By: Derek Jansen (MBA). Expert review by: Dr. Eunice Rautenbach | June 2021
Divide your thesis into descriptive steps
Writing a thesis is a process with well-defined steps
The details of each step vary slightly depending on your field. But for most dissertation writers, the steps are first, gather ideas, second, edit and analyze data, and third, polish.
Copyright basics first
Before using the workflow, it can be helpful to first understand what copyright is and what it is not. In short, copyright means that authors are granted publication, reproduction, and other exclusive rights to their original works for a limited period of time.
This is what it means for your thesis: if you include someone else’s work that is “copyrighted” – that is, protected by the publisher’s copyright law and still within that limited time period (usually at least the author’s lifetime + 70 years in the US), you should consider whether you need the author’s permission to include this work. You do not need a license if your use is “fair” under the law. Don’t worry, our guide helps determine what qualifies as fair use, as well as what qualifies for copyright protection in the first place.
How long will it take you to write your thesis?
There is tension here because you are more useful in the lab as you near the end of your PhD. A week of lab is now worth a month (or more) before your PhD. You are more valuable to your lab/IP/science/career at this point and continuing to work in the lab will earn you more rewards.
But he won’t get to write his thesis.
The first part of writing is heavy lifting and can be done around lab work. “Deep writing” and reading require time for most students.
In summary
It goes without saying that the facts of the thesis vs. Therefore, one term is not accepted in place of another as academic. You need to remember the purpose of each one and use them accordingly. However, one is not undermined by the other. Whether you are writing a thesis or a dissertation, both should be done with the same concern. Requires critical and general technical skills. Developing your time management and academic writing skills play an important role in practicing both types of academic writing.
How do you define thesis vs thesis? Should these terms be used interchangeably? How is your approach to writing a dissertation different from a dissertation approach? What are the other differences between a thesis and a dissertation? Leave us now in the comments section below! You can also visit our Q&A forum for frequently asked questions related to various aspects of research writing and publishing answered by our team of subject matter experts, renowned researchers and publishing experts.