My general comments for students preparing their thesis

The Master’s Thesis is probably a student’s greatest achievement It can be considered proof of your career, and a visit card for entering the job market. Despite these premises, many students I am following still struggle to deliver an appropriate piece of work (at least in the first versions). The problem is that there are few chances to correct a thesis that has started developing in a way that is not appropriate for the level that would be needed for achieving a Master’s degree.

Here are some practical hints that I would really want to give to my students:

1. Choose a topic that you like, and a supervisor whom you like and who has time to dedicate to you (I struggle when I have too many students).
2. Engage your supervisor with at least an idea/preferred topic, check if she/he has a thesis available (on her/his website or on the School/Department one), and check her/his publications or research interests.
3. Try to write a sound thesis proposal before starting the real work. A good example can be found here. You can also ask your supervisor for some examples.
4. Please keep your data in order. This will allow your supervisor to check them better.
5. Try to communicate with your supervisor when you need to. Not too often (the thesis is your work), not too few.
6. Now, the thesis writing… First, try to deliver your thesis (the first draft, too) in proper English (or Italian, I work in Italy). Sometimes, it happens to me to read a thesis that is not written in the proper language. Despite sometimes being difficult to gain skills in academic writing, it is indeed not appropriate to present a thesis poorly. Suggestions to improve are:
   • to read as much as possible in the early stages of thesis development, you need to do that for point 3;
   • to write carefully and not in a rush;
   • to re-read the chapter that you want to send before sending it the first time;
   • to double-check with colleagues/senior students.
7. Check if your Master’s course has a thesis document format and use that one. Check it appropriately.
8. Please use a consistent reference style. A good example can be found here, but there are plenty on the internet. The reference style might be specified in the thesis format (point 7)
9. For point (8), please consider that usually your university libraries can support you with specific courses – just check their website.
10. Consider using citation management software, such as Zotero.

I hope this can be useful!

Photo by Oladimeji Ajegbile: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-man-reading-indoor-2325729/