Need Help Writing Your Dissertation? Help is on the Way
For those of you who have chosen the path to a PhD, one last, formidable mountain needs to be scaled. Your time and relentless hard work spent in classroom hours and research are now culminating in this final check of academic fitness: your dissertation.
Your dissertation is the product of your expertise and skill; you want this to be your shining star, your evidence of specialized knowledge, your ‘baby’. The first step on your road to dissertation completion is the Reality Check.
CAN I PLAN, WRITE, EDIT, AND PROOFREAD MY DISSERTATION WITHOUT WRITING ASSISTANCE?
Scrutinize your life situation to answer this question. Many issues come into play which can or will deter you from your goals. Although you may be fully capable of accomplishing these four major stages of your dissertation, you must take inventory of your life and answer several crucial questions. Do you have family obligations? Being married with or without children, part time job, and elderly parents are factors that weigh heavily on your efficiency and ability to complete your dissertation by yourself. If you recognize any one of these obligations in your life, it’s time to recognize your limitations and seek dissertation assistance. And you can rest assured that it’s not a boiler room affair, you can get custom writing under tight watch.
WHAT TYPE OF DISSERATION ASSISTANCE DO I NEED AND IS IT AFFORDABLE?
You may be one of the few lucky people who can accomplish all four major stages of a dissertation without assistance. I have a close friend who was working toward her PhD and was able to accomplish this. She was a self-starter, divorced, grown children, quite organized and was able to grasp statistics. She single-handedly took on her dissertation and produced a fine product within fifteen months. Notably, this is more rare than the usual. In her particular case, her dissertation was ‘affordable’.
Perhaps you are a great organizer, truly focused, can write well and present your data correctly? Sounds like you have the perfect dissertation. Yet, you need another set of eyes for a particular service. The following services are available online (prices quoted are the average):
- Proofreading: If you’ve already edited your dissertation and only need one final review to ensure 100% accuracy, then use a proofreading service. Typos, spelling mistakes, and objective grammatical errors will be corrected. The fees generally run $3.50 per page.
- Copy editing: What if you have a well-written dissertation but issues of basic formatting are problematic? What if you wish to improve language, syntax, flow, diction, and clarity? This service, which includes proofreading, is perfect for tweaking your dissertation and very affordable: $0.025/word (approx. $6.25/page).
- Line formatting: Line formatting is a bit more expensive yet serves well for those who may require more depth editing or those who use English as a second language; this multi-faceted service tends to be very popular and is suitable for most rough drafts. Included are copy editing, as well as improvements to phrasing, transition, flow, scholarly tone, and style formatting (such as APA 6th, Chicago, etc.). Also includes detailed critical analysis and consultation on the content and organization of your dissertation.
$0.035/word–$0.045/word (approx. $8.75/page–$11.35/page)
SHOULD I HIRE A DISSERTATION COACH?
Naturally, when you involve an expert in your dissertation writing process, service fees will increase. Dissertation coaches are not cheap. Generally, these sessions are held once each week.
Let’s return to the initial question of PLANNING, WRITING, EDITING AND PROOFREADING. When faced with this tremendously daunting task, many ABD’s remain ABD’s. It is reported that half of all doctoral candidates never get to ‘Doctor’ and those that do spend up to seven years doing so.
A Dissertation Coach is with you from beginning to end. For example, many candidates have difficulty with appropriately nailing down research idea development, including statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research questions, and significance of the study. This is only one of the many services offered. Professional help in the beginning will, in the long run, be your formula for success. Although these services are more pricey, they are actually cost-efficient because a Dissertation Coach saves thousands of dollars in tuition by getting you focused to accomplish your goal and move on to promotions and career advancement.
You can locate Dissertation Coaches on the internet. I recommend that you read all the testimonials and take advantage of the free consultation first. If you opt for this service, you must remember that ease of communication, rapport, and confidence are huge factors in this working relationship.