How To Find A Solid Dissertation Introduction Example: A Useful Guide
The art of dissertation writing is best mastered on examples, but only on well written and solid ones. In the case of an introduction, having a few strong samples at hand is especially crucial to crafting your own. Use the ways below to discover them.
Browse your university library.
Dissertations, unlike most other academic papers, are often stored at university libraries. Every thesis is considered a part of the general scientific knowledge in this field, so after defense it is placed by faculty members into the academic database. Check whether your faculty has a database of submitted dissertations. You can be sure that these introduction examples are of excellent quality and consistent with specific requirements of your institution.
Use a free thesis database.
All dissertations, defended in a particular country or state, eventually get put into official electronic databases. Browse the Web for a collection of theses from the location you live in (or from foreign countries if you need an international insight). The website should have “.edu” in its URL, with the address and phone number of the institution responsible for it stated in the contacts section. Using such a database is a great way to discover lots of quality introductions at once. In order not to get confused, look for papers on subjects similar to yours and give preference to the most recent ones. Academic writing standards change over time and vary across disciplines, so the introductions from these papers will be the most relevant ones for you to use as examples.
Ask a successful graduate.
If you have a good friend who has recently defended a dissertation, ask to have a look at it. As you know this paper has been successfully defended, you can assume the whole of it, including the introduction, is well written. Pay attention to how the topic and subject are introduced, and how extensive the overview of previous literature is. The example will be especially valuable if your friend has defended in the same university as you, or at least in the same field.
Explore paid dissertation databases.
If you have a rare topic, on which papers are difficult to find in free databases, try paid ones. Most of them allow a free preview of the first few pages. As you are looking for introduction examples, that will suffice. Note that you might not be able to copy any materials from such databases, so prepare a separate file or your notebook to take notes. Paid databases usually offer a greater choice, and you can find a dissertation introduction on virtually every topic there.
