thesis formatWho actually invented thesis format requirements? Most likely, you will not find the answer, and actually, you should not waste your time on it. Bet you think that thesis format requirements are just one more way to make your life and work on the project unbearable. Yet, like it or not, but you have to meet all of them.
 
In this article, you will find an all-inclusive guide to basic thesis format requirements. However, after you read it, consult your supervisor on some specific requirements of your institution.
 
Thesis format requirements for paper
 
Your project should be typed on a white, unlined paper of a good quality and standard size “81⁄2 x 11”.
 
Thesis format requirements for margins
 
The great majority of institutions require setting 1-inch margins on the top, right, and bottom sides and a 1,5-inch margin for the left side of a thesis. Sometimes, a 1,5-inch margin is also required for the right side of your project.
 
Thesis format requirements for spacing
 
The text of your thesis, including an abstract, acknowledgements, dedication, should be double-spaced. Footnotes, long quotations, bibliography, some lists in the text can be single-spaced.
 
Thesis format requirements for pagination
 
There are two ways to number the pages of your thesis:

  1. Put numbers in the top right-hand corner;
  2. Put numbers in the center of a page.

Mind that a lot of institutions do not accept manuscripts with incorrect pagination.
 
Thesis format requirements for fonts
 
The following fonts are usually recommended: Times New Roman, Helvetica, Arial, Century Gothic, and some others. You cannot use ornamental fonts and italics. However, italics are allowed for foreign words in your text and quotations.
 
Read more »

thesis printing and bindingDissertation/thesis printing and binding is an official requirement of any academic institution. First, it makes your project look nice. Second, it prevents your work from all sorts of damages, since it will be stored in the library of your institution. Finally, thesis printing and binding is the right thing to do with such a serious project like yours. It is a bit ridiculous to print your “hard work” on paper that will become yellow and covered with dust in a few years.
 
Usually, students get specific instructions for thesis printing and binding from their institutions. Some institutions have their own printing and binding centers. Others do not, and students need to find a company that can print and bind a thesis.
 
One thing we know for sure. All graduates have different experiences of thesis printing and binding. For some, it was rather an easy and quick process. Others had to spend quite a lot of time on thesis printing and binding.
 
This is why you should keep in mind one simple rule about thesis printing and binding: make sure you have enough time to do it. Start planning everything and searching for a company in advance.
Here are some general recommendations for thesis printing and binding.
 

  • Before printing a thesis, make sure that everything is all right with your project. Check pagination, margins, etc.
  • Some companies do thesis printing and binding from an electronic copy of your project (on a CD, a memory stick). You can also e-mail your project. In such cases, your thesis should have the format of a PDF file;
  • There are different types of binding, e.g. perfect binding, plastic binding, coil binding, etc. Find out which particular type is required by your institution before binding and printing your thesis.


Read more »

thesis acknowledgementDo you remember all people who provided you with thesis assistance, supported you throughout the working process, and just were near when you needed them? Do you think your project could be possible without their help?
 
We are sure you do not think so, and realize that you would never cope with this thesis on your own. Well, then it is high time to acknowledge all those people and write thesis acknowledgements.
Here are some explanations on how to arrange thesis acknowledgements.
 
Thesis acknowledgements: Where should you place them?
 
Sometimes, thesis acknowledgements are placed at the end of a manuscript. However, in most cases, this section appears at the very beginning, after a title page or an abstract.
 
Thesis acknowledgements: Whom should you mention?
 
There are no limitations. You can mention anyone in thesis acknowledgements. Yet, probably, you do not have to mention your distant auntie Mary who called that terrible night when you could not cope with a Methodology section.
 
Thesis acknowledgements usually start with the name of your supervisor and all the good words you want to tell him/her. Mind that this section can include not only people but also some organizations that provided you with assistance.
 
Thesis acknowledgements: What should you write?
 
Well, definitely you can write something like “I want to thank my supervisor, professor…. for his/her help”. Yet, to sound more impressive, we suggest you use phrases like “I would like to express my gratitude” or “It is a pleasure to thank all those who made this thesis possible”.
 
Read more »

NSF doctoral dissertation improvement grantYou have signed up for writing a dissertation and you certainly strive for creating the best project ever. You are bursting with ideas, you have planned your research and worked out several ways to achieve necessary results. In other words, you are very enthusiastic about the project you are completing.
 
Suddenly, at some point you realize that you cannot carry out necessary research. Resources of your institution are not enough and you desperately need extra money to work on your dissertation further.
 
This is when NSF doctoral dissertation improvement grants will be very helpful. In this article, we will give you some details about NSF dissertation improvement grants and the ways to get one.
 
Let us start with a brief introduction to the NSF itself.
 
NSF
 
National Science Foundation is a federal agency with the annual budget of nearly $6 billion. NSF supports 20% of American universities and colleges by providing funds necessary for conducting research.
 
What are NSF doctoral dissertation research improvement grants about?
 
These grants are designed to improve the quality of research conducted by doctoral students. Particularly, NSF dissertation improvement grants help to organize complicated data-gathering projects and carry out research outside campus.
 
Who can receive NSF dissertation improvement grants?
 
Graduate students who are already working on their dissertations or are at the point of initiating research are eligible for NSF dissertation improvement grants. These students should study at a U.S. college or university but can be citizens of any other country rather than the U.S.
 
By the way, women, students with disabilities, and representatives of minorities are strongly encouraged to apply for NSF dissertation improvement grants.
 
A proposal for NSF dissertation improvement grant
 
Application process for dissertation fellowships or dissertation grants always included the proposal writing stage. NSF dissertation improvement grants are not an exception. Your proposal will include the following sections:

Read more »

Posted on April 21st, 2009

thesis statementImagine that you are present on a trial and are listening to a lawyer and his/her opening argument. The main thing that you want to know is what the lawyer thinks about the guiltiness of an accused and how he/she will convince the jury.
 
The mission seems to be really important and rather complicated. By the way, you will have almost the same mission when writing academic papers and formulating a thesis statement. Do you want a good definition of a thesis statement? Well, it can be defined as an opening argument of a lawyer.
 
Let our professional writers explain you something about an effective thesis statement.
 
An effective thesis statement: what it is not…
 
Keep in mind three golden rules about a thesis statement. It is NOT:

  1. A question that can be answered with yes/no;
  2. A fact;
  3. A topic.

An effective thesis statement: where you should introduce it
 
A thesis statement is usually the last one-two sentences of your introductory paragraph. The reader might not read the whole introduction, but will definitely pay attention to these last sentences.
 
An effective thesis statement: its main characteristic
 
The most important thing you should remember about a good thesis statement is that it should be as much focused and specific as possible. For instance, such thesis statement as “Communism collapsed because it is wrong and evil” would be considered as vague. “Wrong” and “evil” can be viewed from different perspectives and everybody has his/her own vision of these concepts.
 
An effective thesis statement: how to formulate it
 
You will be able to create a good thesis after analyzing primary sources related to your topic. You need to understand different points of view, controversies about the topic.
 
Read more »

Posted on April 17th, 2009

health assignmentsYou have been surfing the Web for several hours, but it seems your search is useless. You still cannot come up with a good idea for your health assignment and have no clue how to complete it.
 
Well, do not panic and take a deep breath. We have some answers you have been looking for.
 
First, we have to say that there are several types of health assignments. We will talk about some of them and give ideas for each type of health assignments.
 
Public health assignments
 
If you choose this type of health assignments, think of some public issues related to health. It is recommended to pick burning issues. Let us give you several examples:

  • Childhood obesity;
  • Teenage pregnancy;
  • AIDS in Africa;
  • Cost of health insurance, etc.

Health promotion assignments
 
This kind of health assignments will be really useful both for you and for the reader. You will have to focus on the ways of keeping the society and every individual healthy. Here are some ideas for you to cover in such health assignment:

  • Healthy eating;
  • Safe sex;
  • Physical fitness.

Mental health assignments
 
Mental illnesses are a serious problem that can be caused by a great variety of factors. We suggest you investigate those factors in your health assignment. Some of them are:

  • Lose of a family member or a beloved person;
  • Divorce;
  • Financial hardship or unemployment.


Read more »

dissertation componentProbably, you have not even signed up for writing a dissertation. However, you still want to knleftow what dissertation components such a huge project will include.
 
Well, you are doing the right thing. It is better to get as much information as possible about dissertations so that you can make the right decision.
 
So, there are several dissertation components that are considered to be basic and do not change, no matter what your project is about. Some dissertation components like appendices can be added if necessary.
 
We are going to talk about basic dissertation components.
 
Dissertation component #1: abstract
 
This is a brief summary of your project. In this part, you need to tell briefly about your purposes, results of research, etc.
 
Dissertation component #2: introduction
 
Here you will discuss your research problem, explain the reasons for choosing this particular issue, state your goals, and tell about your expectations.
 
Dissertation component #3: literature review
 
Many students find this part of a dissertation the most boring, but it is obligatory. You will have to make a review of the literature related to your problem. It helps to understand what has already been studied on the issue.
 
Dissertation component #4: methodology
 
In this part, you give details about the methods and approaches used for collecting and analyzing information, conducting research, etc.
 
Dissertation component #5: discussion of the results
 
Answer the main question: Have you achieved primary goals?
 
Dissertation component #6: recommendations and conclusions
 
Tell whether future research related to your problem can be conducted and evaluate your work.
 
Read more »

what is a dissertationWhat is a dissertation? It is a really hard to answer question. The thing is that the experience of writing dissertations varies from person to person. You will not find two people who have completed dissertations and have absolutely similar stories. Thus, they will have different answers to the question “What is a dissertation?”
 
Besides, we are almost sure that only personal experience and real life stories will help you answer the question “What is a dissertation?” This is exactly what you will find below – a couple of stories of dissertation survivors.
 
“What is a dissertation… Well, it was 24 months of day-to-day work in the lab, making experiments, trying to solve a really tough problem. How else can I define a dissertation? Well, for me dissertation writing was also about 2000 of technical articles I had to read and study. So, you will never find out what a dissertation is until you write one”.
 
What is a dissertation – it was the beginning of my research life. Fortunately, I love researching. By the way, if you cannot say the same about yourself, better do not sign up for this undertaking”.
 
“What is a dissertation…My dissertation writing turned into a search for a reliable custom writing company. I had to balance between reasonable prices and professional writers. Finally, I managed to complete half of my project independently. ”
 
So, did you get the answer to the question “What is a dissertation”? If you still have some doubts about what a good dissertation is, do not hesitate to ask our writers for help.
 
Read more »

financial management papersDo you think that only experts in finance can complete papers on financial management successfully? Well, they definitely have more chances to get an A+ on financial management assignments. However, we guarantee that you have this chance as well.
 
First, you need to realize that financial management is a huge and really broad topic. Issues that can be highlighted in financial management papers vary greatly, especially these days when the world is suffering a financial crisis.
 
So, in this article, we are going to talk about two major steps to completing financial management assignments successfully. One of them is about the right choice of a theme for your paper on financial management.
 
Successful financial management assignments: key #1
 
Your primary task is to narrow down this broad topic. What do you know, for instance, about Auction Rate Preferred securities, their rise and fall? This topic is rather specific but you will find loads of materials needed to disclose it properly. So, you can cover it in your financial management assignment.
 
Here are more topic ideas for your paper on financial management:

  • Different types of business and financing choices;
  • Small business loans;
  • Venture capital – what is the right time for it?

Successful financial management assignments: key #2
 
So, you have chosen a topic for your financial management paper. But are you sure there are enough materials to cover it properly? Better change the topic if you are not sure about it.
 
Read more »

psychology literature reviewWriting Psychology literature reviews can be challenging even for those who are rather knowledgeable in this discipline. Do you know what your biggest challenge will be? It is the amount of literature that you need to read and analyze. Yes, Psychology is not only about some exciting experiments.
 
So, you really need to concentrate and get ready to work hard. Below, we will briefly discuss some significant aspects of writing Psychology literature reviews.
 
Approaches to completing Psychology literature reviews
 
You can choose from two approaches:

  1. Specify your area of research, find and study relevant literature, and organize it in a meaningful way.
  2. Pick a specific theme or think about the point you want to make. After that, find necessary studies.

Understanding the purposes of writing Psychology literature reviews
 
You will pursue two purposes when preparing your Psychology literature review:

  1. Give a detailed description of the work done in a certain research area.
  2. Evaluate the results of this work.

Selecting a topic for your Psychology literature review
 
It is better to choose from some current issues, which are still discussed. Usually, a lot of works devoted to such themes are published. It means, you will not lack materials for your Psychology literature review.
 
We recommend you flick through APA journals, which usually contain the most recent issues for consideration.
 
Reading and understanding articles
 
For some students, it can be the most challenging part of writing a Psychology literature review. The thing is that understanding articles written in scientific language is not easy indeed. So, if you want to create a worthwhile Psychology literature review, be ready to re-read articles, stop on particular ideas, use additional sources to get the gist of what is written.
 
Read more »