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How to Write a Dissertation Proposal | A Step-by-Step Guide

Published on 14 February 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 11 November 2022.

A dissertation proposal describes the research you want to do: what it’s about, how you’ll conduct it, and why it’s worthwhile. You will probably have to write a proposal before starting your dissertation as an undergraduate or postgraduate student.

A dissertation proposal should generally include:

• An introduction to your topic and aims
• A literature review  of the current state of knowledge
• An outline of your proposed methodology
• A discussion of the possible implications of the research
• A bibliography  of relevant sources

Dissertation proposals vary a lot in terms of length and structure, so make sure to follow any guidelines given to you by your institution, and check with your supervisor when you’re unsure.

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Table of contents

Step 1: coming up with an idea, step 2: presenting your idea in the introduction, step 3: exploring related research in the literature review, step 4: describing your methodology, step 5: outlining the potential implications of your research, step 6: creating a reference list or bibliography.

Before writing your proposal, it’s important to come up with a strong idea for your dissertation.

Find an area of your field that interests you and do some preliminary reading in that area. What are the key concerns of other researchers? What do they suggest as areas for further research, and what strikes you personally as an interesting gap in the field?

Once you have an idea, consider how to narrow it down and the best way to frame it. Don’t be too ambitious or too vague – a dissertation topic needs to be specific enough to be feasible. Move from a broad field of interest to a specific niche:

• Russian literature 19th century Russian literature The novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky
• Social media Mental health effects of social media Influence of social media on young adults suffering from anxiety

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Like most academic texts, a dissertation proposal begins with an introduction . This is where you introduce the topic of your research, provide some background, and most importantly, present your aim , objectives and research question(s) .

Try to dive straight into your chosen topic: What’s at stake in your research? Why is it interesting? Don’t spend too long on generalisations or grand statements:

• Social media is the most important technological trend of the 21st century. It has changed the world and influences our lives every day.
• Psychologists generally agree that the ubiquity of social media in the lives of young adults today has a profound impact on their mental health. However, the exact nature of this impact needs further investigation.

Once your area of research is clear, you can present more background and context. What does the reader need to know to understand your proposed questions? What’s the current state of research on this topic, and what will your dissertation contribute to the field?

If you’re including a literature review, you don’t need to go into too much detail at this point, but give the reader a general sense of the debates that you’re intervening in.

This leads you into the most important part of the introduction: your aim, objectives and research question(s) . These should be clearly identifiable and stand out from the text – for example, you could present them using bullet points or bold font.

Make sure that your research questions are specific and workable – something you can reasonably answer within the scope of your dissertation. Avoid being too broad or having too many different questions. Remember that your goal in a dissertation proposal is to convince the reader that your research is valuable and feasible:

• Does social media harm mental health?
• What is the impact of daily social media use on 18– to 25–year–olds suffering from general anxiety disorder?

Now that your topic is clear, it’s time to explore existing research covering similar ideas. This is important because it shows you what is missing from other research in the field and ensures that you’re not asking a question someone else has already answered.

You’ve probably already done some preliminary reading, but now that your topic is more clearly defined, you need to thoroughly analyse and evaluate the most relevant sources in your literature review .

Here you should summarise the findings of other researchers and comment on gaps and problems in their studies. There may be a lot of research to cover, so make effective use of paraphrasing to write concisely:

• Smith and Prakash state that ‘our results indicate a 25% decrease in the incidence of mechanical failure after the new formula was applied’.
• Smith and Prakash’s formula reduced mechanical failures by 25%.

The point is to identify findings and theories that will influence your own research, but also to highlight gaps and limitations in previous research which your dissertation can address:

• Subsequent research has failed to replicate this result, however, suggesting a flaw in Smith and Prakash’s methods. It is likely that the failure resulted from…

Next, you’ll describe your proposed methodology : the specific things you hope to do, the structure of your research and the methods that you will use to gather and analyse data.

You should get quite specific in this section – you need to convince your supervisor that you’ve thought through your approach to the research and can realistically carry it out. This section will look quite different, and vary in length, depending on your field of study.

You may be engaged in more empirical research, focusing on data collection and discovering new information, or more theoretical research, attempting to develop a new conceptual model or add nuance to an existing one.

Dissertation research often involves both, but the content of your methodology section will vary according to how important each approach is to your dissertation.

Empirical research

Empirical research involves collecting new data and analysing it in order to answer your research questions. It can be quantitative (focused on numbers), qualitative (focused on words and meanings), or a combination of both.

With empirical research, it’s important to describe in detail how you plan to collect your data:

• Will you use surveys ? A lab experiment ? Interviews?
• What variables will you measure?
• How will you select a representative sample ?
• If other people will participate in your research, what measures will you take to ensure they are treated ethically?
• What tools (conceptual and physical) will you use, and why?

It’s appropriate to cite other research here. When you need to justify your choice of a particular research method or tool, for example, you can cite a text describing the advantages and appropriate usage of that method.

Don’t overdo this, though; you don’t need to reiterate the whole theoretical literature, just what’s relevant to the choices you have made.

Moreover, your research will necessarily involve analysing the data after you have collected it. Though you don’t know yet what the data will look like, it’s important to know what you’re looking for and indicate what methods (e.g. statistical tests , thematic analysis ) you will use.

Theoretical research

You can also do theoretical research that doesn’t involve original data collection. In this case, your methodology section will focus more on the theory you plan to work with in your dissertation: relevant conceptual models and the approach you intend to take.

For example, a literary analysis dissertation rarely involves collecting new data, but it’s still necessary to explain the theoretical approach that will be taken to the text(s) under discussion, as well as which parts of the text(s) you will focus on:

• This dissertation will utilise Foucault’s theory of panopticism to explore the theme of surveillance in Orwell’s 1984 and Kafka’s The Trial…

Here, you may refer to the same theorists you have already discussed in the literature review. In this case, the emphasis is placed on how you plan to use their contributions in your own research.

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You’ll usually conclude your dissertation proposal with a section discussing what you expect your research to achieve.

You obviously can’t be too sure: you don’t know yet what your results and conclusions will be. Instead, you should describe the projected implications and contribution to knowledge of your dissertation.

First, consider the potential implications of your research. Will you:

• Develop or test a theory?
• Provide new information to governments or businesses?
• Challenge a commonly held belief?
• Suggest an improvement to a specific process?

Describe the intended result of your research and the theoretical or practical impact it will have:

Finally, it’s sensible to conclude by briefly restating the contribution to knowledge you hope to make: the specific question(s) you hope to answer and the gap the answer(s) will fill in existing knowledge:

Like any academic text, it’s important that your dissertation proposal effectively references all the sources you have used. You need to include a properly formatted reference list or bibliography at the end of your proposal.

Different institutions recommend different styles of referencing – commonly used styles include Harvard , Vancouver , APA , or MHRA . If your department does not have specific requirements, choose a style and apply it consistently.

A reference list includes only the sources that you cited in your proposal. A bibliography is slightly different: it can include every source you consulted in preparing the proposal, even if you didn’t mention it in the text. In the case of a dissertation proposal, a bibliography may also list relevant sources that you haven’t yet read, but that you intend to use during the research itself.

Check with your supervisor what type of bibliography or reference list you should include.

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Writing a dissertation proposal.

What is a dissertation proposal?

Dissertation proposals are like the table of contents for your research project , and will help you explain what it is you intend to examine, and roughly, how you intend to go about collecting and analysing your data. You won’t be required to have everything planned out exactly, as your topic may change slightly in the course of your research, but for the most part, writing your proposal should help you better identify the direction for your dissertation.

When you’ve chosen a topic for your dissertation , you’ll need to make sure that it is both appropriate to your field of study and narrow enough to be completed by the end of your course. Your dissertation proposal will help you define and determine both of these things and will also allow your department and instructors to make sure that you are being advised by the best person to help you complete your research.

A dissertation proposal should include:

• An introduction to your dissertation topic
• Aims and objectives of your dissertation
• A literature review of the current research undertaken in your field
• Proposed methodology to be used
• Implications of your research
• Limitations of your research
• Bibliography 

Although this content all needs to be included in your dissertation proposal, the content isn’t set in stone so it can be changed later if necessary, depending on your topic of study, university or degree. Think of your dissertation proposal as more of a guide to writing your dissertation rather than something to be strictly adhered to – this will be discussed later. 

Why is a dissertation proposal important?

A dissertation proposal is very important because it helps shape the actual dissertation, which is arguably the most important piece of writing a postgraduate student will undertake. By having a well-structured dissertation proposal, you will have a strong foundation for your dissertation and a good template to follow. The dissertation itself is key to postgraduate success as it will contribute to your overall grade . Writing your dissertation will also help you to develop research and communication skills, which could become invaluable in your employment success and future career. By making sure you’re fully briefed on the current research available in your chosen dissertation topic, as well as keeping details of your bibliography up to date, you will be in a great position to write an excellent dissertation.

Next, we’ll be outlining things you can do to help you produce the best postgraduate dissertation proposal possible.

How to begin your dissertation proposal

1. Narrow the topic down  

It’s important that when you sit down to draft your proposal, you’ve carefully thought out your topic and are able to narrow it down enough to present a clear and succinct understanding of what you aim to do and hope to accomplish in your dissertation.

How do I decide on a dissertation topic?

A simple way to begin choosing a topic for your dissertation is to go back through your assignments and lectures. Was there a topic that stood out to you? Was there an idea that wasn’t fully explored? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then you have a great starting point! If not, then consider one of your more personal interests. Use Google Scholar to explore studies and journals on your topic to find any areas that could go into more detail or explore a more niche topic within your personal interest. 

Keep track of all publications

It’s important to keep track of all the publications that you use while you research. You can use this in your literature review.

You need to keep track of:

• The title of the study/research paper/book/journal
• Who wrote/took part in the study/research paper
• Chapter title
• Page number(s)

The more research you do, the more you should be able to narrow down your topic and find an interesting area to focus on. You’ll also be able to write about everything you find in your literature review which will make your proposal stronger.

While doing your research, consider the following:

• When was your source published? Is the information outdated? Has new information come to light since?
• Can you determine if any of the methodologies could have been carried out more efficiently? Are there any errors or gaps?
• Are there any ethical concerns that should be considered in future studies on the same topic?
• Could anything external (for example new events happening) have influenced the research?

Read more about picking a topic for your dissertation . 

How long should the dissertation proposal be?

There is usually no set length for a dissertation proposal, but you should aim for 1,000 words or more. Your dissertation proposal will give an outline of the topic of your dissertation, some of the questions you hope to answer with your research, what sort of studies and type of data you aim to employ in your research, and the sort of analysis you will carry out.

Different courses may have different requirements for things like length and the specific information to include, as well as what structure is preferred, so be sure to check what special requirements your course has.  

2. What should I include in a dissertation proposal?

Your dissertation proposal should have several key aspects regardless of the structure. The introduction, the methodology, aims and objectives, the literature review, and the constraints of your research all need to be included to ensure that you provide your supervisor with a comprehensive proposal. But what are they? Here's a checklist to get you started.

• Introduction

The introduction will state your central research question and give background on the subject, as well as relating it contextually to any broader issues surrounding it. 

The dissertation proposal introduction should outline exactly what you intend to investigate in your final research project.

Make sure you outline the structure of the dissertation proposal in your introduction, i.e. part one covers methodology, part two covers a literature review, part three covers research limitations, and so forth.

Your introduction should also include the working title for your dissertation – although don't worry if you want to change this at a later stage as your supervisors will not expect this to be set in stone.

Dissertation methodology

The dissertation methodology will break down what sources you aim to use for your research and what sort of data you will collect from it, either quantitative or qualitative. You may also want to include how you will analyse the data you gather and what, if any, bias there may be in your chosen methods.

Depending on the level of detail that your specific course requires, you may also want to explain why your chosen approaches to gathering data are more appropriate to your research than others.

Consider and explain how you will conduct empirical research. For example, will you use interviews? Surveys? Observation? Lab experiments?

In your dissertation methodology, outline the variables that you will measure in your research and how you will select your data or participant sample to ensure valid results.

Finally, are there any specific tools that you will use for your methodology? If so, make sure you provide this information in the methodology section of your dissertation proposal.

• Aims and objectives

Your aim should not be too broad but should equally not be too specific.

An example of a dissertation aim could be: ‘To examine the key content features and social contexts that construct successful viral marketing content distribution on X’.

In comparison, an example of a dissertation aim that is perhaps too broad would be: ‘To investigate how things go viral on X’.

The aim of your dissertation proposal should relate directly to your research question.

• Literature review

The literature review will list the books and materials that you will be using to do your research. This is where you can list materials that gave you more background on your topic, or contain research carried out previously that you referred to in your own studies. 

The literature review is also a good place to demonstrate how your research connects to previous academic studies and how your methods may differ from or build upon those used by other researchers. While it’s important to give enough information about the materials to show that you have read and understood them, don’t forget to include your analysis of their value to your work.

Where there are shortfalls in other pieces of academic work, identify these and address how you will overcome these shortcomings in your own research.

Constraints and limitations of your research

Lastly, you will also need to include the constraints of your research. Many topics will have broad links to numerous larger and more complex issues, so by clearly stating the constraints of your research, you are displaying your understanding and acknowledgment of these larger issues, and the role they play by focusing your research on just one section or part of the subject.

In this section it is important to Include examples of possible limitations, for example, issues with sample size, participant drop out, lack of existing research on the topic, time constraints, and other factors that may affect your study.

• Ethical considerations

Confidentiality and ethical concerns are an important part of any research.

Ethics are key, as your dissertation will need to undergo ethical approval if you are working with participants. This means that it’s important to allow for and explain ethical considerations in your dissertation proposal.

Keep confidentiality in mind and keep your participants informed, so they are aware of how the data provided is being used and are assured that all personal information is being kept confidential.

Consider how involved your patients will be with your research, this will help you think about what ethical considerations to take and discuss them fully in your dissertation proposal. For example, face-to-face participant interview methods could require more ethical measures and confidentiality considerations than methods that do not require participants, such as corpus data (a collection of existing written texts) analysis. 

3. Dissertation proposal example

Once you know what sections you need or do not need to include, it may help focus your writing to break the proposal up into separate headings, and tackle each piece individually. You may also want to consider including a title. Writing a title for your proposal will help you make sure that your topic is narrow enough, as well as help keep your writing focused and on topic.

One example of a dissertation proposal structure is using the following headings, either broken up into sections or chapters depending on the required word count:

• Methodology
• Research constraints

In any dissertation proposal example, you’ll want to make it clear why you’re doing the research and what positives could come from your contribution. 

Dissertation proposal example table

This table outlines the various stages of your dissertation proposal.

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Doctoral handbook

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• Dissertation Proposal

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Proposal Overview and Format

Proposal committee, proposal hearing or meeting.

• Printing Credit for Use in School of Education Labs

Students are urged to begin thinking about a dissertation topic early in their degree program. Concentrated work on a dissertation proposal normally begins after successful completion of the Second-Year Review, which often includes a “mini” proposal, an extended literature review, or a theoretical essay, plus advancement to doctoral candidacy. In defining a dissertation topic, the student collaborates with their faculty advisor or dissertation advisor (if one is selected) in the choice of a topic for the dissertation.

The dissertation proposal is a comprehensive statement on the extent and nature of the student’s dissertation research interests. Students submit a draft of the proposal to their dissertation advisor between the end of the seventh and middle of the ninth quarters. The student must provide a written copy of the proposal to the faculty committee no later than two weeks prior to the date of the proposal hearing. Committee members could require an earlier deadline (e.g., four weeks before the hearing).

The major components of the proposal are as follows, with some variations across Areas and disciplines:

• A detailed statement of the problem that is to be studied and the context within which it is to be seen. This should include a justification of the importance of the problem on both theoretical and educational grounds.
• A thorough review of the literature pertinent to the research problem. This review should provide proof that the relevant literature in the field has been thoroughly researched. Good research is cumulative; it builds on the thoughts, findings, and mistakes of others.
• its general explanatory interest
• the overall theoretical framework within which this interest is to be pursued
• the model or hypotheses to be tested or the research questions to be answered
• a discussion of the conceptual and operational properties of the variables
• an overview of strategies for collecting appropriate evidence (sampling, instrumentation, data collection, data reduction, data analysis)
• a discussion of how the evidence is to be interpreted (This aspect of the proposal will be somewhat different in fields such as history and philosophy of education.)
• If applicable, students should complete a request for approval of research with human subjects, using the Human Subjects Review Form ( http://humansubjects.stanford.edu/ ). Except for pilot work, the University requires the approval of the Administrative Panel on Human Subjects in Behavioral Science Research before any data can be collected from human subjects.

Registration (i.e., enrollment) is required for any quarter during which a degree requirement is completed, including the dissertation proposal. Refer to the Registration or Enrollment for Milestone Completion section for more details.

As students progress through the program, their interests may change. There is no commitment on the part of the student’s advisor to automatically serve as the dissertation chair. Based on the student’s interests and the dissertation topic, many students approach other GSE professors to serve as the dissertation advisor, if appropriate.

A dissertation proposal committee is comprised of three academic council faculty members, one of whom will serve as the major dissertation advisor. Whether or not the student’s general program advisor serves on the dissertation proposal committee and later the reading committee will depend on the relevance of that faculty member’s expertise to the topic of the dissertation, and their availability. There is no requirement that a program advisor serve, although very often they do. Members of the dissertation proposal committee may be drawn from other area committees within the GSE, from other departments in the University, or from emeriti faculty. At least one person serving on the proposal committee must be from the student’s area committee (CTE, DAPS, SHIPS). All three members must be on the Academic Council; if the student desires the expertise of a non-Academic Council member, it may be possible to petition. After the hearing, a memorandum listing the changes to be made will be written and submitted with the signed proposal cover sheet and a copy of the proposal itself to the Doctoral Programs Officer.

Review and approval of the dissertation proposal occurs normally during the third year. The proposal hearing seeks to review the quality and feasibility of the proposal. The Second-Year Review and the Proposal Hearing are separate milestones and may not occur as part of the same hearing or meeting.

The student and the dissertation advisor are responsible for scheduling a formal meeting or hearing to review the proposal; the student and proposal committee convene for this evaluative period. Normally, all must be present at the meeting either in person or via conference phone call.

At the end of this meeting, the dissertation proposal committee members should sign the Cover Sheet for Dissertation Proposal and indicate their approval or rejection of the proposal. This signed form should be submitted to the Doctoral Programs Officer. If the student is required to make revisions, an addendum is required with the written approval of each member of the committee stating that the proposal has been revised to their satisfaction.

After submitting the Proposal Hearing material to the Doctoral Programs Officer, the student should make arrangements with three faculty members to serve on their Dissertation Reading Committee. The Doctoral Dissertation Reading Committee form should be completed and given to the Doctoral Programs Officer to enter in the University student records system. Note: The proposal hearing committee and the reading committee do not have to be the same three faculty members. Normally, the proposal hearing precedes the designation of a Dissertation Reading Committee, and faculty on either committee may differ (except for the primary dissertation advisor). However, some students may advance to Terminal Graduate Registration (TGR) status before completing their dissertation proposal hearing if they have established a dissertation reading committee. In these cases, it is acceptable for the student to form a reading committee prior to the dissertation proposal hearing. The reading committee then serves as the proposal committee.

The proposal and reading committee forms and related instructions are on the GSE website, under current students>forms.

Printing Credit for Use in GSE Labs

Upon completion of their doctoral dissertation proposal, GSE students are eligible for a $300 printing credit redeemable in any of the GSE computer labs where students are normally charged for print jobs. Only one $300 credit per student will be issued, but it is usable throughout the remainder of her or his doctoral program until the balance is exhausted. The print credit can be used only at the printers in Cubberley basement and CERAS, and cannot be used toward copying.

After submitting the signed dissertation proposal cover sheet to the Doctoral Programs Officer indicating approval (see above), students can submit a HELP SU ticket online at helpsu.stanford.edu to request the credit. When submitting the help ticket, the following should be selected from the drop-down menus for HELP SU:

Request Category :  Computer, Handhelds (PDAs), Printers, Servers Request Type :  Printer Operating System : (whatever system is used by the student, e.g., Windows XP.)

The help ticket will be routed to the GSE's IT Group for processing; they will in turn notify the student via email when the credit is available.

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Handbook Contents

• Timetable for the Doctoral Degree
• Degree Requirements
• Registration or Enrollment for Milestone Completion
• The Graduate Study Program
• Student Virtual and Teleconference Participation in Hearings
• First Year (3rd Quarter) Review
• Second Year (6th Quarter) Review
• Committee Composition for First- and Second-Year Reviews
• Advancement to Candidacy
• Academic Program Revision
• Dissertation Content
• Dissertation Reading Committee
• University Oral Examination
• Submitting the Dissertation
• Registration and Student Statuses
• Graduate Financial Support
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• Race, Inequality, and Language in Education (RILE)
• Social Sciences, Humanities, and Interdisciplinary Policy Studies in Education (SHIPS)
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• Stanford University Honor Code
• Stanford University Fundamental Standard
• Doctoral Programs Degree Progress Checklist
• GSE Open Access Policies

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Library Guides

Dissertations 1: getting started: writing a proposal.

• Starting Your Dissertation
• Choosing A Topic and Researching
• Devising An Approach/Method
• Thinking Of A Title
• Writing A Proposal

What is a Proposal?

Before you start your dissertation, you may be asked to write a proposal for it.  

The purpose of a dissertation proposal is to provide a snapshot of what your study involves. Usually, after submission of the proposal you will be assigned a supervisor who has some expertise in your field of study. You should receive feedback on the viability of the topic, how to focus the scope, research methods, and other issues you should consider before progressing in your research. 

The research proposal should present the dissertation topic, justify your reasons for choosing it and outline how you are going to research it . You'll have to keep it brief, as word counts can vary from anywhere between 800 to 3,000 words at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels.  

It is worth bearing in mind that you are not bound by your proposal. Your project is likely going to  evolve and may move in a new direction . Your dissertation supervisor is aware that this may occur as you delve deeper into the literature in your field of study. Nevertheless, always discuss any major developments with your supervisor in the first instance.  

Reading for your Proposal

Before writing a proposal, you will need to read. A lot! But that doesn’t mean you must read everything. Be targeted! What do you really need to know?  

Instead of reading every page in every book, look for clues in chapter titles and introductions to narrow your focus down. Use abstracts from journal articles to check whether the material is relevant to your study and keep notes of your reading along with clear records of bibliographic information and page numbers for your references.  

Ultimately, your objective should be to create a dialogue between the theories and ideas you have read and your own thoughts. What is your personal perspective on the topic? What evidence is there that supports your point of view? Furthermore, you should ask questions about each text. Is it current or is it outdated? What argument is the author making? Is the author biased?  

Approaching your reading in this way ensures that you engage with the literature critically. You will demonstrate that you have done this in your mini literature review (see Proposal Structure box).  

If you have not yet started reading for your proposal, the Literature Review Guide offers advice on choosing a topic and how to conduct a literature search. Additionally, the Effective Reading Guide provides tips on researching and critical reading.  

Proposal Structure

So, how is a dissertation proposal typically structured? The structure of a proposal varies considerably.

This is a list of elements that might be required. Please check the dissertation proposal requirements and marking criteria on Blackboard or with your lecturers if you are unsure about the requirements.

Title : The title you have devised, so far - it can change throughout the dissertation drafting process! A good title is simple but fairly specific. Example: "Focus and concentration during revision: an evaluation of the Pomodoro technique."

Introduction/Background : Provides background and presents the key issues of your proposed research. Can include the following:

Rationale : Why is this research being undertaken, why is it interesting and worthwhile, also considering the existing literature?

Purpose : What do you intend to accomplish with your study, e.g. improve something or understand something? 

Research question : The main, overarching question your study seeks to answer. E.g. "How can focus and concentration be improved during revision?"

Hypothesis : Quantitative studies can use hypotheses in alternative to research questions. E.g. "Taking regular breaks significantly increases the ability to memorise information."

Aim : The main result your study seeks to achieve. If you use a research question, the aim echoes that, but uses an infinitive. E.g. "The aim of this research is to investigate how can focus and concentration be improved during revision."

Objectives : The stepping stones to achieve your aim. E.g. "The objectives of this research are 1) to review the literature on study techniques; 2) to identify the factors that influence focus and concentration; 3) to undertake an experiment on the Pomodoro technique with student volunteers; 4) to issue recommendations on focus and concentration for revision."

Literature review : Overview of significant literature around the research topic, moving from general (background) to specific (your subject of study). Highlight what the literature says, and does not say, on the research topic, identifying a gap(s) that your research aims to fill. 

Methods : Here you consider what methods you are planning to use for your research, and why you are thinking of them. What secondary sources (literature) are you going to consult? Are you going to use primary sources (e.g. data bases, statistics, interviews, questionnaires, experiments)? Are you going to focus on a case study? Is the research going to be qualitative or quantitative? Consider if your research will need ethical clearance.

Significance/Implications/Expected outcomes : In this section you reiterate what are you hoping to demonstrate. State how your research could contribute to debates in your particular subject area, perhaps filling a gap(s) in the existing works. 

Plan of Work : You might be asked to present your timeline for completing the dissertation. The timeline can be presented using different formats such as bullet points, table, Gantt chart. Whichever format you use, your plan of work should be realistic and should demonstrate awareness of the various elements of the study such as literature research, empirical work, drafting, re-drafting, etc.

Outline : Here you include a provisional table of contents for your dissertation. The structure of the dissertation can be free or prescribed by the dissertation guidelines of your course, so check that up. 

Reference List : The list should include the bibliographical information of all the sources you cited in the proposal, listed in alphabetical order. 

Most of the elements mentioned above are explained in the tabs of this guide!

Literature-based dissertations in the humanities

A literature-based dissertation in the humanities, however, might be less rigidly structured and may look like this: 

• Short introduction including background information on your topic, why it is relevant and how it fits into the literature. 
• Main body which outlines how you will organise your  chapters .
• Conclusion which states what you hope your study will achieve. 
• Bibliography .  

After Writing

Check your proposal! 

Have you shown that your research idea is: 

Ethical? 

Relevant? 

Feasible with the timeframe and resources available?  

Have you: 

Identified a clear research gap to focus on? 

Stated why your study is important? 

Selected a methodology that will enable you to gather the data you need? 

Use the marking criteria for dissertation proposals provided by your department to check your work.  

Locke, L.F.,  Spirduso, W.W. and Silverman, S.J. (2014).  Proposals that Work: A Guide for Planning Dissertations and Grant Proposals . Sage.

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How To Write A Dissertation Proposal: Learn With Guides And Tips

Don’t know how to write a dissertation proposal? Don’t worry about it! In this blog post, you will learn everything there is to know about the dissertation proposal. We will show you what it is and why it is important to write one correctly. We will discuss the dissertation proposal format in great detail and show you a dissertation proposal outline that works great for most topics. In addition, you will get an example of dissertation proposal for free.

To help you write a great proposal, we have also included a step by step guide on how to write a proposal for dissertation. Finally, we have compiled a list of tips, tricks and advice that should help you do an even better job. Are you ready to start writing a dissertation proposal? Read on!

Table of Contents

What is a dissertation proposal, why is the dissertation proposal important, a simple dissertation proposal outline, how to write dissertation proposal: a step by step guide, tips, tricks and advice, a free dissertation proposal sample.

So, what is a dissertation proposal? Why is it important? Why would you want to write one? A dissertation proposal is a document that outlines the proposed research project that a student intends to undertake as part of their doctoral program. The purpose of the proposal is to convince the student’s academic committee that the proposed research is worthwhile, feasible and original. The proposal typically includes:

An introduction Literature review Research methodology Research aims and objectives Expected outcomes A timeline for completion

The proposal should also address any potential ethical considerations or limitations of the study, and should provide a justification for the significance of the research. Once the proposal is accepted, the student can begin working on their dissertation, which will be a more extensive and detailed version of the proposal.

Before we show you how to write a proposal for a dissertation, we want to make sure you understand just how important this paper is. A proposal is important because it:

Provides a framework for the research project. The proposal outlines the structure of the research project, including the research questions, methodology, and expected outcomes. Demonstrates the student’s readiness for the research. The proposal requires the student to undertake a rigorous review of the literature and develop a research plan. Helps to identify potential issues. The proposal provides an opportunity to identify any potential issues or limitations with the research project before it even begins. Facilitates feedback and discussion. The proposal is typically reviewed and critiqued by the student’s academic committee.

If you’re looking for an example proposal dissertation, you’re in luck. The thesis proposal format is not overly difficult, but you should definitely take a look at our outline to get a feel of how you should structure your paper:

I. Introduction Introduce the topic of the dissertation and provide background information. Write a clear research question or statement of the problem that the study aims to address. Explain the significance of your research and discuss the contribution it will make to the field of study. II. Literature Review Review and critically evaluate relevant literature in the field of study. Identify gaps or inconsistencies in the literature; gaps that the research project will address. Demonstrate how the proposed research fits into and advances the existing body of knowledge. III. Methodology Describe the research design and methodology that will be used to collect and analyze data. Justify the choice of methodology and explain how it aims to answer the research question. Address potential limitations and ethical considerations related to the methodology. IV. Research Aims and Objectives Clearly state the research aims and objectives that the study will address. Explain how these aims and objectives are linked to the research question and contribute to advancing the body of knowledge on the matter. V. Expected Outcomes Talk about the expected outcomes of your research. Explain how these outcomes will contribute to the existing body of knowledge and address the research question. VI. Timeline for Completion Provide a detailed timeline for completing the research project. Clearly present key milestones and deadlines, including the expected completion date for the dissertation. VII. Conclusion Summarize the main ideas in your proposal. Reinforce the significance of the research project. Indicate the potential implications of your findings.

If you want to learn how to write dissertation proposal quickly, the best way to do it is to follow a reliable step by step guide. The good news is that our experts have written one such guide for you. Here is exactly what you need to do to write dissertation proposal papers the right way:

Choose a topic. Start by choosing a topic that interests you and that is relevant to your field of study. The topic should be specific enough to allow you to conduct focused research and broad enough to allow for adequate exploration. Research existing literature. Conduct a review of all of the existing literature on the topic you’ve chosen. This will help you identify any gaps in knowledge that you can address in your research. Define your research questions. Based on the literature review, develop specific research questions that you will address in your dissertation. Your research questions should be clear and concise. Remember that you will need to answer these questions. Develop the research methodology. Choose a research methodology that is appropriate for your research questions. You can use qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. Be sure to justify your choice of methodology so that the committee doesn’t ask for clarifications. Write the introduction. Start your proposal with an introduction that provides an overview of your research topic, research questions and methodology. You should include the thesis in the introduction. Write the literature review. Next, write a literature review that summarizes existing research on your topic. Identify any gaps in knowledge that you will address in your research. Present your methodology. Describe your research methodology in detail, including your data collection methods and data analysis techniques. Another researcher should be able to replicate your experiments and get the same results after reading your methodology. Define your expected results. Based on your research questions and methodology, define the expected results of your research. Be very specific about what you aim to demonstrate with your paper. Develop a timeline for writing a proposal for dissertation. Create a timeline that outlines the different stages of your research, from data collection to analysis and writing. Also, don’t forget to include the date on which you expect the paper to be completed. Write the conclusion. End your proposal with a conclusion that summarizes your research topic, research questions, methodology, and expected results. Show your readers why your research is important. Edit and proofread your work. Before submitting your proposal, be sure to edit and proofread it carefully to ensure that it is free of errors and presents your research clearly. You want your proposal to be perfect in every way.

It is usually a good idea to have your friends and family take a look at the proposal and give you some feedback. You’d be surprised by how many things can be improved this way. Even better, you could get in touch with our expert editors and proofreaders and have them revise your work. This is a sure way to ensure that your proposal is top notch.

Before we get to the dissertation proposal example, we want to share some effective tips, tricks and advice that will help you do a better job writing your paper:

Start early. Give yourself plenty of time to write your dissertation proposal. It’s a complex document that requires careful planning, research, and writing, so don’t leave it until the last minute. Get feedback. Before submitting your proposal, share it with your supervisor or another academic who can provide feedback. Be clear and concise. Use clear and concise language to communicate your research topic, questions and methodology. Provide context. Provide context for your research by explaining why it’s important and how it fits into existing research in your field. Justify your methodology. Be sure to explain why you have chosen a particular methodology and how it will help you answer your research questions. Be realistic. Make sure your proposed research is feasible given your time, resources and skills. Avoid proposing research that is too broad or ambitious, as this can make it difficult to complete your dissertation on time. Follow guidelines. Follow the guidelines provided by your university or department for formatting, length, and content. This will help you avoid unnecessary revisions and ensure that your proposal meets the requirements. Keep it organized. Use clear headings, subheadings and sections to organize your proposal. This will make it easier for your readers to follow your argument and find the information they need. Use citations. Use citations to acknowledge the work of other researchers and to support your own arguments. This will demonstrate that you have done your research and are aware of existing literature on your topic.

Are you looking for an excellent dissertation proposal template that you can follow? Our experts are here to help you with your school projects. We have written a great dissertation proposal sample that you can use for free. You can use this example to learn how PhD dissertation proposals are written, but you should avoid copying content from the sample because a plagiarism detector can flag your paper. If you need more than the following example of a dissertation proposal, get in touch with our experts:

Background of the Problem Employee performance is a significant concern of any organization because it determines business performance. According to Fachrunnisa, Adhiatma & Mutamimah (2014), employees achieve the desired level of performance when they are effectively engaged or involved in the management of the organization. However, the impact of organizational culture on both the engagement and performance of employees has not been measured distinctively using empirical evidence, as illustrated by Breevaart, Bakker, Demerouti & Derks (2016). Statement of the Problem Organizations provide their employees with requirements related to expected level of participation in work activities and performance. However, business leaders and managers often forget that they must create a supportive organizational culture that will inspire employee engagement and motivate performance. Purpose of the Study The purpose of the proposed investigation is to determine how organizational culture influences employee engagement and their performance at work. The study aims at providing business leaders and managers with evidence-based insights for establishing organizational cultures that inspire employee engagement and motivate performance. Research Objectives To assess the impact of organizational mission, vision and values on employee engagement in the service sector. To determine how organizational culture influences job performance in the service sector. To establish the relationship between the consistency of organizational culture and employee engagement and job performance in the service sector Research Questions To what extent do the mission, vision and values of organizations in the service sector influence employee engagement? How does organizational culture influence job performance in the service sector? How does the consistency of organizational culture shape employee engagement and job performance in the service sector? Significance of the Study The proposed study is significant to business management practice. It will specifically provide business leaders and managers with practical reasons for establishing supportive organizational cultures that are meant to improve the level of employee engagement and improve their performance at work. Methodology Research Design A descriptive research design will be applied in carrying out the proposed investigation. This design will allow for description of the characteristics of work environments under study in terms of working culture, employee engagement and motivation for performance. Descriptive studies are also useful in establishing relationships existing between research variables (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). Study Population The population of the proposed study is composed of members of organizations within the service sector. This includes the business leaders, managers and employees of these organizations. Sampling Stratified sampling will be applied in selecting a representative sample from the study population to participate in the research process. The selected sampling technique is useful in categorizing members of a study population into homogenous subgroups, from which participants are randomly selected (Bryman & Bell, 2015). A sample of 120 participants, including business leaders, managers and employees of 10 organizations in the service sector will be selected and engaged in the research process. Data Collection Methods Self-administered questionnaires will be used to gather data for the study. Questionnaires are preferred because they are standardized, efficient and cost-effective data collection tools (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). The questionnaires will have open and closed ended questions pertaining to the background information of participants, the culture of their organizations, employee engagement strategies and employee performance. Data Analysis Descriptive statistics will be applied in the analysis of research data. Through descriptive statistics, research data will be organized and interpreted in line with the relationship between organizational culture, employee engagement and performance.

Get Quick Help Writing A Dissertation Proposal

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Below, you can find answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding the dissertation proposal:

Can I make changes to my dissertation proposal after it is approved?

It is possible to make changes to the dissertation proposal after it is approved, but any significant changes may require additional review.

How long should a dissertation proposal be?

The length of a dissertation proposal can vary depending on the requirements of the program. Most proposals are typically between 10 and 20 pages.

Who reviews the dissertation proposal?

The dissertation proposal is typically reviewed by the student’s academic committee.

How long does it take to write a dissertation proposal?

On average, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to write a good dissertation proposal. You need professional help if you are about to miss the deadline.

What if my dissertation proposal is not approved?

If the dissertation proposal is not approved, the student will need to revise and resubmit it for review. You can get editing help from an online dissertation writing service , so you have no reason to stress!

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Free Dissertation Proposal Samples and Examples

Writing a dissertation proposal can be hard for some students. A way to solve this problem is to review the already available free samples of Research proposals available online. ResearchProspect helps students in this matter. We have a large database of free dissertation proposal examples to help students with their academic work. Review our samples now for inspiration!

Dissertation/Research Proposal Sample

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Frequently Ask Questions?

How our proposal samples can help you.

We have published numerous samples here to showcase our abilities, but also to help you become familiar with the construction, requirements, and layout of a dissertation proposal.

The proposal outlines what you plan to research and what you’re looking to achieve through the exploration. Thus, it is also called a research proposal. It’s a small version of what the full dissertation might eventually become.

It is a relatively short but comprehensive paper that describes the specifics of the research you intend to conduct. The ideal proposal will contain certain research elements and will adhere to a specific structure.

This structure requires the proposal to contain certain sections: research aims and objectives, the significance of the research, and the methodology you plan to use. As such, the proposal should include abstracts from the initial three chapters of a dissertation: the introduction, literature review, and methodology.

This is where our samples will really help you. You will be able to learn more about the essential elements of this kind of document and understand how the three sections are incorporated into it. As well as helping you learn about the proposal structure, you can use them as writing guides. Writing a dissertation is very different to writing an essay or coursework.

One main difference is the language and writing style, another is the depth of research required. Examining our proposal samples should demonstrate to you how to make effective transitions between sections, it can also ensure your statements are supported by appropriate references.

Reviewing our proposal examples, you will observe that all research aims and objectives are clearly and concisely stated, also, the importance and rationale of the research are explained at length.

The introduction section helps readers understand the importance of your topic and your perspective on conducting the research. Then the methodology chapter lays out the method of research you plan to use.

This section may include a timeline, known as the Gantt chart, which indicates the time you require for research. Finally, you should include a reference list where you cite any theory or other quoted works. You should also use in-text citations as with any academic work.

If you are still unsure how to write a first-class proposal, it would really be beneficial for you to make use of our proposal writing service. Our writers will adhere to your specifications for the proposal.

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We have assembled a carefully selected writing team. We put them through some tough testing at first, some describe it as an ‘academic assault course’. But we have to know our writers are qualified to do what we ask. These are the people who will do your writing. If they’re in our team, they’ve made the grade.

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For sure! We work seven days a week and only take three main UK holidays each year: Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Year’s.

What are the features of our Dissertation Proposal Writing Service?

Our dissertation proposal writing services are created to help undergraduate, Masters, and Ph.D. students with all aspects of their dissertation papers. The service includes the following;

• The writer we will assign to your proposal order will have the matching qualifications and expertise.
• Your completed proposal paper will be checked against our strict quality control procedures and academic standards.
• The service includes unlimited free amendments until you are fully satisfied with the work delivered. Our writers are always happy to resolve any issues that you identify in their work.
• The completed paper will be delivered along with a free anti-plagiarism report which is generated with our in-house plagiarism software. We guarantee 100% unique writing or your money back. It’s that simple!

What happens after you have received your Dissertation Proposal?

On receiving your dissertation proposal, read it and become familiar with it. Then you can present it to your supervisor or the graduate committee to apply for its approval. Once your proposal has been approved, the writer can start work on your dissertation immediately if that’s what you want.

Do you provide Ph.D. Proposal Help?

Yes, we can help you write your proposal. For a proposal at this level, it is a job for only the most experienced and qualified. With our Ph.D. proposal writing service, the work will be completed by an expert writer who holds a Ph.D. You would be paired with this writer so that you can explain all the specifics you want your proposal to contain. We’ve published some example proposals here on the site for you to inspect.

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Academic Proposals

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This resource introduces the genre of academic proposals and provides strategies for developing effective graduate-level proposals across multiple contexts.

Introduction

An important part of the work completed in academia is sharing our scholarship with others. Such communication takes place when we present at scholarly conferences, publish in peer-reviewed journals, and publish in books. This OWL resource addresses the steps in writing for a variety of academic proposals.

For samples of academic proposals, click here .

Important considerations for the writing process

First and foremost, you need to consider your future audience carefully in order to determine both how specific your topic can be and how much background information you need to provide in your proposal. While some conferences and journals may be subject-specific, most will require you to address an audience that does not conduct research on the same topics as you. Conference proposal reviewers are often drawn from professional organization members or other attendees, while journal proposals are typically reviewed by the editorial staff, so you need to ensure that your proposal is geared toward the knowledge base and expectations of whichever audience will read your work.

Along those lines, you might want to check whether you are basing your research on specific prior research and terminology that requires further explanation. As a rule, always phrase your proposal clearly and specifically, avoid over-the-top phrasing and jargon, but do not negate your own personal writing style in the process.

If you would like to add a quotation to your proposal, you are not required to provide a citation or footnote of the source, although it is generally preferred to mention the author’s name. Always put quotes in quotation marks and take care to limit yourself to at most one or two quotations in the entire proposal text. Furthermore, you should always proofread your proposal carefully and check whether you have integrated details, such as author’s name, the correct number of words, year of publication, etc. correctly.

Methodology is often a key factor in the evaluation of proposals for any academic genre — but most proposals have such a small word limit that writers find it difficult to adequately include methods while also discussing their argument, background for the study, results, and contributions to knowledge. It's important to make sure that you include some information about the methods used in your study, even if it's just a line or two; if your proposal isn't experimental in nature, this space should instead describe the theory, lens, or approach you are taking to arrive at your conclusions.

Reasons proposals fail/common pitfalls

There are common pitfalls that you might need to improve on for future proposals.

The proposal does not reflect your enthusiasm and persuasiveness, which usually goes hand in hand with hastily written, simply worded proposals. Generally, the better your research has been, the more familiar you are with the subject and the more smoothly your proposal will come together.

Similarly, proposing a topic that is too broad can harm your chances of being accepted to a conference. Be sure to have a clear focus in your proposal. Usually, this can be avoided by more advanced research to determine what has already been done, especially if the proposal is judged by an important scholar in the field. Check the names of keynote speakers and other attendees of note to avoid repeating known information or not focusing your proposal.

Your paper might simply have lacked the clear language that proposals should contain. On this linguistic level, your proposal might have sounded repetitious, have had boring wording, or simply displayed carelessness and a lack of proofreading, all of which can be remedied by more revisions. One key tactic for ensuring you have clear language in your proposal is signposting — you can pick up key phrases from the CFP, as well as use language that indicates different sections in academic work (as in IMRAD sections from the organization and structure page in this resource). This way, reviewers can easily follow your proposal and identify its relatedness to work in the field and the CFP.

Conference proposals

Conference proposals are a common genre in graduate school that invite several considerations for writing depending on the conference and requirements of the call for papers.

Beginning the process

Make sure you read the call for papers carefully to consider the deadline and orient your topic of presentation around the buzzwords and themes listed in the document. You should take special note of the deadline and submit prior to that date, as most conferences use online submission systems that will close on a deadline and will not accept further submissions.

If you have previously spoken on or submitted a proposal on the same topic, you should carefully adjust it specifically for this conference or even completely rewrite the proposal based on your changing and evolving research.

The topic you are proposing should be one that you can cover easily within a time frame of approximately fifteen to twenty minutes. You should stick to the required word limit of the conference call. The organizers have to read a large number of proposals, especially in the case of an international or interdisciplinary conference, and will appreciate your brevity.

Structure and components

Conference proposals differ widely across fields and even among individual conferences in a field. Some just request an abstract, which is written similarly to any other abstract you'd write for a journal article or other publication. Some may request abstracts or full papers that fit into pre-existing sessions created by conference organizers. Some request both an abstract and a further description or proposal, usually in cases where the abstract will be published in the conference program and the proposal helps organizers decide which papers they will accept. 

If the conference you are submitting to requires a proposal or description, there are some common elements you'll usually need to include. These are a statement of the problem or topic, a discussion of your approach to the problem/topic, a discussion of findings or expected findings, and a discussion of key takeaways or relevance to audience members. These elements are typically given in this order and loosely follow the IMRAD structure discussed in the organization and structure page in this resource. 

The proportional size of each of these elements in relation to one another tends to vary by the stage of your research and the relationship of your topic to the field of the conference. If your research is very early on, you may spend almost no time on findings, because you don't have them yet. Similarly, if your topic is a regular feature at conferences in your field, you may not need to spend as much time introducing it or explaining its relevance to the field; however, if you are working on a newer topic or bringing in a topic or problem from another discipline, you may need to spend slightly more space explaining it to reviewers. These decisions should usually be based on an analysis of your audience — what information can reviewers be reasonably expected to know, and what will you have to tell them?

Journal Proposals

Most of the time, when you submit an article to a journal for publication, you'll submit a finished manuscript which contains an abstract, the text of the article, the bibliography, any appendices, and author bios. These can be on any topic that relates to the journal's scope of interest, and they are accepted year-round.

Special issues , however, are planned issues of a journal that center around a specific theme, usually a "hot topic" in the field. The editor or guest editors for the special issue will often solicit proposals with a call for papers (CFP) first, accept a certain number of proposals for further development into article manuscripts, and then accept the final articles for the special issue from that smaller pool. Special issues are typically the only time when you will need to submit a proposal to write a journal article, rather than submitting a completed manuscript.

Journal proposals share many qualities with conference proposals: you need to write for your audience, convey the significance of your work, and condense the various sections of a full study into a small word or page limit. In general, the necessary components of a proposal include:

• Problem or topic statement that defines the subject of your work (often includes research questions)
• Background information (think literature review) that indicates the topic's importance in your field as well as indicates that your research adds something to the scholarship on this topic
• Methodology and methods used in the study (and an indication of why these methods are the correct ones for your research questions)
• Results or findings (which can be tentative or preliminary, if the study has not yet been completed)
• Significance and implications of the study (what will readers learn? why should they care?)

This order is a common one because it loosely follows the IMRAD (introduction, methods, results and discussion) structure often used in academic writing; however, it is not the only possible structure or even always the best structure. You may need to move these elements around depending on the expectations in your field, the word or page limit, or the instructions given in the CFP.

Some of the unique considerations of journal proposals are:

• The CFP may ask you for an abstract, a proposal, or both. If you need to write an abstract, look for more information on the abstract page. If you need to write both an abstract and a proposal, make sure to clarify for yourself what the difference is. Usually the proposal needs to include more information about the significance, methods, and/or background of the study than will fit in the abstract, but often the CFP itself will give you some instructions as to what information the editors are wanting in each piece of writing.
• Journal special issue CFPs, like conference CFPs, often include a list of topics or questions that describe the scope of the special issue. These questions or topics are a good starting place for generating a proposal or tying in your research; ensuring that your work is a good fit for the special issue and articulating why that is in the proposal increases your chances of being accepted.
• Special issues are not less valuable or important than regularly scheduled issues; therefore, your proposal needs to show that your work fits and could readily be accepted in any other issue of the journal. This means following some of the same practices you would if you were preparing to submit a manuscript to a journal: reading the journal's author submission guidelines; reading the last several years of the journal to understand the usual topics, organization, and methods; citing pieces from this journal and other closely related journals in your research.

Book Proposals

While the requirements are very similar to those of conference proposals, proposals for a book ought to address a few other issues.

General considerations

Since these proposals are of greater length, the publisher will require you to delve into greater detail as well—for instance, regarding the organization of the proposed book or article.

Publishers generally require a clear outline of the chapters you are proposing and an explication of their content, which can be several pages long in its entirety.

You will need to incorporate knowledge of relevant literature, use headings and sub-headings that you should not use in conference proposals. Be sure to know who wrote what about your topic and area of interest, even if you are proposing a less scholarly project.

Publishers prefer depth rather than width when it comes to your topic, so you should be as focused as possible and further outline your intended audience.

You should always include information regarding your proposed deadlines for the project and how you will execute this plan, especially in the sciences. Potential investors or publishers need to know that you have a clear and efficient plan to accomplish your proposed goals. Depending on the subject area, this information can also include a proposed budget, materials or machines required to execute this project, and information about its industrial application.

Pre-writing strategies

As John Boswell (cited in: Larsen, Michael. How to Write a Book Proposal. Writers Digest Books , 2004. p. 1) explains, “today fully 90 percent of all nonfiction books sold to trade publishers are acquired on the basis of a proposal alone.” Therefore, editors and agents generally do not accept completed manuscripts for publication, as these “cannot (be) put into the usual channels for making a sale”, since they “lack answers to questions of marketing, competition, and production.” (Lyon, Elizabeth. Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write . Perigee Trade, 2002. pp. 6-7.)

In contrast to conference or, to a lesser degree, chapter proposals, a book proposal introduces your qualifications for writing it and compares your work to what others have done or failed to address in the past.

As a result, you should test the idea with your networks and, if possible, acquire other people’s proposals that discuss similar issues or have a similar format before submitting your proposal. Prior to your submission, it is recommended that you write at least part of the manuscript in addition to checking the competition and reading all about the topic.

The following is a list of questions to ask yourself before committing to a book project, but should in no way deter you from taking on a challenging project (adapted from Lyon 27). Depending on your field of study, some of these might be more relevant to you than others, but nonetheless useful to reiterate and pose to yourself.

• Do you have sufficient enthusiasm for a project that may span years?
• Will publication of your book satisfy your long-term career goals?
• Do you have enough material for such a long project and do you have the background knowledge and qualifications required for it?
• Is your book idea better than or different from other books on the subject? Does the idea spark enthusiasm not just in yourself but others in your field, friends, or prospective readers?
• Are you willing to acquire any lacking skills, such as, writing style, specific terminology and knowledge on that field for this project? Will it fit into your career and life at the time or will you not have the time to engage in such extensive research?

Essential elements of a book proposal

Your book proposal should include the following elements:

• Your proposal requires the consideration of the timing and potential for sale as well as its potential for subsidiary rights.
• It needs to include an outline of approximately one paragraph to one page of prose (Larsen 6) as well as one sample chapter to showcase the style and quality of your writing.
• You should also include the resources you need for the completion of the book and a biographical statement (“About the Author”).
• Your proposal must contain your credentials and expertise, preferably from previous publications on similar issues.
• A book proposal also provides you with the opportunity to include information such as a mission statement, a foreword by another authority, or special features—for instance, humor, anecdotes, illustrations, sidebars, etc.
• You must assess your ability to promote the book and know the market that you target in all its statistics.

The following proposal structure, as outlined by Peter E. Dunn for thesis and fellowship proposals, provides a useful guide to composing such a long proposal (Dunn, Peter E. “Proposal Writing.” Center for Instructional Excellence, Purdue University, 2007):

• Literature Review
• Identification of Problem
• Statement of Objectives
• Rationale and Significance
• Methods and Timeline
• Literature Cited

Most proposals for manuscripts range from thirty to fifty pages and, apart from the subject hook, book information (length, title, selling handle), markets for your book, and the section about the author, all the other sections are optional. Always anticipate and answer as many questions by editors as possible, however.

Finally, include the best chapter possible to represent your book's focus and style. Until an agent or editor advises you to do otherwise, follow your book proposal exactly without including something that you might not want to be part of the book or improvise on possible expected recommendations.

Publishers expect to acquire the book's primary rights, so that they can sell it in an adapted or condensed form as well. Mentioning any subsidiary rights, such as translation opportunities, performance and merchandising rights, or first-serial rights, will add to the editor's interest in buying your book. It is enticing to publishers to mention your manuscript's potential to turn into a series of books, although they might still hesitate to buy it right away—at least until the first one has been a successful endeavor.

The sample chapter

Since editors generally expect to see about one-tenth of a book, your sample chapter's length should reflect that in these building blocks of your book. The chapter should reflect your excitement and the freshness of the idea as well as surprise editors, but do not submit part of one or more chapters. Always send a chapter unless your credentials are impeccable due to prior publications on the subject. Do not repeat information in the sample chapter that will be covered by preceding or following ones, as the outline should be designed in such a way as to enable editors to understand the context already.

How to make your proposal stand out

Depending on the subject of your book, it is advisable to include illustrations that exemplify your vision of the book and can be included in the sample chapter. While these can make the book more expensive, it also increases the salability of the project. Further, you might consider including outstanding samples of your published work, such as clips from periodicals, if they are well-respected in the field. Thirdly, cover art can give your potential publisher a feel for your book and its marketability, especially if your topic is creative or related to the arts.

In addition, professionally formatting your materials will give you an edge over sloppy proposals. Proofread the materials carefully, use consistent and carefully organized fonts, spacing, etc., and submit your proposal without staples; rather, submit it in a neat portfolio that allows easy access and reassembling. However, check the submission guidelines first, as most proposals are submitted digitally. Finally, you should try to surprise editors and attract their attention. Your hook, however, should be imaginative but inexpensive (you do not want to bribe them, after all). Make sure your hook draws the editors to your book proposal immediately (Adapted from Larsen 154-60).

What’s Included: Research Proposal Template

Our free dissertation/thesis proposal template covers the core essential ingredients for a strong research proposal. It includes clear explanations of what you need to address in each section, as well as straightforward examples and links to further resources.

The research proposal template covers the following core elements:

• Introduction & background (including the research problem)
• Literature review
• Research design / methodology
• Project plan , resource requirements and risk management

The cleanly-formatted Google Doc can be downloaded as a fully editable MS Word Document (DOCX format), so you can use it as-is or convert it to LaTeX.

PS – if you’d like a high-level template for the entire thesis, you can we’ve got that too .

Research Proposal Template FAQS

What types of research proposals can this template be used for.

The proposal template follows the standard format for academic research projects, which means it will be suitable for the vast majority of dissertations and theses (especially those within the sciences), whether they are qualitative or quantitative in terms of design.

Keep in mind that the exact requirements for the introduction chapter/section will vary between universities and degree programs. These are typically minor, but it’s always a good idea to double-check your university’s requirements before you finalise your structure.

Is this template for an undergrad, Master or PhD-level proposal?

This template can be used for a research project at any level of study. Doctoral-level projects typically require the research proposal to be more extensive/comprehensive, but the structure will typically remain the same.

How long should my research proposal be?

The length of a research proposal varies by institution and subject, but as a ballpark, it’s usually between 1,500 and 3,000 words.

To be safe, it’s best to check with your university if they have any preferences or requirements in terms of minimum and maximum word count for the research propsal.

How detailed should the methodology of the proposal be?

You don’t need to go into the fine details of your methodology, but this section should be detailed enough to demonstrate that your research approach is feasible and will address your research questions effectively. Be sure to include your intended methods for data collection and analysis.

Can I include preliminary data or pilot study results in my proposal?

Generally, yes. This can strengthen your proposal by demonstrating the feasibility of your research. However, make sure that your pilot study is approved by your university before collecting any data.

Can I share this template with my friends/colleagues?

Yes, you’re welcome to share this template in its original format (no editing allowed). If you want to post about it on your blog or social media, we kindly request that you reference this page as your source.

What format is the template (DOC, PDF, PPT, etc.)?

The research proposal template is provided as a Google Doc. You can download it in MS Word format or make a copy to your Google Drive. You’re also welcome to convert it to whatever format works best for you, such as LaTeX or PDF.

Do you have templates for the other chapters?

Yes, we do. We are constantly developing our collection of free resources to help students complete their dissertations and theses. You can view all of our template resources here .

Can Grad Coach help me with my dissertation/thesis?

Yes, you’re welcome to get in touch with us to discuss our private coaching services .

Further Resources: Proposal Writing

The template provides step-by-step guidance for each section of your research proposal, but if you’d like to learn more about how to write up a high-quality research proposal, check out the rest of our free proposal-related resources:

• Research Proposal 101
• Examples of research proposals
• How To Find A Research Topic
• How To Find A Research Gap
• Developing Your Golden Thread
• How To Write A Research Proposal
• 8 Common Proposal Writing Mistakes

You can also visit the Grad Coach blog for more proposal-related resources.

If you’d prefer 1-on-1 support with your research proposal, have a look at our private coaching service , where we hold your hand through the research process, step by step.

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Examples of research proposals

How to write your research proposal, with examples of good proposals.

Research proposals

Your research proposal is a key part of your application. It tells us about the question you want to answer through your research. It is a chance for you to show your knowledge of the subject area and tell us about the methods you want to use.

We use your research proposal to match you with a supervisor or team of supervisors.

In your proposal, please tell us if you have an interest in the work of a specific academic at York St John. You can get in touch with this academic to discuss your proposal. You can also speak to one of our Research Leads. There is a list of our Research Leads on the Apply page.

When you write your proposal you need to:

• Highlight how it is original or significant
• Explain how it will develop or challenge current knowledge of your subject
• Identify the importance of your research
• Show why you are the right person to do this research
• Research Proposal Example 1 (DOC, 49kB)
• Research Proposal Example 2 (DOC, 0.9MB)
• Research Proposal Example 3 (DOC, 55.5kB)
• Research Proposal Example 4 (DOC, 49.5kB)

Subject specific guidance

• Writing a Humanities PhD Proposal (PDF, 0.1MB)
• Writing a Creative Writing PhD Proposal (PDF, 0.1MB)
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