Thesis and Dissertation Support
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The Grad Center is here to help you get started, make steady progress, and complete your thesis or dissertation on time.
We offer workshops and information sessions throughout the year designed to support productive research, writing, and degree completion.
Popular workshops include:
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Publishing Workshop Series
Curious about publishing but not sure where to start? Join the library staff and the Graduate Student Center for workshops on different aspects of the publishing process! -
Reference Management Tools
Reference management software can save researchers considerable time and energy in compiling and formatting references for publications. One-hour workshop demonstrating the most widely-used citation management tools. -
Setting Writing Goals
We recognize that depending on where you are in your Masters, PhD, or professional program, it may be challenging to find the motivation to write or to establish a routine that is balanced with your personal tasks and obligations. Join the Weingarten Center and Graduate Student Center for our writing goals workshops to learn effective strategies for setting and keeping clear, achievable writing goals and a balanced schedule.
Whether you need intensive writing time or are looking for ongoing writing motivation and feedback, we work with campus partners to provide range of academic writing support.
Dissertation Boot Camp
Looking for an environment where you can focus solely on writing your dissertation? The Graduate Student Center's popular Dissertation Boot Camp is your two-week writers' retreat.Dissertation Boot Camp was created at Penn in 2005 to help students progress through the difficult writing stages of the dissertation process. By offering an environment and support for intense, focused writing time, the Camp provides participants with the structure and motivation to overcome typical roadblocks in the dissertation process. Boot Camp is a two-week long, bi-annual event.
Drop-in Writing Consultations
Weekly drop-in writing consultations with experts from the Weingarten Center, held throughout the academic year. Weingarten staff can discuss work at every stage, and help you move past difficult roadblocks in the process.Writing Accountability Groups
Whether you’re working on a dissertation, journal article, or other writing project, forming a group with other students working on writing projects is a great way to help one another make progress and meet deadlines, by providing accountability and encouragement along the way. Check out our resources for existing writing groups or fill out the group matching form below and we will help connect you with a writing group or partner!Writers Retreats & Graduate Writers Rooms
The Grad Center collaborates with campus partners to provide graduate students with the space, structure, and encouragement to make progress towards completing major research-related writing projects.
Thesis and Dissertation Resources
Research
Penn Libraries: Offers a great many workshops to help in the research and dissertation process. In addition, subject librarians are standing by to support teaching, research, and learning. The Using Electronic Resources guide provides information on accessing e-resources, optimal browser settings, as well as common connection problems and solutions. They also maintain lists of free or reduced-price online journals & ebooks and streaming video!
Office of Regulatory Affairs: Helps to assure that all research conducted at Penn honors Penn's standards for the treatment of people and animals.
Office of the Vice Provost for Research: Provides information on funding opportunities and links to graduate student resources.
Penn Electronic Research Administration (PennERA): PennERA is a full life-cycle system for research project development, support, and management.
Weigle Information Commons: Supports study groups and collaborative learning and offers training, equipment, and support for digital media. Several support services are provided for students as they work to improve their effectiveness in writing, speaking, and original inquiry.
Research Tools and Websites
Penn Libraries guide to Statistical Software
Bibliomania: Provides free online literature with more than 2000 classic texts.
Elements of Style Online book: the classic reference book for all writers.
Library of Congress Online research center: provides free educational materials including access to the Library of Congress archives.
Bibliographic & Reference Management Software
BiblioScape: Free Download
Endnote works well for the health sciences and for large collections of articles, despite some technical and installation issues. Available for a discount at Penn Computer Connection
Mendeley is a cloud-based proprietary system that includes Facebook-style social networking, PDF annotation, a platform for self-promotion and crowd-sourcing of citations and annotations. Mendeley has a wide range of functionality but suffers from performance and accuracy issues.
RefWorks is a stable, well-established platform, but has limitations in terms of working with PDF files. Provided by and integrated with the Penn Library
Zotero is an open-source software program that is notable for its ease of use, its ability to grab screenshots, and its capabilities for archiving website content for local storage.
For more details and a handy comparison chart, check out the Penn Libraries' Citation Management Tools Guide.
Print Resources
Wayne C. Booth, Joseph M. Williams, Gregory G. Colomb, The Craft of Research, Third Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing), (Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 2008)
Carol M. Roberts, The Dissertation Journey: A Practical and Comprehensive Guide to Planning, Writing, and Defending Your Dissertation (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2004) - Google Books
Kiel Erik Rudestam, Rae R. Newton, Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007) - Google Books
Dissertation Process
Writing and Revising
Elements of Style Online book: the classic reference book for all writers.
The Weingarten Center provides writing consultations to help you organize and make progress on your writing through their Learning Consultations.
LaTeX Fundamentals Tutorials from Penn Libraries: If you're new to using LaTeX to format your thesis or dissertation, check out these short video tutorials from Penn Libraries that include examples and practice exercises!
Defending your Thesis/Dissertation
Preparing for the Oral Defense of the Dissertation by Marianne Di Pierro (PDF, opens in new tab)
CWiC: Provides courses and workshops for students to improve speaking abilities.
Productivity
PhinisheD: Discord server group for people working on their dissertations.
Print Resources
Joan Bolker, Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis (New York: Holt, 1998) - Google Books
Sonja Foss and William Waters, Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007) - Google Books
Carol M. Roberts, The Dissertation Journey: A Practical and Comprehensive Guide to Planning, Writing, and Defending Your Dissertation (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2004) - Google Books
Kiel Erik Rudestam, Rae R. Newton, Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007) - Google Books
Jane Burka with Lenora M. Yuen, Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now (Cambridge, Mass: Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2008)
Guidelines and Policies
Most academic polices and procedures at Penn are school-based. Students should consult with their school or graduate group with questions or for help in understanding academic policies and procedures.
See our complete list of academic policies in our resource guide or search for university policies by topic in the Graduate Catalog.
Academic Rules for Research Programs
Academic Integrity
All members of the Penn Community are responsible for upholding the highest standards of honesty and complying Code of Academic Integrity at all times.
Research Policies and Guidelines
- Fairness of Authorship Credit in Collaborative Faculty-Student Publications for PhD, AM, and MS Students
- Guidelines for Research in the Community
- Guidelines for Student Protection in Sponsored Research Projects
- Patent and Tangible Research Property Policies and Procedures
- Policy Regarding Human Subject Research in the Sociobehavioral Sciences
- Procedures Regarding Misconduct in Research for Nonfaculty members of the Research Community
Leaves of Absence
PhD students will be granted a leave of absence for military duty, medical reasons, or family leave; any of these may require documentation. Read more in the PhD Student Leave of Absence Policy.
Dissertation Guides
The University's requirements for preparing, formatting, and submitting the dissertation are documented on the Provost's Graduate Degrees website. The website also includes helpful resources, a graduation calendar and checklist, and links to external resources.
Submission and Graduation
Preparing and filing your thesis/dissertation are the key final steps leading to the awarding of your degree.
Preparation and Formatting
University Style Guide for Master's Theses
Dissertation Formatting Guide (DOCX, opens a download window)
The University's requirements for preparing, formatting, and submitting the dissertation are documented in the Dissertation Formatting Guide. The manual also includes helpful resources, a graduation calendar and checklist, and links to external resources.
Graduation Requirements
The Office of the Provost oversees the graduation process for all PhD and Research Master's degrees as well as PhD dissertation and research master’s thesis deposits. The University of Pennsylvania confers degrees in May, August, and December. Commencement and diploma ceremonies are held in May.
Degree candidates must apply to graduate by the date listed in the Graduation Calendar to be eligible for the conferral of their degree and issuance of their diploma in a given term. The specific deadlines for deposit and graduation for each degree term are listed in the Graduation Calendar.
Please note the deadline to complete all degree requirements and sign up for graduation is several weeks in advance of the graduation date.
Dissertation Submission
At the University of Pennsylvania, each doctoral student presents the dissertation publicly, defends it, and, with the approval of the dissertation committee, submits the final manuscript for publication.
To successfully deposit a PhD dissertation, the University's requirements for formatting the dissertation must be followed, per the Dissertation Formatting Guide (DOCX, opens a download window). Research Master's students must follow the Master's Thesis Style Guide. Please read the Formatting FAQs for assistance with formatting your work, as proper formatting may take more time than you anticipate.
Additional Resources
Penn Resources and Support
Office of Student Disabilities Services: Provides comprehensive, professional services and programs for students with disabilities.
Weingarten Center: Offers instruction in academic reading, writing, and study strategies. The Weingarten Center offers access to academic support resources and advising. Students can schedule 50-minute virtual or in-person meetings or sign up for 25-minute virtual or in-person drop-in sessions with a learning instructor via the MyWeingartenCenter portal to discuss their study strategies and approaches to a variety of academic assignments and assessments.
Counseling Services: Offers counseling and graduate student specific support groups.
Funding your research: Visit our Graduate Funding page
Graduate Group Review Student Feedback Form
Graduate Groups are periodically reviewed by the Graduate Council of the Faculties (GCF) in order to identify strengths and weaknesses within each program, and to recommend any changes that may help to improve the Graduate Group. This feedback form is intended to solicit general information and impressions about your graduate school experiences to share with GCF. If there is a specific incident you would like to report, please use the University’s Bias Incident Reporting Form.
Global Resources
Penn Global
Before going abroad for academic work, be sure to check out Penn Global's International Travel Guidance page, which provides help during an emergency abroad, research concerns when abroad, travel arrangements, visa information and more. Be sure to register your trip to stay connected to Penn resources in the event of an emergency and pre-authorize any necessary medical insurance coverage.
Perry World House
Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania (PWH) is a global policy research center that aims to advance interdisciplinary, policy-relevant research on the world’s most urgent global affairs challenges. At a time of increasing ideological division and highly politicized of policymaking, PWH draws on the wide range of expertise found across Penn’s 12 Schools, connecting Penn with policymakers, practitioners, and researchers from around the world to develop and advance innovative policy proposals.
Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement
The Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania is founded on the principle that a democratic, open, secure, tolerant, and interconnected world benefits all Americans. Based in Washington, D.C., the Penn Biden Center engages more of our fellow citizens in shaping this world, while ensuring the gains of global engagement are widely shared.
Penn Abroad
Penn Abroad serves as the hub for student global opportunities at the University of Pennsylvania. Each year Penn Abroad sends more than 1,000 Penn students to over 50 countries around the world on semester study abroad, summer internships, and embedded Global Seminars. Explore our website to find information about the many global opportunities available to Penn students.
International Student and Scholar Services
International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) aims to provide immigration assistance as well as a sense of community for the international population at Penn. In addition to answering your technical questions about immigration, ISSS also offers student programs and leadership opportunities for students, such as Forerunner and the Intercultural Leadership Program (ILP), to foster meaningful engagement throughout their journey with Penn.
Resources in Print
Robert L. Peters, Getting What You Came for: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning a Master's or a Ph.D. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997)
Emily Toth, Ms Mentor's New and Ever More Impeccable Advice for Women and Men in Academia (Philadelphia, U Penn Press, 2008)
Jane Burka with Lenora M. Yuen, Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now (Cambridge, Mass: Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2008)
Research
Penn Libraries: Offers a great many workshops to help in the research and dissertation process. In addition, subject librarians are standing by to support teaching, research, and learning. The Using Electronic Resources guide provides information on accessing e-resources, optimal browser settings, as well as common connection problems and solutions. They also maintain lists of free or reduced-price online journals & ebooks and streaming video!
Office of Regulatory Affairs: Helps to assure that all research conducted at Penn honors Penn's standards for the treatment of people and animals.
Office of the Vice Provost for Research: Provides information on funding opportunities and links to graduate student resources.
Penn Electronic Research Administration (PennERA): PennERA is a full life-cycle system for research project development, support, and management.
Weigle Information Commons: Supports study groups and collaborative learning and offers training, equipment, and support for digital media. Several support services are provided for students as they work to improve their effectiveness in writing, speaking, and original inquiry.
Research Tools and Websites
Penn Libraries guide to Statistical Software
Bibliomania: Provides free online literature with more than 2000 classic texts.
Elements of Style Online book: the classic reference book for all writers.
Library of Congress Online research center: provides free educational materials including access to the Library of Congress archives.
Bibliographic & Reference Management Software
BiblioScape: Free Download
Endnote works well for the health sciences and for large collections of articles, despite some technical and installation issues. Available for a discount at Penn Computer Connection
Mendeley is a cloud-based proprietary system that includes Facebook-style social networking, PDF annotation, a platform for self-promotion and crowd-sourcing of citations and annotations. Mendeley has a wide range of functionality but suffers from performance and accuracy issues.
RefWorks is a stable, well-established platform, but has limitations in terms of working with PDF files. Provided by and integrated with the Penn Library
Zotero is an open-source software program that is notable for its ease of use, its ability to grab screenshots, and its capabilities for archiving website content for local storage.
For more details and a handy comparison chart, check out the Penn Libraries' Citation Management Tools Guide.
Print Resources
Wayne C. Booth, Joseph M. Williams, Gregory G. Colomb, The Craft of Research, Third Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing), (Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 2008)
Carol M. Roberts, The Dissertation Journey: A Practical and Comprehensive Guide to Planning, Writing, and Defending Your Dissertation (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2004) - Google Books
Kiel Erik Rudestam, Rae R. Newton, Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007) - Google Books
Dissertation Process
Writing and Revising
Elements of Style Online book: the classic reference book for all writers.
The Weingarten Center provides writing consultations to help you organize and make progress on your writing through their Learning Consultations.
LaTeX Fundamentals Tutorials from Penn Libraries: If you're new to using LaTeX to format your thesis or dissertation, check out these short video tutorials from Penn Libraries that include examples and practice exercises!
Defending your Thesis/Dissertation
Preparing for the Oral Defense of the Dissertation by Marianne Di Pierro (PDF, opens in new tab)
CWiC: Provides courses and workshops for students to improve speaking abilities.
Productivity
PhinisheD: Discord server group for people working on their dissertations.
Print Resources
Joan Bolker, Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis (New York: Holt, 1998) - Google Books
Sonja Foss and William Waters, Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007) - Google Books
Carol M. Roberts, The Dissertation Journey: A Practical and Comprehensive Guide to Planning, Writing, and Defending Your Dissertation (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2004) - Google Books
Kiel Erik Rudestam, Rae R. Newton, Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007) - Google Books
Jane Burka with Lenora M. Yuen, Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now (Cambridge, Mass: Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2008)
Guidelines and Policies
Most academic polices and procedures at Penn are school-based. Students should consult with their school or graduate group with questions or for help in understanding academic policies and procedures.
See our complete list of academic policies in our resource guide or search for university policies by topic in the Graduate Catalog.
Academic Rules for Research Programs
Academic Integrity
All members of the Penn Community are responsible for upholding the highest standards of honesty and complying Code of Academic Integrity at all times.
Research Policies and Guidelines
- Fairness of Authorship Credit in Collaborative Faculty-Student Publications for PhD, AM, and MS Students
- Guidelines for Research in the Community
- Guidelines for Student Protection in Sponsored Research Projects
- Patent and Tangible Research Property Policies and Procedures
- Policy Regarding Human Subject Research in the Sociobehavioral Sciences
- Procedures Regarding Misconduct in Research for Nonfaculty members of the Research Community
Leaves of Absence
PhD students will be granted a leave of absence for military duty, medical reasons, or family leave; any of these may require documentation. Read more in the PhD Student Leave of Absence Policy.
Dissertation Guides
The University's requirements for preparing, formatting, and submitting the dissertation are documented on the Provost's Graduate Degrees website. The website also includes helpful resources, a graduation calendar and checklist, and links to external resources.
Submission and Graduation
Preparing and filing your thesis/dissertation are the key final steps leading to the awarding of your degree.
Preparation and Formatting
University Style Guide for Master's Theses
Dissertation Formatting Guide (DOCX, opens a download window)
The University's requirements for preparing, formatting, and submitting the dissertation are documented in the Dissertation Formatting Guide. The manual also includes helpful resources, a graduation calendar and checklist, and links to external resources.
Graduation Requirements
The Office of the Provost oversees the graduation process for all PhD and Research Master's degrees as well as PhD dissertation and research master’s thesis deposits. The University of Pennsylvania confers degrees in May, August, and December. Commencement and diploma ceremonies are held in May.
Degree candidates must apply to graduate by the date listed in the Graduation Calendar to be eligible for the conferral of their degree and issuance of their diploma in a given term. The specific deadlines for deposit and graduation for each degree term are listed in the Graduation Calendar.
Please note the deadline to complete all degree requirements and sign up for graduation is several weeks in advance of the graduation date.
Dissertation Submission
At the University of Pennsylvania, each doctoral student presents the dissertation publicly, defends it, and, with the approval of the dissertation committee, submits the final manuscript for publication.
To successfully deposit a PhD dissertation, the University's requirements for formatting the dissertation must be followed, per the Dissertation Formatting Guide (DOCX, opens a download window). Research Master's students must follow the Master's Thesis Style Guide. Please read the Formatting FAQs for assistance with formatting your work, as proper formatting may take more time than you anticipate.
Additional Resources
Penn Resources and Support
Office of Student Disabilities Services: Provides comprehensive, professional services and programs for students with disabilities.
Weingarten Center: Offers instruction in academic reading, writing, and study strategies. The Weingarten Center offers access to academic support resources and advising. Students can schedule 50-minute virtual or in-person meetings or sign up for 25-minute virtual or in-person drop-in sessions with a learning instructor via the MyWeingartenCenter portal to discuss their study strategies and approaches to a variety of academic assignments and assessments.
Counseling Services: Offers counseling and graduate student specific support groups.
Funding your research: Visit our Graduate Funding page
Graduate Group Review Student Feedback Form
Graduate Groups are periodically reviewed by the Graduate Council of the Faculties (GCF) in order to identify strengths and weaknesses within each program, and to recommend any changes that may help to improve the Graduate Group. This feedback form is intended to solicit general information and impressions about your graduate school experiences to share with GCF. If there is a specific incident you would like to report, please use the University’s Bias Incident Reporting Form.
Global Resources
Penn Global
Before going abroad for academic work, be sure to check out Penn Global's International Travel Guidance page, which provides help during an emergency abroad, research concerns when abroad, travel arrangements, visa information and more. Be sure to register your trip to stay connected to Penn resources in the event of an emergency and pre-authorize any necessary medical insurance coverage.
Perry World House
Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania (PWH) is a global policy research center that aims to advance interdisciplinary, policy-relevant research on the world’s most urgent global affairs challenges. At a time of increasing ideological division and highly politicized of policymaking, PWH draws on the wide range of expertise found across Penn’s 12 Schools, connecting Penn with policymakers, practitioners, and researchers from around the world to develop and advance innovative policy proposals.
Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement
The Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania is founded on the principle that a democratic, open, secure, tolerant, and interconnected world benefits all Americans. Based in Washington, D.C., the Penn Biden Center engages more of our fellow citizens in shaping this world, while ensuring the gains of global engagement are widely shared.
Penn Abroad
Penn Abroad serves as the hub for student global opportunities at the University of Pennsylvania. Each year Penn Abroad sends more than 1,000 Penn students to over 50 countries around the world on semester study abroad, summer internships, and embedded Global Seminars. Explore our website to find information about the many global opportunities available to Penn students.
International Student and Scholar Services
International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) aims to provide immigration assistance as well as a sense of community for the international population at Penn. In addition to answering your technical questions about immigration, ISSS also offers student programs and leadership opportunities for students, such as Forerunner and the Intercultural Leadership Program (ILP), to foster meaningful engagement throughout their journey with Penn.
Resources in Print
Robert L. Peters, Getting What You Came for: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning a Master's or a Ph.D. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997)
Emily Toth, Ms Mentor's New and Ever More Impeccable Advice for Women and Men in Academia (Philadelphia, U Penn Press, 2008)
Jane Burka with Lenora M. Yuen, Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now (Cambridge, Mass: Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2008)
Have suggestions for more helpful resources? Let us know!
