Finalising your thesis

Type				Team Size
Me, Myself and I	Group Collaboration	The Academic System	Software	1	2-10	11-30	30+

   

This entry elaborates on one aspect of How to write a thesis, which you can check out for an overview

Finalising your thesis

When you have arrived at this step, you can already be proud of yourself: you have written your thesis and now it only has to be revised, printed and submitted. Still, finalizing your text is an important last step that you should plan in enough time for. The following points will take you through everything you should keep in mind when revising your text and common problems to prepare for/avoid.

🎯 Setting focus points during text revision

🎯 Solving the three common problems: technical, administrative and not letting go

Text revision

🎯 Check whether there is a common thread and the work makes sense in itself

🎯 Sharpening writing style and conscious use of terms

Once the first draft of the bachelor thesis (or parts of the bachelor thesis) has been written, the next step is to revise the text. You can also revise individual parts for the first time, when you finished a chapter. In the end, however, the various parts should fit together and form a complete picture, which is why enough time should be planned for the revision. It is helpful to pay attention to three different categories: 1. content & structure, 2. language, 3. formalities. For some, it is helpful to go through the text several times and focus on one of the three categories at a time. However, you must decide for yourself how to work best. If you don't know exactly how you want to change certain parts of the text, it's a good idea to start by writing comments in the margin about what you want to change and revise them in a second step. Enclosed you will find questions for the different categories that will help you with the revision process.

1. Content and structure

Rough structure

• Overall structure: Are the structure and sequence logical in themselves?
• Are the introduction and conclusion coordinated?
• Does the paper adhere to what was announced in the introduction?
• Are the chapter headings self-explanatory?

Fine structure

• Are the major chapters, subchapters, and paragraphs logical and comprehensible in their own right?
• Is the connection between intermediate results, results and question explicitly recognizable in each chapter?

Text as a system/reader guidance

• Cross-references, back-references, and transitions available

Relation research question

• Do I answer my research question with the help of the paper?
• Is the proportionality of the chapters and sections appropriate in relation to the research question?
• Is the research question clear? Is it recognizable in the entire text?

Traceability and comprehensibility

• Are there leaps of thought and what is contradictory?
• Where could descriptions, case studies or comparisons make the text clearer?
• Have key terms and abbreviations used in the text been defined?

Completeness

• Current state of knowledge, research, state of the art considered?
• Check scientificity:
  • Originality (possible gain of knowledge)
  • Objectivity (different perspectives, documentation of contradictory positions, results)
  • Relevance of the work described and substantiated

2. Language

• Reduce frequent nouns
• No colloquialisms, empty phrases or filler words (e.g. "of course", "however"...)
• Foreign words are explained
• Technical terms kept throughout? Delete synonyms if necessary
• We, I: use consciously or delete consciously
• Does the style of language fit the target group?

3. Formalities

We recommend getting used to working with Word in the process. Check out the artilce on Microsoft Word For Academic Writing. Further, you can use this Word template. It already contains many important formal requirements, such as information on the cover page, lists of tables and figures, and the declaration of independence. Find out whether the institute where you are writing the Bachelor thesis or your supervisor has its own guidelines and adapt the template.

Common Challenges

When you are done and all you need to do is print and submit your work, there are some things you should consider as they can easily go wrong and some additional time should be planned in to avoid them getting in the way of meeting your deadline:

Technological Problems

Problems with formatting or printing of your thesis can always occur and formatting can be quite tricky in Word, so plan in enough time to spend on the formatting. Ideally, spend some time researching how to format in Word before starting. You will need to convert your thesis into a pdf to print it and share it, so make sure this version is without mistakes as best as you can. Schedule the print of your thesis early enough to have some time if anything goes wrong.

Not being able to let go

After having spent weeks and months on your thesis, letting it go and accepting that it will never be perfect can be really hard. If you keep revising your work again and again, nothing good will come out of it, in fact it might make things worse. Try to fix any mistakes you and others find, but do not obsessively aim for perfection. This can also become a problem if you keep revising until you do not have enough time left to deal with any other problems that may come up (see above and below). Know what things are important to your supervisor and focus on those.

Administrative Problems

Make sure that you know early on how to hand in, for example where to submit paper versions. Who needs a digital version, and which other administrative steps are necessary to bring the whole thing finally to an end? Regarding administration, it is best to ask people who went through the whole process what to do when. Also, make sure the supervisors know when you hand in, and already book a defense date early with them. Ask them whether the time in between is enough for them to read your thesis. Also, make sure how you can end so that you do not need to pay tuition fees for the next semester. Planning ahead helps you also with letting go, because then you really have to let go, since your defense date is set.

Never look at your thesis again after it is printed

...or only if you really need to. It is completely normal to still have a few mistakes in your work. If you look at the printed version and find mistakes, it will freak you out before the defense. In case you would like to review a few points before having to defend your work, you can either read your thesis with the mindset of not wanting to find any mistakes or you can use your notes.

Links & Further reading

Videos

• A video tutorial on using Word: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItXOGe7kVhY

Tools

• A Word template that can be used for your thesis

Papers

According to Chicago Style conventions

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The author of this entry are Henrik von Wehrden, Lya Meier-Diedrich, Melissa Figiel.

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