How To Write A Good PhD Thesis Layout In 5 Steps

A PhD thesis is an exhaustive analysis of a research question. Bear in mind though that exhaustive does not mean long. The trend of writing long and convoluted papers is gradually fading away and instead universities and teachers are encouraging students to write precise and concise work that thoroughly examines the question, presents experimentation and possible solutions while integrating the work into the already available body of investigative knowledge. The length most often quoted these days for a typical PhD paper is 150 pages all in. Of course, there are always exceptions to this general rule of thumb but it is better to keep to this limit.

Before you embark on your journey of writing your paper, it is always a good idea to make a layout of your paper. This will be a sort of a map for you which you can follow and write an accurately structured paper. This will save you time and effort and keep you from wandering off on tangents.

Here are 5 steps in which to write a great PhD thesis layout.

Step 1.

Before you begin, it is important to gather all the information you need. By this point, you will probably already have written your research proposal. You will probably also have decided on your question and methodology. You will also have done your literature review. Gather all that data and create your layout in its view.

Step 2.

Create the introductory part of your layout. In the first part of your paper, you will provide an Abstract of your paper. After that you will introduce your topic. You will pose the question and provide background to show the relevance of the question in view of the existing literature. The typical first part of the layout will thus contain he following sections.

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Background
• Literature Review

Step 3.

In the middle part of your paper, provide details of your experimentation, the protocols for your testing, methodologies and results. You will also need to asses your own results critically. This part of the layout typically contains the following sections.

• Analysis
• Research Design and Methodology
• Interpretation of results
• Critical Analysis of results

Step 4.

In the last section of the text, provide a summary of your results as well as providing your suggestions for what further work can be done in the area. State your contributions to the subject area through this paper. The sections here will include:

• Suggestions for further work and statement of your contribution
• Summary of results

Step 5.

In the end organize your appendices and reference. Sections include:

• Appendix
• Bibliography