creating a dissertation title

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4 tips for creating the perfect dissertation title

(Last updated: 12 May 2021)

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Where do you start?

In this blog, we will highlight some of the ways to better develop the “best” dissertation title. Drawing on our own experience, here are four of our tried-and-tested tips for getting the best possible title, so you can focus on the other stuff that matters.

1. The Name Game

While it might not seem like the most vital issue while you're working through mountains of data, choosing a title for your dissertation still leaves many confused, whether they're working on their undergraduate project or even their PhD thesis. The “right” dissertation title isn't simply a line or two of text which crowns the printed document; it has an important role to play in signalling to readers what you're attempting to do, how you're going to do it, and why it might be important.

Like any good book, a dissertation title should “grab” your attention, convincing you to read more. Titles are difficult to conceive because, in only a handful of words, they must condense the entire scope and objectives of a project that has lasted months and includes thousands of words of subtle argument. The fear – for many - is of how to reduce 10,000 words to less than fifty.

2. Make it relevant

Say you're writing a dissertation about the role of a particular plant within an ecosystem, or attempting to use primary historical data to explain why an event may have happened in the way it did. You want to ensure that you are being crystal clear about your subject matter, the key “players”, and the overarching themes. At the same time, there are different rules for different subjects; humanities essays may be more expressive and exciting, whereas scientific dissertations may need a drier and more direct tone.

In all cases, you can be direct about this; use adverbs such as “how” or “what” to make it obvious you're asking a question of the data, rather than simply writing at length about a subject. You want to make it clear that you're asking a specific question, or interrogating a particular idea or theory. You may write, “Testing the propagation of electromagnetic waves through a vacuum”. You can specify further; “How do electromagnetic waves propagate through different mediums?”. Again, you can specify further still; “How do electromagnetic waves propagate through three different brands of jelly?”.

What this title does is; (a) ask a question; (b) make it clear what is being studied; and (c) allude to the “how”, the methodology.

After reading it, we understand what the rest of the pages are about. Specifying is a key way of guiding the reader toward understanding what the rest of your project is about.

3. The Goldilocks Zone

That being said, it's important to ensure you don't over-extend the question; too short and it becomes mysterious (“On Waves”), whereas a dissertation title that is too long can become confusing and bogged down in technicalities. Many, especially in the humanities, utilize a three-part structure, often using three key words to define their field of study (e.g., the history of urbanization or the development of post-war continental philosophy). For example, “Iron, Labour, and Communism: the formation of new industrial cities in the Soviet Union”. This question uses three key terms to show that the dissertation is going to look at the interrelationship between key themes, of natural resources, work, and politics, through the lens of urbanisation in the USSR.

There's room to specify a little further, perhaps by defining a date range: “Iron, Labour, and Communism: the formation of new industrial cities in the Soviet Union, 1929 – 1937”. This creates a very clear signal to the reader about what you're looking at and also, crucially, when. But it's also not too long.

4. Anchor your writing

We have already alluded to key words; these represent a way to “anchor” your writing within particular areas of study and debates. By using key terms such as “labour”, in the context of a question about the Soviet Union and industrial politics, we automatically understand the angle of approach and its considerations. We know it's not a dissertation about the technicalities of mining engineering. We also know that it happened in the past.

Above, we talked about “propagation”; this lets us quickly identify the scientific principle being examined. It also lets us know that this is a dissertation about physics. Every word in a title should be doing something; it should be helping to ask a question, highlighting a methodology or way of “doing”, or defining the area of examination. The other parts of speech are only useful in so far as they connect these key parts of the question.

Every dissertation has a “how” component. In other words, it has a technique or methodology for gathering data, interpreting it, and producing conclusions. This might entail close-reading of a literary text; the scientific measurement of energy; or the examination of historical sources. The methodology is important because it lets the reader know what you're going to be doing before you fully say it. For example, “Using X-rays to identify broken bones". The reader can understand ahead of time whether this is a qualitative dissertation or a quantitative dissertation; of whether it is theoretical or practical. The writer may define the dissertation as theoretical by stating that they are examining a particular theory (“Revisiting Einstein's Theory of Relativity”) or by observing that they are using new, primary data (“A qualitative analysis of attitudes toward vegetarianism”).

"You should see the title not as an unnecessary piece of baggage, but as a kind of product label which informs the reader how to categorize it"

You should see the title not as an unnecessary piece of baggage, but as a kind of product label which informs the reader how to categorise it. Mention specific techniques if relevant (e.g., the propagation of photons through optical fibre). A common problem is that people are too descriptive, only stating a field (“The lives of peasants in late medieval France”) without pointing out what they're actually asking, and how. Better would be to say, “The lives of peasants in late medieval France: an archival study”, or “Understanding the lives of peasants in late medieval France through church records”. Not all projects will need to state the methodology; this is mainly a consideration for those undertaking technical, science-based projects or when using very specific frameworks and models (e.g., a particular kind of psychological test).

Simply put, you're pointing out several things: (1) what; (2) how; and ideally, (3) why.

Communicating the significance of your work is perhaps the hardest part, but you can certainly allude to it. By saying you're attempting to “understand” the lives of people through unique, historical records, you're demonstrating a high level of granularity and a potentially unique approach to a particular subject of study. You can also highlight the significance of the work in the dissertation title by referring to what alternative views it has opened up. For example, “Developing a new technique for measuring long-bones”.

And so, while titles are not the “be all and end all” of a research project, they play a key role in defining what it is, and what it is not. While you may know the subject and methodology of your work, your reader does not. Ultimately, creating the perfect dissertation title is about helping that reader to understand all of the hard work and effort you have put into your project, and convincing them to read on.

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Library Guides

Dissertations 1: getting started: thinking of a title.

• Starting Your Dissertation
• Choosing A Topic and Researching
• Devising An Approach/Method
• Thinking Of A Title
• Writing A Proposal

Dissertation Titles

Giving your dissertation a title early on can help to remind you of your argument and what you want to demonstrate to the reader.  

A good dissertation title should be: 

Descriptive and explanatory (not general) 

Precise 

Possibly include important components/aspects of the research strategy e.g. situated nature, population, methodology 

Avoid using abbreviations and acronyms 

A simple way to write a dissertation title is to set out two parts separated by a colon: 

A general area: A specific focus within the area 

For example:  Barriers to Internet banking adoption: A qualitative study among corporate customers in Thailand 

OR  

Engaging bit : Informative bit 

For example:   Changing Bodies : Matters of the Body in the Fiction of Octavia E. Butler 

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• Last Updated: Aug 1, 2023 2:36 PM
• URL: https://libguides.westminster.ac.uk/starting-your-dissertation

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The Savvy Scientist

Experiences of a London PhD student and beyond

Thesis Title: Examples and Suggestions from a PhD Grad

When you’re faced with writing up a thesis, choosing a title can often fall to the bottom of the priority list. After all, it’s only a few words. How hard can it be?!

In the grand scheme of things I agree that picking your thesis title shouldn’t warrant that much thought, however my own choice is one of the few regrets I have from my PhD . I therefore think there is value in spending some time considering the options available.

In this post I’ll guide you through how to write your own thesis title and share real-world examples. Although my focus is on the PhD thesis, I’ve also included plenty of thesis title examples for bachelor’s and master’s research projects too.

Hopefully by the end of the post you’ll feel ready to start crafting your own!

Why your thesis title is at least somewhat important

It sounds obvious but your thesis title is the first, and often only, interaction people will have with your thesis. For instance, hiring managers for jobs that you may wish to apply for in the future. Therefore you want to give a good sense of what your research involved from the title.

Many people will list the title of their thesis on their CV, at least for a while after graduating. All of the example titles I’ve shared below came from my repository of academic CVs . I’d say roughly 30% of all the academics on that page list their thesis title, which includes academics all the way up to full professor.

Your thesis title could therefore feature on your CV for your whole career, so it is probably worth a bit of thought!

My suggestions for choosing a good thesis title

• Make it descriptive of the research so it’s immediately obvious what it is about! Most universities will publish student theses online ( here’s mine! ) and they’re indexed so can be found via Google Scholar etc. Therefore give your thesis a descriptive title so that interested researchers can find it in the future.
• Don’t get lost in the detail . You want a descriptive title but avoid overly lengthy descriptions of experiments. Unless a certain analytical technique etc was central to your research, I’d suggest by default* to avoid having it in your title. Including certain techniques will make your title, and therefore research, look overly dated, which isn’t ideal for potential job applications after you graduate.
• The title should tie together the chapters of your thesis. A well-phrased title can do a good job of summarising the overall story of your thesis. Think about each of your research chapters and ensure that the title makes sense for each of them.
• Be strategic . Certain parts of your work you want to emphasise? Consider making them more prominent in your title. For instance, if you know you want to pivot to a slightly different research area or career path after your PhD, there may be alternative phrasings which describe your work just as well but could be better understood by those in the field you’re moving into. I utilised this a bit in my own title which we’ll come onto shortly.
• Do your own thing. Having just laid out some suggestions, do make sure you’re personally happy with the title. You get a lot of freedom to choose your title, so use it however you fancy. For example, I’ve known people to use puns in their title, so if that’s what you’re into don’t feel overly constrained.

*This doesn’t always hold true and certainly don’t take my advice if 1) listing something in your title could be a strategic move 2) you love the technique so much that you’re desperate to include it!

Thesis title examples

To help give you some ideas, here are some example thesis titles from Bachelors, Masters and PhD graduates. These all came from the academic CVs listed in my repository here .

Bachelor’s thesis title examples

Hysteresis and Avalanches Paul Jager , 2014 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group –  direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

The bioenergetics of a marine ciliate, Mesodinium rubrum Holly Moeller , 2008 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor –  direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Functional syntactic analysis of prepositional and causal constructions for a grammatical parser of Russian Ekaterina Kochmar , 2008 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

Master’s thesis title examples

Creation of an autonomous impulse response measurement system for rooms and transducers with different methods Guy-Bart Stan , 2000 – Bioengineering – Imperial Professor –  direct link to Guy-Bart’s bioengineering academic CV

Segmentation of Nerve Bundles and Ganglia in Spine MRI using Particle Filters Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2012 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist –  direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

The detection of oil under ice by remote mode conversion of ultrasound Eric Yeatman , 1986 – Electronics – Imperial Professor and Head of Department –  direct link to Eric’s electronics academic CV

Ensemble-Based Learning for Morphological Analysis of German Ekaterina Kochmar , 2010 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

VARiD: A Variation Detection Framework for Color-Space and Letter-Space Platforms Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2010 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist –  direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

Identification of a Writer’s Native Language by Error Analysis Ekaterina Kochmar , 2011 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

On the economic optimality of marine reserves when fishing damages habitat Holly Moeller , 2010 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor –  direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Sensitivity Studies for the Time-Dependent CP Violation Measurement in B 0 → K S K S K S at the Belle II-Experiment Paul Jager , 2016 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group –  direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

PhD thesis title examples

Spatio-temporal analysis of three-dimensional real-time ultrasound for quantification of ventricular function Esla Angelini  – Medicine – Imperial Senior Data Scientist –  direct link to Elsa’s medicine academic CV

The role and maintenance of diversity in a multi-partner mutualism: Trees and Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Holly Moeller , 2015 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor –  direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Bayesian Gaussian processes for sequential prediction, optimisation and quadrature Michael Osborne , 2010 – Machine Learning – Oxford Full Professor –  direct link to Michael’s machine learning academic CV

Global analysis and synthesis of oscillations: a dissipativity approach Guy-Bart Stan , 2005 – Bioengineering – Imperial Professor –  direct link to Guy-Bart’s bioengineering academic CV

Coarse-grained modelling of DNA and DNA self-assembly Thomas Ouldridge , 2011– Bioengineering – Imperial College London Senior Lecturer / Associate Prof –  direct link to Thomas’ bioengineering academic CV

4D tomographic image reconstruction and parametric maps estimation: a model-based strategy for algorithm design using Bayesian inference in Probabilistic Graphical Models (PGM) Michele Scipioni , 2018– Biomedical Engineer – Harvard Postdoctoral Research Fellow –  direct link to Michele’s biomedical engineer academic CV

Error Detection in Content Word Combinations Ekaterina Kochmar , 2016 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

Genetic, Clinical and Population Priors for Brain Images Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2016 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist –  direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

Challenges and Opportunities of End-to-End Learning in Medical Image Classification Paul Jager , 2020 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group –  direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

K 2 NiF 4  materials as cathodes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells Ainara Aguadero , 2006 – Materials Science – Imperial Reader –  direct link to Ainara’s materials science academic CV

Applications of surface plasmons – microscopy and spatial light modulation Eric Yeatman , 1989 – Electronics – Imperial Professor and Head of Department –  direct link to Eric’s electronics academic CV

Geometric Algorithms for Objects in Motion Sorelle Friedler , 2010 – Computer science – Haverford College Associate Professor –  direct link to Sorelle’s computer science academic CV .

Geometrical models, constraints design, information extraction for pathological and healthy medical image Esla Angelini  – Medicine – Imperial Senior Data Scientist –  direct link to Elsa’s medicine academic CV

Why I regret my own choice of PhD thesis title

I should say from the outset that I assembled my thesis in quite a short space of time compared to most people. So I didn’t really spend particularly long on any one section, including the title.

However, my main supervisor even spelled out for me that once the title was submitted to the university it would be permanent. In other words: think wisely about your title.

What I started with

Initially I drafted the title as something like: Three dimensional correlative imaging for cartilage regeneration . Which I thought was nice, catchy and descriptive.

I decided to go for “correlative imaging” because, not only did it describe the experiments well, but it also sounded kind of technical and fitting of a potential pivot into AI. I’m pleased with that bit of the title.

What I ended up with

Before submitting the title to the university (required ahead of the viva), I asked my supervisors for their thoughts.

One of my well intentioned supervisors suggested that, given that my project didn’t involve verifying regenerative quality, I probably shouldn’t state cartilage regeneration . Instead, they suggested, I should state what I was experimenting on (the materials) rather than the overall goal of the research (aid cartilage regeneration efforts).

With this advice I dialled back my choice of wording and the thesis title I went with was:

Three dimensional correlative imaging for measurement of strain in cartilage and cartilage replacement materials

Reading it back now I’m reminder about how less I like it than my initial idea!

I put up basically no resistance to the supervisor’s choice, even though the title sounds so much more boring in my opinion. I just didn’t think much of it at the time. Furthermore, most of my PhD was actually in a technique which is four dimensional (looking at a series of 3D scans over time, hence 4D) which would have sounded way more sciency and fitting of a PhD.

What I wish I’d gone with

If I had the choice again, I’d have gone with:

Four-dimensional correlative imaging for cartilage regeneration

Which, would you believe it, is exactly what it states on my CV…

Does the thesis title really matter?

In all honesty, your choice of thesis title isn’t that important. If you come to regret it, as I do, it’s not the end of the world. There are much more important things in life to worry about.

If you decide at a later stage that you don’t like it you can always describe it in a way that you prefer. For instance, in my CV I describe my PhD as I’d have liked the title to be. I make no claim that it’s actually the title so consider it a bit of creative license.

Given that as your career progresses you may not even refer back to your thesis much, it’s really not worth stressing over. However, if you’re yet to finalise your thesis title I do still think it is worth a bit of thought and hopefully this article has provided some insights into how to choose a good thesis title.

My advice for developing a thesis title

• Draft the title early. Drafting it early can help give clarity for the overall message of your research. For instance, while you’re assembling the rest of your thesis you can check that the title encompasses the research chapters you’re included, and likewise that the research experiments you’re including fall within what the title describes. Drafting it early also gives more time you to think it over. As with everything: having a first draft is really important to iterate on.
• Look at some example titles . Such as those featured above!
• If you’re not sure about your title, ask a few other people what they think . But remember that you have the final say!

I hope this post has been useful for those of you are finalising your thesis and need to decide on a thesis title. If you’ve enjoyed this article and would like to hear about future content (and gain access to my free resource library!) you can subscribe for free here:

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7 Top Tips for Picking a Dissertation Title

3-minute read

• 9th July 2015

You only get once chance to make a first impression, so when writing a dissertation it helps if you pick a good title. And while the title of your paper won’t determine whether you pass or fail, the information you provide therein can make your work easier to follow for the reader.

To make sure you set out on the right foot, the title of your dissertation should be clear and informative. It helps to think about what you want your reader to know from the moment they pick up your work (unlike a good novel, your dissertation doesn’t need a twist ending). So here are a few things to consider when picking a title for your dissertation.

1. What Is Your Research About?

The most vital thing that any dissertation title can do is communicate the topic and focus of your research. This includes the general area you’re researching and the specific aspect of this being investigated.

For instance, in a dissertation called “Barriers to Using Social Media in Marketing a Luxury Fashion Brand,” the topic is the marketing of luxury fashion brands and the focus is the factors preventing the use of social media.

2. Your Research Approach

Your research approach has a major impact on the results you achieve and it can help to include this in your title. For example, if you have conducted a large-scale survey of management strategy, you might pick a title such as “Management Strategy: A Quantitative Study of Current Practice.”

3. The Outcomes of Your Research

More specific is better when it comes to the results of your research.

Rather than calling your dissertation “Factors Influencing Recovery from Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries,” it makes sense to specify the kind of factors being investigated. Are they success factors? Factors which impede recovery? Stating this in the title means your reader will know immediately.

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Seeking a second opinion on your title can be helpful. Try asking a friend or professor to check it for clarity . If they can tell what your work is about from the title alone, you’re doing a good job. If not, think of how you can make it clearer. It is also advisable to avoid acronyms in titles for this reason.

Overly long titles can be confusing or off-putting. Regardless of how good the work is, for instance, only the most dedicated are going to want to read a paper called “In silico exploration of the fructose-6-phosphate phosphorylation step in glycolysis: genomic evidence of the coexistence of an atypical ATP-dependent along with a PPi-dependent phosphofructokinase in Propionibacterium freudenreichii subsp. shermanii.”

Check your college’s style guide for how to format your title. Different institutions have different requirements when it comes to factors like capitalization, so you’ll need to make sure you get your formatting right.

7. Uniqueness and Humor

Generally, it is good if your title makes your dissertation stand out. It is also tempting to use a humorous title, though this is best saved for when writing for a popular audience. Neither uniqueness nor humor, however, should come at the expense of communicating important details about your work.

Hopefully these tips will have helped you come to a decision over your dissertation title. But if not, then our expert proofreaders can let you know of any issues to do with the title and headings in your dissertation, as well as providing a variety of services to ensure the quality of your work. For more information about writing a dissertation or thesis, read our full dissertation writing guide.

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How to Make a Research Paper Title with Examples

What is a research paper title and why does it matter?

A research paper title summarizes the aim and purpose of your research study. Making a title for your research is one of the most important decisions when writing an article to publish in journals. The research title is the first thing that journal editors and reviewers see when they look at your paper and the only piece of information that fellow researchers will see in a database or search engine query. Good titles that are concise and contain all the relevant terms have been shown to increase citation counts and Altmetric scores .

Therefore, when you title research work, make sure it captures all of the relevant aspects of your study, including the specific topic and problem being investigated. It also should present these elements in a way that is accessible and will captivate readers. Follow these steps to learn how to make a good research title for your work.

How to Make a Research Paper Title in 5 Steps

You might wonder how you are supposed to pick a title from all the content that your manuscript contains—how are you supposed to choose? What will make your research paper title come up in search engines and what will make the people in your field read it? 

In a nutshell, your research title should accurately capture what you have done, it should sound interesting to the people who work on the same or a similar topic, and it should contain the important title keywords that other researchers use when looking for literature in databases. To make the title writing process as simple as possible, we have broken it down into 5 simple steps.

Step 1: Answer some key questions about your research paper

What does your paper seek to answer and what does it accomplish? Try to answer these questions as briefly as possible. You can create these questions by going through each section of your paper and finding the MOST relevant information to make a research title.

Step 2: Identify research study keywords

Now that you have answers to your research questions, find the most important parts of these responses and make these your study keywords. Note that you should only choose the most important terms for your keywords–journals usually request anywhere from 3 to 8 keywords maximum.

Step 3: Research title writing: use these keywords

“We employed a case study of 60 liver transplant patients around the US aged 20-50 years to assess how waiting list volume affects the outcomes of liver transplantation in patients; results indicate a positive correlation between increased waiting list volume and negative prognosis after the transplant procedure.”

The sentence above is clearly much too long for a research paper title. This is why you will trim and polish your title in the next two steps.

Step 4: Create a working research paper title

To create a working title, remove elements that make it a complete “sentence” but keep everything that is important to what the study is about. Delete all unnecessary and redundant words that are not central to the study or that researchers would most likely not use in a database search.

“ We employed a case study of 60 liver transplant patients around the US aged 20-50 years to assess how the waiting list volume affects the outcome of liver transplantation in patients ; results indicate a positive correlation between increased waiting list volume and a negative prognosis after transplant procedure ”

Now shift some words around for proper syntax and rephrase it a bit to shorten the length and make it leaner and more natural. What you are left with is:

“A case study of 60 liver transplant patients around the US aged 20-50 years assessing the impact of waiting list volume on outcome of transplantation and showing a positive correlation between increased waiting list volume and a negative prognosis” (Word Count: 38)

This text is getting closer to what we want in a research title, which is just the most important information. But note that the word count for this working title is still 38 words, whereas the average length of published journal article titles is 16 words or fewer. Therefore, we should eliminate some words and phrases that are not essential to this title.

Step 5: Remove any nonessential words and phrases from your title

Because the number of patients studied and the exact outcome are not the most essential parts of this paper, remove these elements first:

 “A case study of 60 liver transplant patients around the US aged 20-50 years assessing the impact of waiting list volume on outcomes of transplantation and showing a positive correlation between increased waiting list volume and a negative prognosis” (Word Count: 19)

In addition, the methods used in a study are not usually the most searched-for keywords in databases and represent additional details that you may want to remove to make your title leaner. So what is left is:

“Assessing the impact of waiting list volume on outcome and prognosis in liver transplantation patients” (Word Count: 15)

In this final version of the title, one can immediately recognize the subject and what objectives the study aims to achieve. Note that the most important terms appear at the beginning and end of the title: “Assessing,” which is the main action of the study, is placed at the beginning; and “liver transplantation patients,” the specific subject of the study, is placed at the end.

This will aid significantly in your research paper title being found in search engines and database queries, which means that a lot more researchers will be able to locate your article once it is published. In fact, a 2014 review of more than 150,000 papers submitted to the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) database found the style of a paper’s title impacted the number of citations it would typically receive. In most disciplines, articles with shorter, more concise titles yielded more citations.

Adding a Research Paper Subtitle

If your title might require a subtitle to provide more immediate details about your methodology or sample, you can do this by adding this information after a colon:

“ : a case study of US adult patients ages 20-25”

If we abide strictly by our word count rule this may not be necessary or recommended. But every journal has its own standard formatting and style guidelines for research paper titles, so it is a good idea to be aware of the specific journal author instructions , not just when you write the manuscript but also to decide how to create a good title for it.

Research Paper Title Examples

The title examples in the following table illustrate how a title can be interesting but incomplete, complete by uninteresting, complete and interesting but too informal in tone, or some other combination of these. A good research paper title should meet all the requirements in the four columns below.

Tips on Formulating a Good Research Paper Title

In addition to the steps given above, there are a few other important things you want to keep in mind when it comes to how to write a research paper title, regarding formatting, word count, and content:

• Write the title after you’ve written your paper and abstract
• Include all of the essential terms in your paper
• Keep it short and to the point (~16 words or fewer)
• Avoid unnecessary jargon and abbreviations
• Use keywords that capture the content of your paper
• Never include a period at the end—your title is NOT a sentence

Research Paper Writing Resources

We hope this article has been helpful in teaching you how to craft your research paper title. But you might still want to dig deeper into different journal title formats and categories that might be more suitable for specific article types or need help with writing a cover letter for your manuscript submission.

In addition to getting English proofreading services , including paper editing services , before submission to journals, be sure to visit our academic resources papers. Here you can find dozens of articles on manuscript writing, from drafting an outline to finding a target journal to submit to.

Free Research Title Generator

Looking for a creative and catchy title for a research proposal, thesis, dissertation, essay, or other project? Try our research title maker! It is free, easy to use, and 100% online.

Welcome to our free online research title generator. You can get your title in 3 simple steps:

• Type your search term and choose one or more subjects from the list,
• Click on the “Search topic” button and choose among the ideas that the title generator has proposed,
• Refresh the list by clicking the button one more time if you need more options.

Please try again with some different keywords or subjects.

• ️✅ Research Title Generator: 4 Benefits
• ️👣 Making a Research Title in 3 Steps
• ️🔗 References

Creating a topic for the research is one of the most significant events in a researcher’s life. Whether it is a thesis, dissertation, research proposal , or term paper, all of these assignments are time-consuming and require a lot of effort.

It is essential to choose a topic that you like and are genuinely interested in because you will spend a lot of time working on it. Our research title generator can help you with this crucial task. By delegating this work to our research title maker, you can find the best title for your research.

✅ Research Title Generator: 4 Benefits

There are many different research title makers online, so what makes our thesis title generator stand out?

👣 How to Make a Research Title: 3 Simple Steps

Research can be the most stressful period in a student’s life. However, creating a title is not as hard as it may seem. You can choose a topic for your paper in three simple steps.

Step 1: Brainstorm

The first step to take before getting into your research is to brainstorm . To choose a good topic, you can do the following:

• Think of all your interests related to your field of study. What is the reason you've chosen this field? Think of the topics of your area that you like reading about in your free time.
• Go through your past papers and choose the ones you enjoyed writing. You can use some lingering issues from your previous work as a starting point for your research.
• Go through current events in your field to get an idea of what is going on. Whether you are writing a literary analysis , gender studies research, or any other kind of paper, you can always find tons of articles related to your field online. You can go through them to see what issue is getting more attention.
• Try to find any gaps in current researches in your field. Use only credible sources while searching. Try to add something new to your field with your research. However, do not choose a completely new issue.
• Discuss what topic is suitable for you with your professors. Professor knows a lot of information about current and previous researches, so try to discuss it with them.
• Discuss lingering issues with your classmates. Try to ask what questions do they have about your field.
• Think of your desired future work . Your research might serve as a starting point for your future career, so think of your desired job.
• Write down 5-10 topics that you might be interested in. Ph.D. or Master’s research should be specific, so write down all the appropriate topics that you came up with.

Step 2: Narrow It Down

As you are done brainstorming, you have a list of possible research topics. Now, it is time to narrow your list down.

Go through your list again and eliminate the topics that have already been well-researched before. Remember that you need to add something new to your field of study, so choose a topic that can contribute to it. However, try not to select a topic not researched at all, as it might be difficult.

Once you get a general idea of what your research will be about, choose a research supervisor. Think of a professor who is an expert in your desired area of research. Talk to them and tell them the reason why you want to work with them and why you chose this area of study.

As you eliminated some irrelevant topics and shortened your list to 1-3 topics, you can discuss them with your supervisor. Since your supervisor has a better insight into your field of study, they can recommend a topic that can be most suitable for you. Make sure to elaborate on each topic and the reason you chose it.

Step 3: Formulate a Research Question

The next step is to create a research question. This is probably the most important part of the process. Later you'll turn your research question into a thesis statement .

Learn as many materials as you can to figure out the type of questions you can ask for your research. Make use of any articles, journals, libraries, etc. Write notes as you learn, and highlight the essential parts.

First, make any questions you can think of. Choose the ones that you have an interest in and try to rewrite them. As you rewrite them, you can get a different perspective on each of the questions. An example of the potential question:

How did the economic situation in the 19th century affect literature?

Think of a question that you can answer and research best. To do it, think of the most convenient research process and available materials that you have access to. Do you need to do lab testing, quantitative analysis, or any kind of experiment? What skills do you have that can be useful?

Discuss the question that you came up with your supervisor. Get their feedback as they might have their own opinion on that topic and give you creative advice.

❓ Research Title Maker FAQ

❓ how to make a research title.

To make a research title:

• Brainstorm your field of study first.
• Think of the topics that you are interested in.
• Research current events in your study area and discuss your possible topics with your professors and classmates.
• Avoid random topics that are not well-researched.

❓ What is a working title for a research paper?

To make a good research paper title, analyze your area of study and all the related current events. Discuss your possible topics with your classmates and professors to get their opinion on them. You can also use our research title maker for free.

❓ What is the title page of a research paper?

The title page of the research paper is the first paper of your work. It includes your name, research type, and other essential information about your research.

❓ How to title a research proposal?

The research proposal title should be clear enough to showcase your research. Think of a statement that best describes your work and try to create a title that reflects it.

🔗 References

• Research Topics | Frontiers
• Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper
• Strategies for Selecting a Research Topic - ResearchGate
• The First Steps: Choosing a Topic and a Thesis Supervisor
• How to Pick a Masters Thesis Topic | by Peter Campbell

Enjoy a completely custom, expertly-written dissertation. Choose from hundreds of writers, all of whom are career specialists in your subject.

Guide for Writing a Thesis Title

A thesis title refers to a paper’s short header comprising of two parts. The first section comprises the information regarding the work’s topic while the second part covers the research methods. The primary objective of a title is to capture the reader’s attention while briefly describing the paper. Consequently, students should know how to compose a good title when writing a dissertation.

Ideally, thesis titles express the arguments and subjects of the papers. Therefore, researchers should write titles after writing their theses. That’s because they know the course of their arguments after completing their theses. Remember that this title is the first thing that readers see upon receiving the paper. Therefore, this section should provide a concise topic view that the paper addresses.

To ensure your thesis title captures the reader’s attention and effectively describes your paper, consider seeking the assistance of a professional dissertation writer . Our experts will help you craft a compelling and informative title that accurately reflects the content of your dissertation. With the guidance of a professional dissertation writer, you can enhance the impact of your research and make a strong impression on your readers.

Why a Thesis Title Matters

As hinted, a dissertation title is the text’s hallmark. It reveals the essence of your paper while framing the central argument in an academic paper. While it’s a short phrase, it tells your audience more about the content. This section of the text should give readers a glimpse of your study. That’s why you should invest your time in creating a brilliant title of your paper. Ideally, you should think about this part for your paper as its packaging.

The title should be sufficiently pretty to capture the right audience’s attention. What’s more, the topic should meet certain requirements, depending on the academic writing format of your paper. Thus, whether you’re writing an APA, MLA, or PPA paper will determine aspects like quotation, abbreviation, and capitalization.

Since a title enables you to make your first contact with your readers, make it sufficiently compelling while using it to set the pace for your content. It can also entice your audience to read the entire paper.

Primary Components of a Dissertation Title

The topic of your thesis paper should be as distinct as the text it describes. However, a good title exhibits certain fundamental factors. Whether it is political science, economics, or social sciences, these elements apply to this part of a paper. And they should guide you when writing titles for the theses that the audiences find worth reading.

• Formatting: Students should never submit their thesis without checking to ensure that their titles meet the formatting standards of their academic writing styles. While not all academic papers require formatting, styles differ, depending on institutions and disciplines. Formatting requirements are essential because they influence how learners write citations and quotations. What’s more, your writing style dictates how you organize the piece. Your educator might also specify the instructions to follow regarding your thesis’ tone. Therefore, consider such elements carefully to write a brilliant title. Also, remember capitalization rules when writing your topic.
• Interest areas: Your study’s objectives are a significant part of the title. What you want to accomplish with the study should set a tone for your paper. Therefore, make sure that your title reflects those objectives. Your interest areas should give your paper its broad scope. However, factor in your specifics. For instance, if writing a thesis about social media marketing’s impacts on the purchasing process provides a broad scope to work with. Nevertheless, you can focus on specific networks like Instagram and Twitter. Therefore, your title should mention specific social media websites. Thus, your interest area should provide a rough guide regarding your title.
• Internal Consistency: Effective thesis titles are not just attractive and precise. They are also internally consistent. Your title should accurately reflect your study. When a reader sees your title, they should get a glue of the content of your paper. If your title is about a case study approach, readers expect to find an introduction, abstract, and methodology section in the paper. Lacking consistency can create a disconnect that may push some readers away. Therefore, pay attention to the style and language of your writing to avoid misleading or losing your audience along the way.

The best dissertation titles are precise, concise, and relevant. They are also brief because many words discourage some audiences. However, a good title is not too short. Instead, it comprises over four words while thriving on specificity.

How to Title a Thesis

The title of your thesis paper should summarize your study’s main idea. It should also comprise as few words as possible, while adequately describing the purpose and/or content of the research paper. Most people read the title first and the most. If it’s too long, it will have unnecessary words. And if it’s too short, it uses too general words. Therefore, focus on creating a title that provides information regarding the focus of your work.

If your goal is to learn how to write a thesis title, these parameters should help you formulate a suitable topic.

• Your research objectives or purpose
• Your paper’s narrative tone, typically defined by your research type
• Your research methods

Always remember to focus your title on capturing your audience’s attention while drawing their interest to the research problem that you intend to investigate.

Write the final title after completing your research to ensure that it accurately captures what you did. That means you can have a working title that you develop early during the research process. That’s because your working title can anchor the focus of your study the way a research problem does. Essentially, you should consistently refer to your working title to avoid forgetting the main purpose of your study. That way, you can avoid drifting off on the tangent when writing. Final thesis titles have several characteristics that make them effective.

These include:

• Accurate indication of the study subject and scope
• Wording that stimulates the reader’s interest while creating a positive impression
• They do not use abbreviations
• They use the current study field’s nomenclature
• A revelation of the paper’s organization
• Identification of independent and dependent variables
• A suggestion of a relationship between the variables that support the primary hypothesis
• A limit to substantive words
• Can be in a question or phrase form
• Correct capitalization and grammar with capital last and first words

The title of a thesis is the only aspect that readers will find when searching indexing databases or search engines. Therefore, it should be persuasive and clear to tell leaders what your research is about.

Sample Dissertation Titles

Using samples is a great way to master the art of writing brilliant titles. And the internet is awash with dissertation title examples. An ideal title should summarize your manuscript’s main idea while informing the readers about your dissertation’s nature and main topic. It can also mention your research’s subjects, location, and methodology. It may also specify theoretical issues or variables you investigated and their relationship. Often, a title should indicate your discovery.

Effective titles have eloquent and interesting wording that provides precise and necessary details. Their vocabulary can also bear relevant allusions and nuances. However, they are short and informative. Universities, departments, and style guides set strict character or word limits for titles. For instance, the APA’s publication manual limits a title to 12 words.

Since search engines use titles, words that lack a specific relationship with research become extra baggage. Thus, such titles might not work in bringing the right audience. As such, there are reasons to avoid unnecessary adjectives and adverbs. Essentially, use them sparingly to maximize your title’s effect. Words like methods, study, and methods are extraneous. However, some titles identifying the study type and dissertation methodologies can include such words.

Reading and analyzing quality samples can help you learn how to make a dissertation title. Nevertheless, check samples that fit in your study field to understand what educators in your area look for in titles.

Sample Dissertation Titles Law Students can Use

Educators require law students in the US and UK universities to write dissertations or theses at some point. In most cases, this task is the last hurdle for learners before graduating from law graduate schools. The requirement evokes horror and excitement in equal measures. But, this task provides a chance for learners to interrogate their interest area academically. Nevertheless, completing this task is a monumental responsibility. Here are dissertation titles samples that law students can use as their guide when writing this paper.

• A comprehensive evaluation of female and male rape legislations: How do they differ?
• Analysis of lie detectors usage in criminal justice: Are they effective?
• Challenges that parties face in Vienna Convention on Contracts application for international sales
• A comparison of human right law gaps in different countries
• How family law has changed over the years
• What are the repercussions for females vs. males involved in domestic violence?
• A literature review of religion and employment laws convergence in the US
• Evaluating sexual harassment at the workplace
• Assessing corporate social responsibility and its mediating role in companies performance
• How do medical law and ethics coexist?

Dissertations are long papers. Therefore, their topics are crucial because they determine the difficulty or simplicity of completing them. Use these samples to guide you when creating a topic for your thesis if you’re a law student.

Sample PR Dissertation Titles

When writing dissertations, public relations students should make reasonable arguments and answer research questions. Their hypotheses should provide evidence to serve as their basis. And educators expect learners to time collecting and documenting the evidence. An ideal title can make this task simple and interesting. Therefore, students should select titles that align with their developing practice area. Here are sample topics that PR students can consider exploring in their studies and writing about.

• How fake and truth news change the operations of public relations offers
• How essential is storytelling versus truth?
• How should public relations practitioners ensure that their messages resonate well in the current fake news era?
• How transparency looks like in public relations
• Analyzing effective reputation and crisis management in the mobile and social media’s world
• How public relations has changed- The shifting skillset for modern public relations practitioners
• How mobile has affected public relations
• Inbound marketing and public relations- Can PR be inbound?
• How public relation practitioners are adapting to social media
• Public relations monitoring and measurement- How to determine PR ROI

Public relations students can use these topic samples as their guide for creating value-adding and industry-relevant topics. However, learners should develop topics they are passionate about to enjoy their writing process.

Sample Dissertation Titles Sociology Students will Love

Several issues in social science can be a good foundation for a sociology dissertation topic. If looking for the best title for your sociology thesis, here are sample topics to consider.

• Analyzing the differences in gender and sexual issues between males and females
• How religious beliefs vary according to the practices and customs of a country
• How modern social science studies link education and religion
• How social change is taking over the world- The link between religion and social change
• What are the effects of education’s sociological policies after World War II?
• How immigrants’ foreign culture affects the practices and values of the indigenous people
• Examining counterculture’s shifting fundamentals
• How Japan’s culture compares to that of the UK
• Examining the dimensions and trends of gender voting in British and American political systems
• Examining the influence and power of minority interests in a society

These ideas can help you come up with a title for your thesis. However, create a title you will find interesting to research and write about. That’s the only way you will enjoy working on your thesis.

Sample Med Dissertation Titles

If pursuing medical studies, you’ll need a good topic for your dissertation at some point. Medical studies present a broad field. However, your topic should capture specific objectives and goals of your research. Here are sample topics that medical students can explore.

• How to manage and take care of patients suffering from acute pain
• Medical management and psychological treatment of prisoners with drug dependence problems
• How midwives can improve the pregnancy outcomes
• How midwives can help in high-risk pregnancies improvement
• Occupational health psychology in stress management
• How to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses
• How to prevent the side effects of mineral fertilizers on plant workers and the environment
• How emergency doctors’ mental health and their life quality relate
• How to ensure personnel mental health in a security company
• Occupational safety- Why is it essential for factory workers?

Whether you need an undergraduate or a Ph.D. thesis title, each of these ideas can provide a basis for formulating your topic. Nevertheless, make sure that you will be comfortable working with your title.

Sample Dissertation Titles for Business Management

A business management dissertation can cover different areas in business studies. When writing this paper, a student should focus on answering specific questions. Here are sample topics that students majoring in business management can explore in their papers.

• How remote workers affect business management
• How businesses can manage collaborations and communications with remote workers
• Effect of wages changes on business costs
• How investing in artificial intelligence enables business managers to satisfy their customers
• Risk management by companies and focusing performance on the competitive advantage mediating role
• Effective management models for the tourism sector
• An empirical investigation of cost-leadership, business performance, and market orientation
• Why intellectual capital management matters in business
• Hyper-competitiveness in modern business environments- What is it about?
• How banks can enhance their international connectivity with enterprise customers

This category has brilliant undergraduate thesis title samples. However, learners should take their time to identify topics they can confidently and comfortably work on. That way, they can enjoy their dissertation writing process.

Sample Interior Design Dissertation Titles

When pursuing interior design studies, your educator might ask you to write a dissertation. If allowed to select your title, consider exploring these ideas.

• Why interior design is not for the wealthy people only
• The interior design concept for people with tight budgets
• How long interior design should take when working on a standard house
• Benefits of terracotta tiles combined with woven rugs
• Effects of modern trends on interior design
• How to rework a retirement home from an interior designer’s perspective
• The link between fashion and interior design- How each borrows ideas from the other
• Why you should use your kitchen floor mats for your home’s design
• How a building’s design affects the owner’s mental health
• How a good design can help in managing workplace distractions

This category has some of the best titles that interior design students can explore in their papers. But like with the other categories, learners should settle on topics they can comfortably research and write about.

Sample Primary Education Dissertation Titles

Education is among the broadest study fields. The purpose of dissertation assignments in this field is to help learners explore and understand different learning approaches and education types. Here are sample topics to explore in this study field.

• How the COVID-19 pandemic has affected primary education
• How to maintain social distance in primary schools
• How the COVID-19 pandemic has increased online primary education
• The practice and theory of primary education games as tools for enhancing learning
• How the learning ability of children affect their performance
• How to create efficient learning settings for enhancing early childhood education
• Factors enhancing and inhibiting creativity in primary schools
• How primary education can develop life skills among pupils
• Effective ways teachers can evaluate and monitor students in primary schools
• How computer-based programs can enhance learning in primary schools

Primary education is compulsory in most developed and developing countries. This education helps in establishing foundations in mathematics, geography, history, social sciences, and science. Students that want to become primary teachers can explore these ideas when writing dissertations.

Sample Art History Dissertation Titles

Art history entails studying the objects that humans have made for aesthetic pleasure purposes. And this study field is varied and wide. If looking for a thesis title example in this field, here are brilliant ideas to consider.

• How humans have exemplified their desire to touch and see God in art
• How Gothic architecture is more than pointed arch
• Describe the change in Egyptian art over time
• How does the Gertrude Stein picture by Picasso marks his development as an artist?
• Examining Picasso from the perspectives of social and political movements of his time
• Describe Miro’s contribution to a surrealist movement
• Discuss biomorphic in 20 th -century painting
• How humans have appropriated sculpture for political display
• Did the British architectural style provide a basis for the Delhi center?
• How necessary is aesthetic and art appreciation?

If pursuing art history, consider any of these ideas for your dissertation, but make sure that it’s a topic you will be happy to research and write about.

Sample Globalization Dissertation Titles

When writing globalization dissertations, learners have a wide range of topic ideas they can use as the basis of their work. Here are sample topics to consider for your globalization thesis.

• How globalization can affect your identity
• Effects of globalization in sports
• How trade relates to globalization
• How globalization affects economic growth
• Analysis of workers’ interests from a globalization perspective
• The Cold War globalization
• Is globalization bad or good for mankind?
• How water scarcity affects globalization
• How globalization affects the poor
• Globalization and feminism

These are brilliant ideas to explore when writing a globalization thesis paper. Nevertheless, students must research their topics to come up with excellent papers about these topics.

Sample LLM Dissertation Titles

LLM dissertations topics cover the subject areas that students pursue during LLM program modules. This paper can tackle doctrinal, theoretical, policy, and jurisprudential issues that are relevant in modern legal and policy affairs. Here are sample titles for LLM dissertations.

• Speech freedom and privacy right in the media and press- Should governments restrict it?
• What are the weak and strong points of the judicial review process?
• How to justify civil liberties restriction for public safety’s sake
• How effective are anti-corruption laws in a country?
• Precautions for preventing mistakes and abuse of assisted suicides legalization
• National and international law- Which one should prevail?
• Migrating with a minor- What legal gaps do people face when relocating?
• Dividing assets after divorce- Is the law fair for the involved parties?
• Effective legal mechanisms for preventing child labor
• How to ease conflict when protecting trade secrets within the business law

If pursuing legal studies, you can find a title of thesis your educator will find interesting to read. But pay attention to select an interesting topic you’ll be glad to research and work with.

Sample Ph.D. Thesis Titles

A title for a Ph.D. thesis should tell the readers what you examined during your research. Thus, it should summarize your work and indicate the topic. Here are examples of attention-grabbing and catchy titles for Ph.D. theses.

• Small business strategies and how to adjust them to globalization
• Human resource management and strategies in non-profit organizations
• Risks and benefits of international joint revenue
• Outsourcing as a practice in business
• Gender equality in business- Effective management approaches
• Working remotely versus modern workplaces
• How mentoring influences individual success
• How business size impacts financial decisions
• Financial risks for modern businesses
• How to reduce risks at the workplace

These are brilliant thesis titles to explore when writing a Ph.D. dissertation. However, you can tweak your preferred title to make it unique and suitable for your study field.

Tips for Creating Thesis Titles

Even with the above samples, some learners can have difficulties creating titles for their thesis. These tips will make creating the best thesis title for high school students, undergraduates, masters, and Ph.D. learners easier.

• Select the words to use in your title carefully
• Seek advice from the professor, a friend, or classmate
• Follow the format specified by your department or school
• Write the final title after writing the paper
• Make your title informative, brief, and catchy
• Avoid abbreviations, initials, and acronyms

To ensure the creation of an exceptional thesis title, consider seeking the assistance of a professional dissertation writers . Experts have the experience and expertise to guide you in selecting the most appropriate words and crafting an informative, brief, and catchy title. Additionally, they can help you follow the format specified by your department or school while avoiding the use of abbreviations, initials, and acronyms.

Final Thoughts

The title of your thesis should indicate the subject and scope of your research. It should be engaging, concise, explanatory, and descriptive. Also, avoid abbreviations, jargon, acronyms, initials, and redundant words. Additionally, follow the requirements of your academic formatting styles and use examples to create a good title for your thesis.

Frequently Asked Questions

Richard Ginger is a dissertation writer and freelance columnist with a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the writing industry. He handles every project he works on with precision while keeping attention to details and ensuring that every work he does is unique.

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• Writing Tips

5 Top Tips for a Great Dissertation Title

3-minute read

• 7th August 2015

Of all the things you’ll do while writing your Master’s dissertation or PhD thesis , picking a title might not seem that important. On some levels you’d be right: nobody has ever earned a degree on the strength of a good title alone!

Nevertheless, it’s worth putting thought into what you’re going to call your final piece. You only get one chance to make a good first impression, after all, and the title will be doing the impressing.

As such, a good title should be clear and informative, providing your reader with what they need to know the moment they look at your work. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Topic and Focus

The most important thing the title of your dissertation should communicate is what you’re actually writing about. This can be broken down into a topic and a focus.

The topic of your research is the general area you’re researching. The focus is the specific thing you are investigating within that field.

In an essay titled ‘International Business Expansion: Innovative Strategies for Smaller Enterprises’, for example, the topic of the research is international expansion, while the focus is on how new strategies can help smaller companies to achieve this.

2. Research Approach

Since the research approach you adopt will have a major impact on the design and results of your study, it can be helpful to include this in the title.

For example, if the essay above relied on an in-depth case study, the title could be amended to ‘International Business Expansion: A Qualitative Analysis of Innovative Strategies for Smaller Enterprises’.

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3. Research Outcomes

Including a reference to the outcomes of your research can give your reader a better idea of what to expect. Unlike a good murder mystery, you don’t have to keep your reader guessing until the end!

For instance, rather than calling an essay ‘International Business Expansion in Smaller Enterprises’, you could use the title, ‘ Success Factors for International Business Expansion in Smaller Enterprises’.

This immediately communicates the aim of your research: i.e. to discover the factors which influence the success of business expansion.

4. Clarity, Focus and Format

Long or obscure titles can leave your reader confused from the outset. This should be avoided by trying to make your dissertation title clear and focused.

One way to do this is to ask someone else – your supervisor, course convenor or fellow students – to check your title. It is also best to avoid acronyms and abbreviations unless they’re in common usage.

5. A Bit of a Laugh?

There aren’t many times you can fit jokes into serious academic research, but a humorous title can make your work stand out. However, remember that clarity is most important. If you want to add a joke to a title, it should not detract from communicating what your work is about.

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6 Important Tips on Writing a Research Paper Title

When you are searching for a research study on a particular topic, you probably notice that articles with interesting, descriptive research titles draw you in. By contrast, research paper titles that are not descriptive are usually passed over, even though you may write a good research paper with interesting contents. This shows the importance of coming up with a good title for your research paper when drafting your own manuscript.

Importance of a Research Title

The research title plays a crucial role in the research process, and its importance can be summarized as follows:

Why do Research Titles Matter?

Before we look at how to title a research paper, let’s look at a research title example that illustrates why a good research paper should have a strong title.

Imagine that you are researching meditation and nursing, and you want to find out if any studies have shown that meditation makes nurses better communicators.  You conduct a keyword search using the keywords “nursing”, “communication”, and “meditation.” You come up with results that have the following titles:

• Benefits of Meditation for the Nursing Profession: A Quantitative Investigation
• Why Mindful Nurses Make the Best Communicators
• Meditation Gurus
• Nurses on the Move: A Quantitative Report on How Meditation Can Improve Nurse Performance

All four of these research paper titles may describe very similar studies—they could even be titles for the same study! As you can see, they give very different impressions.

• Title 1 describes the topic and the method of the study but is not particularly catchy.
• Title 2 partly describes the topic, but does not give any information about the method of the study—it could simply be a theoretical or opinion piece.
• Title 3 is somewhat catchier but gives almost no information at all about the article.
• Title 4 begins with a catchy main title and is followed by a subtitle that gives information about the content and method of the study.

As we will see, Title 4 has all the characteristics of a good research title.

Characteristics of a Good Research Title

According to rhetoric scholars Hairston and Keene, making a good title for a paper involves ensuring that the title of the research accomplishes four goals as mentioned below:

• It should predict the content of the research paper .
• It should be interesting to the reader .
• It should reflect the tone of the writing .
• It should contain important keywords that will make it easier to be located during a keyword search.

Let’s return to the examples in the previous section to see how to make a research title.

As you can see in the table above, only one of the four example titles fulfills all of the criteria of a suitable research paper title.

Related: You’ve chosen your study topic, but having trouble deciding where to publish it? Here’s a comprehensive course to help you identify the right journal .

Tips for Writing an Effective Research Paper Title

When writing a research title, you can use the four criteria listed above as a guide. Here are a few other tips you can use to make sure your title will be part of the recipe for an effective research paper :

• Make sure your research title describes (a) the topic, (b) the method, (c) the sample, and (d) the results of your study. You can use the following formula:

[ Result ]: A [ method ] study of [ topic ] among [ sample ] Example : Meditation makes nurses perform better: a qualitative study of mindfulness meditation among German nursing students

• Avoid unnecessary words and jargons. Keep the title statement as concise as possible. You want a title that will be comprehensible even to people who are not experts in your field. Check our article for a detailed list of things to avoid when writing an effective research title .
• Make sure your title is between 5 and 15 words in length.
• If you are writing a title for a university assignment or for a particular academic journal, verify that your title conforms to the standards and requirements for that outlet. For example, many journals require that titles fall under a character limit, including spaces. Many universities require that titles take a very specific form, limiting your creativity.
• Use a descriptive phrase to convey the purpose of your research efficiently.
• Most importantly, use critical keywords in the title to increase the discoverability of your article.

Resources for Further Reading

In addition to the tips above, there are many resources online that you can use to help write your research title. Here is a list of links that you may find useful as you work on creating an excellent research title:

• The University of Southern California has a guide specific to social science research papers: http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/title
• The Journal of European Psychology Students has a blog article focusing on APA-compliant research paper titles: http://blog.efpsa.org/2012/09/01/how-to-write-a-good-title-for-journal-articles/
• This article by Kristen Hamlin contains a step-by-step approach to writing titles: http://classroom.synonym.com/choose-title-research-paper-4332.html

Are there any tips or tricks you find useful in crafting research titles? Which tip did you find most useful in this article? Leave a comment to let us know!

• Hairston, M., & Keene, M. 2003. Successful writing . 5th ed. New York: Norton.
• University of Southern California. 2017. Organizing your social sciences research paper: choosing a title . [Online] Available at: http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/title

Thank you so much:) Have a nice day!

Thank you so much, it helped me.. God bless..

Thank you for the excellent article and tips for creating a research work, because I always forget about such an essential element as the keywords when forming topics. In particular, I have found a rapid help with the formation of informative and sound titles that also conforms to the standards and requirements.

I am doing a research work on sales girls or shop girls using qualititative method. Basicly I am from Pakistan and writing on the scenario of mycountry. I am really confused about my research title can you kindly give some suggestions and give me an approperaite tilte

Hi Zubair, Thank you for your question. However, the information you have provided is insufficient for drafting an appropriate title. Information on what exactly you intend to study would be needed in order to draft a meaningful title. Meanwhile, you can try drafting your own title after going through the following articles our website: https://www.enago.com/academy/top-10-tips-on-choosing-an-attractive-research-title/ , https://www.enago.com/academy/writing-a-good-research-title-things-to-avoid/ , https://www.enago.com/academy/write-irresistible-research-paper-title/ We would be happy to give you feedback and suggest changes if required. Did you get a chance to install our free Mobile App? https://www.enago.com/academy/mobile-app/ . Make sure you subscribe to our weekly newsletter https://www.enago.com/academy/subscribe-now/ .

thanks for helping me like this!!

Thank you for this. It helped me improve my research title. I just want to verify to you the title I have just made. “Ensuring the safety: A Quantitative Study of Radio Frequency Identification system among the selected students of ( school’s name ).

(I need your reply asap coz we will be doing the chap. 1 tomorrow. Thank u in advance. 🙂 )

I am actually doing a research paper title. I want to know more further in doing research title. Can you give me some tips on doing a research paper?

Hi Joan, Thank you for your question. We are glad to know that you found our resources useful. Your feedback is very valuable to us. You can try drafting your own title after going through the following articles on our website: https://www.enago.com/academy/top-10-tips-on-choosing-an-attractive-research-title/ , https://www.enago.com/academy/writing-a-good-research-title-things-to-avoid/ , https://www.enago.com/academy/write-irresistible-research-paper-title/

We would be happy to give you feedback and suggest changes if required. Did you get a chance to install our free Mobile App? https://www.enago.com/academy/mobile-app/ . Make sure you subscribe to our weekly newsletter https://www.enago.com/academy/subscribe-now/ .

That really helpful. Thanks alot

Thank you so much. It’s really help me.

Thanks for sharing this tips. Title matters a lot for any article because it contents Keywords of article. It should be eye-catchy. Your article is helpful to select title of any article.

nice blog that you have shared

This blog is very informative for me. Thanks for sharing.

nice information that you have shared

i’m found in selecting my ma thesis title ,so i’m going to do my final research after the proposal approved. Your post help me find good title.

I need help. I need a research title for my study about early mobilization of the mechanically ventilated patients in the ICU. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Thank you for posting your query on the website. When writing manuscripts, too many scholars neglect the research title. This phrase, along with the abstract, is what people will mostly see and read online. Title research of publications shows that the research paper title does matter a lot. Both bibliometrics and altmetrics tracking of citations are now, for better or worse, used to gauge a paper’s “success” for its author(s) and the journal publishing it. Interesting research topics coupled with good or clever yet accurate research titles can draw more attention to your work from peers and the public alike. You can check through the following search results for titles on similar topics: https://www.google.com/search?q=early+mobilization+of+the+mechanically+ventilated+patients+in+the+icu&rlz=1C1GCEU_enIN907IN907&oq=&aqs=chrome.0.69i59.4920093j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 .

We hope this would be helpful in drafting an attractive title for your research paper.

Please let us know in case of any other queries.

I’ve been surfing online more than 3 hours these days, but I never found any interesting article like yours. It is lovely worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all website owners and bloggers made just right content material as you did, the internet will be much more helpful than ever before.

Wonderful article! We will bee linking to this particularly great post on our site. Keep up the good writing.

Wow that was odd. I just wrote an very long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say fantastic blog!

In case the topic is new research before you’re writing. And then to stand out, you end up being different.and be inclined to highlight yourself.

There are many free directories, and more paid lists.

To be honest your article is informative. I search many site to know about writing but I didn’t get the information I needed. I saw your site and I read it. I got some new information from here. I think some of your tips can be applied to those too! Thank you so very much for such informative and useful content.

Nice and well written content you have shared with us. thanks a lot!

Thanks for sharing these tips… Rockwide

Its helpful. a person can grab knowledge through it.

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• How to Write a Great Title

Maximize search-ability and engage your readers from the very beginning

Your title is the first thing anyone who reads your article is going to see, and for many it will be where they stop reading. Learn how to write a title that helps readers find your article, draws your audience in and sets the stage for your research!

How your title impacts the success of your article

Researchers are busy and there will always be more articles to read than time to read them.  Good titles help readers find your research, and decide whether to keep reading. Search engines use titles to retrieve relevant articles based on users’ keyword searches. Once readers find your article, they’ll use the title as the first filter to decide whether your research is what they’re looking for. A strong and specific title is the first step toward citations, inclusion in meta-analyses, and influencing your field. 

What to include in a title

Include the most important information that will signal to your target audience that they should keep reading.

Key information about the study design

Important keywords

What you discovered

Writing tips

Getting the title right can be more difficult than it seems, and researchers refine their writing skills throughout their career. Some journals even help editors to re-write their titles during the publication process! 

• Keep it concise and informative What’s appropriate for titles varies greatly across disciplines. Take a look at some articles published in your field, and check the journal guidelines for character limits. Aim for fewer than 12 words, and check for journal specific word limits.
• Write for your audience Consider who your primary audience is: are they specialists in your specific field, are they cross-disciplinary, are they non-specialists?
• Entice the reader Find a way to pique your readers’ interest, give them enough information to keep them reading.
• Incorporate important keywords Consider what about your article will be most interesting to your audience: Most readers come to an article from a search engine, so take some time and include the important ones in your title!
• Write in sentence case In scientific writing, titles are given in sentence case. Capitalize only the first word of the text, proper nouns, and genus names. See our examples below.

Don’t

• Write your title as a question In most cases, you shouldn’t need to frame your title as a question. You have the answers, you know what you found. Writing your title as a question might draw your readers in, but it’s more likely to put them off.
• Sensationalize your research Be honest with yourself about what you truly discovered. A sensationalized or dramatic title might make a few extra people read a bit further into your article, but you don’t want them disappointed when they get to the results.

Examples…

Format: Prevalence of [disease] in [population] in [location]

Example: Prevalence of tuberculosis in homeless women in San Francisco

Format: Risk factors for [condition] among [population] in [location]

Example: Risk factors for preterm births among low-income women in Mexico City

Format (systematic review/meta-analysis): Effectiveness of [treatment] for [disease] in [population] for [outcome] : A systematic review and meta-analysis

Example: Effectiveness of Hepatitis B treatment in HIV-infected adolescents in the prevention of liver disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Format (clinical trial): [Intervention] improved [symptoms] of [disease] in [population] : A randomized controlled clinical trial

Example: Using a sleep app lessened insomnia in post-menopausal women in southwest United States: A randomized controlled clinical trial

Format  (general molecular studies): Characterization/identification/evaluation of [molecule name] in/from [organism/tissue] (b y [specific biological methods] ) 

Example: Identification of putative Type-I sex pheromone biosynthesis-related genes expressed in the female pheromone gland of Streltzoviella insularis

Format  (general molecular studies): [specific methods/analysis] of organism/tissue reveal insights into [function/role] of [molecule name] in [biological process]  

Example: Transcriptome landscape of Rafflesia cantleyi floral buds reveals insights into the roles of transcription factors and phytohormones in flower development

Format  (software/method papers): [tool/method/software] for [what purpose] in [what research area]

Example: CRISPR-based tools for targeted transcriptional and epigenetic regulation in plants

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• How it works

How to Write Dissertation Title Page – Tips & Examples

Published by Owen Ingram at August 12th, 2021 , Revised On August 21, 2023

Introducing your Work

Your study’s title is perhaps the first thing that is going to pick the interest of your readers. After all, haven’t you ever stopped scrolling on the web as soon as you find something who’s ‘title’ seemed relevant or interesting to you?

Do you want the same effect to occur on your study’s readers? If so then keep reading the following information to create a dissertation title page that leaves a lasting impression on your supervisor and your readers.

After all, the title page is what gets printed as the cover of your dissertation!

A dissertation title page can be created before starting the research process , or you can create it after you are finished with all other chapters of the paper. It’s one of the few elements of research that takes the least amount of time!

Did you know: The line containing the author’s name, name of affiliation (your institution’s name) and names of co-authors, if any, is a separate sub-section of a title page, called the author byline. Furthermore, never put titles like Dr. or Mr./Mrs. with your (the author) name of a dissertation’s title page.

While dissertation title pages do not contribute much towards your overall dissertation grade, presenting it nicely and providing all the necessary information can help grab your readers’ attention.

Regardless of your academic level (undergraduate, Master’s or PhD), all  dissertations  must have a dissertation title page where information related to the author, degree program, research topic and supervisor needs to be clearly presented. In essence, the dissertation title page includes all the necessary information about the dissertation. The main points to be included are mentioned below.

Dissertation Title Page Format

Your supervisor will guide you regarding your dissertation’s format if you are unsure about  how to write a dissertation title page . Each university may have slightly different guidelines on how to write a dissertation title page.

The title page format can vary from:

• Department to department within the same institution
• Institution to institution
• Degree level within the same institution
• Institution to higher educational commission boards in that country

For instance, the following are sample title pages from the same institution, but different fields/departments:

We provide a free dissertation title page, free abstract/executive summary, free table of contents, free list of tables and figures, and a free dissertation acknowledgements page to all our customers.

To place your order for our  dissertation service , please head to our order page and fill out an easy  order form . If you would like to discuss any of your dissertation writing requirements with one of our consultants, please email us at [email protected] or call us on +44 141 628 7786.

Checklist for Dissertation Title Page

Here is what a sample title page looks like . Here is how to write a glossary for a dissertation .

Also Read : How to Write a Remarkable Dissertation?

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you make a good title page.

To create a good title page:

• Center the title, author’s name, and affiliation.
• Add a clear, concise title that reflects the content.
• Include the submission date and relevant course/program.
• Use a readable font and proper formatting.
• Consider adding a relevant image or logo.
• Follow any specific formatting guidelines (e.g., APA, MLA) .

You May Also Like

Here are the steps to make a theoretical framework for dissertation. You can define, discuss and evaluate theories relevant to the research problem.

A list of glossary in a dissertation contains all the terms that were used in your dissertation but the meanings of which may not be obvious to the readers.

Make sure to develop a conceptual framework before conducting research. Here is all you need to know about what is a conceptual framework is in a dissertation?

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• How It Works

Dissertation Structure & Layout 101: How to structure your dissertation, thesis or research project.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Reviewed By: David Phair (PhD) | July 2019

So, you’ve got a decent understanding of what a dissertation is , you’ve chosen your topic and hopefully you’ve received approval for your research proposal . Awesome! Now its time to start the actual dissertation or thesis writing journey.

To craft a high-quality document, the very first thing you need to understand is dissertation structure . In this post, we’ll walk you through the generic dissertation structure and layout, step by step. We’ll start with the big picture, and then zoom into each chapter to briefly discuss the core contents. If you’re just starting out on your research journey, you should start with this post, which covers the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis .

*The Caveat *

In this post, we’ll be discussing a traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout, which is generally used for social science research across universities, whether in the US, UK, Europe or Australia. However, some universities may have small variations on this structure (extra chapters, merged chapters, slightly different ordering, etc).

So, always check with your university if they have a prescribed structure or layout that they expect you to work with. If not, it’s safe to assume the structure we’ll discuss here is suitable. And even if they do have a prescribed structure, you’ll still get value from this post as we’ll explain the core contents of each section.  

Overview: S tructuring a dissertation or thesis

• Acknowledgements page
• Abstract (or executive summary)
• Table of contents , list of figures and tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Results
• Chapter 5: Discussion
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Reference list

As I mentioned, some universities will have slight variations on this structure. For example, they want an additional “personal reflection chapter”, or they might prefer the results and discussion chapter to be merged into one. Regardless, the overarching flow will always be the same, as this flow reflects the research process , which we discussed here – i.e.:

• The introduction chapter presents the core research question and aims .
• The literature review chapter assesses what the current research says about this question.
• The methodology, results and discussion chapters go about undertaking new research about this question.
• The conclusion chapter (attempts to) answer the core research question .

In other words, the dissertation structure and layout reflect the research process of asking a well-defined question(s), investigating, and then answering the question – see below.

To restate that – the structure and layout of a dissertation reflect the flow of the overall research process . This is essential to understand, as each chapter will make a lot more sense if you “get” this concept. If you’re not familiar with the research process, read this post before going further.

Right. Now that we’ve covered the big picture, let’s dive a little deeper into the details of each section and chapter. Oh and by the way, you can also grab our free dissertation/thesis template here to help speed things up.

The title page of your dissertation is the very first impression the marker will get of your work, so it pays to invest some time thinking about your title. But what makes for a good title? A strong title needs to be 3 things:

• Succinct (not overly lengthy or verbose)
• Specific (not vague or ambiguous)
• Representative of the research you’re undertaking (clearly linked to your research questions)

Typically, a good title includes mention of the following:

• The broader area of the research (i.e. the overarching topic)
• The specific focus of your research (i.e. your specific context)
• Indication of research design (e.g. quantitative , qualitative , or  mixed methods ).

For example:

A quantitative investigation [research design] into the antecedents of organisational trust [broader area] in the UK retail forex trading market [specific context/area of focus].

Again, some universities may have specific requirements regarding the format and structure of the title, so it’s worth double-checking expectations with your institution (if there’s no mention in the brief or study material).

Acknowledgements

This page provides you with an opportunity to say thank you to those who helped you along your research journey. Generally, it’s optional (and won’t count towards your marks), but it is academic best practice to include this.

So, who do you say thanks to? Well, there’s no prescribed requirements, but it’s common to mention the following people:

• Your dissertation supervisor or committee.
• Any professors, lecturers or academics that helped you understand the topic or methodologies.
• Any tutors, mentors or advisors.
• Your family and friends, especially spouse (for adult learners studying part-time).

There’s no need for lengthy rambling. Just state who you’re thankful to and for what (e.g. thank you to my supervisor, John Doe, for his endless patience and attentiveness) – be sincere. In terms of length, you should keep this to a page or less.

Abstract or executive summary

The dissertation abstract (or executive summary for some degrees) serves to provide the first-time reader (and marker or moderator) with a big-picture view of your research project. It should give them an understanding of the key insights and findings from the research, without them needing to read the rest of the report – in other words, it should be able to stand alone .

For it to stand alone, your abstract should cover the following key points (at a minimum):

• Your research questions and aims – what key question(s) did your research aim to answer?
• Your methodology – how did you go about investigating the topic and finding answers to your research question(s)?
• Your findings – following your own research, what did do you discover?
• Your conclusions – based on your findings, what conclusions did you draw? What answers did you find to your research question(s)?

So, in much the same way the dissertation structure mimics the research process, your abstract or executive summary should reflect the research process, from the initial stage of asking the original question to the final stage of answering that question.

In practical terms, it’s a good idea to write this section up last , once all your core chapters are complete. Otherwise, you’ll end up writing and rewriting this section multiple times (just wasting time). For a step by step guide on how to write a strong executive summary, check out this post .

Need a helping hand?

Table of contents

This section is straightforward. You’ll typically present your table of contents (TOC) first, followed by the two lists – figures and tables. I recommend that you use Microsoft Word’s automatic table of contents generator to generate your TOC. If you’re not familiar with this functionality, the video below explains it simply:

If you find that your table of contents is overly lengthy, consider removing one level of depth. Oftentimes, this can be done without detracting from the usefulness of the TOC.

Right, now that the “admin” sections are out of the way, its time to move on to your core chapters. These chapters are the heart of your dissertation and are where you’ll earn the marks. The first chapter is the introduction chapter – as you would expect, this is the time to introduce your research…

It’s important to understand that even though you’ve provided an overview of your research in your abstract, your introduction needs to be written as if the reader has not read that (remember, the abstract is essentially a standalone document). So, your introduction chapter needs to start from the very beginning, and should address the following questions:

• What will you be investigating (in plain-language, big picture-level)?
• Why is that worth investigating? How is it important to academia or business? How is it sufficiently original?
• What are your research aims and research question(s)? Note that the research questions can sometimes be presented at the end of the literature review (next chapter).
• What is the scope of your study? In other words, what will and won’t you cover ?
• How will you approach your research? In other words, what methodology will you adopt?
• How will you structure your dissertation? What are the core chapters and what will you do in each of them?

These are just the bare basic requirements for your intro chapter. Some universities will want additional bells and whistles in the intro chapter, so be sure to carefully read your brief or consult your research supervisor.

If done right, your introduction chapter will set a clear direction for the rest of your dissertation. Specifically, it will make it clear to the reader (and marker) exactly what you’ll be investigating, why that’s important, and how you’ll be going about the investigation. Conversely, if your introduction chapter leaves a first-time reader wondering what exactly you’ll be researching, you’ve still got some work to do.

Now that you’ve set a clear direction with your introduction chapter, the next step is the literature review . In this section, you will analyse the existing research (typically academic journal articles and high-quality industry publications), with a view to understanding the following questions:

• What does the literature currently say about the topic you’re investigating?
• Is the literature lacking or well established? Is it divided or in disagreement?
• How does your research fit into the bigger picture?
• How does your research contribute something original?
• How does the methodology of previous studies help you develop your own?

Depending on the nature of your study, you may also present a conceptual framework towards the end of your literature review, which you will then test in your actual research.

Again, some universities will want you to focus on some of these areas more than others, some will have additional or fewer requirements, and so on. Therefore, as always, its important to review your brief and/or discuss with your supervisor, so that you know exactly what’s expected of your literature review chapter.

Now that you’ve investigated the current state of knowledge in your literature review chapter and are familiar with the existing key theories, models and frameworks, its time to design your own research. Enter the methodology chapter – the most “science-ey” of the chapters…

In this chapter, you need to address two critical questions:

• Exactly HOW will you carry out your research (i.e. what is your intended research design)?
• Exactly WHY have you chosen to do things this way (i.e. how do you justify your design)?

Remember, the dissertation part of your degree is first and foremost about developing and demonstrating research skills . Therefore, the markers want to see that you know which methods to use, can clearly articulate why you’ve chosen then, and know how to deploy them effectively.

Importantly, this chapter requires detail – don’t hold back on the specifics. State exactly what you’ll be doing, with who, when, for how long, etc. Moreover, for every design choice you make, make sure you justify it.

In practice, you will likely end up coming back to this chapter once you’ve undertaken all your data collection and analysis, and revise it based on changes you made during the analysis phase. This is perfectly fine. Its natural for you to add an additional analysis technique, scrap an old one, etc based on where your data lead you. Of course, I’m talking about small changes here – not a fundamental switch from qualitative to quantitative, which will likely send your supervisor in a spin!

You’ve now collected your data and undertaken your analysis, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. In this chapter, you’ll present the raw results of your analysis . For example, in the case of a quant study, you’ll present the demographic data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics , etc.

Typically, Chapter 4 is simply a presentation and description of the data, not a discussion of the meaning of the data. In other words, it’s descriptive, rather than analytical – the meaning is discussed in Chapter 5. However, some universities will want you to combine chapters 4 and 5, so that you both present and interpret the meaning of the data at the same time. Check with your institution what their preference is.

Now that you’ve presented the data analysis results, its time to interpret and analyse them. In other words, its time to discuss what they mean, especially in relation to your research question(s).

What you discuss here will depend largely on your chosen methodology. For example, if you’ve gone the quantitative route, you might discuss the relationships between variables . If you’ve gone the qualitative route, you might discuss key themes and the meanings thereof. It all depends on what your research design choices were.

Most importantly, you need to discuss your results in relation to your research questions and aims, as well as the existing literature. What do the results tell you about your research questions? Are they aligned with the existing research or at odds? If so, why might this be? Dig deep into your findings and explain what the findings suggest, in plain English.

The final chapter – you’ve made it! Now that you’ve discussed your interpretation of the results, its time to bring it back to the beginning with the conclusion chapter . In other words, its time to (attempt to) answer your original research question s (from way back in chapter 1). Clearly state what your conclusions are in terms of your research questions. This might feel a bit repetitive, as you would have touched on this in the previous chapter, but its important to bring the discussion full circle and explicitly state your answer(s) to the research question(s).

Next, you’ll typically discuss the implications of your findings . In other words, you’ve answered your research questions – but what does this mean for the real world (or even for academia)? What should now be done differently, given the new insight you’ve generated?

Lastly, you should discuss the limitations of your research, as well as what this means for future research in the area. No study is perfect, especially not a Masters-level. Discuss the shortcomings of your research. Perhaps your methodology was limited, perhaps your sample size was small or not representative, etc, etc. Don’t be afraid to critique your work – the markers want to see that you can identify the limitations of your work. This is a strength, not a weakness. Be brutal!

This marks the end of your core chapters – woohoo! From here on out, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

The reference list is straightforward. It should contain a list of all resources cited in your dissertation, in the required format, e.g. APA , Harvard, etc.

It’s essential that you use reference management software for your dissertation. Do NOT try handle your referencing manually – its far too error prone. On a reference list of multiple pages, you’re going to make mistake. To this end, I suggest considering either Mendeley or Zotero. Both are free and provide a very straightforward interface to ensure that your referencing is 100% on point. I’ve included a simple how-to video for the Mendeley software (my personal favourite) below:

Some universities may ask you to include a bibliography, as opposed to a reference list. These two things are not the same . A bibliography is similar to a reference list, except that it also includes resources which informed your thinking but were not directly cited in your dissertation. So, double-check your brief and make sure you use the right one.

The very last piece of the puzzle is the appendix or set of appendices. This is where you’ll include any supporting data and evidence. Importantly, supporting is the keyword here.

Your appendices should provide additional “nice to know”, depth-adding information, which is not critical to the core analysis. Appendices should not be used as a way to cut down word count (see this post which covers how to reduce word count ). In other words, don’t place content that is critical to the core analysis here, just to save word count. You will not earn marks on any content in the appendices, so don’t try to play the system!

Time to recap…

And there you have it – the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows:

• Acknowledgments page

Most importantly, the core chapters should reflect the research process (asking, investigating and answering your research question). Moreover, the research question(s) should form the golden thread throughout your dissertation structure. Everything should revolve around the research questions, and as you’ve seen, they should form both the start point (i.e. introduction chapter) and the endpoint (i.e. conclusion chapter).

I hope this post has provided you with clarity about the traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below, or feel free to get in touch with us. Also, be sure to check out the rest of the  Grad Coach Blog .

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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36 Comments

many thanks i found it very useful

Glad to hear that, Arun. Good luck writing your dissertation.

Such clear practical logical advice. I very much needed to read this to keep me focused in stead of fretting.. Perfect now ready to start my research!

what about scientific fields like computer or engineering thesis what is the difference in the structure? thank you very much

Thanks so much this helped me a lot!

Very helpful and accessible. What I like most is how practical the advice is along with helpful tools/ links.

Thanks Ade!

Thank you so much sir.. It was really helpful..

You’re welcome!

Hi! How many words maximum should contain the abstract?

Thank you so much 😊 Find this at the right moment

You’re most welcome. Good luck with your dissertation.

best ever benefit i got on right time thank you

Many times Clarity and vision of destination of dissertation is what makes the difference between good ,average and great researchers the same way a great automobile driver is fast with clarity of address and Clear weather conditions .

I guess Great researcher = great ideas + knowledge + great and fast data collection and modeling + great writing + high clarity on all these

You have given immense clarity from start to end.

Morning. Where will I write the definitions of what I’m referring to in my report?

Thank you so much Derek, I was almost lost! Thanks a tonnnn! Have a great day!

Thanks ! so concise and valuable

This was very helpful. Clear and concise. I know exactly what to do now.

Thank you for allowing me to go through briefly. I hope to find time to continue.

Really useful to me. Thanks a thousand times

Very interesting! It will definitely set me and many more for success. highly recommended.

Thank you soo much sir, for the opportunity to express my skills

Usefull, thanks a lot. Really clear

Very nice and easy to understand. Thank you .

That was incredibly useful. Thanks Grad Coach Crew!

My stress level just dropped at least 15 points after watching this. Just starting my thesis for my grad program and I feel a lot more capable now! Thanks for such a clear and helpful video, Emma and the GradCoach team!

Do we need to mention the number of words the dissertation contains in the main document?

It depends on your university’s requirements, so it would be best to check with them 🙂

Such a helpful post to help me get started with structuring my masters dissertation, thank you!

Great video; I appreciate that helpful information

It is so necessary or avital course

This blog is very informative for my research. Thank you

Doctoral students are required to fill out the National Research Council’s Survey of Earned Doctorates

wow this is an amazing gain in my life

This is so good

How can i arrange my specific objectives in my dissertation?

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Trapped in dissertation revisions?

5 tips for choosing your dissertation title, published by steve tippins on july 24, 2019 july 24, 2019.

Last Updated on: 10th June 2024, 02:02 am

What should you name your dissertation? This is an important question as your dissertation title will stay with you forever. You can’t go back and change it after the fact. It will be part of your legacy, so you want to take some time and make sure that it communicates what you want it to do.

Choosing Your Dissertation Title

Here are five things to consider when choosing your dissertation title. I’ll include some examples as well.

1. University Requirements

Let’s get this out of the way first. When deciding on a dissertation title, you should be aware of any university requirements or limitations. I know one school that requires that dissertation titles be no more than 12 words long. 

Look at the rubric or instructions to determine if there are any requirements for your title. Make sure to meet those, otherwise your draft may be sent back for revisions.

2. Style Requirements

Every discipline follows some manual of style. It could be APA, MLA, Chicago, etc. The style used is based upon convention within your field. Each style guide will have requirements for dissertation titles as well. Make sure that you comply with the guide that is used in your field. 

3. Alignment

Many committee members initially look at your dissertation for alignment . This means they want to see that your dissertation title is consistent with your problem statement, your purpose, and your research question(s). If they seem to go in different directions that is a red flag.

For example, your title may be The Impact of Video Games on College Student GPA Levels, but if your problem statement discusses television viewing habits or your RQs only look at male college students, there is a problem with alignment. 

See my article on the subject for a more complete explanation of alignment .

Your title is there to tell readers what to expect in your dissertation. One approach to use when coming up with a dissertation title is to think about what information you would find useful if you came across the dissertation while doing a literature review. 

Some things that might be useful to include are the methodology used, the general population used, important variables involved in the study, and the purpose of the study.

Using this set of criteria, I have rewritten the dissertation title from the previous section. It might look like this:

“A Quantitative Logistic Regression Examination of the Impact of Video Gaming Use on First-Generation College Students in Regional Public Universities.”

This gives the reader a great deal of information and lets them make an intelligent decision about using this work or not.

There are very few chances in writing a dissertation to bring humor into the document. Some people try to add a humorous or catchy phrase to draw in readers.

An example might be, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf: How Amazon Impacts Small Business Profitability”. 

This may catch the eye of a reader but be careful, catchy phrases may seem good now but how will they hold up in 10 years? Avoid references to pop culture such as TV shows (yes, that includes Game of Thrones). 

And, what you think is catchy may not grab other people. It’s best to get feedback from several trusted sources if you’re going to add humor into your title.

Final Thoughts on Choosing Your Dissertation Title

Your dissertation title is the introduction to your work. It is what the reader sees first. You want to make sure that you tell the reader what your work accomplished and what they can expect. 

A well-worded title will bring more readers to your work and will be something that you will be proud to add to your CV . It will also help your mother explain what you did to get your doctorate when she brags to all of her friends.

PS. If you need support getting through the dissertation process, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve helped many students do just that as a dissertation coach, and now offer editing services as well for those who need help with their writing.

Steve Tippins

Steve Tippins, PhD, has thrived in academia for over thirty years. He continues to love teaching in addition to coaching recent PhD graduates as well as students writing their dissertations. Learn more about his dissertation coaching and career coaching services. Book a Free Consultation with Steve Tippins

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Thesis Title Generator for Research & Dissertations

Need an original thesis topic or looking for inspiration? Our thesis title generator is here!

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• 🧷️ Why Use It?
• 🧠 Thesis Title: How-to

🏷️ References

🧷 why use the thesis title maker.

So you want to come up with a name for your capstone or dissertation, and you don’t know where to start? Not an issue! We have just the perfect tool for you – our thesis title maker.

This tool has plenty of features that any student will find helpful:

🧠 How to Generate a Research Title?

Formulating the perfect title can be a difficult task, especially when working on your Master’s or PhD thesis . You probably already have plenty of thoughts that you’ll need to organize . Besides, you may lack proper words to describe your idea in full. In this section, we will help you do just that.

You can use the following ideation techniques to develop a perfect thesis title.

This method can give you a fresh perspective on any topic in six steps:

• Describe the idea you already have.
• Compare it to a random issue, listing all the similarities and differences.
• Search for associations related to everything you wrote.
• Analyze your ideas, considering how you can apply each of them (that’s the fifth part!).
• Elaborate on each concept’s relevance and provide its pros and cons.

Brainstorming

Though it's an effective way to generate a list of ideas, you will require a group to use it. Call your friends and start a brainstorming session : offer ideas and build on each other’s suggestions. Try to take every concept seriously! If you think the idea seems strange, write it down to evaluate later.

Freewriting

Freewriting is much more intense, but it gives its results. It is all about the flow of random thoughts. Sit down with a sheet of paper and a pen and write down everything that comes to your mind. Do you have one idea and lots of complaints about it? Write your train of thought anyway. Additionally, try to set a time limit not to spend ages on one concept.

Sometimes, you can’t express what you’re thinking about in mere words. Drawing diagrams , graphs, or sketches may lead you in the right direction. Illustrate your topic roughly to allow your brain to rest and produce fresh ideas in a new visual form.

Mind mapping

It is a graphical method that allows you to focus on your associations and the relationships between concepts. There are two ways to do it:

• Take notes of words and phrases related to the topic . Make sure you do it on a large sheet of paper since you should fit as many relevant expressions as possible. After that, connect the ideas that support your topic and see how you can explore these links.
• Develop ideas and make a web of thoughts simultaneously . This way, you will outline the topic based on the connections rather than separate concepts. You can start by placing a word in the middle and drawing several lines from it.

Ideation may get confusing, especially when you’re already dealing with grand ideas and challenging tasks. That’s why our Master’s and PhD thesis title generator is of great use for hard-working students.

Thanks for reading the article! Now you can benefit from both our thesis topic generator and our tips on developing a project name. Share the tool with other students, and check the FAQ for more information.

💡 Dissertation Title Generator FAQ

💡 how do you create a thesis title.

Developing a thesis title requires time and careful thinking. To create a good one, focus on the main idea you can cover in your work. Decide on the keywords that determine your topic and research them to find the related concepts. They will help you find proper words to formulate your thesis title.

💡 What are some good topics for the thesis?

Topics for a Master’s or PhD thesis are only as good as your understanding of the subject you specialize in. Thus, each graduate student will have their personal excellent topic. You can check the existing academic paper titles for some incredible and successful ideas, especially the dissertation ones.

Updated: Aug 24th, 2023

• How to Choose Your Thesis Topic | Central European University
• The Smart Way to Choose your Thesis Topic | Caroline Dale, The Thesis Coach
• Useful Techniques: Ideation (Brainstorming) | Pfeiffer Library at Tiffin University
• Tools for Brainstorming: Ideation | LibGuides at University of Akron
• Recent Dissertation Titles: PhD Program in Biological Sciences in Public Health | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

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Make sure your title uses the correct style

When it comes to the style or grammar of titles used in academic articles and dissertations, there is a lot of variation. As a result, this article sets out the various styles used when creating titles, as proposed by the major style guides: the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Psychological Association (APA), and the Modern Languages Association (MLA). Generally speaking, the AMA style is used by students in Medicine and the Sciences; the APA style is geared towards the Social Sciences and Psychology; whilst the MLA style is used in the Liberal Arts and Humanities.

To see the basics of each style when creating a title, such as when to use capitalisation in a title, the grammar of title, and other rules, choose from the styles below. To know more about the styles, we have provided links at the end of the article to Amazon where they can be purchased.

• American Medical Association (AMA) style, 10th edition: A style typically used by students in Science and Medicine
• American Psychological Association (APA) style: A style typically used by students in the Social Sciences and Psychology
• Modern Languages Association (MLA) style, 7th edition: A style typically used by students in the Liberal Arts and Humanities

American Medication Association (AMA) style, 10th edition

To our knowledge, the AMA style does not distinguish between titles for articles as a whole and dissertations. As such, we have based this style guide on the requirements for titles set out by the AMA style guide, 10th edition. The main considerations when writing your dissertation title from a style perspective are: (a) capitalisation in titles and subtitles; (b) quotation marks; (c) city, county, state, province, country names; (d) numbers; (e) abbreviation; (f) drugs; and (g) genus and species. Each of these considerations is present below with associated examples:

Capitalisation in titles and subtitles

The first letter of a title and subtitle should be capitalised [bold below] . A subtitle should be separated using a colon and then a single space (i.e., Title: Subtitle)

P hysician Compensation, Cost, and Quality

C hange in Prevalence of Hearing Loss in US Adolescents

M inimizing Bias in Randomized Trials: T he Importance of Blinding

T he US Global Health Initiative: I nforming Policy With Evidence

Do not capitalise articles (i.e., a, an, the) unless they are the first letter of a title or subtitle [bold below] :

Smoking as a Factor in Causing Lung Cancer

Tamsulosin and the Intraoperative Floppy Iris Syndrome

Do not capitalise prepositions that have three or fewer letters (e.g., as, at, by, in, of, off, on, to, up) [bold below] :

Characteristics and Career Intentions of the Emerging MD/PhD Workforce

The Uncertain Art: Thoughts on a Life in Medicine

Do not capitalise coordinating conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, for, nor) [bold below] :

Traumatic Brain Injury and Major Depressive Disorder

Diagnostic Testing for Celiac Disease

Treadmill Exercise or Resistance Training in Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease

Do not capitalise the word to in infinitives [bold below] :

How to Interpret a Genome-wide Association Study

Mental Health Courts as a Way to Provide Treatment to Violent Persons With Severe Mental Illness

Quotation marks

If quotations marks are used in a title, they should be double (i.e., "..." ), not single (i.e., '...' ):

Medical Care for the Final Years of Life: " When You're 83, It's Not Going to Be 20 Years "

Spinal Cord Compression in Patients With Advanced Metastatic Cancer: " All I Care About Is Walking and Living My Life "

City, county, state, province and country names

Only include the names of cities, counties, provinces and countries when essential, especially if there is no intention to make generalisations from the research findings to other locations [bold below] :

Outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes Infections Associated With Pasteurized Milk From a Local Dairy, Massachusetts , 2007

Probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Disability in Cambodia : Associations With Perceived Justice, Desire for Revenge, and Attitudes Toward the Khmer Rouge Trials

If the beginning of a title or subtitle includes numbers, spell these out. Otherwise, there are a number of rules including the rounding of large numbers, the use digit spans and hyphens, where appropriate, for years, amongst others. Refer to Chapter 19 of the AMA style guide, 10th edition.

Asthma Following the 2001 World Trade Center Attack

Injuries and Deaths From Landmines and Unexploded Ordnance in Afghanistan, 2002-2006

Three-Year Outcomes for Medicare Beneficiaries Who Survive Intensive Care

Becoming a Doctor: Reflections of First-Year Medical Students

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be avoided in titles and subtitles unless titles are particularly long (see first example) or a group is better known by its acronym (see second example, where PEPFAR is short for The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).

Treatment Failure and Mortality Factors in Patients Receiving Second-Line HIV Therapy in Resource-Limited Countries

Use of Generic Antiretroviral Agents and Cost Savings in PEPFAR Treatment Programs

Where possible, use the approved generic or non-proprietary names for drugs (see first example). However, proprietary names for drugs can be used where focus is on a particular proprietary drug (see second example). For additional rules, refer to Chapter 2 of the AMA style guide, 10th edition.

Penicillin Treatment of Syphilis: Clearing Away the Shadow on the Land

Postmarketing Monitoring of Intussusception After RotaTeq TM Vaccination, United States, February 1, 2006-February 15, 2007

Genus and Species

Write genus and species in italics, capitalising the first letter of the genus, but not the species. Refer to Chapter 15 of the AMA style guide, 10th edition, for more detail.

Emergence of Antimicrobial-Resistant Serotype 19A Streptococcus pneumoniae , Massachusetts, 2001-2006

Universal Screening for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus at Hospital Admission and Nosocomial Infection in Surgical Patient

If the AMA Manual of Style, 10th edition, is not in your university library, it can be purchased on Amazon for around £34/US$73/CDN$67. It is a very comprehensive guide to the AMA style.

Abrahm, J.L., Banffy, M.B. and Harris, M.B. (2008) Spinal Cord Compression in Patients With Advanced Metastatic Cancer: "All I Care About Is Walking and Living My Life", JAMA , 299(8): 937-946.

Andriole, D.A., Whelan, A.J. and Jeffe, D.B. (2008) Characteristics and Career Intentions of the Emerging MD/PhD Workforce, JAMA , 300(10): 1165-1173.

Bach, P.B. (2009) Smoking as a Factor in Causing Lung Cancer, JAMA , 301(5): 539-541.

Bendavid, E. and Miller, G. (2010) The US Global Health Initiative: Informing Policy With Evidence, JAMA , 304(7): 791-792.

Bilukha, O.O., Brennan, M. and Anderson, M. (2007) Injuries and Deaths From Landmines and Unexploded Ordnance in Afghanistan, 2002-2006, JAMA , 298: 516-518.

Brook, R.H. (2010) Physician Compensation, Cost, and Quality, JAMA , 304(7): 795-796.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2006) Postmarketing Monitoring of Intussusception After RotaTeqTM Vaccination, United States, February 1, 2006-February 15, 2007, JAMA , 297(18): 1972-1976.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007) Emergence of Antimicrobial-Resistant Serotype 19A Streptococcus pneumoniae, Massachusetts, 2001-2006, JAMA , 298(22): 2612-2614.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2009) Outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes Infections Associated With Pasteurized Milk From a Local Dairy, Massachusetts, 2007, JAMA , 301(8): 820-822.

Douglas, J.M., Jr. (2009) Penicillin Treatment of Syphilis: Clearing Away the Shadow on the Land, JAMA , 301(7): 769-771.

Eagen, K. (2007) Becoming a Doctor: Reflections of First-Year Medical Students, JAMA , 298(9): 1067-1068.

Friedman, A.H. (2009) Tamsulosin and the Intraoperative Floppy Iris Syndrome, JAMA , 301(19): 2044-2045.

Harbarth, S., Fankhauser, C., Schrenzel, J., Christenson, J., Gervaz, P., Bandiera-Clerc, C., Renzi, G., Vernaz, N., Sax, H. and Pittet, D. (2008) Universal Screening for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus at Hospital Admission and Nosocomial Infection in Surgical Patients, JAMA , 299(10): 1149-1157.

Harvey, J.C. (2008) The Uncertain Art: Thoughts on a Life in Medicine, JAMA , 300(10): 1213-1214.

Holmes, C.B., Coggin, W., Jamieson, D., Mihm, H., Granich, R., Savio, R., Hope, M., Ryan, C., Moloney-Kitts, M., Goosby, E.P. and Dybul, M. (2010) Use of Generic Antiretroviral Agents and Cost Savings in PEPFAR Treatment Programs, JAMA , 304(3): 313-320.

Khattri, S. (2009) Treadmill Exercise or Resistance Training in Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease, JAMA , 301(19): 1986.

Lamb, H.R. and Weinberger, L.E. (2008) Mental Health Courts as a Way to Provide Treatment to Violent Persons With Severe Mental Illness, JAMA , 300(6): 722-724.

Miller, A. (2009) Asthma Following the 2001 World Trade Center Attack, JAMA , 302(21): 2319.

Pearson, T.A. and Manolio, T.A. (2008) How to Interpret a Genome-wide Association Study, JAMA , 299(11): 1335-1344.

Plebani, M. and Basso, D. (2010) Diagnostic Testing for Celiac Disease, JAMA , 304(6): 639.

Psaty, B.M. and Prentice, R.L. (2010) Minimizing Bias in Randomized Trials: The Importance of Blinding, JAMA , 304(7): 793-794.

Pujades-Rodríguez, M., Balkan, S., Arnould, L., Brinkhof, M.A.W. and Calmy, A. (2010) Treatment Failure and Mortality Factors in Patients Receiving Second-Line HIV Therapy in Resource-Limited Countries, JAMA , 304(3): 303-312.

Reuben, D.B. (2010) Medical Care for the Final Years of Life: "When You're 83, It's Not Going to Be 20 Years", JAMA , 302(24): 2686-2694.

Shargorodsky, J. Curhan, S.G., Curhan, G.C. and Eavey, R. (2010) Change in Prevalence of Hearing Loss in US Adolescents, JAMA , 304(7): 772-778.

Sonis, J., Gibson, J.L.., de Jong, J.T.V.M., Field, N.P., Hean, S. and Komproe, I. (2009) Probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Disability in Cambodia: Associations With Perceived Justice, Desire for Revenge, and Attitudes Toward the Khmer Rouge Trials, JAMA , 302(5): 527-536.

Thombs, B.D. (2010) Traumatic Brain Injury and Major Depressive Disorder, JAMA , 304(8): 857.

Wunsch, H., Guerra, C., Barnato, A.E., Angus, D.C., Li, G. and Linde-Zwirble, W.T. (2010) Three-Year Outcomes for Medicare Beneficiaries Who Survive Intensive Care, JAMA , 303(9): 849-856.

Title Page Setup

A title page is required for all APA Style papers. There are both student and professional versions of the title page. Students should use the student version of the title page unless their instructor or institution has requested they use the professional version. APA provides a student title page guide (PDF, 199KB) to assist students in creating their title pages.

Student title page

The student title page includes the paper title, author names (the byline), author affiliation, course number and name for which the paper is being submitted, instructor name, assignment due date, and page number, as shown in this example.

Title page setup is covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 2.3 and the Concise Guide Section 1.6

Related handouts

• Student Title Page Guide (PDF, 263KB)
• Student Paper Setup Guide (PDF, 3MB)

Student papers do not include a running head unless requested by the instructor or institution.

Follow the guidelines described next to format each element of the student title page.

Professional title page

The professional title page includes the paper title, author names (the byline), author affiliation(s), author note, running head, and page number, as shown in the following example.

Follow the guidelines described next to format each element of the professional title page.

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• Knowledge Base
• Dissertation

How to Write a Dissertation or Thesis Proposal

Published on September 21, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on July 18, 2023.

When starting your thesis or dissertation process, one of the first requirements is a research proposal or a prospectus. It describes what or who you want to examine, delving into why, when, where, and how you will do so, stemming from your research question and a relevant topic .

The proposal or prospectus stage is crucial for the development of your research. It helps you choose a type of research to pursue, as well as whether to pursue qualitative or quantitative methods and what your research design will look like.

You can download our templates in the format of your choice below.

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Table of contents

What should your proposal contain, dissertation question examples, what should your proposal look like, dissertation prospectus examples, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about proposals.

Prior to jumping into the research for your thesis or dissertation, you first need to develop your research proposal and have it approved by your supervisor. It should outline all of the decisions you have taken about your project, from your dissertation topic to your hypotheses and research objectives .

Depending on your department’s requirements, there may be a defense component involved, where you present your research plan in prospectus format to your committee for their approval.

Your proposal should answer the following questions:

• Why is your research necessary?
• What is already known about your topic?
• Where and when will your research be conducted?
• Who should be studied?
• How can the research best be done?

Ultimately, your proposal should persuade your supervisor or committee that your proposed project is worth pursuing.

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Strong research kicks off with a solid research question , and dissertations are no exception to this.

Dissertation research questions should be:

• Focused on a single problem or issue
• Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
• Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
• Specific enough to answer thoroughly
• Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis
• Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly
• What are the main factors enticing people under 30 in suburban areas to engage in the gig economy?
• Which techniques prove most effective for 1st-grade teachers at local elementary schools in engaging students with special needs?
• Which communication streams are the most effective for getting those aged 18-30 to the polls on Election Day?

An easy rule of thumb is that your proposal will usually resemble a (much) shorter version of your thesis or dissertation. While of course it won’t include the results section , discussion section , or conclusion , it serves as a “mini” version or roadmap for what you eventually seek to write.

Be sure to include:

• A succinct introduction to your topic and problem statement
• A brief literature review situating your topic within existing research
• A basic outline of the research methods you think will best answer your research question
• The perceived implications for future research
• A reference list in the citation style of your choice

The length of your proposal varies quite a bit depending on your discipline and type of work you’re conducting. While a thesis proposal is often only 3-7 pages long, a prospectus for your dissertation is usually much longer, with more detailed analysis. Dissertation proposals can be up to 25-30 pages in length.

Writing a proposal or prospectus can be a challenge, but we’ve compiled some examples for you to get your started.

• Example #1: “Geographic Representations of the Planet Mars, 1867-1907” by Maria Lane
• Example #2: “Individuals and the State in Late Bronze Age Greece: Messenian Perspectives on Mycenaean Society” by Dimitri Nakassis
• Example #3: “Manhood Up in the Air: A Study of Male Flight Attendants, Queerness, and Corporate Capitalism during the Cold War Era” by Phil Tiemeyer

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Research bias

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• Halo effect
• Hindsight bias
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• Reinforcement learning
• Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

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The research methods you use depend on the type of data you need to answer your research question .

• If you want to measure something or test a hypothesis , use quantitative methods . If you want to explore ideas, thoughts and meanings, use qualitative methods .
• If you want to analyze a large amount of readily-available data, use secondary data. If you want data specific to your purposes with control over how it is generated, collect primary data.
• If you want to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables , use experimental methods. If you want to understand the characteristics of a research subject, use descriptive methods.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.

Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation , such as:

• Your anticipated title
• Your abstract
• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review , research methods , avenues for future research, etc.)

A well-planned research design helps ensure that your methods match your research aims, that you collect high-quality data, and that you use the right kind of analysis to answer your questions, utilizing credible sources . This allows you to draw valid , trustworthy conclusions.

The priorities of a research design can vary depending on the field, but you usually have to specify:

• Your research questions and/or hypotheses
• Your overall approach (e.g., qualitative or quantitative )
• The type of design you’re using (e.g., a survey , experiment , or case study )
• Your sampling methods or criteria for selecting subjects
• Your data collection methods (e.g., questionnaires , observations)
• Your data collection procedures (e.g., operationalization , timing and data management)
• Your data analysis methods (e.g., statistical tests  or thematic analysis )

A dissertation prospectus or proposal describes what or who you plan to research for your dissertation. It delves into why, when, where, and how you will do your research, as well as helps you choose a type of research to pursue. You should also determine whether you plan to pursue qualitative or quantitative methods and what your research design will look like.

It should outline all of the decisions you have taken about your project, from your dissertation topic to your hypotheses and research objectives , ready to be approved by your supervisor or committee.

Note that some departments require a defense component, where you present your prospectus to your committee orally.

Formulating a main research question can be a difficult task. Overall, your question should contribute to solving the problem that you have defined in your problem statement .

However, it should also fulfill criteria in three main areas:

• Researchability
• Feasibility and specificity
• Relevance and originality

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George, T. (2023, July 18). How to Write a Dissertation or Thesis Proposal. Scribbr. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/thesis-dissertation-proposal/

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