Before your PhD or M.Sc. students started to write up their theses, do you inform them about the upper and lower limitations for the number of pages that they should not exceed?
There is no definite number. Even, many universities accept series of articles.
The thesis should be no longer than necessary to provide a succinct introduction to the field of study for the non-specialist, to present your results and to discuss what conclusions can be drawn from the results in the context of current knowledge of the field.
These conclusions should be backed up with adequate references from the published literature.
There is no definite number. Even, many universities accept series of articles.
The thesis should be no longer than necessary to provide a succinct introduction to the field of study for the non-specialist, to present your results and to discuss what conclusions can be drawn from the results in the context of current knowledge of the field.
These conclusions should be backed up with adequate references from the published literature.
Thank you dear Aftab for the detailed answer on the maximum limits for the pages of PhD thesis.
Not at all but when I was doing PhD, I had heard that the smaller the size of the thesis, of course, with maximum content in a precise form was the best thesis!
No such limitations as per the rules. Some people do write much longer, however. I remember, I asked my MBA students to write a term paper as part of my course requirment (not even a masetr's thesis). One boy wrote about 80 pages, with an appendix of some 550 pages. He got it hard bound, like a doctoral thesis. He also wrote an excellent. I have preserved that report of his till date. It was in 2002. He has got several promotions to become an HR general manager in a leading company.
I have seen a PhD thesis written in the 1960s, with around 600 pages. Is this logical?
In Ukraine, the volume, the structure and rules of writing a thesis is strictly regulated. And it depends on the type of the dissertation (M.Sc thesis or Ph.D), as well as the sciences in which the dissertation is written.
I am not even aware of any page restriction for masters or in PhD theses. There have been already a significant amount of feed back from experts in this thread. Apart from the inputs posted so far to me it appears that the length also depends on the areas of research and the way the data is presented.
Supervisors should take adequate responsibilities to help students write a thesis in a precise, succinct and focused way with firm conclusion and the graphical or pictorial presentations need to be optimized for better space saving.
If a thesis is backed up with published and peer reviewed articles by the author him/herself then keeping the size limited become easier and it becomes great help for the reviewer as well to reach any decision shortly after submission. Considering huge workload for any reviewer, reviewing a huge thesis becomes an overwhelming responsibility most often associated with insignificant amount of pay.
Dear Amritlal, I agree with you. "..the length also depends on the areas of research and the way the data is presented".
At Chalmers, the format (title page and so on) and the style of the report is much more strictly regulated than the size of the thing. For masters theses it is mentioned that it should be "concentrated", "to the point", and to be understandable for fellow students.
For the PhD thesis, the main requirement is that if the thesis is a collection of papers, there must be a thesis summary before those papers, which is to bring together the thesis into a unified whole (if possible!). The most important thing for the PhD thesis is that a sufficient quality shall be ensured before it is printed, most preferably by an outsider (in addition, of course, to the thesis advisors). All results shall be motivated, and so on, like the case is for any paper can is published in an international scientific journal. I have heard it mentioned that the "size" shall be at least in the order of four published papers in well-established journals. Some people write monographs - me included - and in those cases it must be made clear that the "size" of the monograph is equivalent to those four papers.
Regarding the PhD thesis, all rules are there to ensure that it will not be embarrassing for the PhD student - that is, the thesis has somehow already been tested by a sufficient number of esteemed (anonymous) colleagues.
There is no limit of words or pages for a thesis. However, it is evident that a good tutor must direct the student to write a product easy to read and understand. And this also implies the decision for a number of pages suitable for this purpose.
Mahfuz Judeh - it is indeed logical. I have several theses from the mid-to-late 1980s - they were are written by a special typewriter which could also produce indices and exponents, and we all know how wide the old typewriter style was, as it has a fixed width. I would say that such a thesis is nearly double the page number, compared with those produced now by LaTeX or Word.
In my opinion maximum 300 pages only enough for Good Ph.D. Thesis.
This is a very good question. In many universities, worldwide, there are no restrictions upon the number of pages for either the M.Sc thesis or the PhD thesis.
Since it is an open issue, some students thought they will impress the supervisors & the examiners by increasing the number of pages of the thesis (i.e. they have focused upon the quantity). When I gave the draft of my PhD thesis to one of my supervisors in order to review & correct, I was surprised that he went on substituting a paragraph by ONE sentence in many instances. I was told that the more concise it is, the better it will be. I was aiming at ~ 400 pages, but at the end my 2 supervising professors were satisfied that it came out as exactly 283 typewritten pages. The external examining professor told me that he was pleased about its size. ALL THIS HAPPENNED 31 YEARS AGO.
At present, I think that an M.Sc thesis of about 100-120 pages & a PhD thesis of about 200-240 pages are fine provided that they contain the 3 normal main chapters (Introduction, Experimental, [Results,Discussion, and Conclusion] ). The quality of what is presented is more important than the quantity of the pages.
The length of the thesis does not matter. The most effective factor is the value of the thesis and how it increases the novelty lies with the contributory chapters.
In art and design maximum 80000 words, when a practical application is available, word count is 40000 words. A good thesis is based on the content that address related work and foundations and relevance of the presented contribution.
Logically, the institution must limit the pages number for the quality, etc..Also, for the minimum of pages (interval).
But, this number or interval varies from one discipline to another.
In the business fields, I think 350-400 pages good enough to cover all the PhD story, while 100 for the master ones.
Dear Nizar,
I completely agree with you that "...an M.Sc thesis of about 100-120 pages & a PhD thesis of about 200-240 pages are fine".
There is no limit at our school. However, any 1,500 page dissertation will likely not be accepted. If it is, I will not be on that committee.
Dear @Mahfuz, at JUST, there is no lower neither upper limit for the MSc and Ph.D theses. I, personally, like to have thesis as short as possible and to go direct to the solution of the open problem with minimum introduction of the subject.
Dear Reginald. Certainly, a-1,500 page dissertation will likely not be accepted by any supervisor or member of the defense discussion.
It is the quality that is matter not the quantity when it comes to the thesis. That said, a thesis can be as brief as possible. Many Universities allows the student to enclose their published papers during the PhD period. This enormously reduce the size of the thesis. However, thesis related to taxonomy and systematics, and CAM therapies tend to be on the higher side. Page limitation would in fact impact on such thesis.
It is the quality that is matter not the quantity when it comes to the thesis. That said, a thesis can be as brief as possible. Many Universities allows the student to enclose their published papers during the PhD period. This enormously reduce the size of the thesis. However, thesis related to taxonomy and systematics, and CAM therapies tend to be on the higher side. Page limitation would in fact impact on such thesis.
I agree with Pandi-Perumal that, "It is the quality that is matter not the quantity when it comes to the thesis".
One university known to me requires not less than 120 pages from introduction to conclusion.
I agree with all the comments that it is the quality of the study that matters most. In addition the research methods give the beauty and level of excellence of the study.
Too big thesis will disinterest readers (examiners, co-advisors), after all they have limited time for others.
That`s fine dear Subhash. I think no lower limits at all universities, neither for the M.Sc nor for the PhD theses.
I do not think any body would define lower or upper limit of pages. Yes there are conventions which are broadly followed. I guess no body exceeds 200 pages for a Ph.D. work.
No such restrictions. There may be a minimum limit though. As long as the paper meets all of the proposed criteria, and does justice to its aims, without unnecessary digressions, length is not an issue or limiting factor.
We have no rules relating to the number of pages rather the structure and content of the document is based on conventional guidance.
I think the majority of the universities have guidelines which are matter of change from time to time. The candidates have to adhere to these guidelines as much as possible. Odds in pages number e.g. few or large numbers would be acceptable by the board of the universities.
i think no limitation of pages for theses or disertation, it s depend on statement of problem developed, literature review methodology and finding as well as discusssion. So I dont think we need to limit those.
It seems that a very few universities put some kind of limit for M.Sc. and PhD theses, as Dr. Aftab said in the beginning. Most universities seem to have guidelines only.
I agree @ Behrouz Ahmadi-Nedushan. In my point of you, pages of thesis depends upon the candidate's university. Because all university is not in same guidelines. And moreover it also depends upon the research work.
Dear Kalpana. I am in full agreement with you that pages of thesis depends upon the candidate's university.
Dear Kamal, I agree with you. When you write about the role of gene in a disease is different than writing on the role of multiple genes on thus disease where you need more pages to write".
As far I am aware of, the situation is not the same at all universities. There are universities that do not have a limit for the number of pages of a thesis. In this case the number of pages will depend on the main subject of the thesis and the opinion of the tutor. In other universities they do have that limit. In this case, the length of the thesis will also depend on the main subject of it and the opinion of the tutor. In my opinion, I think that as a matter of principles, a thesis should not have more that 150-200 pages. However, as I said before, the number of pages of a thesis will depend on the guidelines in force in each university, the main subject of the thesis and the opinion of the tutor.
Dear Jorge, I agree with your statement that as a matter of principles, a thesis should not have more that 150-200 pages. I found that in some PhD thesis have more than 300 pages.
No, there is no stipulated number (maximum) of pages for PhD or M.Sc. theses, however as a general practice, more than 200 pages is normally seen.
Dear Krishnan, I agree that in most or universities there are no limits for maximum number of pages for PhD or M.Sc., but sometimes, the supervisors put additional conditions in this concern. Thank you.
I agree as there is there is a burden on correction of thesis as the volume increases, also the postage cost goes up as we also make physical transfer of one copy to the external examiner and foreign examiner.
Despite the fact that no written rules exist limiting lower or upper limit, however if you have less than 20 pages for any thesis would raise eyebrows. It will be looked very carefully for its real content especially results, discussion and conclusion. Such a short work may not address review and bibliography properly. Similarly a work running above 200 pages will disinterest the examiner. He would only like to look at some parts only. In both cases chances of negative reporting are high.
theses and dissertation ,could not be simple and easy analysis, but these should be complicated, details, deepest and comprehensive. and at least consist of 5chapters, so if every chapter 20 to 40 pages in average, so minimal pages could be more than 100pages. for theses, and more than 150pages for dissertation.
Dear Nizwardi,
I completely agree with your logic and calculations. So minimal pages could be more than 100 pages. for theses, and more than 150 pages for dissertation.
There is no limitation in our universities. However pages should range between 50 to 200 pages, depending of the subject. For example a Ph.D thesis in pure mathematics, full of theorems, can be even 40 pages or less. A thesis in social science can be 300 pages or more!
Than you dear Costas. I am astonished to hear that a PhD thesis can be 40 pages or less. Can this happen?
I know pure mathematics PhD thesis, that proves a very important theorem in almost 40 pages! Do not forget that the most famous proof in mathematics, Wiles proof of Fermat's Last theorem, was almost 200 pages or so!
I think we can say that number of pages may depend on university, supervisor, and/or the subject of M.Sc or PhD thesis.
Dear Mahfuz. I think that your comment is a excellent summing up of the debate.
At Dr. M.G.R. UNIVERSITY the PhD thesis "should not exceed 300 pages (one side typed) from the first page of Chapter 1 to the last page of Appendices"
Keeping a count on the "number of pages on PhD report' on one side... is there any relevancy that "So many number pages of report leads to PHD".
Upto me, number pages should not be a point for reporting a PhD research work, it should be a content verification that needs to be carried out on
- How is that project impacting the society?
Unnecessary inventions and innovations of destruction have now found place in society through Arms & Ammunition which would have been part of some researches...
Maximum number of pages for Ph.D. or M.Sc. theses depends on the subject, nature of study, and volume of work vis-a-vis observation & data. Thesis comprising results of field experiments, multidisciplinary activities, multi-location trials, etc are generally seen to be voluminous. At FRI University Dehradun, India, there is no limitation for number of pages. However, there are chapter-wise specific guidelines. Total length of the introduction should not exceed 10-12 pages for a Master's thesis, or 15-20 pages for a Ph.D. thesis. In the area of Forestry, Agriculture, Plant science, a 150-200 page Ph.D. thesis and 100-120 page M.Sc. thesis is good enough.
The previous studies which take several pages in the thesis. Can we agree on deleting them as long as their results are reflected in the conclusion and the recommendations of the thesis.
There is no specific limitations, and even MVSc thesis I have seen more bulky than PhD thesis in our Institute, sometimes more figures / tables etc make them bulky. Generally it is 125-150 pages for MVSc and 175-250 pages for PhD. But if some good limitations is fixed would be better. Also final thesis be submitted in single spacing and both side printing as repository - preferably in a book shape to be more attractive and taking lesser space.
Text should not normally exceed the following length, excluding ancillary data:
• Art & Design, Arts, Social Sciences, Education: 40,000 words
• Science, Engineering: 20,000 words
The word count does not include footnotes or bibliography. It is recognized that the length and character of the text will vary by discipline and will be determined by the aims and objectives of the submission.
This is the Guideline of Kingston University Postgraduate Researcher Handbook 2014-2015, MA/M.Sc. by Research,
M. Phil, PhD.
You can get the full guideline details through the following link.
http://www.kingston.ac.uk/research/research-degrees/documents/research-student-handbook.pdf
To judge an outcome of a project the following parameters are enough
However as the Masters and PhD projects are concerned, it is an academic evaluation on the Application of Knowledge, Tools and Process.Therefore the thesis report runs for many pages. Each field of study could have various number of page limits as a "best fit" for the report. Any number varying between 100 plus (for Mathematics) - to- 200 plus (for Management Studies) is normally acceptable.
The recommended length of a complete PhD thesis is between 80,000 and 120,000 words
OTHMAN YEOP ABDULLAH GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, UNIVERSITI UTARA MALAYSIA, Pp5, 1.4.1 General Form and Style
http://www.rezzen.com.my/php_site/uploads/Handbook%20Thesis%20Guidelines%202012.pdf
There is no definite number. However the thesis must cover objectives, results and achievement status. So the thesis report can run for many pages depending on the number of parameters taken into consideration and the discussion made.
In the University of So & So, the permanent head of the human resources department thought about increasing his monthly salary by enrolling in Master Program in Education. Since he has good connections with the VIPs (who control the university), he was sure of passing so he just presented a master's thesis consisting of 32 pages "including the references". It was well-known that he had the thesis written for him, but the supervisor & the internal examiner were forced to approve his "huge!" effort. The external examiner was not able to do anything because the votes were 2 to 1.
Number of pages in a doctoral thesis depends on the area of research (science/humanities/ education), theme, state of knowledge on the topic, parameters, variables studied during the research. Content and quality of thesis is more important than page number. Nevertheless, it is very common for PhD candidates to obsess over the length of their theses. The content of a doctoral thesis should precisely depict the study of a particular problem to a considerable depth. Generally in the five chapter format, a PhD dissertation may range in length 50-150 pages. Obviously, less is more for original research. As far as my university i.e. FRI University is concerned, there no page restrictions.
I agree with you YOGESH CHANDRA TRIPATHI
and thank you very for the comments
Quality is the primary concern.
The number of pages in a dissertation typically depends on the discipline.
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