Break your PhD dissertation into separate parts

A PhD dissertation is a big book-like paper that you will be required to complete at the end of your doctoral study year. This big section of work is generally broken down into three medium segments, all of which are then broken down further into smaller sections.

Understanding these sections renders your assignment a lot less threatening, so let's take a look at how to break down the sections of your dissertation to make it easier to work through.

The first section

Often referred to as the 'front matter', this part of your dissertation will resemble the same components one would typically find in most books. The smaller sections contained in this medium part include:

Your title page

The second section

The 'main body' of your dissertation is the easiest to format, but takes by far the longest to write. It includes:

Try to further break down each chapter within the main body, numbering subsections and sub-subsections as follows: E.g. Chapter 4; (Subsection) 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, etc; (Sub-subsection) 4.3.1, 4.3.2, etc.

The third section

Typically called the 'back matter', this section closes off your dissertation with some important reference information that should never be neglected if you want your dissertation to be accepted. This medium section is broken down into the following smaller parts: