18 3 Mechanics of Writing
that even long familiarity with a particular word processor means that you are using
it well as a research tool (or that it is the right choice for your new activity).
Today, the most widely used general-purpose word processor is Microsoft Word,
or the OpenOffice equivalent; in the mathematical and physical sciences many re-
searchers use the more technically oriented markup-based LaTeX. I do not explore
the specifics of these word processors, but encourage you to use resources such as
advanced guides and manuals to ensure that you are using them well—even an oc-
casional revisit to an online tutorial can be surprisingly rewarding.
A typical word processor can be viewed as a suite of separate tools, perhaps
bundled together under a common user interface. These tools might include an edi-
tor, for entering and modifying text; spelling and grammar checkers; a bibliography
database; a line-art environment; and a system for laying out the text in a form suit-
able for printing or for viewing online. This last point is particularly important: a
word processor allows the style of a document to be separated from its content, and
the two issues are important at different stages of the thesis creation process.
Presentation
The fine details of the style of your thesis may not become settled until it is almost
finished, and I strongly encourage that, in the early stages at least, your focus is on
creation of content rather than on how it appears on the page. Nonetheless, right from
the start you need to write within the constraints of a style—for example, so that all
headings of the same kind, such as chapter titles, are displayed in the same way.
Which format do you adopt? In principle, you have great latitude in your choices,
so long as you are consistent in what you do. In practice, however, you should adopt
a thesis style that is already in use in your department, and it may well be that your
supervisor has specific requirements. You should also be aware of field-specific
guidelines, such as those published by the American Psychological Association.
That said, some standard styles are less than eye-pleasing, and you may want to re-
fine the appearance. The key thing is that you use a style from the start, so that you
can easily change the appearance of the whole thesis if you want to do so.
Pay particular attention to the way you cite references, both in-text and in the
bibliography or reference section of your thesis. Your professional handling of ref-
erences is one way that examiners assess your readiness to enter the community
of scholars. If you are sloppy, or maintain incomplete lists, or perhaps fail to cite a
work, it signals that are you not respecting colleagues. Quite apart from the inher-
ent importance of this, you will annoy an examiner if you cite material and fail to
list it. One way an examiner checks to see whether you know what you are talking
about is to check the references as you cite them. Conversely, you shouldn’t put
references in your list of references unless you have cited them. So all of these have
to be checked, one by one. Read your own text the way that the examiner would,
checking the list every time you come to a citation. My advice is to be systematic
when you are collecting the reference material in the first place, and remain aware
of the importance of correct citations throughout your professional career.