The Macro Level Review

We now move to a macro level of writing review in which you make sure the chapters and the paper as a whole are consistent. As you write over time, it is easy for your paper to deviate in your methodology and approach. If you have ever read a new novelist's first book, you may have experienced the situation in which the details in how they describe a character or scene changes throughout the book ("Mary" may change from being "an auburn haired beauty" to a woman named "Marie, with golden hair" by the end). This is a lack of good editing. The next stage of your self-review should be as an editor. 

To do this, you need to read the entire paper in one sitting. You need to keep track of any inconsistencies or changes in methodology descriptions; I like using track changes' comments for this, but you can also use your journal for note taking. Do not change things during the reading just note the problem areas. It is important that you are able to read the paper without interruptions, because you want to be able to remember details. Things to check carefully include the description of theories throughout the paper, are you always using the same terms? Check your research questions and hypotheses; are they the same in Chapter 1 and in Chapter 3? Are your descriptions of your methodology the same in Chapter 1 and Chapter 3? Are the topics introduced in Chapter 1 discussed in Chapter 2? 

When you review the full five chapters of your final dissertation, it is even more important to double-check the details. Are Chapters 1, 3, 4, and 5 all consistent? Did you do the methods and analyses in Chapter 4 you discussed in Chapters 1 and 3? If not, explain why they changed. Read Chapter 1 and then read Chapter 5 make sure everything is consistent; particularly look at theory issues. Make sure you have discussed all of your results in Chapter 5 you mention in Chapter 4. Each of your key findings need to be discussed in terms of the literature and the implications in Chapter 5. Compare the headers listed in the Table of Contents with your document to make sure they are all accurate. 

A final check is to print out your references, then go through the paper and cross off each reference as it is cited. They should come out even. Make sure citations with 3-6 authors list all the authors the first time cited, and then use et al. When in doubt, check the APA manual for the correct citation. Make sure you have a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), for each article. These are 10-digit numbers unique to each article. They can be found on the first page of electronic articles, near the copyright notice. They are also listed in library databases for each article. Keep in mind some articles, particularly medical ones do not have a DOI. 

All of these self-reviews will take you some time, but you truly will save yourself a great deal of waiting time in the end. In addition, you will be a much better writer for doing it. Eventually, you will do these reviews as you go and it will take much less time. 

Next time, I will consider how long a dissertation takes to complete. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Would you like to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas! leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu