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HowtoWriteYourThesis
compiledbyKimKastens,StephaniePfirman,MartinStute,BillHahn,DallasAbbott,andChrisScholz

I.Thesisstructure

II.CrosscuttingIssues

TitlePage

Abstract

TableofContents
Introduction

III.EditingYourThesis

WhatWeAreLookingFor
PlanningAheadforYour

Thesis

CopyEditing

WritingforanAudience
Skimmingvs.Reading

Methods

OrderofWriting

AvoidingAmbiguity
ThesisLength
WritingforanInternational
Audience

Results

FiguresandTables

Discussion
Conclusions
Recommendations
Acknowledgments
References

TyingtheTexttotheData
GivingCredit
FinalThesis

Resources

Appendices

ContentEditing

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

Abstract
Agoodabstractexplainsinonelinewhythepaperisimportant.Itthengoesontogivea
summaryofyourmajorresults,preferablycouchedinnumberswitherrorlimits.Thefinal
sentencesexplainthemajorimplicationsofyourwork.Agoodabstractisconcise,readable,and
quantitative.
Lengthshouldbe~12paragraphs,approx.400words.
Absrtractsgenerallydonothavecitations.
Informationintitleshouldnotberepeated.
Beexplicit.
Usenumberswhereappropriate.
Answerstothesequestionsshouldbefoundintheabstract:
1. Whatdidyoudo?
2. Whydidyoudoit?Whatquestionwereyoutryingtoanswer?
3. Howdidyoudoit?Statemethods.
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4. Whatdidyoulearn?Statemajorresults.
5. Whydoesitmatter?Pointoutatleastonesignificantimplication.

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

Page#
xxx

Introduction
Youcan'twriteagoodintroductionuntilyouknowwhatthebodyofthepapersays.Considerwritingthe
introductorysection(s)afteryouhavecompletedtherestofthepaper,ratherthanbefore.
Besuretoincludeahookatthebeginningoftheintroduction.Thisisastatementofsomething
sufficientlyinterestingtomotivateyourreadertoreadtherestofthepaper,itisanimportant/interesting
scientificproblemthatyourpapereithersolvesoraddresses.Youshoulddrawthereaderinandmake
themwanttoreadtherestofthepaper.
Thenextparagraphsintheintroductionshouldcitepreviousresearchinthisarea.Itshouldcitethose
whohadtheideaorideasfirst,andshouldalsocitethosewhohavedonethemostrecentandrelevant
work.Youshouldthengoontoexplainwhymoreworkwasnecessary(yourwork,ofcourse.)

Whatelsebelongsintheintroductorysection(s)ofyourpaper?
1. Astatementofthegoalofthepaper:whythestudywasundertaken,orwhythepaperwas
written.Donotrepeattheabstract.
2. Sufficientbackgroundinformationtoallowthereadertounderstandthecontextandsignificance
ofthequestionyouaretryingtoaddress.
3. Properacknowledgementofthepreviousworkonwhichyouarebuilding.Sufficientreferences
suchthatareadercould,bygoingtothelibrary,achieveasophisticatedunderstandingofthe
contextandsignificanceofthequestion.
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4. Theintroductionshouldbefocusedonthethesisquestion(s).Allcitedworkshouldbedirectly
releventtothegoalsofthethesis.Thisisnotaplacetosummarizeeverythingyouhaveever
readonasubject.
5. Explainthescopeofyourwork,whatwillandwillnotbeincluded.
6. Averbal"roadmap"orverbal"tableofcontents"guidingthereadertowhatliesahead.
7. Isitobviouswhereintroductorymaterial("oldstuff")endsandyourcontribution("newstuff")
begins?
Rememberthatthisisnotareviewpaper.Wearelookingfororiginalworkandinterpretation/analysis
byyou.Breakuptheintroductionsectionintologicalsegmentsbyusingsubheads.

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

Results
Theresultsareactualstatementsofobservations,includingstatistics,tablesandgraphs.
Indicateinformationonrangeofvariation.
Mentionnegativeresultsaswellaspositive.Donotinterpretresultssavethatforthe
discussion.
Layoutthecaseasforajury.Presentsufficientdetailssothatotherscandrawtheirown
inferencesandconstructtheirownexplanations.
UseS.I.units(m,s,kg,W,etc.)throughoutthethesis.
Breakupyourresultsintologicalsegmentsbyusingsubheadings
Keyresultsshouldbestatedinclearsentencesatthebeginningofparagraphs.Itisfarbetterto
say"XhadsignificantpositiverelationshipwithY(linearregressionp<0.01,r^2=0.79)"thento
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startwithalessinformativelike"ThereisasignificantrelationshipbetweenXandY".Describe
thenatureofthefindingsdonotjusttellthereaderwhetherornottheyaresignificant.

Note:Resultsvs.DiscussionSections
Quarantineyourobservationsfromyourinterpretations.Thewritermustmakeitcrystalcleartothe
readerwhichstatementsareobservationandwhichareinterpretation.Inmostcircumstances,thisisbest
accomplishedbyphysicallyseparatingstatementsaboutnewobservationsfromstatementsaboutthe
meaningorsignificanceofthoseobservations.Alternatively,thisgoalcanbeaccomplishedbycareful
useofphrasessuchas"Iinfer..."vastbodiesofgeologicalliteraturebecameobsoletewiththeadventof
platetectonicsthepapersthatsurvivedarethoseinwhichobservationswerepresentedinstandalone
fashion,unmuddiedbywhateverideastheauthormighthavehadabouttheprocessesthatcausedthe
observedphenomena.

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

Discussion
Startwithafewsentencesthatsummarizethemostimportantresults.Thediscussionsectionshouldbe
abriefessayinitself,answeringthefollowingquestionsandcaveats:
1. Whatarethemajorpatternsintheobservations?(Refertospatialandtemporalvariations.)
2. Whataretherelationships,trendsandgeneralizationsamongtheresults?
3. Whataretheexceptionstothesepatternsorgeneralizations?
4. Whatarethelikelycauses(mechanisms)underlyingthesepatternsresultingpredictions?
5. Isthereagreementordisagreementwithpreviouswork?
6. Interpretresultsintermsofbackgroundlaidoutintheintroductionwhatistherelationshipof
thepresentresultstotheoriginalquestion?
7. Whatistheimplicationofthepresentresultsforotherunansweredquestionsinearthsciences,
ecology,environmentalpolicy,etc....?
8. Multiplehypotheses:Thereareusuallyseveralpossibleexplanationsforresults.Becarefulto
consideralloftheseratherthansimplypushingyourfavoriteone.Ifyoucaneliminateallbut
one,thatisgreat,butoftenthatisnotpossiblewiththedatainhand.Inthatcaseyoushouldgive
eventreatmenttotheremainingpossibilities,andtrytoindicatewaysinwhichfutureworkmay
leadtotheirdiscrimination.
9. Avoidbandwagons:Aspecialcaseoftheabove.Avoidjumpingacurrentlyfashionablepointof
viewunlessyourresultsreallydostronglysupportthem.
10. Whatarethethingswenowknoworunderstandthatwedidn'tknoworunderstandbeforethe
presentwork?
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11. Includetheevidenceorlineofreasoningsupportingeachinterpretation.
12. Whatisthesignificanceofthepresentresults:whyshouldwecare?
Thissectionshouldberichinreferencestosimilarworkandbackgroundneededtointerpretresults.
However,interpretation/discussionsection(s)areoftentoolongandverbose.Istherematerialthatdoes
notcontributetooneoftheelementslistedabove?Ifso,thismaybematerialthatyouwillwantto
considerdeletingormoving.Breakupthesectionintologicalsegmentsbyusingsubheads.

Conclusions
Whatisthestrongestandmostimportantstatementthatyoucanmakefromyourobservations?
Ifyoumetthereaderatameetingsixmonthsfromnow,whatdoyouwantthemtoremember
aboutyourpaper?
Referbacktoproblemposed,anddescribetheconclusionsthatyoureachedfromcarryingout
thisinvestigation,summarizenewobservations,newinterpretations,andnewinsightsthathave
resultedfromthepresentwork.
Includethebroaderimplicationsofyourresults.
Donotrepeatwordforwordtheabstract,introductionordiscussion.

Recommendations
Includewhenappropriate(mostofthetime)
Remedialactiontosolvetheproblem.
Furtherresearchtofillingapsinourunderstanding.
Directionsforfutureinvestigationsonthisorrelatedtopics.

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

References
citeallideas,concepts,text,datathatarenotyourown
ifyoumakeastatement,backitupwithyourowndataorareference
allreferencescitedinthetextmustbelisted
citesingleauthorreferencesbythesurnameoftheauthor(followedbydateofthepublicationin
parenthesis)
...accordingtoHays(1994)
...populationgrowthisoneofthegreatestenvironmentalconcernsfacingfuture
generations(Hays,1994).
citedoubleauthorreferencesbythesurnamesofbothauthors(followedbydateofthe
publicationinparenthesis)
e.g.SimpsonandHays(1994)
citemorethandoubleauthorreferencesbythesurnameofthefirstauthorfollowedbyetal.and
thenthedateofthepublication
e.g.Pfirman,SimpsonandHayswouldbe:
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Pfirmanetal.(1994)
donotusefootnotes
listallreferencescitedinthetextinalphabeticalorderusingthefollowingformatfordifferent
typesofmaterial:
Hunt,S.(1966)Carbohydrateandaminoacidcompositionoftheeggcapsulesofthe
whelk.Nature,210,436437.
NationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration(1997)Commonlyaskedquestions
aboutozone.http://www.noaa.gov/publicaffairs/grounders/ozo1.html,9/27/97.
Pfirman,S.L.,M.Stute,H.J.Simpson,andJ.Hays(1996)Undergraduateresearchat
BarnardandColumbia,JournalofResearch,11,213214.
Pechenik,J.A.(1987)Ashortguidetowritingaboutbiology.HarperCollinsPublishers,
NewYork,194pp.
Pitelka,D.R.,andF.M.Child(1964)Reviewofciliarystructureandfunction.In:
BiochemistryandPhysiologyofProtozoa,Vol.3(S.H.Hutner,editor),AcademicPress,
NewYork,131198.
Sambrotto,R.(1997)lecturenotes,EnvironmentalDataAnalysis,BarnardCollege,Oct2,
1997.
Stute,M.,J.F.Clark,P.Schlosser,W.S.Broecker,andG.Bonani(1995)Ahighaltitude
continentalpaleotemperaturerecordderivedfromnoblegasesdissolvedingroundwater
fromtheSanJuanBasin,NewMexico.Quat.Res.,43,209220.
NewYorkTimes(1/15/00)PCBsintheHudsonstillanissue,A2.
itisacceptabletoputtheinitialsoftheindividualauthorsbehindtheirlastnames,e.g.Pfirman,
S.L.,Stute,M.,Simpson,H.J.,andHays,J(1996)Undergraduateresearchat......

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

II.CrosscuttingIssues
WhatAreWeLookingFor?
Wearelookingforacriticalanalysis.Wewantyoutoanswerascientificquestionorhypothesis.We
wouldlikeyoutogatherevidencefromvarioussourcestoallowyoutomakeinterpretationsand
judgments.Yourapproach/methodsshouldbecarefullydesignedtocometoclosure.Yourresultsshould
beclearlydefinedanddiscussedinthecontextofyourtopic.Relevantliteratureshouldbecited.You
shouldplaceyouranalysisinabroadercontext,andhighlighttheimplications(regional,global,etc.)of
yourwork.Wearelookingforawellreasonedlineofargument,fromyourinitialquestion,compilation
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ofrelevantevidence,settingdatainageneral/universalcontext,andfinallymakingajudgmentbasedon
youranalysis.Yourthesisshouldbeclearlywrittenandintheformatdescribedbelow.

PlanningAheadforYourThesis
Ifatallpossible,startyourthesisresearchduringthesummerbetweenyourjuniorandsenioryearor
evenearlierwithaninternship,etc....thenworkonfillinginbackgroundmaterialandlabworkduring
thefallsothatyou'repreparedtowriteandpresentyourresearchduringthespring.Thebeststrategyis
topickaprojectthatyouareinterestedin,butalsothatafacultymemberorotherprofessionalisworking
on.Thispersonwillbecomeyourresearchmentorandthisgivesyousomeonetotalkwithandget
backgroundmaterialfrom.Ifyou'reunsureabouttheselectionofaproject,letusknowandwe'lltryto
connectyouwithsomeone.

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

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

OrderofWriting
Yourthesisisnotwritteninthesameorderasitispresentedin.Thefollowinggivesyouoneideahow
toproceed.
1. firstorganizeyourpaperasalogicalargumentbeforeyoubeginwriting
2. makeyourfigurestoillustrateyourargument(thinkskimming)
3. themainsectionsare:backgroundtotheargument(intro)describingtheinformationtobeused
intheargument,andmakingpointsaboutthem(observations),connectingthepointsregarding
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theinfo(analysis),summingup(conclusions).
4. outlinethemainelements:sections,andsubsections
5. beginwriting,choosingoptionsinthefollowinghierarchyparagraphs,sentences,andwords.
Hereisanotherapproach.
1. Writeupapreliminaryversionofthebackgroundsectionfirst.Thiswillserveasthebasisforthe
introductioninyourfinalpaper.
2. Asyoucollectdata,writeupthemethodssection.Itismucheasiertodothisrightafteryouhave
collectedthedata.Besuretoincludeadescriptionoftheresearchequipmentandrelevant
calibrationplots.
3. Whenyouhavesomedata,startmakingplotsandtablesofthedata.Thesewillhelpyouto
visualizethedataandtoseegapsinyourdatacollection.Iftimepermits,youshouldgobackand
fillinthegaps.Youarefinishedwhenyouhaveasetofplotsthatshowadefinitetrend(orlack
ofatrend).Besuretomakeadequatestatisticaltestsofyourresults.
4. Onceyouhaveacompletesetofplotsandstatisticaltests,arrangetheplotsandtablesina
logicalorder.Writefigurecaptionsfortheplotsandtables.Asmuchaspossible,thecaptions
shouldstandaloneinexplainingtheplotsandtables.Manyscientistsreadonlytheabstract,
figures,figurecaptions,tables,tablecaptions,andconclusionsofapaper.Besurethatyour
figures,tablesandcaptionsarewelllabeledandwelldocumented.
5. Onceyourplotsandtablesarecomplete,writetheresultssection.Writingthissectionrequires
extremediscipline.Youmustdescribeyourresults,butyoumustNOTinterpretthem.(Ifgood
ideasoccurtoyouatthistime,savethematthebottomofthepageforthediscussionsection.)
Befactualandorderlyinthissection,buttrynottobetoodry.
6. Onceyouhavewrittentheresultssection,youcanmoveontothediscussionsection.Thisis
usuallyfuntowrite,becausenowyoucantalkaboutyourideasaboutthedata.Ifyoucancome
upwithagoodcartoon/schematicshowingyourideas,doso.Manypapersarecitedinthe
literaturebecausetheyhaveagoodcartoonthatsubsequentauthorswouldliketouseormodify.
7. Inwritingthediscussionsession,besuretoadequatelydiscusstheworkofotherauthorswho
collecteddataonthesameorrelatedscientificquestions.Besuretodiscusshowtheirworkis
relevanttoyourwork.Iftherewereflawsintheirmethodology,thisistheplacetodiscussit.
8. Afteryouhavediscussedthedata,youcanwritetheconclusionssection.Inthissection,youtake
theideasthatwerementionedinthediscussionsectionandtrytocometosomeclosure.Ifsome
hypothesiscanberuledoutasaresultofyourwork,sayso.Ifmoreworkisneededfora
definitiveanswer,saythat.
9. Thefinalsectioninthepaperisarecommendationsection.Thisisreallytheendofthe
conclusionsectioninascientificpaper.Makerecommendationsforfurtherresearchorpolicy
actionsinthissection.IfyoucanmakepredictionsaboutwhatwillbefoundifXistrue,thendo
so.Youwillgetcreditfromlaterresearchersforthis.
10. Afteryouhavefinishedtherecommendationsection,lookbackatyouroriginalintroduction.
Yourintroductionshouldsetthestagefortheconclusionsofthepaperbylayingouttheideas
thatyouwilltestinthepaper.Nowthatyouknowwherethepaperisleading,youwillprobably
needtorewritetheintroduction.
11. Youmustwriteyourabstractlast.

FiguresandTables
Theactualfiguresandtablesshouldbeembedded/insertedinthetext,generallyonthepage
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followingthepagewherethefigure/tableisfirstcitedinthetext.
Allfiguresandtablesshouldbenumberedandcitedconsecutivelyinthetextasfigure1,figure
2,table1,table2,etc.
Includeacaptionforeachfigureandtable,citinghowitwasconstructed(referencecitations,
datasources,etc.)andhighlightingthekeyfindings(thinkskimming).Includeanindexfigure
(map)showingandnamingalllocationsdiscussedinpaper.
Youareencouragedtomakeyourownfigures,includingcartoons,schematicsorsketchesthat
illustratetheprocessesthatyoudiscuss.Examineyourfigureswiththesequestionsinmind:
1. Isthefigureselfexplanatory?
2. Areyouraxeslabeledandaretheunitsindicated?
3. Showtheuncertaintyinyourdatawitherrorbars.
4. Ifthedataarefitbyacurve,indicatethegoodnessoffit.
5. Couldchartjunkbeeliminated?
6. Couldnondatainkbeeliminated?
7. Couldredundantdatainkbeeliminated?
8. Coulddatadensitybeincreasedbyeliminatingnondatabearingspace?
9. Isthisasparsedatasetthatcouldbetterbeexpressedasatable?
10. Doesthefiguredistortthedatainanyway?
11. Arethedatapresentedincontext?
12. Doesthefigurecaptionguidethereader'seyetothe"takehomelesson"ofthefigure?
Figuresshouldbeorientedvertically,inportraitmode,whereverpossible.Ifyoumustorient
themhorizontally,inlandscapemode,orientthemsothatyoucanreadthemfromtheright,not
fromtheleft,wherethebindingwillbe.

TyingtheTexttotheData
"Showthem,don'tjusttellthem"Ideally,everyresultclaimedinthetextshouldbedocumentedwith
data,usuallydatapresentedintablesorfigures.Iftherearenodataprovidedtosupportagiven
statementofresultorobservation,consideraddingmoredata,ordeletingtheunsupported
"observation."
Examinefigure(s)ortable(s)pertainingtotheresult(s).
Assesswhether:
1. thedatasupportthetextualstatement
2. thedatacontradictthetextualstatement
3. thedataareinsufficienttoproveorrefutethetextualstatement
4. thedatamaysupportthetextualstatement,butarenotpresentedinsuchawaythatyoucanbe
sureyouareseeingthesamephenomenoninthedatathattheauthorclaimstohaveseen.

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

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

Resources
TheBarnardWritingRoomprovidesassistanceonwritingseniortheses.
LookatotherthesesonfileintheEnvironmentalSciencedepartment,theywillgiveyouanidea
ofwhatwearelookingfor.
Ofcoursedonothesitatetoaskus,oryourresearchadvisorforhelp.
TheBarnardEnvironmentalScienceDepartmenthasmanybooksonscientificwriting,askthe
departmentaladministratorforassistanceinlocatingthem.
AlsoseeadditionalbookslistedasResources.

III.EditingYourThesis
Evenaroughdraftshouldbeedited.

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

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

Avoidingambiguity
1. Donotallowrunonsentencestosneakintoyourwritingtrysemicolons.
2. Avoidnestedclauses/phrases.
3. Avoidclausesorphraseswithmorethantwoideasinthem.
4. Donotusedoublenegatives.
5. Donotusedanglingparticiples(i.e.phraseswithan"ing"verb,insentenceswheretheagent
performingtheactionofthe"ing"verbisnotspecified:"Afterstandinginboilingwaterfortwo
hours,examinetheflask.").
6. Makesurethattheantecedentforeverypronoun(it,these,those,that,this,one)iscrystalclear.
Ifindoubt,usethenounratherthanthepronoun,eveniftheresultingsentenceseemsalittlebit
redundant.
7. Ensurethatsubjectandverbagreeinnumber(singularversusplural).
8. Beespeciallycarefulwithcompoundsubjects.Beespeciallycarefulwithsubject/verbagreement
withinclauses.
9. Avoidqualitativeadjectiveswhendescribingconceptsthatarequantifiable("Thewaterisdeep."
"Plateconvergenceisfast.""Ouralgorithmisbetter.")Instead,quantify.("Waterdepthsexceed
5km.")
10. Avoidnounstrings("acousticnoisesourcelocationtechnique").
11. Donotuseunexplainedacronyms.Spelloutallacronymsthefirsttimethatyouusethem.

Thesislength
Writeforbrevityratherthanlength.Thegoalistheshortestpossiblepaperthatcontainsallinformation
necessarytodescribetheworkandsupporttheinterpretation.
Avoidunnecessaryrepetitionandirrelevanttangents.
Necessaryrepetition:themainthemeshouldbedevelopedintheintroductionasamotivationor
workinghypothesis.Itisthendevelopedinthemainbodyofthepaper,andmentionedagaininthe
discussionsection(and,ofcourse,intheabstractandconclusions).
Somesuggestionsonhowtoshortenyourpaper:
1. Usetablesforrepetitiveinformation.
2. Includeonlysufficientbackgroundmaterialtopermitthereadertounderstandyourstory,not
everypapereverwrittenonthesubject.
3. Usefigurecaptionseffectively.
4. Don'tdescribethecontentsofthefiguresand/ortablesinthetextitembyitem.Instead,usethe
texttopointoutthemostsignificantpatterns,itemsortrendsinthefiguresandtables.
5. Delete"observations"or"results"thatarementionedinthetextforwhichyouhavenotshown
data.
6. Delete"conclusions"thatarenotdirectlysupportedbyyourobservationsorresults.
7. Delete"interpretation"or"discussion"sectionsthatareinconclusive.
8. Delete"interpretation"or"discussion"sectionsthatareonlyperipherallyrelatedtoyournew
resultsorobservations.
9. Scrutinizeadjectives!adverbsandprepositionalphrases.
Althoughitvariesconsiderablyfromprojecttoproject,averagethesislengthisabout40pagesoftext
plusfigures.Thistotalpagecountincludesallyourtextaswellasthelistofreferences,butitdoesnot
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HowtoWriteaThesis

includeanyappendices.Thesegeneralizationsshouldnotbetakentooseriously,especiallyifyouare
workingonalaborintensivelabproject.Ifyouhaveanyquestionsaboutwhetheryourprojectisof
sufficientscope,consultoneofusearlyon.

WritingforanInternationalAudience
1. Putasmuchinformationaspossibleintofiguresandtables.Inparticular,trytofindawaytoput
yourconclusionsintoafigure,perhapsaflowchartoracartoon.
2. Don'tassumethatreadersarefamiliarwiththegeographyorthestratigraphyofyourfieldarea.
3. Everysingleplacenamementionedinthetextshouldbeshownonamap.
4. Considerincludingalocationmap,eitherasaseparatefigureorasaninsettoanotherfigure.If
yourpaperinvolvesstratigraphy,considerincludingasummarystratigraphiccolumnineffect,a
locationmapintime.
5. Useshortersentences.Avoidnestedclausesorphrases.
6. Avoididioms.Favorusagesthatcanbelookedupinanordinarydictionary."Takethebeaker
outoftheovenimmediately..."ratherthan"Takethebeakeroutoftheovenrightaway..."
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by:martins@ldeo.columbia.edu

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