Outlines of the Contents of THESIS NEWS
and its predecessor, DISSERTATION NEWS

Dissertation News #1 includes:

Ethics Guidelines for Dissertation Research

Ethical and unethical situations created by students and their professors.

Plagiarism and Piracy

What plagiarism is, and how to avoid it.

Harassment, Discrimination, and the Law

Sexual harassment, demand for sexual favors, and the hostile work environment.

APA on Microsoft Word for the Macintosh

Part 2: headings, quotes, and references.

Page Numbering on the Mac in Word 5

Primary page numbering formats for APA and Turabian.

How to Be the Student Your Advisor Loves to Supervise

Tips for being the ideal advisee.

Dissertation News #2 includes:

The Online Dissertation

Exploiting the power of the computer to help you in your dissertation.

The Academic Online

Extract of an article in the MLA Journal by Dr. Alan McKenzie on the uses of the computer for scholars.

Dialing the Internet

How to get hooked up with the Internet--and what it costs.

Running the Electronic Library

Professional librarian Jo Bell Whitlatch, PhD, tells about accessing online research databases.

Sources of Internet Support

Books and software to help you with the Internet and online research.

Turabian on Word for the Macintosh

Part 1: Step-by-step on setting up your word processing program for Turabian.

Dissertation News #3 includes:

How to Write a Brilliant Dissertation

How to generate ideas and write with insight when you do your dissertation.

Generating Ideas With Right-Brain Clustering

An easy and effective way to generate ideas.

Writing Your Mind

Generating ideas, composing your work, and editing it.

Electronic Clustering With Inspiration

The computer program Inspiration provides an electronic means of generating ideas by clustering.

Writing on Time

An expert tells how much time is enough to write your dissertation.

Looking Good in the Oral Exam

Tips from the pros on succeeding in your orals.

Turabian on Word for the Macintosh

Part 2: Step-by-step on setting up your word processing program for Turabian.

Dissertation News #4 includes:

Dressing Your Dissertation for Success

How better writing in your dissertation can help you before and after you graduate.

Ten Top Tips for Tip-Top Writing

Easy-to-follow rules for improving the quality of your writing.

Grammar Checking Software Perfects Your Editorial Style

Five computer programs designed to help you improve your grammar.

Working Smart With Style Editors

Secrets of working with style editors to save yourself time and money.

Dave's Ways to Cut Editing Costs

Dissertation News editor Ronda Dave gives a dozen common-sense rules to cut your costs when you work with a style editor.

Dissertation News #5 includes:

The Marketable Dissertation--Like Money in the Bank

Ways you can capitalize on your hard-earned dissertation.

The Expert Speaks

Comments about turning your dissertation into a book.

Writing Your Dissertation for Publication

How to write your dissertation if you're planning to get it published.

Handling Rejection With Élan

Some secrets for handling the rejection you might meet when you turn your dissertation into a book or article.

Is Your Dissertation Publishable?

How to determine the "publish-ability" of your dissertation.

Reasons for Rejection

A list of the nine most frequently heard reasons from publishers for rejecting a manuscript.

Dissertation News #6 includes:

Topic, Oh Topic, Be Thou Mine

The values of defining your dissertation topic, and making it yours.

Five Reasons for Adopting Your Advisor's Topic

A checklist of good reasons to take a topic from your advisor.

Five Reasons for Generating Your Own Topic

A checklist of good reasons to adopt a topic of your own devising.

Mold the Doctorate to Fit Your Career

Marty Nemko, PhD, tells how to use your doctorate as a springboard into a successful career.

ASGS 1993 Dissertation Survey Questionnaire

Assembling the Ideal Advisor

The qualities to look for when you select your advisor.

Real-World Criteria for Ideal Advisors

A realistic list of criteria for advisors.

Selecting the Ideal Advisee

Professor Mara Southern tells her expectations for students she advises.

Dissertation News #7 includes:

Co-Star On-Stage With Your Dissertation

On- and off-campus opportunities to present your research.

Oral Presentations: The Key to Being a Star

Accomplished speaker Rob Peters gives his secrets on public speaking.

Organizing an Effective Presentation

Educational consultant Harriet Chamberlain, PhD, tells how to put together a successful presentation.

...On Oral Exams

Dr. Chamberlain explains how to handle your oral exams.

...And On Conferences

How to present an effective conference paper, by Dr. Chamberlain.

Professional Conference Listings--Where to Present

A list of professional conferences, with location, contact numbers, and deadlines.

Poster Sessions Let You Star Off-Stage

Poster sessions are a relatively painless way to join the conference circuit.

Dissertation News #8 includes:

Dissertation Advisor User's Manual

Operating procedures for relating well with your advisor.

ASGS Defines "Reasonable Expectations"

A list of reasonable expectations you should hold for your advisor.

Avoid Problems by Managing Your Committee

Rob Peters tells how to manage the relationship with your committee.

Creating Your Advisory Relationship

Things you can do to make your relationship with your advisor work.

Solving Problems With Your Advisor

Suggestions for resolving some of the most common problems with advisors.

Dissertation News #9 includes:

Taming Your Dissertation

Organizing to write an acceptable dissertation in the shortest possible time.

How Long Should a Dissertation Be?

Recommendations for the ideal length of a dissertation and its components.

On-Campus and Off-Campus Dissertation Support

Tying your efforts to activities, services, and resources which can help you move forward on your dissertation.

ASGS-Approved Dissertation-Assistant List

ASGS database of professional dissertation assistants for the SF Bay Area.

Rob Peters On "Working Smart"

Some deceptively simple tips on structuring your work on the dissertation.

Thirty-Nine Steps to a Completed Dissertation

A detailed breakdown of the steps involved in a typical dissertation.

Dissertation Checklist and Sample Schedule

A Gantt-chart typical timeline for the 39 steps in a dissertation.

Dissertation News #10 includes:

Putting the Blame Where it Belongs

The four major problems afflicting students working on their dissertations, a revealing look at their causes, and a two-level solution.

A Survivor's Guide to Advisor Disputes

Resolving problems with your advisor quickly, in ways that avoid tension.

Getting Support From WASC ...and From the Courts

An attorney experienced in student-university disputes tells how to find help against academic arrogance.

Results of the 1993 ASGS Dissertation Study

Report of the ASGS survey of member students, asking about the problems they experienced in their dissertations.

Dissertation News #11 includes:

Going for the Gold

How the ability to apply for grants and scholarships can help you in your academic career and professional life after graduation.

What Does a Grant Proposal Say?

Six questions every successful grant proposal should answer.

Six Steps to Getting a Grant

Straightforward steps to take when you're looking for grant funding.

Playing the Grant Game to Win

How to increase your chances of getting a grant, from three knowledgeable professionals.

Sabrina Guides Grads to the Gold

Interview with the head of the grant proposal advising program at the University of California-Berkeley.

Where to Find Dissertation Funds

A list of the most popular awards for the doctoral and dissertation years.

The Danger of Student Debt

Reasons to beware the beckoning morass of student debt.

What's Taxable, What's Not

Things you can and cannot exclude from your IRS-taxable income if you're a graduate student.

Dissertation News #12 includes:

De-Claw Your Dissertation Demons

How to get help clearing up the depression that holds you back on your dissertation.

Dissertation Success Without Suffering

Interview with a "personal success coach," Sylvia Rose Sklar, PhD, who teaches doctoral candidates to "think and behave in ways that make their success inevitable."

Psychologist Psychoanalyzes the Dissertation

Interview with a psychotherapist, Glenn Fleisch, who is identifying the psychological reasons why ABDs don't complete their dissertations.

Peters on Coping With Dissertation Distress

Rob Peters tells how to reduce stress and cope with depression.

The Doctorate's Doctor

A psychotherapist, Joan Rodman, PhD, specializes in helping ABDs complete their dissertation.

Glenn Fleisch Looks at Dissertation Procrastination

A specialist dissects the structure of procrastination.

Dissertation News #13 includes:

Back to Dissertation Basics

The "three Rs"--vital basic skills doctoral students must have to successfully master the dissertation.

How to Read the Literature

Efficiently reading the literature in your field with high-level skills.

Art of Critiquing Empirical Articles

Evaluating the published articles of scholars in your field with tact and authority.

Modernizing Academic Style

How to write in accepted academic style that's accessible and comprehensible.

Real-Life Glossary for Scientific Articles

Interpreting the stock phrases you see in every dissertation.

Writing Readable Sentences

Five rules for constructing sentences that make complex thoughts understandable and interesting.

Tips for Writing a Literature Review

Four helpful suggestions for writing a review of literature that argues for your study and justifies its purpose and method.

The Dissertation as Essay

How to write your dissertation discursively in essay form.

Editor's Corner

New size and price for Dissertation News. ASGS graduate workshops. The NRC report of 1992 doctoral recipients by field.

What's Wrong With Literature Reviews?

Report of ASGS survey of professors commenting on what they find wrong with the literature reviews of their students.

Dissertation News #14 includes: [Note: This popular issue is sold out in the original printing and is only available as a copy.]

Eating the Chocolate Elephant

How to get through a dissertation with satisfaction by applying six principles of motivation.

Eighteen Tasty Bites to a Satisfying Dissertation

Eighteen scholarly skills that students need to master, and how to learn them.

Motivation Through Organization

Dorothy Brown, PhD, tells how to organize dissertation writing so it's most efficient, and what to do when you experience writer's block.

The Dissertation Box

How to turn a portable cardboard box into an invaluable aid when you're doing your dissertation.

Dissertation News #15 includes:

Getting on File With the Brain Bank

Five compelling reasons why you should engage in academic networking

Academic Networking

Excerpt of an article on using the Net for academic networking

Using Criticism to Catalyze Growth

How to give and receive criticism, and benefit from the process

The Language of the Academic

Principles and lexicon of delicate, constructive criticism

Interview With an Adacemic Networker

Dr. Bob Solso, "Mr. Approachable," tells how he networks

Dissertation News #16 includes:

Net Profit for Online Academics

Value of the Internet and the World Wide Web for graduate students

Gaining Fame on the Net

How to build your academic and professional reputation using the Internet

Navigating a Sea of Information

How to use your computer for research and academic communication

Interview With an Internaut

Anthony Rosati tells how he uses his computer online

Getting Comfortable on the Net--The Fast, Cheap, Easy Way

How to get online, avoiding unnecessary time and expense

A Home of Your Own on the Web

Buy, build, or renovate your own home page on the World Wide Web

How to Access Internet Services by E-Mail

Article extract on using e-mail to do almost anything you want on the Internet

Dissertation News #17 includes:

Saving Your Thesis When Support Goes Down the Drain

The need for planning and management to preserve your thesis resources when government budget cuts dry up the sources of support provided to graduate students

The ASGS Study of Thesis Costs

Preliminary report of a study on the costs of the thesis

Strategies for Managing Thesis Resources

How to hold the line on the cost of your thesis

Comfort For the Far-From-Campus ABD

New technologies and techniques allow students to pursue a degree while living and / or working away from campus.

ASGS List of Thesis Consultants

An updating of the list of thesis-consultant names maintained in the ASGS database

Stretch Your Conference Dollars

Suggestions for how to attend conferences and keep their costs in check

Format Editors Tell How to Save Money

Professional format editors tell how to save money working with an editor

Dissertation News #18 includes:

Thesis Power

A positive attitude and personal responsibility can provide the necessary foundation for finishing a thesis

Employ Your Emotional IQ to Empower Your Thesis

How to control your emotions to increase your chances of finishing your thesis

Applying Emotional Control to Advisor Relations

How to tune your interaction to improve your advisor's mood

How to Control Negative Emotions

Ways to re-channel anger, challenge anxiety, and distract depression to control your negative emotions while doing a thesis

Attitude Adjustment

Techniques to change your attitude to make your thesis more satisfying

How to Tune In and Turn On Your Advisor

Assessing your advisor's task-vs-people orientation to understand how to interact most effectively

Adjust Your Communication

Keys to good communication when differences arise with your advisor

Raconteurs May be Saboteurs: Thesis-Humor Police on Patrol

Thesis humor may be good or bad depending on whether it discourages or encourages your efforts

Thesis News #19 includes:

Thesis Thinking

Four kinds of thinking you can improve while doing your thesis

Up Your Creativity

Specific strategies to improve your creative thinking

Toning Your Brain With Creative Exercises

Exercises to improve problem generation, definition, and solution

The "Ha" in "Aha"

How humor relates to creativity and ways to improve both

Critical Thinking for Your Thesis

Review of the tenents of "Critical Thinking" and how to apply them to your thesis

Imagine Your Thesis

A guided visualization to help your thesis progress

Affirm Your Thesis

Using affirmations to help your thesis progress

Thesis Dreaming

Learning to problem solve while you sleep

Thesis News #20 includes:

Balance Your Thesis and Your Life

Balancing time among goals and roles while doing your thesis

Hitch Your Thesis to a Star

Relating your thesis to your highest goals to increase your motivation

Getting a Life While You Do Your Thesis

Using Stephen Covey's principles to clarify your values and your thesis motivation

Eight Tactics to Energize Thesis Work

Success-oriented tactics suggested by thesis-writing graduate students

Managing Thesis Time

A survey to help students become aware of how they can better manage thesis work time

Making Time for Your Thesis

Learning to tweak and eke time from your schedule to work on your thesis

Battling Thesis Chaos

How to benefit from order and disorder while doing your thesis

Left-Brain/Right-Brain Ways to Do Your Thesis

Strategies using both sides of the brain to improve your thesis work

Thirteen Easy, Simple, Cheap Ways to Organize Your Thesis Efforts

Tips to keep your thesis progress steady and on track

Thesis News #21 includes:

The Art and Science of Writing a Thesis

Combining scientific and artistic approaches to writing a thesis

The Artist in the Academic

Ways to nurture creative writing through non-scientific means

Writing Habits

Three authors' recommendations for good writing habits

Good Writing Attitudes

Julia Cameron's "attitudes of mind" to keep writing flowing

Nurture Your Creative Self

Getting rid of negative beliefs about yourself that hamper effective writing

How to Write a Brilliant Thesis

How to generate ideas and write with insight when you do your thesis

Generating Ideas With Right-Brain Clustering

An easy and effective way to generate ideas

Writing Your Mind

Generating ideas, composing your work, and editing it

The Thesis as Essay

Constructing the thesis in essay style to increase its persuasiveness

Writing Readible Sentences

Five rules for constructing sentences that make complex thoughts understandable and interesting to read

Modernizing Academic Style

How to write in accepted academic style that's accessible and comprehensible

Real-Life Glossary for Scientific Articles

Spoof on interpreting the stock phrases you see in every thesis

Creative Academic Writing

Learning to write scientific papers with flair

Thesis News #22 includes:

Win-Win Thesis Advising

Getting the most from your thesis advisor

Right Advising

Stephen Covey's principles of leadership applied to advising

Dave's Thesis Truths

Humorous insights on the thesis process

Happy Disputing With Your Advisor

Learning to use good communication techniques for disagreement and problem solving

Shaping Your Advisory Relationship

Tips to keep your advisor in the palm of your hand

ASGS Defines Reasonable Expectations

A list of reasonable expectations you should hold for your advisor

How to Be the Student Your Advisor Loves to Supervise

Tips for being the ideal advisee

Solving Problems With Your Advisor

Suggestions for resolving some of the most common problems students experience with their advisors

Real-Life Advisor Problems

Thesis-writing graduate students suggest ways to deal with advisor problems they've actually confronted

A Suvivor's Guide to Advisor Disputes

Resolving problems with your advisor quickly, in ways that avoid tension

Thesis News #23 includes:

From Rough To Ready: Editing Your Thesis

Learning to write well while editing your thesis

Advisors As Editors

Standards and responsibilities of advisors for thesis editing

ASGS Study of Thesis Editing

Report of a survey of professors and professional editors who indicate the kind of editing they typically perform on student theses

Content Editing: Mining for Substance

Guidelines and "how-to's" for editing the content of your thesis

Copy Editing: Polishing the Form

Guidelines and "how-to's" for editing the writing and form of your thesis

Thesis News #24 includes:

Rallying Thesis Support

Relationship problems are identified which minimize thesis support from significant other persons (SOPs) such as mates and advisors

ABDs vs SOPs

Thesis-writing graduate students discuss how relationship problems affected their thesis progress and how they resolved them

Negotiating With Your SOP

Steps are given for negotiating with SOPs to ensure these important relationships are undamaged in the negotiating process

Confronting With Care

Suggestions are given for how to confront your significant others without sacrificing their support for your thesis efforts

Winning Your Advisor's Heart

Subtle, but effective tactics are presented for persuading your advisor (or anyone else) to support your thesis efforts

Disagreeing Agreeably With Your Advisor

Two excellent communication tactics are used to show how you can disagree with advisors without causing offense

Thesis News #25 includes:

Straighten Up Your Thesis and Fly Right

Disorganized effort cuts into thesis work time. Desk arrangement, materials management, and working smart make thesis time well spent.

Taming the Tiger

Tips are given for organizing the office desk, streamlining paper flow, handling mail and e-mail efficiently, and organizing thesis-related materials.

The Mock Thesis Binder

A handy technique to reduce writer's block and see your thesis ideas materialize in book form.

The Thesis Box

Using an ordinary cardboard box for storing thesis materials can actually motivate thesis work.

Fattening Up Your Thesis Files

A well-considered and well-organized file system can help you retain information, generate ideas, and make decisions about thesis work.

Paper Tools to Promote Progress

Forms, charts, checklists, and logs can organize every detail related to your thesis.

Self-Assessment Survey

A sample survey to inventory the important skills and resources you'll need to employ while doing your thesis.

Thesis Checklist and Sample Schedule

A Gantt chart example of a typical list of thesis activities and the time they take.

Checklist for Cleaning Off Your Hard Disk

Another useful checklist for thesis file management.

Thesis Log

A simple log to keep track of thesis activities started, in progress, halted (problematic), or completed.

Thesis Journal

One of the essential tools of every thesis writing student to keep track of on-going thesis progress, committee meeting notes, insights, and personal reflections.

Working Smart On Your Thesis

Habits and regular routines to keep thesis work "smart."

Organizational Tips From the Experts

Two experts give general tips to keep thesis work organized.

Thesis News #26 includes:

Take Your Topic to Heart

The importance and difficulty in generating a topic that strengthens your problem-finding ability, helps you perfect skills you want, and keeps you motivated.

Looking For a Topic in All the Wrong Places

Editor Ronda Dav� writes about her process of looking for a Thesis News topic.

Mining For Your "Vein of Gold"

Julia Cameron's writing tips are used to generate the perfect thesis topic.

Create Your Topic

Using creativity techniques to enhance problem definition, idea generation, and problem solution.

Measuring Your Topic How to assess your topic's feasibility, originality, and contribution.

Survey of Potential Topics

A sample survey to assess potential topics for interest, importance and originality; to assess proposed methodology for feasibility; and to assess potential outcome for contribution to knowledge.

The Problem Is The Problem

How to write a research problem statement.

The Method In Your Madness

Choosing a research method based on your topic, your department, your advisor, and your personal preferences.

Thesis News #27 includes:

Thesis With An Attitude

Controlling your mind and thoughts is the key to motivating thesis work.

Thesis Optimism

How to adopt optimistic behaviors, rid your mind of negativity, fill your mind with positivity, develop an inspiring thesis vision, turn your vision into goals, and practice optimism.

Passion For Your Thesis

Knowing your values and designing a thesis to reflect those values can make thesis work satisfying.

Changing Your Mind

How to deal with negative thesis events by making self-talk positive, handling bad news evenly, and using affirmations.

Attitude Adjustment

How to change a bad attitude toward thesis work to a good one.

'Tudes for the Thesis

Attitudes toward your thesis need to mature as you do�from novice to expert.

Making Your Thesis Flow

How to make thesis tasks enjoyable by learning to concentrate, rewarding yourself, controlling frustration, and handling major obstacles.

The Thesis Game

Learning to focus full attention on any thesis activity itself is the key to both your satisfaction and self-development while doing a thesis.

Thesis News #28 includes:

Getting a Smart Start On Your Thesis

Getting started on the right foot requires understanding the scope and meaning of a thesis, adjusting your expectations, and learning to work the system, play politics, and generate your own support.

Achieving Academic Adulthood

Learning to find rather than waiting around for necessary support is one of the most important tasks of thesis-writing students.

Thesis Support Groups: Rethinking the Thesis Process

The importance and benefits of support groups.

Support Groups

Graduate students describe their departmental, non-departmental, and electronic support group experiences.

Organizing Support Groups

Successful formats and structures for support groups mentioned by graduate students in online forums.

Thesis Street Smarts

Written and unwritten rules of the thesis process as mentioned by students and experts.

Working the System

Working the system to make it work for your thesis involves getting the lay of the land, learning the ropes, lining up your ducks, building your image, and playing departmental politics.

Political Savvy for the Thesis

How to get others to give you the support your thesis needs.

Thesis News #29 includes:

Have a Happy Thesis

Being happy while working on your thesis is accomplished by thinking positive thoughts and doing things you enjoy. How to use "mental judo" to change negative thoughts to positive.

The Thesis as Personal Journey

You can make the thesis a personal journey to overcome fear of failure, resolve conflict with authority, become independent from external support, maintain self-confidence, resolve value conflicts, and learn self-management.

Thesis as Spiritual Path

How to increase thesis enjoyment, motivation, and progress through higher consciousness.

Faith in Finishing Your Thesis

Using faith in yourself or a higher power to fast-forward your thesis work.

The Thesis as Path With a Heart

How to make your thesis a dream come true instead of a nightmare.

The Spirit of Academe

Graduate school rituals preserve the spirit of academe.

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