Introduction:
Writing the dissertation acknowledgement is a form of celebration that you deserve after completing your project. However, you should not take this section lightly. You need to be careful in choosing the people whom you want to give thanks to. You should also follow the guidelines given by your university for this section. This article can help you write a dissertation acknowledgement in a perfect way.
Acknowledgements section:
The section of acknowledgement is the opportunity for you to thank those people who have supported and helped you professionally and personally during the dissertation or thesis process. Dissertation or thesis acknowledgements appear between the abstract and the title. This section must not be longer than 1 page. In this section, you are free to use an informal style that you cannot usually use in academic writing. You can also use first-person pronouns in this section. It is vital to note that this section is not a part of your dissertation. Dissertation acknowledgement is just an opportunity for you to write something personal related to your dissertation.
Know the requirements of your school:
Before you start writing this section, it would be best that you know what the requirements of your university are. You need to check the guidelines given by your university to check if there are limitations or demands related to the dissertation acknowledgement. Some universities have some limits regarding pages or words. Other universities might put some limits on the type of things that you can include. However, usually, there are very few limits in the acknowledgement section. It is because universities know that this section is a great opportunity for students in the dissertation to speak up and to give credit to those who have played an important role in their journey. It will give you the freedom to write something personal.
Know whom to thank:
Completing a dissertation is a big achievement. It needs celebration. At that time, you should tell those people who are important to you. It is usually best that you start with the most formal relations and then move to personal relations. It is important to keep in mind that there could be certain political aspects in your dissertation acknowledgement. Thus, you should be very careful while you write it. You should not leave out any person who made a contribution to your dissertation project. There are some people which you want to consider thanking as a courtesy:
- Chair
- Funders
- Professional colleagues
- Supervisors
- Librarians (specialists and generalists)
- Other academics
- Colleagues
- Classmates who have contributed in any way
- Committee members
- Editors
- Research participants
It is important to note that there are 2 forms of acknowledgements: personal and professional. The first good step is to check the guideline given by your university. Check their preferences and rules and also check the layout of this section recommended by the university. Some universities have rules that they want you to write this part professionally. In that case, it is crucial that you use professional relations first, then you write about personal relations. You can make a rank from the most formal connection to the least formal connection. Usually, it is important that you acknowledge those people who have given direct support to your dissertation project. Nonetheless, if you feel that someone such as a school teacher gave you motivation in your career path, then you can mention him freely. If you face any difficulty in writing this section, then you should look for dissertation writing services.
How to write the acknowledgement section:
After making the list of people to whom you want to give acknowledgement, it is time that you sort the people in your list into proper rank order. Before writing dissertation acknowledgement, you should separate each and every person into three categories: major thanks, big thanks and minor thanks.
Major thanks:
In this section, you should mention the people who rank first on your list. These are the people who have contributed most to your project. It would be impossible for you to do this project without them. Usually, these people are professional people such as your funders, committee members, chairperson and advisor.
Big thanks:
In dissertation writing, there might be some people who have helped you greatly in your journey. Those are the people whom you should give big thanks to in the dissertation acknowledgement. These are the people who have helped you greatly and also helped you grow intellectually. They can be librarians, peers or classmates.
Minor thanks:
After giving major and big thanks, you should give minor thanks as well. In this category, you should include all the other people who offered any kind of support, moral or professional. In this, you could include some personal acknowledgements such as friends, partners, children or parents.
Acknowledgements dos and don’ts:
Do:
Following are the things that you can do in the dissertation acknowledgement:
- You can write in the first person and professional language
- You can thank your personal relationships as well in this section.
- It is important that you mention the roles of each person with full names and tiles in this section to make it clear.
- You can even include pets in this section
- You should also include intangible and personal supporters such as friends and peers.
- It is important that you mention who has funded your project.
- You should also keep non-individual acknowledgements or group research participants anonymous in this section.
Don’t:
Following are the things that you should avoid in the dissertation acknowledgement:
- You need to use informal slang or language
- You should not exceed the length of one page.
- It is important that you do not mention those people who had just a minor or peripheral impact on your dissertation project.
Conclusion:
With the help of the above guide, you can easily write a dissertation acknowledgement without any difficulty. All you need to do is to follow the above-given guidelines. It is important that you choose your acknowledgements carefully.
