5 Basic Points You Should Know About The Dissertation Format


Most students will have to write an essay at some point during their academic career. Equally, when it comes to the latter stages of higher education, students may find themselves having to write a dissertation.

Many students will be fearful of what they have to do when it comes to writing such an essay, as they are likely to have never written one of these academic papers before. Essentially, a dissertation is a long academic paper that requires a great deal of research and, once you know what you’re doing, the process will still require a lot of hard work, but will be less nerve-wracking.

  1. The sections that you will need to include can vary depending on the subject that you are studying

    2. As mentioned, this form of academic paper will generally be fairly long, and will include a variety of different sections. In order to establish which sections you will require in your paper, you will need to consider the subject that you are writing about. Generally, your paper will take the same basic structure of most essays, in that it will include an introduction, body section, and conclusion; however, these main sections will then be broken down into further smaller sections.

  2. The way in which you reference or cite sources depends on the style of essay you write

    3. Citations and references are essential, so as to prevent you being accused of plagiarism. Be sure to check which style of paper you need to write, such as MLA style or APA style, as different styles require citations and references to be included in different ways.

  3. You will need to include an abstract at the beginning of the paper

    4. In order to inform the reader of what your paper is about, and hopefully entice them to read more, you will need to include an abstract at the beginning of your paper. Whilst this section is only short, it is essential that it is written to a high quality.

  4. You will need to outline what methods you used for your research

    5. Generally, a methodology section will be included, in which you will outline what research methods you intend to use, and how you will carry them out.

  5. Any additional materials should be included in an appendix

    6. Most dissertations will require you to include additional materials. These will generally have to be included in an appendix section, with a new appendix created for each additional material.