Best Tools For Thesis Writing: Dissertation and Academic Writing Tools
In the quest to master the art of thesis writing, selecting the right tools is crucial. This comprehensive guide introduces the best tools available for thesis writing, each tailored to enhance different aspects of the writing process.
From advanced language proofing to efficient reference management, these tools are designed to streamline your workflow, ensure academic integrity, and elevate the quality of your thesis. Discover how each tool can transform your thesis writing experience, making it more efficient and effective.
Best Tools For Thesis Writing
Grammarly – language proof your thesis.
Grammarly is not just a grammar checker; it also cater to various aspects of academic writing, from ensuring the originality of content to assisting with the intricacies of formatting and citation.
Grammarly integrates with word processing software like Microsoft Word and Google Docs. It facilitates real-time editing and proofreading, allowing students to refine their thesis statements and arguments as they write.
The tool’s compatibility with online sources is a boon for literature reviews, streamlining the process of integrating various studies and reports into a cohesive narrative.
It works with many reference management software, ensuring that all bibliographical entries are error-free and consistently formatted. These includes:
One of the lesser-known features of Grammarly is its ability to suggest rephrases for overused or unclear phrases, a common issue in lengthy academic pieces like dissertations or theses. This aids immensely in maintaining a clear and engaging narrative throughout the writing process.
Additionally, for students working with LaTeX for technical writing or complex document formatting, Grammarly’s ability to check the clarity and readability of text, when used in conjunction with a LaTeX editor, is invaluable.
Grammarly’s free version is robust enough to handle the basics of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. However, for a more in-depth analysis like vocabulary enhancement and advanced grammar checks, the premium version steps in.
Turnitin – Remove Plagiarism From Your Academic Writing
Turnitin is far more than just a plagiarism checker; Turnitin offers a suite of features that profoundly enhance the writing and research process.
One of Turnitin’s standout features is its ability to compare submitted work against an extensive database of academic papers, offering peace of mind to those concerned about inadvertent plagiarism in their dissertation writing.
This comparison includes a thorough check against online sources, making it a robust tool for literature reviews.
Turnitin’s integrates with word processing software like Microsoft Word and Google Docs. This way, you get real-time plagiarism detection, ensuring that all citations and references are accurately credited, a crucial aspect in academic integrity.
The software is also invaluable in managing the format and citation style of a thesis.
Whether it’s APA, MLA, or Chicago style, Turnitin helps ensure that your bibliography and in-text citations are correctly structured, thus avoiding common errors in academic writing.
Additionally, Turnitin’s feedback and grading tools are a boon for educators and students. They allow for detailed comments and suggestions, which can be crucial in refining a thesis statement or rephrasing sections for clarity and impact.
This feature is particularly beneficial in the revision phase of thesis writing.
Suppose you use reference management software like:
In this case, Turnitin’s compatibility ensures a seamless integration, making the management of bibliographies and citations more efficient.
This integration is especially helpful in disciplines requiring extensive reference management, such as in technical writing or legal studies.
Microsoft Word – Base For Your Thesis Writing
Microsoft Word, offers a plethora of features tailored for the rigorous demands of thesis writing and dissertation crafting. It’s more than just a word processor; it’s a comprehensive tool designed to streamline the writing process for students and researchers.
Microsoft Word’s template feature can be a game-changer for academic writing. You can set up a standard format for your thesis, including predefined styled for:
- Subheadings, and
This not only saves time but also helps in maintaining a professional look required for academic submissions.
One of the lesser-known yet incredibly handy features is the ability to create and manage citations and bibliographies.
Compatible with reference management software like Mendeley, Zotero, and EndNote, Word simplifies the process of citation, crucial in avoiding plagiarism and ensuring proper acknowledgment of sources.
For those dealing with extensive research papers, Word’s navigation pane is a boon. It allows easy mapping and reorganization of sections, crucial in maintaining a coherent structure in your thesis.
Word’s Review feature is invaluable for collaborative writing. It allows for tracking changes, inserting comments, and even comparing different versions of a document. This is particularly useful when multiple revisions are involved in the thesis writing process.
Freemind – Outline Your Dissertation
FreeMind, a mind mapping software, is an innovative tool that’s increasingly being utilized in the realm of academic writing, particularly for thesis and dissertation preparation.
This free, open-source software offers a dynamic way to organise:
- Research, and
At the heart of FreeMind’s utility is its ability to help students and researchers create visual outlines for their academic projects. This is particularly advantageous during the initial stages of thesis writing, where organizing a vast amount of information and ideas can be overwhelming.
FreeMind allows users to create nodes for each main idea or chapter of their thesis, to which they can add sub-nodes for more detailed points or references. This hierarchical structure makes it easier to map out the entire thesis, providing a clear overview of the project.
For graduate students embarking on extensive literature reviews, FreeMind can serve as a tool to categorize and link various sources and theories.
This not only aids in avoiding plagiarism by keeping track of citations but also helps in synthesising information from different sources cohesively.
Additionally, FreeMind’s compatibility with various word processing tools, like Microsoft Word and LaTeX, ensures that the transition from mind mapping to actual writing is seamless.
Its ability to export maps in multiple formats allows for easy integration into other software used in the writing process.
FreeMind’s real-time collaboration feature is a boon for those working on joint research papers or dissertations, facilitating brainstorming and idea-sharing among team members.
This feature, along with its intuitive interface, makes FreeMind a valuable asset in the toolkit of academic writing tools, enhancing both the efficiency and quality of academic writing projects.
ChatGPT – Best AI Writing Assistant
ChatGPT is based on advanced AI technology, and can be used to assist in various aspects of academic writing. This makes it a valuable asset for students and researchers.
In the context of thesis writing, ChatGPT can be utilized for brainstorming ideas, generating outlines, and even providing suggestions for thesis statements.
Its ability to process and generate text based on user prompts makes it an excellent tool for drafting initial versions of academic documents.
For those engaged in the laborious process of writing a dissertation, ChatGPT offers real-time assistance in:
- Rephrasing sentences,
- Enhancing clarity, and
- Suggesting alternative ways to present complex ideas.
For researchers conducting literature reviews, ChatGPT can help summarize articles, providing quick insights into their content. This is particularly useful when dealing with a large volume of literature.
However, it’s important to note that while ChatGPT is a powerful tool, it should be used to complement traditional research methods, ensuring accuracy and credibility in academic work.
ChatGPT’s versatility extends to its compatibility with various software tools used in academic writing, such as Microsoft Word, LaTeX, and softwares like Mendeley, Zotero, and EndNote. This compatibility streamlines the writing process, from initial research to the final draft.
Canva – Software Tools For Graphics
Canva, primarily known for its graphic design capabilities, is increasingly finding its way into the realm of academic writing, particularly in the visual presentation of complex data and information.
This tool, with its user-friendly interface, offers a fresh approach to creating visually appealing elements for theses, dissertations, and research papers.
In the process of thesis writing, Canva can be used to design compelling graphics, such as infographics and charts, which are essential in representing data in a more digestible format.
This is especially beneficial in fields where visual data presentation can significantly enhance the understanding of complex topics.
Canva’s vast library of templates and design elements allows for the creation of professional-looking graphics without the need for advanced design skills.
For graduate students working on dissertations, Canva provides an array of options to create layouts for posters or presentations, often required for thesis defenses or academic conferences.
The tool’s drag-and-drop feature simplifies the process of designing these materials, making it accessible even for those with limited graphic design experience.
For those concerned about plagiarism and citation, Canva can aid in creating original graphics, ensuring that your academic work remains unique and authentic.
While it doesn’t replace traditional writing software, Canva complements them by adding a visual dimension to academic writing, enhancing the overall impact and readability of scholarly work.
Zotero – Citation Tools For Writing
Zotero has become a cornerstone tool for academic writing, especially in the fields of thesis and dissertation writing.
As a comprehensive tool designed for students, researchers, and academic writers, Zotero simplifies the process of managing research materials, such as:
- Organizing, and
One of the standout features of Zotero is its ability to seamlessly integrate with browsers. This allows users to easily add sources from the web to their Zotero library with just a click.
For thesis writers who rely heavily on online sources for their literature review, this feature is a significant time-saver.
Zotero’s ability to automatically extract citation information and store it in an organized library simplifies the management of research sources.
Zotero offers robust support for various citation formats. Whether it’s:
- Chicago, or
Zotero can generate bibliographies and in-text citations in the chosen format, directly integrating with word processors like Microsoft Word and Google Docs. This integration is particularly beneficial for maintaining consistency in citations throughout a lengthy academic document.
Furthermore, Zotero stands out for its collaboration features. It allows users to share libraries with others, making it a useful tool for co-authored research papers or group projects.
The real-time syncing feature ensures that all members of a research group have access to the latest resources and references.
Zotero’s compatibility with PDF management tools and its ability to index the content of PDFs for easy searching adds another layer of efficiency. For graduate students and thesis writers, this means quick retrieval of information from a vast collection of saved research papers.
Wrapping Up: Best Academic Writing Apps And Tools
In conclusion, the journey of thesis writing is made significantly smoother with the aid of these versatile tools. From Grammarly’s meticulous language polishing to Zotero’s efficient citation management, each tool offers unique capabilities to enhance your academic writing.
By integrating these resources into your workflow, you can focus more on the content and quality of your thesis, ensuring a well-crafted, professionally presented final document. Embrace these tools to unlock your full potential in academic writing and research.
Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.
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25+ Dissertation & Thesis Writing Apps
Contributors: Derek J ansen (MBA), Kerryn Warren (PhD) & David Phair (PhD) | May 2024
Overview: Dissertation & Thesis Apps
- Literature review
- Data collection
- Qualitative data analysis
- Quantitative data analysis
- Writing & Plagiarism
- Project management
- Reference management
- Honourable mentions
Literature Review & Search Apps
The following apps and tools can help you discover, analyse, and synthesise scholarly materials, significantly streamlining the literature review process.
Scite AI – Find & evaluate sources
The Scite AI app uses ‘Smart Citations’ to show how academic papers are discussed—i.e., supported, contradicted, or mentioned. This can help you fast-track the literature review process and source highly relevant papers quickly.
Petal – Chat with your literature
Petal is an AI-driven tool that revolutionises your interaction with documents by enabling direct, context-aware conversations. Upload an article and it will swiftly summarise its contents and allow you to ask questions about the specific study (or studies).
Consensus – ChatGPT for academia
The Consensus app uses a powerful AI engine to connect you to over 200 million scientific papers. It allows precise searches and efficiently summarises key research findings . PS – Get 40% off Consensus Premium by using the coupon code GRADCOACH40.
Litmaps – Visualise related papers
This app is great for quickly identifying relevant research. For any given keyword or resource, it will provide you with a visual citation network, showing how studies are interconnected. This reveals both direct and tangential connections to other research, highlighting gaps and key discussions within your field.
Connected Papers – An alternative
Similar to Litmaps, Connected Papers visually maps academic research, simplifying how you explore related studies. Just input a paper, and it charts connections, helping identify key literature and gaps. It’s ideal for staying updated on emerging research.
Elicit – An “AI research assistant”
Another AI-powered tool, Elicit automates the discovery, screening, and data extraction from academic papers efficiently. This makes it useful for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, as it allows you to focus on deeper analysis across various fields.
Data Collection & Preparation
These apps and tools can assist you in terms of collecting and organising both qualitative and quantitative data for your dissertation or thesis.
SurveyMonkey – Simple surveys
SurveyMonkey is a versatile tool for creating and distributing surveys. It simplifies collecting and analysing data, helping you craft surveys that generate reliable results. Well suited for the vast majority of postgraduate research projects.
Qualtrics – An alternative
Qualtrics is a comprehensive survey tool with advanced creation, distribution, and analysis capabilities. It supports complex survey designs and robust data analysis, making it ideal for gathering detailed insights and conducting high-quality research.
Otter – Easy draft transcription
Otter is an AI-powered transcription tool that converts spoken words into text. It captures and transcribes lectures, interviews, and meetings in real time. Naturally, it’s not 100% accurate (you’ll need to verify), but it can certainly save you some time.
Qualitative Data Analysis
These software packages can help you organise and analyse qualitative data for your dissertation, thesis or research project.
NVivo – All-in-one qual platform
NVivo is a powerful qualitative data analysis software that facilitates data organisation, coding, and analysis. It supports a wide range of data types and methodologies, enabling detailed analysis and helping you extract rich insights from your data.
MaxQDA – QDA simplified
MAXQDA is a robust qualitative data analysis software that helps you systematically organise, evaluate, and interpret complex datasets. A little easier to get started with than NVivo, it’s ideal for first-time dissertation and thesis writers.
ATLAS.ti – For large datasets
ATLAS.ti offers robust tools for organising, coding, and examining diverse materials such as text, graphics, and multimedia. It’s well-suited for researchers aiming to weave detailed, data-driven narratives as it streamlines complex analysis tasks efficiently.
Delve – An intuitive interface
Delve is an intuitive qualitative data analysis tool designed to streamline the qualitative analysis process. Ideal for dissertations, Delve simplifies the process from initial data organisation to in-depth analysis, helping you efficiently manage and interpret complex datasets for clearer insights.
Quantitative (Statistical) Data Analysis
These software packages can help you organise and analyse quantitative (statistical) data for your dissertation, thesis or research project.
Julius – Your “AI data analyst”
Julius is an AI-powered data analysis tool that simplifies the process of analysing and visualising data for academic research. It allows you to “chat” with your data, create graphs, build forecasting models, and generate comprehensive analyses.
IBM SPSS – The “old faithful”
The OG of statistical analysis software, SPSS is ideal for students handling quantitative data in their dissertations and theses. It simplifies complex statistical testing, data management, and graphical representation, helping you derive robust insights.
R Studio – For the data wizards
While admittedly a little intimidating at first, R is a versatile software for statistical computing. It’s well-suited for quantitative dissertations and theses, offering a wide range of packages and robust community support to streamline your work.
STATA – For the data scientists
Stata is yet another comprehensive statistical software widely used for data management, statistical analysis, and graphical representation. It can efficiently handle large datasets and perform advanced statistical analyses.
Writing Improvement & Plagiarism Tools
These apps and tools can help enhance your writing and proactively identify potential plagiarism issues.
Grammarly – Improve your writing
Grammarly is a writing assistant that can help enhance academic writing by checking for errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation in real time. It also features a plagiarism detection system , helping you to proactively avoid academic misconduct.
Jenni – An AI “writing assistant”
Jenni AI helps you draft, cite, and edit with ease, streamlining the writing process and tackling writer’s block. Well suited for ESL students and researchers, Jenni helps ensure that your work is both precise, clear and grammatically sound.
Quillbot – Paraphrasing simplified
Quillbot is yet another AI-powered writing tool that can help streamline the writing process. Specifically, it can assist with paraphrasing , correcting grammar, and improving clarity and flow. It also features a citation generator and plagiarism checker .
Quetext – Solid plagiarism checking
Quetext is a plagiarism detection tool that helps ensure the originality of your academic work. It cross-references your documents against extensive online databases to highlight potential plagiarism and generate detailed reports.
Project & Time Management
These apps can help you plan your research project and manage your time, so that you can work as efficiently as possible.
GanttPro – PM simplified
An intuitive project management tool, GanttPro simplifies planning and tracking for dissertations or theses. It offers detailed Gantt charts to visualise task timelines, dependencies, and progress, helping you ensure timely completion of each section.
Trello – Drag-and-drop PM
Trello is a versatile project management tool that helps you organise your dissertation or thesis process effectively. By creating boards for each chapter or section, you can track progress, set deadlines, and coordinate tasks efficiently.
Toggl – Make every minute count
A user-friendly time-tracking app that helps you manage your research project effectively. With Toggl, you can precisely track how much time you spend on specific tasks. This will help you avoid distractions and stay on track throughout your journey.
Reference Management
These apps and tools will help you keep your academic resources well organised and ensure that your citations and references are perfectly formatted, every time.
Mendeley – Your citations, sorted
Mendeley is your go-to reference management tool that simplifies academic writing by keeping your sources neatly organised. Perfect for dissertations and theses, it lets you easily store, search, and cite your resources directly in MS Word.
Zotero – Great for Google Docs
Zotero is a free-to-use reference manager that ensures your sources are well-organised and flawlessly cited. It helps you collect, organise, and cite your research sources seamlessly. A great alternative to Mendeley if you’re using Google Docs.
Endnote – A paid option
Yet another reference management option, Endnote is sometimes specifically required by universities. It efficiently organises and stores research materials, making citation and bibliography creation (largely) effortless.
Honourable Mentions
Now that we’ve covered the more “exciting” dissertation apps and tools, it’s worth quickly making one or two mundane but essential mentions before we wrap up.
You’ll need a reliable word processor.
In terms of word processors, Microsoft Word will likely be your go-to, but it’s not the only option. If you don’t have a license for Word, you can certainly consider using Google Docs, which is completely free. Zotero offers a direct integration with Google Docs, making it easy to manage your citations and references. If you want to go to the other extreme, you can consider LaTeX, a professional typesetting software often used in academic documents.
You’ll need cloud storage.
The number of times we’ve seen students lose hours, days or even weeks’ worth of hard work (and even miss the submission deadline) due to corrupted flash drives or hard drives, coffee-soaked laptops, or stolen computers is truly saddening. If you’re not using cloud storage to save your work, you’re running a major risk. Go sign up for any of the following cloud services (most offer a free version) and save your work there:
- Google Drive
- iCloud Drive
Not only will this ensure your work is always safely stored (remember to hit the Save button, though!), but it will make working on multiple devices easier, as your files will be automatically synchronised. No need to have multiple versions between your desktop, laptop, tablet, etc. Everything stays in one place. Safe, secure, happy files.
Need a helping hand?
Key Takeaways: Dissertation & Thesis Apps
And there you have it – a hearty selection of apps, software and services that will undoubtedly make your life easier come dissertation time.
To recap, we’ve covered tools across a range of categories:
Remember, while these apps can help optimise your dissertation or thesis writing journey, you still need to put in the work . Be sure to carefully review your university’s rules and regulations regarding what apps and tools you can use – especially anything AI-related.
Have a suggestion? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Simply leave a comment below and we’ll consider adding your suggested app to the list.
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16 Comments
It seems some of the apps mentioned are not android capable. It would be nice if you mentioned items that everyone could use.
Thanks for the feedback, Gale!
Yet to explore some of your recommended apps. I am glad to commend on one app that I have started using, Mendeley. When it comes to referencing it really helps a lot.
Great to hear that, Maggie 🙂
I have got Mendeley and it is fantastic. I have equally downloaded Freemind but I am yet to really understand how to navigate through it.
Based on your YouTube lessons,my literature review and the entire research has been simplified and I am enjoying the flow now,more than ever before.
Thank you so much for your recommendations and guide.It’s working a great deal for me.
Remain blessed!
Thank you for all the amazing help and tutorials. I am in the dissertation research proposal stage having already defended the qualifying paper. I am going to implement some of your advice as I revise chapters 1 & 2 and expand chapter 3 for my research proposal. My question is about the writing– or specifically which software would you recommend. I know MS Word can get glitchy with larger documents. Do the “reference” apps you recommend work with other options such as LaTeX? I understand that for some programs the citations won’t be integrated or automated such as cite while you write etc.. I have a paid version of endnote, and free versions of mendeley and zotero. I have really only used endnote with any fidelity but I’m willing to adapt. What would you advise at this point?
Thanks for your comment and for the kind words – glad to hear that the info is useful.
Generally, Word works reasonably well for most research projects and is our first recommendation. As long as one keeps the document clean (i.e. doesn’t paste in loads of different styles, ultra high-res images, etc), it works fine. But I understand that it’s not perfect for absolutely huge projects.
Regarding referencing with Latex, this article covers how to use Mendeley with Latex – https://blog.mendeley.com/2011/10/25/howto-use-mendeley-to-create-citations-using-latex-and-bibtex/ . Perhaps it will be useful. I hesitate to tell you to adopt software X or Y, or to move from Endnote, as each software has its strengths and weaknesses, and performs better in certain contexts. I’m not familiar with your context, so it’s not possible for me to advise responsibly. Mendeley works well for the vast majority of our students, but if there’s a very specific bit of functionality that draws you to Endnote, then it may be best to stick with it. My generic advice would be to give Mendeley a try with some sample references and see if it has the functionality you need.
I hope this helps! Best of luck with your research 🙂
Thank you for your amazing articles and tips. I have MAC laptop, so would Zotero be as good as Mendeley? Thank you
Derek would you share with me your email please, I need to talk to you urgently.
I need a free Turnitin tool for checking plagiarism as for the tools above
I have been going crazy trying to keep my work polished and thesis or dissertation friendly. My mind said there had to be a better way to do literature reviews. Thank God for these applications. Look out world I am on my way.
Wow Thanks for this write-up i find it hard to track down extremely good guidance out there when it comes to this material appreciate for the publish site
Sir I have chosen topic substance abuse and psychological makeup a study on secondary school students but my supervisor told me to see some variable on this on which u work plz Need ur help
Thank you for sharing valuable information. It’s very helpful.
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