ku thesis guidelines

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Theses and Dissertations

As you embark upon this important element of your academic career, you should be aware of what a dissertation or thesis looks like. After all, how can you write a dissertation chapter if you've never read one before? Advisers often focus on the content of your dissertation or thesis since this is the culmination of a stage of your academic career and as such should showcase your writing, research, and critical thinking skills-but the form of a dissertation or thesis is also important, and commensurately more difficult to teach.

For every discipline there are differing expectations as to what a dissertation or thesis should include, as well as how it should be formatted. Even though as a writer you have control over how to explain your ideas and how to organize them within the text, scholars in your field have agreed upon how a dissertation/thesis should be organized: what types of chapters you should include, the minimum number of chapters a dissertation or thesis should have, and how those are formatted. This is where seeing and reading what other writers within your discipline and department have done will be helpful. You should do this sooner rather than later.

Getting Started: 

• Start by asking your adviser if they have any suggestions of dissertations or theses you should look at. They may point you to things like the writings of an ex-advisee or a certain literature review article in a journal.
• After speaking to your adviser, you can seek out either a reference librarian or a subject librarian to find other dissertations or theses in your subject area. Find out more about how to access completed dissertations and theses at Dissertations and Theses at KU . 
• Reading not just for content but also for form will help you understand better how to put together your dissertation or thesis. Learn about thesis and dissertation formatting via  KU Libraries: Thesis and Dissertation Formatting . 
• Think about how the project as a whole is organized as well as how the individual chapters are organized: how do they separate their literature review from their discussion of their results, for example? Do they utilize headings and subheadings or bulleted lists at any point?
• Moreover, take notes about elements of the project that stand out to you: use of tables, inclusion of photographs, striking introductions, chapter titles.
• Based on what you know so far, brainstorm ideas for what to include in your project and how those ideas can be organized. See Prewriting Strategies.  

Finding and Synthesizing Sources: 

Produce a research question that you hope your research will answer. If you are at the beginning stage of this process, you may have a general or vague question or set of questions. Eventually you want to create a set of questions that focus on a specific problem within your area of interest and join an existing academic conversation. 

Begin researching. The KU Libraries has many guides and tutorials for how to use the library resources. You can also set up a meeting with a librarian . 

Compile a list of sources that seem to approach your subject of interest. In the beginning you may want to compile at least a list of 10 sources and to organize them in a matrix or an annotated bibliography where you note the subject matter of the source, its novel argument, its theoretical relationship to the subject and field, and what may be lacking within the analysis. At a later stage, you may want to synthesize what is different between each source and similar to all the sources you compile and decide on the specific problem you want your research to cover based on the existing viewpoints and conversations on the topic. Find more information on Annotated Bibliographies in our Bibliographies guide. 

Find data and a data source that is appropriate and compatible with your research problem and question. If you are collecting your own data, make sure that you complete the appropriate protocols to ensure that your project will be completed within the intended timeframe.  

Keep track of your sources through citation management tools like EndNote and Zotero. See How to Select and Use Citation Management Tools . 

Additional steps will depend on the kind of project you are completing. At this point it may be a good idea to meet with the Graduate Writing Coach for more guidance on additional steps.

Literature Reviews: 

The point of the literature review section of your thesis or dissertation is to demonstrate an understanding of the ongoing conversations, disagreements, and conceptualizations of your topic of interest. As a form of writing that tends to be highly technical, it will probably undergo several changes before you are able to reach a draft that closely resembles your final product. Your literature review should directly correspond to your research questions, research purpose, and may be used to justify the methodology of the study. Learn more through our Literature Reviews guide. 

Getting Feedback: 

Stuck in your writing process? You may benefit from a consultation with our graduate writing director. To schedule a meeting and for more information see the following: Graduate Writing Coaching | KU Writing Center  

Faculty Feedback: Throughout your thesis and dissertation process you will have to keep consistent communication with your advisor/chair and committee members. It is important to view all faculty feedback throughout this process as a conversation that will allow your research to both improve and reach the required conventions of research in your field. If you find yourself stuck with contradictory comments or unclear questions, you may want to reach out to your advisor for additional help. If you have questions throughout this process, you may also want to consider making a coaching appointment with the graduate writing director at the link above.   

Time Management: 

It is important that you learn and intentionally prioritize your thesis and dissertation research and writing.  

Set aside a direct weekly block to complete your thesis/dissertation hours.  

Use SMARTER goals to help you keep track of your progress and to split the larger semester goal into weekly goals that can be measured, are concrete, and remain specific.  

Time-block your calendar so that you can set aside concrete time to finish your weekly writing goal and to block off time to complete your other responsibilities.  

Find an accountability buddy within your department, have consistent check-in sessions with your advisor or committee member, and/or join a KU writing group to help you stay on track.  

References: 

Foss, Sonja K., and Waters, William Joseph Condon. Destination Dissertation: a Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007. 

(Updated July 2022)  

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Office of Graduate Studies Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Guidelines

These rules are taken from the KU Office of Graduate Studies Thesis or Dissertation Formatting Guidelines. To see the full thesis or dissertation formatting requirements, visit https://graduate.ku.edu/submitting

Creating an Automated Table of Contents

Located in the Home tab, Word’s Style Gallery makes it easy to set consistent, one-click formatting for headings throughout your document. It is these style settings that Word uses to create an automatic table of contents. Using an automatic table of contents will save you the huge headache of dealing with dot leaders, spacing, and having to completely re-type your table of contents if the order of your pages changes even a little. Plus, styles are easy to use! Step-by-step how-to instructions are included below for setting heading styles and then inserting a table of contents in Word 2010, Word 2013 or Word 2011 for Mac.

• Printed Instructions (TOC Word 2010)
• Printed Instructions (TOC Word 2013)
• Printed Instructions (TOC Word 2011 for Mac)
• Printed Instructions (TOC Word 2016 Mac)
• Printed Instructions (TOC Word 2016 PC)
• Creating a Manual-Entry Table of Contents

Working with Outline Style (Numbered) Headings

Numbered headings can be very tricky and many citation styles do not require their use. If you are working with a style the does require it, however, Shauna Kelly's blog has some great help .

Subject Guide

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• Last Updated: May 9, 2024 9:48 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.ku.edu/etd

Schools' Guidelines for Thesis and Proposal Writing

• School of Economics
• School of Education
• School of Visual and Performing Arts.
• School of Business.
• School of Hospitality.
• School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
• School of Pure and Applied Sciences.
• School of Public Health.
• School of Engineering.
• School of Applied Human Sciences.
• School of Agriculture and Enterprise Development Thesis Writing Guidelines.
• School of Agriculture and Enterprise Development Proposal Writing Guidelines.

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KU ScholarWorks

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Dissertations and Theses

Search within this community and its collections:

About these collections

These collections contain dissertations and theses authored by University of Kansas students. Current works are posted here in fulfillment of graduation requirements.

At the author's request, staff at the KU Libraries are happy to digitize and make available in KU ScholarWorks any thesis or dissertation. Please contact Marianne Reed at [email protected] for more information.

Historical Context

Collections in this community, dissertations [4752], pre-1929 dissertations and theses [923], theses [4006], recent submissions.

Pokot and Western Christian Missions: A Postcolonial Story of Place and Perception 

A Behavioral Economic Approach to Preventing Adolescent Violence 

A Dynamical Study of the Poisson-Nernst-Planck System for Three Ions 

Phylogenetics and biogeography of two new species of paromomyid plesiadapiforms from a unique, High Arctic ecosystem of Eocene Canada 

Clinical Assessment of Tinnitus Following Concussion 

“Right to Painless Death”: The Fight for Humane Animal Slaughter in the Cold War United States 

Cross-Saving in the Classroom: The Intersections of Transfer and Game-Based Learning 

Don't give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses: The Trump administration, public charge, and rhetorical constructions of citizenship 

Randomized Subspace Iteration Method for Eigenvalue Problems 

Effects of Feedback Statements on Staff Procedural Integrity 

“Boasting for Thebes”: A Thebanocentric Reading of Pindar’s Fourth Pythian Ode 

Is Aid Worth it? An Analysis of US Counterterror Programs: Weapons, Training, and Terror 

Fire and fungi: fungal ecology in pyrophilic ecosystems 

The Case of Israel: Budgets, Matriculation Exams, and the Ethnic Divide 

Stubborn Structures: Revaluing Masculinity in Mexican Women-Authored “novelas sobre la Revolución” (1963-2010) 

Characterization of Flow in Laboratory and Rock Fractures Using an In-Well Point Velocity Probe 

RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR AND PUBLIC HEALTH: ON THE USE OF BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS TO INFORM PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY 

Worlding Modernism: The Political, the Postcolonial, and the Modern Body 

Impacts of Different Environmental Forcings and Drought on Grassland Water and Carbon Fluxes 

Acculturative Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in Latinx Youth: The Role of Behavioral Inhibition, Cultural Values, and Active Coping 

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Office of Graduate Studies

Electronic thesis and dissertation (etd).

At the University of Kansas Medical Center, Ph.D. students are required to submit a dissertation and some MS students are required to submit a thesis as part of their degree requirements.  Theses and dissertations will be submitted to ProQuest, where the papers will be published. 

For help formatting your thesis or dissertation, visit the Formatting Resources page. Utilizing these resources prior to defense and submission of your thesis or dissertation will ensure a smooth journey to final approval.

The Completion page provides step-by-step information to help students navigate the process through the thesis or dissertation defense and to graduation.

University of Kansas Medical Center Office of Graduate Studies 3901 Rainbow Boulevard Mail Stop 1040 Kansas City, KS 66160 P: 913-588-1238 Email:  [email protected]

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