[Thesis title: specific topic, population or context, and approach]

Complete thesis or dissertation template for a master's or doctoral degree: front matter, the six core chapters, references and appendices, with guidance on purpose and expected length for each chapter and a writing timeline. Based on common academic practice; your university's thesis regulations and formatting guide always take precedence. Replace every [bracketed] value and every row marked Example.

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Revision history

Contents

• Front matter
• Chapter 1. Introduction
• Chapter 2. Literature review
• Chapter 3. Methodology
• Chapter 4. Results
• Chapter 5. Discussion
• Chapter 6. Conclusion
• Submission readiness checklist
• References
• Appendices
• Writing plan and timeline

Chapter length guide

The proportions below are typical for an empirical thesis. Adjust for your discipline; humanities theses are often organised by theme instead.

Front matter

Title page

Declaration of originality

[Use the exact wording your institution supplies. It usually states that the work is your own, that it has not been submitted for another degree, which parts were published or co-authored and what your contribution was, and how any generative AI tools were used.]

Abstract

[300-500 words, in one block. Cover: the problem and why it matters; the aim or research questions; the approach and data; the main findings; and the contribution. Write it last and do not cite references. Example opening: "Small island states face rising coastal flood risk, yet little is known about how local governments decide which adaptation projects to fund."]

Acknowledgements

[Thank supervisors, funders (with grant numbers), participants, colleagues, technical staff and family. Keep it to one page.]

Table of contents

[Generated by your word processor or typesetting system from the chapter headings, to three levels.]

List of figures

[Generated list: figure number, caption and page.]

List of tables

[Generated list: table number, caption and page.]

List of abbreviations

Publications arising from this thesis

[List papers published or submitted from the thesis, with your role, or state "None".]

Chapter 1. Introduction

1.1 Background and context

[Set the scene: the field, the practical or theoretical problem, and why it matters now.]

1.2 Problem statement

[State the specific problem or gap in one or two paragraphs that end with a clear sentence such as "It remains unknown how ..."]

1.3 Aim and research questions

1.4 Significance and contribution

[What the thesis adds: new evidence, a new method, a new theoretical account or practical guidance. Be concrete.]

1.5 Scope and delimitations

[What the study covers and deliberately leaves out, and why.]

1.6 Structure of the thesis

[One short paragraph per chapter describing its role in the argument. Example: "Chapter 2 reviews research on adaptation finance and local decision-making and develops the framework used in the analysis. Chapter 3 explains the comparative case-study design. Chapter 4 reports the findings for each research question, and Chapter 5 interprets them against the framework. Chapter 6 states the contributions and recommendations."]

1.7 Key terms

Chapter 2. Literature review

2.1 Approach to the review

[How sources were found and selected: databases, search terms, period, inclusion criteria. For a systematic review, describe the protocol.]

2.2 [Theme 1]

[Synthesise what the literature agrees on, disagrees on, and why. Compare methods, contexts and findings.]

2.3 [Theme 2]

[Second theme, same approach.]

2.4 [Theme 3]

[Third theme, same approach.]

2.5 Theoretical or conceptual framework

[The theory or framework that guides the study, how its concepts map to your variables or analytical categories, and why it was chosen over alternatives.]

2.6 Summary and research gap

[Bring the themes together and state the gap; link each research question to the part of the gap it addresses.]

Chapter 3. Methodology

3.1 Research philosophy and design

[Paradigm (for example post-positivist, interpretivist, pragmatist), overall design (experimental, survey, case study, mixed methods, ethnography) and the reasons they fit the research questions.]

3.2 Setting, population and sampling

[Population, sampling strategy, sample size and its justification (power analysis or saturation), recruitment.]

3.3 Data collection

3.4 Data analysis

[Analytical procedures for each data type, software and version, and how results were checked (inter-rater reliability, member checking, robustness tests).]

3.5 Quality criteria

[For quantitative work: reliability, internal and external validity. For qualitative work: credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability. Describe what you did to meet each.]

3.6 Ethical considerations

[Approval body and reference number, consent, confidentiality, data storage and retention, risks to participants and researcher.]

3.7 Researcher positionality and limitations of the method

[Your relationship to the topic and setting and how it may shape the work; known weaknesses of the design.]

Chapter 4. Results

4.1 Findings for RQ1

[Findings with supporting evidence: statistics with effect sizes and confidence intervals, or themes with representative quotations attributed by pseudonym.]

4.2 Findings for RQ2

[Same structure.]

4.3 Findings for RQ3

[Same structure.]

Present results in a consistent format. For quantitative findings report the test statistic, degrees of freedom, exact p value, effect size and 95% confidence interval, for example "t(118) = 2.45, p = .016, d = 0.45, 95% CI [0.08, 0.81]". For qualitative findings give the theme, how widely it occurred and one or two short quotations that illustrate it.

4.4 Summary of findings

[A short synthesis table or paragraph that answers each research question directly.]

Chapter 5. Discussion

5.1 Interpretation of key findings

[What the findings mean and how they answer the research questions.]

5.2 Relation to existing literature

[Where findings confirm, extend or contradict earlier work, and why.]

5.3 Theoretical implications

[How the findings refine or challenge the framework.]

5.4 Practical and policy implications

[Who should do what differently, based on the evidence.]

5.5 Limitations

[Limitations of design, sample, measurement and analysis, and their likely effect on the conclusions.]

Chapter 6. Conclusion

6.1 Summary of the research

[Problem, approach and main answer to each research question in a few paragraphs.]

6.2 Contributions to knowledge

[List each original contribution in one sentence.]

6.3 Recommendations and future research

[Specific recommendations and the next studies that would build on this one.]

6.4 Concluding remarks

[A final paragraph that returns to the problem stated in Chapter 1.]

Submission readiness checklist

Before submission confirm each item with your supervisor or graduate office.

• Word count within the limit, counted the way the regulations specify
• Every research question in Chapter 1 is answered explicitly in Chapter 6
• Every table and figure is numbered, captioned and cited in the text
• Abbreviations defined at first use and listed in the front matter
• Copyright permission obtained for reproduced figures and published papers
• Declaration of originality and AI-use statement completed and signed
• Similarity check run and any matches explained
• References complete, consistent and checked against sources
• Pagination, margins, fonts and binding meet the formatting guide
• Data management plan updated and data deposited where required
• Examiners nominated and conflicts of interest checked

Preparing for the examination

[List the questions examiners are most likely to ask: the original contribution, why the design was chosen, the main limitation and what you would do differently. Prepare a two-minute summary of the thesis and a one-minute answer for each likely question. Re-read the thesis in full in the week before the oral defence.]

References

[Full reference list in the chosen style, alphabetical for author-date styles or numbered in order of citation for numeric styles.]

• Example (APA 7): [Author, A. A.] ([2023]). [Title of book] ([2nd ed.]). [Publisher]. https://doi.org/[10.xxxx/xxxxx]
• Example (APA 7): [Author, A. A., & Author, B. B.] ([2024]). [Article title]. [Journal], [18]([2]), [101-118]. https://doi.org/[10.xxxx/xxxxx]

Appendices

Writing plan and timeline

The chart below shows a sample 12-month writing-up plan; replace dates and durations with your own.

Standard and licence note

Based on common academic practice for theses and dissertations in the empirical sciences and social sciences. Institutional regulations, formatting guides and declaration wording differ and take precedence over this template. Original text written for this collection; examples are illustrative. Template licence: MIT.