Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Dissertation

Many doctoral dissertations make significant contributions to ongoing research. However, they are sometimes criticized or even rejected by doctoral committees.

This is often not due to the topic or content but rather to avoidable mistakes made during the writing process. This article highlights the most common errors in dissertations and provides guidance on how doctoral students can steer clear of them.

Errors in citations and bibliographies

Footnotes and citations are often seen as a measure of the scholarly quality of a text (Meuser, 2002: 163). In a doctoral dissertation, citations play a crucial role in supporting the research findings. Despite their importance, citations are one of the most common sources of errors in dissertations—and these mistakes are often unintentional.

Plagiarism Caused by Improper Citation

Many citation errors occur during online research, often due to copying and pasting information (as noted in a blog post by the University of Westphalia). When sources are copied without immediately noting their origin, doctoral candidates risk blending their own ideas with someone else's work. This can result in a dissertation riddled with unintentional plagiarism, which could ultimately jeopardize the candidate's degree.

The best way to avoid this is to clearly mark any ideas or text that are not your own as soon as you include them in your work. Use methods such as highlighting, underlining, or applying a different font to distinguish these sections. Additionally, always follow proper citation practices by including the source in a footnote or in-text citation using the required citation style.

Plagiarism Caused by an Incomplete Bibliography

A poorly organized or incomplete bibliography can create a negative impression of your work and even lead to plagiarism issues. Plagiarism detection software can identify missing sources, potentially flagging them as plagiarized material. To avoid this, ensure that every source cited in your dissertation is included in the bibliography (Kühl, 2016: 118).

Using reference management tools like Citavi or Mendeley can help keep track of your sources and ensure your bibliography is complete and properly formatted. These tools can save time and help maintain consistency in your citations and bibliography.

Formatting Errors in Dissertations

Paying close attention to formatting is crucial, especially after spending years working on a dissertation. It’s also essential to ensure that your formatting complies with the doctoral regulations. Common mistakes include inconsistently named bullet points, such as switching between numbers and Roman numerals. Another frequent issue is the inconsistent use of abbreviations—any abbreviation used in the text must match the one listed in the abbreviation index (Hirsch-Weber, 2016: 203).

Errors in Paragraph Length

Many doctoral students struggle to determine the appropriate length for paragraphs. A useful guideline is to limit one core idea to each paragraph. Overly short paragraphs can give the impression that the writer is unable to fully develop their thoughts, while excessively long paragraphs can make the text feel disorganized and harder to follow.

Additionally, the structure and length of bullet points and their sub-points should be balanced. For example, in an 80-page dissertation, it’s recommended to include two outline pages and to limit bullet points to no more than five levels (Burchert, 2008: 83). Balancing these elements makes the dissertation easier to read and more professionally structured.

Other Common Mistakes During Dissertation Writing

Some errors, while unrelated to the actual writing, can still lead to major setbacks. For example, it’s crucial for doctoral candidates to back up their work across multiple storage options, such as USB drives, cloud services, or platforms like Dropbox. Losing months or even years of work due to a technical failure can be devastating.

Creating a timeline is equally important for completing the dissertation. While it doesn’t need to be overly rigid (Sonnentag, 2006: 92), having a clear plan helps keep progress on track.

Mistakes in Refining the Dissertation’s Language

One of the biggest errors is not seeking enough feedback from the doctoral advisor before polishing the language of the dissertation. The advisor serves as a mentor and can provide valuable guidance on whether the thesis is heading in the right direction. If they raise concerns, it’s better to address content issues before moving to final edits.

The final review should be conducted by a third party for an objective assessment. This includes checking for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, as well as evaluating the style and coherence of the dissertation. Doctoral candidates should also leave enough time to integrate the suggested changes into their work.