Before Printing Your Thesis. What You Should Know
Congratulations!
If you are reading this right now, it means you are nearing the point where you are ready to submit your thesis. Maybe you have passed your viva, and only need to do some corrections to your thesis. Or perhaps you still have not gone through your viva yet, and you want to make sure your thesis is presentable for the panel to read. Perhaps you are done with the corrections, and the only thing left is to submit your thesis.
Either way, if you’re reading this right now, chances are you are already coming towards the very end of your journey.
The process to have your thesis edited, formatted and printed can be a costly one. It’s important for you to know the exact procedure before you send your thesis for printing. This will help save money, save you from frustration, and ultimately speed the process for you to get that scroll in your hand.
Step 1
Finalize Your Content First
I know it’s tempting to get the document edited first, but what’s most important is to get your content 100% complete first. If you have not gone through your viva yet, this means finalising the writeup, ready for submission. If you have passed your viva and need to do corrections, this means ensuring all corrections are done and cross-checked with your supervisor first. This is crucial for you to remember.
Step 2
Send for Proofreading
Ideally, you should send your thesis for proofreading either before you go through viva, or after you have passed your viva and done your corrections. This is up to you. If there are major errors, I advise that you send your thesis before viva. Should there be corrections, you can simply take note of the changes you have made and send your document for a second round of editing for only the sections that you have amended. Do not send the whole thesis again if you want to save money.
Alternatively, some send us their thesis after they have passed their viva and done the corrections. This is a good option because you will not be changing anything anymore, and the thesis will thus be ready for printing. You can check out our proofreading services here.
Step 3
Manually Check Your References
If you have used EndNote or Mendeley to manage your references entirely, then generally your references should be accurate. However, take note that your references are only as accurate as the information that you keyed into the system. If you are sure that you have keyed in the information correctly, and that no in-text citations were put in manually into your thesis, then generally there should be no problem here. However, if you need an extra set of eyes to check your references, it is handy to outsource it to an expert. Generally, reference-checking services entails:
Reference-checking is tedious work, and after the hard work you have put into writing the thesis, the easiest way to ensure this is done is by outsourcing the work to an expert. Check this page to see the service offered by our in-house reference-checker expert.
Step 4
Check Your Numbering System for Headers, Sub-headers, Tables, Images, Equations
One of the most tedious things to do is to check the numbering of your headers, sub-headers, table numbers, figure numbers and equation numbers. Even when this has been automatically generated, it still needs to be checked manually to ensure the order is correct, as the automatic generation only ensures the headers are on the correct page. This is another task that can easily be outsourced to someone with a high attention to detail, and who has the expertise in MS Word functions to help you automatically generate the tables. This falls under our formatting services, and is coupled with the next step before sending your thesis for printing!
Step 5
Format Your Thesis
Ah… the final and most satisfying part, signalling the true end of your journey, and the last step before sending your thesis for printing. Formatting is straightforward if you are familiar with the controls of MS Word. University standards are stringent, requiring you to follow all spacing and indentation requirements for the entirety of the content of your thesis. Again, if you are not familiar with the advanced controls of MS Word, this is another part that can be easily outsourced to a third party. MMW offers a comprehensive formatting service for theses and dissertations, which includes checking the numbering of your headers, sub-headers, figures, tables and formulas.
The process of completing a thesis is a laborious one, from the moment you put down the first word, to when you finalise the corrections set by the viva panel. After working on your thesis for so long, the probability of missing a detail in your thesis is high, just because you are too used to looking at it. Having a fresh pair of eyes is the best way to ensure that you submit an error-free thesis that you can be truly proud of. Do check out our current rates and promotions for our thesis packages, where we offer editing, reference checking and formatting services at a competitive price!
You’re almost there. Let us help you get to the end!
