Additional Sources on Writing Theses and Dissertations

Print Sources

American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1994.

Becker, Howard S. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.

Bolker, Joan. Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1998.

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Cameron, Julia. The Artist’s Way. New York: Putnam, 1995.

The Chicago Manual of Style. 14th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

Cone, John D. and Sharon L. Foster. Dissertations & Theses from Start to Finish: Psychology and Related Fields. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1993.

Davis, Gordon B. and Clyde A. Parker. Writing the Doctoral Dissertation: A Systematic Approach. New York: Barron’s, 1997.

Emerson, Robert M., Rachel I. Fretz, and Linda L. Shaw. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Fabb, Nigel. How to Write Essays, Dissertations & Theses in Literary Studies. White Plains: Longman Publishing Group, 1993.

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 4th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995.

Goodchild, Lester D. et al., eds. Rethinking the Dissertation Process: Tackling Personal and Institutional Obstacles. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997.

Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New York: Doubleday, 1995.

Locke, Lawrence F., Waneen Wyrick Spirduso, and Stephen J. Silverman. Proposals That Work: A Guide for Planning Dissertations and Grant Proposals. 2nd ed. Newbury Park: Sage Publications, 1987.

Long, Thomas J., John L. Convey, and Adele R. Chevalek. Completing Dissertations in the Behavioral Sciences and Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1985.

Luey, Beth. Handbook for Academic Authors. 3rd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Madsen, David. Successful Dissertations and Theses: A Guide to Graduate Student Research from Proposal to Completion. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991.

Meloy, Judith. Writing the Qualitative Dissertation: Understanding by Doing. 2nd ed. Lawrence Erlbaum Association, 2001.

Newman, Isadore. Theses and Dissertations: A Guide to Writing in the Social and Physical Sciences. Lanham: University Press of America, 1997.

Ogden, Evelyn H. Completing Your Doctoral Dissertation or Master’s Thesis in Two Semesters or Less. 2nd ed. Lancaster: Technomic Publishing Co., 1993.

Sternberg, David. How to Complete and Survive a Doctoral Dissertation. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1981.

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.

Van Evera, Stephen. Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997.

Zerubavel, Eviatar. Clockwork Muse: A Practical Guide to Writing Theses, Dissertations, and Books. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999.

Web Sources

Dissertation Proposal Guidelines - The University of Delaware, Linguistics Department, posts guidelines for writing proposals that may be useful across disciplines. This page includes a concise outline of issues proposals should address.

Dissertations in IST (Instructional Learning Technology) - The Indiana University School of Education offers sample dissertation proposals. Most of these proposals include a literature review as well as an overview of the author’s project.

Writer’s Handbook: Resources for Dissertators - The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison offers a bibliography of resources for writing dissertations. Many of the entries are annotated.

Writer’s Handbook: Dissertation Proposal Guidelines - The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison also provides a bibliography focused entirely on proposals. Many of the entries are annotated and highlight sections of writing handbooks.

UNC Guide to Writing a Dissertation- This handout at the University of North Carolina Writing Center will give you good, practical advice on starting, drafting, and completing your dissertation. 

Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation - S. Joseph Levine's guide to thinking through the many aspects of crafting, implementing and defending a thesis or dissertation.