Skip to content 
Thesis writing mistakes are often made. For example, one big mistake people make when writing their thesis is worrying too much about how it looks instead of what it actually says. Yes, it’s important for your thesis to be well-organized, but if you focus only on the structure, you might end up writing something that sounds good but doesn’t really say anything interesting. Think of your thesis as a chance to share your ideas and show what you’ve learned. Make sure your writing is clear and gets to the point, so anyone reading it understands why your topic is cool and worth knowing about. In this article, we cover a range of different potential mistakes and share thesis writing tips to overcome them.
Some basics about thesis writing
How Should you start writing your thesis?
A thesis statement is a verdict that sums up the main target of your paper or essay. It usually moves nearer the end of your presentation. Your thesis will consider a bit contrasting depending on the kind of survey you are presenting. But the thesis statement should always clearly justify the central idea you want to get across. Follow the link to learn how to craft a perfect thesis statement.
How long should a thesis be?
The length of most master thees is 80 to 100 pages. All disquisitions should be divided into suitable sections, and long dissertations may need chapters, main divisions, and subdivisions.
Can you fail a thesis?
At the end of the thesis writing process, each member of the committee assigns a grade of “pass” or “fail”. A majority of the committee must approve the thesis, and a candidate cannot be passed if more than one vote of “fail” is reported. In order to write a thesis that gets approved, it’s essential to avoid the following thesis writing mistakes.
Major errors to avoid while writing a thesis:
- Not doing “enough” research
- Putting things off until the last minute
- Choosing the wrong topic
- Being disorganized
- Providing too much information
- Committing plagiarism
- Choosing readers and editors who aren’t critical enough
- Checking the final product for grammar and spelling mistakes only
- Avoiding expert help for proofreading and editing
- Failing in writing an impressive thesis statement
- Using Inappropriate Academic Language
- The Conclusion Doesn’t Conclude or Doesn’t Exist
We will cover each point in the next section.
11 thesis writing mistakes students make
1. Not doing “enough” research: A major thesis writing mistake
The total sum of research you will undertake for a master’s thesis will be substantially over most of the tasks you have done before—even more so if you are doing your doctoral dissertation. When you have ample research, you will have a rich amount of ideas and thoughts to get your creative river flow. Only then can you explore your thoughts and original ideas that will form the crux of your work. When your arguments are not stopped with adequate references, it shows. It can undermine all the other work you have put in.
It is also a fault to bring out a lot of research, but only in a very narrow way. Read thoroughly and deeply in your field. A variety of resources lends your work credibility and lessens any appearance of bias.
2. Putting things off until the last minute
The average dissertation is between 100 and 200 pages, although, depending on the topic, a dissertation could be even longer. In any case, that is a lot of work to leave until the last minute to rush.
You will have to submit many drafts and give your supervisors and others’ thoughts enough time to digest them. You will also require time to respond to their feedback. And these will have to happen on top of the classes and other responsibilities you and they already have. If you rush your writing, you might make careless thesis mistakes, but more importantly, you won’t have enough time to convey a truly unique insight into your work. Plan well and then add more cushion to that plan than you think you will need.
3. Choosing the wrong topic
If you choose a topic that is not interesting to anyone but yourself, or that you are not specifically attentive to, you might have an issue maintaining others or your awareness after working on it for several months or even years. That is an unsatisfactory location to find yourself in when you are trying to complete.
There are other ways to choose deficiently. Do not choose a topic that is trite academic in a way to impress others. You will bore yourself and potentially not be up to the topic. Also, consider whether your specific topic is outdated or has been written thousands of times before.
4. Being disorganized
This makes an entreaty not only to your research methodology, specifically in the sciences but also to the writing process itself. You must have a proper system in location so that you can retain the path of your citations, sources, and quotes. And each specific part of your dissertation should be showing a clear and suitable formation and progression of ideas and plan. Your job can be ablaze and ground-breaking, but a lack of organization will make it entirely unreachable.
5. Providing too much information
Yes, there is a certain thing when it comes to staying concentrated on the central idea in your jobs. Giving sufficient background and context is crucial to writing a credible document or subjects and doing an appreciable deal of research will give you strength and a proper base. However, tangential thinking and irrelevant, unsuitable points are distracting. They also give the appearance of being filler.
6. Committing plagiarism: A huge dissertation writing mistake
We have already discussed plagiarism, but it is worth mentioning once more. Avoiding it is a leap to having a proper and organized writing process, but even the most well-meaning writer can slip up if they are not alert about it. You will put your reputation and your work in danger if you plagiarize, even if it is accidental. If it doubts, use a plagiarism checking service to make sure your work is all above board.
7. Choosing readers and editors who are not critical enough
A successful thesis or dissertation fortunately or unfortunately is not just up to you. You will need committees, readers, and advisors to assess the worth of your progress, assist you, challenge you, and ultimately grade your work.
We all need encouragement, especially with tasks that are as overwhelming as the capstone research that can explain your academic career. However, if readers are not detecting anything wrong with your work, they are doing you a disservice. Mistakes are made by everyone, and everyone can upgrade their work. Be sure that the people you select to be your readers during the various drafts give you positive feedback and constructive criticism with which you can work.
8. Checking the final product for grammar and spelling mistakes only
Authentication and editing your dissertation or thesis are not just about typos, punctuation, spellings, and grammar. Whether you do it yourself or outsource this duty to a professional editor, you must check the flow and consistency of the writing as well as the logic of your ideas. Your work should be well supported and well structured, with correct syntax and academic language. And do not fail to recall formatting and citations, which vary from field to field.
9. Avoiding expert help for proofreading and editing
Proofreading and copy-edit are integral bits of thesis writing. Committing inaccuracy refers to compromising the quality of a thesis/dissertation. Experienced proofreading and editing services examine the whole thesis from start to end and construct all the compulsory phrases of grammar, punctuation, referencing, and even sentence construction. Especially, non-native English speakers make mistakes in terms of language and style.
However, irrespective of native or non-native speakers, they meet failures in formatting, referencing, and keeping the consistency of the thesis or dissertation from each aspect.
10. Failing in authoring an impressive thesis statement
Drafting a precise Thesis statement is yet another most important bit of a thesis paper. Choosing a suitable and excellent topic and developing a comprehensive paper will be not enough if your thesis statement is not magnificent enough. Your thesis statement must be all-inclusive, bold, alluring, dependable, trustworthy, and precise. This will be the only initial step where readers will get to know and engage in your research.
11. Using Inappropriate Academic Language
In the Universities that do not offer special research work manuals, the students lack basic research information. Even some students do not know anything about the academic writing language. For general information, you cannot use personal pronouns. The personal pronouns include I, We, and You. The presence of personal pronouns in the thesis statement is the most common mistake a student must avoid.
Apart from all the above-mentioned mistakes in making the list of common thesis statement writing issues, you can get help from many other guides. Online guides such as Tips to draft a good thesis statement and many others can help you resolve most issues in thesis writing. Seeking help from experts can save a passenger from getting lost.
12. The Conclusion Doesn’t Conclude or Doesn’t Exist
If the conduct is donated to catch readers and persuade them to keep digging in, the cessation is meant to tie up the loaf, so the ones who read come away contended. Often, though, I see a cheque where the piece suddenly clears, as if the writer disburse all their ideas on the taste of the post and had no room port for the conclusion.
Conclusions can be problematic: How to knot everything in such a way that it makes an enduring sense? Triplett Lentz’s advice:
When you do not know how to conclude a piece of writing, try answering the “so what?” question. Why should anyone care about this? How does your idea apply to the reader as a human being? Can you situate your thesis in a broader context? If your post is about how to work a 40-hour week, for example, use the conclusion to address why that’s a goal worth pursuing or discuss the widespread problems that our culture of overwork creates.
The conclusion is a chance to quiz readers to capture with additional, immediate them to the purpose content, or provide them extra to think about.
Conclusion: Your road to writing a thesis free of mistakes
Writing a thesis can be tough, and there are some common thesis writing mistakes to avoid. First, do enough research to have strong ideas. Rushing or waiting until the last minute can make your work sloppy. Choosing a topic you’re not interested in can make the process feel long and boring. Staying organized helps keep your ideas clear, while avoiding too much irrelevant information makes your work easier to read. It’s also important not to copy others’ work (that’s plagiarism), to get honest feedback, and to check more than just grammar. Expert help with editing is useful, and a clear thesis statement makes your main idea strong. Use proper academic language, avoid personal pronouns, and don’t skip writing a conclusion that wraps everything up nicely.