my dissertation entitled

Entitled vs. titled

| Grammarist

When they are synonymous with named  or  called , there is no substantive difference between entitled and titled . Some people object to this use  entitled , but the objection is baseless. The use of entitled to mean named goes back centuries, and entitled was in fact the preferred term until recently. Google Books uncovers only 23 instances of the phrase “book titled” in works published in the 19th century, against some 31,000 instances of “book entitled.” ( Titled in those days was much more often used to mean having a noble title .) This ngram , which graphs occurrence of the two phrases in English-language texts published from 1800 to 2000, shows that “book titled” did not gain significant ground until the second half of the 20th century:

The trend in this century goes against tradition. Google News searches covering the last few years show that titled now prevails by an approximately three-to-one margin. This is probably due to the growing use of entitled to mean having a right or claim to something .

Here are a few examples, spanning the last two centuries, of entitled used to mean named :

Mr Miller of Lincoln’s Inn has just published a book, entitled, “An Inquiry into the Present State of the Civil Law of England.” [ Blackwood’s Magazine (1825) ] A clever article entitled “Why Progress is in Leaps” might better have been entitled “A Review of the World’s Scientific Progress. [ Michigan Law Journal (1896) ] Both  the foregoing series by Hiroshige and Hiroshige II have been copied, practically line for line, by Hasegawa Sadanobu in a quarter-plate set entitled Shokoku Meisho Hyak’kei . [ A Guide to Japanese Prints and their Subject Matter , Basil Stewart (1922) ] So certain were the Brazilians of victory that they had already written and recorded a victory samba entitled “Brazil the Victora.” [ The Guardian (1950) ] The Rev. Donald Cozzens, author of a new and challenging book entitled ”The Changing Face of the Priesthood” will be the featured speaker. [ Boston Globe (2002) ]

Most examples of the use of titled from before the last few decades are like these (re-create our Google Books search here ):

The titled Aristocracy being the choosers, we may in practice reject the two last Classes of Eligibles, as they would scarcely ever be resorted to. [ Pamphlets for the People (1835) ] With such triumphs of aerial architecture did Mrs Nickleby occupy the whole evening after her accidental introduction to Ralph’s titled friends. [ The Life and Times of Nicholas Nickleby , Charles Dickens (1839) ] Returning with her to the principal room, where a titled lady sat ensconced in the corner of a sofa, he rudely pushed her aside with the words: “Get out of the way, fat cow.” [ Art and Life (1918) ]

Titled here means bearing a noble title .  

In current news publications, however, titled is very often used in place of entitled —for example:

Six years ago, The Times’ editorial board wrote a piece titled “The Math of the Market,” which argued that there was something special about having at least four companies competing in every segment. [ Los Angeles Times ] The talent hunt, titled Scene Stealers, asked amateur film-makers to borrow from Film 4 productions over the years. [ Guardian ] In a new e-book, titled  How to Survive in a Recession , Mr. Thug (née Stayve Jerome Thomas) doles out forthright financial advice. [ Globe and Mail ] Titled Ecce Homo (Behold the Man), the original was painted in oil in 1910 directly onto a column in the Iglesia del Santuario de Misericordia church in Borja, northeastern Spain.[ News.com.au ]

Examples of entitled used to mean named are still out there, but they are buried under thousands of instances of entitled used in its other sense.

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Usage and Grammar

Q. I’ve agreed to help a friend copyedit his dissertation (Ph.D., history). My friend uses “entitled” instead of “titled” when referring to conferences, books, dissertations, and articles. Examples include: He presented his work at a 1990 conference entitled “History and Education”; and Sam Smith’s 1964 dissertation, entitled “The Literacy Movement,” argues against Brown’s theory. OED marks this use of entitled as archaic. But it is not my dissertation, and I’m being paid only in beer. What would CMOS do?

A. I agree that “entitled” sounds a bit pompous; its overuse could become tedious. CMOS would demand either a little respect or a more reasonable wage.

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]

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Daily Writing Tips

Titled versus entitled.

Another day I was browsing around the Internet and I came across this sentence:

You might want to check out this great article that I found; it is entitled “bla bla bla.”

But was the article really entitled ?

There is a common confusion between the words titled and entitled . Titled would have been the correct adjective for that sentence. If something is “titled” it means that it received such a title, either by the author or by someone else.

Entitled, on the other hand, means that a person has rights to something. If you are entitled to a house, for instance, it means that the law protects your right to own that house.

Some dictionaries propose that “to entitle” can also mean “to give a title.” I have rarely seen mainstream publications back up such usage, however. Below you will find two quotations from The Economist illustrating the point.

A visit to Canada’s web-site where the Federal Government describes itself to the world, particularly the section titled “Powers of National and Provincial Governments, as written by the late Honourable Eugene A. (The Economist)

The largesse has not been restricted to poor children. Since 1998 all pre-schoolers have been entitled to some free nursery care once they turn four, and in 2004 that entitlement was extended to three-year-olds. (The Economist)

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51 thoughts on “Titled versus Entitled”

Claiming that you have rarely seen it done is not a good argument that it can or should not be done. According to the dictionary definition of “entitled”, I see no reason why your opening sentence needs to be changed. While I do agree that there is a stylistic convention, you seem to be arguing that it’s more of a black and white matter.

I must beg to differ. Perhaps “entitled” is not used as much anymore, but to say, John wrote an article entitled… is correct.

According to dictionary.com (look up “entitled”) this is a perfectly acceptable use of the word. Perhaps it’s more British in origin, but it is correct.

Entitled is incorrect, because, for example, a book has a Title. A book does not have an Entitle.

So, past tense of Title is Titled!! Titled is correct.

Entitled, when used to mean “to give title to,” is incorrectly used to refer to the title of an article, as in the example first given. One could say, “She entitled her article…,” but not, “Her article entitled…” She gave title to her article in the first example. But there was no giving in the second example.

Hi, I think many writers have been using the word “entitled” because it sounds better that “titled”. I know that the meaning of entitled may be incorrect for completing the sentence, but if you search the keyword “”an article entitled”, you will find our that many writers are still using that word instead of the titled.

I want to clear this matter up right now. Titled is how you describe a periodical’s name. Entitled, though fancy sounding when used in a sentence, cannot be used to describe a periodical’s name. It has no claim to the name therefore it is not entitled to be described that way. Here, in America, proper grammar is a must when describing anything and helps to make you appear intelligent to others. I cannot stand people who apply personifications to inanimate objects like book titles. Books don’t have any rights, personal opinions, or feelings about the name of their titles. They are what they are-books. That is all they can ever be. A vessel that provides knowledge for whomever reads them. So everyone stop trying to justify your idiotic arguments about referring to books’ titles as entitled because you cannot be anymore wrong about that and it makes you look like fools assigning personal feelings to book titles when they don’t have any emotions. So wise up and accept that what I speak is the truth. Either deal with it or don’t, but stop trying to defend your statements because they have no merits at all.

Interesting. This dictionary entry: clearly says that the word ‘entitled’ can be applied to a book.

Andrew, having a discussion is a fine thing. While using wrong wording can make people look ignorant, being so insistent can make one look churlish, uncivil and boorish.

Pretty much every dictionary disagrees with this article.

Andrew on March 14 is correct. Most of the rest of you, acquiesce. Or join the language Democracy, who, by majority, decide that nucular is a fine way to go.

Much as I think “entitled” sounds pretentious and much as I hate dictionary.com and the like, the OED backs the use of “entitle” as a verb to refer to the title of a work. Definition I.a. reads “To furnish (a literary work, a chapter, etc.) with a heading or superscription; in early use gen. (cf. title n.). Subsequently only in narrower sense: To give to (a book, etc.) a designation by which it is to be cited, or which indicates the nature of its contents. Chiefly with obj. compl.; also const. †by, †with.”

Examples of use include “a book entitled ‘De Nugis Curialium’” though more prevalent are examples of an author entitling his or her work.

I always thought people who used “titled” just didn’t know any better. All of the older books said, “the book was entitled…” I had no idea until today that any of you actually thought we were wrong. Please look up information before blogging. Otherwise, you just spread more mistakes.

Perhaps it’s just a case of a difference between British English and American English. I have a hunch (but no proof) that “entitled” is more correct in British English (in the quoted sentence), and “titled” in American English. If the people in favo(u)r of one or the other word could reveal which side of the Atlantic they come from, may be we would find a pattern.

The use of “titled” appears to be gaining ground in journalism and business-speak, but “the article is entitled ‘X'” is perfectly good English. Anyone who doubts that has clearly not read much in books. (For those who need an explanation: the word “entitle” used in this way is like “enthrone,” “enshrine,” or “entrap,” and semantically it has nothing to do with rights or entitlements.)

Looking in the 1948 Websters 2nd edition, the first definition the editors provide for entitle is to “give title to” as in “to entitle a book”…

Just because you find more people using the awkward sounding “to title” or “titled” does not mean that people who continue to use the word in its *long* accepted manner are doing so incorrectly. It is true that entitled has this creeping pejorative connotation as in “the entitled generation” or the derision heaped upon “entitlement programs” but these represent merely a second meaning to the word.

Your entry merits a revision.

I agree 100% with Literate, who posted the following two posts above this one:

The use of “titled” appears to be gaining ground in journalism and business-speak, but “the article is entitled ‘X’” is perfectly good English.

An object simply holding a title is one state, and an object coming to hold the title is another. “Titled” can more correctly be used for the former, “entitled” for the latter.

I have to say I was questioning whether to use the word entitled to describe the name I gave a chapter within a book. I was thinking this because it sounds better than title, but I wasn’t sure if that was correct. Then I read the this article and after reading all the comments I have to side with “entitled” and here’s why. A book, or a chapter within a book, has been given a titled, it has been entitled. Or, think of it this way, the book has been enveloped, wrapped with a title. As in “I have entitled this chapter ‘such and such'”.

Gee thanks, everyone. I am glad I clicked on this article to obtain clarification. Things are as clear as mud, thanks.

Andrew, you are a fool. As much as you drone on, you fail to provide your statements with evidence. Time to be a big boy Andrew. Pick up a reference and find the correct answer. Sometimes big boys read!

In my 40 years in academia (in the UK) I’ve never come across ‘titled’ for a book, article, chapter etc. The word makes me think of the House of Lords, the Upper House of Parliament. Its members, whether male or female, are all ‘titled’. This is perhaps why there is such a difference in usage between Britain and the US. Over there, you don’t tend to indulge in titles quite like we do.

I’m American and have used both “title” and ‘entitle,” but as I’ve progressed in academic writing, “entitled” has become much more prevelent in my work.

A couple of observations: as I read through the responses, it does appear that those who are pro “entitle” actually went to other sources to check the truth of the matter while those who oppose the usage seem to do so because the word bothers them. The arguments meant to mask this personal irritation don’t seem to have grounds or merit, one or two border on outright weird.

Also, as some suggested, this might be an American-English thing. If we think about how Americans have slowly moved away from British English, it makes sense that we will have our own ways of spelling and using words. But, since most of those who approve of “entitle” mentioned being avid readers, it seems our access to old books and therefore, older spellings (favour instead of favor) and usage, has informed our writing style. Or at least, our tolerance of uncommon usages and spellings.

Lastly, for Andy H. – it would seem that the British have the same reasons for disliking “titled” as Americans have for disliking “entitled.” Brits dislike the connotations of aristocracy in the word “titled” while Americans dislike “entitled” because of what we see as damaging unfair/welfare systems that are helpful to the rich and poor, respectively, but crushing to the middle class.

With respect, ‘titled’ is an Americanisation (as is commonly, the converting of a noun into a verb, by adding ‘ing’ onto it, even when no verb form of the noun exists). In Australia, I have always known the verb ‘entitled’ as meaning, ‘to have the title’. Many American modifications to English involves the erasure of anything French (so ‘colour’ becomes ‘color’). The dropping of the ‘en’ from ‘entitled’ is just another example. However, usage in America, is becoming adopted elsewhere ad hoc, so in as far as English is a living language, both ‘entitled’ and ‘titled’ are acceptable, but the latter is more recent. For some of us, the French influence on English is still a guilty pleasure. I suspect in the USA, it is an annoyance 😉

Just to give some historical perspective to this whole issue, the earliest recorded use of the word “title” in the sense of “to give a name to” appears to be 1590, whereas the earliest recorded use of “entitle” in this sense appears to be 1447. (Source: Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary). So purists and traditionalists can rest easy in the knowledge that both have a long and distinguished history, and there is no reason why either should be ousted from the English language any time soon.

John, I think you trumped them all. Congrats!

Those who insist that “entitled” cannot be used in the following manner, “the book of which she is speaking is entitled, Madame Bovery”, should learn more about syntactic categories…both are grammatically correct in this context.

The use of entitled can be round about justified with an ownership clause. Now that I’ve sed dat, thee openink line starting with that first word is in error, like totally mann. (4 spelling sic)

“Another day”

Try ‘The other day’, or ‘One day’, what a bust. Or as the kids say, fail.

Back to entitled vs titled, face it, our language is fluid and is in motion. I really despise “pleaded” instead of the Proper ‘pled’ past tense, and a few others just like it with the past tense using an ‘ed’ when there is a proper word to use, I hate periods too.

Good grief!

I’m not sure if anyone writing comments like “Here, in America, proper grammar is a must when describing anything and helps to make you appear intelligent to others” is really an American asking to be taken seriously, or just lampooning the literary style of that great nation with gentle irony.

For what its worth, if The Economist is being quoted as a reference source, a quick scan of recent articles in its “Culture” section reveals no examples of “titled”, but several of “entitled”, as in:

“Mr Köver has banned index.hu, Hungary’s most popular news portal, from reporting from the chamber after two of its reporters made a video entitled “Merry Christmas Hungarian democracy”.”

“Now at Crane Kalman Gallery is an exhibition entitled “Women and Art”.”

Fowler’s Modern English Usage simply says that when used “of a book etc” entitled means “given the title of”, seemingly irrespective of who gave it that title , or when. I take it that a book, once given a title, is from then on “entitled”, and should be referred to as such. Fowler seems unaware of the possibility that anyone might think that “titled” would be appropriate in reference to a book. If it were “titled” would we not have to call it “Sir”, or perhaps “Your Lordship”?

(And yes, I see that my typos are even worse typos than those of others in this thread!)

Actually, it appears to me that ‘entitled’ is the far more commonly used term when referring to the title of a book. ‘Titled’is used more often in connection with describing nobles who have a title; a count is for instance a ‘titled’ person. Mind, I’m not saying that using ‘titled’ to describe a book’s title is wrong – it is merely the less commonly used expression. While it is of course true that ‘entitled’ has another important meaning as well (‘having a claim to’), it is not unusual for one word to have two different meanings that can only be gleaned from the context in which they are used. There is no such rule as a ‘word must only have a single meaning’.

I came looking for a definitive answer on using title versus entitle when discussing the title of a book. I have my answer and it’s not what this web page suggests. I will continue to use entitle such “the book entitled…” It’s a valid use of the word and it sounds right to my ear whereas using “the book titled…” seems jarring to me.

James Piper Twitter @ByJamesPiper

Since we are all entitled to an opinion, I would like to simply say that I appreciate Andrew’s sense of humor… Having turned to this web link to find an answer, and instead of a solid answer I found humor… Cheers Andrew…

“Literate” gives such a great response. Using the other examples like “enthroned” et. al. make it much easier to understand. Both “entitled” and “titled” are indeed correct according to the OED. I’m used to seeing “entitled” used to mean “titled” because I’m an English major and read a fair amount of literary criticisms that refer to the title of a poem, a book, an article, etc.. The reason I started exploring the word tonight, however, has nothing to do with this use. I have heard it used ironically so frequently that I thought that usage must be one of the definition. I’m talking about in sentences such as: “The governor’s son was rich, snobbish and entitled.” or “Her beauty gave her an almost palpable sense of entitlement.” Any thoughts?

When referring to a written work such as a book, both titled and entitled are unnecessary For example, “The book, ‘Harry Potter’ is an excellent read.” It is obvious one is naming the title of the written work, as it was entitled by the author.

In a similar sentence “The author, JK Rowling wrote a great book.” we seldom, if ever see it written “The author (named) JK Rowling wrote a great book.”

What I think many people are missing is that, yes, both can be correct in the right context.

A person can give a title to something, therefore, entitled exists in your dictionary as having that meaning:

“Dr. Braun entitled his speech once he finished writing it.” This sentence is an acceptable use of the word “entitled.”

However, often when we see the word written it’s in a sentence that makes the usage contextually incorrect:

“The play, entitled “Down by the River,” was a fascinating interpretation of classical literature. In this sentence, the use of the word “entitled” is, without exception, completely wrong.

The play itself is not entitled to anything. The author has titled or entitled (both correct here) the play. But if the subject of the sentence is not a person who has given a title to, or bestowed a title upon something or someone, then the usage is wrong.

Does that make sense to everyone? I have a background in journalism as editor in chief of my college paper and this is precisely what modern journalism books teach at the collegiate level. It’s extremely important to be precise in journalism.

When I was in college I was given a “B” instead of an “A” on a major paper, after using the word “entitled” instead of “titled”.

This was many years ago but I was furious. but, at that time the professor insisted and had back up that I was wrong.

However, Webster’s Dictionary states now that “entitled” is correct when speaking of the name if a book.

I looked this up in 3 Dictionaries and all say “entitled” is correct.

No matter what we think as people, it really is not an opinion – it is a fact – dictionaries say it is correct so it is.

Entitle is a verb that means to give title to a book, film, etc. Therefore, we could say, “His novel, entitled ‘Pride and Prejudice, has won an award.” In this example, the subject of the sentence is the one who gave the title to the novel. Thus, we use entitled.

Titled is an adjective that is used after a verb that means ‘with the title of’. So, we could say, “Jessica wrote a report about Chelsea titled ‘Are you there Vodka?’ In this example, the subject only refers to a certain book which was given a title by an author.

Where did the author go to school?! He says there is only one definition of the word “entitled,” – “that a person has rights to something.” Seriously, have you actually looked the word up? Often the following definition is listed first under the word – “to give a name or title to,” as referenced in the online “The Free Dictionary.” I am fairly sure that when I was a child some 25 – 30 years ago, I mostly saw the word “entitled” properly used to describe a book, article, etc having a title. I rarely saw “titled” used in this way, and when I did, I knew it was WRONG because it was made clear to us in English grammar classes that you absolutely DO NOT use the word “titled” to describe the title of a work. (The main proper use of the word concerns a person with a title.) Truly, people might think it sounds odd now because for several years, it seems many publications have taken to using the incorrect word so that, just as I feared would result, everyone now thinks “titled” is the only – or at least preferred – way to refer to the title given to a book or the like. This is a major pet peeve of mine because, again, we were taught the clear distinction in the two words, and now most people have just thrown that out of the window.

From The Associated Press Stylebook, the arbiter of American journalistic style:

“Entitled: Use it to mean a right to do or have something. Do not use it to mean titled. Right: She was entitled to the promotion. Right: The book was titled “Gone With the Wind.”

The AP Stylebook, however, is often at odds with more formal English usage guides.

It’s very simple if you care to think about the evolution of the word. A title was ‘also’ something given to a person of note or prestige, such as a dignitary. They were ‘entitled’ meaning they were given that title. Because it was something of significance and respect, over the years a person has been referred to as ‘entitled to such a right.’ The language has evolved to include such a usage of the term and now people are starting to differentiate by using ‘titled’ in place of entitled. Neither is wrong because language evolves. (Personally, though, I would go with entitled – because my mum’s a teacher!!!).

To pick up on what michael bouwmanon November 11, 2011 said, although we seem to have had “entitled” (for books) since Middle English, from Anglo-French “entitler,” from Late Latin “intitulare,” from Latin in- + titulus (“inscription” or “label”) and it seems like the en- prefix, which creates transitive verbs from noun bases (e.g., throne (noun) > enthrone (verb)), has been natural for us in the past, perhaps we’re seeing Americans’ sparer sense of the the language making its influence felt.

My photographs have titles – but they are not entitled. Just my opinion and I’m sticking to it,

But what REALLY concerns me is this – when I frame a print for hanging in a gallery or art show, will the print be hung or hanged? Neither really “sounds” correct – but I tend to use “hung” to mean any form of suspension of an object (or person) by a rope or wire. Yet another case where American (bastardized) English is the reason. (And I am American!)

Andrew is the poster child for “YOU’RE WRONG!” Entitled, is most certainly a correct usage of the word. When referring to a title given to a book by an author it’s absolutely without a doubt, 100% correct.

Just read this interesting comment on the subject by Eugent Volokh at The Washington Post:

Prof. Mark Liberman (Language Log) quotes a commenter who writes,

In reference to: This ties in perfectly with the recent post entitled “Once more on the present continuative ending -ing in Chinese” in two ways:

Entitled is incorrect. TITLED is correct.

Unless the letters are “entitled” to an ice cream cone.

I’ve seen this elsewhere, and think it’s just zany. Look up “entitled” in the Random House Dictionary, and you see definition 2, “to call by a particular title or name: What was the book entitled?” Look it up in the Oxford English Dictionary, as you see examples going literally all the way back to Chaucer. (I mean here “literally” in the sense of “literally,” not in the sense of “figuratively.”) Unsurprisingly, other dictionaries follow suit. And a quick Google Ngrams search reports that, while “a book entitled” and “a book called” have been about equally common for centuries, “a book titled” was virtually never used until the late 1930s, and remains less than half as common than “a book entitled” even today.

Words have multiple meanings. That can be annoying. It can be distracting. Sometimes (though not that often) it can be confusing. But even if we wish that only one of those meanings survive, that doesn’t make all the others “wrong” under any sensible definition of “wrong” that I can think of.

So if you want to say that you think “entitled” in this context comes across to you as unduly fancy, or as potentially distracting, or as just plain annoying, go right ahead (though you might be properly reluctant to condemn a fellow participant in a conversation on such grounds). But there’s no basis, it seems to me, for labeling it “incorrect,” unless you can explain who died and appointed you Usage King.

The usage is based upon the prefix “en” (expressing entry into the specified state or location) as in ENscripted. Which justifies its usage in saying the book is ENtitled.

Language is fluid, but intellectual stubborness of this kind is plain ignorance. The use of the word “entitle” simply sounds more elegant in language, just as “How are you?” sounds more elegant than “Sup?”

Not to provide an answer to the endless discussion whether American-English or British-English should be followed as a guideline, but the title of a person and the title of a book are the exact same thing (they have a different use/meaning/purpose – but a title is a title). And as said before, the prefix en- is just there to denote that it has become rather than always was. (You are enthroned because you weren’t always on that throne,

Therefor I would argue that it is correct ‘to entitle’ something/someone, in which case he/she/it/whatever becomes ‘titled’. Anything can be given a title, therefor anything (from a photograph to a person and from a book to a car) can be titled, entitled, untitled and perhaps even overtitled (though OS X puts a dotted red line underneath that…).

The second meaning of to be entitled (to something) originates from there but (by now) isn’t related to whether someone actually has a title; and so isn’t even remotely related to the discussion of whether a book is titled or entitled. Arguing that a book cannot be entitled because ‘it has no rights’ is just plain gibberish.

Being entitled TO something and being (en)titled AS something is not the same. Period.

P.S. Not a native speaker, nor a perfect human. Also didn’t look it up. Deal with it.

Hmm. Interesting point, but I have to disagree. Perhaps I am older than you are?

Entitled has been, and still is, a correct way to refer to a book or publication.

So does the author of this not know it is still online, and that his statements have been shown to be inaccurate? You’d think he would have edited it or removed it by now. Just because modern styles have changed a bit, and people start misusing words, doesn’t mean a long established definition is wrong. That just sounds like the arrogance of youth.

Ed the Photographer: inanimate objects like your photographs are hung, people sentenced to death are hanged, eg “During the Salem witch trials, those found guilty were hanged at Gallows Hill, not burned at the stake as was frequently done in European witch trials.”

I was an English major and have worked in scientific publishing/communications for many years, but never heard “titled” used to describe what an article or book is called until this year. I have always used “entitled,” and I’m an American in case you couldn’t tell by my spelling and punctuation. Saying that a book is “titled” conjures for me the image of a tome standing in front of a king and being given the title of Lord or Baron (as in a person being described as a “titled landowner”). When I first started seeing this usage, I asked my mother about it (she used to teach Reading and Grammar), and she looked at me in horror and said, “Oh no, that’s just WRONG!”

I believe that the difference here is not an American vs British English difference, but rather a journalism vs non-journalism writing convention. Journalistic writing style tends to (in my opinion) overly shorten things to reduce character count, which I suspect started when text was still typeset by hand on the press. This style difference has constantly been a source of frustration to me in the case of serial comma (aka “Oxford” comma) use, which is not present in journalism but is frequently essential for clarity.

Some years ago a writer friend corrected me on my use of “entitled”. She pointed out that a book could not have entitlement, etc. and that “titled” is correct. After that I thought everybody and his brother was an ignoramus for saying ” entitled “. On occasion, I would point ot out. Recently, I pointed out this distinction to a woman I met in Florida. She is a professor. She took me at my word with a kind of openminded amazement but asked, ” Did you check this in the dictionary?” I told her I had, but decided to look in on the matter further. Much to my embarassment I find that “entitled” is correct! I agree it seems to be more prevalent in England. Not so surprising.

I will now go forth and multiply with wild abandon my use of the word ” entitlement” !

Does this mean that the word “titled”, now gaining momentum in America, is also correct and that these words are in essence, synonymous? And that it is simply a matter of preference? Or is it just plain wrong?

Thank you for this enlightening discussion.

Moral of the story: Writers do not, in fact, know everything!

I ended up on this forum seeking clarification. I have always used “entitled” (old school), and saw “titled” and thought it was just another bastardization (while knowing I’m not perfect). After reading your postings, I will continue with my current usage, and forgive any other. What I CAN’T forgive is the obnoxious and grammatically incorrect line that is used on telephone hold messages WORLDWIDE: “… your call will be answered in the order it was received”. WTF??? Excuse me, where’s the “in which”? That makes no sense, and it royally pisses me off. Are all of you Grammar Nazis with me? Or how about the ‘apostrophe s’ in plural’s <— see what I did there? And I'm still not sure whether or not my car is 'ensured'. Thanks for listening — er, reading (and understanding, I'll wager).

Both words are correct. Some people like to use “titled.” Other people like to use “entitled.” Both have been used for a long, long time and all the dictionaries I’ve checked say that both are OK.

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5 Strategies for Surviving and Thriving During Your Dissertation

By  Ramon B. Goings

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A little less than a month ago, I successfully defended my dissertation, which explored the academic and social experiences of high-achieving black males attending a historically black college and university. After taking a well-needed break to reflect on my dissertation journey, I decided to write this article to provide readers with some advice that I wish I’d had at the beginning of the process. Through my experience, I discovered five basic strategies that I’d like to share with other graduate students.

1. From the start, choose a topic that you care about. I understand this may sound obvious, but completing a dissertation is certainly a process, and you will experience instances when that process moves slower than you’d like. For instance, I expected to reach certain milestones (e.g., defending my dissertation proposal) by certain dates, but I usually hit them weeks or months later. Had I not chosen a topic that I cared about, I could easily have lost interest in my research.

Thus, as you prepare to select a dissertation topic, remind yourself that you will spend hours thinking, writing and talking about it and that it is crucial that the subject be personal to you. The adage goes, “The best dissertation is a done dissertation.” I would amend that to say, “The best dissertation is a dissertation written by an author who enjoys his or her work.”

2. Take ownership of what you can control but be patient during the wait time.

Right after defending my dissertation proposal, I attended a church service, and the minister explained to the congregation that while we have control over what happens in our lives, we will often need to be comfortable in the wait time. You will find -- if you have not already -- that the dissertation process is filled with wait times, such as waiting patiently for feedback from your dissertation chair on your latest draft.

Because you cannot control such situations as you progress through the dissertation process, take ownership of what you can -- such as writing a compelling document and setting and meeting deadlines -- and become comfortable with the waiting. I have found during such a time you can learn a lot about yourself and begin to truly appreciate the dissertation process.

For instance, I learned that I worked best when I juggled multiple research projects (discussed in more detail in item three, below). In addition, because I had a supportive group of peers going through the dissertation process with me, I learned that having a social network of scholars was crucial -- not only to ensuring that I finished my dissertation writing but also that I remained patient during the wait time.

3. Develop a second writing project to work on while writing your dissertation (especially if you seek a faculty position). It can be easy for graduate students to become consumed by the dissertation. Your classmates constantly ask where you are in the process, and even family members begin raising the question, “So when will you become Dr. _____?” It is understandable to feel pressured and to become frustrated.

During those times when you hit a roadblock, having a second project to work on can give you well-needed distance and perspective. You can remain productive and develop your research agenda, as well as gain new insights if your second project involves an extension of your dissertation research.

Moreover, to be competitive for a tenure-track position in today’s higher education landscape, it’s always good for a graduate student to leave a doctoral program with several scholarly publications. Consequently, while writing my dissertation, I worked on multiple projects to develop a strong CV. That way, if I wanted to explore faculty or postdoc opportunities after graduation, I would have a competitive résumé.

4. Become confident in imperfection as a writer. Gaining this understanding was a major turning point in my development as a scholar. When I first began to conceptualize my dissertation, I was a little unsure of my ability to take on such a daunting task. As a result, I sometimes found it hard to write sentences because I was looking for the perfect one.

But I have learned that I cannot seek perfection in the first draft. During the instances where I could not find the perfect words to start my sentences, one strategy I tried was to write and then highlight the following sentence in my document: “This is the first sentence, and I will revise later.” I then proceeded to write my thoughts for that paragraph. By the time I came back around to writing the first sentence, I’d covered a lot of ground in the dissertation and the sentence came easier, as well.

5. Become a creature of habit and write every day. At the start of writing my dissertation, I read The Black Academic’s Guide to Earning Tenure -- Without Losing Your Soul by Kerry Ann Rockquemore and Tracey Laszloffy. The authors recommend that, to be productive as a writer, you should write at least 30 minutes each day.

For graduate students like me who work full time and/or have families, it may seem impossible to carve out that amount of time to write. I decided to try writing 15 minutes a day instead. While I found that to be beneficial, I always left each writing session having just gotten into a writing groove. In the end, 30 minutes became enough time to write without feeling as if I were sitting at the computer for a long time.

To implement this plan, you should first determine your ideal thinking and writing time. Once you understand when you work best, schedule your 30-minute session each day at the same time. In addition, during each session, record how many words you have written and what section of your dissertation you’ve worked on. You will be surprised at how much you can accomplish by the end of the week.

While I have provided five strategies for surviving and thriving while developing your dissertation, I understand that there are certainly more suggestions for ensuring success. I hope that, using the comment feature below and engaging in dialogue via the comment section or Twitter (@ ramongoings ) and Facebook (hashtag #MyDocStory), we can share strategies to help doctoral students through the dissertation process.

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Dissertating Like a Distance Runner: Ten Tips for Finishing Your PhD

The above photo is of Sir Mo Farah running past Buckingham Palace into the home stretch of the London Marathon. I took the photo two days after my viva, in which I defended my PhD dissertation. Farah become a British hero when he and his training partner, Galen Rupp, won the gold and silver medals in the 10k at the London Olympic Games.

I had the honor of racing against Rupp at Nike’s Boarder Clash meet between the fastest high school distance runners in my home state of Washington and Rupp’s home state of Oregon. I’m happy to provide a link to the results and photos of our teenage selves since I beat Galen and Washington won the meet. (Note: In the results, ‘Owen’ is misspelled with the commonly added s , which I, as a fan of Jesse Owens, feel is an honor.) By the time we were running in college—Rupp for the University of Oregon and myself for the University of Washington—he was on an entirely different level. I never achieved anything close to the kind of running success Rupp has had. Yet, for most of us mortals, the real value in athletics is the character traits and principles that sports instill in us, and how those principles carry over to other aspects of life. Here I want to share ten principles that the sport of distance running teaches, which I found to be quite transferrable to writing my doctoral dissertation.

To provide some personal context, I began as a doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham in 2014. At that time my grandparents, who helped my single father raise my sister and me, continued their ongoing struggle with my Grandfather’s Alzheimer’s. It was becoming increasingly apparent that they would benefit from having my wife and I nearby. So, in 2015 we moved to my hometown of Yakima, Washington. That fall I began a 2/2 teaching load at a small university on the Yakama Nation Reservation as I continued to write my dissertation. Since finishing my PhD four years ago, in 2018, I have published one book , five research articles , and two edited volume chapters related in various ways to my dissertation. As someone living in rural Eastern Washington, who is a first-gen college grad, I had to find ways to stay self-motivated and to keep chipping away at my academic work. I found the following principles that I learned through distance running very helpful.

(1) Establish community . There are various explanations, some of which border on superstitious, for why Kenyan distance runners have been so dominant. Yet one factor is certainly the running community great Kenyan distance runners benefit from at their elite training camps, as discussed in Train Hard, Win Easy: The Kenyan Way . Having a community that values distance running can compel each member of the community to pursue athletic excellence over a long period of time. The same can be said for academic work. Many doctoral researchers have built-in community in their university departments, but for various reasons this is not true for everyone. Thankfully, alternative ways to establish community have never been easier, predominantly due to technology.

Since my dissertation applied Aristotelian causation and neo-Thomistic hylomorphism to mental causation and neural correlates of consciousness, I found it immensely helpful to meet consistently with neuroscientist, Christof Koch, and philosopher of mind, Mihretu Guta. Mihretu does work on the philosophy of consciousness and Christof propelled the dawn of the neurobiology of consciousness with Francis Crick . Though Mihretu lives in Southern California, we met monthly through Skype, and I would drive over the Cascade Mountains once a month to meet with Christof in Seattle. As my dissertation examiner, Anna Marmodoro, once reminded me: the world is small—it’s easier than ever before to connect with other researchers.

It can also be helpful to keep in mind that your community can be large or small. As some athletes train in large camps consisting of many runners, others have small training groups, such as the three Ingebrigtsen brothers . Likewise, your community could be a whole philosophy department or several close friends. You can also mix it up. As an introvert, I enjoyed my relatively small consistent community, but I also benefitted from attending annual regional philosophy conferences where I could see the same folks each year. And I especially enjoyed developing relationships with other international researchers interested in Aristotelian philosophy of mind at a summer school hosted by the University of Oxford in Naples, which Marmodoro directed. For a brief period, we all stayed in a small villa and talked about hylomorphism all day, each day, while enjoying delicious Italian food.

Whatever your community looks like, whatever shape it takes, what matters is that you’re encouraged toward accomplishing your academic goal.

(2) Know your goal. Like writing a dissertation, becoming a good distance runner requires a lot of tedious and monotonous work. If you don’t have a clear goal of what you want to achieve, you won’t get up early, lace up your running shoes, and enter the frosty morning air as you take the first of many steps in your morning run. There are, after all, more enticing and perhaps even more pressing things to do. Similarly, if you don’t have a clear goal of when you want to finish your dissertation, it is easy to put off your daily writing for another day, which can easily become more distant into the future.

(3) Be realistic about your goal . While it is important to have a clear goal as a distance runner and as a doctoral researcher, it is important for your goal to be realistic. This means your goal should take into account the fact that you are human and therefore have both particular strengths and limitations. Everyone enters the sport of distance running with different strengths and weaknesses. When Diddy ran the city it would have been unrealistic for him to try to break the two-hour barrier in the marathon, as Eliud Kipchoge did . If Diddy made that his goal, he probably would have lost all hope in the first mile of the marathon and never finished. Because he set a more realistic goal of breaking four hours, not two hours, he paced himself accordingly and actually finished.

The parent of two young children who is teaching part-time can certainly finish a dissertation. But the parent will have a greater likelihood of doing so with a reasonable goal that fits that individual’s strengths and limitations. If the parent expects to finish on the same timescale as someone who is single with no children nor teaching responsibilities, this will likely lead to disappointment and less motivation in the middle of the process. Motivation will remain higher, and correspondingly so will productivity that is fueled by motivation, if one’s goal is realistic and achievable.

Another element of having a realistic goal is being willing to adapt the goal as your circumstances change. Sometimes a runner might enter a race expecting to place in the top five and midway through the race realize that she has a great chance of winning (consider, for example, Des Linden’s victory at the Boston Marathon ). At that point, it would be wise to revise one’s goal to be ‘win the race’ rather than simply placing in the top five. At other times, a runner might expect to win the race or be on the podium and midway realize that is no longer possible. Yet, if she is nevertheless within striking distance of placing in the top five, then she can make that her new goal, which is realistic given her current situation and will therefore sustain her motivation to the finish line. Sara Hall, who could have and wanted to crack the top three, held on for fifth at the World Championships marathon because she adjusted her goal midrace.

The PhD candidate who initially plans to finish her dissertation in three years but then finds herself in the midst of a pandemic or dealing with a medical issue or a family crisis may not need to give up on her goal of finishing her dissertation. Perhaps, she only needs to revise her goal so that it allows more time, so she finishes in five years rather than three. A PhD finished in five years is certainly more valuable than no PhD.

(4) Know why you want to achieve your goal . My high school cross-country coach, Mr. Steiner, once gave me a book about distance running entitled “Motivation is the Name of the Game.” It is one of those books you don’t really need to read because the main takeaway is in the title. Distance running requires much-delayed gratification—you must do many things that are not intrinsically enjoyable (such as running itself, ice baths, going to bed early, etc.) in order to achieve success. If you don’t have a solid reason for why you want to achieve your running goal, you won’t do the numerous things you do not want to do but must do to achieve your goal. The same is true for finishing a PhD. Therefore, it is important to know the reason(s) why you want to finish your dissertation and why you want a PhD.

As a side note, it can also be immensely helpful to choose a dissertation topic that you are personally very interested in, rather than a topic that will simply make you more employable. Of course, being employable is something many of us must consider. Yet, if you pick a topic that is so boring to you that you have significant difficulty finding the motivation to finish your dissertation, then picking an “employable dissertation topic” will be anything but employable.

(5) Prioritize your goal . “Be selfish” were the words of exhortation my college cross-country team heard from our coaches before we returned home for Christmas break. As someone who teaches ethics courses, I feel compelled to clarify that “be selfish” is not typically good advice. However, to be fair to my coaches, the realistic point they were trying to convey was that at home we would be surrounded by family and friends who may not fully understand our running goals and what it takes to accomplish them. For example, during my first Christmas break home from college, I was trying to run eighty miles per week. Because I was trying to fit these miles into my social schedule without much compromise, many of these miles were run in freezing temps, in the dark, on concrete sidewalks with streetlights, rather than dirt trails. After returning to campus following the holidays, I raced my first indoor track race with a terribly sore groin, which an MRI scan soon revealed was due to a stress fracture in my femur. I learned the hard way that I have limits to what I can do, which entails I must say “no thanks” to some invitations, even though that may appear selfish to some.

A PhD researcher writing a dissertation has a substantial goal before her. Yet, many people writing a dissertation have additional responsibilities, such as teaching, being a loving spouse, a faithful friend, or a present parent. As I was teaching while writing my dissertation, I often heard the mantra “put students first.” Yet, I knew if I prioritized my current students over and above finishing my dissertation, I would, like many, never finish my dissertation. However, I knew it would be best for my future students to be taught by an expert who has earned a PhD. So, I put my future students first by prioritizing finishing my PhD . This meant that I had to limit the teaching responsibilities I took on. Now, my current students are benefitting from my decision, as they are taught by an expert in my field.

While prioritizing your dissertation can mean putting it above some things in life, it also means putting it below other things. A friend once told me he would fail in a lot of areas in life before he fails as a father, which is often what it means to practically prioritize one goal above another. Prioritizing family and close friendships need not mean that you say ‘yes’ to every request, but that you intentionally build consistent time into your schedule to foster relationships with the people closest to you. For me, this practically meant not working past 6:00pm on weekdays and taking weekends off to hang out with family and friends. This relieved pressure, because I knew that if something went eschew with my plan to finish my PhD, I would still have the people in my life who I care most about. I could then work toward my goal without undue anxiety about the possibility of failing and the loss that would entail. I was positively motivated by the likely prospect that I would, in time, finish my PhD, and be able to celebrate it with others who supported me along the way.

(6) Just start writing . Yesterday morning, it was five degrees below freezing when I did my morning run. I wanted to skip my run and go straight to my heated office. So, I employed a veteran distance running trick to successfully finish my run. I went out the door and just started running. That is the hardest part, and once I do it, 99.9% of the time I finish my run.

You may not know what exactly you think about a specific topic in the chapter you need to write, nor what you are going to write each day. But perhaps the most simple and helpful dissertation advice I ever received was from David Horner, who earned his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oxford. He told me: “just start writing.” Sometimes PhD researchers think they must have all their ideas solidified in their mind before they start writing their dissertation. In fact, writing your dissertation can actually help clarify what you think. So “just start writing” is not only simple but also sage advice.

(7) Never write a dissertation . No great marathoner focuses on running 26.2 miles. Great distance runners are masters of breaking up major goals into smaller goals and then focusing on accomplishing one small goal at a time, until they have achieved the major goal. Philosophers can understand this easily, as we take small, calculated steps through minor premises that support major premises to arrive at an overall conclusion in an argument.

Contained within each chapter of a dissertation is a premise(s) in an overall argument and individual sections can contain sub-premises supporting the major premise of each chapter. When you first start out as a doctoral researcher working on your dissertation, you have to construct an outline of your dissertation that maps out the various chapters and how they will relate to your overall conclusion. Once you have that outline in place, keep it in the back of your mind. But do not focus on writing the whole, which would be overwhelming and discouraging. Rather, focus on writing whichever chapter you are working on. The fastest American marathoner, Ryan Hall, wrote a book that sums up the only way to run long distances in the title Run the Mile You’re In . And Galen Rupp discusses in this interview how he mentally breaks up a marathon into segments and focuses on just finishing one segment at a time. Whatever chapter you’re writing, make it your goal to write that chapter. Once you’ve accomplished that goal, set a new goal: write the next chapter. Repeat that process several times and you will be halfway through your dissertation. Repeat the process a few more times, and you will be done.

By the time you have finished a master’s degree, you have written many chapter-length papers. To finish a dissertation, you essentially write about eight interconnected papers, one at a time, just as you have done many times before. If you just write the chapter (which you could call a “paper” if that feels like a lighter load) you’re writing, before you know it, you will have written a dissertation.

(8) Harness the power of habits . Becoming a great distance runner requires running an inordinate number of miles, which no one has the willpower to do. The best marathoners in the world regularly run well over one hundred miles a week, in addition to stretching, lifting weights, taking ice baths, and eating healthy. Not even the most tough-minded distance runner has the gumption to make all the individual decisions that would be required in order to get out the door for every run and climb into every ice bath apart from the development of habits. The most reliable way around each distance runner’s weakness of will, or akrasia , is developing and employing habits. The same can be true for writing.

If you simply try to write a little bit each weekday around the same time, you will develop a habit of writing at that time each day. Once you have that habit, the decision to write each weekday at that time will require less and less willpower over time. Eventually, it will take some willpower to not write at that time. I have found it helpful to develop the routine of freewriting for a few minutes just before starting my daily writing session of thirty minutes during which I write new content, before working on editing or revising existing content for about thirty minutes. My routine helped me develop the daily habit of writing, which removes the daily decision to write, as I “just do it” (to use Nike’s famous line) each day.

I have also found it helpful to divide my days up according to routines. As a morning person, I do well writing and researching in the morning, doing teaching prep and teaching during the middle of the day, and then doing mundane tasks such as email at the end of the day.

(9) Write for today and for tomorrow . Successful distance runners train for two reasons. One reason—to win upcoming races—is obvious. However, in addition to training for upcoming races, the successful distance runner trains today for the training that they want to be capable of months and years ahead. You cannot simply jump into running eighty, ninety, or one-hundred-mile weeks. It takes time to condition your body to sustain the stress of running high mileage weeks. A runner must have a long-term perspective and plan ahead as she works toward her immediate goals on the way to achieving her long-term goals. Similarly, for the PhD researcher, writing a dissertation lays the groundwork for future success.

For one, if the PhD candidate develops healthy, sustainable, productive habits while writing a dissertation, these habits can be continued once they land an academic job. It is no secret that the initial years on the job market, or in a new academic position, can be just as (or more) challenging than finishing a PhD. Effective habits developed while writing a dissertation can be invaluable during such seasons, allowing one to continue researching and writing even with more responsibilities and less time.

It is also worth noting that there is a sense in which research writing becomes easier, as one becomes accustomed to the work. A distance runner who has been running for decades, logging thousands of miles throughout their career, can run relatively fast without much effort. For example, my college roommate, Travis Boyd, decided to set the world record for running a half marathon pushing a baby stroller nearly a decade after we ran for the University of Washington. His training was no longer what it once was during our collegiate days. Nevertheless, his past training made it much easier for him to set the record, even though his focus had shifted to his full-time business career and being a present husband and father of two. I once asked my doctoral supervisors, Nikk Effingham and Jussi Suikkanen, how they were able to publish so much. They basically said it gets easier, as the work you have done in the past contributes to your future publications. Granted, not everyone is going to finish their PhD and then become a research super human like Liz Jackson , who finished her PhD in 2019, and published four articles that same year, three the next, and six the following year. Nevertheless, writing and publishing does become easier as you gain years of experience.

(10) Go running . As Cal Newport discusses in Deep Work , having solid boundaries around the time we work is conducive for highly effective academic work. And there is nothing more refreshing while dissertating than an athletic hobby with cognitive benefits . So, perhaps the best way to dissertate like a distance runner is to stop writing and go for a run.

Acknowledgments : Thanks are due to Aryn Owen and Jaden Anderson for their constructive feedback on a prior draft of this post.

• Matthew Owen

Matthew Owen (PhD, University of Birmingham) is a faculty member in the philosophy department at Yakima Valley College in Washington State. He is also an affiliate faculty member at the Center for Consciousness Science, University of Michigan. Matthew’s latest book is Measuring the Immeasurable Mind: Where Contemporary Neuroscience Meets the Aristotelian Tradition .

• Dissertating
• Finishing your PhD
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• Sabrina D. MisirHiralall

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4 Strategies for Completing Your Dissertation

Students take about eight years to complete a doctoral degree — twice the time of a bachelor’s degree. Also, the average age of a doctoral student is 33. Many doctoral students work full-time and have families and outside responsibilities than can make completing a dissertation an impossible task. In fact, almost half of all doctoral students complete their course work but not their dissertation.

This article explains how to avoid the dreaded doctoral degree attrition — by being your own manager, surrounding yourself with wise people, developing a professional relationship with your chair and creating good habits. You can increase your odds of finishing your dissertation by following these four steps.

No. 1. Practice time management, be organized and meet deadlines.  Time management is essential. Make two-week deadlines for every part of the dissertation process, including reading, writing, edits and meetings. Set your own goals for dates on writing your proposal, defending your proposal, seeking IRB approval, conducting your research, conducting your analysis, writing chapters and preparing for your defense. Create deadlines for each week and always stick to them.

Once you start dissertating, don’t spend fewer than 10 hours a week researching, writing, editing and  repeat . Schedule this time in. Dissertating now becomes your priority and routine. Cut out extra noise in your life. Trying to be a rock star at work, doing PTA work for your kids or committee work, teaching extra courses, taking lunch breaks, working out and sleeping all need to get cut out of your life. I’m kidding … OK, only a little. Make your dissertation a priority to be done in a year. Dragging this out even longer will make you feel like you are scratching your nails on a chalkboard.

Organize a folder on your cloud drive that has subfolders for chapters, presentations, tables, figures, meeting notes and example dissertations. You might create at least five drafts of every chapter, so this will help keep you organized.

Know your graduate school’s deadlines. There is the defense notification deadline, the abstract deadline, the application to graduate deadline, commencement RSVP, regalia purchases at the bookstore deadline, the defense deadline, submission of dissertation for formatting review and the defer commencement walk deadline (optional). Oh, and you need to complete forms for all these deadlines. Knowing all this information — and your faculty or staff liaisons in the graduate school and your college — is important. It is not your chair’s job to remind you.

No. 2. Surround yourself with wise and supportive people.  Get your life partner on board with you. Let your partner read this article and let them say to you, “I love you, I support you, I’m right here to help you to the finish line.” Then specifically outline what you need from your partner. I told my husband to do all the dishes, take out all the trash, take our son to school, grocery shop every Saturday (I wrote the list), help me prepare meals on Sundays and let me shower once a day in peace. I also let him know I’d need to write on some Sundays, so he’d better prepare for life as a single dad. You need a “unicorn partner,” so turn yours into one for a year.

Second to your life partner, get your boss on board with you. I told my boss I was ready to finish and asked him to give me one working day a week to complete my dissertation. He agreed, and I promised him I would always put work first, use lunch breaks if needed and come in to work early.

Before bothering your chair with questions, first ask other sources — such as your other doctoral candidate friends or your graduate school writing center — and research answers online. Also ask your doctoral friends for their favorite statistical analysis books. This will help you with references for your methodology chapter.

Hire a tutor if you are deficient in one area, like statistics, before bothering your chair with endless minor questions. It’s not their job to teach or reteach you statistics. For example, I hired a graduate student that knew STATA statistical software and paid him $400 cash for 16 hours of consulting. We met for four hours every Friday for a month.

Also, get help editing the final draft. Hire a professional editor if needed. In addition, have a staff member in the graduate school writing center help you. After staring at this document for more than a year, you are bound to make a few extra spaces, forget a comma or spell “from” as “form.” Get it perfect, and get it right … just one last time.

Read/skim at least 10 different dissertations using the methodology you like — whether quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods. Then pick your top three favorites. Do not plagiarize, but use the structure of your favorite dissertations as a guide for your own. This isn’t rocket science — don’t reinvent the wheel.

Finally, attend a dissertation proposal and defense. That will help you see the room, prepare you for what you need to bring, help you understand the flow of the process and help ease your fears.

No. 3. Develop a professional relationship with your chair.  Understand your department chair has a research agenda, courses to teach, service committees to deal with and a plethora of other dissertating students just like you. You are a small part of their life. Don’t take advantage of this, because you will wear them out for future students.

Have a solid conversation with your chair at least once a year, either face-to-face or on Skype. Get your check-ins with your chair down to every two weeks and make good use of their time and expertise for the 20 minutes you have their attention. Remember, meetings with your chair are effective by phone or online. Learn Zoom and Skype for Business.

When your chair says, “You might want to …,” “investigate …,” “maybe I suggest …,” know that isn’t really an invitation to intellectually debate. Don’t argue — rather, write down what they have to say, and go do it. At this point, your chair has listened to you and is giving you words of wisdom, not merely making suggestions. Take notes in every meeting with every committee member, then come back to your desk and type out your notes. This information is crucial to how you will prepare for your defense.

No. 4. Create excellent dissertation habits.  Before you solidify your topic, you need to research. Don’t bore your chair with endless conversations about what you could research. Simply present your chair with three ideas, and then let your chair pick one.

Save research articles on Mendeley or a system that works for you. I eventually printed out my 100-plus sources and put them in binders alphabetically.

The next step is to write an annotated bibliography of at least 30 peer-reviewed articles. Create at least three headings of general topics you are going to talk about. Then write a draft of your literature review. Present this to your chair and ask them about theories to use. Then go with the suggestions you receive and just start writing.

Take care of yourself physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Close the door to social media to simplify your life. Write when it’s a good time of day for you. Carry a notebook and pen to write things down, as you will start obsessing over your dissertation.

Know your APA manual; keep it close. Refer to it often. Also, keep the book  Complete Your Dissertation or Thesis in Two Semesters or Less  with you at all times. Read it often.

When presenting your proposal and your defense presentation, practice out loud at least five times. Type out what you will say in the notes section of your PowerPoint. Ask a recently graduated professor whom you respect for a copy of their PowerPoint, and use it as a template.

No single piece of advice will help you complete your dissertation, but these suggestions may help. Know that, in the end, completing your dissertation is worth it. You may finally feel like you have a seat at the table, and others finally listen to your wisdom and insight. A raise and promotion may even come your way. Good luck.

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My Dissertation is Now Available!

Enjoy Several Hundred Pages of my PhD

After many years at Cornell University, I have finally completed my PhD journey! My dissertation, entitled “Programming Safely with Weak (And Strong) Consistency”, is now available via ProQuest (or directly from me ).

That document is 364 pages, is there a summary?

Sure! The unifying theme of my dissertation is that writing programs against weak consistency is inherently difficult. My dissertation makes the job of writing safe programs against weak consistency easier, by introducing programming languages in which strong guarantees are defended from weakly-consistent influence, and in which programmers can write consistent-by-construction programs atop underlying weakly-consistent replication.

The first of these languages is MixT, a new language for writing mixed-consistency transactions . These atomic transactions can operate against data at multiple consistency levels simultaneously, and are equipped with an information-flow type system which guarantees weakly-consistent observations cannot influence strongly-consistent actions.

While mixed-consistency transactions can defend strong data from weak observations, they cannot ensure that fully-weak code is itself correct. To address this, we leverage monotonic data types to introduce a core language of datalog-like predicates and triggers. In this language, programmers can write monotonic functions over a set of monotonic shared objects, ultimately resulting in a boolean. These monotonic, boolean-returning functions are stable predicates: once they have become true, they remain true for all time. Actions which are predicated on these stable predicates cannot be invalidated by missed or future updates.

This monotonic language sits at the core of Derecho, a new system for building strongly-consistent distributed systems via replicated state machines. Derecho’s Shared State Table (SST) implements monotonic datatypes atop Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA), resulting in a high-performance, asynchronous substrate on which to build Derecho’s monotonic language. Using this SST, we have rephrased the Paxos delivery condition monotonically, granting strong consistency despite the underlying asynchronous replication.

Finally Gallifrey exposes the monotonic reasoning properties of Derecho’s core language directly to the user, safely integrating monotonic datatypes into a traditional Java-like programming language. Gallifrey allows any object to be asynchronously replicated via Restrictions to its interface, allowing only those operations which are safe to call concurrently. Datatypes shared under these restrictions can be viewed monotonically, using a language of predicates and triggers similar to that at the core of Derecho. A novel linear region -based type system enforces that shared object restrictions are respected.

A PhD Takes a Village

And mine is no exception. The kindness and generosity of the people who have surrounded me during my PhD never ceases to amaze. Without the community surrounding me, attaining a PhD would be nearly impossible. While my research and academic life has been touched by innumerable hands, I would like to specifically highlight the enormous assistance I have received from Andrew Myers, Ken Birman, Fabian Muehlboeck, Patrick LaFontaine and Danny Yang. It is no exaggeration to say that without their help and guiding presence, I could never have completed this PhD.

To everyone who has helped me on this journey: thank you. Sincerely, thank you.

PhD, Programming Languages and Systems

• Mixing Consistency with MixT: Technical Report Available!
• Gallifrey: a New Language for Distributed Programming
• Programming Replicated, Distributed Systems
• Derecho: Programming the Datacenter

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• Thesis & Dissertation Title Page | Free Templates & Examples

Thesis & Dissertation Title Page | Free Templates & Examples

Published on May 19, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on July 18, 2023.

The title page (or cover page) of your thesis , dissertation , or research paper should contain all the key information about your document. It usually includes:

• Dissertation or thesis title
• The type of document (e.g., dissertation, research paper)
• The department and institution
• The degree program (e.g., Master of Arts)
• The date of submission

It sometimes also includes your dissertation topic or field of study, your student number, your supervisor’s name, and your university’s logo.

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Table of contents

Title page format, title page templates, title page example, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions.

Your department will usually tell you exactly what should be included on your title page and how it should be formatted. Be sure to check whether there are specific guidelines for margins, spacing, and font size.

Title pages for APA and MLA style

The format of your title page can also depend on the citation style you’re using. There may be guidelines in regards to alignment, page numbering, and mandatory elements.

• MLA guidelines for formatting the title page
• APA guidelines for formatting the title page

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Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

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See an example

We’ve created a few templates to help you design the title page for your thesis, dissertation, or research paper. You can download them in the format of your choice by clicking on the corresponding button.

Research paper Google Doc

Dissertation Google Doc

Thesis Google Doc

A typical example of a thesis title page looks like this:

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The title page of your thesis or dissertation should include your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date.

Usually, no title page is needed in an MLA paper . A header is generally included at the top of the first page instead. The exceptions are when:

• Your instructor requires one, or
• Your paper is a group project

In those cases, you should use a title page instead of a header, listing the same information but on a separate page.

The title page of your thesis or dissertation goes first, before all other content or lists that you may choose to include.

In most styles, the title page is used purely to provide information and doesn’t include any images. Ask your supervisor if you are allowed to include an image on the title page before doing so. If you do decide to include one, make sure to check whether you need permission from the creator of the image.

Include a note directly beneath the image acknowledging where it comes from, beginning with the word “ Note .” (italicized and followed by a period). Include a citation and copyright attribution . Don’t title, number, or label the image as a figure , since it doesn’t appear in your main text.

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If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2023, July 18). Thesis & Dissertation Title Page | Free Templates & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/title-page/

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Sentence examples for a thesis entitled from inspiring English sources

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He graduated from the central bank's academy back in 1986 with a thesis entitled "The Path to Interest-Rate Liberalisation".

He attended the University of Trujillo (1913 17), where he studied both law and literature, writing a thesis entitled El romanticismo en la poesía castellana ("Romanticism in Castilian Poetry"; published 1954).

The following year he began a course in structural engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, receiving a Ph.D. in technical science (1979) for a thesis entitled "On the Foldability of Frames".

Chaz got a biology degree from a diploma mill, "double-spacing being the only academic requirement," after writing a thesis entitled "A Comparative Analysis of Late-Season Oranges, Ruby Grapefruits and Tangelos".

He rewinds quickly, then stops and plays the scene again, with the gunshot removed and the plot thereby diverted; this is meat and drink to anyone writing a Ph.D. thesis entitled "Viewing and (Re)viewing: Discourses of Dread in Austro-American Cinema," but onscreen it's curiously clunky and flat, and, when you consider the implications, it is Haneke who is shooting himself in the foot.

Part of this work has been part of a Ph.D. thesis entitled "Deep brain stimulation and the cerebellum" by V. Moers-Hornikx, which can be found online at http://digitalarchive.maastrichtuniversity.nl/fedora/get/guid:fd1689e7-39a2-4d08-ba5d-36a8ea1450b0/ASSET1.

Patrizia Mondello, MD, graduated with mark 110/110 cum laude in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Messina (Italy) in 2009 defending an experimental thesis entitled "Primary Lymphoma of the central nervous system" and is currently attending the fifth year of the residency in Oncology.

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My PhD thesis was titled vs My PhD thesis titled

Last updated: March 30, 2024

My PhD thesis was titled

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

• My PhD thesis was titled 'Exploring the Effects of Climate Change.'
• Her PhD thesis was titled 'A Study of Genetic Mutations.'

Alternatives:

• The title of my PhD thesis was
• I titled my PhD thesis
• The title of my PhD thesis is
• My PhD thesis bears the title
• I named my PhD thesis

My PhD thesis titled

This phrase is correct but less common in formal writing.

• My PhD thesis titled 'The Art of Negotiation' received high praise.
• His PhD thesis titled 'In Search of Truth' explored philosophical concepts.
• My PhD thesis, titled
• Titled my PhD thesis
• My PhD thesis, with the title
• My PhD thesis, entitled
• My PhD thesis, named

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The Dissertation Abstract: 101

How to write a clear & concise abstract (with examples).

By:   Madeline Fink (MSc) Reviewed By: Derek Jansen (MBA)   | June 2020

So, you’ve (finally) finished your thesis or dissertation or thesis. Now it’s time to write up your abstract (sometimes also called the executive summary). If you’re here, chances are you’re not quite sure what you need to cover in this section, or how to go about writing it. Fear not – we’ll explain it all in plain language , step by step , with clear examples .

Overview: The Dissertation/Thesis Abstract

• What exactly is a dissertation (or thesis) abstract
• What’s the purpose and function of the abstract
• Why is the abstract so important
• How to write a high-quality dissertation abstract
• Example/sample of a quality abstract
• Quick tips to write a high-quality dissertation abstract

What is an abstract?

Simply put, the abstract in a dissertation or thesis is a short (but well structured) summary that outlines the most important points of your research (i.e. the key takeaways). The abstract is usually 1 paragraph or about 300-500 words long (about one page), but but this can vary between universities.

A quick note regarding terminology – strictly speaking, an abstract and an executive summary are two different things when it comes to academic publications. Typically, an abstract only states what the research will be about, but doesn’t explore the findings – whereas an executive summary covers both . However, in the context of a dissertation or thesis, the abstract usually covers both, providing a summary of the full project.

In terms of content, a good dissertation abstract usually covers the following points:

• The purpose of the research (what’s it about and why’s that important)
• The methodology (how you carried out the research)
• The key research findings (what answers you found)
• The implications of these findings (what these answers mean)

We’ll explain each of these in more detail a little later in this post. Buckle up.

What’s the purpose of the abstract?

A dissertation abstract has two main functions:

The first purpose is to  inform potential readers  of the main idea of your research without them having to read your entire piece of work. Specifically, it needs to communicate what your research is about (what were you trying to find out) and what your findings were . When readers are deciding whether to read your dissertation or thesis, the abstract is the first part they’ll consider. 

The second purpose of the abstract is to  inform search engines and dissertation databases  as they index your dissertation or thesis. The keywords and phrases in your abstract (as well as your keyword list) will often be used by these search engines to categorize your work and make it accessible to users. 

Simply put, your abstract is your shopfront display window – it’s what passers-by (both human and digital) will look at before deciding to step inside. 

Why’s it so important?

The short answer – because most people don’t have time to read your full dissertation or thesis! Time is money, after all…

If you think back to when you undertook your literature review , you’ll quickly realise just how important abstracts are! Researchers reviewing the literature on any given topic face a mountain of reading, so they need to optimise their approach. A good dissertation abstract gives the reader a “TLDR” version of your work – it helps them decide whether to continue to read it in its entirety. So, your abstract, as your shopfront display window, needs to “sell” your research to time-poor readers.

You might be thinking, “but I don’t plan to publish my dissertation”. Even so, you still need to provide an impactful abstract for your markers. Your ability to concisely summarise your work is one of the things they’re assessing, so it’s vital to invest time and effort into crafting an enticing shop window.  

A good abstract also has an added purpose for grad students . As a freshly minted graduate, your dissertation or thesis is often your most significant professional accomplishment and highlights where your unique expertise lies. Potential employers who want to know about this expertise are likely to only read the abstract (as opposed to reading your entire document) – so it needs to be good!

Think about it this way – if your thesis or dissertation were a book, then the abstract would be the blurb on the back cover. For better or worse, readers will absolutely judge your book by its cover .

How to write your abstract

As we touched on earlier, your abstract should cover four important aspects of your research: the purpose , methodology , findings , and implications . Therefore, the structure of your dissertation or thesis abstract needs to reflect these four essentials, in the same order.  Let’s take a closer look at each of them, step by step:

Step 1: Describe the purpose and value of your research

Here you need to concisely explain the purpose and value of your research. In other words, you need to explain what your research set out to discover and why that’s important. When stating the purpose of research, you need to clearly discuss the following:

• What were your research aims and research questions ?
• Why were these aims and questions important?

It’s essential to make this section extremely clear, concise and convincing . As the opening section, this is where you’ll “hook” your reader (marker) in and get them interested in your project. If you don’t put in the effort here, you’ll likely lose their interest.

Step 2: Briefly outline your study’s methodology

In this part of your abstract, you need to very briefly explain how you went about answering your research questions . In other words, what research design and methodology you adopted in your research. Some important questions to address here include:

• Did you take a qualitative or quantitative approach ?
• Who/what did your sample consist of?
• How did you collect your data?
• How did you analyse your data?

Simply put, this section needs to address the “ how ” of your research. It doesn’t need to be lengthy (this is just a summary, after all), but it should clearly address the four questions above.

Need a helping hand?

Step 3: Present your key findings

Next, you need to briefly highlight the key findings . Your research likely produced a wealth of data and findings, so there may be a temptation to ramble here. However, this section is just about the key findings – in other words, the answers to the original questions that you set out to address.

Again, brevity and clarity are important here. You need to concisely present the most important findings for your reader.

Step 4: Describe the implications of your research

Have you ever found yourself reading through a large report, struggling to figure out what all the findings mean in terms of the bigger picture? Well, that’s the purpose of the implications section – to highlight the “so what?” of your research. 

In this part of your abstract, you should address the following questions:

• What is the impact of your research findings on the industry /field investigated? In other words, what’s the impact on the “real world”. 
• What is the impact of your findings on the existing body of knowledge ? For example, do they support the existing research?
• What might your findings mean for future research conducted on your topic?

If you include these four essential ingredients in your dissertation abstract, you’ll be on headed in a good direction.

Example: Dissertation/thesis abstract

Here is an example of an abstract from a master’s thesis, with the purpose , methods , findings , and implications colour coded.

The U.S. citizenship application process is a legal and symbolic journey shaped by many cultural processes. This research project aims to bring to light the experiences of immigrants and citizenship applicants living in Dallas, Texas, to promote a better understanding of Dallas’ increasingly diverse population. Additionally, the purpose of this project is to provide insights to a specific client, the office of Dallas Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs, about Dallas’ lawful permanent residents who are eligible for citizenship and their reasons for pursuing citizenship status . The data for this project was collected through observation at various citizenship workshops and community events, as well as through semi-structured interviews with 14 U.S. citizenship applicants . Reasons for applying for U.S. citizenship discussed in this project include a desire for membership in U.S. society, access to better educational and economic opportunities, improved ease of travel and the desire to vote. Barriers to the citizenship process discussed in this project include the amount of time one must dedicate to the application, lack of clear knowledge about the process and the financial cost of the application. Other themes include the effects of capital on applicant’s experience with the citizenship process, symbolic meanings of citizenship, transnationalism and ideas of deserving and undeserving surrounding the issues of residency and U.S. citizenship. These findings indicate the need for educational resources and mentorship for Dallas-area residents applying for U.S. citizenship, as well as a need for local government programs that foster a sense of community among citizenship applicants and their neighbours.

Practical tips for writing your abstract

When crafting the abstract for your dissertation or thesis, the most powerful technique you can use is to try and put yourself in the shoes of a potential reader. Assume the reader is not an expert in the field, but is interested in the research area. In other words, write for the intelligent layman, not for the seasoned topic expert. 

Start by trying to answer the question “why should I read this dissertation?”

Remember the WWHS.

Make sure you include the  what , why ,  how , and  so what  of your research in your abstract:

• What you studied (who and where are included in this part)
• Why the topic was important
• How you designed your study (i.e. your research methodology)
• So what were the big findings and implications of your research

Keep it simple.

Use terminology appropriate to your field of study, but don’t overload your abstract with big words and jargon that cloud the meaning and make your writing difficult to digest. A good abstract should appeal to all levels of potential readers and should be a (relatively) easy read. Remember, you need to write for the intelligent layman.

Be specific.

When writing your abstract, clearly outline your most important findings and insights and don’t worry about “giving away” too much about your research – there’s no need to withhold information. This is the one way your abstract is not like a blurb on the back of a book – the reader should be able to clearly understand the key takeaways of your thesis or dissertation after reading the abstract. Of course, if they then want more detail, they need to step into the restaurant and try out the menu.

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

20 Comments

This was so very useful, thank you Caroline.

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The Professor Is In

Guidance for all things PhD: Graduate School, Job Market and Careers

The Perils of Publishing Your Dissertation Online

By Karen Kelsky | August 24, 2011

[July 2019 Update below by Jacqueline Barlow, Open Access Officer at The University of Winchester in Winchester, Hampshire, United Kingdom–please read]

Today we are honored to have a guest post by Kathryn Hume, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English at Penn State University and author of Surviving Your Academic Job Hunt: Advice for Humanities PhDs (revised edition, 2010).

I got in touch with Kathryn Hume initially to send her a fan email!  I really like her book and will be reviewing it here on the blog soon.  When I invited her to consider writing a guest post, she immediately responded with an idea to write about ProQuest, and the impact that electronic dissertation storage is having on the rules of publishing, and potentially on your tenure case.  Thank you, Professor Hume, for sharing your insights.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once upon a time, dissertations were “available” through UMI as microfilm or through Interlibrary Loan as bound copies. In either case, you knew that you were not supposed to quote from the document or use its ideas without permission from the author. In the case of a hardbound copy, the libraries had records of the borrowers, so misappropriation could, in theory, be traced. Since you knew the material was unusable without permission, you felt free to ignore dissertations, except to make sure that a recent one was not too similar to the one that you hoped to write, lest it get published before yours and scoop you. Yes, such documents were technically “available,” but they were definitely not published or easily consultable.

Electronic dissertation storage changes the rules. Universities have enthusiastically assumed that a thesis online is just a faster and handier form of microfilm, and dissertation supervisors have assumed that since they put their theses on microfilm, you should put yours on ProQuest. They are wrong. Once available through any form of open access, be it ProQuest or a university library’s public access materials, that dissertation is functionally published, though this does not constitute refereed publication. Without the quality control implied by refereeing, ProQuest “publication” will not count for tenure.  Furthermore, its being there may interfere with your landing a revised version at a reputable press. You could ruin your chances of getting tenure if your thesis is freely available.

In the Chronicle of Higher Education ( http://chronicle.com/article/From-Dissertation-to-Book/127677/ ), Leonard Cassuto sums up a round table discussion among six academic publishers as follows:

Don’t make your dissertation available online. Book editors seem unanimous on that point for obvious reasons. Many university libraries routinely add dissertations to their electronic holdings. If yours does, then opt out. If your thesis is already online, then have it taken down. Information may want to be free, as the earliest hacker generation first avowed, but if it’s free, then you can’t expect a publisher to pay for it, even in a later version.

At present, this is a disaster waiting to happen rather than a battlefield covered with the bodies of humanists denied tenure because presses would not even look at their manuscripts, but warning signals are going up. I have heard of two commercial-academic presses and one university press that insisted the dissertation be removed from ProQuest before they would consider it. I have also learned of a major journal’s response to the issue. A job hunter at my school took a chapter from his recently defended dissertation and turned it into an article. He sent it off and the journal wrote back to ask whether this was from a chapter in a thesis on ProQuest; if so, they would not look at it because they considered it already published. The same could happen to your article or book manuscript.

Numerous universities have made putting dissertations on ProQuest a requirement. Others will permit you to block that process and renew the block, at least for a while. Whenever that protection runs out, though, ProQuest or the library or both will make the piece available. Your university may argue that a state institution receives public money, so part of its mission is to make its research available to that same public. Fair enough, but you must still try to ensure that your university can and will remove a dissertation from open access if asked. Refusal to create that mechanism could destroy the careers of its humanities PhDs.

This may prove to be an issue that dies without much consequence. Not all fields, even within the humanities, operate on the same assumptions, and some people see dissertations cited as a way of boosting your visibility within your specialty. Presses may eventually decide to ignore ProQuest dissertations and rely on the degree to which you have revised your material. Or they may just settle for your taking the document off line until after your book is in print. Various professional societies have argued that the thesis monograph should not serve as the basis for a tenure decision, and tenure itself may disappear some day. Obviously, such changes would affect the significance of your dissertation’s being available online.

For the present, though, none of these outcomes is assured, and the more radical are not likely to happen soon, so protect yourselves!

• Read your graduate office requirements now, not the week you hope to hand in your thesis.
• If your university requires public access, get your department to raise the issue with the university’s lawyers and its Ethics Committee or Ombudsperson.
• Try to get your graduate school to establish a mechanism for removing your thesis from open access should that prove necessary.
• If you can block access for a limited time with renewals, tattoo the renewal date on the back of your hand, with room for subsequent dates to be added.

Revising a humanities dissertation into a book can take far more effort than you realize. If you are moving from one temporary job to the next, having to pay for moves with nonexistent savings, and teaching six or more new courses each year, you will need to remember and act on successive deadlines despite many distractions. Ideally, you revise your manuscript during the first two years of your tenure clock. If you are lucky, you land your manuscript at a press within the next four years. Perhaps it will be in print a year after that. Only then should you let your dissertation go on line.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE by Jacqueline Barlow:

While there is still some debate over the merits of publishing one’s dissertation or doctoral thesis online, the experiences of researchers and institutions in the years since Professor Hume’s post have provided a more nuanced view of the issue. Hume’s sources are anecdotal. But a look at the available data indicates that electronic dissertations and theses or ETDs constitute no real obstacle to publication. Two articles, published in 2013 and 2019 , support the same general conclusion that, allowing for the substantial rewrite necessary to turn a thesis into a book, almost no publisher would reject a manuscript simply because a version of it already existed as an ETD. Ramirez et al. (2013) report that 4.5% of academic publishers would not consider a manuscript simply because it already existed as an ETD, with that figure rising to 7.3% when journal publishers are excluded; six years later, Gilliam and Daoutis (2019) report that not a single academic publisher they consulted would reject a submission outright on this basis, although embargos and rewrites would in many cases be required.

It is worth noting that Ramirez et al. studied American publishers exclusively, and Gilliam and Daoutis focused on the United Kingdom. A search for registered policies on ROARMAP, the Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies,  indicates that the practice of requiring or requesting thesis deposit is common practice around the world, though it’s difficult to gauge how widespread, since registry in ROARMAP is voluntary. However, no associated drop in the number of ETDs turned into books has been established, though anecdotes are sometimes encountered. For a discussion of anecdotes versus data on this issue, see Cirasella and Thistlethwaite (2017), “ Open Access and the Graduate Author: A Dissertation Anxiety Manual .”

Professor Hume’s critique may still be of interest to those considering the drawbacks of making their thesis available via ProQuest, a practice which involves entering into a contract with the company and which appears to be commonplace across the USA. For a summary of the legal issues, see this post on The Scholarly Kitchen . Indeed, Hume writes as though “putting your dissertation on ProQuest” and “making your dissertation openly accessible” are synonymous; they are not. Depositing your thesis on an institutional repository does not necessarily involve any transfer of rights.

Jacqueline Barlow is Open Access Officer at The University of Winchester in Winchester, Hampshire, United Kingdom. Prior to maintaining the University’s institutional repository and promoting all things OA, she worked as a librarian and in research support. Jacqueline completed a Master of Library and Information Studies degree at McGill University in 2008. She tweets @barlowjk.

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• Working With a Developmental Editor (A Guest Post)

Reader Interactions

August 24, 2011 at 7:05 am

I disagree profoundly on a few points here, and these will annoy many people!

The first that comes to mind is that a dissertation is not a book; however brilliant your dissertation is, a publisher will probably want something very different. Publishers want something that will sell and the conceptual scaffolding which you carefully constructed to “show your workings” to a dissertation committee will go to 2 footnotes and the bin. A good publisher knows that what they can get out of you 2 years after you complete the dissertation will be a much better product that the dissertation.

Secondly, I don’t accept the point that a dissertation has no or inadequate quality control. It has a different sort of quality control to the double-blind reading a publisher will give it, but it still the output of an examination process, and if it is not good enough, then you should not have passed.

The third issue I have is that this is grounded in assumptions about the dissertation-publication-tenure path which no longer hold. The old Phd-published monograph-tenured post track is broken at several points. Phd output in many disciplines exceeds the pool of academic jobs, so many Phd grads will no longer get academic posts, and many dissertations will never be published. If they are not online, they are dead. Realistically, given the competition out there, if the bright core of your thesis is not already on the path or publication in a peer-reviewed journal, you won’t even make a shortlist for an interview – as far as I can see, book plus two articles is now the minimum in many fields. Articles are much more serious competition for a book than a pdf on any repository, but they are also some evidence that the person has something to say, so it cuts both ways. Publishers have priced monographs out of the marketplace. I’ve seen monographs routinely priced at anything from €65 to €150; that represents an unjustifiable slice slice of my share of the library book fund; and if I can’t justify buying a copy, it doesn’t go on my class booklist and I don’t cite it.

August 24, 2011 at 5:50 pm

Thanks for the warning (although I am long past being able to take it). That said, does this beg the question of whether using publications as criteria for tenure needs to be reconsidered? Perhaps we need peer-reviewed on-line journals — I believe there are quite a few already in existence — run by people who recognize the difference between the two uses of “free” regarding information (hint: it isn’t the same as “free beer”). In my opinion, this system needs to change, and while warning people about how their careers could be damaged by being “published” on ProQuest is valuable, it also tacitly supports a system of scholarship that may be badly in need of change.

August 25, 2011 at 8:48 am

I agree the system has to change and probably is, as we speak. I just hope, while expectations are in flux, that the tenure casualties are kept to a minimum.

September 8, 2011 at 11:47 am

This is a really interesting post and discussion and I hope it gets more exposure — although the issue may be being discussed more widely than I realize.

My university requires ProQuest and we’re all horrified. I see Mike and Scott’s points but not to have a choice in this matter is really irritating. It’s one thing to have it in Ann Arbor microfilm but up online in dissertation form is too much of a violation, feels like robbery.

I especially object to the university’s propaganda which tells graduate students they are “publishing their dissertation” and that it is an “opportunity.”

March 24, 2012 at 4:01 pm

I know this is a year old, but I’m hoping for a reply…. In Canada, we’re pretty well required to sign permissions for ProQuest to have our dissertations. How can one undo this? You seem to imply that one can assert one’s copyright to the detriment of ProQuest. But how?

March 25, 2012 at 7:59 am

Oh dear, thsi was a guest post. I know nothing about ProQuest from personal experience. I’ll check with the author and see what she says.

March 25, 2012 at 10:56 am

From Prof. Hume: “I said nothing about copyright. I simply said that Proquest admitted that one could remove something, and the graduate school here proved helpful and helped four students remove theirs. I do not know how Canadian law fits in; where I ran into the most important hurdle was the sense of the grad school that as a semi-public university, our research was supposed to be available to the public.

However, given the info on how this could affect publication as a book and given the word I had from another school hammering this out that a press had refused to consider something unless it had been removed from proquest, the grad school at my institution backed off on demanding that. Thus, the undoing will have to be through the individual school.

October 5, 2012 at 11:14 am

> If you can block access for a limited time with renewals, tattoo the > renewal date on the back of your hand, with room for subsequent dates to be added.

For what it’s worth: though the ProQuest form distributed by my graduate institution, which I was required to submit along with the diss, had only 6-month, 1-yr, and 2-yr embargo options, I simply sent a letter to ProQuest, along with the form, saying I wanted an indefinite embargo. And ProQuest has thus far honored this for almost three years with no need for renewal.

Also, although some schools require that a diss author not set a ProQuest embargo for longer than a specified period, it’s not clear to me how that school could enforce this once a Ph.D. recipient is no longer a student there. For instance, my current school is now considering requiring graduates to get approval from their former diss advisors in order to extend an embargo. But, aside from degree revocation, what mechanism would even be available to an institution in order to compel a degree-in-hand graduate to allow ProQuest to post the work?

April 18, 2013 at 11:04 pm

This post makes me sad because when I was in college I loved looking up dissertations on ProQuest. I found all my professors’ (at least the abstracts) and read about half of them (one of which got me through a really fun trip that unfortunately had a lot of downtime and no internet). I mean, I get why someone might not want them up there. But I liked them, often better than the “officially” published books.

May 22, 2013 at 7:47 am

I agree with Eileen. Having dissertations online allow others to read about the academic work of others in their original, honest form.

August 20, 2013 at 11:58 pm

wow, great work, really appreciated .

September 22, 2013 at 10:08 pm

As someone who has never managed to land a University post despite having good grades and some (I hope) interesting research., I look to free online publishing as a means of sharing ideas before they become completely superseded. Like some of the commentators above, I find the “exclusiveness” of some academic work (i.e. pay-to-see journals etc) sad and self-defeating. It makes it difficult to research online. Surely it only ends up increasing the gulf of general ignorance, and does little to improve access to whatever the scholar in question laboured to achieve? Also, finances aside, what is the point of research unless it is trumpeted loud and wide? There may be some chance of plagerism, but that in itself is flattering (a good idea beckoning imitation), and ultimately other researchers do find out who the “original” source was, so it is hardly a permanent scar. I hope I am endlessly plagarised as what a boon that would be if something I ‘discovered’ spread like wildfire!!

August 25, 2014 at 12:14 pm

I want to comment on libraries keeping borrowing records of patrons–they don’t. Not routinely, at least. The profession wouldn’t stand for it, and while certain things have to stay in the system for a certain period of time (you wouldn’t want to return an item and find the system had already lost the record), the info is dropped as soon as the transaction is complete. Any stats that are kept (circulation numbers, for example) are not related to individual user accounts.

March 4, 2015 at 10:02 pm

If a dissertation has been successfully defended then it has had a rigorous peer review. Virtually every dissertation worldwide can be loaned from the relevant university, often scanned and distributed electronically and cited in the work of others. But it can take months and is very bureaucratic. But there is no reason to grant a giant corporation exclusive rights. After all, the hard work is your copyright and something you should be proud of.

I advocate the hard copy printing (on demand) of any thesis that might be cited in future publication. Why continue to see your work referred to in footnotes as ‘(unpublished) PhD thesis, University of ****, 2000’, or similar, when it can be cited clearly as a reprint of the thesis and you can even make a few bucks by selling it though Amazon? Many European universities demand print publication of a thesis – as is – after it has been publicly defended, and you will have to cite the source of any subsequent reworking of the material for journal or monograph publication in any case, so don’t pretend it doesn’t exist.

There are lots of deserving theses from the 1980s onwards in many disciplines that could do with wider readership. So, why not?

March 18, 2015 at 2:12 am

Dear Karen and Kathryn, I know this has been a while, but I am getting depressed now and I need some help. I finished my dissertation about two years ago and after making a few revisions to it I submitted it to an academic publishing house who had a call for books on my particular area of expertise. I sent the manuscript to them and after an initial positive response it went to the managing editor from whom I am waiting to hear back soon. In the meantime, I was browsing their website and with horror I discovered that they charge the author 10’000 Euro for a flat rate to get book out. How on earth do post-docs on a miserable salary get that amount of money to pay for a publication? I understand that the publishing house has to pay their employees etc, but 10’000 Euro?!? Isn’t it completely absurd that after 5 years of working our asses off, we, as authors have to pay on top 10’000 Euro? I find that simply depressing. Any ideas on how to get a book published without spending thousands of Euros/USD? Any tips on how to negotiate that or get funding to publish your dissertation? In Germany you are not entitled to your Dr. title unless you have published your dissertation. For the working poor online publishing through the university library seems like the only option. Thanks for any recommendations.

June 6, 2015 at 7:14 am

Help! I turned my dissertation into a book and am at the last stages of publication. The publisher is asking if this was a dissertation. Although I retained the title, I have rewritten and rewritten… do I need to check the box that says it is a dissertation and mentions the university? Thanks for any help!! M.

August 29, 2015 at 5:31 am

I must say this article is good one and open ones eyes. I too have published my thesis online and thinks it is good to share your knowledge with people. I used the following facility to put my thesis online. http://allthesisonline.com/2015/04/16/freely-publish-your-thesis-project-dissertation-online/

November 22, 2015 at 7:18 am

I agreed with Leonard Cassuto. You should opt for University platform only to make your dissertation available online.

April 12, 2016 at 3:33 am

Hi Pardon me for asking again? Which is it? Publishing one’s PhD dissertation online is harmful or not? Why is it harmful? Tq

April 12, 2016 at 9:09 am

Basically, harmful. for the reasons explained in this post.

April 12, 2016 at 6:15 pm

Hi again, Perhaps there are different cases for “Yin” knowledge such as Ph.D dissertations in Humanities, Arts and Social Science, Psychology, Law, Economics, Business as opposed to “Yang” knowledge in Ph.D dissertations in sciences and technical knowledge ( Engineering, Medicine, Computer Science, etc..).

August 19, 2016 at 6:47 am

I also want to confirm what jes says above about libraries not keeping borrowers records of what they borrowed. This is true, although it does take time for such records to be purged from the system. Furthermore, even if the records are available, no librarian worth his/her salt would EVER let you know who borrowed it previously. That would be completely out of line with the library code of ethics.

April 25, 2017 at 9:37 pm

What about self publishing your dissertation or thesis as an e-book on Amazon?

November 2, 2017 at 7:09 am

The hearsay (‘Oh I heard that someone was told they couldn’t get published’ that is cited in this article is not evidence. There are far better evidence-based investigations of these vague fears, most of which show that they are unfounded. Hiding research that you were funded to do, because you are afraid you won’t get tenure, is ethically wrong. More and more funders now require the results of research they’ve funded to be made publicly available, and rightly so. The avaricious, selfish attitude of this post will do harm to humanities as a discipline, as will a refusal to make research openly available.

October 5, 2018 at 1:44 am

On a related note, what is your advice as regards sharing the PhD dissertation in response to requests by scholars in your field, if one has a book forthcoming next year? Should one say, I will arrange for you to receive a review copy of my book or share the PhD straight away? If one shares the PhD should one ask for this to be referenced as the forthcoming book or as the dissertation?

Many thanks.

[…] researchers in other disciplines. Here are just a few of the articles and blog posts on this issue: The Professor is In blog, Leonard Cassuto in the Chronicle of Higher […]

[…] See, for instance http://theprofessorisin.com/2011/08/24/the-perils-of-publishing-your-dissertation-online/ [Last accessed 10 February […]

[…] here are a few links offering various perspectives on completed dissertations and public access: 1 2 3 4 5). I also worry about the scheduling commitment necessary for this sort of online […]

[…] mostly around the perils of putting your dissertation online with ProQuest. Kathryn Hume offers similar cautions. While both of these articles are incredibly interesting, informative, and a little nerve-wracking […]

[…] editors, and successful book contract signees. Allow me to spare you that exercise. For every few posts you will read in favor of embargoing the dissertation, and you will read others that are staunchly […]

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On the Rightful Use of 'Entitle'

Some people who encounter entitled used of the name of a book or other work of art, as in "the book (was) entitled such-and-such," do not think that the word is entitled to such use, and that the definition of the verb entitle , meaning "to designate" or "to give a title to," can only refer to the act of giving a person a title, as of deputy or vice president or what-have-you—or that the verb implies giving someone a right or privilege (as in, "volunteers are entitled to ice cream").

In sum, some believe entitle can only be applied to bestowing things that are legally or hierarchically claimed as a right or are earned in some way. But we disagree.

This book is entitled, uh, 'We Don't Know.'

Entitle can designate the name of a book, song, movie, etc., (as in "the dictionary is entitled Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's English Dictionary " or "the 2002 movie entitled Spellbound is about the 1999 National Spelling Bee") and it has been used in that sense since at least the 14th century.

This booke of which I make mencion, / Entitled was right thus, as I shall tell, / Tullius, of the dreame of Scipion; Chapiters seven it had…. — Geoffrey Chaucer, Parlement of Foules , circa 1381

In fact, the use of entitle to refer to any designation other than the title of an artistic work is now rare and, more or less, archaic. Here is a rather obscure example from the 19th-century novel In the Roar of the Sea by the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould:

Are our readers acquainted with that local delicacy entitled, in Cornwall and Devon, Squab Pie? To enlighten the ignorant, it shall be described. First, however, we premise that of squab pies there are two sorts: Devonian squab and Cornish squab.

(Essentially, a squab pie is made of mutton, pork, apples, and onions.)

To put an end to this squabble, the act of entitling one's own intellectual property is actually older than the other senses of the word referring to the act of bestowing a person with a certain designation or right or claim to something. The sense of the verb title referring to the act of giving a title to something also enters English in the 14th century, and both title and entitle are related to Latin, via Anglo-French, titulus . However, as past participial adjectives, entitled and titled diverge, and entitled is semantically stronger.

Since the 20th century, entitled has had the additional meaning of "believing oneself to be inherently deserving of certain privileges or special treatment" (as well as the disparaging meaning of "acting spoiled and self-important.")

The reality is, kids aren't born feeling entitled or spoiled. They learn it from well-intentioned parents who don't realize they’re teaching it by giving in to demands. — Eva Dwight, USA Today , 22 Nov. 2018

The related nominal entitlement —referring to the condition of having a right to have, do, or get something—goes back to the 18th century, and it, too, extended in meaning in the 20th century. In American English, it not only became a word for the services or benefits granted by the government to qualified individuals (such as Social Security) but came to pejoratively denote a feeling or belief that one deserves to be given certain privileges or special treatment.

But it does appear that—for, well, People Who Are Not Me, "entitlement" is a pejorative. For reasons that aren't entirely clear to me, those who object to the phrase connect it up with a negative sort of behavior, "having a sense of entitlement," meaning expecting success in life that one doesn't deserve, for instance, a stereotypical young man … feeling "entitled" to a good grade in his college class or a pay raise or promotion regardless of effort. — Elizabeth Bauer, Forbes , 5 Nov. 2018

Obviously, you're entitled to your opinion and have a right to express a dislike for the use of entitle in contexts relating to the naming of creative "things," preferring title instead, but usage evidence shows entitle being used in such contexts for centuries, and it continues to be a standard and growing part of the English language. We tolerate all facets of its current verbal and adjectival uses, as well as its related noun.

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You are here, obtaining copyright permission.

The information on this site and from the Office of Scholarly Communication and Publishing at the University Library System is not legal advice and is provided for informational purposes only. The Office of Scholarly Communication and Publishing is not counsel to any members of the Pitt community.

Clicking this link will take you to a Copyright Clearance Center page where you can input some basic information. This form will generate a price for your re-use and a license statement that you can print out or save for your records. For a full illustration, watch the video below.

Elsevier, Sage, and Wolters Kluwer (including Lippincot Williams & Wilkins), Taylor & Francis :

If you are the author of an article published by Elsevier or Sage you may not be able to use the Copyright Clearance Center to obtain the necessary permissions. These publishers will only grant you permission to re-use your content non-commercially and the University of Pittsburgh requires you to deposit your ETD with ProQuest Dissertation and Theses. You will need to use the Elsevier Permissions Request Form   or the Sage Permissions Portal in order obtain the necessary permissions. For Wolters Kluwer please email them at  [email protected] or the contact listed for the individual publication

You will want to include the following language along with your permissions request:

D-scholarship@Pitt is the institutional repository for the University of Pittsburgh, and the repository of record for University of Pittsburgh ETDs. Pitt relies on ProQuest for preservation of theses and dissertations. They steward multiple redundant electronic copies of each document.

Elsevier's form is now limited to 300 characters please consider using the following shorter language:

D-scholarship@Pitt is the institutional repository for the University of Pittsburgh. Pitt relies on ProQuest for preservation of theses and dissertations. They steward multiple redundant electronic copies of each document.

If you can't find a form and need to send an e-mail or make a phone call, feel free to use our permissions templates below.

• Introduction / start of the call. 
• "Hello, my name is [...] and I am a  graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh working on my dissertation. I am calling today to inquire about permissions to reproduce materials in one of your articles for my dissertation, which will be published and distributed by ProQuest."
• Give them the information needed.

Hopefully the person will tell you what information they need, and you can read that information from your citation. 

Alternatively, they may direct you to a website or offer to send you an e-mail with permissions information. 

If they do this, ask for THEIR e-mail address so that you can look for their e-mail soon and follow up if you have any questions. 

• Ask how much it will cost to re-use this material. 
• "Just one more question, will there be any cost for granting this permission?" 
• It should be free. If they try to charge you for it, use these responses:
• "I apologize, but can I clarify that this will be used in a dissertation and I will not profit from this in any way. Is there any way to reduce that charge?"
• "I am a graduate student with no external funding for this work, and will not profit from this venture. Is there any way that you can grant me permission without a fee?" 
• If they insist, say "Please go ahead and send me the information by e-mail [give your e-mail address if necessary], and let me consult with my advisor about my options." Then contact us for help and alternative options. 
• "Hello, my name is [...] and I am a  graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh working on my thesis. I am calling today to inquire about permissions to reproduce materials in one of your articles for my dissertation, which will be made available online as part of our electronic thesis and dissertation program."
• "I apologize, but can I clarify that this will be used in a [thesis / dissertation] and I will not profit from this in any way. Is there any way to reduce that charge?"

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Is it ever “correct” to use “my thesis is…” when writing a paper?

Ever since I began learning about writing & doing formal papers in high school, I have ALWAYS been taught to never say things like, “this paper is about…” “my thesis is…” etc. I’m currently in a sociology writing class & we are doing peer reviews so I’m reading other people’s papers & I’m just confused. Every paper I have read has something like “this paper is about…” or “my thesis is…” in the intro. My question is, is this okay in some forms of writing or should it not be used? I have always been told it should be written in a way/ structure that the reader is able to understand but not to explicitly say it in the ways I mentioned. Now I’m questioning my paper because my peer reviews all say to add those pieces I’m to make it more clear (even though it’s the final sentence of my intro & each paragraph after starts with an intro sentence containing a part of my thesis so I figured it was pretty self explanatory as it is).

It’s a literature review if that changes things.

Btw I did ask my professor & couldn’t get a straight answer, I’m not sure if she wasn’t understanding my question based on the way I was asking it or if she just didn’t care though.

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Dissertation defense traditions: Keller group

What are your group’s dissertation defense traditions?

Keller group, sarah l. keller, duane and barbara laviolette endowed professor of chemistry:.

One year, on a lark, I made a cake that illustrated a graduate student’s research project and used it as a visual aid during my introduction of their dissertation defense. Somehow, the next couple of students’ projects also lent themselves to cakes. (Our lab’s main research focus is on lipid vesicles and cell membranes, which tend to be round. See the stylized montage of microscopy images, above right.) Pretty soon, grad students in my lab began saying, “We are all wondering what your upcoming thesis cake will be!” The pressure was on!

Summary of experiments at the Marine Biology Laboratory at Woods Hole in a project led by Chantelle Leveille ‘22 . The cake represents a yeast cell that is undergoing changes in temperature (top), is budding (middle), or has fluorescently labeled mitochondria (bottom). See C.L. Leveille et al., 2021, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA.

Zack Cohen ’23 : The cake is a close-up of a membrane made of fatty acids, which have one carbon chain each, so are represented as lollipops. See Z.R. Cohen et al., 2023, ACS Earth Space Chem.

Jonathan Litz ’15 : The cake captures the shape and color of a lipid vesicle ruptured on a solid, dark support (and imaged with a Texas red label). See J.P. Litz et al., 2016, Biophys. J.

Matt Blosser ’14 : The top image shows a control sample of a phase-separated membrane with a domain of the bright (“liquid-ordered”) phase surrounded by a dark (“liquid-disordered”) phase. The bottom image is a cut-away view of a test sample of a phase-separated membrane in which the membrane has been sheared to offset the domains. See M.C. Blosser et al., 2015, Biophys. J.

Glennis Rayermann ’18 : The cake looks like a phase-separated membrane of a yeast vacuole in which contrast is provided by a membrane protein fusion (Vph1-GFP) that emits green light. See S.P. Rayermann et al., 2017, Biophys. J.

Heidi Weakly ’24 : Some proteins (represented by puffed rice cereal) bind to one domain of a phase-separated lipid bilayer (the cookie vs. the surrounding brownie) via molecular tethers (the frosting). See H.M.J. Weakly et al., 2024, Biophys. J.

Caitlin Cornell ’20 : This big round cake has high contrast only at the perimeter because it represents a lipid vesicle imaged by cryo-electron tomography. The technique requires that big vesicles be broken up into smaller (cupcake-sized) vesicles. See C.E. Cornell et al., 2020, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA.

See also  Dissertation defense traditions: Vaughan, Cossairt, and Khalil groups

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Create opportunities for your future with an Honors Thesis.

An honors thesis a sustained, independent research project in a student’s field of study. the thesis is an opportunity to work on unique research under the guidance of a faculty advisor. it often provides a writing sample for graduate school, and is also something you can share with employers to show what kind of work you can do. , what is an honors thesis.

Most of your work in college involves learning information and ideas generated by other people. When you write a thesis, you are engaging with previous work, but also adding new knowledge to your field. That means you have to know what's already been done--what counts as established knowledge; what's the current state of research; what methods and kinds of evidence are acceptable; what debates are going on. (Usually, you'll recount that knowledge in a review of the literature.) Then, you need to form a research question  that you can answer given your available skills, resources, and time . With your advisor, you'll plan the method you will use to answer it, which might involve lab work, field work, surveys, interviews, secondary research, textual analysis, or something else; research methods will depend upon your question and your field. Once your research is carried out, you'll write a substantial paper (usually 20-50 pages) according to the standards of your field. 

When and how should I register for my thesis?

Register for your major's Honors Thesis course (often numbered 799) in the spring and/or fall of your Senior year. In most cases, departmental permission is needed to register, and you will need to have a commitment from your thesis advisor in advance. The thesis course is an independent study, overseen by your Thesis Advisor. Your advisor sets the standards, due dates, and grades for your project. You must earn at least a B to qualify for Honors. Your thesis must count for at least 4 credits (some majors require that the thesis be completed over 2 semesters, and some require more than 4 credits).

What do theses look like?

The exact structure will vary by discipline, and your thesis advisor should provide you with an outline. As a rough guideline, we would expect to see something like the following:

1. Introduction 2. Review of the literature 3. Methods 4. Results 5. Analysis 6. Conclusion 7. Bibliography or works cited

In 2012, we began digitally archiving Honors theses. Students are encouraged to peruse the Honors Thesis Repository to see what past students' work has looked like. Use the link below and type your major in the search field on the left to find relevant examples. Older Honors theses are available in the Special Collections & Archives department at Dimond Library. 

Browse Previous Theses

Will my thesis count as my capstone?

Most majors accept an Honors Thesis as fulfilling the Capstone requirement. However, there are exceptions. In some majors, the thesis counts as a major elective, and in a few, it is an elective that does not fulfill major requirements. Your major advisor and your Honors advisor can help you figure out how your thesis will count. Please note that while in many majors the thesis counts as the capstone, the converse does not necessarily apply. There are many capstone experiences that do not take the form of an Honors thesis. 

Can I do a poster and presentation for my thesis?

No. While you do need to present your thesis (see below), a poster and presentation are not a thesis. They may be part of a different Culminating Experience, however. 

How do I choose my thesis advisor?

The best thesis advisor is an experienced researcher, familiar with disciplinary standards for research and writing, with expertise in your area of interest. You might connect with a thesis advisor during Honors coursework, but   Honors advisors can assist students who are having trouble identifying an advisor. You should approach and confirm your thesis advisor before the semester in which your research will begin.

What if I need funds for my research?

The  Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research  offers research grants, including summer support. During the academic year, students registered in credit-bearing thesis courses may apply for an  Undergraduate Research Award  for up to $600 in research expenses (no stipend).  Students who are not otherwise registered in a credit-bearing course for their thesis research may enroll in  INCO 790: Advanced Research Experience,  which offers up to $200 for research expenses.

What if I need research materials for a lengthy period?

No problem! Honors Students can access Extended Time borrowing privileges at Dimond Library, which are otherwise reserved for faculty and graduate students. Email [email protected] with note requesting "extended borrowing privileges" and we'll work with the Library to extend your privileges.

What happens with my completed thesis?

Present your thesis.

Many students present at the  Undergraduate Research Conference  in April; other departmentally-approved public events are also acceptable.

Publish your thesis:

Honors students are asked to make their thesis papers available on  scholars.unh.edu/honors/ . This creates a resource for future students and other researchers, and also helps students professionalize their online personas.

These theses are publicly available online. If a student or their advisor prefers not to make the work available, they may upload an abstract and/or excerpts from the work instead.

Students may also publish research in  Inquiry , UNH's undergraduate research journal.

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Thesis: Changes in American Judicial Behavior in Disability Discrimination Cases in Response to Anti-Discrimination Legislation

Editor's note:

Nathaniel Ross defended his Master's thesis entitled "Changes in American Judicial Behavior in Disability Discrimination Cases in Response to Anti-Discrimination Legislation" in Spring 2023 in front of committee members Jane Maienschein, Michael Yudell, and Carolyn Compton.  https://keep.lib.asu.edu/items/187434

Disabled people have historically lacked legal protection and often faced discrimination in healthcare, reproductive rights, education, and more despite being the largest minority group in the United States. One of the most common ways that American disability activists have advocated for their rights is by challenging discriminatory behavior or regulations in court and advocating for policy change in local, state, and federal governments. As a result, understanding the relationships between legislation and the judicial processes by which American judges approach disability discrimination is crucial to protecting and expanding the rights of disabled Americans. This study analyzes five American disability rights cases from the last fifty years as well as two foundational pieces of federal legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). I conducted this research as a member of the Embryo Project, where I wrote and peer-reviewed articles for the Embryo Project Encyclopedia, which is an online open-access resource for topics relating to reproduction, embryology, and development. In my articles, I summarize the litigation and holdings of each case with additional contextualization in science and society. The passage of the ADA represents a watershed moment after which the American judiciary observed the rights of the disabled as legislatively codified rather than only subject to interpretations of the Constitution. Since laws can be repealed far more easily than constitutional amendments, precedent from legislative interpretation is only as secure as the law on which it is based. Lawmakers must understand the need to craft legislation with reduced textual ambiguity to prevent undermining the original intent of the law. With the recent overturning of long-standing precedent and the composition of the Supreme Court as of 2023, disability rights are on fragile footing. Judicial behavior in response to disability legislation has historically narrowed the protections offered by federal statute and failed to bolster disability rights by refusing to base decisions on Constitutional protections.

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