Writing Dissertations
All the elements needed for a successful dissertation.
Which sections go into a dissertation
Abstract
The Abstract is a summarised version of your complete paper. A reader could get the main ideas from just the abstract, or use the abstract to decide whether to read the rest of the paper:
- Briefly outline what your paper aims to do
- Briefly outline the results and the conclusions you have drawn from them.
The example shown on this page is taken from one held at the Solent Electronic Archive.
Does every dissertation or thesis have one?
Yes, though it may be called an executive summary.
Where do you put it?
The abstract will always come at the beginning of your paper, before the contents page.
The next page details the Contents page.