which has a lower maximum word limit. In the UK, for instance,
this non-doctoral research degree is called an M.Phil. (Master of
Philosophy) and it requires people to write a satisfactorily pre-
sented thesis of no more than 60,000 words on a worthwhile
topic. So there is a danger that PhD examiners presented with
a short thesis of say 55,000 words may feel that it is too insub-
stantial to qualify for the doctorate, and perhaps operates more
at the M.Phil. level. Wherever such second-tier research degrees
exist, doctoral students not doing mathematical or formal work
are well advised to write more text than the upper limit for the
lower degree requirement. Your thesis should always look and
feel like a doctorate to the examiners.
Once you have set the length of your main text, ideally at
80,000 words, you need to cut it up into chunks. A basic prin-
ciple of organizing any piece of text is that it should be sub-
divided evenly, so far as possible, in this case into chapters.
Regular chunking up of text fosters consistent expectations
amongst readers: they know in advance how long chapters are.
In addition, regular divisions always look better organized and
controlled. To determine the number of subdivisions needed,
bear in mind that a chapter has a practical maximum length of
around 10,000 words. Chapters more extended than this length
make it much harder for you to organize them internally and to
control their argument effectively (see Chapter 4). Long chap-
ters are also more difficult to convert into articles in academic
journals, for which the optimum length is no more than 6000
to 8000 words. Conference papers should be even shorter,
around 5000 to 6000 words long. A 10,000-word chapter can
normally be edited down to form a decent 8000-word journal
article. With a lot of surgery it is also feasible to recast most of
it as a paper for an academic conference. But a chapter of
15,000 words will be effectively unpublishable in either form.
At this length it will need radical rewriting if it is ever to see the
light of day.
Chapters must also be of a certain minimum length if you
are to fulfil your key mission as an author and successfully
manage readers’ expectations. A short chapter, one of less than
about 6000 words, will be confusing for readers. It can easily
seem insubstantial and disappointing. It may even appear as a
‘fake’ element that you have inserted on your contents page, to
PLANNING AN INTEGRATED THESIS◆ 47