Dissertation Appendix: What It Is and How To Write It Properly?

13 Jul 2023 882 share it:

Students pursuing their higher studies in colleges and universities have often been allotted the task of writing dissertations as an integral part of their academic curriculum. Despite the excellent academic interest, many students get baffled as soon as they think of getting involved in lengthy writing tasks.

Are you someone who needs to submit a dissertation soon? Are you aware of how important it is to draft a firm dissertation appendix to make the whole dissertation outstanding? This blog is going to offer insights about creating such appendixes with ease.

What Is an Appendix in Dissertation?

In simple words, an appendix in dissertation is an index that comes at the end. It provides additional and relevant information related to your dissertation paper. With the help of the appendix section, you can share the background data like illustrations, tables and figures related to your topic.

The contents of your appendix for dissertation are never directly relevant to the main theme or research questions. Still, they are important to make the reader understand the context without disrupting the flow of the text.

This is why many students prefer to take the help of a dissertation outline generator which is one of the most used writing tools of modern times. But do you know the purpose of the dissertation appendix? If not, read the next section.

Purpose of Dissertation Appendix

Due to the restriction on word limit, it is important to keep your dissertation short and crisp. Sticking to the word count prescribed by your dissertation guidelines is equally important.

But given the amount of research you have done to decide the body of your dissertation or dissertation structure, it is hard to resist the urge to put together everything right on the paper. This is where the "purpose of including an appendix" comes in.

Any information that is not directly related to or supports the main arguments and is not relevant to the dissertation topic should be included in an appendix.

Dissertation appendices (plural of the 'appendix') help you to prepare a well-organized paper as you include only the information that puts more value to your arguments without mentioning anything excessive. It also helps you maintain the main text's flow by eliminating unnecessary interruptions.

Please note that the main body of your dissertation should be written in such a way that it can be understood without your dissertation appendix. We mean to say that the readers must not feel the urge to flip between the main text and appendix to make sense of what they are reading.

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Where to Put Appendix in Dissertation?

With everything discussed till now, you must have understood that the appendix is not a component of the main text. Then where to include the appendix? We are going to share here the general idea about where to put appendix in dissertation.

The thumb rule in this regard is to place appendices after the main body i.e. after your reference section. If you are following this common practice, you must continue with the same page number sequence.

Many prefer to include their appendices on a standalone page to separate it from the main write-up. But this is not a common practice and we will suggest you have a word with your supervisor about where to put your appendix for dissertation.

Your university or college may have its own set of requirements and formatting rules for writing the appendices. Always make sure you go through those writing as well as formatting guidelines before start drafting your dissertation. This will save you from doing unnecessary editing neither on the main text nor the dissertation appendices. Therefore, the upcoming section will tell you what to or should not include in the dissertation appendix.

What to Include in a Dissertation Appendix?

It is impossible to prepare the right type of appendix unless and until you are aware of the components of it. By component, we are trying to indicate what an appendix should consist of.

Depending on the type of research or dissertation paper you are generating, there might be some differences in terms of the appendix components. Below is what to include in a dissertation appendix to offer additional information.

1. Research Results:

There are various means of presenting the research results in your dissertation. You can present those results in tables, diagrams, figures and illustrations. Such information/data can be included in your dissertation appendix segment.

2. Surveys & Interviews:

You can include the details and findings of any survey or interview that you have performed to support/strengthen your argument under the appendix tab. These could be anything like an interview transcript, questionnaire, results etc.

3. Tables, Graphs, Illustrations & Figures:

The appendix of dissertation can also include some tables, illustrations, figures and graphs which are not directly related to your topic but quite helpful in explaining the main text more lucidly.

4. Abbreviations & Acronyms:

If you have used many abbreviations and acronyms in your dissertation paper which are not very common and may be troublesome for a layperson to understand, you must include an abbreviations/glossary section in the appendix of dissertation.

5. Letters & Correspondence:

When you have letters or correspondence between you and other researchers or places where you seek permission to use copyrighted materials, you have to include them in the appendix. Including letters and correspondence in your dissertation appendix actually saves you from the suspicion of plagiarism or unauthorized use of classified materials.

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How to Format an Appendix in Dissertation?

After you are done with the writing part, it is time to follow the formatting instructions that come with your dissertation guidelines. The first-timers particularly find it quite challenging. If your question is how to format appendix in dissertation, you have got the answer right below.

• You are free to add either one lengthy appendix or divide the same into several smaller appendices to your dissertation. It is usually best to go for including several small appendices in dissertation.
• Start every appendix on a new page and start it with an appropriate title and identifying letter/number. For example, you can choose an appendix title like "Appendix A - Research Data" or "Appendix 5 - Survey Questions".
• All appendices dissertation must follow the page numbering system. Each appendix should have an identification letter/number and the corresponding page number.
• You have to reset the identification letter/number for every appendix in dissertation, but the page number should be continuous. For example, if "Appendix A" has four pages and "Appendix B" has two pages, the page number will be A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4, B-5 and B-6.
• The numbering of figures and tables also follows a similar pattern to what we mentioned in the last paragraph. For example, if "Appendix A" has one table and "Appendix B" consists of two tables, then the numbering should be like "Table-1" in "Appendix A". For "Appendix B", it will be "Table-2" and "Table-3".
• If your paper needs many appendices dissertation to be included, then we will recommend you insert a "List of Appendices" in the table of contents page.
• Always use the same page formatting style (font type, font size, margins, spacing, heading etc.) for the whole write-up.

Formatting the appendices in dissertation must be done with care because a single mistake can ruin the scope for a reader to understand the whole piece. In case you are having difficulties following all those writing guidelines, there is nothing to worry about. You can simply choose to buy dissertation from professional academic writers via an online platform. If you want to try, follow the tips given below.

Tips on How to Write Appendix in Dissertation

Many students don't like to write long dissertations. Even if they finish the writing part under some academic compulsion, most of them prefer to spend their time and effort on preparing an appendix dissertation.

We are sharing some tips here so that you can design a perfect appendix for your well-researched dissertation without wasting much time.

• Go through your dissertation and mark/highlight the portions that need an explanation. Also, note down what needs to be explained. This is the first step to simplify the million-dollar question, "How to write appendix in dissertation?"
• Always take the help of a dictionary to prepare the glossary. Your glossary should contain the appropriate meanings of the words to avoid any misconception.
• You need to specify the connection of additional table, diagram, survey or data to the point you mentioned in the main body of your dissertation. The dissertation appendix without explanation is useless.
• It would be better if you could include the date and time of data collection in the appendix, not in the main body of the dissertation. Thus, you can deliver something extra to the reader without disturbing his/her flow of reading.
• Keep your urge to add more and more information under control. This will only lead to bulky appendices in research papers or dissertations. Don't make readers lose their interest with an unnecessarily long list of appendices.
• Look for a few dissertation examples with appendices from academic articles, dissertation papers, books, and research works before you write your own. This is the most practical way to have an idea about what is an appendix in a dissertation and how to write one.
• Leave a few notes in the main text of your dissertation referring to the appendix/appendices. Please be polite and specific while instructing the reader to go to any particular appendix.

So, these are a few important tips that you can apply will writing a dissertation appendix. Still, if it is troubling you, then take help from our dissertation writers.

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