Proposing, Writing, and Filing Your Thesis or Dissertation
You’ll find the most comprehensive information about thesis and dissertation writing in published books. A range of sites, however, do provide advice that is more extensive than mere lists of the document’s components and directives to “revise” and “be concise.”
We’ve listed the most useful sites below in the following categories:
Writing Your Proposal
Resources for Proposal Writers: An annotated list of books and websites compiled by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center.
Dissertation Proposal Resources: The University of Texas at Austin has a website with real dissertation proposals from a variety of fields, which may be useful for understanding possible options for organization and other aspects.
Writing Thesis and Dissertation Proposals: A detailed document for proposal writers in all disciplines, developed by Penn State’s Graduate Writing Center.
Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation: A short, free e-book on thinking about the project, writing the proposal, completing the project, and defending it, by S. Joseph Levine of Michigan State University.
Writing Your Thesis and Dissertation
Resources for Dissertators: An annotated list of books and websites compiled by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center.
Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation: A short, free e-book on thinking about the project, writing the proposal, completing the project, and defending it, by S. Joseph Levine of Michigan State University.
Dissertation Calculator: Enter the start date and target completion date for your dissertation, and get a timeline of research and writing milestones, which range from creating a dissertation support network to writing the abstract. Clicking on any milestone will retrieve a page of detailed advice, along with links. Developed by the University of Minnesota.
Dissertations: Resources and tips from UNC Chapel Hill’s Writing Center for their dissertation boot camp.
Filing Your Thesis and Dissertation
Policies and Procedures for Dissertation Thesis and Dissertation Preparation and Filing: Did you know that your left and bottom margins have to be at least 1.5 inches wide? Or that your page numbers have to be centered? Read this official UCLA manuscript preparation guide to learn more shocking (and essential) tips.
Thesis and Dissertation Meetings: Attend one of these meetings in the quarter in which you plan to file. UCLA Graduate Division and Library staff will walk you through university regulations, important dates, and the above Policies and Procedures packet.
To report a broken link, please email us at gwc@gsa.asucla.ucla.edu.