Notes on Preparation of CPGS and Ph.D. theses

H. K. D. H. Bhadeshia

• The supervisor will read only two drafts: the first of individual chapters, and the second of the complete thesis. Consequently, do not submit revised chapters until the complete thesis draft is ready.

• A careful and COMPLETE first draft will lead to rapid progress. Get someone to proof read your work before submission to the supervisor. The supervisor can then focus on the science instead of trivial mistakes.

• Drafts should be submitted in double line spacing to allow space for comments.

• Style and presentation are important but the contents really matter.

• Computer programs should be presented in the MAP format.

• Publication of work is a good thing before writing a thesis. A paper, when incorporated into a thesis, must be modified to ensure continuity and context. It should be readable and gentle in its introduction compared with a journal paper.

Better English

• Avoid frequent repitition of words or phrases. To specify a rotation, the rotation axis and angle are not enough; the sense of rotation must be specified. can be expressed better by writing A rotation must be specified by an axis-angle pair and the sense of the operation.

• Avoid being personal. Let us look at an example.... is expressed better as Consider an example.... The phrase We can also use a single row... can be written A single row.... can also be used

• Text making an excessive use of abbreviations lacks clarity. Similarly, limit the use of brackets.

• Limit the use of adjectives such as very, extremely, highly ...

• "The aim of this Chapter was ..." is not strictly the correct expression of what you intend to say. "The aim of the work presented in this Chapter was..."

Common Mistakes

1. No excuse for spelling mistakes - use SPELLCHECK. Use either English or American but not both.
2. Inconsistency of notation. The thesis must share a common terminology, best ensured by using a nomenclature list.
3. There should be a gap after a full stop or a comma. Accredited abbreviations found in the Oxford English Dictionary (such as Ph.D.) do not have gaps after full stops; initials in names must be separated by spaces (A. N. Other).
4. There are no spaces after an opening bracket or before a closing bracket
5. Include titles in the reference list.
6. Inadequate referencing.
7. Left quotation marks are not the same as right quotation in TeX.
8. There is a thin-space between numerals and units (e.g. 45 MPa). The units themselves are in roman font. Use strict SI convention. For example, there is a gap between MN and mm when writing MN mm. Use exponents: MN mm^-1 rather than MN/mm
9. Incorrect or unspecified units of concentration: Fe-10Ni % is not good enough. e.g., use Fe-10Ni wt%.
10. Experiments are reported in the past tense. For example, length changes were analysed.
11. Abbreviations must be explained when first introduced (HAZ, TTT ?!).
12. Fig. 4.2 not Fig.4.2; Table 5.1 not Table.5.1
13. Terms like "Fig. 4.2" should be on the same line
14. "Compared with" rather than "Compared to".
15. Plural of Datum is Data. These data are excellent....
16. PROGRAMME of work as opposed to computer PROGRAM
17. Names of chemical elements do not begin with capitals unless at the beginning of a sentence.
18. All equations, tables, figures must be numbered.
19. Figures must not be excessively large, and should be included in the text rather than at the end of chapters. The font on scales and legends should be at least size 15 (Geneva) when the figure size is 1/3 of the page length.
20. It is wrong to write a volume fraction as 20%. The latter is a volume percent.
21. Mathematical notation is in italics whether it occurs in the text or in equations. Terms such as log, exp, sin are nevertheless in roman font even when in equations. Mathematical notation in figures should be the same as in the text. Subscripts and superscripts should be in roman font unless they refer to mathematical variables (e.g. x_i where i=1,2,3),
22. When presenting the results of computer programs, it is important to specify completely the inputs used to generate the outputs. For example, it is dangerous to present a calculated phase diagram without specifying all the phases and components accounted for in the analysis.
23. 'software' is plural. Avoid using 'softwares'.
24. 'previous works' should similarly read 'previous work' even when referring to several pieces of work.
25. The term "X-ray" is a name and hence must begin with an upper case "X".

Figures and Tables

The notation on figures must correspond to that used in the text. There must not be information on figures which is not discussed in the text. Units on diagrams must be SI. Old diagrams with non-SI units must be redrawn. Any diagrams obtained from the literature must be acknowledged even though they may have been redrawn, especially if the intellectual content of the diagram is not significantly modified. Quantities plotted are dimensionless, so they should be divided by the units on the axis legends (e.g., distance / m). An example illustrating all the features is given below. In that figure, S_V is a surface per unit volume. ε_i is a length.

Avoid using avoid keys since the reader has to look at the key and then identify the relevant curve. Similarly, avoid using minor ticks in diagrams unless it is necessary to indicate precision; minor ticks are useful in logarithmic scales where nonlinearity can otherwise cause difficulties in immediate interpretation. Note also the horizontal scale in the following diagram. Do not use "1E-5" but rather, 10^-5. In the original article, the caption to the figure explains the difference between the dashed and continuous lines.

Columns in tables should not be separated by vertical lines. The recommended practice is to omit such lines for clarity:

Hints

1. Appropriate use of references:
   • Use the Havard system to refer to articles in the text, as used in Progress in Materials Science article, 1985, vol. 29, pp. 321-386.
   • Try and put the reference at the end of the sentence in order to avoid breaking continuity.
   • Include article titles in your reference list.
   • Do not abbreviate Journal titles, unless using the international standard set of abbreviations (found in the Scientific Periodicals Library).
   • In the reference list, quote the page range (e.g., 321-386).
   • When referring to authors in the text, use only surnames (e.g., Fray [34], rather than D. J. Fray [34].
2. Ensure that all the work you have done is included in your thesis; negative results are also useful.
3. Do your writing as you progress, rather than leaving it to the last minute.
4. Micrometre markers should be placed on the micrographs, rather than on the page in the vicinity of the micrograph.
5. Avoid the use of jargon. Your work should be comprehensible to others in the Department. Examples of jargon: "recrystallisation region", "TMCP", "HAZ".
6. Read and check your report at least twice before submission. The thesis must not exceed, without the prior permission of the Degree Committee, 60,000 words, including tables, footnotes, bibliography and appendices, but excluding photographs and diagrams.

Results from Commercial Software

Calculations using commercial software should be presented with adequate detail to enable a reproduction of the results. For example, when using MTDATA for phase diagram calculations, it is necessary to list the components and phases allowed, together with the name and version number of the computer program and database.

Microanalytical Data

Data collected using energy-dispersive X-ray analysis or similar techniques should be quoted with error bars and an indication whether ZAF (atomic number, absorption, fluorescence) corrections have been made. The spatial resolution should also be specified.