9/5/2015

HowtoWriteaThesis

HowtoWriteYourThesis
compiledbyKimKastens,StephaniePfirman,MartinStute,BillHahn,DallasAbbott,andChris
Scholz

I.Thesisstructure

II.CrosscuttingIssues

TitlePage

Abstract

TableofContents

III.EditingYourThesis
CopyEditing

WhatWeAreLookingFor
PlanningAheadforYour

Thesis
WritingforanAudience

Introduction

Skimmingvs.Reading

Methods

OrderofWriting

ThesisLength
WritingforanInternational
Audience

Results

FiguresandTables

Discussion
Conclusions
Recommendations
Acknowledgments
References

TyingtheTexttotheData
GivingCredit
FinalThesis

Resources

Appendices

ContentEditing
AvoidingAmbiguity

I.Thesisstructure
TitlePage
Title(includingsubtitle),author,institution,department,dateofdelivery,researchmentor(s)and
advisor,theirinstututionsandemailadresses

Abstract
Agoodabstractexplainsinonelinewhythepaperisimportant.Itthengoesontogivea
summaryofyourmajorresults,preferablycouchedinnumberswitherrorlimits.Thefinal
sentencesexplainthemajorimplicationsofyourwork.Agoodabstractisconcise,readable,
andquantitative.
Lengthshouldbe~12paragraphs,approx.400words.
Absrtractsgenerallydonothavecitations.
Informationintitleshouldnotberepeated.
Beexplicit.
Usenumberswhereappropriate.
Answerstothesequestionsshouldbefoundintheabstract:
1. Whatdidyoudo?
2. Whydidyoudoit?Whatquestionwereyoutryingtoanswer?
3. Howdidyoudoit?Statemethods.
4. Whatdidyoulearn?Statemajorresults.
5. Whydoesitmatter?Pointoutatleastonesignificantimplication.
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/sen_sem/thesis_org.html

1/11

9/5/2015

HowtoWriteaThesis

TableofContents
listallheadingsandsubheadingswithpagenumbers
indentsubheadings
itwilllooksomethinglikethis:
ListofFigures
ListofTables
Introduction
subheads...?
Methods
subheads...?
Results
subheads...?
Discussion
subheads...?
Conclusion
Recommendations
Acknowledgments
References
Appendices

Page#
xxx

Introduction
Youcan'twriteagoodintroductionuntilyouknowwhatthebodyofthepapersays.Considerwriting
theintroductorysection(s)afteryouhavecompletedtherestofthepaper,ratherthanbefore.
Besuretoincludeahookatthebeginningoftheintroduction.Thisisastatementofsomething
sufficientlyinterestingtomotivateyourreadertoreadtherestofthepaper,itisan
important/interestingscientificproblemthatyourpapereithersolvesoraddresses.Youshoulddraw
thereaderinandmakethemwanttoreadtherestofthepaper.
Thenextparagraphsintheintroductionshouldcitepreviousresearchinthisarea.Itshouldcitethose
whohadtheideaorideasfirst,andshouldalsocitethosewhohavedonethemostrecentandrelevant
work.Youshouldthengoontoexplainwhymoreworkwasnecessary(yourwork,ofcourse.)

Whatelsebelongsintheintroductorysection(s)ofyourpaper?
1. Astatementofthegoalofthepaper:whythestudywasundertaken,orwhythepaperwas
written.Donotrepeattheabstract.
2. Sufficientbackgroundinformationtoallowthereadertounderstandthecontextand
significanceofthequestionyouaretryingtoaddress.
3. Properacknowledgementofthepreviousworkonwhichyouarebuilding.Sufficient
referencessuchthatareadercould,bygoingtothelibrary,achieveasophisticated
understandingofthecontextandsignificanceofthequestion.
4. Theintroductionshouldbefocusedonthethesisquestion(s).Allcitedworkshouldbe
directlyreleventtothegoalsofthethesis.Thisisnotaplacetosummarizeeverythingyou
haveeverreadonasubject.
5. Explainthescopeofyourwork,whatwillandwillnotbeincluded.
6. Averbal"roadmap"orverbal"tableofcontents"guidingthereadertowhatliesahead.
7. Isitobviouswhereintroductorymaterial("oldstuff")endsandyourcontribution("new
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/sen_sem/thesis_org.html

2/11

9/5/2015

HowtoWriteaThesis

stuff")begins?
Rememberthatthisisnotareviewpaper.Wearelookingfororiginalworkand
interpretation/analysisbyyou.Breakuptheintroductionsectionintologicalsegmentsbyusing
subheads.

Methods
Whatbelongsinthe"methods"sectionofascientificpaper?
1. Informationtoallowthereadertoassessthebelievabilityofyourresults.
2. Informationneededbyanotherresearchertoreplicateyourexperiment.
3. Descriptionofyourmaterials,procedure,theory.
4. Calculations,technique,procedure,equipment,andcalibrationplots.
5. Limitations,assumptions,andrangeofvalidity.
6. Desciptionofyouranalysticalmethods,includingreferencetoanyspecializedstatistical
software.
Themethodssectionshouldansweringthefollowingquestionsandcaveats:
1. Couldoneaccuratelyreplicatethestudy(forexample,alloftheoptionalandadjustable
parametersonanysensorsorinstrumentsthatwereusedtoacquirethedata)?
2. Couldanotherresearcheraccuratelyfindandreoccupythesamplingstationsortracklines?
3. Isthereenoughinformationprovidedaboutanyinstrumentsusedsothatafunctionally
equivalentinstrumentcouldbeusedtorepeattheexperiment?
4. Ifthedataareinthepublicdomain,couldanotherresearcherlayhisorherhandsonthe
identicaldataset?
5. Couldonereplicateanylaboratoryanalysesthatwereused?
6. Couldonereplicateanystatisticalanalyses?
7. Couldanotherresearcherapproximatelyreplicatethekeyalgorithmsofanycomputer
software?
Citationsinthissectionshouldbelimitedtodatasourcesandreferencesofwheretofindmore
completedescriptionsofprocedures.
Donotincludedescriptionsofresults.

Results
Theresultsareactualstatementsofobservations,includingstatistics,tablesandgraphs.
Indicateinformationonrangeofvariation.
Mentionnegativeresultsaswellaspositive.Donotinterpretresultssavethatforthe
discussion.
Layoutthecaseasforajury.Presentsufficientdetailssothatotherscandrawtheirown
inferencesandconstructtheirownexplanations.
UseS.I.units(m,s,kg,W,etc.)throughoutthethesis.
Breakupyourresultsintologicalsegmentsbyusingsubheadings
Keyresultsshouldbestatedinclearsentencesatthebeginningofparagraphs.Itisfarbetter
tosay"XhadsignificantpositiverelationshipwithY(linearregressionp<0.01,r^2=0.79)"
thentostartwithalessinformativelike"ThereisasignificantrelationshipbetweenXand
Y".Describethenatureofthefindingsdonotjusttellthereaderwhetherornottheyare
significant.

Note:Resultsvs.DiscussionSections
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/sen_sem/thesis_org.html

3/11

9/5/2015

HowtoWriteaThesis

Quarantineyourobservationsfromyourinterpretations.Thewritermustmakeitcrystalcleartothe
readerwhichstatementsareobservationandwhichareinterpretation.Inmostcircumstances,thisis
bestaccomplishedbyphysicallyseparatingstatementsaboutnewobservationsfromstatementsabout
themeaningorsignificanceofthoseobservations.Alternatively,thisgoalcanbeaccomplishedby
carefuluseofphrasessuchas"Iinfer..."vastbodiesofgeologicalliteraturebecameobsoletewiththe
adventofplatetectonicsthepapersthatsurvivedarethoseinwhichobservationswerepresentedin
standalonefashion,unmuddiedbywhateverideastheauthormighthavehadabouttheprocessesthat
causedtheobservedphenomena.

Howdoyoudothis?
1. Physicalseparationintodifferentsectionsorparagraphs.
2. Don'toverlayinterpretationontopofdatainfigures.
3. Carefuluseofphrasessuchas"Weinferthat".
4. Don'tworryif"results"seemshort.
Why?
1. Easierforyourreadertoabsorb,frequentshiftsofmentalmodenotrequired.
2. Ensuresthatyourworkwillendureinspiteofshiftingparadigms.

Discussion
Startwithafewsentencesthatsummarizethemostimportantresults.Thediscussionsectionshould
beabriefessayinitself,answeringthefollowingquestionsandcaveats:
1. Whatarethemajorpatternsintheobservations?(Refertospatialandtemporalvariations.)
2. Whataretherelationships,trendsandgeneralizationsamongtheresults?
3. Whataretheexceptionstothesepatternsorgeneralizations?
4. Whatarethelikelycauses(mechanisms)underlyingthesepatternsresultingpredictions?
5. Isthereagreementordisagreementwithpreviouswork?
6. Interpretresultsintermsofbackgroundlaidoutintheintroductionwhatistherelationship
ofthepresentresultstotheoriginalquestion?
7. Whatistheimplicationofthepresentresultsforotherunansweredquestionsinearth
sciences,ecology,environmentalpolicy,etc....?
8. Multiplehypotheses:Thereareusuallyseveralpossibleexplanationsforresults.Becarefulto
consideralloftheseratherthansimplypushingyourfavoriteone.Ifyoucaneliminateallbut
one,thatisgreat,butoftenthatisnotpossiblewiththedatainhand.Inthatcaseyoushould
giveeventreatmenttotheremainingpossibilities,andtrytoindicatewaysinwhichfuture
workmayleadtotheirdiscrimination.
9. Avoidbandwagons:Aspecialcaseoftheabove.Avoidjumpingacurrentlyfashionablepoint
ofviewunlessyourresultsreallydostronglysupportthem.
10. Whatarethethingswenowknoworunderstandthatwedidn'tknoworunderstandbeforethe
presentwork?
11. Includetheevidenceorlineofreasoningsupportingeachinterpretation.
12. Whatisthesignificanceofthepresentresults:whyshouldwecare?
Thissectionshouldberichinreferencestosimilarworkandbackgroundneededtointerpretresults.
However,interpretation/discussionsection(s)areoftentoolongandverbose.Istherematerialthat
doesnotcontributetooneoftheelementslistedabove?Ifso,thismaybematerialthatyouwill
wanttoconsiderdeletingormoving.Breakupthesectionintologicalsegmentsbyusingsubheads.

Conclusions
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/sen_sem/thesis_org.html

4/11

9/5/2015

HowtoWriteaThesis

Whatisthestrongestandmostimportantstatementthatyoucanmakefromyour
observations?
Ifyoumetthereaderatameetingsixmonthsfromnow,whatdoyouwantthemtoremember
aboutyourpaper?
Referbacktoproblemposed,anddescribetheconclusionsthatyoureachedfromcarryingout
thisinvestigation,summarizenewobservations,newinterpretations,andnewinsightsthat
haveresultedfromthepresentwork.
Includethebroaderimplicationsofyourresults.
Donotrepeatwordforwordtheabstract,introductionordiscussion.

Recommendations
Includewhenappropriate(mostofthetime)
Remedialactiontosolvetheproblem.
Furtherresearchtofillingapsinourunderstanding.
Directionsforfutureinvestigationsonthisorrelatedtopics.

Acknowledgments
Advisor(s)andanyonewhohelpedyou:
1. technically(includingmaterials,supplies)
2. intellectually(assistance,advice)
3. financially(forexample,departmentalsupport,travelgrants)

References
citeallideas,concepts,text,datathatarenotyourown
ifyoumakeastatement,backitupwithyourowndataorareference
allreferencescitedinthetextmustbelisted
citesingleauthorreferencesbythesurnameoftheauthor(followedbydateofthepublication
inparenthesis)
...accordingtoHays(1994)
...populationgrowthisoneofthegreatestenvironmentalconcernsfacingfuture
generations(Hays,1994).
citedoubleauthorreferencesbythesurnamesofbothauthors(followedbydateofthe
publicationinparenthesis)
e.g.SimpsonandHays(1994)
citemorethandoubleauthorreferencesbythesurnameofthefirstauthorfollowedbyetal.
andthenthedateofthepublication
e.g.Pfirman,SimpsonandHayswouldbe:
Pfirmanetal.(1994)
donotusefootnotes
listallreferencescitedinthetextinalphabeticalorderusingthefollowingformatfor
differenttypesofmaterial:
Hunt,S.(1966)Carbohydrateandaminoacidcompositionoftheeggcapsulesofthe
whelk.Nature,210,436437.
NationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration(1997)Commonlyaskedquestions
aboutozone.http://www.noaa.gov/publicaffairs/grounders/ozo1.html,9/27/97.
Pfirman,S.L.,M.Stute,H.J.Simpson,andJ.Hays(1996)Undergraduateresearchat
BarnardandColumbia,JournalofResearch,11,213214.
Pechenik,J.A.(1987)Ashortguidetowritingaboutbiology.HarperCollins
Publishers,NewYork,194pp.
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/sen_sem/thesis_org.html

5/11

9/5/2015

HowtoWriteaThesis

Pitelka,D.R.,andF.M.Child(1964)Reviewofciliarystructureandfunction.In:
BiochemistryandPhysiologyofProtozoa,Vol.3(S.H.Hutner,editor),Academic
Press,NewYork,131198.
Sambrotto,R.(1997)lecturenotes,EnvironmentalDataAnalysis,BarnardCollege,Oct
2,1997.
Stute,M.,J.F.Clark,P.Schlosser,W.S.Broecker,andG.Bonani(1995)Ahigh
altitudecontinentalpaleotemperaturerecordderivedfromnoblegasesdissolvedin
groundwaterfromtheSanJuanBasin,NewMexico.Quat.Res.,43,209220.
NewYorkTimes(1/15/00)PCBsintheHudsonstillanissue,A2.
itisacceptabletoputtheinitialsoftheindividualauthorsbehindtheirlastnames,e.g.
Pfirman,S.L.,Stute,M.,Simpson,H.J.,andHays,J(1996)Undergraduateresearchat......

Appendices
Includeallyourdataintheappendix.
Referencedata/materialsnoteasilyavailable(thesesareusedasaresourcebythedepartment
andotherstudents).
Tables(wheremorethan12pages).
Calculations(wheremorethan12pages).
Youmayincludeakeyarticleasappendix.
Ifyouconsultedalargenumberofreferencesbutdidnotciteallofthem,youmightwantto
includealistofadditionalresourcematerial,etc.
Listofequipmentusedforanexperimentordetailsofcomplicatedprocedures.
Note:Figuresandtables,includingcaptions,shouldbeembeddedinthetextandnotinan
appendix,unlesstheyaremorethan12pagesandarenotcriticaltoyourargument.

II.CrosscuttingIssues
WhatAreWeLookingFor?
Wearelookingforacriticalanalysis.Wewantyoutoanswerascientificquestionorhypothesis.We
wouldlikeyoutogatherevidencefromvarioussourcestoallowyoutomakeinterpretationsand
judgments.Yourapproach/methodsshouldbecarefullydesignedtocometoclosure.Yourresults
shouldbeclearlydefinedanddiscussedinthecontextofyourtopic.Relevantliteratureshouldbe
cited.Youshouldplaceyouranalysisinabroadercontext,andhighlighttheimplications(regional,
global,etc.)ofyourwork.Wearelookingforawellreasonedlineofargument,fromyourinitial
question,compilationofrelevantevidence,settingdatainageneral/universalcontext,andfinally
makingajudgmentbasedonyouranalysis.Yourthesisshouldbeclearlywrittenandintheformat
describedbelow.

PlanningAheadforYourThesis
Ifatallpossible,startyourthesisresearchduringthesummerbetweenyourjuniorandsenioryearor
evenearlierwithaninternship,etc....thenworkonfillinginbackgroundmaterialandlabwork
duringthefallsothatyou'repreparedtowriteandpresentyourresearchduringthespring.Thebest
strategyistopickaprojectthatyouareinterestedin,butalsothatafacultymemberorother
professionalisworkingon.Thispersonwillbecomeyourresearchmentorandthisgivesyousomeone
totalkwithandgetbackgroundmaterialfrom.Ifyou'reunsureabouttheselectionofaproject,letus
knowandwe'lltrytoconnectyouwithsomeone.

http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/sen_sem/thesis_org.html

6/11

9/5/2015

HowtoWriteaThesis

WritingforanAudience
Whoisyouraudience?
1. Researchersworkinginanalogousfieldareaselsewhereintheworld(i.e.otherstrikeslip
faults,otherdeepseafans).
2. Researchersworkinginyourfieldarea,butwithdifferenttechniques.
3. Researchersworkingonthesameintervalofgeologictimeelsewhereintheworld.
4. Allotherresearchersusingthesametechniqueyouhaveused.
5. Ifyourstudyencompassesanactiveprocess,researchersworkingonthesameprocessinthe
ancientrecord.
6. Conversely,ifyourstudyisbasedontherockrecord,peoplestudyingmodemanalogs.
7. Peoplewritingasynthesispaperonimportantnewdevelopmentsinyourfield.
8. Peopleapplyingearthsciencetosocietalproblems(i.e.earthquakehazardreduction,climate
warming)whowilltrytounderstandyourpaper.
9. Potentialreviewersofyourmanuscriptoryourthesiscommittee.

Skimmingvs.Reading
Becauseoftheliteratureexplosion,papersmoreskimmedthanread.Skimminginvolvesreadingthe
abstract,andlookingatthefiguresandfigurecaptions.Therefore,youshouldconstructyourpaperso
thatitcanbeunderstoodbyskimming,i.e.,theconclusions,aswritteninyourabstract,canbe
understoodbystudyofthefiguresandcaptions.Thetextfillsoutthedetailsforthemoreinterested
reader.

OrderofWriting
Yourthesisisnotwritteninthesameorderasitispresentedin.Thefollowinggivesyouoneidea
howtoproceed.
1. firstorganizeyourpaperasalogicalargumentbeforeyoubeginwriting
2. makeyourfigurestoillustrateyourargument(thinkskimming)
3. themainsectionsare:backgroundtotheargument(intro)describingtheinformationtobe
usedintheargument,andmakingpointsaboutthem(observations),connectingthepoints
regardingtheinfo(analysis),summingup(conclusions).
4. outlinethemainelements:sections,andsubsections
5. beginwriting,choosingoptionsinthefollowinghierarchyparagraphs,sentences,and
words.
Hereisanotherapproach.
1. Writeupapreliminaryversionofthebackgroundsectionfirst.Thiswillserveasthebasisfor
theintroductioninyourfinalpaper.
2. Asyoucollectdata,writeupthemethodssection.Itismucheasiertodothisrightafteryou
havecollectedthedata.Besuretoincludeadescriptionoftheresearchequipmentand
relevantcalibrationplots.
3. Whenyouhavesomedata,startmakingplotsandtablesofthedata.Thesewillhelpyouto
visualizethedataandtoseegapsinyourdatacollection.Iftimepermits,youshouldgoback
andfillinthegaps.Youarefinishedwhenyouhaveasetofplotsthatshowadefinitetrend
(orlackofatrend).Besuretomakeadequatestatisticaltestsofyourresults.
4. Onceyouhaveacompletesetofplotsandstatisticaltests,arrangetheplotsandtablesina
logicalorder.Writefigurecaptionsfortheplotsandtables.Asmuchaspossible,thecaptions
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/sen_sem/thesis_org.html

7/11

9/5/2015

HowtoWriteaThesis

shouldstandaloneinexplainingtheplotsandtables.Manyscientistsreadonlytheabstract,
figures,figurecaptions,tables,tablecaptions,andconclusionsofapaper.Besurethatyour
figures,tablesandcaptionsarewelllabeledandwelldocumented.
5. Onceyourplotsandtablesarecomplete,writetheresultssection.Writingthissection
requiresextremediscipline.Youmustdescribeyourresults,butyoumustNOTinterpret
them.(Ifgoodideasoccurtoyouatthistime,savethematthebottomofthepageforthe
discussionsection.)Befactualandorderlyinthissection,buttrynottobetoodry.
6. Onceyouhavewrittentheresultssection,youcanmoveontothediscussionsection.Thisis
usuallyfuntowrite,becausenowyoucantalkaboutyourideasaboutthedata.Ifyoucan
comeupwithagoodcartoon/schematicshowingyourideas,doso.Manypapersarecitedin
theliteraturebecausetheyhaveagoodcartoonthatsubsequentauthorswouldliketouseor
modify.
7. Inwritingthediscussionsession,besuretoadequatelydiscusstheworkofotherauthorswho
collecteddataonthesameorrelatedscientificquestions.Besuretodiscusshowtheirworkis
relevanttoyourwork.Iftherewereflawsintheirmethodology,thisistheplacetodiscussit.
8. Afteryouhavediscussedthedata,youcanwritetheconclusionssection.Inthissection,you
taketheideasthatwerementionedinthediscussionsectionandtrytocometosomeclosure.
Ifsomehypothesiscanberuledoutasaresultofyourwork,sayso.Ifmoreworkisneeded
foradefinitiveanswer,saythat.
9. Thefinalsectioninthepaperisarecommendationsection.Thisisreallytheendofthe
conclusionsectioninascientificpaper.Makerecommendationsforfurtherresearchorpolicy
actionsinthissection.IfyoucanmakepredictionsaboutwhatwillbefoundifXistrue,then
doso.Youwillgetcreditfromlaterresearchersforthis.
10. Afteryouhavefinishedtherecommendationsection,lookbackatyouroriginalintroduction.
Yourintroductionshouldsetthestagefortheconclusionsofthepaperbylayingouttheideas
thatyouwilltestinthepaper.Nowthatyouknowwherethepaperisleading,youwill
probablyneedtorewritetheintroduction.
11. Youmustwriteyourabstractlast.

FiguresandTables
Theactualfiguresandtablesshouldbeembedded/insertedinthetext,generallyonthepage
followingthepagewherethefigure/tableisfirstcitedinthetext.
Allfiguresandtablesshouldbenumberedandcitedconsecutivelyinthetextasfigure1,
figure2,table1,table2,etc.
Includeacaptionforeachfigureandtable,citinghowitwasconstructed(referencecitations,
datasources,etc.)andhighlightingthekeyfindings(thinkskimming).Includeanindexfigure
(map)showingandnamingalllocationsdiscussedinpaper.
Youareencouragedtomakeyourownfigures,includingcartoons,schematicsorsketches
thatillustratetheprocessesthatyoudiscuss.Examineyourfigureswiththesequestionsin
mind:
1. Isthefigureselfexplanatory?
2. Areyouraxeslabeledandaretheunitsindicated?
3. Showtheuncertaintyinyourdatawitherrorbars.
4. Ifthedataarefitbyacurve,indicatethegoodnessoffit.
5. Couldchartjunkbeeliminated?
6. Couldnondatainkbeeliminated?
7. Couldredundantdatainkbeeliminated?
8. Coulddatadensitybeincreasedbyeliminatingnondatabearingspace?
9. Isthisasparsedatasetthatcouldbetterbeexpressedasatable?
10. Doesthefiguredistortthedatainanyway?
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/sen_sem/thesis_org.html

8/11

9/5/2015

HowtoWriteaThesis

11. Arethedatapresentedincontext?
12. Doesthefigurecaptionguidethereader'seyetothe"takehomelesson"ofthefigure?
Figuresshouldbeorientedvertically,inportraitmode,whereverpossible.Ifyoumustorient
themhorizontally,inlandscapemode,orientthemsothatyoucanreadthemfromtheright,
notfromtheleft,wherethebindingwillbe.

TyingtheTexttotheData
"Showthem,don'tjusttellthem"Ideally,everyresultclaimedinthetextshouldbedocumented
withdata,usuallydatapresentedintablesorfigures.Iftherearenodataprovidedtosupportagiven
statementofresultorobservation,consideraddingmoredata,ordeletingtheunsupported
"observation."
Examinefigure(s)ortable(s)pertainingtotheresult(s).
Assesswhether:
1. thedatasupportthetextualstatement
2. thedatacontradictthetextualstatement
3. thedataareinsufficienttoproveorrefutethetextualstatement
4. thedatamaysupportthetextualstatement,butarenotpresentedinsuchawaythatyoucan
besureyouareseeingthesamephenomenoninthedatathattheauthorclaimstohaveseen.

GivingCredit
Howdoesonefairlyandaccuratelyindicatewhohasmadewhatcontributionstowardstheresultsand
interpretationspresentedinyourpaper?:byreferencing,authorship,andacknowledgements.
Differenttypesoferrors:
1. directquotesorillustrationswithoutquotationmarks,withoutattribution
2. directquoteswithoutquotationmarks,withattribution
3. concepts/ideaswithoutattribution
4. concepts/ideaswithsloppyattribution
5. omittingorfabricatingdataorresults
Checkreferencescarefullyandrereadreferenceworkspriortopublication.Thefirsttimeyouread
something,youwillconsciouslyremembersomethings,butmaysubconsciouslytakeinotheraspects.
Itisimportanttocrosscheckyourconsciousmemoryagainstyourcitations.
Seealso:
D.Kennedy,1985,OnAcademicAuthorship
SigmaXi,1984,HonorinScience
YaleUniversitypamphletonplagiarism

FinalThesis
Make3finalcopies:1tomentorand2todepartment,sothatwecanhave2readers.
Finalthesisshouldbebound.
Printedcleanlyonwhitepaper.
Doublespacedusing12pointfont.
1inchmargins.
Doublesidedsavespaper.
Includepagenumbers.

Resources
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/sen_sem/thesis_org.html

9/11

9/5/2015

HowtoWriteaThesis

TheBarnardWritingRoomprovidesassistanceonwritingseniortheses.
LookatotherthesesonfileintheEnvironmentalSciencedepartment,theywillgiveyouan
ideaofwhatwearelookingfor.
Ofcoursedonothesitatetoaskus,oryourresearchadvisorforhelp.
TheBarnardEnvironmentalScienceDepartmenthasmanybooksonscientificwriting,ask
thedepartmentaladministratorforassistanceinlocatingthem.
AlsoseeadditionalbookslistedasResources.

III.EditingYourThesis
Evenaroughdraftshouldbeedited.

CopyEditing
1. Proofreadyourthesisafewtimes.
2. Checkyourspelling.spellcheckersareusefulforinitialchecking,butdon'tcatchhomonyms
(e.g.hear,here),soyouneedtodothefinalcheckbyeye.
3. Makesurethatyouusecompletesentences
4. Checkyourgrammar:punctuation,sentencestructure,subjectverbagreement(pluralor
singular),tenseconsistency,etc.
5. Giveittootherstoreadandcomment.

ContentEditing
1. logic
2. repetition,relevance
3. style

Avoidingambiguity
1. Donotallowrunonsentencestosneakintoyourwritingtrysemicolons.
2. Avoidnestedclauses/phrases.
3. Avoidclausesorphraseswithmorethantwoideasinthem.
4. Donotusedoublenegatives.
5. Donotusedanglingparticiples(i.e.phraseswithan"ing"verb,insentenceswheretheagent
performingtheactionofthe"ing"verbisnotspecified:"Afterstandinginboilingwaterfor
twohours,examinetheflask.").
6. Makesurethattheantecedentforeverypronoun(it,these,those,that,this,one)iscrystal
clear.Ifindoubt,usethenounratherthanthepronoun,eveniftheresultingsentenceseemsa
littlebitredundant.
7. Ensurethatsubjectandverbagreeinnumber(singularversusplural).
8. Beespeciallycarefulwithcompoundsubjects.Beespeciallycarefulwithsubject/verb
agreementwithinclauses.
9. Avoidqualitativeadjectiveswhendescribingconceptsthatarequantifiable("Thewateris
deep.""Plateconvergenceisfast.""Ouralgorithmisbetter.")Instead,quantify.("Water
depthsexceed5km.")
10. Avoidnounstrings("acousticnoisesourcelocationtechnique").
11. Donotuseunexplainedacronyms.Spelloutallacronymsthefirsttimethatyouusethem.

Thesislength
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/sen_sem/thesis_org.html

10/11

9/5/2015

HowtoWriteaThesis

Writeforbrevityratherthanlength.Thegoalistheshortestpossiblepaperthatcontainsall
informationnecessarytodescribetheworkandsupporttheinterpretation.
Avoidunnecessaryrepetitionandirrelevanttangents.
Necessaryrepetition:themainthemeshouldbedevelopedintheintroductionasamotivationor
workinghypothesis.Itisthendevelopedinthemainbodyofthepaper,andmentionedagaininthe
discussionsection(and,ofcourse,intheabstractandconclusions).
Somesuggestionsonhowtoshortenyourpaper:
1. Usetablesforrepetitiveinformation.
2. Includeonlysufficientbackgroundmaterialtopermitthereadertounderstandyourstory,not
everypapereverwrittenonthesubject.
3. Usefigurecaptionseffectively.
4. Don'tdescribethecontentsofthefiguresand/ortablesinthetextitembyitem.Instead,use
thetexttopointoutthemostsignificantpatterns,itemsortrendsinthefiguresandtables.
5. Delete"observations"or"results"thatarementionedinthetextforwhichyouhavenot
showndata.
6. Delete"conclusions"thatarenotdirectlysupportedbyyourobservationsorresults.
7. Delete"interpretation"or"discussion"sectionsthatareinconclusive.
8. Delete"interpretation"or"discussion"sectionsthatareonlyperipherallyrelatedtoyournew
resultsorobservations.
9. Scrutinizeadjectives!adverbsandprepositionalphrases.
Althoughitvariesconsiderablyfromprojecttoproject,averagethesislengthisabout40pagesof
textplusfigures.Thistotalpagecountincludesallyourtextaswellasthelistofreferences,butit
doesnotincludeanyappendices.Thesegeneralizationsshouldnotbetakentooseriously,especially
ifyouareworkingonalaborintensivelabproject.Ifyouhaveanyquestionsaboutwhetheryour
projectisofsufficientscope,consultoneofusearlyon.

WritingforanInternationalAudience
1. Putasmuchinformationaspossibleintofiguresandtables.Inparticular,trytofindawayto
putyourconclusionsintoafigure,perhapsaflowchartoracartoon.
2. Don'tassumethatreadersarefamiliarwiththegeographyorthestratigraphyofyourfield
area.
3. Everysingleplacenamementionedinthetextshouldbeshownonamap.
4. Considerincludingalocationmap,eitherasaseparatefigureorasaninsettoanotherfigure.
Ifyourpaperinvolvesstratigraphy,considerincludingasummarystratigraphiccolumnin
effect,alocationmapintime.
5. Useshortersentences.Avoidnestedclausesorphrases.
6. Avoididioms.Favorusagesthatcanbelookedupinanordinarydictionary."Takethebeaker
outoftheovenimmediately..."ratherthan"Takethebeakeroutoftheovenrightaway..."
Ukrainianversionofthisdocument
Russianversionofthisdocument
by:martins@ldeo.columbia.edu

http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/sen_sem/thesis_org.html

11/11