Your Thesis

Preliminary pages and introduction

Let us now discuss how you can structure the early pages of your thesis, prior to the first chapter. We
then consider the different elements which you should include in the introductory chapter.

Title page, abstract and contents

The title page is important because it carries the key information about the thesis including the full and
definitive title, and also the name of the student. The title page also carries the name of the award for
which the thesis is being submitted, and also the date of submission.

The significance of the title page is reflected in the fact that universities usually have a specified form of
words which students are asked to include on the title page.

A sample title page

Role of International Relations on International Business

Manideepa Patnaik

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
awarded by the University of Southbridge

July, 2010
In laying out the title page it is important to type the title itself sufficiently prominently. Ideas for the
relative sizes of the different parts of the text can be obtained easily from other theses or from books.
The reason for using the phrase ‘in partial fulfillment of’ is that this accurately describes the function of
the thesis. In the case of professional doctorates, there are other components besides the thesis, which
compromise the work for the award. In case of the PhD there is still the viva voce examination. This is
regarded as an integral part of the examination process, and the assessment of the student performance
in the oral examination is combined with the assessment of the thesis, in an overall judgment.

Abstract

The abstract of the thesis is placed on the page immediately following the title page. The abstract is a
synopsis of the entire thesis, including the analysis of the results and the conclusion. For this reason, it is
difficult to write the abstract at an early stage of the thesis.

It is normally one of the last sections of the thesis to be written. Hence strategies for writing the abstract
are discussed at the end of the chapter. The abstract is an essential part of thesis, and will probably be
there first part which is read by the examiners. It is therefore important that it is written clearly. It is an
opportunity to provide the examiners with a clear and precise statement of the nature of the thesis.
They will use the abstract to gain their initial impressions of the thesis, its subject matter and
methodology. The usual convention is that the abstract is restricted to a single side. Using double-line
spacing, there may not be sufficient space to summarize the thesis the adequately, and some students
use narrower line spacing for the abstract. It is a very good idea to read several examples of abstracts
before starting to write one . Precise writing is a difficult art, and a number of drafts may be required.

Content pages

The content pages are next in order in the thesis. These are again very important from the perspective
of the examiners. They will read the contents pages very carefully to gain a preliminary picture of the
structure of the thesis. The examiners will probably return again and again on the content pages, to
remind themselves of the prior and forthcoming sections of the thesis.

When the thesis is first being written you may only have the broadest idea of the structure of the thesis.
This may be restricted to draft titles for the main chapters. As the writing proceeds however, sections
and subsections will be added, and these will require adding to the content pages. If a system of
numbers and sub numbers related to chapters has been used, then this will also require adding to the
content pages. It is important that the thesis structure as reflected in the contents is not so complex that
it is difficult for the reader to grasp the overall structure. Perhaps the most important aspect of the
thesis structure and of the contents is that it should be evident to the examiners that the thesis is
logically organized. It is a great help if the examiners can look at the contents and immediately grasp a
rationale for the structure of the thesis. Although the contents pages can be compiled gradually during
the writing of the thesis, the page numbers can only be added at the final stage, when these become
determined for the thesis as a whole.

Tables, figures, abbreviations, key terms and acknowledgements

The table and figures included in the thesis should be listed separately, and clearly numbered using the
numbering system adopted in the main text of the thesis. Once the page numbers have been finalized,
these should also be added to the lists of the tables and figures. Each table and figure should have a
clear, unique title.

Abbreviations

It is sometimes useful to include in the preliminary pages, a list of the main abbreviations or acronyms
used in the thesis. This can act as a point of reference for the reader, and provide preliminary notice of
abbreviations which may be commonly used in the thesis. There is no need to include in the list those
abbreviations which are very commonly understood, for example, Ph.D. On the first occasion that an
abbreviation is used, it should be written in full, in order to provide an explanation. However, whether a
thesis contains a variety of abbreviations, then the list at the beginning can provide a useful reference
point for the reader.

Key terms

Sometimes a thesis may employ one or two key concepts or ideas, which are subject to different
interpretations. If the concepts are philosophically problematic and require a thorough analysis, then it
will probably be more appropriate to place this discussion in the body of the thesis. The discussion will
probably require some considerable space. However, it is simply a matter of identifying a particular
usage of a term, and then it may be possible to summarize this in the form, ‘For the purposes of this
thesis, the term X is used in the context of ……’ Much depends on the nature of the thesis and the terms
to be included, but this may be one strategy which could be used.

The alternative to this approach, particularly if there are a number of terms which require explanation,
is to include a glossary at the end of the thesis. This is normally placed after the list of references. The
glossary can include any specialist terms which are employed in the thesis, and provide a brief definition
of the term. The terms should be arranged in alphabetical order.

Acknowledgements
Many students like to acknowledge the help they have received with their theses and, it so; a list of
acknowledgements is often included just before the start of the first chapter. Such acknowledgements
might be to library staff or to lecturers who have acted as their supervisors. Students also sometimes
wish to acknowledge the support of their family. The text on the acknowledgements page should
normally be fairly brief. Before leaving the subject of the preliminary pages it is worth noting that these
pages are numbered with roman numerals. The first page of the first chapter of the thesis marks the
beginning of the use of Arabic numerals. These are then continued throughout the thesis.