Enjoy Writing Your Science Thesis or Dissertation

293 Pages·2016·12.45 MB·English

by  Holtom Daniel

Writing
Your
Science
Thesis
or Dissertation!
Imperial College Press
Eniov
Writing
Your
Science
Thesis
or Dissertation!
A step by step guide to planning and writing
dissertations and theses for undergraduate and
graduate science studefits
Daniel Holtom & Elizabeth Fisher
Imperial College Press
Published by
Imperial College Press
57 Shelton Street
Covent Garden
London WC2H 9HE
Distributed by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
P 0 Box 128, Farrer Road, Singapore 912805
USA ofice: Suite IB, 1060 Main Street, River Edge, NJ 07661
UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WCW 9HE
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationD ata
Holtom, Daniel.
Enjoy writing your science thesis or dissertation : a step by step
guide to planning and writing dissertations and theses for
undergraduate and graduate science students / Daniel Holtom and
Elizabeth Fisher.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 1-86094-090-0
1. Technical writing. 2. Dissertations, Academic. 1. Fisher,
Elizabeth. 11. Title.
Tll.H.582 1999
808'.0666--dc21 99-1 1015
British Library Cataloguing-in-PublicationD ata
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright 0 1999 by Imperial College Press
All righ?s reserved. This book; or parts thereoj m yn o? be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, includingphotocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval
system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher.
For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright
Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to
photocopy is not required from the publisher.
Printed in Singapore.
Enjoy Writing Your Science Thesis Or Dissertation!
Almost all science students have to write a thesis or dissertation at some
point during their careers. For undergraduate and masters students,
assessment of the thesis is a component of the final mark; in the case of
doctoral students the degree almost entirely depends on it. The skill of
thesis writing lies in the clear organisation of data, ideas and resources.
Unfortunately, many science students get very little formal training in the
skill of communicating ideas clearly and efficiently, and as a result they
lose marks because of poorly planned and presented work.
Eqjoy Writing Your Science Thesis Or Dissertation! is the complete
guide to good thesis or dissertation writing: giving practical advice and
taking the student through the process of planning, writing, editing,
presenting, and submitting a successful thesis. It gives the reader a clear
understanding of both the theory and the practice of writing a scientific
thesis or dissertation. It provides an organisational framework for the
student and extensive backup information, including a guide to the pitfalls
of scientific and general English for both native and non-native English
speakers. For quick reference, reminders of key points are given at the end
of most chapters.
Enjoy Writing Your Science Thesis Or Dissertation! is a guide for use
either from day one of the degree course-or as a life jacket for a floundering
student with a looming deadline.
Enjoy Writing Your Science Thesis Or Dissertation! is written by a
professional writer with experience of teaching English, and by an academic
scientist with experience of examining and supervising undergraduate and
graduate projects. This guide is aimed at science students at all levels, and
also provides useful pointers for career scientists on scientific writing in
general.
V
We wish to thank many people for helpful comments and advice on this
manuscript, in particular Julian Taylor, Don Doering, Owen Garling,
Ramsay Gohar, David Goodgame, Jonathan Halliwell, Simon Leather,
Tonya Pillie, Marek Sergot, Johnny and Chrissie Pillie-Rabbs, Alex Souper,
Nessan Bermingham, Richard Halls, Diana Hernandez, Jacqui Hoyle, Nico
Katsanis, Colin Kerr, Anna Kessling, John King, Sharon Nicholson, Abi
Witherden.
The views and opinions expressed in this book are those of the authors.
We welcome any comments and stories from students and supervisors alike
for future revisions of this guide. All the anecdotes in this book are true
and involve real people all though we have not mentioned any names.. .
vii
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 provides basic information and summarises how to organise,
plan and write a thesis or dissertation. The remaining chapters go into
much greater detail on each topic; because each chapter can be read
independently of the main text you will find repetition between them. Use
what is helpful to you.
We recommend that you read Chapter 1 as a whole, and then use
the rest of the book as a reference section.
Chapter 1
Enjoy Writing Your Science Thesis or Dissertation! 1
What are the Rules? 1
Thesis and Dissertation Templates 3
The Importance of Planning 3
Familiarise Yourself With the Appropriate Format and Style 3
Get Your Information into a Workable Form 3
Creating a Plan for Your Thesis or Dissertation 4
Planning Materials and Methods 4
Planning Results Sections 6
Planning Your Introduction 7
Planning Your Discussion 8
Planning and Writing Your Abstract 10
Composing Your Title 10
Figures, Tables and Appendices 11
Writing Throughout the Course of Your Project 11
Overall Content 12
Writing 12
Putting Down the First Words 13
Drafts 13
Use of English 14
x Contents
The Importance of Good Presentation 15
Plagiarism 16
Binding 16
Where to Write 17
Resources 17
Interim Reports 19
Key Points 19
Chapter 2
Planning and Writing the References (Bibliography) 21
Why Reference? 21
What to Reference 22
What to Cite 22
How Many References and How Old? 22
Problem References 23
Quoting 23
The Implications of Copyright 23
Collecting and Storing Your References 24
Add Citations to Your Text As You Write 25
The Final Printout 26
Formats for Citations and References 26
How to Write the Full Length Reference 28
The Importance of Referencing Carefully 33
Common Mistakes 33
Key Points 34
Chapter 3
Planning and Writing Materials and Methods/
Experimental Techniques 35
The Importance of Forward Planning 36
Planning Materials and MethodsExperimental Techniques 36
Which to Write First, Materials or Methods? 37
Literature Review 37
Writing Methods 38
Writing the Materials Section 40
Writing Conventions 42
Contents xi
What Tense to Use 43
Explaining the Principles 45
Including the Details 45
Controls 45
Using Kits 46
Specialised Equipment 46
Numbers and Symbols 47
Statistical Analysis, Approximation Methods, Artefacts and
Repeatability of Measurements 49
Computer Programs and the World Wide Web 49
Hazards 49
Questionnaires and Other Relevant Information 50
Acknowledging Other People If They Helped You 50
Figures, Tables and Appendices 50
Reading What You Have Written 51
Common Mistakes and Points to Bear in Mind for
Different Disciplines 51
Key Points 52
Chapter 4
Planning and Writing the Results 54
Literature Survey 54
Planning Your Results Chapter 55
What Results to Include 56
What Not to Include 57
Including Other People’s Data 57
The Order in Which to Present Your Results 57
How Many Results Chapters, in Which Order? 58
Writing Your Results Chapter 59
Writing Style 60
‘Strategy’ Section and ‘Summary’ Section 60
Titles for Results Chapters 61
Preparing for Your Introduction and Discussion Chapters 61
Statistics and Numbers 61
Figures, Tables and Appendices 62
Common Mistakes 62
Key Points 62
xii Contents
Chapter 5
Planning and Writing the Introduction 64
Structure of the Introduction Chapter 64
Literature Survey 64
Planning the Introduction 65
Figures, Tables, and Appendices 68
The Importance of Planning 69
Writing Your Introduction 69
Plagiarism 70
Common Mistakes 71
Key Points 71
Chapter 6
Planning and Writing the Discussion 72
Structure of the Discussion Chapter or Section 72
Read the Plan of Your Introduction and Results, and
Your References 72
Planning the Discussion 73
The Importance of Planning 76
Writing Your Discussion 77
Figures, Tables and Appendices 77
Common Mistakes 78
Key Points 78
Chapter 7
Figures and Tables 79
Size 79
Numbering 80
Other People’s Figures and Tables 80
Figures 80
Creating Figures 81
Manipulating Images 85
Annotating Figures 85
Size and Scale 88
Figure Titles 89
Figure Legends 90