how to write a conclusion for a masters dissertation

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How to write an excellent thesis conclusion [with examples]

Restate the thesis

Review or reiterate key points of your work, explain why your work is relevant, a take-away for the reader, more resources on writing thesis conclusions, frequently asked questions about writing an excellent thesis conclusion, related articles.

At this point in your writing, you have most likely finished your introduction and the body of your thesis, dissertation, or research paper . While this is a reason to celebrate, you should not underestimate the importance of your conclusion. The conclusion is the last thing that your reader will see, so it should be memorable.

A good conclusion will review the key points of the thesis and explain to the reader why the information is relevant, applicable, or related to the world as a whole. Make sure to dedicate enough of your writing time to the conclusion and do not put it off until the very last minute.

This article provides an effective technique for writing a conclusion adapted from Erika Eby’s The College Student's Guide to Writing a Good Research Paper: 101 Easy Tips & Tricks to Make Your Work Stand Out .

While the thesis introduction starts out with broad statements about the topic, and then narrows it down to the thesis statement , a thesis conclusion does the same in the opposite order.

• Restate the thesis.
• Review or reiterate key points of your work.
• Explain why your work is relevant.
• Include a core take-away message for the reader.

Tip: Don’t just copy and paste your thesis into your conclusion. Restate it in different words.

The best way to start a conclusion is simply by restating the thesis statement. That does not mean just copying and pasting it from the introduction, but putting it into different words.

You will need to change the structure and wording of it to avoid sounding repetitive. Also, be firm in your conclusion just as you were in the introduction. Try to avoid sounding apologetic by using phrases like "This paper has tried to show..."

The conclusion should address all the same parts as the thesis while making it clear that the reader has reached the end. You are telling the reader that your research is finished and what your findings are.

I have argued throughout this work that the point of critical mass for biopolitical immunity occurred during the Romantic period because of that era's unique combination of post-revolutionary politics and innovations in smallpox prevention. In particular, I demonstrated that the French Revolution and the discovery of vaccination in the 1790s triggered a reconsideration of the relationship between bodies and the state.

Tip: Try to reiterate points from your introduction in your thesis conclusion.

The next step is to review the main points of the thesis as a whole. Look back at the body of of your project and make a note of the key ideas. You can reword these ideas the same way you reworded your thesis statement and then incorporate that into the conclusion.

You can also repeat striking quotations or statistics, but do not use more than two. As the conclusion represents your own closing thoughts on the topic , it should mainly consist of your own words.

In addition, conclusions can contain recommendations to the reader or relevant questions that further the thesis. You should ask yourself:

• What you would ideally like to see your readers do in reaction to your paper?
• Do you want them to take a certain action or investigate further?
• Is there a bigger issue that your paper wants to draw attention to?

Also, try to reference your introduction in your conclusion. You have already taken a first step by restating your thesis. Now, check whether there are other key words, phrases or ideas that are mentioned in your introduction that fit into your conclusion. Connecting the introduction to the conclusion in this way will help readers feel satisfied.

I explored how Mary Wollstonecraft, in both her fiction and political writings, envisions an ideal medico-political state, and how other writers like William Wordsworth and Mary Shelley increasingly imagined the body politic literally, as an incorporated political collective made up of bodies whose immunity to political and medical ills was essential to a healthy state.

Tip: Make sure to explain why your thesis is relevant to your field of research.

Although you can encourage readers to question their opinions and reflect on your topic, do not leave loose ends. You should provide a sense of resolution and make sure your conclusion wraps up your argument. Make sure you explain why your thesis is relevant to your field of research and how your research intervenes within, or substantially revises, existing scholarly debates.

This project challenged conventional ideas about the relationship among Romanticism, medicine, and politics by reading the unfolding of Romantic literature and biopolitical immunity as mutual, co-productive processes. In doing so, this thesis revises the ways in which biopolitics has been theorized by insisting on the inherent connections between Romantic literature and the forms of biopower that characterize early modernity.

Tip: If you began your thesis with an anecdote or historical example, you may want to return to that in your conclusion.

End your conclusion with something memorable, such as:

• a call to action
• a recommendation
• a gesture towards future research
• a brief explanation of how the problem or idea you covered remains relevant

Ultimately, you want readers to feel more informed, or ready to act, as they read your conclusion.

Yet, the Romantic period is only the beginning of modern thought on immunity and biopolitics. Victorian writers, doctors, and politicians upheld the Romantic idea that a "healthy state" was a literal condition that could be achieved by combining politics and medicine, but augmented that idea through legislation and widespread public health measures. While many nineteenth-century efforts to improve citizens' health were successful, the fight against disease ultimately changed course in the twentieth century as global immunological threats such as SARS occupied public consciousness. Indeed, as subsequent public health events make apparent, biopolitical immunity persists as a viable concept for thinking about the relationship between medicine and politics in modernity.

Need more advice? Read our 5 additional tips on how to write a good thesis conclusion.

The conclusion is the last thing that your reader will see, so it should be memorable. To write a great thesis conclusion you should:

The basic content of a conclusion is to review the main points from the paper. This part represents your own closing thoughts on the topic. It should mainly consist of the outcome of the research in your own words.

The length of the conclusion will depend on the length of the whole thesis. Usually, a conclusion should be around 5-7% of the overall word count.

End your conclusion with something memorable, such as a question, warning, or call to action. Depending on the topic, you can also end with a recommendation.

In Open Access: Theses and Dissertations you can find thousands of completed works. Take a look at any of the theses or dissertations for real-life examples of conclusions that were already approved.

• How it works

How to Write a Dissertation Conclusion – Example & Tips

Published by Jamie Walker at August 13th, 2021 , Revised On July 12, 2024

It is imperative for students to understand how to  write a dissertation  conclusion in order to achieve the highest grade in their dissertation project.

The concluding chapter of the dissertation should be appealing to the readers and give an accurate but concise review of what your research revolves around with special emphasis on the outcomes  and recommendations that you have derived from your research study.

The illustration below provides an insight into  how a first-class dissertation is structured , and we will now look in complete detail over how to manage the conclusion chapter of your dissertation.

The conclusion of a dissertation or thesis generally connects the beginning of your research ( introduction ,  research problem ,  research questions ) to the findings and implications of your research.

You must relate to the major  findings of your research  and answer the research questions that your study raised. There is no need to hesitate to state the limitations of research because it is natural that your research will have some limitations rather than none.

Writing a dissertation conclusion is, perhaps, the most critical aspect of your research work which is why it is vitally important to not miss out on the key elements surrounding a great dissertation conclusion.

Dissertation Conclusion Guidelines

Dissertation conclusion is a core element of your dissertation or thesis paper which is why you will be required to follow a specific set of guidelines in order to showcase the findings of your study in a logical manner.

How to Start a Dissertation Conclusion

Always write your conclusion in clear and simple language.  Before starting to write the conclusion chapter, it is important that students become familiar with the assessment criteria and expected outcomes in order to avoid complexities at a later stage.

The aim of a dissertation conclusion is to provide a brief overview of the main research work so the readers can figure out how your research study will add value to the existing literature.

Moreover, recommendations for future research and practitioners should also be provided in this section.

Difference between Conclusion & Discussion

The contents of the  discussion  and conclusion chapters are similar, and they are typically grouped together in journal articles and scientific papers.

Depending on your academic institute and the subject of your degree program, you could be asked to put discussion and conclusion together under the same chapter in your dissertation or thesis paper.

However, typically in a  dissertation or thesis paper , it is common to have a separate chapter for the conclusion to briefly state answers for all research questions, and summarise and reflect on the research.

The conclusion chapter is considerably shorter in length than the discussion. Here you will be expected to provide general statements to give readers a final impression of your research.

On the other hand, in the discussion chapter of a dissertation , the author states the major findings, and their interpretations and implications.

Do not introduce any new information, arguments, meanings, and interpretations in the conclusion chapter.

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What to Write in a Conclusion

An important question that one must address before writing a dissertation conclusion is what to write in a conclusion?

In the best case scenario, you will summarise the findings of your entire research in a comprehensive manner, but at the same time ensure that you are not just restating the points covered in the main body.

The purpose here is to present a synthesis of the major points covered which is why it is advised not to include any new ideas relating to your research at this point.

Methodology in a dissertation  can be a taxing and time consuming matter because a large chunk of your research is based on the methods you have adopted.

Essentially, the methodology should relate to the literature you have reviewed and provide academic justification to your  choice of research methods  – be it quantitative, qualitative or a mix of both.

Students must make sure that they shed adequate light on the methodology part in their dissertation conclusion.

It is essential to keep the dissertation conclusion concise and to the point rather than going into unnecessary details which would rather be a part of the main body.

Writing a dissertation conclusion is not a strenuous task if you stick to the fact that your goal here is to provide insight, evaluations and implications of your research study.

Structuring a Dissertation Conclusion

While writing a dissertation conclusion, you must be particular about the fact that it gives reflection of a cohesive argument and supports the points you have covered in the main body.

Your conclusion should depict the importance of why you chose this  specific research topic  and the impact your study will have on the society.

Providing solutions to the problems you have identified and predicting what might happen in the near future leaves a very good impression on the readers, and some of them might well be inclined to consider your argument long after.

When pondering over how to write a dissertation conclusion, it is important to relate your ideas with academics who are closely followed by your supervisor.

Although the dissertation belongs to you and you have the full right to express your own views where appropriate, there is absolutely no harm in slightly aligning your views with other researchers in order to achieve a good score.

Dissertation Conclusion Limitations

Every dissertation is likely to suffer from limitations which is precisely the reason why students must acknowledge and appropriately address them.

Limitations is an integral part of your dissertation conclusion because it will also help your readers to  understand your research design and philosophical approach .

This brief segment reflects upon the importance of the inherent limitations been identified; the reasons behind your choice of methods; and possible ways to counter the limitations.

It is recommended never to hide the limitations associated with your research, because your tutor will probably have years of experience with  different methods of research  and they will figure out these limitations even if you have not specifically discussed them.

Simply highlighting the dissertation limitations is not a very good idea because every research limitation must accompany ways in which it can be combated. Dissertation limitations can be methodological or conceptual.

It is necessary to briefly touch upon both types of limitations so your supervisor can figure out what part of your research was stalled by lack of data, cultural biases, sampling etc.

This section of the dissertation conclusion chapter is generally based on a world count – 200-500 words so it is appropriate to discuss only the most significant limitations of your study.

Dissertation Conclusion Length

Another important question that you might want to address in the final phase of your research work is how long should dissertation conclusion be? The length of a dissertation conclusion is in direct correlation with the length of the full dissertation paper.

On a simple basis the longer or more detailed your research is, the longer the conclusion it will have, and vice versa. The length will often depend on the writer’s personal judgement and making a call on such a matter might well turn out to be the difference between an ordinary and  professional dissertation writer.

The length of a dissertation conclusion chapter is generally 5-7% of the total dissertation word count.

Addressing Research Questions in Dissertation Conclusion

Make sure that you start your conclusion chapter by directly addressing the  research questions  or the  research problem  that your dissertation or thesis intended to address.

Conclusion chapter gives you the final chance to demonstrate to your readers that your research achieved what was aimed at the beginning of the research.

Provide a clear, concise and to the point answer to your research questions. You are not expected to repeat what you have already said in the discussion part of the paper, rather turn readers’ attentions towards a final outcome.

Dissertation Conclusion Example

No matter how much you dig into the details of writing a conclusion for your dissertation, it is always nice to have a look at a full-fledged example for guidance purposes. The graphic below gives a summarised view of what is to be written in a dissertation conclusion.

Here is an example of how to write a dissertation conclusion to help you better understand.

How to Write Dissertation Conclusion Example

Here is a dissertation conclusion example of a dissertation that aimed to test a theoretical argument based on an analysis of a case study; Proposed anaerobic digestion plant in Tripoli.

Chapter 5 – Dissertation Conclusion 5.1 Background This chapter highlights the crux of the study by briefly describing objectives and literature survey. The feasibility of the proposed plant is then discussed, leading to the study’s limitations and difficulties. In the end, some recommendations for future work are provided in brief. Some suggestions to improve and highlight the renewable energy generation techniques are also part of the chapter. 5.2 Literature Review, Survey and Interviews A Valora process AD plant, with a capacity of 0.8 tones of food waste per day, is proposed to be established in the city of Tripoli. This plant can assist the national grid in meeting the rising demands of electricity in Tripoli and on the outskirts. Public opinion about establishing such a plant is taken by conducting a survey. The survey results suggest that the people of Tripoli understand the need for a WTE plant and ensure their cooperation for the separate household food waste if provided with the containers by the municipal authorities. The food waste to energy generation plant provides a solution for both household food waste management in Tripoli and generating an adequate amount of electricity to meet the rising demand. An informal session of interviews has been conducted with the experts from the Energy Agency of Libya. The opinion and observation-based data collection are done in order to opt for the interpretive approach of research adequately. All five respondents recommended the idea of establishing an AD plant in Tripoli-Libya. Their comments and suggestions have also validated the plant location selected in the research as an appropriate location for establishing a plant. The idea of energy generation using sustainable methods is the main point they’ve endorsed. The research provides the solution for both; waste management in Tripoli and the introduction of sustainable energy generation methods in Libya. 5.3 Feasibility of the Proposed System A detailed, feasibly study was conducted, including technical details such as the amount of biogas generation, plant type, equipment sizing, and proposed location for the plant. Initial finances, operation and management costs of the proposed AD plant are estimated in the financial analysis of the proposed plant. Life cycle assessment is compared with food waste management to evaluate the environmental effects of the plant. The analysis suggests that the proposed AD plant is economically, technically and ecologically feasible to establish on 3rd Ring Road in Tripoli. 5.4 Limitations and Difficulties Some of the limitations and difficulties involved in the process of digestion or establishing a digestion plant are listed as follows; 1. Since many WTE technologies are designed to handle mixed-type food waste such as solid waste and municipal waste etc. Running the plant with specifically food waste is difficult as food waste makes comparatively less amount than MSW as a whole. 2. Some other WTE challenges include high capital cost, waste-gas cleanup, regulatory hurdles, and conversion efficiency. 3. Since domestic utilization of generated electricity is a primary objective, and it adds a limitation where even distribution of electricity distribution in domestic buildings is not possible if the plant is located outside the residential area. This issue can be resolved by centralizing a substation for the proper transmission and distribution. 4. Since the accuracy of the estimated analysis depends entirely on the data, and missing fields affect the accuracy of the estimations. 5. Since the survey is conducted among non-technical people and represents their views, no primary data is available that accurately estimates the energy generation from the amount of food or biogas generation. The calculations of estimation of biogas yield and energy generation are based on the equations taken from secondary resources thus can be erroneous. 5.5 Future Work This study is conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of establishing a large-scale plant to provide an alternative and renewable energy solution. The whole idea is applicable and implementable in the proposed area. Instead, in the future, the idea can be evaluated for the individual high-rise buildings to make them self-sufficient in energy demand and supply and to reduce the load on the national electricity grid. A cross-national study involving cost-benefit analysis of family-sized digesters in Tripoli is yet to analyze in order to predict the future of biogas technology in Libya. Information about government subsidies on renewable energy generation plants in Tripoli is important but unknown yet. This study revolves around the utilization of food waste collected from residential buildings only. Although hotels, restaurants, and canteens can also provide a considerably high amount of food waste and it is relatively easy for them to collect it separately. Thus further work can be based on the food waste collection from the food consumption areas. It is important to remember that there is no need to restate the research objectives in conclusion. Your statements should incorporate answers to research questions without you having to repeat those questions. Here is another example of dissertation conclusion.

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Summarising and Reflecting on Research

As mentioned before, the conclusion chapter gives you that final opportunity to restate what your research study intended to achieve, what approach you took in the process, where  findings  you came up as a result of your study, and whether or not they were according to your expectations. In short, a conclusion section needs to provide an overview of the building blocks of your research.

It is common to use a reflective style of writing here, rather than simply restating what you have already written in the previous chapters. This approach will also help you to avoid repetition.

For example, if there were limitations of your chosen research methodology then you might want to briefly state whether or not that could have influenced the results of your research study. You can also highlight any new insights that you recorded during the process.

Focus more on the positives of your study although you will be expected to concisely state the limitations of your research as well.

The research approach employed for this research study provided new insight into B even though it limited the generalizability of findings.

Recommendations for Future in Conclusion Chapter

Although it is common to provide recommendations for future research work in the discussion chapter, it will be a good idea to provide an overview of those endorsements in the conclusion chapter with a focus on the practical and theoretical consequences of your results.

Practitioners should consider A and B based on these conclusions….Further research needs to be conducted for better understanding in regards to the implications of these findings….The effects of the relationship between A and B are still unclear, and so further research must be conducted…

Research pertaining to a dissertation or thesis is usually expected to discover, enlighten, and educate rather than frame the results as essentials for practitioners and policymakers.

Any recommendations related to business, application, and strategy should be presented as propositions to avoid overstating the appositeness of your work.

Never undermine your research work when making propositions for future research. Your work should be recognized as complete, thorough, and reliable without the need for further research to confirm your conclusions.

Stress the Importance of Your Research in Conclusion

You don’t want your readers to leave with the impression that your work did not make a valuable contribution to the existing knowledge in your area of study. Here are some ideas to demonstrate how this is done;

• Referring back to the problem statement to help readers understand how your work addresses the research problem originally identified.
• Elaborate how your results validated or tested an existing hypothesis or theory.
• Stating how your research was able to fill a certain gap in existing knowledge as pointed out in the literature review.

Again, it is recommended to avoid repetition. You do not want to reiterate what you have already discussed in the previous chapter.

Dissertation Conclusion Help from Experts

Writing a dissertation is no mean feat because it requires complete dedication and attention to detail in order to secure a good grade.

Even the very first part of your dissertation – topic selection can become a cumbersome task because of the  need to select a topic with a sufficient amount of literature available on it.

Despite putting in a lot of effort, you might still end up with a grade that is well below your own expectations which is why it is sometimes better off to approach professionals providing dissertation writing services so that the complexities surrounding a top-quality dissertation are handled by people with specialized skill set.

As we approach the conclusion of this piece, it should be clear by now as to what students are expected to do in the final phase of their dissertations. In short, they should have a clear idea about  how to write a dissertation conclusion .

Finally, it is important not to let yourself down by writing a mediocre conclusion and consequently lose crucial marks. The hard part of your dissertation is already completed so it is worthwhile to put in a concentrated effort to end on a high and impress your supervisor.

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Whether it is your dissertation introduction, literature review, methodology, conclusion or any other chapter, our expert dissertation writers can help you succeed. With our dissertation chapter writing service, you can be confident of having your individual chapters completed to your school’s exact guidelines. Click here to learn more about our dissertation chapter writing service. Find out how our dissertation services can help you.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many pages is a dissertation conclusion.

The length of a dissertation conclusion varies but is typically around 1 to 2 pages. It succinctly summarizes key findings, discusses implications, and restates the significance of the study, providing a resolution to the research.

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Writing the Dissertation - Guides for Success: Conclusion

• Writing the Dissertation Homepage
• Overview and Planning
• Research Question
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Results and Discussion
• Getting Started
• Annotated Example
• What to Avoid

Overview of writing the dissertation conclusion

The conclusion is the final chapter of the dissertation. It serves to reinforce your main argument and findings, before considering the wider implications of your research. Along with the introduction, it’s often the shortest chapter in a dissertation, but it is a chapter in its own right and should be given due care and attention.

Even so, the conclusion of a dissertation is sometimes hastily thrown together, culminating in a perfunctory and uninspiring end to such a substantial piece of work. Just like how nobody likes a bad ending to a movie, you want your conclusion to be an accurate and positive reflection of your dissertation that leaves your reader with a clear and satisfying end to the work.

Disciplinary differences

Please note: this guide is not specific to any one discipline. The conclusion can vary depending on the nature of the research and the expectations of the school or department, so please adapt the following advice to meet the demands of your project and department. Consult your supervisor for further guidance.

Guide contents

As part of the Writing the Dissertation series, this guide covers the essentials of writing a strong conclusion, giving you the necessary knowledge, tips and guidance needed to leave a positive impression on your markers! Here’s what to expect:

• Getting Started  - Defines the overarching purpose of the conclusion.
• Structure  - Breaks down the conclusion's 'narrow to broad' structure in two main parts.
• Annotated Example - Provides a sample conclusion with notes to highlight the strategies the writer uses.
• What to Avoid  - Covers a few frequent mistakes you'll want to...avoid!
• FAQs  - Guidance on first- vs. third-person, use of secondary literature and more.
• Checklist  - Includes a summary of key points and a self-evaluation checklist.

Training and tools

• The Academic Skills team has recorded a Writing the Dissertation workshop series to help you with each section of a standard dissertation, including a video on writing the dissertation conclusion  (embedded below).
• The dissertation planner tool can help you think through the timeline for planning, research, drafting and editing.
• iSolutions offers training and a Word template to help you digitally format and structure your dissertation.

What is the conclusion?

The conclusion isn’t simply a brief recap of your previous chapters. Instead, the conclusion revisits your primary research purpose – your research question(s) and/or hypotheses – and summarises and synthesises the main research findings, or areas of discussion, to reinforce how your dissertation responds to that purpose: how does it answer question X or prove argument Y to be correct?

The conclusion then moves beyond the immediate confines of your research to engage with the wider impact and relevance of your work. That is to say, you feed the work you have completed back into the wider context to emphasise how your research has advanced our understanding of this area. This is your final opportunity to leave a positive and lasting impression on your reader, so it’s important that your conclusion captures the essential information in your dissertation and emphasises its value in the relevant profession or field of research.

Structuring a conclusion

Whilst the conclusion of a dissertation is a chapter in its own right, it’s important to consider the role that the conclusion plays in the entire structure of your dissertation. You might recognise the shape below – what is sometimes called an ‘hourglass’ structure. This represents a typical structure for an essay or dissertation. Below, we'll explore what this shape suggests about earlier sections of the dissertation as well as the conclusion.

Figure 1: The ‘hourglass’ shape that symbolises the broad-to-narrow, then narrow-to-broad structure of a dissertation, and academic writing in general.

Introduction and literature review

• Broad to narrow – eases the reader into the discussion by introducing them to the broad situation within which your research sits.
• Narrows the focus through the literature review whilst maintaining a direct interest in the wider research context.
• Arrives at a narrow focus towards the end by clearly stating what your focus is, what research problem you are going to address, how you are going to address that problem and what your argument and findings are.

Main body (methodology, results and discussion)

• Narrow focus – provides the finer details of your dissertation by isolating particular aspects to discuss and scrutinise, such as the details of how your study was designed.
• Driven by the results of your study, with secondary material used to contextualise the meaning and significance of your findings.
• Narrow to broad – reinforces your main argument and findings, then...
• Broadens out by considering the wider implications of your work for the relevant profession or field of research.

A structure in two main parts

We’re going to break the conclusion down into two main parts:

1) A summary and synthesis of your main findings or discussion points that directly respond to, and address, your research question(s) and/or hypotheses. For this reason, it’s often useful to start by briefly repeating the research problem you’ve addressed. This constitutes the narrow part of the conclusion.

2) Engagement with the impact and relevance of your research to the wider, relevant context . This constitutes the broader part of the conclusion.

Let’s look at both in more detail.

Summary and synthesis

To write an effective conclusion for your dissertation, you need to do more than simply repeat the main points and findings of your research. Instead, you need to summarise and synthesise (definition below) your main findings and points of discussion, forming a cohesive picture for your reader that brings the different elements of your research together. This helps your reader to understand how you have reached a certain answer, or why you think your argument is correct.

It’s often useful to start with a brief recap of the research problem before stating how your dissertation has responded, in some way, to this problem by synthesising the main findings and discussion points. For example:

Despite extensive research on the application of tool X, this dissertation has noted an absence of rigorous research on how this tool can be applied to demographic Y. Considerable research demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of applying this tool when working with various demographics, particularly A and B, but the different demands associated with demographic Y restrict the suitability of these findings for this age group. In response, this dissertation has…

Following this, you need to outline how your dissertation has responded to this problem by summarising and synthesising your main findings and/or discussion points and reinforcing your main argument. Try summarising every one of your main findings or discussion points – keep it brief (one or two sentences) – and then, where possible, try and condense and connect this information to form a brief portrait of your dissertation. See ' Annotated example' for more on this.

Wider, relevant context

Once you have reinforced your research focus and your argument by summarising and synthesising your main findings, you need to relate your research to a wider, relevant context . This might include:

‘Returning’ to the introduction

As stated earlier, you conclusion shares a close relationship with your introduction with both acting as bookends that frame your entire dissertation – like the first scene and last scene of a film. For this reason, you need to return back to your introduction by revisiting the broad, but relative, themes that opened your dissertation as a way of contextualising your argument and results.

Ask yourself the question, ‘What do we now know that we didn’t at the start?’ The argument and findings won’t be a revelation to your reader, but framing them in this slightly broader context helps to reinforce the significance and contribution of your work. This brings your work ‘full circle’ and creates a neat symmetry to your work – a narrative thread for your reader to follow.

Recommendations for future research

Where necessary, it’s a good idea to include some suggestions for relevant future research that you think will help to further advance our knowledge of the research area. Don’t commit too many words to this. You simply need to state what contributions to the research field might be worth pursuing in the future and how this might further enrich our understanding of the topic. This serves to emphasise that your work is part of an evolving landscape of research, thus engaging with the wider context. This can often feature in the discussion chapter, rather than the conclusion (see our Writing the Results and Discussion guide for more).

Recommendations for practitioners

Depending on the nature of your research, it might be necessary to suggest some recommendations for relevant professionals and industry practitioners based on your findings. Remember these are only recommendations, and they must be consistent with your findings. Briefly mention how each recommendation would serve to address and, potentially, solve a problem faced by professionals. This helps your reader to understand the real-world implications and relevance of your work. Like recommendations for future research, this can often feature in the discussion. Consult your supervisor for discipline-specific guidance.

Annotated example

Take a look at this annotated example to see how the structural components discussed in the 'Structure' tab fit together to form a conclusion. This is only a short example, and your conclusion might be longer and slightly more detailed, but this gives you an idea of the flow and structure.

By focussing on the Arab Spring uprising, this dissertation has demonstrated the ways in which social media animates forms of civil empowerment through collective political action. Whilst other examples could have been used, this dissertation has highlighted how participants in the Arab Spring coordinated a strategic network of communication, drawing on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in both distinct and interrelated ways. By adopting social media in such a way, the Arab Spring not only demonstrates that social media can have a profound impact on forms of civil empowerment, but can also become a powerful political tool when deployed in a strategic and coordinated manner.

As outlined in Chapter 3: Methodology and Chapter 4: Results, this study collected quantitative data, such as the number of likes, retweets and views, to measure the reach of social media interactions on the Arab Spring uprising during a three month period. Qualitative data was also collected through the language and rhetoric employed by citizens posting comments, and the content of videos posted on the social media sites in question. This mixed-methods approach, along with the focus on three social media platforms, provided a triangulation of data that strengthened the depth of the research and allowed for a more nuanced portrait of how social media, when deployed in a coordinated way for a particular event, forms an interconnected network of channels through which information can flow freely. As evidenced by the quantitative data, with posts and retweets reaching their millions, the use of social media had a cumulative power with the Arab Spring by spreading the civil unrest and galvanising support for the cause.

Whilst the Arab Spring only represents one case of the relationship between social media and civil empowerment, this case study shows how the Arab Spring played an influential role in the mobilisation of the hashtag movement and the digitisation of civil activism. This is most clearly exemplified by the Me Too movement, supporting the fight against sexual harassment and assault, and Black Lives Matter, fighting against the racial oppression of black people. In examining the role of social media on these and other such cases of civil activism, perhaps a systematic comparison between social media and traditional forms of media, such as newspapers, would provide further opportunities to assess the relationship between social media and social activism.

Future research should also further explore the tension between social media and political censorship. Indeed, despite social media’s obvious potential as a tool for civil empowerment, Chapter Five: Discussion also pointed to the dangers of how oppressive governments can respond to the apparent threat of civil activism through aggressive forms of censorship. Moving forward, social media platforms must defend the freedom of its users to engage in socially active ways, and understanding the intersection between social media and political censorship is crucial to defending this freedom. Only by preserving this freedom can social media, and the internet in general, continue to realise its primary function as an open sources of communication that evades the restrictive censorship of traditional gatekeepers.

What to avoid

This portion of the guide will cover some common missteps you should try to avoid in writing your conclusion.

Excessive detail

The conclusion isn’t the place to repeat detailed statistics or retrace the finer nuances of an argument. You simply need to reinforce the main findings and the essential information in your dissertation. Only you can determine what you think is a necessary level of detail in your conclusion, but look at the following two examples as a guide:

• Excessive:  The results showed a considerable increase from Sample A to Sample E. As expected, Sample A started low with only 6 per cent. Sample B then showed an increase of 20 per cent, with Sample C then reaching 36 per cent to show a further increase of 16 per cent. Sample D furthered this trend, reaching 59 per cent. Sample E then reached 82 per cent, showing a 23 per cent increase from the previous sample.
• Improved: The results showed a considerable increase of 76 per cent from Sample A (6 per cent) to Sample E (82 per cent) with samples C to D and samples D to E both showing the largest increase of the study with a 23 per cent rise.

New information

You should avoid presenting any new information, such as primary data or theories, when writing your conclusion. Any primary or secondary material you deem important enough to state in the conclusion (although avoid excessive detail as stated above) should be evident in your results and/or discussion chapters.

'In conclusion...'

Whilst it might seem logical to start your conclusion with ‘In conclusion’, it’s best to avoid this. It’s not strictly wrong to start with ‘In conclusion’, ‘To summarise’, or some other variation of such phrases, but it reflects a somewhat lazy and clichéd approach given its excessive use.

The start of your conclusion should be obvious for two main reasons. Firstly, the chapter heading ‘Conclusion’ serves as a clear indication to your reader! Secondly, your conclusion should signal a rhetorical shift in your writing to a more reflective register. For example:

This dissertation has considered the complex ways in which…

The use of the present perfect tense here signals this shift to a reflective register.

Don’t state your core argument and main observations for the first time in the conclusion chapter. This is sometimes mistakenly employed as a way of maintaining a sense of mystery before the grand reveal at the end – like the dramatic third act of a play or the final twist in a film. Academic writing is not driven by the same intrigue as narrative storytelling. Instead, the ‘end’ or conclusion in a dissertation or written assignment should be clearly signposted early on – the abstract and the introduction – as a way of focusing the reader’s attention.

Q: How long should the conclusion be?

A: Roughly 5-10% of the dissertation’s word count (usually nearer the 5% end). So, for a 10,000 word dissertation, you should aim for anything between 500 words to 1,000. You should, however, be flexible with this. As always, it depends on the nature of your dissertation and the expected conventions in your department or school. It’s always worth seeking advice from your supervisor, but it’s safe to say that – along with the introduction (again dependent on the nature of the dissertation) – it’s often the shortest chapter in the dissertation.

Q: Should the conclusion include references to secondary literature?

A: Yes, but only when necessary. As noted in ' What to avoid' , you shouldn’t be bringing in new data, theories or information, which means you will likely revisit previously discussed work in light of your own findings and argument. Although you have already mentioned and cited the original work, it’s good practice to cite them again. This is also imperative in cases where you have cited more than one piece of work from the same author or authors. So, for example:

These findings support the work of Jones (2010) in which X and Y were both seen to…

Q: Should the conclusion be in the first-person or third?

A: It depends what you’ve been using throughout your dissertation – it’s important to be consistent. Typically, third-person is used in academic writing, although first-person is accepted in some disciplines. For instance, certain genres, such as reflective writing, demand the first-person. Consult your supervisor for further guidance.

The conclusion is your final chance to leave a positive impression on your reader, so it’s important that you conclude in a clear and engaging manner. Rather than simply repeating the main content from your previous chapters, you should be summarising and synthesising your main findings and discussion points and bringing them together to reinforce your central argument and respond to any research questions or hypotheses you have. You should then engage with the wider, relevant context by returning back to where you started in your introductory chapter to answer and consider the question,  ‘What do we now know that we didn’t before?’

Here’s a final checklist for writing an effective conclusion. Remember that not all of these points will be relevant for your conclusion, so make sure you cover whatever’s appropriate for your dissertation. The asterisk (*) indicates any content that might not be relevant for your dissertation. To save your own copy of the checklist to edit, please use the Word document, below.

• Conclusion self-evaluation checklist

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How to Write a Relevant Conclusion for Your Dissertation

The last portion of your dissertation is called the conclusion. The objective of the dissertation conclusion is to answer the primary question of the research, provide a summary of the research, make recommendations for possible research on the subject and list the new information that your research contributes to the field.

Although the discussion and the conclusion have similar elements, they are not the same. They may be combined in shorter journal articles and papers. However, in a thesis, both the conclusion and discussion must be included.

While a discussion includes specific interpretations and results, the conclusion makes broader statements to sum up all the important points of your research.

Writing a good conclusion is important to clarify the main discoveries and arguments of your research. Here are some tips on how to conclude a thesis.

Provide Answers to The Primary Question in Your Research

The first step is to understand how to start a conclusion. It must begin with the key question of your dissertation. This allows you to show the results of your work. It must be clear and concise. You do not have to repeat all the results discussed along the thesis. Just combine them into a few words that will become the final takeaway for readers.

For example, the conclusion for a dissertation that aims at making theoretical arguments by analysing case studies, the beginning can be as follows:

“A detailed analysis of the changing representations of the UK border policy and migration over the last ten years, the influence of media discourse in political decision making is highlighted in this dissertation”

Summarise Your Research

The thesis conclusion gives your readers a reminder about why you approached a topic in a certain way. You must summarize the expected results and the actual results that matched these expectations.

The summary should not have too many repetitions. It is not meant to summarize every chapter. Instead, it must reflect your views and ideas that were developed through the course of the thesis. This is also a good opportunity to list any limitations in the research. You can also highlight why your methodology was best suited for the topic discussed.

Here is an example of how to restate thesis in conclusion:

This research evidently shows “X” while raising a few questions about “Y”. In keeping with the example provided above, the summary can begin as follows: “In addition to showcasing the various representations of UK border policy, this thesis also raises questions on the credibility of media exposure in these representations.”

Provide Recommendations

In the discussion of your research, you may have provided possible areas to explore in future research. However, with the conclusion, you can elaborate on these suggestions. Make sure you include the implications of all your findings in the field of study.

These examples will help you understand ways to start a dissertation conclusion recommendation:

“Further research is required to determine the relationship between the changing political views on migration and their effect on global economy”, or, “Based on the conclusions of this research, practitioners may consider studying the relationship between migration and economy”

Make sure that you do not exaggerate how applicable your research is. Instead, provide broader statements to highlight important insights of your thesis. Remember, the conclusion must not include any new interpretations, data or arguments.

Highlight the Contributions of You Research

A good thesis is one that provides some new knowledge to a particular field of study. This gives your readers a very strong impression about the contributions of your thesis. You can highlight the contributions of your research in different ways as mentioned below:

• Go back to the problem statement and explain how your thesis has helped solve it.
• Use references from the literature review to showcase how your research has addressed any gaps in information.
• Write about how the results of your thesis challenges existing assumptions and theories.

You need to make sure that you do not repeat information that has already been covered in the discussion. Choose only the important points and provide a brief overview.

Complete the Dissertation

Once the conclusion is written, there are a few final steps to complete your dissertation:

• Write the thesis abstract in 200 words or less .
• Review your reference list and format it as per the writing style. You can also use online reference generators to speed up this process.
• Create the table of contents and complete the title page .

Make sure you review the document completely to ensure that there are no language errors.

Dissertation Conclusion Checklist

To make sure that you have understood the essence of the conclusion, compare this checklist with any available dissertation conclusion sample:

The research question is answered The argument is summarised There is some reflection on the methods and results Limitations, if any, are highlighted The most relevant recommendations are discussed The important contributions of the thesis are explained clearly There is no inclusion of new data

If you need any thesis writing help or wish to read through example of conclusion in thesis, our experts are always ready to help you. Get in touch with us now to create an impressive conclusion for your thesis.

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Need editing and proofreading services, how to write a dissertation & thesis conclusion (+ examples).

• Tags: Academic Writing , Language , Writing Tips

Want to create a strong, impactful conclusion? Explore how to create a dissertation and thesis conclusion in 5 simple steps! To help you understand better, we’ve also included useful dissertation and thesis conclusion examples! 

Whether you want to write a conclusion for an empirical or humanities paper, this article will help. So without delay, let’s understand how to create the best conclusion! 

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Firstly, let’s know more about the appropriate length of a dissertation and thesis conclusion. 

What is the length of a conclusion? 

Depending on the complexity of your research and document length, the length will differ. The thesis or dissertation conclusion should be 5-7% of your paper’s overall word count. For example, if your thesis is 30,000 words, the conclusion can be 1,500-2100 words. 

The conclusion for empirical or scientific theses or dissertations is often brief. It summarizes the main findings, interprets the research, and discusses the main implications in a few words. In contrast, the thesis or dissertation conclusion for humanities subjects is longer and more reflective. 

Now let’s see how to write a conclusion for a thesis/ dissertation in 5 steps! 

How to write a dissertation and thesis conclusion 

1. remind readers of the research purpose .

For an empirical paper, start your conclusion by revisiting your research question or hypotheses stated earlier in your research. This reminds readers of your study’s main focus and sets the stage for findings. Following is an example: 

“This study aimed to investigate the relationship between employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment in the healthcare industry.” 

In comparison, while writing the conclusion for a humanities paper, reflect on the research journey. You can also consider the key themes , ideas, arguments, and questions that have guided your research. Here is an example: 

“Throughout this thesis, the concept of identity formation in postcolonial literature has been explored, focusing on the works of Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The central argument claimed that these authors utilize their narratives to challenge Western hegemonic discourses and assert the agency of African identities.” 

2. Summarize main insights 

For an empirical paper, summarize your main results and findings concisely. This section should highlight the most significant research outcomes and how they relate to your research questions, hypotheses or research methodology . Here is an example: 

“The results of this study demonstrated a significant positive correlation between employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment (r = 0.78, p < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that job satisfaction, along with factors such as work-life balance and leadership support, accounted for 65% of the variance in organizational commitment scores.” 

On the other hand, if it’s a humanities paper, you can summarize any evidence or examples that support your claims about the research in your conclusion. Here is an example: 

“The analysis of Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ and Adichie’s ‘Purple Hibiscus’ reveals a common thread of resistance against colonial oppression and the assertion of African identity. Both authors employ narrative techniques that subvert Western stereotypes and provide a nuanced portrayal of African experiences. Through their characters’ journeys, Achebe and Adichie challenge the notion of a singular African identity and highlight the complexities of postcolonial life.”

3. Suggest practical applications, future recommendations, and limitations 

Mention how your research can be practically applied (if relevant) and make suggestions for future research. Explain the broader significance of your findings while writing a dissertation conclusion/thesis conclusion. If there are any limitations, you can add them to this part. Here is an example: 

“The findings have implications for healthcare organizations aiming to improve employee retention and well-being, with potential benefits for patient care and organizational performance. However, the study’s limitations, such as its specific sample size and setting make it difficult to generalize these findings. Further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of interventions targeting these factors across diverse healthcare contexts and to investigate additional variables that may impact organizational commitment.” 

In contrast, here is another conclusion example for an empirical paper: 

“The comparative analysis of Achebe and Adichie’s works has significant implications for the study of postcolonial literature. By highlighting the diversity of African experiences and the importance of cultural identity, these authors challenge the notion of a monolithic African narrative. This research also raises important questions about the role of literature in shaping cultural perceptions and the impact of colonialism on contemporary African societies.”

Browse through the next step of how to write a conclusion for a dissertation/thesis! This step demonstrates your research’s importance in a broader context. 

4. Highlight your research’s significance

In this part, write about how your research has contributed new knowledge to your field. You can briefly explain how the research conducted has filled a gap in your field of study. By using relevant academic research resources like Google Scholar, you can understand the research already conducted and use relevant references in your conclusion. 

If your research proves or disproves a certain theory or assumption, you can mention that. Also, if you’ve mentioned the gap in the literature review , you can remind readers about this. 

Here is an example of how to highlight your research’s significance for an empirical paper: 

“This study contributes to the growing body of research on the impact of social media on adolescent mental health. By utilizing a longitudinal design and a large, diverse sample, this study provides robust evidence for the relationship between social media usage and negative mental health outcomes. The findings also highlight the importance of considering the role of specific social media platforms and usage patterns in shaping mental health, which has been overlooked in previous research.” 

In contrast, in a humanities paper, you should focus on how your insights contribute to the broader discourse in your field and any new perspectives or interpretations.

Following is an example: 

“This comparative analysis of Achebe and Adichie’s works contributes to the growing body of postcolonial literary criticism by highlighting the importance of considering the diversity of African experiences and the ongoing impact of colonialism on contemporary African societies. By focusing on the theme of cultural identity and the use of narrative techniques that subvert Western stereotypes, this research offers a new lens through which to interpret these authors’ works and their significance within the canon of African literature.” 

Now, let’s understand the last step of how to write a dissertation conclusion/thesis conclusion! 

5. Strongly conclude your thesis or dissertation 

End with an impactful statement that summarizes a key takeaway or highlights your work’s broader significance. 

Here is an example of an empirical paper conclusion: 

“By investing in evidence-based strategies to promote mental health in the workplace, we can foster a more resilient and productive workforce for the future.” 

In contrast, the following is an example of the final statement for a humanities paper: 

“In the final analysis, the enduring legacy of these writers lies in their ability to touch the depths of the human soul, awakening us to the transformative power of language, story, and imagination.” 

After concluding your thesis, to enhance your thesis further, you can take the help of online thesis editing and proofreading services . Now let us see the dos and don’ts to follow while writing a thesis conclusion! 

Dos and don’ts while writing a conclusion 

Suggested sentence structures for framing the conclusion 

Depending on whether you’re writing an empirical or humanities paper, you can use and customize these sentence structures for your thesis or dissertation conclusion. 

• This study aimed to investigate the… 
• The results of this study demonstrate that…
• The analysis of the data revealed that… 
• The findings of this study have significant implications for…
• The insights gained from this research have important implications for…
• The key findings of this research indicate… 
• Further research is needed to explore….
• By investigating [write the research purpose], this study found out [write the main findings]. 
• This study makes a notable contribution to the field of…[field name] by [write the contribution] 
• While this study demonstrates the potential for [practical application], further research is required to explore…
• To conclude, the insights gained from this research…
• This dissertation fills a crucial gap in the literature by…
• This study offers valuable insights that can…
• In summary, this study…
• In closing, this dissertation…

This concludes our guide about how to write a thesis conclusion and dissertation conclusion. You can bookmark this article to revisit any thesis and dissertation conclusion examples. Once you write the conclusion and complete your paper, you’ll need to edit and proofread your thesis or dissertation. As experts in editing and proofreading services , we’d love to help you perfect your paper! 

Here are some other articles you might find interesting: 

• Thesis Editing | Definition, Scope & Standard Rates
• Academic Writing in 2024: 5 Key Dos & Don’ts + Examples
• Top 10 Assignment Editing Services of 2024
• Top 10 Online Dissertation Editing Services of 2024
• How to Write a Dissertation | 5 Tips from Academic Editors

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How To Write a Thesis Conclusion – Example & Tips

A thesis conclusion is the last and the most crucial section of your thesis or dissertation. It is the summary of the dissertation. Put it this way: the conclusion paragraph is your entire dissertation wrapped in a few paragraphs. But, concluding a thesis is never easy for many people. Therefore, what is the best way for concluding a thesis or dissertation?

In this post, we will take a closer look at the dissertation conclusion to help you understand how to write a winning conclusion for a research paper as well as a thesis. We will narrow it down further to outline the best structure of a conclusion.

What is the Importance of the Conclusion Paragraph?

Discussion vs conclusion, what is the best format for writing a conclusion, get a sigh of relief concluding thesis.

Before digging deeper into the mechanics of how to write a conclusion for a research paper or thesis, you need to ask yourself the question: “Why is it important?”

Your dissertation conclusion is the last part that you work on after completing the research and the write-up. No matter the area of study you are focusing on, the conclusion can help you to achieve the following goals:

• Answering the research questions that you posed in the first chapter of the dissertation.
• The conclusion paragraph is the part where you reflect on the dissertation.
• In the conclusion, you draw the recommendations for additional studies in areas where you found gaps.
• When writing a dissertation conclusion, you demonstrate what new knowledge you are contributing to the field.

Note that just like the rest of the dissertation, you should not shy from asking your supervisor for a great dissertation conclusion example, especially from past students. This is very important because your department might have a preferred format for writing dissertation conclusions. You can also get a perfect example of a conclusion in the thesis as you research your topic.

When designing a conclusion format, it is important to differentiate it from the results and discussion parts of the thesis. This will help you to strike the perfect flow and win the readers’ affection.

The dissertation results chapter outlines the findings you generated from the research. You should use tables and graphs to demonstrate the findings of the study. The results chapter comes before the discussion.

In the discussion section, you delve deeper into the results you have just presented. You are simply deciphering the findings in line with your research questions. It is the discussion that will set the stage for approving or disproving the thesis statement that you outlined in the first chapter.

NOTE: In some colleges, the results and discussions are put together into one chapter. Therefore, it is very important to follow your college’s recommendation.

While the results and discussions focus more on the results, the conclusion wraps up the entire dissertation. If your dissertation ends at the discussion part, the reader will be left hanging. But writing the conclusion makes the dissertation feel complete and authentic.

As you think about how to write a conclusion, there is one question you need to get right: “How long should a conclusion be?” If you are writing a conclusion for a standard research paper or short thesis, one to three paragraphs should suffice. To put it in percentage, the conclusion should be about 5% of the overall word count. Therefore, you should start by establishing “how long should a thesis be”.

In most cases, the conclusion for empirical scientific research is generally short while that of humanities dissertations is longer. Here is the best format for how to end a research paper or thesis.

• Start by answering the thesis question: Your conclusion should commence by restating the main thesis question that you anticipate answering. Finally, you have the opportunity to answer the question. Ensure the answer is clear and concise.
• Reflect on the research that you have just finished: After stating the study question, you need to remind the marker or readers why the study was important. Why did you set off on the journey, what was the anticipation, and did the results confirm the expectation? Give an overview of steps that were used during the research and construction of your argument.

At this point, you might be wondering – do I summarize every chapter? The answer is ‘no.’ Instead, you should write more reflectively and answer whether the methodology used was effective in answering the study questions. Make sure also to mention the limitations you experienced during the study.

• Outline recommendations: Although you might have noted the areas that need further research when discussing results, the conclusion is a perfect place to elaborate. Its recommendations interweave well with personal reflections. Try to make recommendations specific. Here are some examples of how to frame recommendations:

Further studies are needed to establish the implications of …. From the conclusion, sociology researchers should consider ….. To understand the effects of the findings, further research can help to ….

• What was your contribution? This part of the conclusion is used to answer the question: “So what?” It provides the right impression of how the thesis contributed to the researcher’s field of study. To achieve this, you can use the following strategies:

Revisit the study problem statement and explain how the thesis helped to solve it. Refer to the study’s literature review to demonstrate how the dissertation has helped to fill the existing gap. If your dissertation is in humanities, you can demonstrate how the findings challenged or confirmed the current viewpoints, assumptions, or theories.

Note that the conclusion should not appear as a stand-alone chapter in the dissertation. Rather, it should articulately interweave with the rest of the paper. To perfect your skills, make sure to also check top conclusion paragraph examples from other students.

From this post on how to write a conclusion paragraph, there is no doubt that you should find it an easy and enjoyable process. After working so hard to complete the dissertation, the conclusion paragraph is simply aimed at wrapping everything up. To get the best conclusions, you should also read top-rated conclusion paragraph examples to see how experts do it. But we must agree that even with this simplified demonstration, crafting the perfect conclusion paragraph is no easy task. It takes time and practice.

There are times when students, even after working on the biggest chunk of their dissertations, feel inadequate to write the conclusions. Often, the process can be complicated when you are required to follow specific models such as MLA or APA conclusions. Even if you have the best conclusion examples and working hard to hone your writing skills, a tight deadline or other engagements might make it hard to craft the best. If you feel inadequate about writing a Harvard or MLA format conclusion because of any reason, do not hesitate to seek writing help.

Writing help is offered by expert writers who understand the structure of Ph.D. conclusion chapters to guarantee you the best grades. No matter your area of study, the experts are cheap and will get you the best. In addition to helping you write the conclusion, they can also provide you with the best sample of a conclusion paragraph for practice. What a great way to sharpen your skills in dissertation writing?

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• Researching and Writing a Masters Dissertation

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All Masters programmes include some form of extended individual project. Research-focussed programmes, such as an MRes , may include multiple independent research components. Taught courses usually culminate with a substantial research task, referred to as the Masters dissertation or thesis.

This article talks about how long a Masters dissertation is and the structure it follows.Before you get started on your dissertation, you'll usually need to write a proposal. Read our full guide to Masters dissertation proposals for more information on what this should include!

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What’s the difference between a masters dissertation and an undergraduate dissertation.

The Masters thesis is a bridge between undergraduate study and higher level postgraduate degrees such as the PhD .

A postgraduate dissertation may not look that different to its undergraduate equivalent. You’ll likely have to produce a longer piece of work but the foundations remain the same.

After all, one of the purposes of an undergraduate dissertation or final year project is to prepare you for more in-depth research work as a postgraduate. That said, there are some important differences between the two levels.

So, how long is a Masters dissertation? A Masters dissertation will be longer than the undergraduate equivalent – usually it’ll be somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 words, but this can vary widely between courses, institutions and countries.

To answer your overall research question comprehensively, you’ll be expected to identify and examine specific areas of your topic. This can be like producing a series of shorter pieces of work, similar to those required by individual modules. However, there’s the additional requirement that they collectively support a broader set of conclusions.

This more involved Masters dissertation structure will:

• Give you the scope to investigate your subject in greater detail than is possible at undergraduate level
• Challenge you to be effective at organising your work so that its individual components function as stages in a coherent and persuasive overall argument
• Allow you to develop and hone a suitable research methodology (for example, choosing between qualitative and quantitative methods)

If the individual topics within your overall project require you to access separate sources or datasets, this may also have an impact on your research process.

As a postgraduate, you’ll be expected to establish and assert your own critical voice as a member of the academic community associated with your field .

During your Masters thesis you’ll need to show that you are not just capable of analysing and critiquing original data or primary source material. You should also demonstrate awareness of the existing body of scholarship relating to your topic .

So, if you’ll excuse the pun, a ‘Masters’ degree really is about achieving ‘mastery’ of your particular specialism and the dissertation is where you’ll demonstrate this: showing off the scholarly expertise and research skills that you’ve developed across your programme.

What’s the difference between a dissertation and a thesis?

A dissertation is a long piece of (usually) written work on the same topic. A thesis is a little more specific: it usually means something that presents an original argument based on the interpretation of data, statistics or content.

So, a thesis is almost always presented as a dissertation, but not all dissertations present a thesis.

Masters dissertation structure

As you can probably imagine, no two dissertations follow the exact same structure, especially given the differences found between Masters programmes from university to university and country to country .

That said, there are several key components that make up the structure of a typical Masters dissertation

How long is a Masters dissertation?

Most dissertations will typically be between 15,000 and 20,000 words long, although this can vary significantly depending on the nature of the programme.

You should also check with your university exactly which sections of the dissertation count towards the final word count (the abstract, bibliography and appendices won’t usually be included in the total).

Usually around 300 words long, the abstract is meant to be a concise summary of your dissertation. It should briefly cover the question(s) you aim to answer, your primary argument and your conclusion.

Introduction

The purpose of the introduction is to provide context for the rest of the dissertation, setting out your aims and the scope of what you want to achieve with your research. The introduction should give a clear overview of the dissertation’s chapters and will usually be around 1,000 words long.

Literature review

This part of the dissertation should examine the scholarship that has already been published in your field, presenting various arguments and counter-arguments while situating your own research within this wider body of work.

You should analyse and evaluate other publications and explain how your dissertation will contribute to the existing literature in your subject area. The literature review sometimes forms part of the introduction or follows immediately on from it. Most literature reviews are up to 1,000 words long.

Research methodology

Not all dissertations will require a section covering research methodology (Arts and Humanities dissertations won’t normally undertake the kind of research that involves a set methodology). However, if you are using a particular method to collect information for your dissertation, you should make sure to explain the rationale behind your choice of methodology. The word count for this part of the dissertation is usually around the 1,500 mark.

Those in the Arts and Humanities will usually outline their theoretical perspectives and approaches as part of the introduction, rather than requiring a detailed explanation of the methodology for their data collection and analysis.

Results / findings

If your research involves some form of survey or experiment, this is where you’ll present the results of your work. Depending on the nature of the study, this might be in the form of graphs, tables or charts – or even just a written description of what the research entailed and what the findings were.

This section forms the bulk of your dissertation and should be carefully structured using a series of related chapters (and sub-chapters). There should be a logical progression from one chapter to the next, with each part building on the arguments of its predecessor.

It can be helpful to think of your Masters dissertation as a series of closely interlinked essays, rather than one overwhelming paper. The size of this section will depend on the overall word count for your dissertation. However, to give you a rough idea for a 15,000-word dissertation, the discussion part will generally be about 12,000 words long.

Here you should draw together the threads of the previous discussion chapters and make your final concluding statements, drawing on evidence and arguments that you’ve already explored over the course of the dissertation. Explain the significance of your findings and point towards directions that future research could follow. This section of the Masters thesis will be around 1,500 words long.

References / bibliography

While planning and writing your dissertation, you should keep an extensive, organised record of any papers, sources or books you’ve quoted (or referred to). This will be a lot easier than leaving all of it until the end and struggling to work out where a particular quotation is from!

Appendices won’t be necessary in many dissertations, but you may need to include supplementary material to support your argument. This could be interview transcripts or questionnaires. If including such content within the body of the dissertation won’t be feasible – i.e. there wouldn’t be enough space or it would break the flow of your writing – you should consult with your supervisor and consider attaching it in an appendix.

It’s worth bearing in mind that these sections won’t always be discretely labelled in every dissertation. For example, everything up to ‘discussion’ might be covered in introductory chapter (rather than as distinct sections). If you’re unsure about the structure of your Masters dissertation, your supervisor will be able to help you map it out.

How does supervision work for a Masters dissertation?

As a Masters student at the dissertation stage you’ll usually be matched with an academic within your institution who will be tasked with guiding your work. This might be someone who has already taught you, or it may be another scholar whose research interests and expertise align well with what you want to do. You may be able to request a particular supervisor, but taught postgraduates are more likely to be assigned them by their department.

Specific arrangements with your supervisor will vary depending on your institution and subject area. They will usually meet with you at the beginning of the dissertation period to discuss your project and agree a suitable schedule for its undertaking. This timetable will probably set dates for:

• Subsequent discussions and progress checks
• The submission of draft chapters or sections
• Feedback appointments

Though your supervisor is there to help and advise you, it is important to remember that your dissertation is a personal research project with associated expectations of you as an independent scholar.

As a rule of thumb, you can expect your supervisor to read each part of your dissertation once at the draft stage and to offer feedback. Most will not have time to look at lots of subsequent revisions, but may respond favourably to polite requests for exceptions (provided their own workload permits it).

Inundating your supervisor with emails or multiple iterations of draft material is best avoided; they will have their own research to manage (as well as other supervision assignments) and will be able to offer better quality feedback if you stick to an agreed schedule.

How is a Masters dissertation assessed and examined?

On most courses your dissertation will be assessed by an external examiner (as well as additional members of faculty within your university who haven’t been responsible for supervising you), but these will read and critique the work you submit without personally questioning and testing you on it.

Though this examination process is not as challenging as the oral defence or ‘ viva voce ’ required for a PhD thesis, the grading of your Masters dissertation is still a fundamental component of your degree.

On some programmes the result awarded to a student’s dissertation may determine the upper grade-band that can be awarded to their degree.

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• How to Write a Thesis or Dissertation Conclusion

How to Write a Dissertation Conclusion | Checklist and Examples

Published on 9 September 2022 by Tegan George and Shona McCombes. Revised on 10 October 2022.

The conclusion is the very last part of your thesis or dissertation . It should be concise and engaging, leaving your reader with a clear understanding of your main findings, as well as the answer to your research question .

In it, you should:

• Clearly state the answer to your main research question
• Summarise and reflect on your research process
• Make recommendations for future work on your topic
• Show what new knowledge you have contributed to your field
• Wrap up your thesis or dissertation

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Table of contents

Discussion vs. conclusion, how long should your conclusion be, step 1: answer your research question, step 2: summarise and reflect on your research, step 3: make future recommendations, step 4: emphasise your contributions to your field, step 5: wrap up your thesis or dissertation, full conclusion example, conclusion checklist, frequently asked questions about conclusion sections.

While your conclusion contains similar elements to your discussion section , they are not the same thing.

Your conclusion should be shorter and more general than your discussion. Instead of repeating literature from your literature review , discussing specific research results , or interpreting your data in detail, concentrate on making broad statements that sum up the most important insights of your research.

As a rule of thumb, your conclusion should not introduce new data, interpretations, or arguments.

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Depending on whether you are writing a thesis or dissertation, your length will vary. Generally, a conclusion should make up around 5–7% of your overall word count.

An empirical scientific study will often have a short conclusion, concisely stating the main findings and recommendations for future research. A humanities topic or systematic review , on the other hand, might require more space to conclude its analysis, tying all the previous sections together in an overall argument.

Your conclusion should begin with the main question that your thesis or dissertation aimed to address. This is your final chance to show that you’ve done what you set out to do, so make sure to formulate a clear, concise answer.

• Don’t repeat a list of all the results that you already discussed
• Do synthesise them into a final takeaway that the reader will remember.

An empirical thesis or dissertation conclusion may begin like this:

A case study –based thesis or dissertation conclusion may begin like this:

In the second example, the research aim is not directly restated, but rather added implicitly to the statement. To avoid repeating yourself, it is helpful to reformulate your aims and questions into an overall statement of what you did and how you did it.

Your conclusion is an opportunity to remind your reader why you took the approach you did, what you expected to find, and how well the results matched your expectations.

To avoid repetition , consider writing more reflectively here, rather than just writing a summary of each preceding section. Consider mentioning the effectiveness of your methodology , or perhaps any new questions or unexpected insights that arose in the process.

You can also mention any limitations of your research, but only if you haven’t already included these in the discussion. Don’t dwell on them at length, though – focus on the positives of your work.

• While x limits the generalisability of the results, this approach provides new insight into y .
• This research clearly illustrates x , but it also raises the question of y .

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You may already have made a few recommendations for future research in your discussion section, but the conclusion is a good place to elaborate and look ahead, considering the implications of your findings in both theoretical and practical terms.

• Based on these conclusions, practitioners should consider …
• To better understand the implications of these results, future studies could address …
• Further research is needed to determine the causes of/effects of/relationship between …

When making recommendations for further research, be sure not to undermine your own work. Relatedly, while future studies might confirm, build on, or enrich your conclusions, they shouldn’t be required for your argument to feel complete. Your work should stand alone on its own merits.

Just as you should avoid too much self-criticism, you should also avoid exaggerating the applicability of your research. If you’re making recommendations for policy, business, or other practical implementations, it’s generally best to frame them as ‘shoulds’ rather than ‘musts’. All in all, the purpose of academic research is to inform, explain, and explore – not to demand.

Make sure your reader is left with a strong impression of what your research has contributed to the state of your field.

Some strategies to achieve this include:

• Returning to your problem statement to explain how your research helps solve the problem
• Referring back to the literature review and showing how you have addressed a gap in knowledge
• Discussing how your findings confirm or challenge an existing theory or assumption

Again, avoid simply repeating what you’ve already covered in the discussion in your conclusion. Instead, pick out the most important points and sum them up succinctly, situating your project in a broader context.

The end is near! Once you’ve finished writing your conclusion, it’s time to wrap up your thesis or dissertation with a few final steps:

• It’s a good idea to write your abstract next, while the research is still fresh in your mind.
• Next, make sure your reference list is complete and correctly formatted. To speed up the process, you can use our free APA citation generator .
• Once you’ve added any appendices , you can create a table of contents and title page .
• Finally, read through the whole document again to make sure your thesis is clearly written and free from language errors. You can proofread it yourself , ask a friend, or consider Scribbr’s proofreading and editing service .

Here is an example of how you can write your conclusion section. Notice how it includes everything mentioned above:

V. Conclusion

The current research aimed to identify acoustic speech characteristics which mark the beginning of an exacerbation in COPD patients.

The central questions for this research were as follows: 1. Which acoustic measures extracted from read speech differ between COPD speakers in stable condition and healthy speakers? 2. In what ways does the speech of COPD patients during an exacerbation differ from speech of COPD patients during stable periods?

All recordings were aligned using a script. Subsequently, they were manually annotated to indicate respiratory actions such as inhaling and exhaling. The recordings of 9 stable COPD patients reading aloud were then compared with the recordings of 5 healthy control subjects reading aloud. The results showed a significant effect of condition on the number of in- and exhalations per syllable, the number of non-linguistic in- and exhalations per syllable, and the ratio of voiced and silence intervals. The number of in- and exhalations per syllable and the number of non-linguistic in- and exhalations per syllable were higher for COPD patients than for healthy controls, which confirmed both hypotheses.

However, the higher ratio of voiced and silence intervals for COPD patients compared to healthy controls was not in line with the hypotheses. This unpredicted result might have been caused by the different reading materials or recording procedures for both groups, or by a difference in reading skills. Moreover, there was a trend regarding the effect of condition on the number of syllables per breath group. The number of syllables per breath group was higher for healthy controls than for COPD patients, which was in line with the hypothesis. There was no effect of condition on pitch, intensity, center of gravity, pitch variability, speaking rate, or articulation rate.

This research has shown that the speech of COPD patients in exacerbation differs from the speech of COPD patients in stable condition. This might have potential for the detection of exacerbations. However, sustained vowels rarely occur in spontaneous speech. Therefore, the last two outcome measures might have greater potential for the detection of beginning exacerbations, but further research on the different outcome measures and their potential for the detection of exacerbations is needed due to the limitations of the current study.

Checklist: Conclusion

I have clearly and concisely answered the main research question .

I have summarized my overall argument or key takeaways.

I have mentioned any important limitations of the research.

I have given relevant recommendations .

I have clearly explained what my research has contributed to my field.

I have  not introduced any new data or arguments.

You've written a great conclusion! Use the other checklists to further improve your dissertation.

In a thesis or dissertation, the discussion is an in-depth exploration of the results, going into detail about the meaning of your findings and citing relevant sources to put them in context.

The conclusion is more shorter and more general: it concisely answers your main research question and makes recommendations based on your overall findings.

While it may be tempting to present new arguments or evidence in your thesis or disseration conclusion , especially if you have a particularly striking argument you’d like to finish your analysis with, you shouldn’t. Theses and dissertations follow a more formal structure than this.

All your findings and arguments should be presented in the body of the text (more specifically in the discussion section and results section .) The conclusion is meant to summarize and reflect on the evidence and arguments you have already presented, not introduce new ones.

For a stronger dissertation conclusion , avoid including:

• Generic concluding phrases (e.g. “In conclusion…”)
• Weak statements that undermine your argument (e.g. “There are good points on both sides of this issue.”)

Your conclusion should leave the reader with a strong, decisive impression of your work.

The conclusion of your thesis or dissertation shouldn’t take up more than 5-7% of your overall word count.

The conclusion of your thesis or dissertation should include the following:

• A restatement of your research question
• A summary of your key arguments and/or results
• A short discussion of the implications of your research

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

George, T. & McCombes, S. (2022, October 10). How to Write a Dissertation Conclusion | Checklist and Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 21 August 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/thesis-dissertation/conclusion/

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Crafting a Dissertation Conclusion: 10 Comprehensive Tips

Table of contents, introduction.

As you start your process of writing a dissertation, the dissertation formatting needs to be kept in mind.Though a conclusion comes at the very end of a dissertation or research paper , it is extremely important. It is supposed to convey what you have deduced from your research. Its crispness needs to include only what is relevant to your problem statement or dissertation questions.

Write an appropriate dissertation conclusion relative to the size of your dissertation or thesis . The length of your conclusion should not be more than 5–7% of your total dissertation word count.

Dissertation Conclusion Tips

Here are a few dissertation conclusion tips to help you write a good conclusion. Make sure to go through them before you begin writing your dissertation conclusion. Make the necessary changes if you have already written a conclusion:

1. Make the conclusion short and impactful

Avoid making the dissertation conclusion too long. Make it precise and to the point. The more objective the conclusion, the better your dissertation will appear.

The purpose of a conclusion is to sum up all that has been learned through the process of writing a dissertation. Just as an introduction would contain the point or purpose of a dissertation or thesis , the conclusion needs to sum up the findings that have become evident from the observations and analysis.

2. Do not include a detailed explanation in your conclusion

While writing a conclusion, remember that the reader is not interested in reading a detailed analysis as your conclusion. You will appear confused about the structure of your own dissertation . So, do not go on and on about the reasons behind your conclusions. You have already stated them earlier in your dissertation.

Your conclusion should make sweeping statements that cover your research well. They need not be followed by explanations, as that would be included in your analysis itself.

3. Use bullet points

You must be familiar with the aesthetic appeal of bullet points to a reader. Instead of long paragraphs, one prefers to read precise points. They are easier to go through over and over again and revise if needed.

They give the impression that the writer has a lucid purpose behind conducting their research and knows what they are doing. Use pointers in your conclusion as well. State your findings step by step, in a logical order. The points should be one-line summaries of your dissertation.

4. State and answer your Research question

As you begin writing your conclusion, try to restate your research question and then move on to answering it. Answers to the research questions addressed in the dissertation need to be stated clearly in the conclusion.

For example, you can begin your conclusion with ‘In this research paper, I tried to find out whether herbivorous animals have a color preference in the leaves they eat’.

Do not bring in new research questions in your conclusion. This will take the reader by surprise and lead to your research paper being all over the place.

5. You are allowed to reflect on your research

Every research paper has positive and/or negative observations and results. You could state whether your research was helpful in answering your research question. The aim you had in mind might have led you to your findings, which could be in your favor or not.

State whether they were good, bad, or ugly. Say whether your research was beneficial to you. Were there any personal conclusions? You might also state any surprising insights you come across in the process of working on your dissertation. While doing so, do not focus on the inclusion of your feelings while working on the dissertation. Eg, this research made me so happy.

6. Check out a few dissertation conclusion examples

Before you start writing your conclusion, read a few dissertation conclusion examples online. You can refer to a few available online or read some research papers to get a clearer idea of dissertation conclusions. You can ask your professor or advisor for a few examples as well, in order to get an idea of what they are expecting from you. The format will guide you as you work on your dissertation.

7. Go through your dissertation

As you begin writing your conclusion, it would be beneficial to go through your dissertation or research paper one more time. Evaluate the contents of your dissertation. You might find useful points to include in your conclusion. Those might have been left out while you were writing the conclusion. However, do not include new information in your conclusion while doing so. All points that you state in your dissertation conclusion should have been previously proven in your research paper or dissertation.

8. Give references

It is crucial to reference other articles related to your dissertation or response paper. It will establish you as a thorough researcher. This can be done throughout the dissertation and in the dissertation conclusion.

Cite sources of information and give credit to whoever has been of help in conducting your research and writing a dissertation. At the same time, you can state the anomalies you found while referencing a paper for your research. Assert how your dissertation disproves a pre-existing hypothesis or says more about a phenomenon mentioned in another research paper.

9. Highlight important phrases

A reader should be able to see your conclusions at a glance. In order to quote your findings, it is important that you highlight the main points that you are making in your dissertation conclusion.

Highlighting will help a reader come back to important points later. They will know what is to be focused on and kept in mind while reading your dissertation. The keywords can be highlighted as well. They will help catalog your dissertation among other research papers that might be related to your field of study. This will help with further referencing.

10. State the importance of your dissertation for future research

The implications of your research paper or dissertation can be numerous. The dissertation can be a significant step in the respective field, which can change humankind’s perspective and method of solving global problems.

The reader should see value in your research paper. They should feel your dissertation is worth thinking about and important enough for you to work on. Personal motivations (the dissertation only being of help to you) to conduct research and analysis might not be enough while stating the implications of your dissertation. In order to convince a reader of the importance of your findings, it is crucial that you believe in your findings and research.

Dissertation Conclusion Checklist

A step-by-step dissertation conclusion checklist for you will be:

• Have bullet points, not long paragraphs.
• State your research question and answer clearly.
• Sum up your research findings in a few words.
• Reference pre-existing papers.
• Do not explain points unnecessarily.
• State your responses to your research and dissertation .
• Go through your dissertation once again and find out important points; check if you have included them in your conclusion.
• Highlight the main phrases in your dissertation conclusion.

Dissertation Conclusion Samples

In essence, as you delve into the intricacies of your dissertation , don’t underestimate the significance of proper formatting. The conclusion, despite its position at the end, carries substantial weight as it encapsulates the derived insights from your research. Crafting an impactful conclusion involves maintaining brevity, utilizing bullet points for clarity, and ensuring it adheres to the recommended word count range.

Additionally, restating and answering your research question, offering reflections on your findings, and highlighting key phrases for emphasis are crucial elements. Drawing inspiration from dissertation conclusion examples, conducting a thorough review of your dissertation, ensuring proper referencing, and emphasizing the research’s future implications are key steps in this process. Consider incorporating the expertise of dissertation editing services platforms like TrueEditors , WriteSmartly , ProofreadingPal, Kibin, as they have skilled dissertation editors who specialize in refining grammar, enhancing structural coherence, and elevating the overall quality of dissertations. Their adept editors bring valuable insights to ensure a polished and professional final product for your academic work. You are good to go!

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Writing a Dissertation: Conclusion and Other Sections

Once you have completed the main body of your dissertation or thesis, you then need to worry about drawing your conclusions, and the additional pages, such as whether to include a table of contents.

Your university may have guidelines but, otherwise, you will have to use your own judgement.

This page gives some advice about what is often included and why.

Writing your Conclusion

You may have been permitted, and have chosen, to include your conclusions in the discussion section, see our page on Results and Discussion for some ideas about why you might choose to do this.

However, it is normal practice to include a short section at the end of your dissertation that draws out your conclusions.

This section will need to have several elements, including:

A brief summary , just a few paragraphs, of your key findings, related back to what you expected to see (essential);

The conclusions which you have drawn from your research (essential);

Why your research is important for researchers and practitioners (essential);

Recommendations for future research (strongly recommended, verging on essential);

Recommendations for practitioners (strongly recommended in management and business courses and some other areas, so check with your supervisor whether this will be expected); and

A final paragraph rounding off your dissertation or thesis.

Your conclusion does not need to be very long; no more than five pages is usually sufficient, although detailed recommendations for practice may require more space.

Other Elements for Inclusion

Your university will almost certainly have formal guidelines on the format for the title page, which may need to be submitted separately for blind marking purposes.

As a general rule, the title page should contain the title of the thesis or dissertation, your name, your course, your supervisor and the date of submission or completion.

This is a one page summary of your dissertation or thesis, effectively an executive summary .

Not every university requires a formal abstract, especially for undergraduate or master's theses, so check carefully. If one is required, it may be either structured or unstructured.

A structured abstract has subheadings, which should follow the same format as your dissertation itself (usually Literature, Methods, Results and Discussion). There will probably also be a word limit for the abstract.

If an abstract is required, it may be published separately from your thesis, as a way of indexing it. It will therefore be assessed both as a part of your thesis, and as a stand-alone document that will tell other researchers whether your dissertation will be useful in their studies. It is generally best to write the abstract last, when you are sure of the thread of your argument, and the most important areas to highlight.

Table of Contents

You should include a table of contents, which should include all headings and subheadings.

It is probably best to use the standard software tools to create and update this automatically, as it leads to fewer problems later on. If you’re not sure how to do this, use the Help function in the software, or Google it.

The time spent learning how to do it accurately will be more than saved later on when you don’t have to update it manually.

Table of Figures

You only really need to include this if you have a lot of figures. As with your table of contents, it’s best to use the tools available in the software to create this, so that it will update automatically even if you move a table or figure later.

Acknowledgements

This section is used to ensure that you do not inadvertently fall foul of any ‘taking help’ guidance.

Use it to thank:

Anyone who provided you with information, or who gave you their time as part of your research, for example, interviewees, or those who returned questionnaires;

Any person or body who has provided you with funding or financial support that has enabled you to carry out your research;

Anyone who has helped you with the writing, including anyone who has read and commented on a draft such as your supervisor, a proof-reader or a language editor, whether paid or unpaid;

Anyone to whom you are particularly grateful, like your spouse or family for tolerating your absence from family occasions for years during your studies.

You should not use appendices as a general ‘dumping ground’ for stuff you found interesting, but couldn’t manage to shoehorn in anywhere else, or which you wanted to include but couldn’t within the word count.

Appendices should be used for relevant information only, such as copies of your questionnaires or interview outlines, letters asking people to participate or additional proofs.

You can be reasonably confident that nobody will read them in any detail, so don’t bother to use an appendix to explain why your argument is correct. Anything that you want to be read should be included in the main body of your text.

Finishing Off...

Check, check and check again.

Every university’s requirements are slightly different in terms of format, what sections need to be included and so on.

Make sure that you check what you have done against your university’s guidelines and that it conforms exactly .

If in doubt, check with the administrative staff dealing with submissions or with your supervisor. You really do not want to be penalised for an error of formatting.

Make sure that you put your dissertation together in a single document, and read it over as a whole before submitting it.

It is also a good idea to get somebody else to proofread your work to check for any mistakes that you may have missed.

Collating your dissertation may introduce errors of formatting or style, or you may notice duplication between chapters that you had previously missed.

Allow sufficient time for collating and final checks, and also for any formal binding required by the university, to avoid any last minute panics.

Continue to: Assignment Finishing Touches Reflecting on Marked Work

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Writing conclusions.

Though expectations vary from one discipline to the next, the conclusion of your paper is generally a place to explore the implications of your topic or argument. In other words, the end of your paper is a place to look outward or ahead in order to explain why you made the points you did.

Writing the Conclusion

In the past, you may have been told that your conclusion should summarize what you have already said by restating your thesis and main points. It is often helpful to restate your argument in the conclusion, particularly in a longer paper, but most professors and instructors want students to go beyond simply repeating what they have already said. Restating your thesis is just a short first part of your conclusion. Make sure that you are not simply repeating yourself; your restated thesis should use new and interesting language.

After you have restated your thesis, you should not just summarize the key points of your argument. Your conclusion should offer the reader something new to think about—or, at the very least, it should offer the reader a new way of thinking about what you have said in your paper.

You can employ one of several strategies for taking your conclusion that important step further:

• Answer the question, "So what?"
• Connect to a larger theme from the course
• Complicate your claim with an outside source
• Pose a new research question as a result of your paper's findings
• Address the limitations of your argument

The strategy you employ in writing a conclusion for your paper may depend upon a number of factors:

• The conventions of the discipline in which you are writing
• The tone of your paper (whether your paper is analytical, argumentative, explanatory, etc.)
• Whether your paper is meant to be formal or informal

Choose a strategy that best maintains the flow and tone of your paper while allowing you to adequately tie together all aspects of your paper.

The Final "So what?" Strategy

Part of generating a thesis statement sometimes requires answering the "so what?" question—that is, explaining the significance of your basic assertion. When you use the "so what?" strategy to write your conclusion, you are considering what some of the implications of your argument might be beyond the points already made in your paper. This strategy allows you to leave readers with an understanding of why your argument is important in a broader context or how it can apply to a larger concept.

For example, consider a paper about alcohol abuse in universities. If the paper argues that alcohol abuse among students depends more on psychological factors than simply the availability of alcohol on campus, a "so what?" conclusion might tie together threads from the body of the paper to suggest that universities are not approaching alcohol education from the most effective perspective when they focus exclusively on limiting students' access to alcohol.

To use this strategy, ask yourself, "How does my argument affect how I approach the text or issue?"

The "Connecting to a Course Theme" Strategy

When you use the "connecting to a course theme" strategy to write your conclusion, you are establishing a connection between your paper's thesis and a larger theme or idea from the course for which you are writing your paper.

For example, consider a paper about mothers and daughters in Eudora Welty's Delta Wedding for a class called "The Inescapable South." This paper argues that a strong dependence on the mother is analogous to a strong dependence on the South. A "connecting to a course theme" conclusion for this paper might propose that Welty's daughter characters demonstrate what type of people can and cannot escape the South.

To use this strategy, ask yourself, "What is an overall theme of this course? How does my paper's thesis connect?"

The "Complicating Your Claim" Strategy

When you use the "complicating your claim" strategy to write your conclusion, you are using one or more additional resources to develop a more nuanced final thesis. Such additional resources could include a new outside source or textual evidence that seemingly contradicts your argument.

For example, consider a paper about Ireland's neutrality during World War II. This paper argues that Ireland refused to enter the war because it wanted to assert its sovereignty, not because it had no opinion about the conflict. A "complicating your claim" conclusion for this paper might provide historical evidence that Ireland did aid the Allies, suggesting that the Irish were more influenced by international diplomacy than their formal neutrality might suggest.

To use this strategy, ask yourself, "Is there any evidence against my thesis?" or "What does an outside source have to say about my thesis?"

The "Posing a New Question" Strategy

When you use the "posing a new question" strategy to write your conclusion, you are inviting the reader to consider a new idea or question that has appeared as a result of your argument.

For example, consider a paper about three versions of the folktale "Rapunzel." This paper argues that German, Italian, and Filipino versions of "Rapunzel" all vary in terms of characterization, plot development, and moral, and as a result have different themes. A "posing a new question" conclusion for this paper might ask the historical and cultural reasons for how three separate cultures developed such similar stories with such different themes.

To use this strategy, ask yourself, "What new question has developed out of my argument?"

The "Addressing Limitations" Strategy

When you use the "addressing limitations" strategy to write your conclusion, you are discussing the possible weaknesses of your argument and, thus, the fallibility of your overall conclusion. This strategy is often useful in concluding papers on scientific studies and experiments.

For example, consider a paper about an apparent correlation between religious belief and support for terrorism. An "addressing limitations" conclusion for this paper might suggest that the apparent correlation relies on the paper's definition of "terrorism" and, since the definition is not objective, the apparent correlation might have been wrongly identified.

To use this strategy, ask yourself, "In what aspects is my argument lacking? Are there circumstances in which my conclusions might be wrong?"

Polishing Your Conclusion—and Your Paper

After you've completed your conclusion, look over what you have written and consider making some small changes to promote clarity and originality:

• Unless your discipline requires them, remove obvious transitions like "in conclusion," "in summary," and "in result" from your conclusion; they get in the way of the actual substance of your conclusion.
• Consider taking a strong phrase from your conclusion and using it as the title or subtitle of your paper.

Also, be sure to proofread your conclusion carefully for errors and typos. You should double-check your entire paper for accuracy and correct spelling as well.

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Writing a Conclusion

Writing a conclusion is an important part of any piece of writing. It is often possible to get a good overview of an assignment by looking briefly at the conclusion. However, writing a conclusion can be quite difficult. This is because it can often be hard to find something interesting or useful to say in the conclusion. Conclusions should be attractive and interesting but often they are rather dull and "formula written".

Although formulae for writing conclusions are tempting to use, it is always best to avoid set phrases such as "Therefore, let us conclude that..." which are clichés, and do not help to end your work in the best light.

Helpful information, advice and materials for writing conclusions

1. What are the typical ingredients in a conclusion?  

2. What are the differences between writing conclusions to essays and to dissertations/theses?

3. See a sample conclusion

4. Try a practice activity

5. Check out further advice on writing conclusions

6. Download a checklist to help you edit your written work

What are the typical 'ingredients' of a conclusion?  

Trzeciak and Mackay (1994) ( Study skills for academic writing. New York: Prentice Hall ) observe a number of useful "ingredients" that form part of a conclusion. Again (as with introductions) it will not always be necessary or desirable to include all the elements they mention. However, you will probably want to use some of these in some combination, in order to conclude your work.

• A summary of the main part of the text
• A deduction made on the basis of the main body
• Your personal opinion on what has been discussed
• A statement about the limitations of the work
• A comment about the future based on what has been discussed
• The implications of the work for future research
• Important facts and figures not mentioned in the main body

Pallant (2009) sees five basic ingredients of a conclusion as follows, though these will not always be used in the same conclusion:

• A summary of the main points (being careful not to repeat exactly what you have written before)
• Concluding statements  
• Recommendations
• Predictions

These recommendations probably apply more to discussion essays than they do to other kinds of assessed writing at university. For example, if you are writing a business plan or discussing a law scenario, or answering an examination question, you may not need the above elements, unless the question specifically asks you for them or unless it is known that it is expected of you in the discipline you are working in.

However, you will generally need a final section to indicate that you are 'rounding off' the discusion. Always be very careful to check what the conventions are in the discipline you are working in, and ideally, it is best to look at examples of past students' work so that you can see what you are aiming for.

  back ^

What are the differences between writing conclusions to essays and to dissertations/theses?  

When writing longer pieces of work, it is still very important to observe some of the principles above. For instance, you will still want to ensure that your conclusion really does conclude , and does not just go off at a tangent to discuss something that is unrelated to the thesis. Some people believe (mistakenly) that a conclusion is the place for you to relax and 'say whatever you want'. This is incorrect. If you do this, you will be likely to be marked down.

There are also likely to be some key differences in your approach when writing conclusions. Certainly, conclusions will be even more important in a dissertation or thesis, purely because of the length of the piece. Among the differences you will notice are the following:

• As well as having an overall conclusion to your dissertation or thesis, each chapter should also have a conclusion (as well as an introduction). The reason for this is that in a longer piece of writing, it becomes more important to remind the reader of what you have done and why you have done it, before you move onto the next stage.
• The conclusion of a dissertation or thesis is not an opportunity to engage in a personal 'rant'. You must draw out key aspects of the literature you have studied, along with your recommendations , and say how they are justified or contradicted by your research.
• It is a good idea in a chapter conclusion to remind the reader what happened in the chapter (e.g. In this chapter, the literature relating to the teaching of vocabulary was considered.). After this, you need to build a bridge linking this chapter with the next one. (e.g. This will be further discussed in the next chapter.)
• In a dissertation or thesis, there is likely to be a longer section on the limitations of your research . Important though this is, however, you also need to be sure to sell your research in the conclusion - so it is best not to be too negative or over-modest about your achievements at this point. The key to many dissertations and theses is the need to emphasise the contribution that it makes to research.
• In a dissertation or thesis, it is more likely that you will have a section on the need for future research . In an MA or MSc dissertation you may like to suggest something that could be developed from your work as a PhD thesis. In a PhD thesis you may like to indicate some potential for post-doctoral work.

Further advice on writing conclusions

When writing an assignment, be careful of the following points:

• The topic you are writing about may not always require a full conclusion (this is particularly the case if your work is heavily analytical or mathematical, or not very discursive.) Remember not all assignments require discussion. Check what the expectations are in your own department. Ask your tutor if you are not sure.
• Even if you do not need a full conclusion, remember that any assignment nearly always needs to be rounded off in some way and brought to an end. Consider this: will the reader know that you have finished your work? (Or will they just think that you have run out of time - or energy)?
• Keep in mind the balance of your assignment. The conclusion should be clear and relatively brief.
• In discussion-type assignments, it is often a better idea to raise questions and problems in the conclusion than to provide over-simplified/ naive answers to the assignment title. Examiners will usually be very wary of essays, theses or dissertations that presume to solve all the world's problems in a simplistic and trivial way. Remember, life is never that simple. However, remember not to introduce any new material in the conclusion.
• There is no need to go over everything again that you have already mentioned; this would be unnecessarily boring and tedious.
• Make sure that the conclusion is based on what you have said before. It is often tempting to go off at a tangent and to say things that are completely unrelated to the topic. Be wary of this.
• It is permissible to give your opinion in the conclusion but try to do so subtly and try not to sound too pompous or authoritarian . Usually your viewpoint will be obvious from your discussion, so there is no need to conclude with statements such as: In conclusion, I think Hamlet is a great play. Allow your enthusiasm for the topic to show in how you discuss it. Make sure that you do not use the conclusion as an opportunity to engage in an over-generalised an unfocussed 'rant'.
• Be careful with tenses. In a conclusion, you will usually want to use the present perfect (e.g. The aim of this dissertation has been to....) followed by the simple past (Chapter 1 provided an overview of...).
• Be very careful about using the word "conclusion" anywhere other than the conclusion itself! This can mislead the reader. If you use the word conclusion several times in an essay, the reader will give up trying to work out where the conclusion really is.

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How to write a masters dissertation or thesis: top tips.

It is completely normal to find the idea of writing a masters thesis or dissertation slightly daunting, even for students who have written one before at undergraduate level. Though, don’t feel put off by the idea. You’ll have plenty of time to complete it, and plenty of support from your supervisor and peers.

One of the main challenges that students face is putting their ideas and findings into words. Writing is a skill in itself, but with the right advice, you’ll find it much easier to get into the flow of writing your masters thesis or dissertation.

We’ve put together a step-by-step guide on how to write a dissertation or thesis for your masters degree, with top tips to consider at each stage in the process.

1. Understand your dissertation or thesis topic

There are slight differences between theses and dissertations , although both require a high standard of writing skill and knowledge in your topic. They are also formatted very similarly.

At first, writing a masters thesis can feel like running a 100m race – the course feels very quick and like there is not as much time for thinking! However, you’ll usually have a summer semester dedicated to completing your dissertation – giving plenty of time and space to write a strong academic piece.

By comparison, writing a PhD thesis can feel like running a marathon, working on the same topic for 3-4 years can be laborious. But in many ways, the approach to both of these tasks is quite similar.

Before writing your masters dissertation, get to know your research topic inside out. Not only will understanding your topic help you conduct better research, it will also help you write better dissertation content.

Also consider the main purpose of your dissertation. You are writing to put forward a theory or unique research angle – so make your purpose clear in your writing.

Top writing tip: when researching your topic, look out for specific terms and writing patterns used by other academics. It is likely that there will be a lot of jargon and important themes across research papers in your chosen dissertation topic. 

2. Structure your dissertation or thesis

Writing a thesis is a unique experience and there is no general consensus on what the best way to structure it is. 

As a postgraduate student , you’ll probably decide what kind of structure suits your research project best after consultation with your supervisor. You’ll also have a chance to look at previous masters students’ theses in your university library.

To some extent, all postgraduate dissertations are unique. Though they almost always consist of chapters. The number of chapters you cover will vary depending on the research. 

A masters dissertation or thesis organised into chapters would typically look like this: 

Write down your structure and use these as headings that you’ll write for later on.

Top writing tip : ease each chapter together with a paragraph that links the end of a chapter to the start of a new chapter. For example, you could say something along the lines of “in the next section, these findings are evaluated in more detail”. This makes it easier for the reader to understand each chapter and helps your writing flow better.

3. Write up your literature review

One of the best places to start when writing your masters dissertation is with the literature review. This involves researching and evaluating existing academic literature in order to identify any gaps for your own research.

Many students prefer to write the literature review chapter first, as this is where several of the underpinning theories and concepts exist. This section helps set the stage for the rest of your dissertation, and will help inform the writing of your other dissertation chapters.

What to include in your literature review

The literature review chapter is more than just a summary of existing research, it is an evaluation of how this research has informed your own unique research.

Demonstrate how the different pieces of research fit together. Are there overlapping theories? Are there disagreements between researchers?

Highlight the gap in the research. This is key, as a dissertation is mostly about developing your own unique research. Is there an unexplored avenue of research? Has existing research failed to disprove a particular theory?

Back up your methodology. Demonstrate why your methodology is appropriate by discussing where it has been used successfully in other research.

4. Write up your research

For instance, a more theoretical-based research topic might encompass more writing from a philosophical perspective. Qualitative data might require a lot more evaluation and discussion than quantitative research. 

Methodology chapter

The methodology chapter is all about how you carried out your research and which specific techniques you used to gather data. You should write about broader methodological approaches (e.g. qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods), and then go into more detail about your chosen data collection strategy. 

Data collection strategies include things like interviews, questionnaires, surveys, content analyses, discourse analyses and many more.

Data analysis and findings chapters

The data analysis or findings chapter should cover what you actually discovered during your research project. It should be detailed, specific and objective (don’t worry, you’ll have time for evaluation later on in your dissertation)

Write up your findings in a way that is easy to understand. For example, if you have a lot of numerical data, this could be easier to digest in tables.

This will make it easier for you to dive into some deeper analysis in later chapters. Remember, the reader will refer back to your data analysis section to cross-reference your later evaluations against your actual findings – so presenting your data in a simple manner is beneficial.

Think about how you can segment your data into categories. For instance, it can be useful to segment interview transcripts by interviewee. 

Top writing tip : write up notes on how you might phrase a certain part of the research. This will help bring the best out of your writing. There is nothing worse than when you think of the perfect way to phrase something and then you completely forget it.

5. Discuss and evaluate

Once you’ve presented your findings, it’s time to evaluate and discuss them.

It might feel difficult to differentiate between your findings and discussion sections, because you are essentially talking about the same data. The easiest way to remember the difference is that your findings simply present the data, whereas your discussion tells the story of this data.

Your evaluation breaks the story down, explaining the key findings, what went well and what didn’t go so well.

In your discussion chapter, you’ll have chance to expand on the results from your findings section. For example, explain what certain numbers mean and draw relationships between different pieces of data.

Top writing tip: don’t be afraid to point out the shortcomings of your research. You will receive higher marks for writing objectively. For example, if you didn’t receive as many interview responses as expected, evaluate how this has impacted your research and findings. Don’t let your ego get in the way!

6. Write your introduction

Your introduction sets the scene for the rest of your masters dissertation. You might be wondering why writing an introduction isn't at the start of our step-by-step list, and that’s because many students write this chapter last.

Here’s what your introduction chapter should cover:

Problem statement

Research question

Significance of your research

This tells the reader what you’ll be researching as well as its importance. You’ll have a good idea of what to include here from your original dissertation proposal , though it’s fairly common for research to change once it gets started.

Writing or at least revisiting this section last can be really helpful, since you’ll have a more well-rounded view of what your research actually covers once it has been completed and written up.

Masters dissertation writing tips

When to start writing your thesis or dissertation.

When you should start writing your masters thesis or dissertation depends on the scope of the research project and the duration of your course. In some cases, your research project may be relatively short and you may not be able to write much of your thesis before completing the project. 

But regardless of the nature of your research project and of the scope of your course, you should start writing your thesis or at least some of its sections as early as possible, and there are a number of good reasons for this:

Academic writing is about practice, not talent. The first steps of writing your dissertation will help you get into the swing of your project. Write early to help you prepare in good time.

Write things as you do them. This is a good way to keep your dissertation full of fresh ideas and ensure that you don’t forget valuable information.

The first draft is never perfect. Give yourself time to edit and improve your dissertation. It’s likely that you’ll need to make at least one or two more drafts before your final submission.

Writing early on will help you stay motivated when writing all subsequent drafts.

Thinking and writing are very connected. As you write, new ideas and concepts will come to mind. So writing early on is a great way to generate new ideas.

How to improve your writing skills

The best way of improving your dissertation or thesis writing skills is to:

 Finish the first draft of your masters thesis as early as possible and send it to your supervisor for revision. Your supervisor will correct your draft and point out any writing errors. This process will be repeated a few times which will help you recognise and correct writing mistakes yourself as time progresses.

If you are not a native English speaker, it may be useful to ask your English friends to read a part of your thesis and warn you about any recurring writing mistakes. Read our section on English language support for more advice. 

Most universities have writing centres that offer writing courses and other kinds of support for postgraduate students. Attending these courses may help you improve your writing and meet other postgraduate students with whom you will be able to discuss what constitutes a well-written thesis.

Read academic articles and search for writing resources on the internet. This will help you adopt an academic writing style, which will eventually become effortless with practice.

Keep track of your bibliography 

The easiest way to keep the track of all the articles you have read for your research is to create a database where you can summarise each article/chapter into a few most important bullet points to help you remember their content. 

Another useful tool for doing this effectively is to learn how to use specific reference management software (RMS) such as EndNote. RMS is relatively simple to use and saves a lot of time when it comes to organising your bibliography. This may come in very handy, especially if your reference section is suspiciously missing two hours before you need to submit your dissertation! 

Avoid accidental plagiarism

Plagiarism may cost you your postgraduate degree and it is important that you consciously avoid it when writing your thesis or dissertation. 

Occasionally, postgraduate students commit plagiarism unintentionally. This can happen when sections are copy and pasted from journal articles they are citing instead of simply rephrasing them. Whenever you are presenting information from another academic source, make sure you reference the source and avoid writing the statement exactly as it is written in the original paper.

What kind of format should your thesis have?

Read your university’s guidelines before you actually start writing your thesis so you don’t have to waste time changing the format further down the line. However in general, most universities will require you to use 1.5-2 line spacing, font size 12 for text, and to print your thesis on A4 paper. These formatting guidelines may not necessarily result in the most aesthetically appealing thesis, however beauty is not always practical, and a nice looking thesis can be a more tiring reading experience for your postgrad examiner .

When should I submit my thesis?

The length of time it takes to complete your MSc or MA thesis will vary from student to student. This is because people work at different speeds, projects vary in difficulty, and some projects encounter more problems than others. 

Obviously, you should submit your MSc thesis or MA thesis when it is finished! Every university will say in its regulations that it is the student who must decide when it is ready to submit. 

However, your supervisor will advise you whether your work is ready and you should take their advice on this. If your supervisor says that your work is not ready, then it is probably unwise to submit it. Usually your supervisor will read your final thesis or dissertation draft and will let you know what’s required before submitting your final draft.

Set yourself a target for completion. This will help you stay on track and avoid falling behind. You may also only have funding for the year, so it is important to ensure you submit your dissertation before the deadline – and also ensure you don’t miss out on your graduation ceremony ! 

To set your target date, work backwards from the final completion and submission date, and aim to have your final draft completed at least three months before that final date.

Don’t leave your submission until the last minute – submit your work in good time before the final deadline. Consider what else you’ll have going on around that time. Are you moving back home? Do you have a holiday? Do you have other plans?

If you need to have finished by the end of June to be able to go to a graduation ceremony in July, then you should leave a suitable amount of time for this. You can build this into your dissertation project planning at the start of your research.

It is important to remember that handing in your thesis or dissertation is not the end of your masters program . There will be a period of time of one to three months between the time you submit and your final day. Some courses may even require a viva to discuss your research project, though this is more common at PhD level . 

If you have passed, you will need to make arrangements for the thesis to be properly bound and resubmitted, which will take a week or two. You may also have minor corrections to make to the work, which could take up to a month or so. This means that you need to allow a period of at least three months between submitting your thesis and the time when your program will be completely finished. Of course, it is also possible you may be asked after the viva to do more work on your thesis and resubmit it before the examiners will agree to award the degree – so there may be an even longer time period before you have finished.

How do I submit the MA or MSc dissertation?

Most universities will have a clear procedure for submitting a masters dissertation. Some universities require your ‘intention to submit’. This notifies them that you are ready to submit and allows the university to appoint an external examiner.

This normally has to be completed at least three months before the date on which you think you will be ready to submit.

When your MA or MSc dissertation is ready, you will have to print several copies and have them bound. The number of copies varies between universities, but the university usually requires three – one for each of the examiners and one for your supervisor.

However, you will need one more copy – for yourself! These copies must be softbound, not hardbound. The theses you see on the library shelves will be bound in an impressive hardback cover, but you can only get your work bound like this once you have passed. 

You should submit your dissertation or thesis for examination in soft paper or card covers, and your university will give you detailed guidance on how it should be bound. They will also recommend places where you can get the work done.

The next stage is to hand in your work, in the way and to the place that is indicated in your university’s regulations. All you can do then is sit and wait for the examination – but submitting your thesis is often a time of great relief and celebration!

Some universities only require a digital submission, where you upload your dissertation as a file through their online submission system.

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Frequently asked questions

What should i include in a thesis or dissertation conclusion.

The conclusion of your thesis or dissertation should include the following:

• A restatement of your research question
• A summary of your key arguments and/or results
• A short discussion of the implications of your research

Frequently asked questions: Dissertation

Dissertation word counts vary widely across different fields, institutions, and levels of education:

• An undergraduate dissertation is typically 8,000–15,000 words
• A master’s dissertation is typically 12,000–50,000 words
• A PhD thesis is typically book-length: 70,000–100,000 words

However, none of these are strict guidelines – your word count may be lower or higher than the numbers stated here. Always check the guidelines provided by your university to determine how long your own dissertation should be.

A dissertation prospectus or proposal describes what or who you plan to research for your dissertation. It delves into why, when, where, and how you will do your research, as well as helps you choose a type of research to pursue. You should also determine whether you plan to pursue qualitative or quantitative methods and what your research design will look like.

It should outline all of the decisions you have taken about your project, from your dissertation topic to your hypotheses and research objectives , ready to be approved by your supervisor or committee.

Note that some departments require a defense component, where you present your prospectus to your committee orally.

A thesis is typically written by students finishing up a bachelor’s or Master’s degree. Some educational institutions, particularly in the liberal arts, have mandatory theses, but they are often not mandatory to graduate from bachelor’s degrees. It is more common for a thesis to be a graduation requirement from a Master’s degree.

Even if not mandatory, you may want to consider writing a thesis if you:

• Plan to attend graduate school soon
• Have a particular topic you’d like to study more in-depth
• Are considering a career in research
• Would like a capstone experience to tie up your academic experience

The conclusion of your thesis or dissertation shouldn’t take up more than 5–7% of your overall word count.

For a stronger dissertation conclusion , avoid including:

• Important evidence or analysis that wasn’t mentioned in the discussion section and results section
• Generic concluding phrases (e.g. “In conclusion …”)
• Weak statements that undermine your argument (e.g., “There are good points on both sides of this issue.”)

Your conclusion should leave the reader with a strong, decisive impression of your work.

While it may be tempting to present new arguments or evidence in your thesis or disseration conclusion , especially if you have a particularly striking argument you’d like to finish your analysis with, you shouldn’t. Theses and dissertations follow a more formal structure than this.

All your findings and arguments should be presented in the body of the text (more specifically in the discussion section and results section .) The conclusion is meant to summarize and reflect on the evidence and arguments you have already presented, not introduce new ones.

A theoretical framework can sometimes be integrated into a  literature review chapter , but it can also be included as its own chapter or section in your dissertation . As a rule of thumb, if your research involves dealing with a lot of complex theories, it’s a good idea to include a separate theoretical framework chapter.

A literature review and a theoretical framework are not the same thing and cannot be used interchangeably. While a theoretical framework describes the theoretical underpinnings of your work, a literature review critically evaluates existing research relating to your topic. You’ll likely need both in your dissertation .

While a theoretical framework describes the theoretical underpinnings of your work based on existing research, a conceptual framework allows you to draw your own conclusions, mapping out the variables you may use in your study and the interplay between them.

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.

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.)

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 .

In most styles, the title page is used purely to provide information and doesn’t include any images. Ask your supervisor if you are allowed to include an image on the title page before doing so. If you do decide to include one, make sure to check whether you need permission from the creator of the image.

Include a note directly beneath the image acknowledging where it comes from, beginning with the word “ Note .” (italicized and followed by a period). Include a citation and copyright attribution . Don’t title, number, or label the image as a figure , since it doesn’t appear in your main text.

Definitional terms often fall into the category of common knowledge , meaning that they don’t necessarily have to be cited. This guidance can apply to your thesis or dissertation glossary as well.

However, if you’d prefer to cite your sources , you can follow guidance for citing dictionary entries in MLA or APA style for your glossary.

A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. In contrast, an index is a list of the contents of your work organized by page number.

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

The title page of your thesis or dissertation should include your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date.

Glossaries are not mandatory, but if you use a lot of technical or field-specific terms, it may improve readability to add one to your thesis or dissertation. Your educational institution may also require them, so be sure to check their specific guidelines.

A glossary or “glossary of terms” is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. Your glossary only needs to include terms that your reader may not be familiar with, and is intended to enhance their understanding of your work.

A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. In contrast, dictionaries are more general collections of words.

An abbreviation is a shortened version of an existing word, such as Dr. for Doctor. In contrast, an acronym uses the first letter of each word to create a wholly new word, such as UNESCO (an acronym for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

As a rule of thumb, write the explanation in full the first time you use an acronym or abbreviation. You can then proceed with the shortened version. However, if the abbreviation is very common (like PC, USA, or DNA), then you can use the abbreviated version from the get-go.

Be sure to add each abbreviation in your list of abbreviations !

If you only used a few abbreviations in your thesis or dissertation , you don’t necessarily need to include a list of abbreviations .

If your abbreviations are numerous, or if you think they won’t be known to your audience, it’s never a bad idea to add one. They can also improve readability, minimizing confusion about abbreviations unfamiliar to your reader.

A list of abbreviations is a list of all the abbreviations that you used in your thesis or dissertation. It should appear at the beginning of your document, with items in alphabetical order, just after your table of contents .

Your list of tables and figures should go directly after your table of contents in your thesis or dissertation.

Lists of figures and tables are often not required, and aren’t particularly common. They specifically aren’t required for APA-Style, though you should be careful to follow their other guidelines for figures and tables .

If you have many figures and tables in your thesis or dissertation, include one may help you stay organized. Your educational institution may require them, so be sure to check their guidelines.

A list of figures and tables compiles all of the figures and tables that you used in your thesis or dissertation and displays them with the page number where they can be found.

The table of contents in a thesis or dissertation always goes between your abstract and your introduction .

You may acknowledge God in your dissertation acknowledgements , but be sure to follow academic convention by also thanking the members of academia, as well as family, colleagues, and friends who helped you.

A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other  academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .

An  annotated bibliography is a list of  source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a  paper .  

In a thesis or dissertation, the discussion is an in-depth exploration of the results, going into detail about the meaning of your findings and citing relevant sources to put them in context.

The conclusion is more shorter and more general: it concisely answers your main research question and makes recommendations based on your overall findings.

In the discussion , you explore the meaning and relevance of your research results , explaining how they fit with existing research and theory. Discuss:

• Your  interpretations : what do the results tell us?
• The  implications : why do the results matter?
• The  limitation s : what can’t the results tell us?

The results chapter or section simply and objectively reports what you found, without speculating on why you found these results. The discussion interprets the meaning of the results, puts them in context, and explains why they matter.

In qualitative research , results and discussion are sometimes combined. But in quantitative research , it’s considered important to separate the objective results from your interpretation of them.

Results are usually written in the past tense , because they are describing the outcome of completed actions.

The results chapter of a thesis or dissertation presents your research results concisely and objectively.

In quantitative research , for each question or hypothesis , state:

• The type of analysis used
• Relevant results in the form of descriptive and inferential statistics
• Whether or not the alternative hypothesis was supported

In qualitative research , for each question or theme, describe:

• Recurring patterns
• Significant or representative individual responses
• Relevant quotations from the data

Don’t interpret or speculate in the results chapter.

To automatically insert a table of contents in Microsoft Word, follow these steps:

• Apply heading styles throughout the document.
• In the references section in the ribbon, locate the Table of Contents group.
• Click the arrow next to the Table of Contents icon and select Custom Table of Contents.
• Select which levels of headings you would like to include in the table of contents.

Make sure to update your table of contents if you move text or change headings. To update, simply right click and select Update Field.

All level 1 and 2 headings should be included in your table of contents . That means the titles of your chapters and the main sections within them.

The contents should also include all appendices and the lists of tables and figures, if applicable, as well as your reference list .

Do not include the acknowledgements or abstract in the table of contents.

The abstract appears on its own page in the thesis or dissertation , after the title page and acknowledgements but before the table of contents .

An abstract for a thesis or dissertation is usually around 200–300 words. There’s often a strict word limit, so make sure to check your university’s requirements.

In a thesis or dissertation, the acknowledgements should usually be no longer than one page. There is no minimum length.

The acknowledgements are generally included at the very beginning of your thesis , directly after the title page and before the abstract .

Yes, it’s important to thank your supervisor(s) in the acknowledgements section of your thesis or dissertation .

Even if you feel your supervisor did not contribute greatly to the final product, you must acknowledge them, if only for a very brief thank you. If you do not include your supervisor, it may be seen as a snub.

In the acknowledgements of your thesis or dissertation, you should first thank those who helped you academically or professionally, such as your supervisor, funders, and other academics.

Then you can include personal thanks to friends, family members, or anyone else who supported you during the process.

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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 .

*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.

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?

Table of contents

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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How to Write a Dissertation or Thesis Conclusion: Guide & Examples

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A dissertation conclusion serves as the final chapter and is often the last thing the reader will see. It should provide a concise summary of the research project, including the research questions or hypotheses, the methods used to conduct the research, and the key findings and conclusions. The conclusion section should also discuss the implications of the research, including its significance for the field and any practical applications of the findings.

Are you a PhD, doctorate, or bachelor student looking forward to writing your dissertation/thesis conclusion and don't know where to start? Stop worrying — help is here. Continue reading this blog post to gain an idea on how to write a conclusion for a thesis or dissertation. In this article, we will discuss what a dissertation conclusion is, its length, and what it should include. Our dissertation services  also provided examples, and explained some typical mistakes you have to avoid.

What Is a Dissertation Conclusion?

So, what is a thesis conclusion? It is a concluding chapter in a dissertation or thesis paper. It is the last section of an academic work, carefully written to summarize the information discussed in a document and offer readers insight into what the research has achieved. Your dissertation or thesis conclusion should be well-drafted as it is a reference point that people will remember most. The purpose of dissertation conclusion is to give those reading a sense of closure and reiterate any critical issues discussed. Each conclusion for dissertation should be concise, clear, and definitive. Also, its aim is to offer recommendations for further investigation as well as give readers an understanding of the dissertation discussion chapter .

Thesis or Dissertation Conclusion Length

The conclusion of a thesis or a dissertation is a long chapter — not one single sentence but a whole page or more. Generally, it should be 5–7% of the overall word count. The length of a thesis or dissertation conclusion chapter depends on several factors, such as your academic field, research topic , and stated number of pages. However, it can vary depending on other circumstances. Indeed, you should always refer to each set of your university guidelines for writing conclusions. It's important to note that this section ought not to introduce any new information and be a summary of the research findings. Also, every dissertation conclusion must not be too long as it can distract from other aspects of your thesis. Make sure that you provide a balanced summary and avoid repeating yourself. Lastly, it has to be long enough to discuss its implications for future studies.

What to Include in the Conclusion of a Dissertation or Thesis?

Writing a thesis conclusion can be challenging, but every student needs to understand how to create it, as this is one of the most critical parts of your Ph.D. work. Below is the list of things every dissertation conclusion structure should include:

• Summary of the major findings of your research Summarize the main points discussed in your work.
• Implications of your research Discuss your study's implications for future research and academic fields. Doing this here is essential to indicate an author's transparency and willingness to accept the flaws of their report.
• Recommendations for further study Provide suggestions for the next investigation if needed.
• Reviewing any limitations and weaknesses of the research process and findings It is an integral part of dissertation conclusions as it allows authors to reflect on the process.
• Evaluation or analysis of your findings Analyze your research findings and provide an assessment.
• Conclusion statement Provide a specific conclusion that summarizes your thesis or dissertation.

Hopefully, these tips on writing a conclusion chapter for your thesis or dissertation will help you finish your work confidently. All these components should be present when writing a conclusion for thesis or dissertation. Additionally, ensure that you do not repeat yourself. Lastly, keep your length appropriate and based on your university guidelines.

How to Write a Dissertation Conclusion Chapter?

When writing this chapter, you should ensure its content is clear and concise. Equipping yourself with some knowledge of how to write a conclusion for a dissertation or thesis is imperative, as it will help you keep your piece organized, logical, and interesting. This chapter is the last part of your work that your professors or readers will read, and it should make a lasting impression on them. Below is a step-by-step instruction on how to write a dissertation conclusion section.

1. Restate Your Research Question and Answer It

While writing a dissertation conclusion, your first step is to restate the research question offered in your dissertation introduction and reveal the answer. It is essential to do this in your conclusion in thesis or dissertation because it helps readers be aware of every primary point you were trying to achieve in writing. In addition, restating available research questions in your conclusion in a dissertation or thesis will also make people understand the significance of your inquiry. In other words, it should remind people of the original purpose of writing. Provide further insights into a topic when answering each research question. In addition, responses must be related to your dissertation results section and offer evidence for any conclusions you made in your study. When writing a dissertation conclusion chapter, you ought to be able to give a meaningful response to the study question that adds value to your work. Keeping replies short, concise, and clear will help you to avoid writing irrelevant content. Below is an example of how to start a dissertation conclusion:

In conclusion, this research has successfully answered the primary research question: how does gender discrimination impact job satisfaction in the workplace? The study determined that gender discrimination directly impacts job satisfaction and can make employees feel demoralized, undervalued, and frustrated. Furthermore, employers must create policies and initiatives promoting workplace inclusion and equality. It can help employees feel valued, respected, and satisfied.

2. Summarize Key Points

The next element in your conclusion section is summarizing the main points of your dissertation. In this section, students need to reflect on their study and mention critical findings and the methodology's effectiveness. Straightforwardly compose your summary and ensure you use your own words to write a conclusion in a dissertation. Avoid copying and pasting sentences from other parts of your work to evade plagiarism and repetition. In concluding a dissertation, each written summary should include findings, results, data, and additional relevant literature. The following is an example of how to summarize a dissertation:

The study aimed to research the effects of gender discrimination on job satisfaction in the workplace. A survey was conducted on 106 participants across different industries using qualitative and quantitative research methods, allowing data collection from employees. Findings revealed that gender discrimination has a direct impact and can lead to feeling demoralized, undervalued, and frustrated. On the other hand, the research found that inclusivity and equality initiatives can help employees feel better about their job roles. Therefore, it is essential that organizations take adequate steps to create a more inclusive and equitable workstation.

3. Explain Why Your Study Is Valuable

After summarizing your key points, the next step to writing a dissertation conclusion is to explain why your research was valuable. Here you should provide readers with an additional perspective of the study to better understand the importance of your study. When it's time to write a conclusion to a thesis paper or dissertation, you must explain what makes it worthwhile to any academic or scientific community. It can include topics such as answering a critical research question, using unique methods to explore an issue, or discovering something new about an existing topic. You should note that you have to provide further recommendations to help improve the research. Composing a dissertation conclusion shows how your work has impacted the field of study, either in progress or resolving an existing problem. It is essential to demonstrate how your study contributes to future studies and influences society or policymaking. Doing this is crucial in your dissertation conclusion chapter as it shows readers the importance of research in that field and validates what you have achieved throughout your investigation. Also, explaining some study implications to society will help people understand why this topic is valuable and relevant. Below you can find an example of how to write contributions in a dissertation conclusion:

The research discussed in this work demonstrates that gender discrimination directly impacts job satisfaction in the workplace. The results of this study have several implications for society, most notably for employers, to create policies and initiatives to promote workplace inclusion. In addition, it's valuable to organizations to help them make more equitable and inclusive offices, to academics to inform their research on diversity and inclusivity, and to policymakers to develop initiatives to reduce gender discrimination in places of work. The research provides valuable insight to inform future studies on this topic and serves to highlight the need to create policies to protect employees from gender discrimination better.

If you experience difficulties with any section of your PhD work, don’t hesitate to ask our professional academic writers for thesis help. 

4. Mention the Limitations of Your Study

When writing a thesis or dissertation conclusion, mentioning your study's limitations is imperative. It includes discussing any issues you encountered in collecting data, constraints that limited your research, and specific parameters. Citing these shortcomings can help provide insight into why certain elements may not be included in your work and explain any discrepancies your readers might have noticed and, hence, missing in your conclusion chapter. Additionally, writing about any drawbacks can deliver an opportunity to offer further suggestions for future studies and make recommendations on how best to address these uncovered issues. In concluding a dissertation, constraints should not be seen as unfavorable but rather as an additional chance to deliver more understanding of your investigation. Limitations in a thesis conclusion example can look as follows:

The study is subject to some limitations, such as small sample size and limited scope of data collection. Moreover, due to time constraints, this research did not address some potential implications of gender discrimination in other areas, such as pay, career development, and career advancement. Future studies could further explore these topics in more depth to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their effects on job satisfaction.

When writing about identified limitations of the research, you demonstrate to readers that you considered critical shortcomings and that you are aware of available potential issues. That will provide insight into addressing these limitations and help display your researching and writing credibility.

5. Offer Recommendations Based on Implications

Including recommendations is an integral part of writing every conclusion of a dissertation. In this section, you can provide insight into how to address any issues you have uncovered in your study and make suggestions for future research. When including recommendations, you should first give an overview of the implications of your research and then link it to how you may deal with them. A bachelor conclusion ought to consist of advice for students to guide their future writing. Offer insights for further investigation based on data results and analysis of literature review . Below is an example of how to write dissertation conclusion recommendations:

The research discussed in this study provides several implications for employers, academics, and policymakers. For employers, the results of this study suggest that they should create policies and initiatives to promote workplace inclusion and diversity. Academics can use these findings to inform their research on gender discrimination in the workplace, and policymakers can develop initiatives to reduce it. Furthermore, future studies should explore other potential implications of gender discrimination in the workplace, such as pay, career development, and career advancement. Doing so would provide a more comprehensive understanding of the issue and potential solutions.

6. Conclude Your Dissertation with a Summary

The end of conclusion final chapter will close with a summary of the study. Wrapping up your dissertation or thesis conclusions is an excellent way to leave long-lasting impressions on your readers and ensure they remember all critical points of your research. You should summarize key points from previous sections and how they contribute to your overall context. When writing the conclusion chapter of a dissertation, the summary should be brief but comprehensive. Moreover, these findings can offer an innovative perspective on how to conclude a thesis or a dissertation. It provides comprehensive insights into outcomes and their relevance in today's world. Here is how to wrap up a conclusion of a dissertation example:

Overall, the findings from this research suggest that gender discrimination in the workplace has adverse effects on job satisfaction. Such discrimination often takes the form of unequal pay, career development opportunities, and access to promotions. Employers should take action to create policies that promote workplace inclusion and diversity to address this problem. Additionally, academics and policymakers should further explore the implications of gender discrimination in the workplace and develop initiatives to reduce it. The research provides a valuable starting point for understanding this complex issue and offers insight into potential solutions.

Thesis & Dissertation Conclusion Examples

Before writing a thesis or dissertation conclusion, you are encouraged to check at least two examples. These instances can provide insights on effectively linking your key findings with possible implications for future studies. In addition, you may use these examples as guides to writing your dissertation conclusions. Attached below is a thesis conclusion example sample.

Thesis paper conclusion example

Dissertation conclusion example

Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Dissertation Conclusions

Mistakes are inevitable when writing conclusions in a dissertation, but you can avoid them through careful proofreading and editing. Including new information or data in your dissertation or thesis conclusion chapter is one such mistake. The chapter should only incorporate information or data already mentioned and discussed in other preceding body paragraphs. How not to write a dissertation conclusion can be seen in complex language, lengthy sentences, and confusing grammar. In addition, one should evade making unsubstantiated claims or generalizations not supported by research findings. Shun writing phrases or any argument considered jargon. Lastly, ensuring that the conclusion chapter in a dissertation answers the research question and that you have provided sufficient evidence to support your conclusions is essential. Therefore, we simply recommend that you review and proofread it before submission. Following these tips mentioned above and examples of dissertation or thesis conclusions should help you write effectively.

Dissertation/ Thesis Dissertation Conclusion Writing Checklist

Writing a conclusion to a thesis paper or dissertation can be daunting because there is a lot of pressure to ensure you wrap up all the key points and tie together any loose ends. Checklists are helpful guides. The reason is that they provide practical tips on how to write dissertation conclusions by breaking each writing process down into manageable steps. Below is a checklist of important things you should keep in mind and follow when writing any conclusion:

• checkbox There is a summary of the research objectives and findings.
• checkbox I have covered research implications for a broader field.
• checkbox I have offered study limitations and how to address them in future exploration.
• checkbox I have provided recommendations for further research and applications of the findings.
• checkbox I have made a summary of all main points from the discussion section.
• checkbox I have explained why I chose that particular field for examination.
• checkbox My main conclusions are stated.
• checkbox I have proofread and edited my work after completion.

Final Thoughts on Dissertation Conclusion

The article discussed how to write the conclusion of a dissertation or thesis writing. It has outlined some critical steps and provided a checklist that you can use as a practical guide. Reasonable inferences require clear objectives, knowing the appropriate structure, addressing any limitations within your work, summarizing key points, providing recommendations for further research, and citing sources appropriately. Also, we offered some samples of how to write a thesis conclusion example. Following these steps will ensure that you conclude your dissertation or thesis writing successfully. Finally, proofread and edit your writing to provide high-quality outcome. All these tips will help you in writing a thesis or dissertation conclusion chapter that is effective and comprehensive.

Keep in mind that our expert writers are always here to support you! They can assist in preparing any section of your study. While we are assisting you with writing, you are relaxing your mind or focusing on other important tasks!

FAQ About How to Write a Conclusion to a Thesis or Dissertation

1. how to write a good thesis conclusion.

When writing every thesis conclusion, it's essential to focus on summarizing the key points, providing implications to that broader field, addressing any limitations, and making recommendations for further study. Additionally, it should be concise, clear, logical, and coherent. Finally, it's crucial to proofread and edit it to ensure its high quality.

2. How to start a dissertation conclusion?

Beginning each dissertation's concluding chapter is best done by restating the research question, as it provides the link between your introduction, research objectives, and conclusion. That allows an individual to transition smoothly into summarizing all main points from the discussion. For you to start a dissertation conclusion chapter effectively, it is essential to understand the purpose of writing it in the first place.

4. What is the difference between discussion and conclusion?

The difference between a discussion and a conclusion is in the depth of exploration. A discussion is a detailed assessment of the results, while a conclusion is shorter and more general. The discussion section will usually include a detailed analysis of the data collected, while the conclusion section will often provide an overview of the key points and implications. Additionally, this part will offer recommendations for further research.

3. Can I add new data in a conclusion of the dissertation?

No, including new data in the conclusion of a dissertation is not advisable. This section should summarize the research objectives, findings, and implications. Adding new data would not be appropriate as it may create confusion or inconsistency throughout your research. Conversely, it is prudent to summarize every content your work addresses.

5. How to end a thesis or a dissertation?

The end of a dissertation or a thesis should be memorable and end on a high note. One way to accomplish this is by including something unforgettable, such as a question, warning, or call to action. It will give every reader something to think about and engage in further discussion. 

Joe Eckel is an expert on Dissertations writing. He makes sure that each student gets precious insights on composing A-grade academic writing.

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Dissertation Genius

Dissertation Writing: How to Write your Conclusion

December 10, 2016 by Dissertation Genius

In this blog post, you’ll learn exactly how to write the last chapter of your doctoral dissertation. In particular, you will get oriented with the overall goals of the conclusion chapter. Then, you’ll be taught on how to go about writing the chapter itself. Finally, you will be given guidance on what things to avoid in the ever-important final chapter of your dissertation.

The Main Goals of your Dissertation Conclusion

Before going into how to actually write the conclusion chapter of your dissertation, it’s important to review its purpose. Regardless of what discipline you are in, there are certain messages you always want your readers to absorb after reading your conclusion chapter. Basically, your conclusion should always: Give a general overview of the important contributions of your work –  Make it absolutely clear for your committee and the general reader the original contributions of your work and where they are situated with respect to the rest of your research field. A good way to do this is to simply display your contributions in a bulleted list.

Summarize the main points of your various chapters – Especially if you aim to get your work published, your conclusion should always strive to be an ‘executive summary’ of your work. Not every reader will be interested in reading your entire work. This way, you will have this chapter ready to give them a brief (yet comprehensive) overview of the dissertation.

Recommendations – You should always include at least a paragraph on the practical implications resulting from your findings. This is extremely valuable for yourself, the committee, and the general reader. You can be rather flexible with your recommendations as long as they are relevant and derived from the findings of your dissertation research. For example, you can list highly-specific recommendations and steps to be followed or you can list more general recommendations guiding the reader towards certain ideas and principles to follow.

Future Work – No matter how much you have done with your dissertation research, it will never truly be finished. There will always be lingering question marks and open ends. By no means does this indicate your work is incomplete On the contrary, no PhD work is ever complete and, in fact, a good dissertation is one that sparks a high level of general interest and motivates further research in a particular discipline.

How to Actually Write the Dissertation Conclusion Chapter

Now that you have a good grasp of what the general outline should be of your conclusion, it is important to look at how to actually write it. The most important principle to keep in mind while writing your dissertation conclusion is reflection . To illustrate:

• If readers were to go over nothing in your work except your conclusion, what message(s) would you want to leave them with?
• What would your ‘take-home’ message be to your audience? What idea, question, call-to-action, etc., would you want them to have as they finish reading your work and walk away?

These are what you must constantly ask yourself while you are writing your dissertation conclusion.

Usually, you should start writing your conclusion by first taking notes, and you should do this while proofreading the initial draft of your work . In general, you should use the following approach:

• Use an approach where you would 1) proofread, 2) take notes, and 3) summarize every single chapter of your work. This will pave the way and give you the structure you need for your dissertation conclusion.
• After you do this, simply copy & paste these mini chapter summaries and combine them into your conclusion.
• Now you have the ‘raw material’ and with this, you can start to modify and weave together the main ideas of your general summary.
• After that, simply add the sections on practical implications, contributions, and future work/research.
• As a final step, re-read the draft of your conclusion and ask yourself, “Does my conclusion really grasp the essence of my work?”

Pitfalls to Avoid for your Dissertation Conclusion

In general, there are three main pitfalls you should always avoid when writing the conclusion for your dissertation.

Protracted and Rambling Conclusion – A long and protracted conclusion is when you repeat yourself unnecessarily (without adding anything to what you are mentioning) about points you already mentioned in your previous chapters before the conclusion.

Short Conclusion – This is actually an improvement to a long and rambling conclusion, which wastes valuable time on the part of your audience. However, a conclusion that is too short also rambles about facts without coming to a logical conclusion, and does all this using less words and missing vital points/arguments.

Implausible Conclusion – Often times, doctoral students can come to wild conclusions that boggle the mind. They make claims that have absolutely no logical link to the evidence in their research, or that link is very weak. For example, many PhD students (in their very limited small-scale study) make wild assertions that the results of their study should be adopted by public policy-makers, governmental officials, and the like. If you make a list of unsubstantiated claims, you will be wasting a lot of hard work for nothing. Simply stay humble and avoid doing this!

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PhD Thesis: Topics, Example, Process, Tips, How to Write?

Muhammad Hasim Sheikh Aug 24, 2024 1K Reads

PhD Thesis or PhD Dissertation is an important component in the process of getting a doctorate. If you are pursuing PhD or deciding to pursue it, it will be mandatory for you to prepare and submit your PhD Thesis.

All the details and information collected during the PhD research are presented in the form of a PhD Thesis. It is a detailed description of the research process of research outcomes that can contribute to the original field of knowledge in the particular field.

The PhD candidates prepare the PhD Thesis to showcase their research findings. A PhD Thesis is the backbone of the doctoral degree and plays an important role in showcasing the research ability and competency in conducting independent and original research.

A PhD Thesis not only demonstrates the research competency of the candidates but also exhibits their expertise, critical thinking, and research skills. The preparation of a PhD Thesis is a very difficult and challenging task and you need to take the utmost precautions while preparing it.

Here in this blog, we will discuss all the procedures adopted while preparing a detailed PhD and high-quality PhD Thesis:

What is the need for PhD Thesis Preparation?

The preparation of a PhD Thesis is crucial as it represents the cumulative research work and outcomes. The PhD Thesis provides a detailed description of the comprehensive research in the particular field. If you are a PhD Scholar, it will be mandatory for you to prepare a PhD Thesis to complete your degree.

It acts as proof of document of your research and findings while pursuing the PhD program. A PhD Thesis also guides the new PhD scholars for reference. Newly enrolled PhD scholars who have just begun their research work can refer to the previous research works conducted by a different researcher in the field to begin his journey.

PhD Thesis is a document that also provides a pathway to new research scholars in the field. The PhD thesis preparation involves organizing and assembling the research findings in a coherent structure. This allows you to refine ideas, identify gaps in the research, and ensure that the arguments are logically presented.

Additionally, you will be able to develop essential skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication that are highly valuable in both academic and professional settings. 

Beginning of the PhD Thesis Writing

PhD Thesis writing begins after completion of the PhD coursework. Every PhD Scholar has to go through a PhD coursework. PhD coursework is offered in the initial years to provide a strong foundation in the research aptitude in the given field.

Once the coursework is completed, a comprehensive exam is conducted to examine and evaluate the ability of the scholars to conduct original research. Generally, the examination is conducted in the 3rd year of the PhD program. Once the examinations are concluded for the coursework, PhD scholars can start working on their PhD Thesis/Dissertation.

Process and Structure of PhD Thesis Writing

Writing a PhD Thesis is a daunting task and one has to go through a prolonged process. It involves several stages and PhD scholars need to through all the stages to prepare a highly inclusive Thesis.

Here is the detailed process and structure of the PhD Thesis:

• Cover Page:  The PhD Thesis writing begins with the preparation of the cover page. The cover page includes the title of the research topic, the name of the university, the name of the scholar, and the supervisor. Generally,  the cover page of the thesis is designed to catch the attention of the viewers.
• Preface: The cover page is followed by the Preface of the PhD Thesis. The Preface is written by the PhD scholars. In the preface of the thesis, they explain the reasons for taking up a particular research topic and their experiences while conducting the research and writing the PhD Thesis. Generally, the preface is written after writing the thesis but arranged after the cover page. 
• Acknowledgment: After writing the Preface of the thesis, PhD scholars begin with the acknowledgment page. Generally, the acknowledgment page of the thesis recognizes all those people who have contributed and given their support in conducting the research. PhD scholars acknowledge the contribution of all the people who have professionally and personally helped in the research. 
• Introduction: In the Introduction, PhD scholars introduce their research topic and explain how this study contributes to the original knowledge of the field. The introduction in the PhD Thesis is a summary of all the key objectives of the research and an explanation of why the particular research is needed. 
• Literature Review: The literature Review in the PhD Thesis is a summary of all the works done by previous researchers and academicians in the same field or field relevant to the topic. In the literature review, all the scholarly works whether books, research journals, research papers, or previous research thesis related to the subject are cited in the PhD Thesis.  A literature review is done to support the current research by analyzing the previous works done on the same subject. 
• Research Chapters: Research Chapters are the crux of the PhD Thesis. In this stage, the PhD Thesis is divided into various chapters. The research conducted by the PhD scholars is recorded in detail in this section. Research Chapters broadly explain the methodology, hypothesis, and original research. The research chapter includes the process of conducting the research on a particular area and the explanation of the research questions. 
• Conclusion: After writing all the research chapters in the PhD Thesis, the conclusion of the research is added. The conclusion is the final chapter of the PhD Thesis Writing that concludes all the research edvideces and findings to reach to a final result. The conclusion also includes the possibilities of further research in the same field and its application to enhance the knowledge of the particular subject. 
• Bibliography and Appendices: The bibliography is written at the end of the PhD Thesis. The Bibliography lists all sources such as books, journals, research papers, thesis, etc used in the PhD Thesis writing. It is written in alphabetical order and includes the author's name, title, publication year, etc. The PhD Scholar may be required to provide supplementary materials that aren't essential to the PhD Thesis in the form of appendices.

What is the Length of the PhDThesis/Dissertation?

The length of the PhD Thesis (or dissertation) greatly depends on the field of the study. Generally, the length of the PhD Thesis ranges between 60,000 to 1,20,000 words which can curated in 150 pages to 300 pages. The average length of the PhD Thesis is around 80,000 words.In general, the length of the PhD Thesis in Engineering and Sciences is shorter than that of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The average length of a PhD Thesis in different disciplines is explained in the table below:

How to Write Up PhD Thesis 

Once all the research related to the relevant topics and subjects has been conducted and all the data and results are collected, you can start with your PhD Thesis Writing.

This period is also known as the Writing Up period. The writing-up stage in a PhD Thesis starts when the original research has already been completed.

In this stage, you only focus on the PhD Thesis Writing and do not conduct any additional research. 

In research related to Humanities and Social sciences, you may already have a large amount of chapter drafts and papers which makes writing up easy. You only need to redraft and assemble these chapter drafts and research papers to formulate a PhD Thesis.

However, writing a PhD Thesis for a Science and Engineering subject may be different. If you are conducting research in these fields, a major part of your research depends on collecting and analyzing data.

Writing Up a PhD Thesis in Science and Engineering fields may require findings and conclusions from the data collected. 

Regardless of the subject and process of PhD Thesis Writing, it should be able to reflect your findings which can be applied in the particular discipline to enhance knowledge. 

Role of PhD Thesis Feedback

Feedback from the supervisor while writing the PhD Thesis plays a crucial role. It helps in formulating a well-organized and highly structured PhD Thesis. You must seek constant feedback from your supervisor on your chapter drafts while writing the PhD Thesis. 

When the thesis writing is in progress, comments and feedback from the supervisor who has significant research experience will ensure that the research is going in the right direction. You must regularly attend the supervisory meeting and present your chapter drafts for review.

Your PhD supervisor will be more than happy to help and guide you through your PhD Thesis Writing. However, PhD supervisor is not responsible for grammatical mistakes. You must ensure that your thesis is free from grammatical errors.

Levels of Plagiarism in PhD Thesis 

While writing the PhD Thesis, you must ensure that your thesis is free from plagiarism. The PhD Thesis must contain your original research and not be copied from anywhere. Plagiarism in a PhD Thesis is considered a serious academic offense and can lead to severe consequences.

If you are giving references to works from other authors, you must give proper citations. Paraphrasing and rephrasing of other’s work must be duly acknowledged. In PhD Thesis Writing, plagiarism is defined on various levels.

Here are the different levels of plagiarism in PhD Thesis Writing:

Penalty for Plagiarism in PhD Thesis/Dissertation 

The University Grants Commission (UGC) takes plagiarism very seriously and sets the penalty standards for different levels of plagiarism.

Here is the punishment for Plagiarism in the PhD Thesis:

Finishing PhD Thesis and Final Submission 

Once you are done with the final draft of the PhD Thesis, you will need to send it to your supervisor. The supervisor will go through the thesis and after reviewing it, approve it for final submission.

Once your supervisor has approved you thesis, submit it for the examination. The Departmental Research Committee (DRC) will examine the PhD Thesis and you will have to appear for the Grand PhD Viva. In this Viva, you will need to defend your research findings and conclusions in the PhD Thesis. 

PhD Thesis submission is done in physical form and you will have to take a printout of the thesis. You should always take multiple printouts of the thesis to avoid any printing mistakes and glitches. At the time of final submission, generally, multiple copies of the thesis are required which makes it more important.

PhD Viva is conducted within 3 months of thesis submission. Once the viva has been completed, the examiners will let you know whether or not you need to make any changes to your PhD Thesis. 

These could be 3 outcomes after thesis submission and viva. All are mentioned below:

If you asked for a correction, you will have to fix the errors and re-submit the PhD thesis again. The re-submission of PhD is usually done digitally.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

⭐ what is a phd thesis.

A PhD Thesis is a well-structured and well-organized piece of original research that every PhD scholar has to prepare and submit to get their doctorate. 

⭐ Is PhD Viva mandatory after the final submission of the PhD Thesis?

Yes, PhD Viva is mandatory for every PhD Candidate once they have made the final submission of their thesis. In PhD Viva, candidates defend their research and findings before the departmental research committee. 

⭐ What is the ideal length of a PhD Thesis?

There is no ideal length for a PhD Thesis. However, the length of the PhD thesis is greatly influenced by the disciplines of the research. The length of PhD in Engineering and Sciences is comparatively less than that of PhD in Humanities and Social Sciences. The PhD thesis ranges between 60,000 words to 1,20,000 words. 

⭐ What percentage of Plagiarism is allowed for a PhD Thesis?

The University Grants Commission (UGC) allows a maximum of 10 percent plagiarism in the PhD Thesis. The candidates whose thesis plagiarism falls within 10% are not penalized. 

⭐ What is the penalty for Level 2 Plagiarism?

Level 2 plagiarism means that the PhD Thesis has a similarity above 40% to 60%. For this level of plagiarism, the PhD candidate will be asked to withdraw the manuscript and debarred from the annual increment for one year. The supervisor of such PhD scholar will also be penalized with a ban on any PhD supervision for 2 years. 

⭐ What is the Penalty for Level 3 Plagiarism?

Level 3 plagiarism exhibits a similarity above 60% in the PhD Thesis. The PhD Scholars will be asked to withdraw their manuscript and they will be prohibited to annual increments for 2 consecutive years. The supervisor will not be allowed to supervise any new Master’s and  PhD Thesis/dissertation for 3 consecutive years. 

By Muhammad Hasim Sheikh

10 Years of Experience / Storyteller / Research-driven Writer

As an Academic Content Writer and Content strategist, I have great experience in crafting high-quality, research-based content across diverse subjects. My academic background with a doctorate in business Management allows me to create informative and engaging academic materials for students, educators, and institutions. I have expertise in developing well-researched course materials, academic blog

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