural changes and the effect of feedback in an international company: a case study. Choose a multinational company. Study the impact of feedback (both from the employees and customers) on its organizational culture changes. What reaction does it provoke in the company?
Human resource management approaches in international non-profit organizations. In this study, look into the strategies HR managers apply in non-profit organizations. One of their main responsibilities is to monitor the performance of the employees. However, at the international level it becomes more difficult.
Leadership and organizational culture in making decisions about business strategies. In this research, you study the influence of the organizational culture on leaders. In the case of trying to initiate changes in the business strategy, how is a leadership decision taken?
The role of “foreign direct investment” in companies in developing countries: a case study of a large business. For this paper, pick a suitable company first. Aim for large companies in developing countries. Then conduct research and find out what strategies they have for foreign direct investments.
COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on workplace management in small businesses . The COVID-19 pandemic caused many companies to readjust their HR policies. For instance, they allowed their staff to work from home. Research this phenomenon in your thesis.
Social entrepreneurship for large companies. If you want to make the world a better place, social entrepreneurship is a suitable method. We usually associate it with small start-ups. But what about large companies? With this topic, you can research how the concept works for big firms.
How innovation affects demand in technology-driven businesses. This MBA dissertation topic combines business studies and technology. Examine how companies create products for establishing markets.
Management strategies in times of COVID-19: a case study. The pandemic has forced companies to use Zoom , Skype, and messaging instead of regular meetings. Review how executives can apply traditional management models in the digital space.
The impact of burnout on employees. Interview staff members and determine how burnout affects performance. Include the name of a company or industry in your dissertation’s title.
Tourism management in the Middle East.
How do natural disasters impact the demand for essentials?
Compare and contrast Asian and American leadership styles.
How does fluctuation in the stock market impact business operations?
The art of delegation: how to do it effectively and when to avoid it.
How can one efficiently lead a company when unforeseen circumstances occur?
What factors determine employees’ work satisfaction?
Study the link between a company’s success and innovation.
What can business managers do to bridge the gap between generations?
Research the benefits of global and local brand management.
What causes changes in Chinese business culture?
Choose a small business and analyze its strategy.
Organizational changes : what factors impact transformation?
Internet banking : barriers to usage.
Create a business plan that is focused on a specific issue.
Conditions necessary for quality management in MNCs.
The role of E-commerce for food retailers.
Conduct a case study with the purpose to analyze one or several social phenomena.
Workplace ethics in small businesses.
The phenomenon of remote working and how it is affecting businesses.
Comparison of Generation X and the Millennial Generation.
Managing the Millennial Generation.
Current trends in consumer behavior in relation to advertising.
Analyze which countries margin financing is effective and why.
Analyze the macroeconomic factors affecting exchange rates.
An empirical analysis of the impact of organizational performance and leadership .

Law Dissertation Topics for Ph.D. Students

Legal science is not dull as one may think. It’s crucial to evaluate laws at any point in time. Do they fit the current norms? Does something or someone need more protection than before? If you want to garnish your legal education with a Ph.D., here are some topic suggestions:

Trust law: the circumstances when fully secret and half-secret trusts are necessary. Find out what are the principles that dictate the enforcement of the trusts. There are specific circumstances that determine whether creating trusts would be adequate and relevant. Make sure to take them into consideration.
Termination of employment in case of employees tested positive for HIV/AIDS. Your task would be to conduct research and see how HIV/AIDS employees are influenced in the workplace. The most common issues are discrimination and termination of employment.
The influence of the Global War on Terrorism on international criminal law. When the US launched the campaign against terrorism in 2001, international criminal law faced some changes. You can study the most significant changes that have been made.
The level of effectiveness of the US copyright law in relation to the rights of users. It’s an empirical research topic that would require collecting lots of data. Try to find some cases when the users were left cheated by copyright law. It would bring some diversity to the research and make it more interesting.
Study the effect that the US immigration policy has on education right now. Educational institutions are also required to adjust to changes connected with immigration. Different requirements and different curriculums are implemented to fit their needs. You are about to look into this issue.
Select a country and analyze its worker protection laws. Compare the rights and obligations of employees in two countries of your choice. What potential improvements can solidify employee rights?
Protection of minorities, legal precedents. Minority rights are becoming more and more relevant. This topic allows you to discuss how laws can be changed to reflect it.
Regulation of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies allow for anonymity. Besides, they are not regulated by any state. In your thesis, you can analyze cryptocurrency regulations.
Fake news : legal responsibility. Review how the United States legal system approaches disinformation. Focus on false publications on news resources. Another possible topic is improvements to defamation laws.
Freedom of expression : a case during a pandemic. This topic is about false information in times of COVID-19. Examine how a state can balance freedom of expression with the spread of false information. Focus on this disease and the fake news about it.
Legal practices for preventing possible future pandemics.
Research ways of online journalism protection.
International law vs. the right to self-determination: comparative case studies of de facto states.
Review the history of fiscal laws in America.
Limits to freedom of expression in the US legal system.
Enforcing regulations concerning domestic violence.
Study criminal responsibility for drug possession in the US.
Criminalization of violence against women.
Review the legal framework for addressing foreign involvement in elections.
What was the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Health standards for immigrant detention centers in the US.
Research the loopholes in the US immigration laws.
Birthright citizenship in the US: pros and cons.
1951 Refugee Convention: is it obsolete?
Illegal immigrants and their rights in the US justice system.
How criminal laws have been impacted around the world by the war on terror.
Choose a country and analyze their policies on discrimination.
Evaluate the protection given to minority shareholders as dictated by company law.
Provide a critical analysis of the law of omissions liability.
Investigate and analyze complaints filed in the criminal justice system.
A critical analysis of the reform of homicide laws.
The morality and impact of euthanasia and how Canada sets a precedent.
A detailed analysis of gender and race profiling of suspects in the criminal justice system.
Analyze the right to bear arms relative to the context in which the law was written into The Constitution.
Create case studies that represent a review of criminal negligence related to the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

Psychology Dissertation Topics

The mysterious ways of the human mind offer many research opportunities. Psychology encompasses sub-fields such as behavior and cognition. Whatever your area of expertise, you’ll undoubtedly find something interesting in the list below.

The current effect of the “price ending” method on the consumers’ behavior . Nowadays, everybody knows the most popular trick that shops pull to make customers buy the products. However, does understanding it make it easier to resist it? Is this psychological trap still working?
Burnout at the executive positions in massive US corporations: is it possible to prevent? The phenomenon of burnout is the most common issue that employees face nowadays. But there are ways to detected it at an early stage. Could they be used to predict and prevent this problem?
Mindfulness practices and their influence on students’ learning abilities at the top universities (e.g., Harvard). Mindfulness is proved to be extremely useful in overcoming stress and anxiety issues. However, does it affect the learning outcome of the students who study at the best universities in the world?
The individual struggles with gender issues and their impact on global gender inequality. Everything always starts with a small thing. For this paper, study the relation between some individual cases and the global issue. How do personal struggles contribute to the worldwide movement for justice?
The positive influence of irrational beliefs on mental well-being. In psychology, irrational beliefs are a set of values and opinions that people believe in despite rational evidence against them. However, what positive effect can they bring?
Ways of raising awareness of mental health problems. Mental health has been discussed more openly in recent years. Review how this open discussion affects views on personal mental health. As another idea for a psychology dissertation topic, research a specific illness.
Student burnout and ways to prevent it. Focus on the problems students face and what strategies can reduce their stress.
Pandemic and mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many people to be in isolation from social contacts. Review the potential effects of this practice on people’s well-being. Discuss possible strategies for supporting mental health during possible future pandemics.
Weight, self-image, and mental health. A clinical psychology thesis can focus on the psychology behind excess weight. Discuss how weight affects a person’s perception of self. Assess implications for clinical psychologists who work with overweight patients.
Social media vs. reality: normalizing real people. Review current efforts of social media accounts in normalizing body image. Explain how this can reverse the damage that edited photos have on mental health.
How does gender bias affect mental health in America?
What factors affect women’s self-esteem in the workplace?
Specifics of transgender mental health.
Research the effect of immigration on mental well-being.
Study the psychology of racism and ways to combat it.
What distinguishes the mental health of minorities in the US?
Research the psychology of dissent in the Soviet Union.
The connection between stress and overeating: latest developments.
Assess the role of social support for losing weight.
What’s the role of prejudice in politics?
Assess the role of endurance in combating stress.
Developing hardiness: strategies and exercises.
What’s the effect of emotional resilience on mental health?
Helping teenagers overcome stress via relaxation techniques.
Look into the perception of anger and its effect on mental health.
Understanding the function of the prefrontal cortex in terms of how it is connected to other parts of the brain.
Understanding how the prefrontal cortex makes us human.
How emotional and anxiety disorders are connected to social cognition that is impaired.
Analyze the ability of an MRI to determine brain function.
Analyze the relationship between emotional and episodic memory.
A comparison of the plasticity of the child’s brain and the adult brain.
Analyze the continued relevance of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
An in-depth look at the social intuitionist model and how it relates to the emotion and reason involved in moral judgement.
How the evolution of the human brain can be understood in terms of children cognitive development.
A demonstration of the multi-dimensional nature of schizophrenia.
How rational thinking and impulse contribute to decision-making.
A systematic analysis and review of the psychology of religion.
How exposure to nature affects happiness.

Nursing Dissertation Topics

A nurse’s work is hard. Unfortunately, they rarely get the credit they deserve. With a Ph.D., you could become an advocate on the problem. Or you could concentrate on optimizing their work environments.

Exercise, changes in lifestyle , and self-tracking for diabetes prevention and management. Center your research on different lifestyle changes (exercise, reduced smoking and drinking) and explain how and why it prevents diabetes.
Influence of stigma related to HIV/AIDS on representatives of ethnic minorities: a case study of Native Americans. Using research, provide compelling evidence of how Native Americans are stigmatized and discriminated against.
Chronic illness management at home: recommended evidence-based practices. Using current nursing and other professional research, discuss how adults and seniors manage chronic and autoimmune diseases.
Depression and stress and their relation to preterm births in first-time mothers. Collect several articles about the issue and using their conclusions show how depression causes preterm births.
Burnout in nurses: factors that cause it and practical solutions for prevention. Present outcomes of burnout (decreased performance and concentration, subpar workplace environment) and illustrate how it affects hospitals on a more significant scale.
Public health: community-based measures to prevent morbid obesity. In this research, you can list various methods that include exercise and education and explain in detail how they prevent the spread of obesity.
Risk factors and injury rates in psychiatric nursing. Present statistics on different types of injuries in psychiatric institutions.
Cultural diversity and inclusion in nursing education. When researching diversity, make sure you are using examples of different minority groups’ perception of education.
Euthanasia legislation in the USA: ethical issues and debates. Provide a thoughtful discussion of ethical and legal issues surrounding euthanasia.
Organizational climate and its influence on perceived patient safety. Your study should focus on the importance of positive relationships between staff members, and its influence on the prevention of medical errors.
Dietary practices and their influence on the quality of life in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. SLE is a complex disease that requires a multidisciplinary approach. Describe nutritional research approaches to SLE.
Fluoride application training in dental nursing.
Describe the specifics of nursing care for patients with diabetes.
Assess gender disparity in nursing research.
Study nurse burnout prevalence in neonatal care in your community.
Nursing staff advising DASH diet: effects on patients’ blood pressure.
What are the challenges of asthma management for nurses?
Nursing for autistic patients: the best strategies.
Racial differences in nursing care: a case study.
Evaluate nurses’ role in pain management for patients with dementia.
Study the connection between nursing staff turnover and burnout.
How is the role of a nurse changing in the modern healthcare system?
Review nursing practices for managing elderly patients.
A holistic approach to obesity management in nursing.
Describe the specifics of nursing in rural areas.
Physical activity and mental health: a nursing case study.
Discuss nursing pain relief strategies for general care.
Determine the ethical implications of nursing malpractice.
Nurses consultations for spinal cord injuries.
Nursing in an urban setting: challenges and prospects.
What are the specifics of pain management in obstetrical nursing?

Marketing Dissertation Topics

Good marketing is what made you buy that product you didn’t know you needed. Marketing needs plenty of scientific research for it to be successful. You can contribute to this effort with one of the following topic ideas:

Compare and contrast the effectiveness of traditional and digital marketing in the last five years. Marketing moves towards digital campaigns more and more every year. Though, traditional marketing still exists, of course. Your task is to compare every aspect of these two types in the span of the previous five years.
The specifics of the relationship marketing and its influence on the loyalty rates among customers: a case study of fast-food chains. Take a few fast-food chains to conduct this research. Then analyze their relationship marketing strategies. There should be a correlation between the methods they use and the loyalty of their customers.
Direct marketing and artificial intelligence: how do companies use it? The industry of marketing couldn’t have missed the opportunity to use the latest technologies for their benefit. Artificial intelligence helps some companies gain a competitive advantage. Find out what those benefits are.
Collectivism and individualism : how does culture influence supermarkets? There are some apparent differences in cultures when it comes to shopping. Each shop owner has to implement a specific marketing strategy for targeting the customers. Work on aspects that make those strategies successful in different cultures.
The strategies that make personalized products sell effectively. Everybody loves customized products, but it seems like not everybody is willing to share their data to get it. Therefore, businesses are forced to work it out. This research looks into marketing tools and methods they use to sell personalized products.
Influence of online shopping apps on impulsive buying behavior . Using prominent examples such as Amazon and eBay, elaborate how apps affect customer’s decision to purchase an item through recommendations.
Product design and its impact on consumer’s purchase decision. When preparing this thesis topic, consider using examples of large corporations such as Apple or IKEA to prove your point.
Customer loyalty : the importance of satisfaction and loyalty programs. Conduct research using available surveys on satisfaction and draw conclusions from these statistics.
Ethnic differences and their impact on brand perception. This research can review the types of products that target White or Black Americans specifically.
Preferences for green products: analysis of the income’s influence on consumer decisions. Compare what households are more likely to prefer green products.
Shopping habits of Muslim consumers in the USA: qualitative research. Here, you will need to do research by engaging Muslim Americans in your study; you can use interviews or surveys for this topic.
Social media and its impact on the promotion of small business. Make sure your reader understands how social media can promote or negatively present small business through customers’ comments.
Does globalization make preferences of customers from different socioeconomic backgrounds similar? Interview people from lower, middle, and upper class and discuss the preferences of American households.
Social media usage by international companies: a case study of Electronic Arts. Study the influence of customers’ reviews and opinions on EA’s sales.
Consumers’ perception of transaction safety in online shopping applications. Discuss how consumers learn to differentiate between reliable and unreliable apps for payments .
Marketing high tech products: a case study.
Study changing marketing techniques during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The future of big data uses in marketing.
Conduct a comparative analysis of offline vs. online advertising .
Explore the relationship between marketing strategies and sales.
Holiday marketing strategies in the 21st century.
Is marketing tailed towards model devices effective?
Study the rise of influencer marketing.
Review the newest trends in digital advertising.
Brand management in 2020: an analysis.
Assess the effect of advertising on consumer behavior.
Targeted ads: are they efficient?
How did marketing change during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Assess brand management’s contribution to consumer loyalty.
Impact of social media marketing on brand perception.
Google Analytics insights for marketing campaigns.
Marketing for minority populations.
Youtube marketing: the effectiveness of videos for brand promotion.
How does partnering with influencers impact brand perception?
Social influencer marketing for SMEs.

History Dissertation Topics

History is written not only by the victors but also by history students. Your dissertation can shine a light on understudied cultures. Or perhaps you want to focus on how a specific event impacted the world. Find inspiration among the following dissertation questions and ideas:

The historical context of the creation of Guernica by Pablo Picasso . War wasn’t the only inspiration for Pablo Picasso during the process of making Guernica . In this paper, you would look into the environment of the artist and try to identify what else brought him to the creation of this masterpiece.
Bismarck and radical nationalism: what influenced the political state? For this research, you would study the underlying reasons for German Nazism before the beginning of World War II. What factors gave it a start when Otto von Bismarck was in charge?
The rise of Bollywood: historical context. This paper focuses on the success of Indian Bollywood movies in the 1930s. You would need to look into the events that made those movies famous in the whole world. Don’t forget to mention the social views of Bollywood movies.
The influence of secrecy in the technology intervention during World War II. You would study the role that the US Patent and Trademark Office played in the development of special war technology . Secrecy helped to keep it away from the public and enemies. How did it influence the war?
Italian prisons in the 19th century: how were they managed after Unification? This paper would require you to study documentation on the management system prison used in Italy at the beginning of the 19th century. You should try to find some practices that might have been socially harmful.
Gender perceptions in the Middle Age. When preparing the dissertation, use both historical and literary sources to show how gender was presented.
Secularization in the American South during the post-war period. Provide a detailed discussion of secular societies forming in the South after the 1940s.
Representation of Jewish history in contemporary art: a case study of Art Spiegelman’s Maus . Using the comic book as the primary basis, explain how Jewish culture and history are presented there.

Quote by Elie Wiesel: “In Jewish history there are no coincidences.”

The history of medieval warfare and its influence on Modern Era warfare . When constructing this thesis, make sure you are using both historical and current research to provide details.
American-British relations during the Cold War Era . Explain how the Cold War Era changes these relations and what has affected it the most.
Germany’s foreign relations during the 1980s. Present a detailed overview of different foreign relations (e.g., with the USA, the USSR, the UK) Germany had during this period.
The financial crisis in the USA in 2007-2009. Using research and media sources, explain to the reader how the crisis is still affecting the USA.
The development of Austrian identity after World War II. In this case, you can use both historical evidence and Austrian literature that provides personal opinions of writers and artists on the issue.
The impact of the Great Depression on the American involvement in the World War II. To show your understanding of historical processes, demonstrate how the Great Depression affected the USA’s perception of WWII.
How I stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb: the development of nuclear warfare in the 20th century. Discuss the development of nuclear warfare in the USA and the USSR.
What was the role of China in the Cold War?
How did the Spanish Flu affect the pandemics that followed it?
Determine the influence of the stock market crash in 1929 on the World Wars.
First Battle of Marne’s impact on the outcomes of WWI.
Tool usage and creation: Aztecs vs. Mayas.
How did the enlightenment philosophy impact the development of the natural sciences?
The effects of Christianization in sub-Saharan Africa.
Assess the role of slavery in the US civil rights movement.
Study the history of LGBT rights establishment in the US.
What are the origins of slavery in Africa?
The Moon Landing and its impact on space exploration.
Explore the role of the Bible in Jewish history.
The US’ involvement in WWII.
The aftermath of WWII: major historical events.
Research the link between the Mexican-American War and the Gold Rush.
Cold War insights: lessons from the Suez Crisis.
Explore the role of democratization in the Soviet Union collapse.
Global cooperation in early modern Europe.
Study the legacy of the arms race.
How did the First Ladies influence life in the 20th century America?

Dissertation Topics in Management

Companies and employees alike benefit from well-thought-out management strategies. So, a thesis in management has the potential to improve work environments even further. Kickstart your research by choosing one of the following topics:

Ecotourism in Canada: issues and trends in small business. Explain issues that arise in ecotourism with climate change.
Management ethics: how social media affects employees’ privacy and organizational climate. Present examples of negative and positive influence.
Leadership styles: a comparison of democratic and autocratic leadership. Discuss what leadership style should be chosen to rule various companies, depending on their business plan.
Political risk and its influence on emergency management. Explain how political crises affect and shape emergency management.
Cultural diversity and its impact on employees’ satisfaction and commitment. Show what advantages and disadvantages there are in cultural diversity.
Economic growth and unemployment rates in Australia during the 1990s: a historical perspective. Explain the causes of economic growth and unemployment.
Challenges in human resources management working with millennials: qualitative research. Discuss what particular challenges HR managers face and how they can be addressed.
The significance of organizational routines in international corporations: a case study of Google. Conduct research on the importance of routine and its impact on performance.
Computer skills and management: the effectiveness of computerized management information system in rural areas. Describe how digital management can be effectively applied in companies working in rural areas.
The history of digital rights management in the USA. Present the changes in the field during the 1990s-2010s.
Analyze the best leadership styles for SMEs.
Examine the changes entrepreneurship underwent in the past decades.
How do leadership styles relate to work satisfaction?
Overview of business negotiation methods using technology.
Ways of integrating corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices.
Discuss the specifics of airline companies’ management.
Choose a theory of motivation in the workplace and make a case study on it.
Study change management in SMEs in times of a crisis.
Managing diverse workforce: a qualitative analysis.
Use of employee voice in US companies.
Research the relationship between the organization’s goals and a manager’s behavior.
What are the best current practices in public administration?
Applying strategic human capital principles in practice.
The study of female CEOs in a country of your choice.
Employees’ perception of change management : a quantitative analysis.
A study of employees’ resistance to change.
What’s the correlation between a CEO’s leadership traits and employee motivation ?
Workplace risk management : a study of psychosocial hazards.
Conduct a quantitative study of the gender pay gap for CEOs.
Research the relationship between management style and employee productivity .

Qualitative Dissertation: Ideas for Proposals

If you want your thesis to be more practical, you’ve come to the right section. Common approaches for qualitative dissertations include researching case studies, surveys, or ethnographies. Because of this, fieldwork will be an integral part of your doctorate journey.

A comparison of teaching techniques that targeted children with autism in the 20th and 21st centuries. Provide a detailed overview of techniques and explain how research affected them.
The development of cognitive-behavioral therapy and its effectiveness in patients with eating disorders. Present the history of CBT and use recent research to demonstrate its effectiveness.
Ageism and sexism in international organizations of the fashion industry. Describe how the fashion industry defines what it means to be “young and beautiful.”
Addressing sexual harassment at the workplace : the influence of organizational policies on targets’ decision to file a complaint. Explain what policies can support the target and what can prevent such decision.
Strategies to eliminate bias in self-evaluation reports of employees. Using research in HRM, outline the best strategies that are currently used to avoid bias.
Post-cancer therapy: issues and trends. Present and discuss various trends, the research behind them, and the effectiveness of different types of therapy.
A family history of abuse and its influence on drug use in adults. Explain how abuse can provoke addiction in the future.
The importance of trusting doctor-patient relationships on patient’s medication adherence and management of a healthy lifestyle. Describe how such relationships negatively or positively affect a patient’s decision to take medicine as prescribed.
Barriers to the acquisition of social support among young men and women veterans in the USA. Discuss mental and physical disorders as major barriers.
Single mothers’ perceptions of breastfeeding in public places: qualitative research. Conduct interviews to find out their opinion.
The impact of online learning on student’s academic performance.
A study of the youths’ perception of learning smartphone applications.
Research the issue of gender bias in college education.
Student’s perception of the mental health support and impact on campus.
Perceptions of charter school education in the 21 st century.
Discuss homeschooling and its effect on a child’s socialization.
What’s the impact of cyberbullying on teenagers’ mental health?
How inmates perceive alternative forms of incarceration.
Gun violence from the perspective of victims.
Research bias towards video games as an art form.
In what ways are minorities disadvantaged in America?
Evaluate cooking as a therapeutic exercise.
Assess the link between a principal’s leadership style and the school’s rating.
The effect of online counseling on patients’ mental health.
Perception of mental health stigma among students.
How does gig economy re-define work?
The implications of freelancing in the 2020s.
Opinions about a 6-day work week in your community.
Assess the process of adaptation to working from home.
Conduct a research study of views on the BLM movement outside the US.

Quantitative Dissertation Proposal Topics

Some scholars just love working with data. Are you one of them? Then you’ll probably enjoy quantitative research. If you’re into finding patterns and making predictions, here are some enticing topics:

A study of a major city’s livability index. Choose a city and assess whether it’s well-designed or not.
A quantitative study of biofilms in technology. Discuss methods of using biofilms in technology. Include a list of recent advances and new tools.
A quantitative study of teachers’ perception of online learning. This topic prompts you to use an evaluation scale.
An assessment of a link between product reviews and intention to purchase. Study the effect online reviews have on potential customers.
Immigration and its connection to crime statistics. Analyze data on immigration to the US and the number of violent crimes. Determine the relationship between the two phenomena.
The relationship between obesity and occupation. Assess the BMIs of participants of different professions. Then, test the results for a correlation and discuss its implications.
A relationship between nurses’ knowledge of diabetes management and patient satisfaction. Assess the nurses’ knowledge about diabetes and compare the results with patient satisfaction scores. Thus, you can determine if expertise translates into better care.
A study of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on SMEs financial operations. With this qualitative dissertation proposal in business and management, choose a small company. Analyze its financial data pre- and post-pandemic. Include a discussion of financial management during pandemics.
A study of millennials’ pet ownership. Determine the percentage of millennials who have pets. Compare these patterns with previous generations.
Economic growth and urbanization. Compare the empirical data about the state of economics and the number of people living in cities.
Determine how urbanization affects bacterial community compositions.
The economic impact of immigration on SMEs.
Study the rates of crimes in the US in relation to nonviolent crimes.
How do various teaching styles affect learning?
Compare overconfidence in CEOs of SMEs and corporations.
How does inclusive language influence social behavior?
Assess consumers’ satisfaction with online banking in your area.
Evaluate crude oil price prediction methods.
Is there a link between smartphone use and mental illness?
Correlation between eyewitness identification and memory.
What are the attitudes towards AI development among women?
Determine the rates of cybercrimes since the 1990s.
A study of the police brutality cases across the US in the last decade.
Correlation between education level and employment.
The presence of sleep disorders in mental illnesses.
Assess the attitudes towards medical care in the US.
Determine the correlation between eating disorders and physical illness.
Study the rates of cyberbullying among minority students.
How various religious groups influence politics : a game-theoretical approach.
Does regular exercise decrease symptoms of depression in adults?

Dissertation Topics in Educational Leadership

Educational leadership is a science focused on helping students to achieve their academic goals. It includes the motivation of staff and learners, improvement of educational programs, and creation of a healthy, productive environment in institutions. Want to dedicate your research to it? Take a look at these topic samples:

Fatigue among American medical students. Medical students often need to memorize and analyze big portions of information. That is why many of them don’t sleep enough, get tired quickly, and find it hard to concentrate. What can be done about it?
How did the COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning affect students’ motivation? Online education has multiple benefits and drawbacks. Some students might find it easier to get access to various textbooks online. Others want to return to campus. What is their motivation?
Creating better learning conditions on campus: the challenges in 2022. With the increasing speed of technological progress, it is hard to catch up with the latest innovations. Explore them in your dissertation. For instance, you can focus on facilities for students with special needs.
How can we enhance discipline among first-year students on campus? For some younger students, it is hard to get used to living on their own. They need to accept new responsibilities, find time to take care of themselves, and organize their lives. How can we help them?
Development of soft skills among undergraduate students. For future employers, soft skills are as important as hard skills. That is why colleges need to pay attention to soft skills such as time management, communication, and creativity.
The efficiency of workshops for enhancing students’ creativity.
Do nutrition habits influence the studying process?
The importance of mental health care in high school.
What leadership styles are the most efficient in college communities?
Does the implementation of early childhood education lead to further academic success?
What is the role of school counseling among teenagers?
What psychological factors make students drop out of college?
Developing leadership qualities among MBA students.
How to help college athletes to cope with psychological and physical pressure.
Ways of reducing anxiety levels among criminology students.
Helping students to choose their majors and find a career path.
How to enhance communication between higher education administration and students?
Motivating students to succeed after graduation .
Why do we need psychology classes in high school?
How can we prevent the bullying of Latin American students in middle and high school?

✅ How to Choose a Thesis Topic: Main Steps

In case you have no idea where to start from, here is a quick guideline on how to choose a Ph.D. thesis topic:

	Check every tiny detail. Sometimes the only restrictions would be time and word count. Some universities might restrict your topic choice within your field of study.
	In case you don’t have to stick to a specific area, feel free to play around and find what you like. However, it is better if it’s something you’re familiar with. Starting your dissertation from scratch is not the best idea.
	It will give you a boost of inspiration. Don’t forget to take notes! You might come across some unsolved issues that can interest you.
	Adjust your topic so that it would be specific enough. However, be careful and don’t overdo it! Otherwise, you won’t have enough data to work with.
	Consider the methods of data collection, as well as approaches for analyzing it. It’s not unusual to combine different types, so don’t worry if you can’t decide on just one.
	What change can your work bring into this world? Perhaps it can contribute to the academic field or is practical enough to help with real-life issues. Or, maybe, it carries a social relevance and can change our society for the better.
	Before deciding on the topic, make sure it meets your requirements. It means that you should be 100% sure you have enough time, resources, and knowledge to finish the research on the chosen topic.
	Seeking some advice from your supervisor is always a good idea. You can discuss your ideas together. After that, go ahead and start the writing process!

We hope this article helped you to choose a suitable topic for your dissertation. We wish you good luck with your research!

Learn more on this topic:

Dissertation Critique: Examples, How-to Guide
The Ultimate Guide to Writing an Outstanding Dissertation
How to Write an Abstract: Brief Steps and Structure Example

✏️ Dissertation FAQ

While working on a dissertation, you might deal with several types of research. The main research types are primary, qualitative, quantitative, and legal. In any case, it’s the way in which a researcher studies the subject using a particular methodology.

First of all, make sure that you are personally fascinated by the subject. This is essential for any thesis, be it master’s or an undergraduate dissertation. Besides, make sure the topic is feasible and hasn’t been studies much.

A good dissertation title is the one that represents the subject under study. To state which aspect is being studied is also important. The title should include neither a hypothesis nor a conclusion: think about it as “spoilers”—nobody likes them.

Just like any paper, a great dissertation is the one that is well-organized. The topic of the paper should correspond to the title. The text should have a cohesive structure with a definite introduction, argumentative main part, and a logical conclusion.

🔗 References

Dissertation Topics 1961-Present: Rudgers University
Completed Thesis and Dissertation Topics: University of Florida
Current Legal Topics: Library of Congress
The Right Dissertation Topic: Academics.com
Days and Nights at the Museum…there’s a Dissertation for that!: Proquest.com
Dissertation Titles: University of Michigan
How to Pick a Master’s Thesis Topic: Medium.com
How to Come Up With a Thesis Topic: Gradschools.com
How to Choose Your Thesis Topic: Central European University
How Do I Choose a Thesis Topic?: Grad School Hub
Senior Thesis Topics: Hamilton College
Arizona Research Topics: Arizona State Library
Dissertation Proposal: Bartleby.com
Dissertation Guide Essay
How to Start Your Dissertation: 10 Top Tips: Studential.com
How to Write a Dissertation or Bedtime Reading for People Who do not Have Time to Sleep: Purdue University
A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing a Ph.D. Dissertation: ThoughtCo
Dissertations Guide from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Developing a Thesis Statement: University of Wisconsin Madison
Thesis/Dissertation Writing and Editing, Formatting, and Defending: Massey University
Business Management Research Topics: Top Universities
Law Topics: Law.com
Psychology Topics: APA
Marketing Topics: Marketing Profs
Topics: History.com
Computer Science: Encyclopedia Britannica
Humanities: Research Topics Ideas: University of Michigan-Flint
Art Topics: Art UK
Topics: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Nurses Topics: Medscape
Architecture: Research Topics: University of Washington
Topics in Geography: Research Gate
New Topics in Sociology: University of Toronto
Business Management Topics: The University of Maine
Qualitative Case Study: Science.gov
All Topics: Science News
Criminology: Science Direct
Topics in Literature: Sheridan College: Libguides
Advanced Computer Science Topics: The University of Texas at Austin
Application of Computer Techniques in Medicine: NIH
Important Leadership and Management Topics: WHO
Quantitative Research: University of Southern California
Action Research: Brown University
10 Traits of Successful School Leaders: University of San Diego
HIST 280 Topics: Texas A&M University
The Relationship Between Burnout, Depression, and Anxiety: Frontiers In
College of Nursing: University of Missouri–St. Louis
All Topics: Educause
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Writing Tips

7 Top Tips for Picking a Dissertation Title

3-minute read
9th July 2015

You only get once chance to make a first impression, so when writing a dissertation it helps if you pick a good title. And while the title of your paper won’t determine whether you pass or fail, the information you provide therein can make your work easier to follow for the reader.

To make sure you set out on the right foot, the title of your dissertation should be clear and informative. It helps to think about what you want your reader to know from the moment they pick up your work (unlike a good novel, your dissertation doesn’t need a twist ending). So here are a few things to consider when picking a title for your dissertation.

1. What Is Your Research About?

The most vital thing that any dissertation title can do is communicate the topic and focus of your research. This includes the general area you’re researching and the specific aspect of this being investigated.

For instance, in a dissertation called “Barriers to Using Social Media in Marketing a Luxury Fashion Brand,” the topic is the marketing of luxury fashion brands and the focus is the factors preventing the use of social media.

2. Your Research Approach

Your research approach has a major impact on the results you achieve and it can help to include this in your title. For example, if you have conducted a large-scale survey of management strategy, you might pick a title such as “Management Strategy: A Quantitative Study of Current Practice.”

3. The Outcomes of Your Research

More specific is better when it comes to the results of your research.

Rather than calling your dissertation “Factors Influencing Recovery from Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries,” it makes sense to specify the kind of factors being investigated. Are they success factors? Factors which impede recovery? Stating this in the title means your reader will know immediately.

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Seeking a second opinion on your title can be helpful. Try asking a friend or professor to check it for clarity . If they can tell what your work is about from the title alone, you’re doing a good job. If not, think of how you can make it clearer. It is also advisable to avoid acronyms in titles for this reason.

Overly long titles can be confusing or off-putting. Regardless of how good the work is, for instance, only the most dedicated are going to want to read a paper called “In silico exploration of the fructose-6-phosphate phosphorylation step in glycolysis: genomic evidence of the coexistence of an atypical ATP-dependent along with a PPi-dependent phosphofructokinase in Propionibacterium freudenreichii subsp. shermanii.”

Check your college’s style guide for how to format your title. Different institutions have different requirements when it comes to factors like capitalization, so you’ll need to make sure you get your formatting right.

7. Uniqueness and Humor

Generally, it is good if your title makes your dissertation stand out. It is also tempting to use a humorous title, though this is best saved for when writing for a popular audience. Neither uniqueness nor humor, however, should come at the expense of communicating important details about your work.

Hopefully these tips will have helped you come to a decision over your dissertation title. But if not, then our expert proofreaders can let you know of any issues to do with the title and headings in your dissertation, as well as providing a variety of services to ensure the quality of your work. For more information about writing a dissertation or thesis, read our full dissertation writing guide.

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GETTING STARTED
Introduction
FUNDAMENTALS
Acknowledgements
Research questions & hypotheses
Concepts, constructs & variables
Research limitations
Getting started
Sampling Strategy
Research Quality
Research Ethics
Data Analysis

Dissertation titles

The dissertation title is your first opportunity to let the reader know what your dissertation is about. With just a few words, the title has to highlight the purpose of the study, which can often include its context, outcomes, and important aspects of the research strategy adopted. But a poorly constructed title can also mislead the reader into thinking the study is about something it is not, confusing them from the very start.

In our articles on EXPECTATIONS and LEARNING , we explain what the reader expects and learns from your dissertation title, before setting out the major COMPONENTS that can be included in dissertation titles. Finally, since your dissertation title should follow a specific written style, which explains when to capitalise words, which words to capitalise, how to deal with quotation marks, abbreviations, numbers, and so forth, we provide some guidance in our article on STYLES .

EXPECTATIONS: What readers "expect" from a dissertation title
LEARNING: What the reader "learns" from a dissertation title
COMPONENTS: The main "components" of a dissertation title
STYLES: Make sure your title uses the correct "style"

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Pak J Med Sci
v.32(2); Mar-Apr 2016

How to write a Doctoral Thesis

Prof. HR Ahmad, Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. E-mail: [email protected]

Note: * Ahmad HR. In: Medical Writing. Eds. SA Jawaid, MH Jafary & SJ Zuberi. PMJA, 1997 Ed II: 133-142.

PATIENT care and teaching are rather well established components of our medical career. However, with the passage of time a third component has started to influence our medical culture, namely research. 1 - 4 How to accept this challenge is a question. 5 Indeed, teaching and research form a dialectic unit, meaning that teaching without a research component is like a soup without salt. It is a well-established fact that the research activity of an institution is directly proportional to the number of qualified and committed PhD candidates. An inspiring infrastructure, laboratory facilities and libraries are pre-requisites for a research culture to grow. 6 - 8 This forms the basis of a generation cycle for an institution, so that research activity and its culture continues to grow from one generation to the next. The main objective of doctoral work in biomedical sciences is to develop a galaxy of scientist physicians and surgeons possessing high degree of humility, selflessness and ethical superiority. Such a programme will add a scholastic dimension to the clinical faculty.

Education in how to write a doctoral thesis or dissertation should be a part of the postgraduate curriculum, parallel to the laboratory work and Journal Club activities during the PhD studies and/or residency levels. 9 , 10 The overall structure of a doctoral thesis is internationally standardized. However, it varies in style and quality, depending upon how original the work is, and how much the author has understood the work. Therefore a thorough discussion with supervisor, colleagues and assistance from other authors through correspondence can be useful sources for consultation.

The choice of a topic for a doctoral thesis is a crucial step. It should be determined by scanning the literature whether the topic is original or similar work has already been done even a hundred years ago. It is the responsibility of both the supervisor and the PhD candidate to sort out this problem by continuous use of internet and a library. 11 The work leading to the PhD degree can originate from research in following spheres: 12

b) Methodology
c) Diagnostic
d) Therapeutic and Management
e) Epidemiology

The availability of internationally standardized methods, as well as research committed supervisors can enable physicians and surgeons to do PhD work in both basic and clinical health sciences. The importance of research in basic health sciences cannot be overemphasized. It is rather the base of the applied sciences. There are many instances where the elucidation of a mechanism involved in a process awaits the development of an adequate methodology. 13 In such a scenario; a new method is like a new eye. Research activity in the field of (a) and (b) illuminates the research directions for (c) (d) and (e). It is worth noting that sometimes important basic questions can come from (e) and stimulate research activity in the domain of basic health sciences. 14 , 15

Types of Doctoral Thesis

TYPE-I: Book Form: a classical style. The blueprint of this form is shown in Table-I .

Type-I: The Classical Book Form

INTRODUCTION:	Literature review. Identification of unresolved problem Formulation of aims and objectives.
METHODOLOGY:	Design. Outcome variable. Statistical analysis.
RESULTS:	Figures and tables with appropriate legends. Description, though not explanation of figures.
DISCUSSION:	Criticism of methodology and design Important observations. Interpretation and reasoning of results. Staging debate with the data of a literature table.
CONCLUSION:	Based on the premises of outcome. Claim of original research. Implications for future research directions.
REFERENCES:	Well analyzed.

TYPE-II: Cumulative Doctoral thesis: A modem but quite useful practice.

INTRODUCTION

A book containing the pearls of a PhD work has standardized divisions and formats, where the number of pages should be weighted in terms of content rather than container. The book includes summary, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusions, references and acknowledgements.

Two exercises are mandatory before starting a PhD programme:

Literature survey using a regular library hours and internet surfing
Familiarization with the hands-on-experience of methodology involved in the work
The importance of a continuous literature survey using library, internet and direct correspondence with authors across the globe in the same field cannot be over-emphasized. The main goal of this exercise is to pinpoint the unresolved problem in the literature. An attempt to solve this problem now becomes the topic of the PhD thesis. All the relevant references should be collected, and carefully preserved in the form of a card system arranged alphabetically according to themes and authors. The introduction of the thesis should be styled like a review article with a critical analysis of the work of authors in the literature. The aims of the present PhD work can then also be addressed in the form of questions. The objectives would then deal with how to achieve the aims of the proposed study.

MATERIALS / SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Now comes the most crucial and functional part of the doctoral work, the materials/subjects and methods section. This part can be considered as the motor of the PhD work. The reliability, sensitivity and specificity of the motor must be checked before embarking on a long journey. Controlling the controls is the best guide for a precise and authentic work. Usually materials and methods contain components such as a description of the species involved, their number, age, weight and anthropometric parameters, types of surgical procedures and anesthesia if applied, and a detailed description of methodology. Continuous or point measurements should be thoroughly described. However, a dynamic method should always be preferred to static one.

The experimental protocol should be designed after a small pilot study, which is especially advisable in research on human subjects. A detailed and well-thought experimental protocol forms the basis of conditions under which the results would be obtained. Any deviation from the experimental protocol will affect the outcome, and the interpretation of results. It may be noted that great discoveries are usually accidental and without a protocol, based merely on careful observation! However, for the sake of a publication, a protocol has to be designed after the discovery. After having described the different phases of the experimental protocol with the help of a schematic diagram e.g., showing variables, time period and interventions, the selection of a statistical method should be discussed. Negative results should not be disregarded because they represent the boundary conditions of positive results. Sometimes the negative results are the real results.

It is usual practice that most PhD candidates start writing the methodological components first. This is followed by writing the results. The pre-requisites for writing results are that all figures, tables, schematic diagrams of methods and a working model should be ready. They should be designed in such a way that the information content of each figure should, when projected as a frame be visually clear to audience viewing it from a distance of about fifty feet. It is often observed that the presenters themselves have difficulty in deciphering a frame of the Power-Point being projected in a conference.

The results of a doctoral thesis should be treated like a bride. The flow of writing results becomes easier if all figures and tables are well prepared. This promotes the train of thoughts required to analyze the data in a quantitative fashion. The golden rule of writing results of a thesis is to describe what the figure shows. No explanation is required. One should avoid writing anything which is not there in a figure. Before writing one should observe each diagram for some time and make a list of observations in the form of key words. The more one has understood the information content of a figure; the better will be the fluency of writing. The interruption of the flow in writing most often indicates that an author has not understood the results. Discussion with colleagues or reference to the literature is the only remedy, and it functions sometimes like a caesarean procedure.

Statistical methods are good devices to test the degree of authenticity and precision of results if appropriately applied. The application of statistical technique in human studies poses difficulties because of large standard deviations. Outliers must be discussed, if they are excluded for the sake of statistical significance. Large standard deviations can be minimized by increasing the number of observations. If a regression analysis is not weighted, it gives faulty information. The correlation coefficient value can change from 0.7 to 0.4 if the regression analysis is weighted using Fisher’s test. The dissection of effect from artifact should be analysed in such a way that the signal to noise ratio of a parameter should be considered. A competent statistician should always be consulted in order to avoid the danger of distortion of results.

The legend of a figure should be well written. It contains a title, a brief description of variables and interventions, the main effect and a concluding remark conveying the original message. The writing of PhD work is further eased by a well maintained collection of data in the form of log book, original recordings, analyzed references with summaries and compiling the virgin data of the study on master plan sheet to understand the original signals before submitting to the procedures of statistics. The original data belong to the laboratory of an institution where it came into being and should be preserved for 5-7 years in the archive for the sake of brevity.

This is the liveliest part of a thesis. Its main goal is to defend the work by staging a constructive debate with the literature. The golden rule of this written debate should be that a rigid explanation looks backward and a design looks forward. The object is to derive a model out of a jig-saw puzzle of information. It should be designed in such a way that the results of the present study and those of authors from the literature can be better discussed and interpreted. Agreement and disagreement can be better resolved if one considers under what experimental conditions the results were obtained by the various authors. It means that the boundary conditions for each result should be carefully analyzed and compared.

The discussion can be divided into the following parts:

criticism of material/subjects and methods
a list of important observations of the present study
interpretation and comparison of results of other authors using a literature table
design of a model
claim of an original research work
The criticism of the methodological procedure enables a candidate to demonstrate how precisely the research work has been carried out. The interpretation of results depends critically on the strict experimental protocol and methods. For example, an epidemiological work is a study of a population. However, if the population sampling is done regularly at a specific location; the question arises as to how a result derived from a localized place can be applied to the whole population.
After having discussed at length the strong and weak points of material/subjects and methods, one should list in a telegraphic design the most important observations of the present study. This may form a good agenda to initiate interpretation, argument, reasoning and comparison with results of other authors. The outcome of this constructive debate should permit the design of a working model in the form of a block diagram. All statements should be very carefully referenced. The ratio of agreement and disagreement should indicate the ability of the author to reconcile conflicting data in an objective and quantitative way. Attempts should be made to design a solution out of the given quantum of information. It is also well known that most of the processes of human physiology can only be understood if their time course is known. The dynamic aspect of interpretation of results is therefore more powerful and superior to the static one. 16 Therefore a continuous record of variables should be preferred and sought to reveal the secrets hidden in the kinetics.
Finally, the discussion should conclude how far the study was successful in answering the questions being posed at the end of the introduction part. Usually a doctoral thesis raises more questions than it answers. In this way research does not come to a standstill and does become a life time engagement for a committed scientist. Also it is important to note that all scientific theses should be quantifiable and falsifiable, otherwise they lose the spirit and fragrance of a scientific research.
The author’s claim of original work is finally decided by the critical review of his research work by the literature and the number of times being cited. It can be easily read by a high rate of a citation index of a publication and invitation. When a methodological research clicks, one becomes a star overnight.

Type-II: CUMULATIVE DOCTORAL THESES

Another way of writing a doctoral work is a cumulative type of thesis. 11 It consists of a few original publications in refereed journals of repute. It is supplemented by a concise summary about the research work. This type of thesis is usually practiced in Sweden, Germany and other countries. It has the advantage of being doubly refereed by the journals and the faculty of health sciences. Additionally, papers are published during a doctoral work. A declaration has to be given to the faculty of science about the sharing of research work in publications, provided there are co-authors. The weightage should be in favour of the PhD candidate, so that the thesis can ethically be better defended before the team of august research faculty.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A critical review of this manuscript by Dr. Roger Sutton, Dr. Khalid Khan, Dr. Bukhtiar Shah and Dr. Satwat Hashmi is gratefully acknowledged.

Dedicated to the memory of Mr. Azim Kidwai for his exemplary academic commitment and devotion to the science journalism in Pakistan.

Department of English

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10 Genuine Suggestions to Design a PhD Title

A PhD title is a short sentence that defines the aim and objectives of your PhD thesis or research.

The PhD title is one of the most important things to your PhD much like the thesis, viva and research paper. Indeed, as per my opinion, all these are equally important to clear the degree but the ‘ PhD title ’ is something very decisive.

Students take it lightly usually, but trust me I had faced a big problem due to only the PhD title. And then I know how important it is!

Your PhD research journey starts by stating a PhD title, although, before picking the PhD title you should have to read so many things to decide what to do with it.

When you see a thesis or a PhD report, on the top of it and on the front page what you see? On the bold and larger font? The ‘PhD title’.

So far on this blog, we have discussed related to the PhD thesis, PhD viva voce and research paper writing. You can read each article by clicking the link.

PhD thesis .
Research paper writing .

In the present article, we are going to learn about another important element of the PhD dissertation the “PhD title”, what a PhD title is and some super cool idea to design your PhD title.

What is a PhD title?

The PhD title is a few liners or a sentence that defines the study purpose, area of research and technique used in your PhD thesis or project.

Your dissertation title or PhD title tell the reader about what a thesis is!, at a first glance. The poorly designed title may mislead readers, creates confusion and readers may lose interest.

A PhD title is the heart of your entire PhD thesis. So there are several do’s and don’t to make a PhD title.

Your PhD title must be self explanatory

Your title should include a clear objectives of your thesis

The title must be precise and descriptive.

The title must be short and consistent

Each word used in the title should reflect the work done in the thesis that is the main goal of it. Sometimes it happens that the title covers a small portion of your work but your research is actually more than that or vive verse. In both cases your title totally fails to define your work.

What you have included in your title exactly the same amount of work will be there in your thesis because the evaluator wants exactly that.

See this example, “Cytological and microarray based aberrations analysis in eunuchs of Asia.”

This is one title of a science thesis, A reader, evaluator or the examination preliminary look for the techniques that are cytogenetics and microarray must be used by the PhD student . Next, the research only includes a class of people including in the eunuch’s community and finally, they are geological from Asia only.

All these should be there in your thesis in your abstract, introduction, material methods and results.

Don’t’s

The title should not be too long.

The title should not mislead the readers

Abbreviations should not be included in the titles

The title must not be teasing or abusive

The title must be professional

Briefly, the title must be of two lines (two lines looks good on a thesis) and most importantly can’t mislead readers. Furthermore, you have to understand that it’s a PhD title, not a blog article or youtube video, so it should be strictly professional.

“Studying third gender people using any of the three genetic techniques.”

What do you think? Is it a good title?

No, not at all. Nothing is specified in it, not a study population, not a technique or method or not even objectives, it is just a fancy, non-professional thumbnail.

Take a look at another boring PhD title,

“Studying third gender with genetic techniques.” again not specific and too short. It isn’t saying anything.

Yet another horrible PhD title, “Genetic analysis and evaluation of the eunuchs of Asian countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh by using the techniques like cytogenetics based on cell culture and microarray based on hybridization.”

The core values of your thesis, principle and detailness should be reflected in your title but comprehensively, terms like genetic, name of the countries, cell culture and hybridization are not needed here.

Though there is no thumb rule to tailor a title, you should follow the “do’s” what i had mentioned in the above section.

I want to mention one more thing that is, spelling mistakes & grammar errors are avoided, and the punctuation and capitalization should be used correctly.

So broadly we can say that you aren’t so experienced enough to design a title for yourself. Therefore university allotted us a PhD supervisor or guide or advisor whatever you can call.

In some universities, a title clearance committee is also allotted to closely monitor every title before starting the PhD work.

Now let us talk about 10 of the genuine suggestions that may help you to design your PhD or dissertation title.

Related article: Designing a PhD Project from Scrap to Craft .

10 genuine suggestions to design a PhD title:

First start your title with words like analysis, evaluation, studying, validating, quantification, measuring, mapping, etc. These words make your objective more focused and clear. Your reader understands instantly what your thesis is about.
Include your study population in your title. It is a very wise decision to restrict your PhD work to some geological area and hence you should have to restrict it by region, state or country and you can mention it in your thesis title.

Again, it makes the evaluator ready to understand that the result of this study is restricted to only a particular region.

It’s a wise decision because in case if required, you can argue with the examiner that the study is restricted to a particular region due to so and so reasons (whatever it may).

The third thing is to mention your ‘subject’. A subject may be a person, a group of people, a region, a geological indication, an entire population, an organism or anything on which you are performing your research.

Next, include the methodology or theory you will use during your PhD. The important point during designing the title is the methodology you are using. Indicate a method, instrument, theory or hypothesis.

Methods to methods and instruments to instruments the results vary. For instance, in the genetic testing chromosomal analysis and DNA testing, both are included. So it doesn’t make a sense to use a broader term “genetic testing”.

specify things! either you want to use DNA testing or chromosomal testing.

Exclude broad subject, landmark or region or study subject, otherwise, it may create problems for you during the evaluation process.

Use capitalization when and if needed. Now this is an in general rule. You should have to use capitalization when required.

Do not use short forms or abbreviations in the title, however, you can use global short forms like the DNA, RNA or IBM.

Don’t copy the elements of the title from others.

Plagiarism, knowingly or unknowingly is a common mistake during PhD, and during the initial period of PhD it is acceptable because you don’t know how to use other resources correctly.

But the biggest problem arises when you copy someone else’s title, partially or fully, isn’t acceptable. Take a look at the example below,

“Evaluation of COMT gene expression by RT-PCR from the iceberg population.”

“Evaluation of COMT gene expression by RT-PCR from the population of california.”

Though the intention of both the researchers is similar, the study is different! But the title is partially copied and that is not acceptable.

Although you are designing your study in accordance with some other research, you should have to construct a title differently like this,

“Real-time quantification of the COMT gene in mentally retarded patients from California”. Now, this sounds good. You can acknowledge the original researcher but don’t copy the title.

Why I am explaining every point so precisely is to make you understand the importance of how a PhD title can ruin your PhD.

Let me tell you my personal story. A single word mistake in my title wasted the entire year.

“Cytological and microarray based aberrations analysis in eunuchs of Asia.” This is my PhD thesis title. By mistake the word “aberrations” was removed from my final synopsis and the faulty title was submitted to university.

During the final thesis submission, the title on my thesis and the title which the university had, didn’t match. And I got involved in big trouble!

I had written an apology cum appealing letter to the university, a committee of title reviewers re-reviewed my title and had given me their decision after 8 month.

I had worked two more months to write my thesis again, and then I had submitted my thesis next year.

However, after a few months the university apologized that it was not my fault but, i had paid a huge amount for that one mistake. A whole year! And so much tension.

Got my point!

Your PhD title matter’s a lot. In fact, some suvervisor literally register their PhD student’s title for not to use partially or fully.

Now let us check out some of the coolest PhD titles. Note that these titles are used here only for information purposes not intended for research evaluation.

“The depository system in India: An In depth study”

“Effect of Economic Factors on Primary Education: A Study from the USA.”

“Pollination Biology, Ultrastructure, Cytochemistry and Biochemistry during pollen-pistil Interaction of some poaceous plants.”

“A detailed study of Emerging Trends in Customer Relationship Management.”

“Ecology and Microbiology of Drinking Water sources in northern India.”

“Metagenomic studies of Pond water from the state of New Jersy.”

You can try out several titles by yourself and suggest your guide. Try this,

Study/evaluation/quantification/measuring/mapping of _____________by _____________ from the ___________________.

Fill our subject, method or technique and the territory you wish to study in the blanks, respectively.

Mapping of soybean plant species through Random Amplification of polymorphic DNA from New zealand .

Or you can try this

A comparative studies of ___________________________ from the ____________ region.

For example, A comparative study of the social behaviors of tribe culture from the Amazon jungle .

The impact of _____________ and ____________________ on _______ economy/ history/education/politics etc.

For example, The impact of dollar and gold price on Nepal economy.

Conclusion:

I hope that you have learned to design the PhD title and its importance for your research. This is just an effort from my side.

PhD itself is the entire subject to learn because after all in the end you are becoming a doctor/ expert on your topic. So everything will be taken into account while giving a PhD degree.

Nonetheless, along with your title, you should have to work on your thesis, research paper, lab work and viva preparation as soon as possible, in order to get a PhD degree early.

Trust me, once you will be trapped in the clouds of problems, you get frustrated and leave PhD midway.

So don’t do that!

Dr. Tushar Chauhan is a Scientist, Blogger and Scientific-writer. He has completed PhD in Genetics. Dr. Chauhan is a PhD coach and tutor.

About The Author

Dr Tushar Chauhan

How to Avoid Plagiarism in Your PhD Thesis?

PhD Application Process and How to Write a PhD Application

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Dissertation Structure & Layout 101: How to structure your dissertation, thesis or research project.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Reviewed By: David Phair (PhD) | July 2019

So, you’ve got a decent understanding of what a dissertation is , you’ve chosen your topic and hopefully you’ve received approval for your research proposal . Awesome! Now its time to start the actual dissertation or thesis writing journey.

To craft a high-quality document, the very first thing you need to understand is dissertation structure . In this post, we’ll walk you through the generic dissertation structure and layout, step by step. We’ll start with the big picture, and then zoom into each chapter to briefly discuss the core contents. If you’re just starting out on your research journey, you should start with this post, which covers the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis .

Dissertation structure and layout - the basics

The Caveat

In this post, we’ll be discussing a traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout, which is generally used for social science research across universities, whether in the US, UK, Europe or Australia. However, some universities may have small variations on this structure (extra chapters, merged chapters, slightly different ordering, etc).

So, always check with your university if they have a prescribed structure or layout that they expect you to work with. If not, it’s safe to assume the structure we’ll discuss here is suitable. And even if they do have a prescribed structure, you’ll still get value from this post as we’ll explain the core contents of each section.

Overview: S tructuring a dissertation or thesis

Acknowledgements page
Abstract (or executive summary)
Table of contents , list of figures and tables
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Literature review
Chapter 3: Methodology
Chapter 4: Results
Chapter 5: Discussion
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Reference list

As I mentioned, some universities will have slight variations on this structure. For example, they want an additional “personal reflection chapter”, or they might prefer the results and discussion chapter to be merged into one. Regardless, the overarching flow will always be the same, as this flow reflects the research process , which we discussed here – i.e.:

The introduction chapter presents the core research question and aims .
The literature review chapter assesses what the current research says about this question.
The methodology, results and discussion chapters go about undertaking new research about this question.
The conclusion chapter (attempts to) answer the core research question .

In other words, the dissertation structure and layout reflect the research process of asking a well-defined question(s), investigating, and then answering the question – see below.

A dissertation's structure reflect the research process

To restate that – the structure and layout of a dissertation reflect the flow of the overall research process . This is essential to understand, as each chapter will make a lot more sense if you “get” this concept. If you’re not familiar with the research process, read this post before going further.

Right. Now that we’ve covered the big picture, let’s dive a little deeper into the details of each section and chapter. Oh and by the way, you can also grab our free dissertation/thesis template here to help speed things up.

The title page of your dissertation is the very first impression the marker will get of your work, so it pays to invest some time thinking about your title. But what makes for a good title? A strong title needs to be 3 things:

Succinct (not overly lengthy or verbose)
Specific (not vague or ambiguous)
Representative of the research you’re undertaking (clearly linked to your research questions)

Typically, a good title includes mention of the following:

The broader area of the research (i.e. the overarching topic)
The specific focus of your research (i.e. your specific context)
Indication of research design (e.g. quantitative , qualitative , or mixed methods ).

For example:

A quantitative investigation [research design] into the antecedents of organisational trust [broader area] in the UK retail forex trading market [specific context/area of focus].

Again, some universities may have specific requirements regarding the format and structure of the title, so it’s worth double-checking expectations with your institution (if there’s no mention in the brief or study material).

Acknowledgements

This page provides you with an opportunity to say thank you to those who helped you along your research journey. Generally, it’s optional (and won’t count towards your marks), but it is academic best practice to include this.

So, who do you say thanks to? Well, there’s no prescribed requirements, but it’s common to mention the following people:

Your dissertation supervisor or committee.
Any professors, lecturers or academics that helped you understand the topic or methodologies.
Any tutors, mentors or advisors.
Your family and friends, especially spouse (for adult learners studying part-time).

There’s no need for lengthy rambling. Just state who you’re thankful to and for what (e.g. thank you to my supervisor, John Doe, for his endless patience and attentiveness) – be sincere. In terms of length, you should keep this to a page or less.

Abstract or executive summary

The dissertation abstract (or executive summary for some degrees) serves to provide the first-time reader (and marker or moderator) with a big-picture view of your research project. It should give them an understanding of the key insights and findings from the research, without them needing to read the rest of the report – in other words, it should be able to stand alone .

For it to stand alone, your abstract should cover the following key points (at a minimum):

Your research questions and aims – what key question(s) did your research aim to answer?
Your methodology – how did you go about investigating the topic and finding answers to your research question(s)?
Your findings – following your own research, what did do you discover?
Your conclusions – based on your findings, what conclusions did you draw? What answers did you find to your research question(s)?

So, in much the same way the dissertation structure mimics the research process, your abstract or executive summary should reflect the research process, from the initial stage of asking the original question to the final stage of answering that question.

In practical terms, it’s a good idea to write this section up last , once all your core chapters are complete. Otherwise, you’ll end up writing and rewriting this section multiple times (just wasting time). For a step by step guide on how to write a strong executive summary, check out this post .

Need a helping hand?

This section is straightforward. You’ll typically present your table of contents (TOC) first, followed by the two lists – figures and tables. I recommend that you use Microsoft Word’s automatic table of contents generator to generate your TOC. If you’re not familiar with this functionality, the video below explains it simply:

If you find that your table of contents is overly lengthy, consider removing one level of depth. Oftentimes, this can be done without detracting from the usefulness of the TOC.

Right, now that the “admin” sections are out of the way, its time to move on to your core chapters. These chapters are the heart of your dissertation and are where you’ll earn the marks. The first chapter is the introduction chapter – as you would expect, this is the time to introduce your research…

It’s important to understand that even though you’ve provided an overview of your research in your abstract, your introduction needs to be written as if the reader has not read that (remember, the abstract is essentially a standalone document). So, your introduction chapter needs to start from the very beginning, and should address the following questions:

What will you be investigating (in plain-language, big picture-level)?
Why is that worth investigating? How is it important to academia or business? How is it sufficiently original?
What are your research aims and research question(s)? Note that the research questions can sometimes be presented at the end of the literature review (next chapter).
What is the scope of your study? In other words, what will and won’t you cover ?
How will you approach your research? In other words, what methodology will you adopt?
How will you structure your dissertation? What are the core chapters and what will you do in each of them?

These are just the bare basic requirements for your intro chapter. Some universities will want additional bells and whistles in the intro chapter, so be sure to carefully read your brief or consult your research supervisor.

If done right, your introduction chapter will set a clear direction for the rest of your dissertation. Specifically, it will make it clear to the reader (and marker) exactly what you’ll be investigating, why that’s important, and how you’ll be going about the investigation. Conversely, if your introduction chapter leaves a first-time reader wondering what exactly you’ll be researching, you’ve still got some work to do.

Now that you’ve set a clear direction with your introduction chapter, the next step is the literature review . In this section, you will analyse the existing research (typically academic journal articles and high-quality industry publications), with a view to understanding the following questions:

What does the literature currently say about the topic you’re investigating?
Is the literature lacking or well established? Is it divided or in disagreement?
How does your research fit into the bigger picture?
How does your research contribute something original?
How does the methodology of previous studies help you develop your own?

Depending on the nature of your study, you may also present a conceptual framework towards the end of your literature review, which you will then test in your actual research.

Again, some universities will want you to focus on some of these areas more than others, some will have additional or fewer requirements, and so on. Therefore, as always, its important to review your brief and/or discuss with your supervisor, so that you know exactly what’s expected of your literature review chapter.

Now that you’ve investigated the current state of knowledge in your literature review chapter and are familiar with the existing key theories, models and frameworks, its time to design your own research. Enter the methodology chapter – the most “science-ey” of the chapters…

In this chapter, you need to address two critical questions:

Exactly HOW will you carry out your research (i.e. what is your intended research design)?
Exactly WHY have you chosen to do things this way (i.e. how do you justify your design)?

Remember, the dissertation part of your degree is first and foremost about developing and demonstrating research skills . Therefore, the markers want to see that you know which methods to use, can clearly articulate why you’ve chosen then, and know how to deploy them effectively.

Importantly, this chapter requires detail – don’t hold back on the specifics. State exactly what you’ll be doing, with who, when, for how long, etc. Moreover, for every design choice you make, make sure you justify it.

In practice, you will likely end up coming back to this chapter once you’ve undertaken all your data collection and analysis, and revise it based on changes you made during the analysis phase. This is perfectly fine. Its natural for you to add an additional analysis technique, scrap an old one, etc based on where your data lead you. Of course, I’m talking about small changes here – not a fundamental switch from qualitative to quantitative, which will likely send your supervisor in a spin!

You’ve now collected your data and undertaken your analysis, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. In this chapter, you’ll present the raw results of your analysis . For example, in the case of a quant study, you’ll present the demographic data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics , etc.

Typically, Chapter 4 is simply a presentation and description of the data, not a discussion of the meaning of the data. In other words, it’s descriptive, rather than analytical – the meaning is discussed in Chapter 5. However, some universities will want you to combine chapters 4 and 5, so that you both present and interpret the meaning of the data at the same time. Check with your institution what their preference is.

Now that you’ve presented the data analysis results, its time to interpret and analyse them. In other words, its time to discuss what they mean, especially in relation to your research question(s).

What you discuss here will depend largely on your chosen methodology. For example, if you’ve gone the quantitative route, you might discuss the relationships between variables . If you’ve gone the qualitative route, you might discuss key themes and the meanings thereof. It all depends on what your research design choices were.

Most importantly, you need to discuss your results in relation to your research questions and aims, as well as the existing literature. What do the results tell you about your research questions? Are they aligned with the existing research or at odds? If so, why might this be? Dig deep into your findings and explain what the findings suggest, in plain English.

The final chapter – you’ve made it! Now that you’ve discussed your interpretation of the results, its time to bring it back to the beginning with the conclusion chapter . In other words, its time to (attempt to) answer your original research question s (from way back in chapter 1). Clearly state what your conclusions are in terms of your research questions. This might feel a bit repetitive, as you would have touched on this in the previous chapter, but its important to bring the discussion full circle and explicitly state your answer(s) to the research question(s).

Next, you’ll typically discuss the implications of your findings . In other words, you’ve answered your research questions – but what does this mean for the real world (or even for academia)? What should now be done differently, given the new insight you’ve generated?

Lastly, you should discuss the limitations of your research, as well as what this means for future research in the area. No study is perfect, especially not a Masters-level. Discuss the shortcomings of your research. Perhaps your methodology was limited, perhaps your sample size was small or not representative, etc, etc. Don’t be afraid to critique your work – the markers want to see that you can identify the limitations of your work. This is a strength, not a weakness. Be brutal!

This marks the end of your core chapters – woohoo! From here on out, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

The reference list is straightforward. It should contain a list of all resources cited in your dissertation, in the required format, e.g. APA , Harvard, etc.

It’s essential that you use reference management software for your dissertation. Do NOT try handle your referencing manually – its far too error prone. On a reference list of multiple pages, you’re going to make mistake. To this end, I suggest considering either Mendeley or Zotero. Both are free and provide a very straightforward interface to ensure that your referencing is 100% on point. I’ve included a simple how-to video for the Mendeley software (my personal favourite) below:

Some universities may ask you to include a bibliography, as opposed to a reference list. These two things are not the same . A bibliography is similar to a reference list, except that it also includes resources which informed your thinking but were not directly cited in your dissertation. So, double-check your brief and make sure you use the right one.

The very last piece of the puzzle is the appendix or set of appendices. This is where you’ll include any supporting data and evidence. Importantly, supporting is the keyword here.

Your appendices should provide additional “nice to know”, depth-adding information, which is not critical to the core analysis. Appendices should not be used as a way to cut down word count (see this post which covers how to reduce word count ). In other words, don’t place content that is critical to the core analysis here, just to save word count. You will not earn marks on any content in the appendices, so don’t try to play the system!

Time to recap…

And there you have it – the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows:

Acknowledgments page

Most importantly, the core chapters should reflect the research process (asking, investigating and answering your research question). Moreover, the research question(s) should form the golden thread throughout your dissertation structure. Everything should revolve around the research questions, and as you’ve seen, they should form both the start point (i.e. introduction chapter) and the endpoint (i.e. conclusion chapter).

I hope this post has provided you with clarity about the traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below, or feel free to get in touch with us. Also, be sure to check out the rest of the Grad Coach Blog .

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

36 Comments

many thanks i found it very useful

Glad to hear that, Arun. Good luck writing your dissertation.

Such clear practical logical advice. I very much needed to read this to keep me focused in stead of fretting.. Perfect now ready to start my research!

what about scientific fields like computer or engineering thesis what is the difference in the structure? thank you very much

Thanks so much this helped me a lot!

Very helpful and accessible. What I like most is how practical the advice is along with helpful tools/ links.

Thanks Ade!

Thank you so much sir.. It was really helpful..

You’re welcome!

Hi! How many words maximum should contain the abstract?

Thank you so much 😊 Find this at the right moment

You’re most welcome. Good luck with your dissertation.

best ever benefit i got on right time thank you

Many times Clarity and vision of destination of dissertation is what makes the difference between good ,average and great researchers the same way a great automobile driver is fast with clarity of address and Clear weather conditions .

I guess Great researcher = great ideas + knowledge + great and fast data collection and modeling + great writing + high clarity on all these

You have given immense clarity from start to end.

Morning. Where will I write the definitions of what I’m referring to in my report?

Thank you so much Derek, I was almost lost! Thanks a tonnnn! Have a great day!

Thanks ! so concise and valuable

This was very helpful. Clear and concise. I know exactly what to do now.

Thank you for allowing me to go through briefly. I hope to find time to continue.

Really useful to me. Thanks a thousand times

Very interesting! It will definitely set me and many more for success. highly recommended.

Thank you soo much sir, for the opportunity to express my skills

Usefull, thanks a lot. Really clear

Very nice and easy to understand. Thank you .

That was incredibly useful. Thanks Grad Coach Crew!

My stress level just dropped at least 15 points after watching this. Just starting my thesis for my grad program and I feel a lot more capable now! Thanks for such a clear and helpful video, Emma and the GradCoach team!

Do we need to mention the number of words the dissertation contains in the main document?

It depends on your university’s requirements, so it would be best to check with them 🙂

Such a helpful post to help me get started with structuring my masters dissertation, thank you!

Great video; I appreciate that helpful information

It is so necessary or avital course

This blog is very informative for my research. Thank you

Doctoral students are required to fill out the National Research Council’s Survey of Earned Doctorates

wow this is an amazing gain in my life

This is so good

How can i arrange my specific objectives in my dissertation?

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Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates

Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates

Published on June 7, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on November 21, 2023.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical early steps in your writing process . It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding the specifics of your dissertation topic and showcasing its relevance to your field.

Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation , such as:

Your anticipated title
Your abstract
Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review, research methods, avenues for future research, etc.)

In the final product, you can also provide a chapter outline for your readers. This is a short paragraph at the end of your introduction to inform readers about the organizational structure of your thesis or dissertation. This chapter outline is also known as a reading guide or summary outline.

How to outline your thesis or dissertation, dissertation and thesis outline templates, chapter outline example, sample sentences for your chapter outline, sample verbs for variation in your chapter outline, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis and dissertation outlines.

While there are some inter-institutional differences, many outlines proceed in a fairly similar fashion.

Working Title
“Elevator pitch” of your work (often written last).
Introduce your area of study, sharing details about your research question, problem statement , and hypotheses . Situate your research within an existing paradigm or conceptual or theoretical framework .
Subdivide as you see fit into main topics and sub-topics.
Describe your research methods (e.g., your scope , population , and data collection ).
Present your research findings and share about your data analysis methods.
Answer the research question in a concise way.
Interpret your findings, discuss potential limitations of your own research and speculate about future implications or related opportunities.

For a more detailed overview of chapters and other elements, be sure to check out our article on the structure of a dissertation or download our template .

To help you get started, we’ve created a full thesis or dissertation template in Word or Google Docs format. It’s easy adapt it to your own requirements.

Download Word template Download Google Docs template

Chapter outline example American English

It can be easy to fall into a pattern of overusing the same words or sentence constructions, which can make your work monotonous and repetitive for your readers. Consider utilizing some of the alternative constructions presented below.

Example 1: Passive construction

The passive voice is a common choice for outlines and overviews because the context makes it clear who is carrying out the action (e.g., you are conducting the research ). However, overuse of the passive voice can make your text vague and imprecise.

Example 2: IS-AV construction

You can also present your information using the “IS-AV” (inanimate subject with an active verb ) construction.

A chapter is an inanimate object, so it is not capable of taking an action itself (e.g., presenting or discussing). However, the meaning of the sentence is still easily understandable, so the IS-AV construction can be a good way to add variety to your text.

Example 3: The “I” construction

Another option is to use the “I” construction, which is often recommended by style manuals (e.g., APA Style and Chicago style ). However, depending on your field of study, this construction is not always considered professional or academic. Ask your supervisor if you’re not sure.

Example 4: Mix-and-match

To truly make the most of these options, consider mixing and matching the passive voice , IS-AV construction , and “I” construction .This can help the flow of your argument and improve the readability of your text.

As you draft the chapter outline, you may also find yourself frequently repeating the same words, such as “discuss,” “present,” “prove,” or “show.” Consider branching out to add richness and nuance to your writing. Here are some examples of synonyms you can use.

Address	Describe	Imply	Refute
Argue	Determine	Indicate	Report
Claim	Emphasize	Mention	Reveal
Clarify	Examine	Point out	Speculate
Compare	Explain	Posit	Summarize
Concern	Formulate	Present	Target
Counter	Focus on	Propose	Treat
Define	Give	Provide insight into	Underpin
Demonstrate	Highlight	Recommend	Use

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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When you mention different chapters within your text, it’s considered best to use Roman numerals for most citation styles. However, the most important thing here is to remain consistent whenever using numbers in your dissertation .

The title page of your thesis or dissertation goes first, before all other content or lists that you may choose to include.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.

Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review , research methods , avenues for future research, etc.)

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Theses and dissertations are already intensive, long-term projects that require a lot of effort and time from their authors. Formatting for submission to the university is often the last thing that graduate students do, and may delay earning the relevant degree if done incorrectly.

Below are some strategies graduate students can use to deal with institutional formatting requirements to earn their degrees on time.

Disciplinary conventions are still paramount.

Scholars in your own discipline are the most common readers of your dissertation; your committee, too, will expect your work to match with their expectations as members of your field. The style guide your field uses most commonly is always the one you should follow, and if your field uses conventions such as including all figures and illustrations at the end of the document, you should do so. After these considerations are met, move on to university formatting. Almost always, university formatting only deals with things like margins, font, numbering of chapters and sections, and illustrations; disciplinary style conventions in content such as APA's directive to use only last names of authors in-text are not interfered with by university formatting at all.

Use your university's formatting guidelines and templates to your advantage.

If your institution has a template for formatting your thesis or dissertation that you can use, do so. Don't look at another student's document and try to replicate it yourself. These templates typically have the necessary section breaks and styles already in the document, and you can copy in your work from your existing draft using the style pane in MS Word to ensure you're using the correct formatting (similarly with software such as Overleaf when writing in LaTeX, templates do a lot of the work for you). It's also often easier for workers in the offices that deal with theses and dissertations to help you with your work if you're using their template — they are familiar with these templates and can often navigate them more proficiently.

These templates also include placeholders for all front matter you will need to include in your thesis or dissertation, and may include guidelines for how to write these. Front matter includes your table of contents, acknowledgements, abstract, abbreviation list, figure list, committee page, and (sometimes) academic history or CV; everything before your introduction is front matter. Since front matter pages such as the author's academic history and dissertation committee are usually for the graduate school and not for your department, your advisor might not remember to have you include them. Knowing about them well before your deposit date means you won't be scrambling to fill in placeholders at the last minute or getting your work returned for revision from the graduate school.

Consider institutional formatting early and often.

Many graduate students leave this aspect of submitting their projects until it's almost too late to work on it, causing delays in obtaining their degree. Simply being aware that this is a task you'll have to complete and making sure you know where templates are, who you can ask for help in your graduate office or your department, and what your institution's guidelines are can help alleviate this issue. Once you know what you'll be expected to do to convert to university formatting, you can set regular check-in times for yourself to do this work in pieces rather than all at once (for instance, when you've completed a chapter and had it approved by your chair).

Consider fair use for images and other third-party content.

Most theses and dissertations are published through ProQuest or another publisher (Harvard, for instance, uses their own open publishing service). For this reason, it may be the case that your institution requires all images or other content obtained from other sources to fall under fair use rules or, if an image is not considered under fair use, you'll have to obtain permission to print it in your dissertation. Your institution should have more guidance on their specific expectations for fair use content; knowing what these guidelines are well in advance of your deposit date means you won't have to make last-minute changes or removals to deposit your work.

Princeton University Library

Phd dissertation and master's thesis submission guidelines.

The Princeton University Archives at the Mudd Manuscript Library is the repository for Ph.D. dissertations and Master’s theses. The Princeton University Archives partners with ProQuest to publish and distribute Princeton University dissertations beyond the campus community.

Below you will find instructions on the submission process and the formatting requirements for your Ph.D. dissertation or Master's thesis. If you have questions about this process, please use our Ask Us form or visit the Mudd Manuscript Library during our open hours.

Ph.D Dissertation Submission Process

The first step is for the student to prepare their dissertation according to the Dissertation Formatting Requirements . Near the time of the final public oral examination (FPO) (shortly before or immediately after) the student must complete the online submission of their dissertation via the ProQuest UMI ETD Administrator website . Students are required to upload a PDF of their dissertation, choose publishing options, enter subject categories and keywords, and make payment to ProQuest (if fees apply). This step will take roughly 20-25 minutes.

After the FPO the student should log on to TigerHub and complete the checkout process. When this step is complete, Mudd Library will be notified for processing. This step will occur M-F during business hours. The Mudd Library staff member will review, apply the embargo (when applicable), and approve the dissertation submission in ProQuest. You will receive an email notification of the approval from ProQuest when it has been approved or needs revisions.

The vast majority of students will not be required to submit a bound copy of their dissertation to the library. Only students who have removed content from the PDF to avoid copyright infringement are required to submit a bound copy to the library. This unredacted, bound version of the dissertation must be formatted according to the Dissertation Formatting Requirements , and delivered by hand, mail, or delivery service to the Mudd Manuscript Library by the degree date deadline in order to be placed on the degree list. Address the bound copy to: Attn: Dissertations, Mudd Manuscript Library, 65 Olden Street, Princeton, NJ 08540.

ProQuest Publishing Options

When you submit your dissertation to the ProQuest ETD Administrator site, you will be given two options: Traditional Publishing or Open Access Publishing Plus. ProQuest compares the two options in their Open Access Overview document . Full details will be presented in the ProQuest ETD Administrator site.

Traditional Publishing

No fee is paid to ProQuest; your dissertation will be available in full text to subscribing institutions only through the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global ; If you have an embargo, your dissertation will be unavailable for viewing or purchase through the subscription database during the embargo period.

Open Access Publishing Plus

$95 fee to ProQuest; your dissertation will be available in full text through the Internet to anyone via the ProQuest Database ; if you have an embargo, your dissertation will be unavailable for viewing through the open access database during the embargo period.

Optional Service: Copyright Registration

$75 fee to ProQuest; ProQuest offers the optional service of registering your copyright on your behalf. The dissertation author owns the copyright to their dissertation regardless of copyright registration. Registering your copyright makes a public record of your copyright claim and may entitle you to additional compensation should your copyright be infringed upon. For a full discussion of your dissertation and copyright, see ProQuest’s Copyright and Your Dissertation .

If you have questions regarding the ProQuest publishing options, contact their Author and School Relations team at 1-800-521-0600 ext. 77020 or via email at [email protected] .

Princeton’s Institutional Repository, DataSpace

Each Princeton University dissertation is deposited in Princeton’s Institutional Repository, DataSpace . Dissertations will be freely available on the Internet except during an embargo period. If your dissertation is embargoed, the PDF will be completely restricted during the embargo period. The bound copy, however, will be available for viewing in the Mudd Manuscript Library reading room during the embargo.

According to the Graduate School’s embargo policy , students can request up to a two-year embargo on their dissertation, with the potential for renewal by petition. If approved, the embargo would apply to the dissertation in ProQuest, as well as in Princeton’s digital repository, DataSpace . Students in the sciences and engineering seeking patents or pursuing journal articles may be approved for a shorter embargo period. Students must apply for the embargo during the Advanced Degree Application process . More information can be found on the Graduate School's Ph.D. Publication, Access and Embargoing webpage .

Those who have been approved for the embargo can choose "Traditional Publishing" or "Open Access Plus" publishing when they complete their online submission to ProQuest. Mudd Manuscript Library staff will apply the embargo in the ProQuest ETD system at the time of submission of materials to the Library. In the case of Open Access Plus, the dissertation would become freely available on the ProQuest open access site when the embargo expires. The embargo in ProQuest will also apply to the embargo in Princeton’s digital repository, DataSpace

Those who wish to request a renewal of an existing embargo must email Assistant Dean Geoffrey Hill and provide the reason for the extension. An embargo renewal must be requested in writing at least one month before the original embargo has expired, but may not be requested more than three months prior to the embargo expiration date. Embargoes cannot be reinstituted after having expired. Embargoes are set to expire two years from the date on which the Ph.D. was awarded (degrees are awarded five times per year at Board of Trustee meetings); this date will coincide with the degree date (month and year) on the title page of your dissertation. Please note: You, the student, are responsible for keeping track of the embargo period--notifications will not be sent.

To find the exact date of an embargo expiration, individuals can find their dissertation in DataSpace , and view the box at the bottom of the record, which will indicate the embargo expiration date.
The Graduate School will inform the Mudd Library of all renewals and Mudd Library staff will institute the extensions in ProQuest and DataSpace .
Princeton University Archives' Dissertation Formatting Requirements (PDF download) document provides detailed information on how to prepare the dissertation PDF and bound volume (if you are required to submit a bound volume). Please take special note of how to format the title page (a title page example is downloadable from the upper-right-hand side of this webpage). The title page must list your adviser’s name.
ProQuest's Preparing Your Manuscript guide offers additional information on formatting the PDF. Where there are discrepancies with the Princeton University Archives Dissertation Formatting Requirements document, the Princeton University Archives requirements should be followed. Special consideration should be paid to embedding fonts in the PDF.
ProQuest ETD Administrator Resources and Guidelines web page offers several guides to assist you in preparing your PDF, choosing publishing options, learning about copyright considerations, and more.
ProQuest's Support and Training Department can assist with issues related to creating and uploading PDFs and any questions regarding technical issues with the online submission site.

Whether a student pays fees to ProQuest in the ETD Administrator Site depends on the publishing option they choose, and if they opt to register their copyright (if a student selects Traditional Publishing, and does not register their copyright, no charges are incurred). Fees are to be submitted via the UMI ETD Administrator Site. Publishing and copyright registration fees are payable by Visa, MasterCard, or American Express and a small service tax may be added to the total. The options listed below will be fully explained in the ETD Administrator site.

Traditional without copyright registration: $0 to ProQuest (online)
Traditional with copyright registration: $75 to ProQuest (online)
Open Access without copyright registration: $95 to ProQuest (online)
Open Access ($95) with copyright registration ($55): $150 to ProQuest (online)

Degrees are granted five times per year at Board of Trustee meetings. Deadlines for materials to be submitted to the Mudd Manuscript Library are set by the Office of the Graduate School . The title page of your dissertation must state the month and year of the board meeting at which you will be granted your degree, for example “April 2023.”

Academic Year 2024-2025

Friday, August 30, 2024, degree date "September 2024"
Thursday, October 31, 2024, degree date "November 2024"
Tuesday, December 31, 2024, degree date "January 2025"
Friday, February 28, 2025, degree date "March 2025"
Thursday, May 8, 2025, degree date "May 2025"

Please note: If a student is granted an extension for submission of their materials after a deadline has passed, the Mudd Manuscript Library must have written confirmation of the extension from the Office of the Graduate School in the form of an email to [email protected] .

One non-circulating , bound copy of each dissertation produced until and including the January 2022 degree list is held in the collection of the University Archives. For dissertations submitted prior to September 2011, a circulating , bound copy of each dissertation may also be available. Information about these dissertations can be found in Princeton University Library's catalog .

Electronic Copy (PDF) in ProQuest

ProQuest Dissertation Publishing distributes Princeton University dissertations. Members of the Princeton University community can access most dissertations through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses subscription database, which is made available through the Princeton University Library. For students that choose "Open Access Plus publishing," their dissertations are available freely on the internet via ProQuest Dissertations and Theses . Dissertations are available for purchase through ProQuest Dissertation Express . Once the dissertation has been accepted by the Mudd Library it will be released to ProQuest following the Board of Trustee meeting on which your degree is conferred. Bound copies ordered from ProQuest will be printed following release. Please note, dissertations under embargo are not available in full text through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses subscription database or for sale via ProQuest Dissertation Express during the embargo period.

Electronic Copy (PDF) in Princeton's Institutional Repository, DataSpace

Beginning in the fall of 2011, dissertations will be available through the internet in full-text via Princeton's digital repository, DataSpace . (Embargoed dissertations become available to the world once the embargo expires.)

Interlibrary Loan

Dissertations that have bound copies and are not under embargo are available through Interlibrary Loan (ILL) to libraries in the United States and Canada, either through hard copy or PDF. If PDFs are available, they can be sent internationally.

Master's Thesis Submission Process

Students who are enrolled in a thesis-based Master’s degree program must upload a PDF of their thesis to Princeton's ETD Administrator site (ProQuest) just prior to completing the final paperwork for the Graduate School. These programs currently include:

The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (M.S.E.)
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (M.S.E.)
The Department of Computer Science (M.S.E.)
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (M.S.E.)
The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (M.S.E.)
The Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering (M.S.E.)
The Department of Near Eastern Studies (M.A.)

The PDF should be formatted according to our Dissertation Formatting Requirements (PDF download). The Mudd Library will review and approve the submission upon notification from the Graduate School that your final paperwork is ready for this step. Bound copies are no longer required or accepted for Master's theses.

Students who are not in a thesis-based Master's degree program do not need to make a submission to the library upon graduation. If you have questions, please complete the form on the Ask Special Collections page.

Dissertation Formatting Requirements

Center for Digital Scholarship

Sample Title Pages

The font on your title page should be the same as the font used in the rest of your dissertation. Settings should be the same also: double line spacing, 0 pt spacing before and after paragraphs, one inch margins on all sides, and 12-point font size. Text on the title page should use upper case and should not be bold. The title page counts as page "i" but the number should not be entered on the page.

Use your diploma name on the title page.

The last line on the title page should be the month and year of the end of the quarter you receive your degree and graduate, with no date and no comma. If you will receive your degree this summer, your degree date is AUGUST 2024. Your options for this academic year are:

AUGUST 2024
DECEMBER 2024

A Few Examples

Division of the Biological Sciences and the Pritzker School of Medicine
Division of the Humanities
Division of the Physical Sciences
Division of the Social Sciences
The Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice
The Divinity School
The Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies
The Law School
The Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

This is a work in progress. Additional examples are available on request.

Schools & departments

How to submit the final version of your PhD thesis

At the end of the examination process all successful PhD and MPhil candidates are required to submit the final version of their thesis to the appropriate College Postgraduate Office.

COVID-19 Update

The requirement for one hard copy thesis to be submitted has been waived during the current circumstances which require remote working for most staff/students. Submission of PhD theses will be electronic only. A signed declaration is not required in the final version when the submission is deposited in Pure. This concession from the regulations about physical thesis submission will continue for the foreseeable future, and will be reviewed by Academic Services once the pandemic is over.

Before you submit your thesis

The University has an expectation that a PhD thesis is a document available for public consultation. As such, unless a legitimate reason for restricting access to the thesis exists, all PhD theses will be made publicly available on the internet via the Edinburgh Research Archive (ERA).

It is highly recommended that you discuss with your primary supervisor the implications of publishing your thesis online in ERA . If your thesis contains confidential or sensitive data it may not be appropriate to make the full text freely available online. Similarly if there is the intention to publish the whole, or extracts from, your thesis you may want to restrict access to the electronic version.

Submitting the PDF version

Go to Pure and log in with your EASE account
Click on the green ‘Add new’ button on the top right and select ‘Doctoral Thesis’, or alternatively click on ‘Student theses’ on the left-hand-side navigation bar followed by ‘Doctoral Thesis’
The record should be auto-populated with most of your thesis award information. Please check for completeness, and add in the title of your thesis in the appropriate box.
Upload your electronic thesis files by clicking on the ‘Add document’ button. If you require an embargo for the PDF add the date and reason in the appropriate boxes. The initial embargo length is one year from date of graduation. The date will be checked by Library staff and changed if a different value is added without permission.
Please remove any signatures, personal postal and email addresses from the PDF version.
Upload your Access to Thesis form alongside your thesis files.
Supplementary data can be added alongside the thesis text. Change the ‘Type’ to ‘Supplementary materials’ and upload the files as described above. The record Visibility needs to be set to ' Backend - Restricted to Pure users '
To finish, set the status to ' Entry in progress ', click the blue ‘Save’ button at the bottom of the screen and the submission is ready for validation by college office staff.

Submitting the final hardbound version is not required

Submission of PhD theses is now electronic only - see the steps above.

Data preservation and sharing

If your thesis has supplementary data (for example images, videos, source code or analytical data) we would like to store a copy of this data alongside the thesis text. We do this to try and preserve the fullest record of the work as possible. Datasets should be supported by good accompanying documentation which is appropriate to your subject discipline. The UK Data Service offers some specialist advice in this area. We do not routinely allow public access to this data; however, if you wish to share your data with others we recommend the Edinburgh DataShare service.

Edinburgh Datashare

If you have a lot of supplementary files - for example lots of images, data in multiple spreadsheets or video formats - we don't recommend depositing them in PURE. Instead, contact the Scholarly Communications Team and we can advise the best way to send them to us.

Redacting material from your thesis

If you wish to make your thesis available to the public to consult, but there are problematic elements that cannot be openly shared then it is possible to submit a redacted version. We typically recommend partial thesis redactions are suitable for the following scenarios:

Third-party copyright

Where third party copyright has not been obtained, students may submit an edited thesis, as an alternative to requesting an embargo.

Sensitive material

If the thesis contains confidential or sensitive information, e.g. transcripts of interviews, which cannot be shared or anonymised.

Photographs

If your thesis contains photographs of people and you do not have their permission to publish their image online.

It is possible to design your thesis in a way which means the problematic material is easy to remove. For example, if you are planning to use a large number of photographs, you could layout your thesis with the photographs in a separate appendix which can be easily removed.

Students who have chosen to submit a redacted version of their thesis would also need to submit a full unedited copy which will be securely kept stored by the Library. This is important to preserve the integrity of the academic record of the University. Both versions of the files should be uploaded to the Thesis Module in Pure with the files clearly named to differentiate between the two. We recommend the following file naming convention:

<Last name><First initial>_<Year>_COMPLETE

<Last name><First initial>_<Year>_REDACTED

e.g. SmithJ_2023_COMPLETE.pdf

Reasons for requesting an embargo period

If the redaction option is not possible then students are permitted to embargo their thesis under certain conditions described below:

Planned publication

Normally a longer embargo period may be granted when there are firm publication plans in place, e.g. where a manuscript has been submitted to a publisher and is in a formal stage of publication (submitted, accepted, in press). Vague plans for publication are not normally accepted.

Commercial confidentiality

There may be contractual restrictions imposed by a sponsor, which could include industrial sponsors or governmental agencies.

Patent application

Patent applications can be rejected by the premature publication of research. Where the research might lead to a commercial application or patent then we recommend that the Intellectual Property needs to be protected.

Contains personal data

Where a thesis contains personally identifiable or ethically sensitive data or where material obtained in the thesis was obtained under a guarantee of confidentiality we would consider placing an embargo. These issues should have been addressed at an early stage of the research project.

Where third party copyright has not been obtained, students may submit an edited thesis, as an alternative to requesting an embargo. They would also need to submit an unedited hard copy which will be secured kept.

Publication could endanger health and safety or prejudice national security

The thesis contains sensitive material (political or otherwise) which could put at risk the authors or participants if made openly available. These issues should have been addressed at an early stage of the research project.

How to request a Thesis Restriction

How to request a 12 month embargo.

You can restrict access to the electronic version of your thesis for one year without any special permissions. If an embargo is required, this must be indicated on the Access to Thesis form, otherwise, the thesis may be made publicly available. This form should be deposited in Pure alongside the full text of the thesis.

At the end of the embargo period, the University is under no obligation to contact you about extending the period of restriction. If towards the end of your embargo period you have any concerns that the forthcoming public availability of your thesis would be problematic please contact the Library ( [email protected] ) and the Scholarly Communications Team will be able to help.

Embargo requests longer than 12 months

Requests for embargoes that exceed 12 months starting from the date the work is added to the Library’s collection require Head of School approval and must be accompanied by a clear rationale as to why a longer period is required. Complete Section 2 of the Access to a Thesis form to request an extended embargo. Extended embargoes beyond five years will not normally be approved unless there are very exceptional reasons. Normally any relevant evidence to support a request for an extended embargo should be attached to the request, e.g. publishing contract or correspondence from industrial sponsors.

Click here to download the ACCESS TO THESIS & PUBLICATION OF ABSTRACT FORM , or visit the general Doctoral Thesis Submission webpages for more information.

Further help and information

Scholarly Communications Team

Contact details.

Email: [email protected]

Information Services Floor F East, Argyle House 3 Lady Lawson Street

Availability

You can book a one-to one video consultation with an expert from our team. If you want to find out more about open access (journals, funding, policies etc ), Copyright & Intellectual Property, General publishing activities (request an ISBN or DOI), or research metrics (using Web Of Science or Scopus) please contact our team via email to book a session at a time that suits you.

COMMENTS

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