Why Are Rough Drafts Important In Dissertation Writing

Beginning in elementary school, students are taught about the importance of the rough draft. The rough draft gets your thoughts on paper (or on the computer, more likely!) and gives you a starting point for editing and refining your paper. For simple research papers, this is an easy process that often takes two to three steps before you reach a final, turn-in ready essay.

Dissertation writing is a bit different. The old rule still holds true – the rough draft is important – but the process is a bit different.

While in the process of completing the research study and then creating their dissertation, students go through a number of draft stages. Because of this, there are many rough drafts that are created, reviewed, changed and then reviewed again. Unlike a typical report process, dissertation report writing is extremely intensive.

Dissertation Draft Reviews

Dissertation writing includes a process for the review of your rough draft – a draft that is often far from completed. The reason the rough is accepted for review before it is even a compete draft? Preliminary drafts are reviewed only for formatting errors or updates. Unlike rough draft reviews in other situations, these drafts are not submitted for a formal overview.

Formal Reviews

Formal reviews come later in the process. Once the dissertation is closer to completion, the student can make an appointment for a final review prior to submission. This is a formal process because it is the last step toward finalizing your dissertation and submitting it for graduation. The formal review does require that the draft is fully completed.

Creating the Rough Draft

Dissertation writing is handled much differently than research papers. Most often, students focus on one part at a time – fusing them together at the end. Because of this, there are often many drafts of the individual parts before they each become a part of a cohesive whole. Each step in the draft-creating process is important as it ensures that the dissertation is complete, concise, and well written before final submission.

Benefits of Draft Review

Though multiple draft reviews may seem extensive for a written portion of a research project, the process will actually help make the overall task much easier. By breaking each part into its own draft, and creating review opportunities at different points, the dissertation writing process is made into a step-by-step process that is more attainable over time.