What Are the Sources of a Scientific Work?

A thesis studies an object by making use of specific instru­ments. Often the object is a book and the instruments are other books. For a thesis on “Adam Smith’s Economic Thought,” the object is Adam Smith’s bibliography, and the instruments are other books on Adam Smith. In this case, we can say that Adam

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Direct and Indirect Sources of Primary and Secondary Data of the thesis

Regarding books, a direct source is an original edition or a critical edition of the work in question. A translation is not a direct source: it is instead a prosthetic like dentures or a pair of glasses. It is a means by which I gain limited access to something that lies outside my range.

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How to Use the Library in the thesis

How should a student conduct preliminary research in the library? If he already has a reliable bibliography, he can obvi­ously search the author catalog to discover what a particular library has to offer. If the library lacks some of the titles in his bibliography, he can search another library, and so on. But this

Managing Your Sources with the Bibliographical Index Card File

Naturally, to compile a basic bibliography you must con­sult many books. Many librarians will only lend one or two books at a time, are slow to find each book for you, and will grumble if you quickly return for new books. This is why you should not try to immediately read every book you

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Documentation Guidelines of the thesis

1. Books Here is an example of an incorrect reference: Wilson, J. “Philosophy and religion.” Oxford, 1961. This reference is incorrect for the following reasons: It provides only the initial of the author’s first name. The first initial is not enough, first of all, because read­ers may want to know the full name; and

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An Experiment in the Library of Alessandria

Some may object that the advice I have given so far may work for a specialist, but that a young person who is about to begin his thesis, and who lacks specialized expertise, may encounter many difficulties: He may not have access to a well-equipped library, per­haps because he lives in a small city.

Must You Read Books? If So, What Should You Read First?

The examples in this chapter suggest that writing a thesis involves putting together a great number of books. But does a student always write a thesis on books and with books? We have already seen that there are experimental theses that document research in the field, perhaps conducted while observing mice in a maze

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The Table of Contents as a Working Hypothesis in the thesis

After you have conducted your bibliographical research, one of the first things you can do to begin writing your thesis is to compose the title, the introduction, and the table of con­tents—that is, exactly all those things that most authors do at the end. This advice seems paradoxical: why start from the end? For

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Index Cards and Notes in the thesis

1. Various Types of Index Cards and Their Purpose Begin to read the material as your bibliography grows. It is unrealistic to think that you will compile a complete bibli­ography before you actually begin to read. In practice, after putting together a preliminary list of titles, you can immerse yourself in these. Sometimes, before

The Audience of the thesis

To whom do you speak when you write your thesis? To your advisor? To all the students or scholars who will have the chance to consult the work in the future? To the general public of nonspecialists? Should you conceive the thesis as a book that will find its way into the hands of

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How to Write the thesis

Once we have decided to whom to write (to humanity, not to the advisor), we must decide how to write, and this is quite a difficult question. If there were exhaustive rules, we would all be great writers. I could at least recommend that you rewrite your thesis many times, or that you take

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Quotations in the thesis

1. When and How to Quote: 10 Rules Generally speaking, you will quote many texts by other authors in your thesis: the textual object of your work, or the primary source or sources; and the critical literature on your topic, or the secondary sources. Therefore, practically speaking, there are two kinds of quotes: (a)

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Footnotes in the thesis

1. The Purpose of Footnotes According to a fairly common opinion, a thesis or a book with copious notes exhibits erudite snobbism, and often represents an attempt to pull the wool over the reader’s eyes. Certainly we should not rule out the fact that many authors abound in notes to confer a tone of

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Instructions, Traps, and Conventions of the thesis

In many disciplines (and with increasing frequency) authors use a system that allows them to eliminate all reference notes, preserving only content notes and cross-references. This system presupposes that the final bibliography is orga­nized by authors’ names, and includes the date of publica­tion of the first edition of the book or article. Here is

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Academic Pride of the thesis

The tricks of academic work are innumerable, and innu­merable are the traps into which you can fall. Within the limits of this short treatment, we can only provide, in no particular order, a series of instructions to help you avoid such traps. Although these instructions may not help you navigate the Bermuda Triangle that

Formatting the Thesis

1. Margins and Spaces This chapter begins with its title, in full capitals, with left-hand justification (but it could also be centered on the page). The chap­ter bears a number, in this case an Arabic numeral (below we will see the available alter­natives). Then, after three or four blank lines, the title of the

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The Final Bibliography of the thesis

Had we not already discussed this topic at length at least twice, this would be a very long and detailed section. In section 3.2.3 we discussed how to record bibliographical infor­mation for books and articles, and in sections 5.4.2 and 5.4.3 we discussed both how to refer­ence a work in the text and in

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The Appendices in the thesis

In some cases, the appendix or appendices are indispensable. If you are writing a thesis in philology and discussing a rare text that you have found and transcribed, you can present this text in the appendix, and this may be the most original contribution of the entire work. In a thesis in history in

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The Table of Contents of the thesis

In the table of contents, you must record all the chapters, sections, and subsections of the text, and you must exactly match their numbering, pages, and wording. This may seem like obvious advice, but before handing in the thesis, you should carefully verify that you have met these requirements. The table of contents is

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Writing and publishing a scientific paper

Writing and publishing journal articles are essential aspects of a successful scientific career. Unfortunately, many scientists find the process of communicating about their work intimidating and confusing. Now in its eighth edition, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper teaches how to apply clear focus, good organization, and simple, straightforward language to write

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