How the Style of Dissertation Writing has Changed in the Last 50 Years

When it comes to academic writing, how individuals technically present their information is as crucial as the ideas they are offering. Proper citing, referencing source materials, and quoting allow them to express the research’s extent in a language that other students share in the discipline. Giving other professionals a chance to compare and review the work under the established rules and guidelines helps the instructors look at its intrinsic worth better. One must follow the rules like every other student since academic writing carries a certain expectation and formatting style. Even with the advancement in technology in the modern era, most of the dissertation norms have not changed much, below are the best way to properly format and style dissertations.

The Most Common Academic Styles

Three main writing styles are used to format academic papers, they include: 

APA style: This is the American Psychological Association style that is mainly preferred for social studies such as psychology, sociology, social work, or medicine

MLA style: The Modern Language Association style provides guidelines focused on the humanities, including English major, theatre students, and artists.

CMS style: This is the Chicago Manual of Style predominantly used in humanities, especially those studying advanced history and literature sections.

These formatting styles share many characteristics like spacing and margins, but the referencing is the main distinction. These differences could prove costly if one ignores them. Usually, students will use one kind for their classes and communications, but it is best to understand how to utilize them since it is not that hard to learn and use them.  

Writing Style

Since the student is writing a dissertation and presenting research results primarily for other academic community scholars, the style should be formal instead of conversational. The tone in the dissertation or thesis should be serious; generally, a casual writing style is not appropriate. Online services such as EduBirdie help students develop outstanding professional dissertations that enable an intelligent reader of a dissertation to understand the paper’s terminology and discussion despite their lack of specific knowledge in that field. The use of jargon is avoided since it confuses rather than clarifies the topic. The opening pages compromise of the title page, dissertation committee, among others. The main text, illustrations, among others are considered the manuscript’s body. The bibliography usually comes after the last chapter of the dissertation.

Conclusion

A dissertation is meant to be a chance for a student to let their skills shine through. However, asking a supervisor, family member, or friend for help in the dissertation is fine. The student’s supervisor is on hand to guide them, so they should not worry if they need to ask for help.