This document provides guidelines for editing a thesis, emphasizing the importance of clarity and brevity while avoiding unnecessary repetition. It advises on the appropriate use of language, such as quantifying descriptions and avoiding noun strings, as well as the effective use of tables and figures. The ideal length of a thesis is around 40 pages of text plus figures, with specific suggestions on how to shorten the content without losing essential information.

1. Editing Your Thesis www.writekraft.com
Evena rough draft shouldbe edited.
Be especiallycarefulwithcompoundsubjects.Be especiallycareful withsubject/verbagreementwithin
clauses.
Avoidqualitative adjectiveswhendescribingconceptsthatare quantifiable("The waterisdeep.""Plate
convergence isfast.""Ouralgorithmisbetter.") Instead,quantify.("Waterdepthsexceed5km.")
Avoidnounstrings("acousticnoise source location technique").
Do not use unexplainedacronyms.Spell outall acronymsthe firsttime thatyouuse them.
Thesislength
Write for brevityratherthanlength.The goal isthe shortestpossible paperthatcontainsall information
necessarytodescribe the work andsupportthe interpretation.
Avoidunnecessaryrepetitionandirrelevanttangents.
Necessaryrepetition:the maintheme shouldbe developedinthe introductionasamotivationor
workinghypothesis.Itisthendevelopedinthe mainbodyof the paper, and mentionedagaininthe
discussionsection(and,of course,inthe abstractandconclusions).
Some suggestionsonhowtoshortenyourpaper:
Use tablesforrepetitive information.
Include onlysufficientbackgroundmaterialtopermitthe readertounderstandyourstory,notevery
papereverwrittenonthe subject.
Use figure captionseffectively.
Don't describe the contentsof the figuresand/ortablesinthe textitem-by-item.Instead,use the textto
pointoutthe mostsignificantpatterns,itemsortrendsinthe figuresandtables.
Delete "observations"or"results"thatare mentionedinthe textforwhichyouhave notshowndata.
Delete "conclusions"thatare notdirectlysupportedbyyourobservationsorresults.
Delete "interpretation"or"discussion"sectionsthatare inconclusive.
Delete "interpretation"or"discussion"sectionsthatare onlyperipherallyrelatedtoyournew resultsor
observations.

2. Scrutinize adjectives!adverbsandprepositional phrases.
Althoughitvariesconsiderablyfromprojecttoproject,average thesislengthisabout40 pagesof text
plusfigures.Thistotal page countincludesall yourtextaswell asthe listof references,butitdoesnot
include anyappendices.These generalizationsshouldnotbe takentooseriously,especiallyif youare
workingona labor-intensivelabproject.If youhave anyquestionsaboutwhetheryourprojectisof
sufficientscope,consultone of usearlyon.