managing thesis writing

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Managing Writing

At this point, you should be making some good progress towards the work that will ultimately become your actual thesis document, and you may be starting to get a little anxious to start actually WRITING something. You have been using your calendar to manage your time , your outline  to manage your content , and Evernote to manage your materials .

Now it is time to start to focus on your writing process. There are several things that we need to do to get prepared for this and make it a manageable process. Remember, the goal here is to find ways to break down a project that at first seems insurmountable into smaller pieces and a process that is doable — Mind like water.

Before we jump into writing, we need to do a bit of prep work. We are going to need to do some planning, tool set-up, and some goal setting.

Setting your Writing Goals

As I’ve stated previously, the goal of our system is to continually be breaking down the task of doing the thesis process in manageable chunks. When we are looking at other people’s finished theses and seeing 200 page documents, it is still too overwhelming. There is too much psychological friction to the idea of being able to do that much.

We are in luck though because there is yet another level to how formulaic the thesis is. While different sources vary by a few percentage points, all that I found, along with all the thesis documents I have personally inspected, seem to hover right around these marks.

• Introduction – 5%
• Background – 20%
• Methodology – 15%
• Results & Analysis – 45%
• Synthesis – 15%

I needed to put this into a more measurable goals so that I could track, and see my progress when it came to writing. So what I did was I found two theses from the recent past in the department and counted their words. I found one that seemed pretty short but accomplished the task, and one that was pretty long compared to most of the others. I downloaded the PDFs from the library’s database. I copied from the title of the first chapter to the last word of the last chapter and pasted that into two respective word-processor documents, then ran the word count function. This also helped control for differing amounts of images, formatting choices, etc… that just counting pages would not have.

What I found was that the Short Thesis was just shy of 17,000 words and the Long Thesis just crossed over the 47,000 word mark. This gave me a range to work within. Under-achievers (yet successful) write 17,000 words… over-achievers write 47,000 words.

Now it was a simple math game to get me going on some more concrete goals. I somewhat arbitrarily set 30,000 words as my total word goal for my first draft of my thesis. I figured that I have always been a bit of an over-achiever, I am a pretty good writer, but there is no reason to break the mold here. 30,000 words seemed like a length I could be proud of. You can set your mark where you want. You are the one that has to be happy with the outcome. I will use the 30,000 word goal for my examples though, as I already did this math and it was sitting in my Evernote account for easy reference.

With 30,000 words as my goal, the math game played out like this:

• Introduction: 1500 words – Easy peasy lemon squeesy! In 12pt double spaced Times New Roman, this is just a little over six pages. We have all written six pages before, sometimes even on topics we know very little about. You are going to know A LOT about your thesis topic.
• Background: 6,000 words – Just shy of 25 pages, spread between at least 2, maybe 3 chapters, certainly manageable.
• Methodology: 4500 words – 18 1/2 pages, a good chance that this will be one chapter, but it will predominantly be a rehashing of everything you will have prepared for your IRB Proposal. When it comes time to write, the first draft of this chapter will already be extremely close thanks to the IRB.
• Results & Analysis: 13,500 words – about 56 pages. I will give it to you. This one still seems pretty big, but remember, this will be once again spread out over probably 3 chapters. That is less than 19 pages per chapter. Reminder, we are talking double spaced pages too! Single spaced, this would only be less than 10 pages per chapter. That is a bit of a mind game, but 10 pages is once again… easy peasy!
• Synthesis (Discussion & Conclusions): 4500 words – 18 1/2 pages. I guarantee that by the time you get to this phase of writing you will know so much, have discovered so much, that your biggest challenge will be keeping your writing DOWN in this range. You will hit 4500 words and think to yourself “Oh Snap! I haven’t even touched on three of my key ideas yet.”

Word Count vs. Page Count

I have just been giving you page counts to help you visualize the word counts. I want to clarify this because most of us are not really accustomed to thinking in word counts, but I STRONGLY believe that word counts are a much better way to set your writing goals. Pages are malleable. You put a couple nice charts or figures in a chapter and your page count goes up automatically. You set your type in a different typeface, page count changes. You know this. You’ve done this. Your history prof wants a ten-page paper… but has not specified the font. You know she probably expects Times New Roman. You write and write and then you have nothing left. You look down and you’ve barely broke the 9 page mark. Select all, VERDANA… BAM! Ten pages. Done. But look at that word count. You wrote 2300 words! That is why we set writing goals in word counts and not page counts. Page counts mean nothing.

These word counts will become more important and more refined as your outline develops and when we get to the writing portion ahead. So do this math for your total word count goal and write it down somewhere. Ideally, you will create a new note for these goals in Evernote and put it in your zz.Admin notebook. It will be safe there and we will reference it again very shortly.

Writing Software

Now you need a tool to help you write. You could use a pencil or pen I suppose. If this is your preferred option… umm go for it and I apologize, because I am sure that this entire site has been a complete bore for you. I would not recommend pen or pencil as your primary writing tool.

Ten-to-one, you are going to want to use a word-processor program of some sort. A word processor is a computer application used for the production of any sort of printable material.

There are lots of options here. LOTS. The big three though tend to be:

• MS Word on Windows or Mac. You all know this one. You are probably currently planning on using this app, and I fully understand why you might be. Word has made itself the so to speak “Gold-Standard” of Word Processors. That stated, I hate MS Word. It is a ridiculously large, bloated application and because there are so many versions out there, when I USED word, I always ran into issues with compatibility. Your milage may vary, but I am going to tell you not to use it and I am sorry that you spent $140 on this application.
• Pages on Mac and iOS. This is my go to for shorter documents. If you are running Mac OS and only planning on a straight-forward piece of writing that is less than, lets say about 10 pages, it is great. It has all the features you need and very few of the ones you do not. I am a Mac fanboy though too, so there is that.
• Open Office is the big one on Linux, but also a cult following on Mac and Windows. I like its politics of being Open Source, but in my experience it can be a little buggy at times.

There are a lot of others out there and because I am really nerdy about these sorts of things I have used many at one point or another. Especially when you start bringing iOS into the mix, there are many more options to consider and I use other things for other purposes.  They all have their strengths and weaknesses. I am emphasizing how much I tinker with word processors and text editors only so that you believe me when I state that there is really only one application that I would recommend using for complex, really long-form writing like your thesis.

You need Scrivener (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php) .

Why Scrivener ? ->

While Sandel argues that pursuing perfection through genetic engineering would decrease our sense of humility, he claims that the sense of solidarity we would lose is also important.

This thesis summarizes several points in Sandel’s argument, but it does not make a claim about how we should understand his argument. A reader who read Sandel’s argument would not also need to read an essay based on this descriptive thesis.  

Broad thesis (arguable, but difficult to support with evidence) 

Michael Sandel’s arguments about genetic engineering do not take into consideration all the relevant issues.

This is an arguable claim because it would be possible to argue against it by saying that Michael Sandel’s arguments do take all of the relevant issues into consideration. But the claim is too broad. Because the thesis does not specify which “issues” it is focused on—or why it matters if they are considered—readers won’t know what the rest of the essay will argue, and the writer won’t know what to focus on. If there is a particular issue that Sandel does not address, then a more specific version of the thesis would include that issue—hand an explanation of why it is important.  

Arguable thesis with analytical claim 

While Sandel argues persuasively that our instinct to “remake” (54) ourselves into something ever more perfect is a problem, his belief that we can always draw a line between what is medically necessary and what makes us simply “better than well” (51) is less convincing.

This is an arguable analytical claim. To argue for this claim, the essay writer will need to show how evidence from the article itself points to this interpretation. It’s also a reasonable scope for a thesis because it can be supported with evidence available in the text and is neither too broad nor too narrow.  

Arguable thesis with normative claim 

Given Sandel’s argument against genetic enhancement, we should not allow parents to decide on using Human Growth Hormone for their children.

This thesis tells us what we should do about a particular issue discussed in Sandel’s article, but it does not tell us how we should understand Sandel’s argument.  

Questions to ask about your thesis 

• Is the thesis truly arguable? Does it speak to a genuine dilemma in the source, or would most readers automatically agree with it?  
• Is the thesis too obvious? Again, would most or all readers agree with it without needing to see your argument?  
• Is the thesis complex enough to require a whole essay's worth of argument?  
• Is the thesis supportable with evidence from the text rather than with generalizations or outside research?  
• Would anyone want to read a paper in which this thesis was developed? That is, can you explain what this paper is adding to our understanding of a problem, question, or topic?
• picture_as_pdf Thesis

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Writing a Paper: Thesis Statements

Basics of thesis statements.

The thesis statement is the brief articulation of your paper's central argument and purpose. You might hear it referred to as simply a "thesis." Every scholarly paper should have a thesis statement, and strong thesis statements are concise, specific, and arguable. Concise means the thesis is short: perhaps one or two sentences for a shorter paper. Specific means the thesis deals with a narrow and focused topic, appropriate to the paper's length. Arguable means that a scholar in your field could disagree (or perhaps already has!).

Strong thesis statements address specific intellectual questions, have clear positions, and use a structure that reflects the overall structure of the paper. Read on to learn more about constructing a strong thesis statement.

Being Specific

This thesis statement has no specific argument:

Needs Improvement: In this essay, I will examine two scholarly articles to find similarities and differences.

This statement is concise, but it is neither specific nor arguable—a reader might wonder, "Which scholarly articles? What is the topic of this paper? What field is the author writing in?" Additionally, the purpose of the paper—to "examine…to find similarities and differences" is not of a scholarly level. Identifying similarities and differences is a good first step, but strong academic argument goes further, analyzing what those similarities and differences might mean or imply.

Better: In this essay, I will argue that Bowler's (2003) autocratic management style, when coupled with Smith's (2007) theory of social cognition, can reduce the expenses associated with employee turnover.

The new revision here is still concise, as well as specific and arguable.  We can see that it is specific because the writer is mentioning (a) concrete ideas and (b) exact authors.  We can also gather the field (business) and the topic (management and employee turnover). The statement is arguable because the student goes beyond merely comparing; he or she draws conclusions from that comparison ("can reduce the expenses associated with employee turnover").

Making a Unique Argument

This thesis draft repeats the language of the writing prompt without making a unique argument:

Needs Improvement: The purpose of this essay is to monitor, assess, and evaluate an educational program for its strengths and weaknesses. Then, I will provide suggestions for improvement.

You can see here that the student has simply stated the paper's assignment, without articulating specifically how he or she will address it. The student can correct this error simply by phrasing the thesis statement as a specific answer to the assignment prompt.

Better: Through a series of student interviews, I found that Kennedy High School's antibullying program was ineffective. In order to address issues of conflict between students, I argue that Kennedy High School should embrace policies outlined by the California Department of Education (2010).

Words like "ineffective" and "argue" show here that the student has clearly thought through the assignment and analyzed the material; he or she is putting forth a specific and debatable position. The concrete information ("student interviews," "antibullying") further prepares the reader for the body of the paper and demonstrates how the student has addressed the assignment prompt without just restating that language.

Creating a Debate

This thesis statement includes only obvious fact or plot summary instead of argument:

Needs Improvement: Leadership is an important quality in nurse educators.

A good strategy to determine if your thesis statement is too broad (and therefore, not arguable) is to ask yourself, "Would a scholar in my field disagree with this point?" Here, we can see easily that no scholar is likely to argue that leadership is an unimportant quality in nurse educators.  The student needs to come up with a more arguable claim, and probably a narrower one; remember that a short paper needs a more focused topic than a dissertation.

Better: Roderick's (2009) theory of participatory leadership  is particularly appropriate to nurse educators working within the emergency medicine field, where students benefit most from collegial and kinesthetic learning.

Here, the student has identified a particular type of leadership ("participatory leadership"), narrowing the topic, and has made an arguable claim (this type of leadership is "appropriate" to a specific type of nurse educator). Conceivably, a scholar in the nursing field might disagree with this approach. The student's paper can now proceed, providing specific pieces of evidence to support the arguable central claim.

Choosing the Right Words

This thesis statement uses large or scholarly-sounding words that have no real substance:

Needs Improvement: Scholars should work to seize metacognitive outcomes by harnessing discipline-based networks to empower collaborative infrastructures.

There are many words in this sentence that may be buzzwords in the student's field or key terms taken from other texts, but together they do not communicate a clear, specific meaning. Sometimes students think scholarly writing means constructing complex sentences using special language, but actually it's usually a stronger choice to write clear, simple sentences. When in doubt, remember that your ideas should be complex, not your sentence structure.

Better: Ecologists should work to educate the U.S. public on conservation methods by making use of local and national green organizations to create a widespread communication plan.

Notice in the revision that the field is now clear (ecology), and the language has been made much more field-specific ("conservation methods," "green organizations"), so the reader is able to see concretely the ideas the student is communicating.

Leaving Room for Discussion

This thesis statement is not capable of development or advancement in the paper:

Needs Improvement: There are always alternatives to illegal drug use.

This sample thesis statement makes a claim, but it is not a claim that will sustain extended discussion. This claim is the type of claim that might be appropriate for the conclusion of a paper, but in the beginning of the paper, the student is left with nowhere to go. What further points can be made? If there are "always alternatives" to the problem the student is identifying, then why bother developing a paper around that claim? Ideally, a thesis statement should be complex enough to explore over the length of the entire paper.

Better: The most effective treatment plan for methamphetamine addiction may be a combination of pharmacological and cognitive therapy, as argued by Baker (2008), Smith (2009), and Xavier (2011).

In the revised thesis, you can see the student make a specific, debatable claim that has the potential to generate several pages' worth of discussion. When drafting a thesis statement, think about the questions your thesis statement will generate: What follow-up inquiries might a reader have? In the first example, there are almost no additional questions implied, but the revised example allows for a good deal more exploration.

Thesis Mad Libs

If you are having trouble getting started, try using the models below to generate a rough model of a thesis statement! These models are intended for drafting purposes only and should not appear in your final work.

• In this essay, I argue ____, using ______ to assert _____.
• While scholars have often argued ______, I argue______, because_______.
• Through an analysis of ______, I argue ______, which is important because_______.

Words to Avoid and to Embrace

When drafting your thesis statement, avoid words like explore, investigate, learn, compile, summarize , and explain to describe the main purpose of your paper. These words imply a paper that summarizes or "reports," rather than synthesizing and analyzing.

Instead of the terms above, try words like argue, critique, question , and interrogate . These more analytical words may help you begin strongly, by articulating a specific, critical, scholarly position.

Read Kayla's blog post for tips on taking a stand in a well-crafted thesis statement.

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Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements

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Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing:

• An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.
• An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.
• An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.

If you are writing a text that does not fall under these three categories (e.g., a narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph could still be helpful to your reader.

2. Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.

3. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.

4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

Thesis Statement Examples

Example of an analytical thesis statement:

The paper that follows should:

• Explain the analysis of the college admission process
• Explain the challenge facing admissions counselors

Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:

• Explain how students spend their time studying, attending class, and socializing with peers

Example of an argumentative thesis statement:

• Present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should pursue community projects before entering college

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3 tips for managing thesis writing stress

9 August 2019

Writing your thesis can be a stressful experience. Here, Dr Sonia Greenidge from UCL's Student Psychological and Counselling Services gives you her top tips to manage this stress.

The process of writing your thesis is a long one and the stress that can build up over this period of time can lead to writer's block and worryingly long periods of unproductiveness. Here are my top three tips to help you lower your stress levels allowing you to progress with your thesis.

Break it down

Rather than thinking that you have to dedicate lengthy periods each day to writing up, a helpful method to manage the stress of thesis writing is to break the day into small bite-sized pieces. Even if you dedicate a whole day to your write up, this should still be broken down into bite-sized periods.

Make sure that alongside your work times you also schedule in some break times. For example, work for 45 minutes and then break for 15 minutes, continue this until breaking for lunch for an hour then continue the 45-minute work and 15-minute break routine.

Be specific

Assign a specific task to do for each study period. Having a clear idea of what you are doing can alleviate the ‘so much to do, how am I going to do it?!’ stress. For example, plan to specifically ‘finish discussion paragraph on self-reflection’ not generally ‘write some more of the discussion’.

Assigning specific things to do in your break times can also help manage the stress that comes from feeling you have so much to do and so little time to do it all. Have a break for checking emails, a break for making calls, a break for making lunch etc. This way you still get all your 'life admin' done alongside getting that all important thesis written up!

Free writing

Experiencing writer’s block and feeling that you are not progressing as you would like to can be a huge trigger for stress. With free writing, you write whatever comes to mind on a topic without stopping to censor or make corrections.

Do this for a while until you feel yourself in the flow and then…keep going! You will probably have a lot of useful material from your free writing time that you can go back and tidy up later.

Dr Sonia Greenidge, UCL Student Psychological and Counselling Services (SPCS)

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Writing a Postgraduate or Doctoral Thesis: A Step-by-Step Approach

• First Online: 01 October 2023

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• Usha Y. Nayak 4 ,
• Praveen Hoogar 5 ,
• Srinivas Mutalik 4 &
• N. Udupa 6  

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A key characteristic looked after by postgraduate or doctoral students is how they communicate and defend their knowledge. Many candidates believe that there is insufficient instruction on constructing strong arguments. The thesis writing procedure must be meticulously followed to achieve outstanding results. It should be well organized, simple to read, and provide detailed explanations of the core research concepts. Each section in a thesis should be carefully written to make sure that it transitions logically from one to the next in a smooth way and is free of any unclear, cluttered, or redundant elements that make it difficult for the reader to understand what is being tried to convey. In this regard, students must acquire the information and skills to successfully create a strong and effective thesis. A step-by-step description of the thesis/dissertation writing process is provided in this chapter.

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Usha Y. Nayak & Srinivas Mutalik

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Nayak, U.Y., Hoogar, P., Mutalik, S., Udupa, N. (2023). Writing a Postgraduate or Doctoral Thesis: A Step-by-Step Approach. In: Jagadeesh, G., Balakumar, P., Senatore, F. (eds) The Quintessence of Basic and Clinical Research and Scientific Publishing. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1284-1_48

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Managing the Dissertation Writing Process

Materials from workshop.

• Slides:  https://z.umn.edu/dissworkshopslides
• Revision Memo:  https://z.umn.edu/revisionmemo
• Dissertation Analysis handout (PDF)
• "How to Read like a Writer" (PDF) by Mike Bunn (in  Writing spaces : readings on writing Vol 2 )

Finding Dissertations

• Dissertations and Theses Global This link opens in a new window Collection of dissertations and theses from around the world, offering millions of works from thousands of universities. Each year hundreds of thousands of works are added. Full-text coverage spans from 1743 to the present, with citation coverage dating back to 1637.
• Google Scholar (Setup connection to get to PDFs) Use Google Scholar to find articles from academic publishers, professional societies, research institutes, and scholarly repositories from colleges and universities. If you are using from off-campus access, change the "Library Settings" to University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Look for the "FindIt@U of M Twin Cities" links in your Google Scholar search results to access full text and PDFs. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
• University Digital Conservancy at the University of Minnesota A digital archive of M.A. and PhD theses at the University of Minnesota. The collection in this institutional repository can also be searched by keyword, date, authors and majors.

Sample of project management tools

Tool considerations:

• Devices -- “apps” vs. Laptop 
• Collaboration
• Fewer features vs. lots of features
• Learning curve
• Security/privacy 

More Options

• Open Project:  https://www.openproject.org/
• Redbooth:  https://redbooth.com/
• Notion:  https://www.notion.so/
• Freedcamp:  https://freedcamp.com/
• Smartsheet:  https://www.smartsheet.com/
• Click up:  https://clickup.com/
• Kanboard:  https://kanboard.org/

Student Writing Support from the Center for Writing

Student Writing Support (SWS) offers collaborative one-to-one writing consultations to help student writers develop confidence and effective writing strategies. SWS offers three kinds of consultations:

• walk-in consultations in 15  Nicholson Hall
• appointments in  Zoom
• appointments in  SWS.online

Our writing consultants will listen to your goals and concerns, read and respond to your written work, pose questions that help you clarify and articulate your ideas, and affirm the experiences and abilities you bring to your writing. We value your life experiences and languages, and we seek to provide a supportive space for you to share and develop your voice.

Sample of online books

• Restarting stalled research by Paul C. Rosenblatt ISBN: 9781483393551 Publication Date: 2016 Written for researchers and graduate students writing dissertations, this unique book offers detailed advice and perspective on many issues that can stall a research project and reveals what can be done to successfully resume it. Using a direct yet conversational style, author Paul C. Rosenblatt draws on his decades of experience to cover many diverse topics. The text guides readers through challenges such as clarifying the end goal of a project; resolving common and not-so-common writing problems; dealing with rejection and revision decisions; handling difficulties involving dissertation advisers and committee members; coping with issues of researcher motivation or self-esteem; and much more.

Get materials we don't own or from our print collection (Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery)

• InterLibrary Loan & Digital Delivery Interlibrary Loan (ILL) & Digital Delivery offers access to materials needed for courses and research, including materials not currently available within the University of Minnesota Libraries, AND digital copies of articles and book chapters from our print and microform collections. Free for currently-affiliated University students, faculty, and staff.

Citation managers

What is a citation manager.

A citation manager is a software tool used to create personalized databases of citation information and notes. They allow you to:

• import and organize citation information from article indexes and other sources,
• export your citations into Word documents or other types of publications,
• format citations for your papers and bibliographies using APA and many other styles, and
• include your own notes.

Choosing a citation manager

• Guide to Citation Managers at UMN
• Wikipedia's comparison of reference management software

Browse scholarly journals available from the UMN Libraries on your tablet device, iPhone, or via the web using BrowZine .

• Read journal articles on your preferred device. 
• Create personal libraries of your favorite journals. 
• Set up alerts for new issues of journals.

For a quick overview, see this one-minute video about BrowZine. For more information, see  the full BrowZine guide.

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The Importance of Time Management When Writing a Thesis

A school year may seem like plenty of time to write your thesis, but without good time-management strategies, you may find yourself scrambling at the end. Learning time-management skills will help increase your productivity and efficiency. The key to managing your time effectively is prioritizing your goals when writing your thesis. So before you commit pen to paper or keystrokes to screen, here are a few time-management tips for thesis writing.

Plan a schedule.

Pick your deadlines for each phase of writing the thesis and stick to those deadlines. Compare your thesis calendar with the deadlines the graduate school is imposing. Plan accordingly.

Give yourself space to think.

Find a place where you can be productive in your research and writing. If you need some movement or white noise, a coffee shop and a laptop might be right for you. If you need silence, then the library is where you write.

Listen to your body.

Figure out when you’re most productive. If you’re a morning person, doing research and writing might suit you best at sunrise.

Cite as you go.

As you’re reading reference material for your thesis, keep track of your references for when you start writing. Formatting the reference or works cited page may seem mundane, but working on it as you go will save you time in the end when you’re doing final edits and revisions.

Take a break.

Factor in downtime in your thesis writing schedule. Allowing yourself a scheduled night off will ward off burnout.

Talk to your thesis adviser throughout.

This person has seen and experienced the pitfalls of unforeseen time issues that arise throughout the course of the thesis writing process.

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Best Tools For Thesis Writing: Dissertation and Academic Writing Tools

In the quest to master the art of thesis writing, selecting the right tools is crucial. This comprehensive guide introduces the best tools available for thesis writing, each tailored to enhance different aspects of the writing process.

From advanced language proofing to efficient reference management, these tools are designed to streamline your workflow, ensure academic integrity, and elevate the quality of your thesis. Discover how each tool can transform your thesis writing experience, making it more efficient and effective. 

Best Tools For Thesis Writing

Grammarly – language proof your thesis.

Grammarly is not just a grammar checker; it also cater to various aspects of academic writing, from ensuring the originality of content to assisting with the intricacies of formatting and citation.

Grammarly integrates with word processing software like Microsoft Word and Google Docs. It facilitates real-time editing and proofreading, allowing students to refine their thesis statements and arguments as they write. 

The tool’s compatibility with online sources is a boon for literature reviews, streamlining the process of integrating various studies and reports into a cohesive narrative.

It works with many reference management software, ensuring that all bibliographical entries are error-free and consistently formatted. These includes: 

One of the lesser-known features of Grammarly is its ability to suggest rephrases for overused or unclear phrases, a common issue in lengthy academic pieces like dissertations or theses. This aids immensely in maintaining a clear and engaging narrative throughout the writing process.

Additionally, for students working with LaTeX for technical writing or complex document formatting, Grammarly’s ability to check the clarity and readability of text, when used in conjunction with a LaTeX editor, is invaluable.

Grammarly’s free version is robust enough to handle the basics of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. However, for a more in-depth analysis like vocabulary enhancement and advanced grammar checks, the premium version steps in.

Turnitin – Remove Plagiarism From Your Academic Writing

Turnitin is far more than just a plagiarism checker; Turnitin offers a suite of features that profoundly enhance the writing and research process.

One of Turnitin’s standout features is its ability to compare submitted work against an extensive database of academic papers, offering peace of mind to those concerned about inadvertent plagiarism in their dissertation writing.

This comparison includes a thorough check against online sources, making it a robust tool for literature reviews.

Turnitin’s integrates with word processing software like Microsoft Word and Google Docs. This way, you get real-time plagiarism detection, ensuring that all citations and references are accurately credited, a crucial aspect in academic integrity.

The software is also invaluable in managing the format and citation style of a thesis.

Whether it’s APA, MLA, or Chicago style, Turnitin helps ensure that your bibliography and in-text citations are correctly structured, thus avoiding common errors in academic writing.

Additionally, Turnitin’s feedback and grading tools are a boon for educators and students. They allow for detailed comments and suggestions, which can be crucial in refining a thesis statement or rephrasing sections for clarity and impact.

This feature is particularly beneficial in the revision phase of thesis writing.

Suppose you use reference management software like:

In this case, Turnitin’s compatibility ensures a seamless integration, making the management of bibliographies and citations more efficient.

This integration is especially helpful in disciplines requiring extensive reference management, such as in technical writing or legal studies.

Microsoft Word – Base For Your Thesis Writing 

Microsoft Word, offers a plethora of features tailored for the rigorous demands of thesis writing and dissertation crafting. It’s more than just a word processor; it’s a comprehensive tool designed to streamline the writing process for students and researchers.

Microsoft Word’s template feature can be a game-changer for academic writing. You can set up a standard format for your thesis, including predefined styled for:

• Subheadings, and

This not only saves time but also helps in maintaining a professional look required for academic submissions.

One of the lesser-known yet incredibly handy features is the ability to create and manage citations and bibliographies.

Compatible with reference management software like Mendeley, Zotero, and EndNote, Word simplifies the process of citation, crucial in avoiding plagiarism and ensuring proper acknowledgment of sources.

For those dealing with extensive research papers, Word’s navigation pane is a boon. It allows easy mapping and reorganization of sections, crucial in maintaining a coherent structure in your thesis. 

Word’s Review feature is invaluable for collaborative writing. It allows for tracking changes, inserting comments, and even comparing different versions of a document. This is particularly useful when multiple revisions are involved in the thesis writing process.

Freemind – Outline Your Dissertation

FreeMind, a mind mapping software, is an innovative tool that’s increasingly being utilized in the realm of academic writing, particularly for thesis and dissertation preparation.

This free, open-source software offers a dynamic way to organise:

• Research, and

At the heart of FreeMind’s utility is its ability to help students and researchers create visual outlines for their academic projects. This is particularly advantageous during the initial stages of thesis writing, where organizing a vast amount of information and ideas can be overwhelming.

FreeMind allows users to create nodes for each main idea or chapter of their thesis, to which they can add sub-nodes for more detailed points or references. This hierarchical structure makes it easier to map out the entire thesis, providing a clear overview of the project.

For graduate students embarking on extensive literature reviews, FreeMind can serve as a tool to categorize and link various sources and theories.

This not only aids in avoiding plagiarism by keeping track of citations but also helps in synthesising information from different sources cohesively.

Additionally, FreeMind’s compatibility with various word processing tools, like Microsoft Word and LaTeX, ensures that the transition from mind mapping to actual writing is seamless.

Its ability to export maps in multiple formats allows for easy integration into other software used in the writing process.

FreeMind’s real-time collaboration feature is a boon for those working on joint research papers or dissertations, facilitating brainstorming and idea-sharing among team members.

This feature, along with its intuitive interface, makes FreeMind a valuable asset in the toolkit of academic writing tools, enhancing both the efficiency and quality of academic writing projects.

ChatGPT – Best AI Writing Assistant

ChatGPT is based on advanced AI technology, and can be used to assist in various aspects of academic writing. This makes it a valuable asset for students and researchers.

In the context of thesis writing, ChatGPT can be utilized for brainstorming ideas, generating outlines, and even providing suggestions for thesis statements.

Its ability to process and generate text based on user prompts makes it an excellent tool for drafting initial versions of academic documents.

For those engaged in the laborious process of writing a dissertation, ChatGPT offers real-time assistance in:

• Rephrasing sentences,
• Enhancing clarity, and
• Suggesting alternative ways to present complex ideas.

For researchers conducting literature reviews, ChatGPT can help summarize articles, providing quick insights into their content. This is particularly useful when dealing with a large volume of literature.

However, it’s important to note that while ChatGPT is a powerful tool, it should be used to complement traditional research methods, ensuring accuracy and credibility in academic work.

ChatGPT’s versatility extends to its compatibility with various software tools used in academic writing, such as Microsoft Word, LaTeX, and softwares like Mendeley, Zotero, and EndNote. This compatibility streamlines the writing process, from initial research to the final draft.

Canva – Software Tools For Graphics

Canva, primarily known for its graphic design capabilities, is increasingly finding its way into the realm of academic writing, particularly in the visual presentation of complex data and information.

This tool, with its user-friendly interface, offers a fresh approach to creating visually appealing elements for theses, dissertations, and research papers.

In the process of thesis writing, Canva can be used to design compelling graphics, such as infographics and charts, which are essential in representing data in a more digestible format.

This is especially beneficial in fields where visual data presentation can significantly enhance the understanding of complex topics.

Canva’s vast library of templates and design elements allows for the creation of professional-looking graphics without the need for advanced design skills.

For graduate students working on dissertations, Canva provides an array of options to create layouts for posters or presentations, often required for thesis defenses or academic conferences.

The tool’s drag-and-drop feature simplifies the process of designing these materials, making it accessible even for those with limited graphic design experience.

For those concerned about plagiarism and citation, Canva can aid in creating original graphics, ensuring that your academic work remains unique and authentic.

While it doesn’t replace traditional writing software, Canva complements them by adding a visual dimension to academic writing, enhancing the overall impact and readability of scholarly work.

Zotero – Citation Tools For Writing

Zotero has become a cornerstone tool for academic writing, especially in the fields of thesis and dissertation writing.

As a comprehensive tool designed for students, researchers, and academic writers, Zotero simplifies the process of managing research materials, such as: 

• Organizing, and

One of the standout features of Zotero is its ability to seamlessly integrate with browsers. This allows users to easily add sources from the web to their Zotero library with just a click.

For thesis writers who rely heavily on online sources for their literature review, this feature is a significant time-saver.

Zotero’s ability to automatically extract citation information and store it in an organized library simplifies the management of research sources.

Zotero offers robust support for various citation formats. Whether it’s:

• Chicago, or

Zotero can generate bibliographies and in-text citations in the chosen format, directly integrating with word processors like Microsoft Word and Google Docs. This integration is particularly beneficial for maintaining consistency in citations throughout a lengthy academic document.

Furthermore, Zotero stands out for its collaboration features. It allows users to share libraries with others, making it a useful tool for co-authored research papers or group projects.

The real-time syncing feature ensures that all members of a research group have access to the latest resources and references.

Zotero’s compatibility with PDF management tools and its ability to index the content of PDFs for easy searching adds another layer of efficiency. For graduate students and thesis writers, this means quick retrieval of information from a vast collection of saved research papers.

Wrapping Up: Best Academic Writing Apps And Tools

In conclusion, the journey of thesis writing is made significantly smoother with the aid of these versatile tools. From Grammarly’s meticulous language polishing to Zotero’s efficient citation management, each tool offers unique capabilities to enhance your academic writing.

By integrating these resources into your workflow, you can focus more on the content and quality of your thesis, ensuring a well-crafted, professionally presented final document. Embrace these tools to unlock your full potential in academic writing and research.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

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Top 11 Software Tools for Thesis Writing: Boost Your Research

Crafting a thesis may seem challenging, but employing suitable software tools transforms it into a more structured and approachable undertaking. Delve into these potent resources to simplify your research, elevate your writing, and excel in your academic pursuits. This post elaborates on several tools commonly utilized for academic thesis writing.

Citavi is a comprehensive reference management and knowledge organization tool. It allows you to manage references, create citations, and organize your research materials. Citavi is commonly used by students and researchers.

Docear is a unique solution to academic literature management, i.e., it helps you organizing, creating, and discovering academic literature. This unique literature management tool designed specifically for academics when it comes to discovering, organizing and ultimately creating academic literature. A recommender system that helps you to discover new literature: Docear recommends papers which are free, in full-text, instantly to download, and tailored to your information needs.

3. Paperpile

Paperpile is a software for reference management that is just like Zotero and works like an extension for the Google Chrome browser, making it accessible for Linux, Mac, and Windows users. We suggest that you use it to discover and import information from stage platforms such as PubMed, arXiv, and Google Chrome. You can undoubtedly trade all the PDF archives and information to Google Drive, which implies you will have the chance to edit your papers collaboratively. This collaboration will not end, as you can send data back and forth between P Zotero and Paperpile, such as Mendeley.

4. RefWorks

RefWorks is accurate; select from thousands of customizable citation styles to use within authoring tools. Generate bibliographies and citations in a snap with any authoring tool. Use our integrations to insert citations in Word and Google Docs. Leverage thousands of pre-built citation styles and request new styles. Customize citation styles or create your own from scratch with the citation style editor.

5. SpellCheckPlus

SpellCheckPlus applies the same concept to the writing process. Rather than simply correcting your mistakes, it summarizes them into distinct categories. SpellCheckPlus offers feedback that not only improves your current project but also your writing and grammar at large. In other words, SpellCheckPlus is no mere editing tool; rather, it’s a teaching tool. And as even the very best writers know, there’s always room for improvement when it comes to how you deliver your message.

MindMup acts as an online mind-mapping canvas, perfect for representing ideas and concepts visually. Capture ideas at the speed of thought using a mind map maker designed to help you focus on your ideas and remove all the distractions while mindmapping. MindMup is also a terrific collaborative tool.

7. iA Writer

iA Writer gives you the essence of pure writing by providing an unobtrusive interface that lets you concentrate on your text. Despite its minimalistic approach, the application offers a variety of distinctive features that are specifically designed for writing-focused tasks. With iA Writer, you can gain unparalleled insight into your writing structure, detect superfluous words and clichés, and navigate through your documents and notes with ease.

Elicit uses language models to extract data from and summarize research papers. As a new technology, language models sometimes make up inaccurate answers (called hallucinations). They reduce hallucinations and increase accuracy by: training our models on specific tasks; searching over academic papers; and making it easy to double-check answers. Elicit only shows you papers that actually exist and are part of the scientific literature.

9. Lucidchart

It is an online diagramming tool to create flowcharts, diagrams, and visuals. Lucidchart is an intelligent diagramming application that brings teams together to make better decisions and build the future. Lucidchart helps users sketch and share professional flowchart diagrams, providing designs for anything from brainstorming to project management.

10. Trinka AI

Trinka is an online grammar checker and language correction AI tool for academic and technical writing. Trinka finds difficult errors unique to academic writing that other grammar checker tools don’t. From advanced English grammar errors to scientific tone and style, Trinka checks it all! Trinka goes beyond professional grammar checks and enhances your writing for vocabulary, tone, syntax, and much more. Make your point confidently with Trinka.

11. WhiteSmoke

WhiteSmoke renders you with the highest quality proofreading abilities available, correcting not only simple spelling mistakes like old-fashioned word processors but everything from grammar, word choices, and even style mistakes, all without breaking a sweat.

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Craft a Compelling Thesis: 9 pro tools for research and writing success

The journey from a captivating research topic to a compelling thesis can be long and winding. Between navigating mountains of information, organizing your thoughts, and crafting a well-structured argument, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But fear not, intrepid researcher! This article introduces you to the categories of powerful tools that will streamline your research process, empower your writing, and ultimately help you craft a thesis that shines.

Part 1: Laying the Foundation – Research Powerhouses

Your research is the backbone of your thesis. To build a strong foundation, you need access to credible and diverse sources. Here are two essential online tools to kickstart your search:

Google Scholar and JSTOR: Unearthing scholarly gems

These academic search engines are goldmines for researchers. Google Scholar scours the web for scholarly articles, theses, books, and abstracts across a wide range of disciplines. JSTOR delivers a curated collection of high-quality, peer-reviewed journals and primary sources.

Power Up Your Research with Google Scholar and JSTOR:

1. Advanced Search Techniques: Both platforms offer advanced search functions. You can filter by publication date, author, title keywords, or specific journals.

2. Citation Tracking: Both Google Scholar and JSTOR allow you to track citations, helping you identify seminal works and build upon existing research.

3. Saved Searches and Alerts: Set up alerts to receive notifications when new articles relevant to your topic appear. This keeps you at the forefront of your field.

Choosing Between Them: Google Scholar offers a broader search across the web, while JSTOR provides a more focused collection of academically vetted sources. Use both in tandem for a comprehensive research strategy.

Part 2: Organizing the Chaos – From Drafts to Masterpieces

With research underway, the next hurdle is organizing your findings. Thankfully, digital note-taking apps like Evernote can be your savior.

Evernote: Your digital research vault

Evernote functions as a multi-functional information hub.

Evernote’s Powerhouse Features:

1. Text, Audio, and Image Capture: Capture ideas in various formats, including typed notes, voice recordings, and images of handwritten notes or scanned documents.

2. Organization and Tagging: Organize your notes using notebooks and tags, making it easy to find specific information later.

3. Web Clipper Integration: Save relevant web pages directly into Evernote, including text snippets, images, and links.

4. Collaboration: Share notes and collaborate with your peers on research projects.

Mastering Evernote for Thesis Success:

1. Create Subject-Specific Notebooks: Dedicate notebooks to different aspects of your thesis topic.

2. Maintain a Master Bibliography: Use a dedicated notebook to compile references you encounter during research.

3. Organize Quotes and Excerpts: Tag key quotes and excerpts with relevant keywords for easy retrieval.

4. Record Brainstorming Sessions: Use Evernote’s audio recording feature to capture fleeting ideas for future exploration.

Part 3: Roadmap to Success – Project Management Magic

With Evernote keeping your research organized, it’s time for project management tools to keep you on track. Trello, a popular visual project management platform, can be your guiding light.

Trello: Your thesis roadmap

Trello uses boards with lists and cards to visually represent your project progress.

Trello’s Advantages for Thesis Writers:

1. Visualizing Your Thesis Journey: Break down your thesis into manageable tasks within lists, and visualize your progress as you move cards across stages.

2. Setting Deadlines and Reminders: Assign deadlines to each task card and receive timely reminders to stay on schedule.

3. Collaboration Made Easy: Share your Trello board with your advisor or fellow researchers for collaborative brainstorming and task management.

Optimizing Trello for Your Thesis:

1. Create Lists for Different Stages: Set up lists like “Research,” “Outline,” “Writing,” “Revision,” and “Final Draft.”

2. Break Down Research Objectives: Within the “Research” list, create cards for specific sources you need to explore.

3. Track Writing Progress: Divide your writing into chapters or sections and create cards for each one, tracking progress as you write drafts.

4. Add Resources and Deadlines: Attach relevant research articles or outline notes to each card and set realistic deadlines to stay focused.

Part 4: Unveiling the Data – Statistical Power

If your research involves quantitative data analysis, statistics software like SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) becomes your secret weapon.

SPSS: Unveiling insights from data

SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) is a robust tool for quantitative data analysis, allowing you to explore relationships between variables, test hypotheses, and create data visualizations.

Unlocking the Power of SPSS:

1. Data Input and Cleaning: Enter your data into SPSS and utilize its cleaning tools to identify and address inconsistencies or missing values.

2. Statistical Analysis: Conduct various statistical tests depending on your research question. Explore correlations, conduct t-tests or ANOVAs, and analyze complex relationships.

3. Data Visualization: Create informative charts and graphs to visually represent your findings, making them easier to understand for yourself and your audience.

Part 5: Crafting Your Thesis – Writing and Polishing

With research organized, the project managed, and data analyzed, it’s time to translate your knowledge into a compelling thesis. Here, two writing powerhouses come into play:

Scrivener and MS Word: From drafts to polished prose

Scrivener : This software is designed specifically for writers, offering unique features to help you structure and organize your thesis.

Scrivener’s Strengths:

1. Corkboard Feature: Visually arrange your research notes, chapter outlines, and drafts on a digital corkboard for easy reorganization.

2. Focus Mode: Minimize distractions by hiding everything on the screen except the current section you’re working on.

3. Goal Setting and Tracking: Set daily writing goals and track your progress to maintain momentum.

MS Word : This ubiquitous word processor offers essential writing and editing tools.

MS Word’s Advantages:

1. Collaboration Tools : Share your thesis document with your advisor or peers for real-time feedback and collaborative editing.

2. Formatting and Styles: Utilize built-in styles and formatting options to ensure consistent formatting throughout your thesis.

3. Reference Management Tools: Integrate reference management software like Mendeley (mentioned later) for seamless in-text citations and bibliography creation.

Optimizing Your Writing Process:

1. Choose Your Weapon: Use Scrivener for initial brainstorming and organization, then switch to MS Word for fine-tuning formatting and referencing.

2. Utilize Templates: Both programs offer thesis templates to jumpstart your formatting process.

3. Embrace Collaboration: Share your drafts with others for constructive feedback and fresh perspectives.

Part 6: Extracting Text from Images – A Hidden Gem

Sometimes, your research may involve extracting text from images, such as scanned documents or screenshots. This is where Cardscanner.co comes in handy.

Cardscanner.co: Turning images into text

Cardscanner.co is an online OCR based Image to text converter which allows you to upload images, scanned documents, hand written notes and convert the text within them into editable digital format.

Cardscanner’s Benefits:

1. Effortless Text Extraction: Save time by quickly extracting text from images instead of manual retyping.

2. Supports Various Formats: Handle documents, scanned and printed images, hand written notes and more.

3. Batch Conversion: Allows you to process multiple files simultaneously and perform the text extracting conversion with complete accuracy.

4. Directly Export in Spreadsheet: Cardscanner also allows you to directly extract text from images containing any tabular data and export them directly into spreadsheets (XLSX, XLS, CSV).

5. Text Translation: With the translation feature, even if the image contains text in another language, the tool allows you to extract and translate the text without the need to translate it separately after extraction.

Part 7: Visual Storytelling – Infographics for Impact

Visuals can significantly enhance your thesis by making complex information more understandable and engaging. Here, two online infographic creation tools offer a helping hand:

Canva and Venngage: Simplifying visual communication

Canva and Venngage both are user-friendly platforms that provide a wide range of templates, icons, and design elements to create stunning infographics.

Canva and Venngage’s Advantages:

1. Drag-and-Drop Functionality: Easily design infographics without needing graphic design expertise.

2. Pre-designed Templates: Choose from a vast library of templates tailored to various topics and styles.

3. Collaboration Features: Work with your peers or advisor to create infographics collaboratively.

Tips for Creating Effective Infographics for Your Thesis:

1. Focus on Clarity: Keep your infographic focused on a single key message and avoid information overload.

2. Choose Data Wisely: Select the most impactful data points from your research to visually represent in your infographic.

3. Maintain Brand Consistency: Ensure your infographic aligns with the overall style and tone of your thesis.

Part 8: Citation Management Made Easy – Reference Powerhouse

Proper citation management is crucial for academic writing. Mendeley is a software specifically designed to streamline this process.

Mendeley: Your citation management ally

Mendeley helps you organize your research references, automatically generate in-text citations and bibliographies in various citation styles, and seamlessly integrate with writing software like MS Word.

Mendeley’s Benefits:

1. Reference Organization: Import references from various sources, including online databases and research papers.

2. Automatic Citation Generation: Generate in-text citations and bibliographies in the required format with a few clicks.

3. PDF Annotation and Highlighting: Annotate and highlight key passages within your research PDFs directly.

Part 9: Polishing Your Prose – Grammar and Plagiarism Checkers

Even the most meticulous researcher can benefit from a final polish. Here, two tools can empower you to deliver a grammatically sound and plagiarism-free thesis:

Trinka AI and Enago Plagiarism Checker : Ensuring Accuracy and Originality

Trinka AI : This online grammar checker utilizes AI technology to identify and correct grammatical errors, typos, and sentence structure issues.

Trinka AI’s Benefits:

1. Advanced Error Detection: Identifies a wider range of errors beyond basic grammar mistakes.

2. Contextual Analysis: Provides suggestions based on the context of your writing, ensuring appropriate phrasing.

3. Free Basic Plan: Offers a free plan with limited checks, with paid options for extended features.

Enago Plagiarism Checker : This online tool scans your thesis against a vast database of academic sources to identify unintentional plagiarism.

Enago Plagiarism Checker’s Advantages:

1. Peace of Mind: Ensures your work is original and avoids plagiarism accusations.

2. Detailed Report: Provides a report highlighting potential plagiarism instances with suggestions for correction.

3. Free Basic Version: Offers a free basic version with limited checks, with paid options for more comprehensive reports.

Final Words: A thesis triumph awaits!

With this arsenal of powerful tools at your disposal, you are well-equipped to navigate the research and writing journey with confidence. Remember, research and writing are iterative processes. Utilize these tools to organize your information, analyze data, craft compelling arguments, and present your findings in a clear and concise manner.

The path to a successful thesis may have its challenges, but with dedication and these tools as your allies, you can transform your research into a compelling and impactful document. Best of luck on your thesis journey!

Disclaimer: The opinions/views expressed in this article exclusively represent the individual perspectives of the author. While we affirm the value of diverse viewpoints and advocate for the freedom of individual expression, we do not endorse derogatory or offensive comments against any caste, creed, race, or similar distinctions. For any concerns or further information, we invite you to contact us at [email protected].

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25+ Dissertation & Thesis Writing Apps

Everything You Need To Optimise Your Research Journey

Contributors: Derek J ansen (MBA),   Kerryn Warren (PhD) &  David Phair (PhD) | May 2024

Completing your dissertation   or thesis requires a hearty investment of time, effort and hard work. There’s no shortcut on the road to research success, but as with anything, there are   ways to optimise the process   and work smarter.

Here, we’ll share with you a wide range of apps, software and services that will   make your life a little easier   throughout the research process. While these apps can save you a lot of time, remember that your dissertation or thesis needs to be your own work – no tool should be doing the writing on your behalf. Also, be sure to check your university’s policy regarding AI-based tools and support before using any apps, tools or software. 

Overview: Dissertation & Thesis Apps

• Literature review
• Data collection
• Qualitative data analysis
• Quantitative data analysis
• Writing & Plagiarism
• Project management
• Reference management
• Honourable mentions

Literature Review & Search Apps

The following apps and tools can help you discover, analyse, and synthesise scholarly materials, significantly streamlining the literature review process.

Scite AI – Find & evaluate sources

The Scite AI app uses ‘Smart Citations’ to show how academic papers are discussed—i.e.,  supported, contradicted, or mentioned. This can help you fast-track the literature review process and source highly relevant papers quickly. 

Petal – Chat with your literature

Petal is an AI-driven tool that revolutionises your interaction with documents by enabling direct, context-aware conversations. Upload an article and it will swiftly summarise its contents and allow you to ask questions about the specific study (or studies).

Consensus – ChatGPT for academia

The Consensus app uses a powerful AI engine to connect you to over 200 million scientific papers. It allows precise searches and efficiently summarises key research findings . PS – Get 40% off Consensus Premium by using the coupon code GRADCOACH40.

Litmaps – Visualise related papers

This app is great for quickly identifying relevant research. For any given keyword or resource, it will provide you with a visual citation network, showing how studies are interconnected. This reveals both direct and tangential connections to other research, highlighting gaps and key discussions within your field.

Connected Papers – An alternative

Similar to Litmaps, Connected Papers visually maps academic research, simplifying how you explore related studies. Just input a paper, and it charts connections, helping identify key literature and gaps. It’s ideal for staying updated on emerging research.

Elicit – An “AI research assistant”

Another AI-powered tool, Elicit automates the discovery, screening, and data extraction from academic papers efficiently. This makes it useful for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, as it allows you to focus on deeper analysis across various fields​.

Data Collection & Preparation

These apps and tools can assist you in terms of collecting and organising both qualitative and quantitative data for your dissertation or thesis.

SurveyMonkey – Simple surveys

SurveyMonkey is a versatile tool for creating and distributing surveys. It simplifies collecting and analysing data, helping you craft surveys that generate reliable results. Well suited for the vast majority of postgraduate research projects.

Qualtrics – An alternative

Qualtrics is a comprehensive survey tool with advanced creation, distribution, and analysis capabilities. It supports complex survey designs and robust data analysis, making it ideal for gathering detailed insights and conducting high-quality research.

Otter – Easy draft transcription

Otter is an AI-powered transcription tool that converts spoken words into text. It captures and transcribes lectures, interviews, and meetings in real time. Naturally, it’s not 100% accurate (you’ll need to verify), but it can certainly save you some time.

Qualitative Data Analysis

These software packages can help you organise and analyse qualitative data for your dissertation, thesis or research project.

NVivo – All-in-one qual platform

NVivo is a powerful qualitative data analysis software that facilitates data organisation, coding, and analysis. It supports a wide range of data types and methodologies, enabling detailed analysis and helping you extract rich insights from your data.

MaxQDA – QDA simplified

MAXQDA is a robust qualitative data analysis software that helps you systematically organise, evaluate, and interpret complex datasets. A little easier to get started with than NVivo, it’s ideal for first-time dissertation and thesis writers.

ATLAS.ti – For large datasets

ATLAS.ti offers robust tools for organising, coding, and examining diverse materials such as text, graphics, and multimedia. It’s well-suited for researchers aiming to weave detailed, data-driven narratives as it streamlines complex analysis tasks efficiently.

Delve – An intuitive interface

Delve is an intuitive qualitative data analysis tool designed to streamline the qualitative analysis process. Ideal for dissertations, Delve simplifies the process from initial data organisation to in-depth analysis, helping you efficiently manage and interpret complex datasets for clearer insights.

Quantitative (Statistical) Data Analysis

These software packages can help you organise and analyse quantitative (statistical) data for your dissertation, thesis or research project.

Julius – Your “AI data analyst”

Julius is an AI-powered data analysis tool that simplifies the process of analysing and visualising data for academic research. It allows you to “chat” with your data, create graphs, build forecasting models, and generate comprehensive analyses.

IBM SPSS – The “old faithful”

The OG of statistical analysis software, SPSS is ideal for students handling quantitative data in their dissertations and theses. It simplifies complex statistical testing, data management, and graphical representation, helping you derive robust insights.

R Studio – For the data wizards

While admittedly a little intimidating at first, R is a versatile software for statistical computing. It’s well-suited for quantitative dissertations and theses, offering a wide range of packages and robust community support to streamline your work.

STATA – For the data scientists

Stata is yet another comprehensive statistical software widely used for data management, statistical analysis, and graphical representation. It can efficiently handle large datasets and perform advanced statistical analyses.

Writing Improvement & Plagiarism Tools

These apps and tools can help enhance your writing and proactively identify potential plagiarism issues.

Grammarly – Improve your writing

Grammarly is a writing assistant that can help enhance academic writing by checking for errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation in real time. It also features a plagiarism detection system , helping you to proactively avoid academic misconduct.

Jenni – An AI “writing assistant”

Jenni AI helps you draft, cite, and edit with ease, streamlining the writing process and tackling writer’s block. Well suited for ESL students and researchers, Jenni helps ensure that your work is both precise, clear and grammatically sound.

Quillbot – Paraphrasing simplified

Quillbot is yet another AI-powered writing tool that can help streamline the writing process. Specifically, it can assist with paraphrasing , correcting grammar, and improving clarity and flow. It also features a citation generator and plagiarism checker .

Quetext – Solid plagiarism checking

Quetext is a plagiarism detection tool that helps ensure the originality of your academic work. It cross-references your documents against extensive online databases to highlight potential plagiarism and generate detailed reports.

Project & Time Management

These apps can help you plan your research project and manage your time, so that you can work as efficiently as possible.

GanttPro – PM simplified

An intuitive project management tool, GanttPro simplifies planning and tracking for dissertations or theses. It offers detailed Gantt charts to visualise task timelines, dependencies, and progress, helping you ensure timely completion of each section.

Trello – Drag-and-drop PM

Trello is a versatile project management tool that helps you organise your dissertation or thesis process effectively. By creating boards for each chapter or section, you can track progress, set deadlines, and coordinate tasks efficiently.

Toggl – Make every minute count

A user-friendly time-tracking app that helps you manage your research project effectively. With Toggl, you can precisely track how much time you spend on specific tasks. This will help you avoid distractions and stay on track throughout your journey.

Reference Management

These apps and tools will help you keep your academic resources well organised and ensure that your citations and references are perfectly formatted, every time.

Mendeley – Your citations, sorted

Mendeley is your go-to reference management tool that simplifies academic writing by keeping your sources neatly organised. Perfect for dissertations and theses, it lets you easily store, search, and cite your resources directly in MS Word.

Zotero – Great for Google Docs

Zotero is a free-to-use reference manager that ensures your sources are well-organised and flawlessly cited. It helps you collect, organise, and cite your research sources seamlessly. A great alternative to Mendeley if you’re using Google Docs.

Endnote – A paid option

Yet another reference management option, Endnote is sometimes specifically required by universities. It efficiently organises and stores research materials, making citation and bibliography creation (largely) effortless.

Honourable Mentions

Now that we’ve covered the more “exciting” dissertation apps and tools, it’s worth quickly making one or two mundane but essential mentions before we wrap up.

You’ll need a reliable word processor.

In terms of word processors, Microsoft Word will likely be your go-to, but it’s not the only option. If you don’t have a license for Word, you can certainly consider using Google Docs, which is completely free. Zotero offers a direct integration with Google Docs, making it easy to manage your citations and references. If you want to go to the other extreme, you can consider LaTeX, a professional typesetting software often used in academic documents.

You’ll need cloud storage.

The number of times we’ve seen students lose hours, days or even weeks’ worth of hard work (and even miss the submission deadline) due to corrupted flash drives or hard drives, coffee-soaked laptops, or stolen computers is truly saddening. If you’re not using cloud storage to save your work, you’re running a major risk. Go sign up for any of the following cloud services (most offer a free version) and save your work there:

• Google Drive
• iCloud Drive

Not only will this ensure your work is always safely stored (remember to hit the Save button, though!), but it will make working on multiple devices easier, as your files will be automatically synchronised. No need to have multiple versions between your desktop, laptop, tablet, etc. Everything stays in one place. Safe, secure, happy files.

Need a helping hand?

Key Takeaways: Dissertation & Thesis Apps

And there you have it – a hearty selection of apps, software and services that will undoubtedly make your life easier come dissertation time.

To recap, we’ve covered tools across a range of categories:

Remember, while these apps can help optimise your dissertation or thesis writing journey, you still need to put in the work . Be sure to carefully review your university’s rules and regulations regarding what apps and tools you can use – especially anything AI-related.

Have a suggestion? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Simply leave a comment below and we’ll consider adding your suggested app to the list.

You Might Also Like:

14 Comments

It seems some of the apps mentioned are not android capable. It would be nice if you mentioned items that everyone could use.

Thanks for the feedback, Gale!

Yet to explore some of your recommended apps. I am glad to commend on one app that I have started using, Mendeley. When it comes to referencing it really helps a lot.

Great to hear that, Maggie 🙂

I have got Mendeley and it is fantastic. I have equally downloaded Freemind but I am yet to really understand how to navigate through it.

Based on your YouTube lessons,my literature review and the entire research has been simplified and I am enjoying the flow now,more than ever before.

Thank you so much for your recommendations and guide.It’s working a great deal for me.

Remain blessed!

Thank you for all the amazing help and tutorials. I am in the dissertation research proposal stage having already defended the qualifying paper. I am going to implement some of your advice as I revise chapters 1 & 2 and expand chapter 3 for my research proposal. My question is about the writing– or specifically which software would you recommend. I know MS Word can get glitchy with larger documents. Do the “reference” apps you recommend work with other options such as LaTeX? I understand that for some programs the citations won’t be integrated or automated such as cite while you write etc.. I have a paid version of endnote, and free versions of mendeley and zotero. I have really only used endnote with any fidelity but I’m willing to adapt. What would you advise at this point?

Thanks for your comment and for the kind words – glad to hear that the info is useful.

Generally, Word works reasonably well for most research projects and is our first recommendation. As long as one keeps the document clean (i.e. doesn’t paste in loads of different styles, ultra high-res images, etc), it works fine. But I understand that it’s not perfect for absolutely huge projects.

Regarding referencing with Latex, this article covers how to use Mendeley with Latex – https://blog.mendeley.com/2011/10/25/howto-use-mendeley-to-create-citations-using-latex-and-bibtex/ . Perhaps it will be useful. I hesitate to tell you to adopt software X or Y, or to move from Endnote, as each software has its strengths and weaknesses, and performs better in certain contexts. I’m not familiar with your context, so it’s not possible for me to advise responsibly. Mendeley works well for the vast majority of our students, but if there’s a very specific bit of functionality that draws you to Endnote, then it may be best to stick with it. My generic advice would be to give Mendeley a try with some sample references and see if it has the functionality you need.

I hope this helps! Best of luck with your research 🙂

Thank you for your amazing articles and tips. I have MAC laptop, so would Zotero be as good as Mendeley? Thank you

Derek would you share with me your email please, I need to talk to you urgently.

I need a free Turnitin tool for checking plagiarism as for the tools above

I have been going crazy trying to keep my work polished and thesis or dissertation friendly. My mind said there had to be a better way to do literature reviews. Thank God for these applications. Look out world I am on my way.

Wow Thanks for this write-up i find it hard to track down extremely good guidance out there when it comes to this material appreciate for the publish site

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45 Software Tools for Writing Thesis

Boost Your Thesis Writing with Essential Software Tools

Writing a thesis is a significant milestone in any academic journey. It demands an immense amount of dedication, research, and organization. To streamline your thesis writing process and ensure a well-crafted and cohesive document, it’s crucial to equip yourself with the right software tools. In this article, iLovePhD will explore some of the most important software tools you need to effectively write your thesis. These tools encompass a range of areas, including research, writing, organization, and productivity. Let’s dive in!

Discover the must-have software tools for writing a successful thesis. Streamline your research and boost productivity today!

Master Your Thesis Writing with These Essential Software Tools

1. reference management software.

Comprehensive reference management software , such as Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote, is a must-have tool for any thesis writer. These tools help you organize and manage your references efficiently, generate citations in different formats, and create a bibliography effortlessly. They save time, eliminate the risk of citation errors, and facilitate the seamless integration of references into your thesis. Here is a list of the top ten reference management software tools:

Zotero is a free and open-source reference management tool that helps you collect, organize, and cite research sources. It has a user-friendly interface and offers features like web browser integration and collaboration options.

1.2 EndNote

EndNote is a popular reference management software used by researchers, students, and librarians. It allows you to store, organize, and format bibliographic references, and it offers a wide range of citation styles.

1.3 Mendeley

Mendeley is a reference manager and academic social network. It enables you to organize your references, collaborate with others, and discover new research articles. Mendeley offers both free and premium versions.

1.4 RefWorks

RefWorks is a web-based reference management tool that helps you store and organize your references. It offers features like citation formatting, collaboration options, and document sharing.

Citavi is a comprehensive reference management and knowledge organization tool. It allows you to manage references, create citations, and organize your research materials. Citavi is commonly used by students and researchers.

JabRef is an open-source reference manager that specializes in handling bibliographies in BibTeX format. It is cross-platform compatible and offers features like customizable citation styles and integration with LaTeX editors.

1.7 ReadCube Papers

ReadCube Papers is a reference management tool that focuses on enhancing the reading experience of research papers. It offers features like PDF annotation, article discovery, and cloud-based reference syncing.

1.8 Paperpile

Paperpile is a reference manager designed specifically for Google Docs and Google Scholar. It provides seamless integration with Google services and offers features like citation formatting and collaboration tools.

Colwiz is a reference management, collaboration, and research discovery platform. It allows you to organize your references, collaborate with colleagues, and discover new research articles.

Qiqqa is a reference management software that offers features like PDF management, annotation tools, and citation generation. It also includes advanced features like full-text search and note-taking capabilities.

These are just a few of the popular reference management software tools available. Each tool has its own unique features and capabilities, so it’s worth exploring them further to find the one that best suits your needs.

2. Word Processing Software:

While this might seem obvious, using powerful word-processing software is essential. Microsoft Word and Google Docs are popular choices due to their robust features and compatibility. These tools provide a professional writing environment, including features like spell check, grammar correction, formatting options, and word count tracking. Additionally, they offer collaborative features, making it easier to seek feedback from advisors or peers. Here are the top five word-processing software tools:

2.1 Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is one of the most popular and widely used word-processing software tools. It offers a comprehensive range of features for creating, editing, and formatting documents. It includes a user-friendly interface, collaboration tools, templates, and advanced formatting options.

2.2 Google Docs

Google Docs is a web-based word-processing tool offered by Google. It allows users to create and edit documents online, collaborate in real-time, and easily share documents with others. Google Docs also provides cloud storage, offline access, and seamless integration with other Google services.

2.3 Apple Pages

Pages is the word processing software included in Apple’s iWork suite. It is designed specifically for macOS and iOS devices and offers a clean and intuitive interface. Apple Pages provide a variety of templates, advanced typography tools, collaboration features, and seamless integration with other Apple products.

2.3 LibreOffice Writer

LibreOffice Writer is a free and open-source word processing software that is part of the larger LibreOffice suite. It offers a range of features comparable to Microsoft Word, including extensive formatting options, styles, templates, and compatibility with various document formats.

2.4 WPS Office Writer

WPS Office Writer is a popular word-processing tool that provides a free alternative to Microsoft Word. It offers a familiar interface, supports a wide range of file formats, and includes features such as document collaboration, templates, and extensive formatting options.

Please note that the popularity and preference for word processing software can vary depending on individual needs and preferences.

3. Research Databases and Search Engines:

Conducting thorough research is a cornerstone of thesis writing. Access to reliable research databases , such as PubMed, JSTOR, or IEEE Xplore, is vital. These platforms provide access to a vast array of scholarly articles, journals, books, and conference papers. Additionally, search engines like Google Scholar and Scopus can help you discover relevant literature and enhance your research capabilities. Here are the top five research databases and search engine tools commonly used:

PubMed is a widely used research database in the field of medicine and life sciences. It provides access to a vast collection of biomedical literature, including articles from scientific journals, books, and conference proceedings.

3.2 Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a freely accessible search engine that indexes scholarly literature across various disciplines. It includes articles, theses, books, conference papers, and more. It provides a convenient way to search for academic resources from multiple sources.

3.3 IEEE Xplore

IEEE Xplore is a digital library that focuses on electrical engineering, computer science, and related disciplines. It provides access to a vast collection of technical documents, including journal articles, conference papers, standards, and ebooks.

3.4 ScienceDirec t

ScienceDirect is a leading full-text scientific database offering access to a wide range of scholarly literature in various fields. It covers subjects such as physical sciences, engineering, life sciences, health sciences, and social sciences. ScienceDirect includes journals, books, and conference proceedings.

JSTOR is a digital library that provides access to a vast collection of academic journals, books, and primary sources across multiple disciplines. It covers subjects such as arts, humanities, social sciences, and more. JSTOR is particularly useful for historical research and accessing older publications.

These tools offer comprehensive access to scholarly literature and can be valuable resources for researchers, academics, and students. However, depending on your specific field or research area, there may be other specialized databases and search engines that are more relevant to your needs.

4. Note-Taking Tools

Keeping track of ideas, concepts, and findings is crucial during the research process. Note-taking tools like Evernote, OneNote, or Notion can be immensely helpful. These tools allow you to create and organize digital notes, attach files, insert images, and even collaborate with others. The ability to access your notes across different devices ensures seamless integration with your thesis writing workflow. Here are the top five note-taking tools commonly used in research:

4.1 Microsoft OneNote

OneNote is a versatile note-taking tool that allows you to create and organize notes in a free-form manner. It offers features such as text formatting, audio and video recording, image embedding, and cross-platform synchronization.

4.2 Evernote

Evernote is a popular note-taking tool that enables users to capture, organize, and search their notes across multiple devices. It offers features like text formatting, web clipping, file attachments, and collaboration options.

Zotero is a powerful research tool specifically designed for academic and research purposes. It allows you to collect, organize, cite, and share research materials such as articles, books, web pages, and more. It also integrates with word processors for easy citation management.

Notion is an all-in-one productivity tool that can be used for note-taking, task management, project planning, and more. It provides a flexible and customizable workspace where you can create and organize notes using a combination of text, tables, lists, media, and more.

4.5 Google Keep

Google Keep is a simple and lightweight note-taking tool that integrates well with other Google services. It offers basic note-taking features, including text, voice, and image notes, as well as checklists and reminders. It also syncs across devices and allows for easy collaboration.

These software tools provide various features and functionalities, so it’s worth exploring them to find the one that best fits your specific research needs and preferences.

5. Plagiarism Checkers

Maintaining academic integrity is of utmost importance when writing a thesis. Reference checkers like Grammarly and Turnitin can help ensure proper citation usage, prevent accidental plagiarism, and improve the overall quality of your writing. These tools provide detailed reports on potential issues and suggest corrections, thereby enhancing the credibility and originality of your work. There are several plagiarism checker tools available for researchers to ensure the originality of their work. Here is a list of ten popular plagiarism checker tools used in research :

5.1 Turnitin

Turnitin is one of the most widely used plagiarism detection tools, often integrated into educational institutions’ systems. It compares submitted work against a vast database of academic content, publications, and internet sources.

5.2 Grammarly

While primarily known as a grammar and writing assistance tool, Grammarly also offers a plagiarism checker feature. It scans the text for similarities against various online sources and provides a detailed report.

5.3 Copyscape

Copyscape is an online plagiarism checker used to detect copied content. It searches the web for matching content and provides a list of URLs where the content has been found.

5.4 Plagscan

Plagscan is a comprehensive plagiarism checker that compares documents against multiple sources, including academic journals, websites, and its extensive database. It offers a detailed report highlighting potential matches.

5.5 DupliChecker

DupliChecker is a free online plagiarism checker that scans the text against various online sources and offers a percentage of similarity along with highlighted matches.

5.6 Unicheck

Unicheck is a cloud-based plagiarism detection tool specifically designed for educational institutions. It compares submitted documents against a massive database to identify potential instances of plagiarism.

5.7 Quetext

Quetext is an AI-powered plagiarism checker that scans documents for similarities against an extensive database of academic content and web sources. It provides a detailed report with highlighted matches.

5.8 Plagiarism CheckerX

Plagiarism CheckerX is a software-based plagiarism detection tool that scans documents against online sources, academic databases, and publications. It offers an easy-to-understand report highlighting similarities.

5.9 WriteCheck

WriteCheck is a plagiarism checker developed by Turnitin. It allows users to submit their work and receive an originality report, indicating potential matches found in the database.

Viper is a free plagiarism checker that scans documents for similarities against online sources. It provides a detailed report and also offers additional features for academic users.

6. Project Management and Task Tracking software Tools:

Thesis writing involves managing numerous tasks, deadlines, and milestones. Employing project management and task tracking tools like Trello, Asana, or Todoist can greatly aid in staying organized. These tools enable you to create task lists, set deadlines, allocate priorities, and collaborate with others. Visualizing your progress and breaking down the writing process into smaller, manageable tasks boosts productivity and helps you meet your targets effectively. When it comes to project management and task tracking tools for thesis writing, there are several options available. Here are five popular ones:

Trello is a highly visual project management tool that allows you to organize tasks and projects on virtual boards. You can create lists, add cards for individual tasks, set due dates, and collaborate with others. Trello’s flexibility makes it suitable for organizing research materials, outlining chapters, and tracking progress.

Asana is a comprehensive project management tool that helps you track tasks, assign responsibilities, set deadlines, and communicate with your team. It provides features such as task dependencies, subtasks, and file attachments, making it useful for managing complex thesis projects with multiple contributors.

6.3 Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project is a powerful project management software that offers robust features for planning, scheduling, and tracking projects. It allows you to create Gantt charts, set milestones, allocate resources, and monitor progress. While it may have a steeper learning curve compared to other tools, it offers extensive functionality for managing large-scale thesis projects.

6.4 Todoist

Todoist is a simple yet effective task-tracking tool that helps you create and manage to-do lists. It allows you to set due dates, prioritize tasks, and create recurring tasks. You can also collaborate with others by sharing tasks and adding comments. Todoist’s intuitive interface and cross-platform availability make it a popular choice for individual thesis writers.

6.5 Evernote

Although not strictly a project management tool, Evernote is a versatile note-taking application that can be invaluable for thesis writing. It allows you to capture and organize research notes, save web clippings, create to-do lists, and attach files. With its powerful search functionality and synchronization across devices, Evernote helps you stay organized and retrieve information quickly.

The choice of the tool ultimately depends on your specific needs and preferences. It’s a good idea to try out a few options and see which one aligns best with your workflow and project requirements.

7. Data Analysis and Visualization Tools:

For research involving data analysis, tools like SPSS, R, or Excel can be invaluable. These tools provide powerful statistical analysis capabilities, allowing you to draw meaningful insights from your data. Additionally, visualization tools like Tableau or Python’s Matplotlib can help present your findings in a visually appealing and easy-to-understand manner. There are several popular data analysis and visualization tools used in thesis writing. Here are the top five tools:

R is a widely used open-source programming language for statistical analysis and data visualization. It provides a vast number of packages and libraries specifically designed for data analysis. R allows you to perform various statistical tests, create visualizations, and generate reports, making it a popular choice among researchers.

Python is another powerful programming language commonly used for data analysis and visualization. It offers libraries like NumPy, Pandas, and Matplotlib, which provide efficient data manipulation, analysis, and plotting capabilities. Python’s versatility and ease of use make it a preferred choice for researchers in various domains.

7.3 Tableau

Tableau is a popular data visualization tool that allows users to create interactive and visually appealing charts, graphs, and dashboards. It provides a user-friendly interface for exploring and analyzing data from various sources. Tableau offers advanced features for storytelling and data presentation , making it suitable for thesis writing and research projects.

SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) is a software package widely used in social science research. It provides a comprehensive set of tools for data analysis, including descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and hypothesis testing. SPSS also offers data visualization capabilities to present research findings effectively.

Microsoft Excel is a widely available spreadsheet program that offers basic data analysis and visualization functionalities. It is often used for organizing and manipulating data, performing simple statistical calculations, and creating basic charts. While Excel may not be as powerful as specialized data analysis tools, it remains a popular choice due to its familiarity and ease of use.

These tools provide researchers with a range of options for data analysis and visualization, allowing them to choose the one that best suits their needs and preferences.

Conclusion:

Writing a thesis can be a challenging yet rewarding experience. By equipping yourself with the right tools, you can streamline your workflow, enhance your research capabilities, and produce a well-structured thesis. Remember, the tools mentioned in this article are meant to assist and optimize your writing process, but it’s crucial to adapt them to your specific needs and preferences. Embrace these tools, and let them empower you to create a compelling thesis that showcases your academic prowess. Happy writing!

Various Software Tools for Writing Thesis:

Writing Softwares for Thesis

Research Tools for Thesis Writing

Citation Management Tools for Thesis

Plagiarism Checkers for Thesis Writing

Grammar and Proofreading Tools for Thesis

Formatting Tools for Thesis Writing

Reference Management Tools for Thesis

Data Analysis Tools for Thesis Writing

Literature Review Tools for Thesis

Time Management Tools for Thesis

Collaboration Tools for Thesis Writing

Presentation Tools for Thesis Defense

Thesis Writing Templates and Samples

Tips and Techniques for Thesis Writing

Common Challenges in Thesis Writing

Thesis Writing Resources and Guides

FAQ on Tools for Writing Thesis

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100 Connective Words for Research Paper Writing

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Responsible Thesis-Writing Process

• Information searching

Research data management and the FAIR principles

Stages of data management, data protection (gdpr).

• Interview and Survey Data
• Research ethics
• Research notification
• Research permission
• Business collaboration
• Accessibility
• Publishing thesis
• Save in Osuva
• More useful information

Research data refers to any data with which the analysis and results of a study can be repeated and validated. The data may have been collected by the researcher, generated during the study or consist of pre-existing archival data, and include various measurement results, survey and interview data, notes, research diaries, software or source codes.

Data management refers to the systematic collection, processing, storing and description of research data. Students are encouraged to learn about data management early in their studies, because good data management skills are beneficial to study progress and to adopting suitable data management practices during the thesis-writing process.

Data management practices should seek to comply with the FAIR principles, ensuring that the data is

• Accessible,
• Interoperable and

This is achieved, for example, through the use of open file formats, comprehensive metadata, and persistent identifiers (e.g., DOI, URN, ORCID), and defining ownership, terms of use and licenses. Learn more about the FAIR principles and the policy component for open access to research data .

1. Planning

Before you collect any data, record the most suitable data practices in a Data Management Plan (DMP) that can be supplemented as the work progresses and plans become more accurate. Formulating a plan will help you identify potential data protection risks, as well as solutions suitable for storing and describing your data. Careful data management also allows you to make the data accessible for potential reuse and thus improve the reliability of your research and the repeatability of the results.

Planning can be done using the DMPTuuli tool that is accessible with your HAKA credentials. DMPTuuli contains templates and instructions that can be applied to the data management plan of a thesis.

2. Storing and Organising Data

Choose a secure storage solution for your data, based on the demand for the data and its confidentiality level. Secure storage, version control and backup help prevent any unintentional deletion of data. Open file formats, logical file naming and folder structure, as well as rich content descriptions facilitate the findability, intelligibility and sharing of data. Consider the following questions when choosing the storage solution:

• Ensure secure access control so that only authorised parties have access to the data.
• Utilise the university’s cloud storage solutions (e.g., Owncloud, SharePoint) suitable for data sharing.
• Protect confidential data with a password or encryption.
• Confidential data should not be stored in commercial cloud services, such as Dropbox or Google Drive.
• If you store data on your personal devices, ensure backups, device password protection and anti-virus protection.
• If you use services provided by the university, using automatic backup solutions is recommended.

NB: External storage media, such as flash drives, are not recommended as primary storage solutions, because data stored on them is susceptible to becoming lost, deleted and unintentionally shared with outsiders.

Backing up helps you decrease the risk of irreparable damage to or deletion of data. Always keep separate working and backup copies of the research data. Choose storage solutions that include automatic backup. Backing up should be based on the 3-2-1 Rule, meaning that data is stored in the following way:

• in at least three copies
• on two different types of storage media
• one of which is kept physically separate from the others.

File formats

To ensure the usability of your data on a variety of devices and software, using open, non-commercial file formats is recommended. Most software supports the following common file formats:

• Text: txt, .odt., .rtf, .csv, PDF/A, .html,.xml
• Images: jpeg, tiff, png, dng
• Video: MPEG-4 (.mp4), dpx
• Sound:  FLAC, aif, aac.

Naming conventions and Folder structure

Systematic file naming practices and folder structures ensure the identifiability and findability of your data, even when there are time lapses in processing it. Clear file naming also simplifies file sharing. When you name a file:

• Choose a descriptive name
• Avoid names that are too long or short
• Avoid special characters and spaces
• To separate parts of the name, use the underscore (_), hyphen (-) or initial capital letters
• Add dates, version numbers and/or modifier initials to distinguish between different file versions
• Avoid overlap in folder and file names

NB: If you use abbreviations, remember to define them in writing so that they can be understood.

Documentation

Document the basics of your data during the thesis writing process to ensure the findability and usability of your data. Documenting makes it easy to check the contents of your data, how it has been processed and where it is stored. The simplest option is to record the descriptive data (or metadata) related to your data in a text file (a.k.a. README file) that you save as a separate file along with your data. Metadata may also be published according to the description guidelines of the particular publishing service. Record at least the following information in the file:

• Data name, size and file format
• Data content and descriptions of variables (abbreviations, measuring scales, coding)
• Data collection (who, where, when, how)
• Data processing (who, how, when)
• Storing data and terms and conditions

Read more about storing, file naming , recommended file formats and documenting in the Data Management Guidelines of the Finnish Social Science Data Archive.

3. Publishing, archiving or deleting

Take care of your research data even after the completion of the thesis. Electronic data requires further measures to stay up-to-date, and not all data needs to be archived for long periods of time. Based on the reuse value of your data, choose appropriate measures, such as data archiving, publishing or deletion. Keep in mind that your right to use the University of Vaasa IT services expires after graduation, unless you continue in another university role, such as a position of doctoral researcher or employee. If the data is stored in the University of Vaasa systems, remember to transfer or delete it before your access rights expire.

If your data contains personal details, it is usually deleted after the thesis has been accepted. Keep in mind that moving a file to the recycle bin does not sufficiently delete the data. More thorough measures, such as overwriting a drive or mechanically destroying a flash drive, are needed. Further information on deleting the data: Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman or Data Management Guidelines of the Finnish Social Science Data Archive .

If the data has reuse value and you have permission to reuse or publish the data, you may publish or archive your data in a chosen data archive. Keep in mind that you may need permission for data reuse or publishing from your research subjects or potential customer, and that data anonymisation may be a condition for publishing. For example, the Finnish Social Science Data Archive , The Language Bank of Finland , and Fairdata’s IDA and Qvain offer domestic solutions for publishing data and related metadata, while Zenodo or EUDAT  B2Share are some of the international service provider options.

Data protection refers to the safeguarding of personal data. The notion of personal data is broad, and what qualifies as personal data is any information that either directly or indirectly enables the identification of a person, for example by connecting an individual piece of information to another piece of information. More information on personal data: Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman . Personal data processing related to studies must adhere to the principles of the University of Vaasa data protection policy: University of Vaasa Information Security Policy .

Before collecting and processing personal data:

• Discuss the issue with your thesis supervisor or the teacher in charge of the course
• Familiarise yourself with the University of Vaasa personal data processing instructions: Data Processing Instructions (NB: The instructions can only be accessed by university personnel) and University of Vaasa Data Protection Statement (NB: currently available only in Finnish).
• Be sure to provide the research participants with a privacy notice. Further reading available in this guide under Privacy Notice .

While collecting and processing personal data:

• Limit the processing of personal data to what is necessary to achieve the aims of the thesis. Do not collect personal data “just in case”!
• Store personal data in a secure way and ensure that third parties do not accidentally or intentionally gain access to personal data.

The student collecting personal data acts as the data controller.

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• Last Updated: May 17, 2024 3:01 PM
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Thesis Apps: Best Applications & Software for Graduate Students

The process of writing a thesis requires a lot of time and patience. Custom-writing.org experts are willing to make this task easier for you. We’ve compiled a list of thesis writing apps and software. These tools will help you make plans and self-organize. There are also free apps to improve your productivity, help you carry out the research, boost your vocabulary, and check your work for mistakes.

With the thesis apps on this list, you won’t ever have to wonder how to write a dissertation because you’ll know the answer – it’s easy!

• 📑 Word Processors
• ⏰ Time Managers
• 🚀 Productivity Apps
• 🎓 Dictionaries
• 🔬 Research Tools
• 🔤 Grammar Checkers

1. 📑 Word Processors and Note-Taking Apps

This should be a no-brainer, but writing is one of the essential parts of creating a thesis. So it’s evident that you need to have the best thesis apps to deal with this task effectively.

Here are some apps that you might want to check out.

• Google docs . This is probably the first app that comes to mind when you think of alternative free word processors. It has all the functionality and capabilities you’ll need to write and format your thesis. It also allows users to work together on the same document in real-time. It’s available for Android, iOS, or as a web app.
• WPS Office . This multi-platform solution includes not only a word processor. It’s also a full-fledged office suite that allows you to create and work with spreadsheets, presentations, and PDF documents. What else could you need to create a perfect thesis?
• Office Online . This one is for those who want to get the most out of Microsoft Office for free. This one is as good as it can get — an online version of Office. Enough said.
• Jarte . This is a free word processor based on the WordPad engine. It has all the necessary functions and provides a comfortable way to work with text—and it’s free. This app also can export your documents to PDF and HTML files.
• Evernote , Google Keep , and OneNote . The reason why we put these three together? They’re all note-taking apps. Do we know that there are many other similar apps too? Yes, we do. But there’s a reason why these three are so popular. They all offer the same thing – a way to keep all your notes in one place. The difference between them is how it’s all organized, along with some extra features. All of these thesis writing apps are free, too.

2. ⏰ Time-Managing Thesis Apps

With all the steps you need to complete to write a good thesis, it’s not hard to get lost. You can quickly get stuck in one place without knowing what to do and end up making no progress at all.

Or you can use one of the dissertation apps in this category to build a plan and organize your workflow!

• Pocket . Pocket brings order to the chaos of posts and articles you want to read or use to write your thesis. You can easily save them all in one place and look through them later. Then you can decide whether or not you’ll need a particular piece of information.
• Todoist . This one is a free time manager (though it also has paid plans with extra features). With this app, you can set deadlines for each stage of your thesis creation process, and it will remind you of them beforehand. This app will help you stay on track of what plans are waiting for you next.
• Wunderlist . This to-do list app indeed does wonders. It lets you build short- and long-term plans and keep them all in order. You can set notifications to stay on track and always be sure that you’re performing according to your schedule, whether it’s a particular stage of your thesis writing or some other assignment.

3. 🚀 Thesis Apps to Improve Productivity

We all have days when things don’t work, and everything is a distraction. So how can you deal with this all-too-common problem?

There’s a good selection of productivity apps that can help you out. With one of these, you’ll finish writing your thesis in no time.

• Any.do . This one is a task manager that’ll help you stay on track of whatever your current tasks are. It will help you build a habit of reviewing your tasks and make sure that you know which assignments you need to pay the most attention to at the moment. With this app, you won’t miss deadlines or find yourself wondering what to do next.
• IFTTT . This tool allows you to create short automation sequences without any coding skills. It will remember every little thing that you tend to forget. On the one hand, you’ll get those things done; on the other—you won’t get distracted by those tasks and will be able to concentrate on what’s important right now. The app supports plenty of services and is easy to use.
• RescueTime . This app will track the time you spend completing tasks. It will also report all the websites you visit, the apps you use, and breaks you take during the day. By doing so, it helps you create greater self-awareness. As a result, you’ll immediately see whether something is going wrong and keeping you from following your plan.
• StayFocusd . This Chrome extension helps you stay focused on your current task (which, of course, explains its name). It will block all those distracting sites that tend to get in your way while you’re working. You can set a specific time for blocking or choosing a time limit for a certain time during the day.
• Write or Die . This one is a web-based tool. It is also available for iOS, with an Android version coming soon. The tool helps you eliminate writer’s block. Within the app, you can set a specific period and the word count you need to reach within this time. It also features stimuli and rewarding images.

4. 🎓 Vocabulary Boosters and Dictionaries

At this stage, dictionaries and vocabulary boosters come into play.

• Merriam-Webster Dictionary . This is one of the most well-known dictionaries out there. Apart from listing definitions and offering a thesaurus, it also features word games. These word games aim to increase your vocabulary, which will come in handy when writing a thesis. Apart from having a web-based version, there are also apps available for Android and iOS.
• Cambridge Dictionary . This is another famous dictionary listing almost every aspect and sphere imaginable. In long-term perspective, it’s even more useful than the best thesis statement generator , as it can potentially provide you with knowledge you’ll keep forever. All of the resources are available from the site, widget, or official mobile apps. A wide selection of available dictionaries and thesauruses will surely meet all of your writing needs.
• The Free Dictionary . There are many things to discover under this simple name. This web service provides dictionaries on a variety of topics. It also features a thesaurus, idioms, acronyms, a grammar book, and encyclopedia articles. What else can you ask for?

5. 🔬 Tools for Conducting Research

Another essential part of writing a thesis is research. Without properly researched sources and data , everything that’s written in your thesis will be highly questionable.

To avoid poorly supported arguments , and to be able to conduct outstanding research, consider using one of the following tools.

• Mendeley . Once you try this tool, you won’t believe that you ever researched without it. It will help you complete any type of research, come up with a topic for your paper, organize your literature review , make annotations, and manage your research materials. This multi-platform tool also allows syncing across all your devices.
• Mindmup , Bubbl.us . Both of these apps are great tools for mind mapping. They’ll help you get all of your thoughts and ideas in order. This organization will significantly help your research, as everything will be neatly organized and accessible. Both of these tools have free plans and web versions. They only differ with their extra features.
• WolframAlpha . This is a go-to source of expert knowledge on a wide variety of disciplines. This answer engine is also available on mobile platforms. Instead of just giving a list of documents or web pages that may or may not answer your question, it comes up with results from a curated knowledge base in response to your query.

6. 🔤 Grammar Checkers

Everyone makes mistakes. But it’s not a bad idea to make sure that there’s none in your thesis. The apps described below can help you with that.

• Hemingway Editor . This tool aims to improve your writing style and make it as straightforward as possible. It makes colored highlights to indicate long or very complicated sentences. As a result, you get a clean piece of content that’s understandable and easy to digest.
• Ginger . This multi-platform solution helps you find and correct all types of grammar mistakes. It also makes it easier to edit text, which improves your overall productivity, as you’ll spend less time correcting errors.
• Grammarly . This tool has gained so much popularity that it probably doesn’t even require an introduction. It finds and corrects mistakes that no word processor can spot. The tool has a browser extension, offline software, and a premium version with extra features.

Hopefully, you’ll get some thesis help by using these free tools. With these apps at your disposal, you’ll be able to craft a fantastic thesis easily.

Did we miss something? Are there any free thesis apps that you like to use that aren’t on this list? Tell us about them in the comments!

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