guidelines for writing phd synopsis

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How to Write a Research Synopsis: Template, Examples, & More

Last Updated: May 9, 2024 Fact Checked

Research Synopsis Template

• Organizing & Formatting
• Writing Your Synopsis
• Reviewing & Editing

This article was reviewed by Gerald Posner and by wikiHow staff writer, Raven Minyard, BA . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 249,588 times.

A research synopsis describes the plan for your research project and is typically submitted to professors or department heads so they can approve your project. Most synopses are between 3,000 and 4,000 words and provide your research objectives and methods. While the specific types of information you need to include in your synopsis may vary depending on your department guidelines, most synopses include the same basic sections. In this article, we’ll walk you step-by-step through everything you need to know to write a synopsis for research.

Things You Should Know

• Begin your research synopsis by introducing the question your research will answer and its importance to your field.
• List 2 or 3 specific objectives you hope to achieve and how they will advance your field.
• Discuss your methodology to demonstrate why the study design you chose is appropriate for your research question.

Organizing Your Research Synopsis

• Find out what citation format you’re supposed to use, as well as whether you’re expected to use parenthetical references or footnotes in the body of your synopsis.
• If you have questions about anything in your guidelines, ask your instructor or advisor to ensure you follow them correctly.

• Title: the title of your study
• Abstract: a summary of your research synopsis
• Introduction: identifies and describes your research question
• Literature Review: a review of existing relevant research
• Objectives: goals you hope to accomplish through your study
• Hypotheses: results you expect to find through your research
• Methodology and methods: explains the methods you’ll use to complete your study
• References: a list of any references used in citations

Tip: Your synopsis might have additional sections, depending on your discipline and the type of research you're conducting. Talk to your instructor or advisor about which sections are required for your department.

• Keep in mind that you might not end up using all the sources you initially found. After you've finished your synopsis, go back and delete the ones you didn't use.

Writing Your Research Synopsis

• Your title should be a brief and specific reflection of the main objectives of your study. In general, it should be under 50 words and should avoid unneeded phrases like “an investigation into.”
• On the other hand, avoid a title that’s too short, as well. For example, a title like “A Study of Urban Heating” is too short and doesn’t provide any insight into the specifics of your research.

• The introduction allows you to explain to your reader exactly why the question you’re trying to answer is vital and how your knowledge and experience make you the best researcher to tackle it.
• Support most of the statements in your introduction with other studies in the area that support the importance of your question. For example, you might cite a previous study that mentions your problem as an area where further research needs to be done.
• The length of your introduction will vary depending on the overall length of your synopsis as well as the ultimate length of your eventual paper after you’ve finished your research. Generally, it will cover the first page or two of your synopsis.

• For example, try finding relevant literature through educational journals or bulletins from organizations like WHO and CDC.
• Typically, a thorough literature review discusses 8 to 10 previous studies related to your research problem.
• As with the introduction, the length of your literature review will vary depending on the overall length of your synopsis. Generally, it will be about the same length as your introduction.
• Try to use the most current research available and avoid sources over 5 years old.

• For example, an objective for research on urban heating could be “to compare urban heat modification caused by vegetation of mixed species considering the 5 most common urban trees in an area.”
• Generally, the overall objective doesn’t relate to solving a specific problem or answering a specific question. Rather, it describes how your particular project will advance your field.
• For specific objectives, think in terms of action verbs like “quantify” or “compare.” Here, you’re hoping to gain a better understanding of associations between particular variables.

• Specify the sources you used and the reasons you have arrived at your hypotheses. Typically, these will come from prior studies that have shown similar relationships.
• For example, suppose a prior study showed that children who were home-schooled were less likely to be in fraternities or sororities in college. You might use that study to back up a hypothesis that home-schooled children are more independent and less likely to need strong friendship support networks.

• Expect your methodology to be at least as long as either your introduction or your literature review, if not longer. Include enough detail that your reader can fully understand how you’re going to carry out your study.
• This section of your synopsis may include information about how you plan to collect and analyze your data, the overall design of your study, and your sampling methods, if necessary. Include information about the study setting, like the facilities and equipment that are available to you to carry out your study.
• For example, your research work may take place in a hospital, and you may use cluster sampling to gather data.

• Use between 100 and 200 words to give your readers a basic understanding of your research project.
• Include a clear statement of the problem, the main goals or objectives of your study, the theories or conceptual framework your research relies upon, and the methods you’ll use to reach your goals or objectives.

Tip: Jot down a few notes as you draft your other sections that you can compile for your abstract to keep your writing more efficient.

Reviewing and Editing Your Research Synopsis

• If you don’t have that kind of time because you’re up against a deadline, at least take a few hours away from your synopsis before you go back to edit it. Do something entirely unrelated to your research, like taking a walk or going to a movie.

• Eliminate sentences that don’t add any new information. Even the longest synopsis is a brief document—make sure every word needs to be there and counts for something.
• Get rid of jargon and terms of art in your field that could be better explained in plain language. Even though your likely readers are people who are well-versed in your field, providing plain language descriptions shows you know what you’re talking about. Using jargon can seem like you’re trying to sound like you know more than you actually do.

Tip: Free apps, such as Grammarly and Hemingway App, can help you identify grammatical errors as well as areas where your writing could be clearer. However, you shouldn't rely solely on apps since they can miss things.

• Reference list formatting is very particular. Read your references out loud, with the punctuation and spacing, to pick up on errors you wouldn’t have noticed if you’d just read over them.
• Compare your format to the one in the stylebook you’re using and make sure all of your entries are correct.

• Read your synopsis backward by starting on the last word and reading each word separately from the last to the first. This helps isolate spelling errors. Reading backward sentence by sentence helps you isolate grammatical errors without being distracted by the content.
• Print your synopsis and circle every punctuation mark with a red pen. Then, go through them and focus on whether they’re correct.
• Read your synopsis out loud, including the punctuation, as though you were dictating the synopsis.

• Have at least one person who isn’t familiar with your area of study look over your synopsis. If they can understand your project, you know your writing is clear. If any parts confuse them, then that’s an area where you can improve the clarity of your writing.

Expert Q&A

• If you make significant changes to your synopsis after your first or second round of editing, you may need to proofread it again to make sure you didn’t introduce any new errors. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://admin.umt.edu.pk/Media/Site/iib1/FileManager/FORMAT%20OF%20SYNOPSIS%2012-10-2018.pdf
• ↑ https://www.scientificstyleandformat.org/Tools/SSF-Citation-Quick-Guide.html
• ↑ https://numspak.edu.pk/upload/media/Guidelines%20for%20Synopsis%20Writing1531455748.pdf
• ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279917593_Research_synopsis_guidelines
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
• ↑ https://www.cornerstone.edu/blog-post/six-steps-to-really-edit-your-paper/

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Resource Center

Are you struggling with your thesis writing? Do you need help with research paper formatting or research paper review? Look no further! Our website offers a comprehensive range of resources to help you with all aspects of thesis writing, from choosing a topic to formatting your final document.

Here are some of the things you can find here:

• University assignment format:  We have templates for a variety of assignment formats, including essays, research papers, and lab reports.
• Review format:  We also have templates for different types of reviews, such as book reviews, movie reviews, and grant proposals.
• Synopsis format:  If you need help writing a synopsis for your thesis, we have a template that can help you get started.
• Thesis format:  We have templates for different types of theses, including master’s theses and PhD dissertations.
• University thesis formats:  We also have templates for specific universities, such as Harvard, Yale, and Stanford.
• Research writing samples:  We have a library of research writing samples that you can use for inspiration.
• Review article sample:  We also have a sample review article that you can use as a guide.
• Guidelines PPT’s:  We have PowerPoint presentations that provide guidance on thesis writing, research paper formatting, and research paper review.
• Guides:  We have guides on a variety of topics related to thesis writing, such as choosing a topic, conducting research, and writing the introduction.
• E-books:  We have e-books on thesis writing, research paper formatting, and research paper review.
• Tools:  We have tools that can help you with your thesis writing, such as a thesis outline generator and a plagiarism checker.
• Free downloadable resources:  We offer a variety of free downloadable resources, such as thesis templates, research paper samples, and writing guides.

We also offer thesis writing guidance and academic writing support. Our team of experts can help you with everything from choosing a topic to formatting your final document. We also offer research paper assistance and PhD thesis consultation.Here

Formats & Guidelines

The Complete University Guide helps students to make right Assignment formats, Review Formats, Synopsis Formats, University thesis formats and Thesis Formats according to different universities. Here you can find our PdF formats and guidelines for proceedings papers. PhD Guides are here to to help you prepare your work with accuracy.

Visit: University Formats & Guidelines

If you’re getting ready to write your dissertation, thesis, or research project, our free research writing samples are a great way to start. Here you can find review article samples and research article samples and some examples to which you can refer for your purposes. You can download our free sample PDF templates related to streams and subjects in seconds. We have a massive sample database, depending on the higher education programme or course, you can find and download appropriate PDF samples.

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How To Structure A PhD With Our PhD Writing Template

Feb 9, 2019

• Introduction

Our   PhD Writing Template   is a way to visualise every element of your PhD on one page.  Once you have filled it in you will have an overview of each section of the thesis and an executive summary of the thesis as a whole. It’ll show you how to write a PhD. If you haven’t already download it for free now and then come back to this post. 

What is the PhD Writing Template?

The PhD Writing Template is a   way for you to visualise your PhD on one page.   It guides you through creating a   synopsis for each chapter   and an overall   outline of the thesis   using simple questions to structure and guide your thinking.  If you haven’t already download it for free now .

• Acknowledgements
• Literature review
• Theoretical framework
• Methodology
• Empirical chapters
• Discussion chapters

How do I write a PhD using the template?

It’s simple to use.  First, print it out.

Then, answer each of the questions in each section.

Answer on Post-it notes. One for each box. That way you can change your answers over time.

But aren’t Post-it notes too small? No! Small is good here. It means you have to be clear and concise. If you can’t fit your answers onto a Post-it note, you need to refine them.

To save space, use bullet points, but make sure you carefully think about and respond to each point.

Start with the ‘Aims and Objectives’ box, where you will list down the core headlines of the entire thesis. This is the  big-picture stuff.  You   should have this completed and refined before you move on. Without solid answers to these questions, the thesis will be disjointed and unclear.

Then, work through the boxes one by one. You may want to leave the abstract and acknowledgements to last. You may also want to work on the introduction last. That’s fine. Work in the way that suits you.

As you fill the template in, you will start to see the bigger picture. Each Post-it note will contain a synopsis for that particular element. Together, they can be combined to form an executive summary of the thesis as a whole.

Why do you need the template?

• All of the elements required in a thesis.
• Where they fit and how they relate to one another. 

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Sounds good, doesn’t it?  Be able to call yourself Doctor sooner with our five-star rated How to Write A PhD email-course. Learn everything your supervisor should have taught you about planning and completing a PhD.

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Thank you so much You are doing a great job by helping PhD students like me to make it less stressful.

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Hi, I withdrew from my PhD in the final months and am now planning to return to it and remodel it somewhat. This template will be really useful for restructuring what I already have and planning what I need to work on. Thank-you!

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