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Thesis & Dissertation Title Page | Free Templates & Examples

Published on May 19, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on July 18, 2023.

The title page (or cover page) of your thesis , dissertation , or research paper should contain all the key information about your document. It usually includes:

• Dissertation or thesis title
• The type of document (e.g., dissertation, research paper)
• The department and institution
• The degree program (e.g., Master of Arts)
• The date of submission

It sometimes also includes your dissertation topic or field of study, your student number, your supervisor’s name, and your university’s logo.

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Table of contents

Title page format, title page templates, title page example, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions.

Your department will usually tell you exactly what should be included on your title page and how it should be formatted. Be sure to check whether there are specific guidelines for margins, spacing, and font size.

Title pages for APA and MLA style

The format of your title page can also depend on the citation style you’re using. There may be guidelines in regards to alignment, page numbering, and mandatory elements.

• MLA guidelines for formatting the title page
• APA guidelines for formatting the title page

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We’ve created a few templates to help you design the title page for your thesis, dissertation, or research paper. You can download them in the format of your choice by clicking on the corresponding button.

Research paper Google Doc

Dissertation Google Doc

Thesis Google Doc

A typical example of a thesis title page looks like this:

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The title page of your thesis or dissertation should include your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date.

Usually, no title page is needed in an MLA paper . A header is generally included at the top of the first page instead. The exceptions are when:

• Your instructor requires one, or
• Your paper is a group project

In those cases, you should use a title page instead of a header, listing the same information but on a separate page.

The title page of your thesis or dissertation goes first, before all other content or lists that you may choose to include.

In most styles, the title page is used purely to provide information and doesn’t include any images. Ask your supervisor if you are allowed to include an image on the title page before doing so. If you do decide to include one, make sure to check whether you need permission from the creator of the image.

Include a note directly beneath the image acknowledging where it comes from, beginning with the word “ Note .” (italicized and followed by a period). Include a citation and copyright attribution . Don’t title, number, or label the image as a figure , since it doesn’t appear in your main text.

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Senior Thesis Formatting Guidelines

Contents and form.

Length : The required length is between 10,000 and 20,000 words, not counting notes, bibliography, and appendices. The precise length of the main body text must be indicated on the word count page  immediately following the title page . If a student expects the thesis to exceed 20,000 words, the student’s tutor should consult the Director of Studies. Please note that students’ requests to exceed 20,000 words must go through their tutors and that these requests must be made in early February. Any extension of the thesis beyond the maximum must be justified by the nature of the topic, or sustained excellence in the treatment of the subject, or both. Theses that receive permission to exceed 20,000 words can still be penalized if readers do not think that the excess length is warranted.

Acknowledgments : Please do not include acknowledgments in your final copy of the thesis. If you wish, you can add acknowledgments after your thesis has been read. Readers prefer not to know who directed your thesis, lest they be somehow swayed by that knowledge.

Illustrations : Illustrations, also called figures, might include anything from a photograph to a printed advertisement to a map to a chart. Illustrations may be inserted in the body of your thesis or included in an appendix at the end. Writers often choose to reference an illustration in the body of text, signaling to readers to refer to a particular figure that’s being discussed by turning to a nearby page or to an appendix (e.g., “See Figure 1.”) The inclusion of illustrations in a senior thesis, which has a fairly circumscribed audience, falls under fair use, so you do not need permissions to reproduce illustrations in your thesis. However, all images should be accompanied by a caption that identifies the image and may include brief explanatory text. You may also use the caption to attribute the source where you found the illustration (e.g., a url or the name of the archive where you photographed the item), or you can cite the illustration in a footnote or endnote. You do not need to cite your images in your bibliography. For more detailed guidelines on including illustrations in your thesis, see The Chicago Manual of Style or the MLA Style Manual .

Format : Pages should be 8 1/2" x 11". Margins should be 1 inch, and pages should be numbered. Do not right-justify. The lines of type must be double-spaced, except for quotations of five lines or more, which should be indented and single-spaced.

Style : If you have questions beyond those covered on this page, consult the University of Chicago's A Manual of Style or the Modern Language Association's Style Manual . Kate L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers is a good, inexpensive, brief guide to Chicago style. The Expository Writing Program guide, Writing with Sources , is very useful.

Table of Contents : Every thesis requires a Table of Contents to guide the reader.

Quotations : Quotations of four lines or fewer, surrounded by quotation marks, may be incorporated into the body of the text. Longer extracts should be indented and single-spaced; they should not be included in quotation marks. Each full quotation should be accompanied by a reference. Follow the general practice in the best periodicals in your field, and be consistent. Foreign words that are not quotations should be underlined or italicized.

Appendices : An appendix provides additional material that helps support your argument and is too lengthy to be included as a footnote or endnote. Appendices might include images, passages from primary texts in a non-English language or in your translation, or archival material that is difficult to access. It is rare but perfectly acceptable for theses to include appendices, so make sure to discuss with your tutor whether an appendix makes sense for your project.

Notes : You may use either footnotes (at bottom of page), endnotes (at end of the thesis) or MLA style parenthetical notes. However, for a History & Literature thesis, Chicago style is generally better. Footnote or endnotes are properly used:

• To state precisely the source or other authority for a statement in the text, or to acknowledge indebtedness for insights or arguments taken from other writers. Quotations should be given when necessary.
• To make minor qualifications, to prevent misunderstanding, or otherwise to clarify the text when such statements, if put in the text, would interrupt the flow.
• To carry further some topic discussed in the text, when such discussion is needed but does not fit into the text.

Bibliography : You must append a list of works cited to your thesis. It's a good idea to compile your bibliography as you write, rather than try to put it together all at once at the end (there are very powerful bibliography programs available, such as Zotero and Endnote, that generate bibliographies automatically). The purpose of the bibliography is to be a convenience to your reader. In the works cited list, primary and secondary sources should be listed under separate headings.

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Department of Anthropology

Senior Thesis Style and Formatting Guide

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Writing Support Resources

Style Guide

Page Numbering

Title Page Format

In-Text Citations

Endnotes vs. Footnotes

References Cited

Figures and Tables

Formatting the Printed Version

Useful Sources on Formal Writing

If you would like feedback and support while writing, the Marks Family Resource Center, located at 3808 Walnut Street, is an excellent resource.  Consult their web page , where you will find links to guides on writing. They also meet with students to improve their writing one-on-one. Writing Center drop-in tutoring hours can be found here . 

You should use consistent style for your in-text citations, references cited, and writing in general.  All Undergraduate Theses submitted to the Department of Anthropology must use the formal “style guide.” We recommend the  American Anthropologist  for cultural anthropology and linguistics topics,  American Antiquity  and  Historical Archaeology  for archaeology topics, and  American Journal of Physical Anthropology  for physical anthropology and biological anthropology topics.  You must use the style guide consistently for the Abstract, Main Text, References Cited, Figures, and Tables.  All citations must have the complete reference in the section “References Cited.”  All figures must be numbered and must be referred to in the text at least once.  Online style guides are available for the following journals:

American Anthropologist :

http://www.aaanet.org/publications/guidelines.cfm

American Antiquity :

https://documents.saa.org/container/docs/default-source/doc-publications/style-guide/saa-style-guide_updated-july-2018c5062f7e55154959ab57564384bda7de.pdf?sfvrsn=8247640e_6

Historical Archaeology

http://www.sha.org/publications/for_authors.cfm

American Journal of Physical Anthropology :

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%291096-8644/homepage/ForAuthors.html

All pages in your thesis should be numbered at the bottom center using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3 . . .) (including Main Text, References Cited section, Figures section, and Tables section).  The Title page is not numbered.  Any preliminary pages (Abstract, Table of Contents, or lists of Figures) use small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii . . .).

Your title page is unnumbered. All text of the title page should be centered and have the same font as the main text  Your title page should have the following elements (note the use of upper and lower case):

[TITLE OF THE UNDERGRADUATE THESIS IN UPPER CASE]

[Author’s Name]

Anthropology

Submitted to the

Thesis Advisor:  [name of the Thesis Advisor]

The Undergraduate Thesis must include a formal abstract (summary) of 100-200 words at the beginning, immediately following your Title page. Your thesis abstract presents a concise summary of the thesis (research problem or issue, the methods or approach used, and results). Do not cite references in the abstract.

Anthropology generally uses in-text citations to refer to published work as you’ll see in the Style Guide above. It is better to over-cite your sources than to under-cite them!  Below are links to the Penn Library’s documentation guide and the University guide to academic integrity.  Please read these documents carefully:

http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/PORT/documentation/

http://www.upenn.edu/academicintegrity/index.html

We discourage the use of footnotes and endnotes for “additional information.”  If necessary, use endnotes rather than footnotes.  Endnotes appear in sequence at the end of the main text as a separate section titled “Endnotes” and are numbered in sequence in the text (using a superscript font). Endnotes are single-spaced with double spaces between them.  

Your Undergraduate Thesis should include a complete “References Cited” section (this is not a “Bibliography”). Refer to the appropriate style guide ( American Anthropologist ,  American Antiquity , Historical Archaeology,  or  American Journal of Physical Anthropology ) above for details on citations.  Your References Cited section must include all and only the references that you’ve formally cited in your main text, endnotes, figures, and tables. Work with your advisor to agree on appropriate citations for archival sources, interviews, museum records, and other research data.

The Undergraduate Thesis in Anthropology is a formal document, so your figures and tables should be sharp, clear, readable and directly relevant to the topic. Your figures should be clear and legible. Scan images from publications and reduce or enlarge these to best fit the margins of your page using Photoshop or Illustrator (available on computers in the Department and in Weigle Information Commons).

Figures includes diagrams, photographs, drawings, graphics, illustrations, and maps. They will be numbered in sequence “Figure X..”. Label all of your tables “Table Y..” in a separate numbered sequence. You should mention each figure and table at least once in your text [for example:  “As Table 5 demonstrates, the alcoholic content of maize beer is low.”]  Each figure or table must have an individual caption on the page where it appears. If information or images in your figures come from published or unpublished work of others, you must include formal citations in your captions and References Cited section (“Figure 3:  Location map showing the excavations completed during the 1994 field season (after Smith et al. 1995).”

Photographs are numbered in the figure sequence. Photographs should be sharp, fit within the required margins, and have direct relevance to your thesis. Like all figures, each photograph must have a caption, must be cited in the text, and must be listed in the table of figures if you include one. You must cite the sources of any published image you reproduce, and that citation must appear in your “References Cited.”

The text, tables and figures of your thesis should have a 1-inch margin on all sides. Your text should be double spaced except for the Title Page, Abstract, Table of Contents, long quoted passages (“block” quotes), References Cited, Endnotes and Captions. Format these sections according to the style guide for your thesis subject area.

Choose a clear standard typeface (Times New Roman, etc.) and format pages with 12-point font throughout your document.

Gibaldi, Joseph.  2009.  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.  7th ed. New York:  Modern Language Association of America.  A comprehensive guide to writing research papers.

Strunk, W. and E.B. White.  2005.  The Elements of Style.  New York:  Penguin Press.  Appropriate for more humanities-oriented papers (and therefore possibly for cultural- and linguistic anthropology theses).  Focuses on rules of standard English and calls attention to common errors.

Turabian, Kate L.  2007.  A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.  7th ed.  Chicago:  University of Chicago Press.  Updated in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style.

University of Chicago.  2010.  The Chicago Manual of Style.  16th edition.  Chicago:  University of Chicago Press.  Another classic, comprehensive style guide; extensively revised for the 16th edition.

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What Is A Senior Thesis And How To Write It?

First, what is senior thesis? A senior thesis is a written project where you use different hypotheses, theory, argument, or creative thinking. It is usual practice for most students to take this project work in the senior year of college or high school.

A senior thesis tends to be more demanding than a research paper in terms of the amount of work and the length of the write-up. However, it is less than the work required for any Master’s thesis.

Is a Senior Thesis Required?

It is understandable to want to know if a senior thesis is required. I mean, anyone would want to know just how important it is before choosing to dedicate much time to it.

Well, a senior thesis is not compulsory in every college/university, and neither is it compulsory for every course of study.

In general, you can write a senior thesis if you have an overall GPA of 3.2, are ending your junior year, and meet your departmental requirements. If a senior thesis is not a requirement for completing your degree, you may decide to write one for several reasons. Some benefits are:

• It will look good on your resume
• It will give you an opportunity for some independent research
• You get some experience managing your project, etc.

If you cannot commit to finishing a senior thesis, then you shouldn’t start it. But if you would like to write one, then we’ve got lots of senior thesis topics and ideas for you! You will also get to learn how to write a senior thesis in this article!

How To Write a Senior Thesis

Writing a senior thesis can be a lot easier if you know what to do. First, you need to choose the right adviser, select a topic you would like to work on, write a proposal, and get approved. Here are some things you need to know about writing your senior thesis.

A thesis proposal is a short overview of what your senior thesis papers will look like. This document carries detailed descriptions of your senior thesis topic. Your thesis proposal can be between 1 to 5 pages long and should carry any relevant information. The proposal will also carry a list of books you’ve used or that you intend to use during the writing of your senior thesis.

The length of a senior thesis may vary depending on several reasons. The senior thesis length can be dependent on strict specifications by the college. Your senior thesis may be between 10,000 to 20,000 words long.

The senior honors thesis is a 6-credit final thesis that you must present as a written formal document. The senior thesis title page, also known as the cover page, is the page that carries, at first glance, details of the project. The information on this page includes the thesis title, name of the student, name of college, name of supervisor, etc.

The senior thesis defense is an avenue created for faculty and examiners to ask you about your research work. You are to tell them the outcome of the research to the point when you’re asked. The questions center around what you have in your senior thesis paper, so ensure you have remarkable up-to-date information at every point.

Senior Thesis Topic

It is essential that you find excellent senior thesis topics. Finding these excellent topics is the pain point for many students. Well, we are here to help you with some senior thesis topics.

Checking out past senior thesis topics can also set you on the right path earlier in your research. For example, if you are a student writing a CMC senior thesis, senior thesis UF, senior thesis Princeton, or yale senior thesis, you can search for award-winning senior thesis topics. These topics can give you an idea of topics that may best suit your purposes. Never forget that you should always choose topics that you find interesting. Here are some history senior thesis topics that you can choose from:

• Yankees of the East: 20th Century America
• History of the German Ford Motor Company
• How women saw themselves in the Jazz Age
• The Emergence of Great Societies
• The roles of women post WWII

Get A Senior Thesis Example

Looking through some senior thesis examples can help you easily get the hang of what a senior thesis looks like. You can also request past projects from senior friends and colleagues, as this can significantly reduce the stress on you.

Senior Thesis Format

Now, I’ll give you a working senior thesis format. If you want an excellent and well-written thesis, you can follow the senior thesis outline given below. Here is an outline according to the guidelines for writing UF senior thesis or Princeton senior thesis.

In this chapter, you have to discuss the significance and purpose of the thesis. Also, you should state what you hope to achieve by the work.

Here, you will discuss the theory behind your research work. This chapter discusses past theoretical works that are related to your research.

This chapter explains how you intend to gather your data. Here, you state the method and experiments you followed to arrive at your results. It would help if you also described the analysis of your data. This must be done conscientiously.

This chapter addresses the findings from your experiments and data analysis only. You begin by listing out the types of tests taken and the outcome. You can use tables and charts to illustrate numeric results as the case may be.

Here you don’t just restate your findings, but you expatiate on the deductions you made from your findings. This chapter answers the “so what?” question. This is not a section to mince words when you explain what the results mean to the theory.

Include all references at the end of work.

Senior Thesis Ideas

There are many fields and sources to get senior thesis topic ideas from. These fields include health, technology, social media, education, religion, music, environment, etc. If you want to do a UF psychology senior thesis research, for example, these are some senior thesis psychology topics you can explore.

• The deep-seated reasons for discrimination and prejudice
• Personal perception and social cognition
• Marketing, propaganda, and persuasion
• Eating behaviors and outlook about life
• Phobias and antisocial behaviors
• Group therapy profile
• False memories and dreams.

Graphic Design Senior Thesis

When you become a senior in the Graphic Design Program at your institution, you can choose a social or personal problem to address through a design problem-solving technique or process. It may take you a semester or session to complete this work, so you have to start early enough. After completing the thesis, you can showcase your work and experience an exhibition. Don’t forget to put in your best effort.

High School Senior Thesis

The high school senior thesis is a document of at least 2,000 words written by high school seniors. This exercise usually strengthens research capabilities. Some high school senior thesis topics may include:

• A documentary on a place
• Learning about programming
• Research about the nature of colors and lots more.

In conclusion, when you’ve decided to write a senior thesis, the best thing to do is segment your work into small doable bits. Also, you need to schedule your time so that you can complete the thesis in due time or contact professional thesis writers . We wish you good luck!

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Every year, a little over half of Harvard’s senior class chooses to pursue a senior thesis. While the senior thesis looks a little different from field to field, one thing remains the same: completion of a senior thesis is a serious and challenging endeavor that requires the student to make a genuine intellectual contribution to their field of interest.

The senior thesis is a significant task for students to undertake, but there is a variety of support resources available here at Harvard to ensure that seniors can make the best of their senior thesis experience.

Wandering the library stacks at Widener.

I do most of my research in Widener Library. Hannah Martinez

As a rising senior in the History department, I am planning on pursuing a senior thesis on the history and use of the SAT in college admissions, and I am using the following support systems and resources to research and write my thesis:

• Staff at the History department. Every student within the department is assigned an academic advisor, who is a graduate student studying History at Harvard and knows the support available within the department. My academic advisor has helped me throughout the thesis process by connecting me with potential faculty members to advise my thesis and pick classes with a lighter course load so I can focus on completing my thesis. The Director of Undergraduate Studies in History (the History DUS) has also been pivotal in making sure that I attended a lot of information sessions about what the thesis looks like and how much of a commitment it is.
• History faculty at Harvard! All of my professors in History have been incredibly helpful in teaching me how to write like a historian, how to use primary sources in my essays, and how to undertake a serious research project over the course of a semester. Of course, while the thesis will require me to go far beyond what I’ve ever done before, I feel prepared to take on such a task because of the unwavering support from the History faculty. My mentor, Emma Rothschild, is one of the members of the faculty who has been invaluable in encouraging me to go as far as I am able.
• And last but certainly not least: funding. Funding, whether in term-time of the summer before senior year, is crucial towards making the senior thesis possible. Harvard’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships is dedicated to connecting Harvard students to funding sources across the university so they can pursue their research and get paid for it. This summer, I received a grant from the university of almost $2,000 so I am able to travel to libraries, buy books, and potentially take time off of work and do my research. Without such a grant, it would be incredibly difficult for me to do enough research so I can write a thesis this upcoming fall.

As you can see, there are multiple avenues for support and resources here at Harvard so your senior thesis is as easy as possible. While the senior thesis is still a challenging project that will take up a lot of time, Harvard’s resources make it possible for senior students to do their very best in all of their theses. I’m excited to start writing this fall!

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Doing a senior thesis is an exciting enterprise. It’s often the first time students are engaging in truly original research and trying to develop a significant contribution to a field of inquiry. But as joyful as an independent research process can be, you don’t have to go it alone. It’s important to have support as you navigate such a large endeavor, and the ARC is here to offer one of those layers of support.

Whether or not to write a senior thesis is just the first in a long line of questions thesis writers need to consider. In addition to questions about the topic and scope of your thesis, there are questions about timing, schedule, and support. For example, if you are collecting data, when should data collection start and when should it be completed? What kind of schedule will you write on? How will you work with your adviser? Do you want to meet with your adviser about your progress once a month? Once a week? What other resources can you turn to for information, feedback, and support?

Even though there is a lot to think about and a lot to do, doing a thesis really can be an enjoyable experience! Keep reminding yourself why you chose this topic and why you care about it.

Tips for Tackling Big Projects:

Break the process down into manageable chunks.

• When you’re approaching a big project, it can seem overwhelming to look at the whole thing at once, so it’s essential to identify the smaller steps that will move you towards the completed project.
• Your adviser is best suited to help you break down the thesis process with field-specific advice.
• If you need to refine the breakdown further so it makes sense for you, schedule an appointment with an  Academic Coach . An academic coach can help you think through the steps in a way that works for you.

Schedule brief writing sessions at regular times.

• Pre-determine the time, place, and duration.
• Keep it short (15 to 60 minutes).
• Have a clear and reasonable goal for each writing session.
• Make it a regular event (every day, every other day, MWF).
• time is not wasted deciding to write if it’s already in your calendar;
• keeping sessions short reduces the competition from other tasks that are not getting done;
• having an achievable goal for each session provides a sense of accomplishment (a reward for your work);
• writing regularly can turn into a productive habit.

Create accountability structures.

• In addition to having a clear goal for each writing session, it's important to have clear goals for each week and to find someone to communicate these goals to, such as your adviser, a “thesis buddy,” your roommate, etc. Communicating your goals and progress to someone else creates a useful sense of accountability.
• If your adviser is not the person you are communicating your progress to on a weekly basis, then request to set up a structure with your adviser that requires you to check in at less frequent but regular intervals.
• Commit to attending Accountability Hours  at the ARC on the same day every week. Making that commitment will add both social support and structure to your week. Use the ARC Scheduler to register for Accountability Hours.
• Set up an accountability group in your department or with thesis writers from different departments.

Create feedback structures.

• It’s important to have a means for getting consistent feedback on your work and to get that feedback early. Work on large projects often lacks the feeling of completeness, so don’t wait for a whole section (and certainly not the whole thesis) to feel “done” before you get feedback on it!
• Your thesis adviser is typically the person best positioned to give you feedback on your research and writing, so communicate with your adviser about how and how often you would like to get feedback.
• If your adviser isn’t able to give you feedback with the frequency you’d like, then fill in the gaps by creating a thesis writing group or exploring if there is already a writing group in your department or lab.
• The Harvard College Writing Center is a great resource for thesis feedback. Writing Center Senior Thesis Tutors can provide feedback on the structure, argument, and clarity of your writing and help with mapping out your writing plan. Visit the Writing Center website to schedule an appointment with a thesis tutor .

Accept that there will be some anxious moments.

• To reduce this source of anxiety, try keeping a separate document where you jot down ideas on how your research questions or central argument might be clarifying or changing as you research and write. Doing this will enable you to stay focused on the section you are working on and to stop worrying about forgetting the new ideas that are emerging.
• You might feel anxious when you realize that you need to update your argument in response to the evidence you have gathered or the new thinking your writing has unleashed. Know that that is OK. Research and writing are iterative processes – new ideas and new ways of thinking are what makes progress possible.
• Breaking down big projects into manageable chunks and mapping out a schedule for working through each chunk is one way to reduce this source of anxiety. It’s reassuring to know you are working towards the end even if you cannot quite see how it will turn out.
• It may be that your thesis or dissertation never truly feels “done” to you, but that’s okay. Academic inquiry is an ongoing endeavor.

Focus on what works for you.

• Just because your roommate wrote 10 pages in a day doesn’t mean that’s the right pace or strategy for you.
• If you are having trouble figuring out what works for you, use the  ARC Scheduler  to make an appointment with an  Academic Coach , who can help you come up with daily, weekly, and semester-long plans.

Use your resources.

• There’s a lot of the thesis writing process that has to be done independently, but there are also a lot of free resources at Harvard to help you do the work.
• If you’re having trouble finding a source, email your question or set up a research consult via Ask a Librarian .
• If you’re looking for additional feedback or help with any aspect of writing, contact the Harvard College Writing Center . The Writing Center has Senior Thesis Tutors who will read drafts of your thesis (more typically, parts of your thesis) in advance and meet with you individually to talk about structure, argument, clear writing, and mapping out your writing plan.
• If you need help with breaking down your project or setting up a schedule for the week, the semester, or until the deadline, use the  ARC Scheduler  to make an appointment with an  Academic Coach .
• If you would like an accountability structure for social support and to keep yourself on track, come to Accountability Hours at the ARC.

Accordion style

• Assessing Your Understanding
• Building Your Academic Support System
• Common Class Norms
• Effective Learning Practices
• First-Year Students
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• Minimizing Zoom Fatigue
• Note-taking
• Office Hours
• Perfectionism
• Scheduling Time
• Study Groups
• Tackling STEM Courses
• Test Anxiety

Thesis Helpers

Find the best tips and advice to improve your writing. Or, have a top expert write your paper.

How to Write a Senior Thesis? Student’s Manual

If you’re an undergraduate student, you might know that you will be required to write a senior thesis to graduate. You may also know that this will be the most challenging project that you might have to undertake during your academic career. But, what is a senior thesis? And, how do you write it successfully within the provided timeframe?

Well, a senior thesis is an independent, large research project that learners are required to undertake during their college or high school senior year as a graduation requirement. It is also called a senior honors thesis. This project marks the culmination of the study work of students at a learning institution. It represents the ability of the leaders to conduct independent research and present their findings in writing effectively. In most cases, undertaking this project successfully is a requirement for learners to graduate with honors.

On joining high school or college, many students ask, “Is a senior thesis required for my program?” Knowing whether you will be required to write this paper early is important because it enables you to prepare for it. Thus, you avoid struggling to learn how to write a senior thesis at the last minute. Nevertheless, this project shouldn’t give you sleepless nights. Just follow these steps when writing a senior thesis.

Choose a Senior Thesis Topic you’re Passionate About

Writing senior thesis papers gives most students the first opportunity to choose their preferred topics to write about. This provides incredible autonomy. But, if you choose a topic that you aren’t passionate about, dedicating hours or days exploring it in detail will be difficult.

Completing college and high school senior thesis entails writing in an unscripted world. This converts dreaming into praxis while enabling learners to expand academic horizons past what they are accustomed to.

This project presents an outlet for converting the imaginary world into something tangible and real that mentors and peers can read, understand, and challenge. These possibilities make it possible for students to get senior thesis topics that invoke feelings of zeal.

If unsure of what to write about, explore senior thesis topic ideas online. These can be a good place to start the process of choosing a topic for your thesis. The internet has many sources where you can find great ideas for history senior thesis topics and senior thesis topic psychology experts and students would like to read about. Explore these sources to find a topic you will find interesting to write about.

Write a Senior Thesis Outline

Once you’ve chosen a topic, conduct some research to know the main topics to include in your paper. Come up with an outline that will enable you to present your main topics and their supporting evidence. An outline is a structure that shows how you will present the information gathered through in-depth research.

Your outline can include the senior thesis title page, the introduction , the body section with the chapters to be included, and the conclusion. How you outline your paper should depend on the information you wish to include and the instructions provided by your professor.

The outline should solve tasks like:

• Reveal your topic and thesis statement
• Show the expediency and relevance of the project
• Show the chosen methodological base
• Expound your senior thesis ideas or thoughts consistently and logically
• Draw conclusions objectively

To avoid missing important information, your outline should include a senior thesis cover page, the introduction, theoretical part, practical part, scientific novelty evidence, conclusions, bibliography, and applications. These sections should be logically completed and detailed.

Each senior thesis format may vary but it should reflect the main ideas of the entire project. It should also show the essence of every subparagraph and chapter if they are parts of the work.

Define the Objectives and Goals of Your Thesis

There are many college and high school senior thesis topics you may have chosen. So, why did you choose this particular topic for your paper? What do you want to accomplish by the end of your project? Whether you’re writing a CMC senior thesis or a UF senior thesis, you should have clear goals and objectives of your project.

When writing this paper, a goal can be to consolidate and systemize a theory in a specialty within the course of solving a practical problem and identifying independent work’s abilities. Tasks should also be formulated. For instance, a task can be to formulate literature on a topic after studying it, researching, and learning its basic concepts and terms. You can use a senior thesis example in your field to see how the author has defined their goals and objectives in the paper.

Make and Stick to a Schedule for Writing Your Senior Thesis Paper

Perhaps, the question that’s lingering in your mind now is, “how long is a senior thesis?” Well, most professors expect students to write between 70 and 89-page magnum opus. However, some would rather have learners write a strong article-sized thesis of between 25 and 40 pages. Thus, most professors look for quality rather than quantity.

But, regardless of your senior thesis length, have a schedule for writing it and stick to it. You can have something like a to-do list. This will make you feel like you have accomplished something whenever you cross off something from the list. You can have a weekly checklist or schedule that coincides with your writing process.

Procrastination may have plagued your past in academics. Nevertheless, bear in mind the fact that you might not succeed with your senior thesis defense if you keep procrastinating. Therefore, come up with a schedule and stick to it throughout or ask thesis services to help you.

Your schedule should highlight when to submit your senior thesis proposal, as well as when to write certain sections, when to complete the first draft and when your final draft will be due. The schedule should enable you to visualize both the short-term and long-term objectives of your writing project.

Start Writing

Whether you’re writing a Princeton senior thesis or Yale senior thesis, the structure is almost the same. You have to include certain parts and focus on writing each section at a time.

Your paper should include the following sections, according to the normal academic standards:

• The title page
• Table of contents
• The abstract
• A five-page introduction
• The main part
• A conclusion with two to three pages
• Bibliographic list
• Applications

To know the content to include in each of these sections, find and read good senior thesis examples. Most schools and faculties have samples that can guide students in writing these papers. Therefore, talk to your professor to see if they can get you a sample thesis.

Proofread Your Work

This is the last step in the process of writing this paper. Whether you have written a UF psychology senior thesis or a graphic design senior thesis, make sure that you proofread your work to remove all errors.

Focus on the following when proofreading your work:

• Logical or smooth development of the content of your thesis
• Work structure
• Flow of your thought and sentence structure
• All errors, including contextual, stylistic, punctuation, spelling, and grammatical.
• Thesis formatting

Make sure that you have presented your senior thesis psychology or senior thesis UF work in a clear and easy to understand manner.

You no longer have to ask, ‘what is senior thesis?’ That’s because this article has explained everything you need to know about this paper. Follow the guidelines and tips provided here to complete your project successfully whether you’re writing a senior thesis Princeton or Yale paper.

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Thesis Examples

Here are some of our best senior theses from the past few years. Hard copies of all senior theses from the last four or five years are available for reading in our department offices in Flanner Hall. Extra copies may be checked out with Katie Schlotfeldt; originals must remain in our office area.

• The Haight & the Hierarchy: Church, City, and Culture in San Francisco, 1967-2008 (2016) -- Sarah Morris
• Where Have All the Manly Journalists Gone? Gender and Masculinity in Prestige Television Representations of Journalists (2016) -- Jack Rooney
• Attica! Representations of the 1971 Prison Riot in Local and National Journalism (2016) -- Gretel Kauffman
• Literary Environmentalism in the Desert Southwest (2015) -- Caroline Schuitema
• Classrooms of Democracy: Libraries and Museums as Sites of Citizenship (2014) -- Aubrey Butts
• Identity, Activism and Queer Representation in the Age of AIDS, 1985-1995 (2013) -- Colin O'Niel
• Creating and Contesting the Cult of Girlhood: Magazines, Zines, and the Girls Who Read Them (2013) -- Olivia Lee
• A Blank Generation: Richard Hell and American Punk Rock (2012) -- Ross Finney
• Cul-de-Sac Culture Within City Limits: Exploring Urban/Suburban Borders in Chicago (2012) -- Maisie O'Malley 
• Bitch. Contemporary Feminism in American Consumer Culture  (2011) -- Catherine Scallen
• From Slum Clearance and Public Housing High Rises to the Olympic Village: The History of Housing in Bronzeville and the Chicago 2016 Bid  (2010) -- Denise Baron 

Senior Thesis Cover Page

Version history, think critically, reason wisely, and act humanely..

Our mission since 1868.

Why the Senior Thesis? (Updated for 2022)

Is your student in Challenge IV , preparing and writing for their Senior Thesis? Or, will your child soon enter Challenge IV and is intimidated at the prospect of writing such an intensive paper? Although Senior Thesis can be a difficult task, the rewards of this capstone project that ends students’ high school journey are abundant.

What Is the Challenge IV Senior Thesis?

The Greek word thesis means “something put forth.” And the Classical Conversations Senior Thesis is an opportunity for Challenge IV students to “put forth” their ideas. Students pick any academic topic that interests them and incorporate significant and relevant ideas from across the Challenge program. They develop a persuasive thesis statement and then prove their claim in a sizable paper. Later, they present and defend their thesis before a panel in lieu of final exams. The Senior Thesis is the culmination of a student’s entire school experience in which they offer up the fruits of their labors.

As ominous as a paper of this size may sound, this project doesn’t need to be intimidating. As students work through the process of writing their papers over the course of the second semester, they have rich conversations with their Director each step of the way. In addition, they are guided by parents and chosen mentors. And, Challenge IV students follow a writing process similar to the one learned in their study of The Lost Tools of Writing in the earlier Challenge levels but adapted for older, more mature students.

Using the Five Canons of Rhetoric

Senior Thesis naturally takes students through the Five Canons of Rhetoric to create a compelling, well-researched paper. Beginning with invention, students select a topic and ask questions about it using the Five Common Topics of Dialectic to develop a claim (or thesis) to be proven. At this stage, an ANI (affirmative-negative-interesting) chart is helpful to build arguments and to select and then sort supporting evidence. Next comes arrangement, in which students solidify the vision and reinforce the direction of their papers, organizing their information and creating outlines. In the elocution stage, ideas finally hit the paper as students write and refine their first drafts. Through numerous reviews, students and advisors consider the flow of ideas, the argumentation, the style, and the mechanics of the paper. Students then write an abstract — a short, clear summary of the thesis and main ideas included in the paper. Finally, students memorize their abstracts and prepare for delivering an oral presentation and defense of their work in front of judges at a Senior Thesis defense held at their local community.

Why Write a Senior Thesis?

The benefits of writing a Senior Thesis are many. Students produce a rhetorical artifact that represents the skills and abilities gained throughout their years in the Classical Conversations programs. They demonstrate true ownership of their education by coordinating with an advisor, planning and completing a long-term project, and publicly defending their positions. Presenting their theses before a panel allows students to incorporate all three modes of persuasion: logos (logic), ethos (character), and pathos (emotion). Throughout the Challenge years, students encounter and discuss big ideas, and the Senior Thesis is a beautiful culmination of their educational experience.

Not yet a Classical Conversations member and interested in our community-based approach to homeschooling? We’d love to hear from you! To learn more about us, click here .

This post was originally published on January 11, 2016.

Written by:

Kathy donegia, i want to start homeschooling.

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