Dissertation Resources

Research indicates that institutional policies and practices can directly and positively affect doctoral students in overcoming barriers to completing the dissertation. Commonly identified obstacles include:

• Topic selection
• Unrealistic expectations
• Quality of advising
• Financial support
• Isolation
• Lack of structure

Our goal is to provide you with on-going services, resources and programs to support you throughout the dissertation process.

GSE Dissertation Resources

• Dissertation Roadmap
• GSE Dissertation Standards
• Checklist for Dissertation Proposal Oral Hearing
• Checklist for Final Defense of Dissertation
• The Insider's Guide to Writing Your Dissertation at GSE 
• GSE Panel: Choosing Your Dissertation Topic and Advisor

Books/Articles on Writing the Dissertation

• Writing the Winning Dissertation by Allan Glatthorn
• Dissertations and Theses from Start to Finish by John Cone & Sharon Foster
• Secrets For a Successful Dissertation by Jacqueline Fitzpatrick, Jan Secrist, and Debra J. Wright
• Guide to the Successful Thesis and Dissertation by James E. Mauch and Jack W. Birch
• Proposals That Work by Lawrence Locke, Waneen Wyrick Spirduso, and Stephen J. Silverman

Helpful Links

• Navigating the Dissertation Series
• The Weingarten Learning Resources Center
• University of Pennsylvania Doctoral Dissertation Manual 
• Making a Dissertation Support Group Work for You
• Choosing Your Dissertation Topic
• Writing Your Dissertation
• Networking on the Network (in three parts)
  • http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/ldavolio/network1.pdf
  • http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/ldavolio/network2.pdf
  • http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/ldavolio/network3.pdf
• Tips for Proposal Writing & Working Groups...
  

You will need Acrobat Reader to view or print files in Portable Document Format (PDF).You can download the Acrobat Reader from the Adobe Systems' Home Page and install it on your computer.