PhD dissertation is the backbone of your doctoral degree. It requires diligence and dedication. It is an extensive process and thus needs a lot of groundwork. There are many guidelines available for designing you PhD research project. These guidelines may vary at some points. You have to think on what will suit your thesis the best. You can have modifications in it as you go on with it. Most of the universities provide a handbook consisting of guidelines for PhD researchers. Various international associations of respective fields have guides to assist researchers in how to work on thesis.
These guides will help you in all the ways you need.
1. Format:
These Guides usually have complete information of the standard format of PhD research. That is, which font to write. Similarly, font size, line spacing, margins, indentations, etc. are all mentioned in handbooks. Directions to proper way of placing diagrams and charts are also given.
2. Eligibility:
Some handbooks also describe the eligibility criterion for doing PhD research. You can know from the guide whether you are eligible to do research or not and so continue accordingly.
3. References:
There are comprehensive instructions given on how to write references in standard format. Standard of References for different discipline usually varies because it is defined by specific association of relevant field and is globally accepted. For example, all the psychological research papers follow the directions of American Psychological Association. Furthermore, use of references at different places in thesis is also mentioned.
4. Organization of work:
Writing a dissertation involves writing different chapters of it which are formed in a proper sequence. That sequence may differ from research to research depending upon the style of researcher. But there are specific components which need to be formulated in thesis paper. Basic guideline to organize your work is given in the handbooks of PhD research.
5. Thesis submission:
These guides also help you in how to submit your thesis. What things need to be taken care of and what are the most common mistakes that people do both in doing and submitting your thesis.
If you are going to start your PhD research, it is highly recommended to get a relevant handbook and read instructions thoroughly. This will save you plenty of time while doing the research and prevent from doing mistakes which may harm the standard of your PhD thesis.