Familiarise yourself with the most popular referencing systems, notably Oxford (footnotes) and Harvard (parenthetical). Plenty of internet sources provide helpful assistance in gaining a thorough understanding of the notation of the major systems, and how and when to use them.

When composing any piece of written academic work – be it an essay, dissertation or review – it is important to reference secondary sources clearly. There are several methods by which you may do this, though the choice may be made for you: some publications specify how their work must be acknowledged, and indeed some […]

1. Attribution of ideas. One purpose of referencing is to mark the origin of certain observations, ideas, theories, or data. Clearly, then, a rigorous approach to referencing should be seen as a strict necessity when discussing the emergence and development of ideas at any given time. 2. Aid further research. Another key purpose for referencing […]

You need to provide a complete bibliography which lists everything that you have read for your essays or dissertation. References are important academic tools to use within the essay format. This includes books, journals, web pages that you have referred to. Referencing helps your readers find those sources if they want to research material in the same field. It also helps you make clear that you are not trying to portray the ideas of other academics as if these were your own ideas and is therefore vital in avoiding plagiarism.

Any extended piece of writing such as a dissertation naturally requires considerably more depth of analysis than undergraduate and Masters essays. Narrow, trivial or shallow research questions will not generate enough depth of discussion and will therefore limit the mark you can expect to achieve.

Due to the limited number of hours available with your dissertation supervisor it is very important to make the most of every minute. This article contains several important tips to maximise the usefulness of the time you spend with your supervisor and help you get the most out of every tutorial for top dissertation success.

Both undergraduate dissertations and masters dissertations are strictly regulated, in most cases meaning that a student is only allowed a limited number of hours with their dissertation supervisor.