All Questions
Tagged with thesis writing-style
93 questions
2
votes
1
answer
135
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Writing a Book Chapter and Adjusting One's Scholarly Tone (Writing Style)
I'm turning my master's dissertation into a book chapter and I'm worried about my scholarly tone. When I read other articles they don't sound like the way I have written my dissertation and I'll be ...
- 41
3
votes
1
answer
161
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Institution wide style guides for theses - rationale and context
Under this answer here on Academia StackExchange, Xander Henderson and I observed that there seems to be a large difference between the United States and, for instance, Germany regarding how specific ...
- 8,092
0
votes
1
answer
174
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How many related concepts should I try to fit into a research article?
When writing a journal article, I've noticed I have a habit of name-dropping concepts that are related to my argument. This has the benefit of increasing the links between my paper and other research, ...
- 1,101
1
vote
2
answers
209
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Does a problem statement chapter contributes / addressing a research question by establishing a deeper problem understanding?
Considering a PhD thesis that use a problem statement chapter in the middle of the thesis. The reason for the chapter is that the required background information is only, fully available at this point....
- 564
0
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3
answers
3k
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Is the use of we / us (in the sense of the reader and writer exploring the topic) accepted in a PhD thesis or bad style? [duplicate]
Before, referring just to some other question that sounds likely to be the same, e.g., about can I write: "I/We have developed X?", what I am asking about is: "Let us (you the reader ...
- 564
14
votes
2
answers
2k
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Convention on embedding three pairs of items in a single sentence using parentheses
I am writing in a description of three items in a thesis on Particle Physics, and I can do it in one line in theory. If there were just two items, e.g. A and B, which produce results C and D, I could ...
- 143
1
vote
1
answer
364
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How correctly write ordinal numbers in a scientific thesis?
I'm wrtiting my Master of Science thesis in Aerospace Engineering and I've a doubt about wrtiting of ordinal numbers?
Let' us consider the following alternatives:$i$th, $i$-th.
What is the correct ...
- 261
13
votes
7
answers
3k
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What level of audience should one aim for in the introduction of a STEM thesis?
I am writing my STEM thesis, 90% percent of which is about mathematical modeling. However, I am unsure at what level I should write for the introduction.
Should I write it so it is accessible for ...
- 313
1
vote
2
answers
664
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Where to put proofs in a thesis?
When writing mathematically oriented thesis, e.g., math, cs, engineering, I am wondering where would be the most appropriate place to put your proofs.
There are several ideas:
put them right after ...
- 1,193
1
vote
0
answers
128
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What is a Good Alternative to the Word "Novel" in Engineering Publications? [duplicate]
When writing papers for engineering conferences and journals, it is important to highlight how one's work is novel/new.
I often find myself repeating the word "novel" is sentences such as:
...
- 111
0
votes
1
answer
527
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Explaining an observation in thesis having no reasoning
During my machine learning master thesis, I came across some observation which increased accuracy of my result. For the observation, I am unable to find the theoretical justification. How to approach ...
- 13
1
vote
0
answers
82
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How do I justify studying an effect found in an underdeveloped country when it has been found and studied in developed countries? [closed]
I am finding it challenging to motivate my chapter, in particular, why I have to study for a behavioral effect that influences prices in a underdeveloped country, when it has been reported in other ...
- 11
6
votes
2
answers
402
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Suitable citation style for dealing with many de-identified sources, interviews and personal correspondence?
Background:
I am writing a paper analysing various organisations that I need to de-identify.
For my analysis I need to cite three types of sources:
Publicly available published works that identify ...
- 61
3
votes
1
answer
164
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Is my Major Professor Counted as a Co-Author?
According to the APA style manual, the editorial "we" is used to refer to the author and co-authors but should not be used if there is a single author. However, in writing my mathematics ...
- 33
2
votes
2
answers
170
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Cite or reformulate perfectly formulated sentences?
I'm just writing my bachelors thesis and I need to reference to a book for an in-depth derivation of something.
The concluding sentence in this work is just perfectly formulated, there is no way of ...
anon
0
votes
1
answer
534
views
Should I include a synonym in parenthesis in abstract of a PhD thesis? [closed]
Should I include in parentheses a synonym I will use in the main text already in the abstract?
Example:
The atomistic scale (micro-scale) shall be considered ...
The atomistic scale shall be ...
- 191
9
votes
3
answers
3k
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Is it Appropriate to Include Personal Correspondence in the Appendix of a Thesis?
While conducting research for my dissertation, my collaborator and I discovered a mathematical error in published work and this error was confirmed by the author through personal correspondence. On ...
- 273
6
votes
3
answers
25k
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How to cite self-created images or pictures in thesis
When we put some images in a thesis, we provide a reference to its source where it’s located. If I have created my own images or pictures, how do I make it clear that they are my images and I did not ...
- 225
1
vote
2
answers
370
views
Can you give an example in a formal definition?
I would like to give an example in a formal definition. My concern is, by giving an example, I am implicitly demonstrating that the definition is not precise/clear enough.
Is it acceptable to give an ...
- 151
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Is there a rule for repeated letters when creating acronyms/initialisms/abbreviations?
I'm writing my master thesis and I've created an initialism that has the letter S repeated three times in a row (the initialism is OSSSP and stands for Optimization Search Space Scope Parameters). In ...
- 51
0
votes
1
answer
644
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Can section, subsection, or sub-subsection headings be formatted as questions in a master's thesis? (not all of them at the same time) [closed]
I am wondering if section, subsection, or sub-subsection headings can be formatted as questions. I am working on my masters thesis (Economics) and am following the Chicago Manual of Style Guide (17th ...
- 416
0
votes
1
answer
1k
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Would you consider a very short, non-standard thesis that lacks a research questions, a thesis? [closed]
I recently met an artist. He was very proud of the shortness of his Master's thesis, which was published back in early 90's and has only 3 pages! He had been graduated from the California college of ...
- 415
0
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1
answer
2k
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How to cross-references sections in a thesis?
When using cross-references in a thesis for cross-referencing to specific sections, do we have to use section numbers or section names would be fine too?
example:
As discussed in the Discussion ...
- 415
5
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Tense in summary chapter of a thesis
I am currently writing a cumulative dissertation which is based on several published papers. I am supposed to shortly (one page) summarize each of the papers. These summaries come before the actual ...
- 417
2
votes
2
answers
4k
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Pagebreak within tables of scientific articles
I do not know if this the suitable forum for this question but I would like to give it a try.
In my thesis I have several very long tables that cover almost one page. Because of this I am getting ...
- 417
0
votes
3
answers
2k
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Can I put the proofs to my lemmas/theorems/corollaries in my appendix?
I have proofs that run on for up to 10 pages. To aid in readability, I would like to discuss my theorem, and the lemmas that support it, without the noise of these lengthy proofs. Can I move the ...
- 151
1
vote
2
answers
119
views
Order of “List of”s in TOC
Is there an accepted order in which "List of"s should appear in a thesis?
For example, I have a section dedicated to "List of (Code) Listings", another for "List of Figures", and another for "List of ...
- 151
17
votes
4
answers
3k
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Writing style in academic English
[comments from my supervisor]
You still have a tendency to use phrases such as "All in all", and "To
this end". Not a serious problem of course, but be aware that the
editors/reviewers for some ...
- 647
0
votes
1
answer
407
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Is it unnecessary to write "Please refer to xx paper for detail" after talking about framework presented in this paper?
I wrote a paragraph about a framework from a paper xx. Is it still necessary to mention "Please refer to xx paper for detail" at the end of this paragraph?
It is a thesis.
- 1,002
0
votes
1
answer
1k
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What pronoun should theses use? [duplicate]
It is generally courtesy to use the plural 'we' or 'our' in papers, even when the primary author was the only contributor. While using personal pronouns in academic papers is typically a very bad idea,...
- 2,392
5
votes
1
answer
527
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How do I phrase (in my thesis) that results in an important study are wrong?
The title probably comes off wrong, I tried to keep it short. I do not necessarily want to make an absolute statement like "that is wrong". But I do need to address the problems I am facing with a ...
- 689
12
votes
5
answers
2k
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How to phrase omissions correctly in a thesis?
This might be a strange question, but I am currently thinking about a good phrase to use if I want to emphasize that the theoretical omissions I am making are not caused by neglect, laziness, or ...
- 689
0
votes
1
answer
113
views
Inline referencing chapters, sections, subsections, etc [duplicate]
I am currently in the process of writing my Master's thesis using the LaTeX class supplied by my university. This class uses a document structure similar to report: Starting with chapters, then ...
1
vote
0
answers
121
views
Writing a thesis: how to organize the content?
I have to start writing a thesis for my master's degree. The thesis itself is about machine learning. In particular, I developed an environment that simulate a real world robotic system and applied ...
- 127
20
votes
7
answers
7k
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How to improve the language of my master thesis by myself?
I have written my thesis on my own (with my limited English skills) and I gave it to my supervisor to check it. He said the work is fine but the writing is a bit bad and I need to proofread it by ...
- 321
36
votes
11
answers
11k
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Reviewer of PhD thesis doesn't allow me to write in the first person singular
In my PhD thesis, I often used the first person singular during the description of the problem and the discussion of the results. One comment from the reviewer states that because I did not use the ...
- 925
3
votes
1
answer
299
views
Should I always force the use of active voice in my dissertation?
I decided to use first person ("we") and active voice as the primary style of writing my dissertation in the domain of Computer Science. I have read some discussions about this topic and the people ...
- 277
22
votes
5
answers
6k
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How to properly address an unsolved problem that is very hard to solve in mathematical thesis?
I'm preparing my thesis presentation and I'm trying to address a situation in which the general case has no known solution and is an open, very hard to solve, problem. It involves non-isolated ...
- 856
1
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2
answers
4k
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When to use "I" in a master's thesis
A similar question exists here however I don't feel that answers my specific question. Other questions on this topic seem to explain why "we" is primarily used in academic writing, which I understand.
...
- 492
1
vote
1
answer
2k
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How to quote in the title of a thesis in APA style?
I am writing my bachelor thesis (in psychology) and I am planning to use a quote from the series Game of Thrones as my title. More specifically, my title is:
‘The lone wolf dies but the pack ...
17
votes
1
answer
51k
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What tense to use when writing a thesis?
I am well aware of the fact that there are a number of questions that talk about tenses in research, but I still have not found exactly what I am after.
Basically my question is this, in a Master ...
- 638
1
vote
3
answers
5k
views
Dimensionless axis plots
How to properly label graphs that can be dimensionless?
One of reviewers of my document strongly emphasised on labelling plots with which I generally strongly agree. On this occasion, however, I was ...
- 113
-1
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2
answers
1k
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Is it ok to talk about next chapters in a chapter's introduction?
Context: I am writing a thesis that is divided in a few parts (e.g. "Context and motivations", "Literature review", "Experiments", etc.).
Each part starts with a 100-200 words-long introduction (or ...
- 2,690
3
votes
2
answers
181
views
Is it recommended to have a free-standing background chapter to avoid cluttering the main text with different topics?
Some general recommendations on master theses are:
a master thesis should be readable without looking up external references
a master thesis should present the topic in a way a someone with a ...
- 131
1
vote
1
answer
4k
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Tenses in introduction and summary of every chapter
I am writing an undergraduate dissertation. I am not quite sure what tenses should I use when introducing a chapter and summarizing it. Should I refer to that chapter in present, future or past tenses....
- 113
1
vote
2
answers
137
views
Is it good style to create http links in a B.Sc. project?
We are two students in computer science doing our term project for B.Sc. in computer science.
Now I wonder if it is alright or advisable to make inline hyperlinks in the report e.g.
We look at ...
1
vote
1
answer
169
views
Name of section dedicated for explaining subjects that are not 100% related to main subject of thesis
I am not sure this is the place to ask this question.
I am writing my master thesis and I have sections in preliminaries that don't have anything to do with the main topic of thesis but they further ...
- 635
4
votes
3
answers
9k
views
Placement of illustration: before/after text?
I've been reading conflicting advice on SE about the placement of an illustration (figure, table, algorithm). My questions are thus (refer to Section 3.3.1 in the attached figure):
I understand that,...
- 241
3
votes
2
answers
138
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Text between a Topic and Subtopic in a Thesis
I wonder, which one of these structurings is to prefer for a thesis.
To write text between a topic and subtopic, e.g.
A. Main Topic
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. ...
- 133
1
vote
1
answer
877
views
Explaining inconsistencies in literature in thesis and/or supporting information of journal article
I've found a model which explains my results excellently. However, the actual equation and parameters of the model have been interpreted and treated differently by different authors, sometimes leading ...
- 935