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Definition of thesis

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In high school, college, or graduate school, students often have to write a thesis on a topic in their major field of study. In many fields, a final thesis is the biggest challenge involved in getting a master's degree, and the same is true for students studying for a Ph.D. (a Ph.D. thesis is often called a dissertation ). But a thesis may also be an idea; so in the course of the paper the student may put forth several theses (notice the plural form) and attempt to prove them.

Examples of thesis in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'thesis.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

in sense 3, Middle English, lowering of the voice, from Late Latin & Greek; Late Latin, from Greek, downbeat, more important part of a foot, literally, act of laying down; in other senses, Latin, from Greek, literally, act of laying down, from tithenai to put, lay down — more at do

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3a(1)

Dictionary Entries Near thesis

the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children

thesis novel

Cite this Entry

“Thesis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thesis. Accessed 13 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of thesis, more from merriam-webster on thesis.

Nglish: Translation of thesis for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of thesis for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about thesis

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Definition of thesis noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• Students must submit a thesis on an agreed subject within four years.
• He presented this thesis for his PhD.
• a thesis for a master's degree
• He's doing a doctoral thesis on the early works of Shostakovich.
• Many departments require their students to do a thesis defense.
• She completed an MSc by thesis.
• her thesis adviser at MIT
• in a/​the thesis
• thesis about

Definitions on the go

Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.

thesis in American English

Thesis in british english, examples of 'thesis' in a sentence thesis, related word partners thesis, trends of thesis.

View usage over: Since Exist Last 10 years Last 50 years Last 100 years Last 300 years

In other languages thesis

• American English : thesis / ˈθisɪs /
• Brazilian Portuguese : tese
• Chinese : 论点
• European Spanish : tesis
• French : thèse
• German : These
• Italian : tesi
• Japanese : 主張
• Korean : 논지
• European Portuguese : tese
• Spanish : tesis
• Thai : ข้อสมมุติ, ข้อวินิจฉัย

Browse alphabetically thesis

• thesis play
• thesmothete
• All ENGLISH words that begin with 'T'

Related terms of thesis

• academic thesis
• central thesis
• doctoral thesis
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thesis statement

[ thee -sis steyt-m uh nt ]

• a short statement, usually one sentence, that summarizes the main point or claim of an essay, research paper, etc., and is developed, supported, and explained in the text by means of examples and evidence.

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Word history and origins.

Origin of thesis statement 1

More About Thesis Statement

What is a thesis statement .

In academic writing, a thesis statement is generally a sentence or two that summarizes the main point that an essay, research paper, or speech is making. It is typically located at the end of the introductory paragraph(s).

Thesis statements are kind of like roadmaps, laying out for the reader/listener where the writer/speaker is headed (argument) and how they are going to get there (evidence).

The thesis statement is widely taught in the humanities, especially in English classes in high school and college, to teach students how to make persuasive arguments that cite and analyze evidence and examples researched from literary, historical, or other texts.

Why is a thesis statement important in an essay?

Thesis comes from a Greek word that literally means “a setting down.” In the 300s BC, Aristotle defined thesis as when a philosopher puts forth a new idea that conflicts with general opinion.

Fast forward to today, when we use thesis to mean a “proposition” or “argument” one formally presents and defends. In academic settings, a thesis can be short for a thesis statement (our focus here) in an essay or shorter research paper. It can also be used for those much, much longer dissertations graduate students research, write, and defend for their degree (e.g., master’s thesis or doctoral thesis ).

Let’s look at statement real quick. It is a declaration or assertion. Sound redundant? The idea is that a thesis statement is the point in a paper or presentation that explicitly states the thesis. Usually in a sentence or two, the thesis statement summarizes the argument that’s going to be developed in the evidence and examples to come.

So, a thesis statement is just a sentence that gets the main point across. But, learning how to write these ain’t easy. That’s why educators, especially in English classes in high school and college, spend a lot of time teaching students how to craft effective thesis statements.

Why? Because in school, work, and life, we have to persuade people of our ideas and our point of view. These ideas might concern an analysis of literature or history, like a play by Shakespeare or a moment in the Civil Rights Movement. Or, these ideas might be a call to action, such as eating a certain diet or pursuing a business strategy.

How to write a thesis statement

There are many ways to make an effective thesis statement , but here are some general tips to follow.

So, let’s say you read a text, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night , or researched a topic, the health benefits of kale. Then you formed an opinion about it—a claim you want to make about it and why others should care. You found evidence—quotes, examples, facts, statistics—in your resources that you think back up your argument. Your thesis statement brings all these together: point of view , evidence , and significance . It lays out where the entire paper or presentation is going, which is why educators often liken it to a roadmap .

Here’s an example:

Kale is good for you because it is nutrient-dense, cancer-fighting, and loaded with antioxidants.

The argument here—which a first-year high-schooler might make in a persuasive essay—is that “kale is good for you” (despite how some think it tastes). The claims it’s using to back up this assertion are that it’s 1) “nutrient-dense”; 2) “cancer-fighting”; and 3) “loaded with antioxidants.” The reader can expect that the rest of the essay will develop these claims, that is, cite and analyze evidence for them.

Here’s a thesis statement for a literary analysis of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. This resembles more of a college-level example:

Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night suggests that, when women do not reciprocate a man’s love, they are unjustly made out to be sexually deviant. This is illustrated in how the character Olivia is condemned as asexual because of her rejection of Duke Orsino.

Note how this thesis statement makes its claim in two sentences. Its argument centers on how women characters are vilified when they reject a man, and its evidence will be interactions between characters in Shakespeare’s play.

What are real-life examples of thesis statement ?

The term thesis statement is generally used by teachers and students in junior high, high school, and college, especially in English, Social Studies, and other classes in the humanities.

Okay so I rewrote my thesis statement! It’s a wee bit more vague but still a good direction a think. It’s more open so I can talk about more things and add more evidence. Wrote out an in-depth plan and then my brain crapped out. So I’m going to bed! Tomorrow is the day! — 🎃Unpaid Bills🎃 //Chaela (@Cierafire) August 14, 2019

Writing an explanatory essay in phases: thesis statement, body paragraph, concluding statement. Peer conversations to identify text evidence to support our thesis. pic.twitter.com/b6fdgx8rkD — Cheyenne England (@MsEnglandReads) August 7, 2019

The thesis statement is taught in what’s called the five-paragraph essay (or theme). This essay has an introduction which “funnels into” the thesis statement, including three reasons backing up the main argument. The next three paragraphs develop each of these claims, respectively, citing evidence and examples, such as literary texts, historical documents, or scientific reports. The final paragraph, the conclusion, restates the thesis statement and summarizes the paper and its broader significance.

Opentextbc.ca

Even after we are no longer in the classroom, people continue to reference thesis statements. While “real-life” thesis statements may not be as formal as the ones seen in five-paragraph essays, having a thesis statement —a point, a position, or a theory of the case—is considered informative, persuasive, and valuable in work, in the community, and in our personal lives.

The thesis statement is so widely taught and familiar that sometimes people joke about them. On social media, for instance, people may humorously end a post with “In this essay, I will …” when expressing a deeply felt but ultimately low-stakes opinion on some popular topic. The phrase In this essay, I will alludes to the signposting language some people use in their thesis statements.

pumpkin spice has nothing to do with pumpkins but with covering up pumpkin taste, it's a way to disassociate from the world rather than experience it, which mirrors late capitalism; in this essay I will — rachel syme (@rachsyme) August 15, 2019

Developing a Thesis Statement

Many papers you write require developing a thesis statement. In this section you’ll learn what a thesis statement is and how to write one.

Keep in mind that not all papers require thesis statements . If in doubt, please consult your instructor for assistance.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement . . .

• Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic.
• Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper.
• Is focused and specific enough to be “proven” within the boundaries of your paper.
• Is generally located near the end of the introduction ; sometimes, in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or in an entire paragraph.
• Identifies the relationships between the pieces of evidence that you are using to support your argument.

Not all papers require thesis statements! Ask your instructor if you’re in doubt whether you need one.

Identify a topic

Your topic is the subject about which you will write. Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic; or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper.

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Inform yourself about your topic, focus on one aspect of your topic, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts, generate a topic from an assignment.

Below are some possible topics based on sample assignments.

Sample assignment 1

Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II.

Identified topic

Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis

This topic avoids generalities such as “Spain” and “World War II,” addressing instead on Franco’s role (a specific aspect of “Spain”) and the diplomatic relations between the Allies and Axis (a specific aspect of World War II).

Sample assignment 2

Analyze one of Homer’s epic similes in the Iliad.

The relationship between the portrayal of warfare and the epic simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64.

This topic focuses on a single simile and relates it to a single aspect of the Iliad ( warfare being a major theme in that work).

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic, or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper. You’ll want to read your assignment carefully, looking for key terms that you can use to focus your topic.

Sample assignment: Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II Key terms: analyze, Spain’s neutrality, World War II

After you’ve identified the key words in your topic, the next step is to read about them in several sources, or generate as much information as possible through an analysis of your topic. Obviously, the more material or knowledge you have, the more possibilities will be available for a strong argument. For the sample assignment above, you’ll want to look at books and articles on World War II in general, and Spain’s neutrality in particular.

As you consider your options, you must decide to focus on one aspect of your topic. This means that you cannot include everything you’ve learned about your topic, nor should you go off in several directions. If you end up covering too many different aspects of a topic, your paper will sprawl and be unconvincing in its argument, and it most likely will not fulfull the assignment requirements.

For the sample assignment above, both Spain’s neutrality and World War II are topics far too broad to explore in a paper. You may instead decide to focus on Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis , which narrows down what aspects of Spain’s neutrality and World War II you want to discuss, as well as establishes a specific link between those two aspects.

Before you go too far, however, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts. Try to avoid topics that already have too much written about them (i.e., “eating disorders and body image among adolescent women”) or that simply are not important (i.e. “why I like ice cream”). These topics may lead to a thesis that is either dry fact or a weird claim that cannot be supported. A good thesis falls somewhere between the two extremes. To arrive at this point, ask yourself what is new, interesting, contestable, or controversial about your topic.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times . Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Derive a main point from topic

Once you have a topic, you will have to decide what the main point of your paper will be. This point, the “controlling idea,” becomes the core of your argument (thesis statement) and it is the unifying idea to which you will relate all your sub-theses. You can then turn this “controlling idea” into a purpose statement about what you intend to do in your paper.

Look for patterns in your evidence

Compose a purpose statement.

Consult the examples below for suggestions on how to look for patterns in your evidence and construct a purpose statement.

• Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis
• Franco turned to the Allies when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from the Axis

Possible conclusion:

Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: Franco’s desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power.

Purpose statement

This paper will analyze Franco’s diplomacy during World War II to see how it contributed to Spain’s neutrality.

• The simile compares Simoisius to a tree, which is a peaceful, natural image.
• The tree in the simile is chopped down to make wheels for a chariot, which is an object used in warfare.

At first, the simile seems to take the reader away from the world of warfare, but we end up back in that world by the end.

This paper will analyze the way the simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64 moves in and out of the world of warfare.

Derive purpose statement from topic

To find out what your “controlling idea” is, you have to examine and evaluate your evidence . As you consider your evidence, you may notice patterns emerging, data repeated in more than one source, or facts that favor one view more than another. These patterns or data may then lead you to some conclusions about your topic and suggest that you can successfully argue for one idea better than another.

For instance, you might find out that Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis, but when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from them, he turned to the Allies. As you read more about Franco’s decisions, you may conclude that Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: his desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power. Based on this conclusion, you can then write a trial thesis statement to help you decide what material belongs in your paper.

Sometimes you won’t be able to find a focus or identify your “spin” or specific argument immediately. Like some writers, you might begin with a purpose statement just to get yourself going. A purpose statement is one or more sentences that announce your topic and indicate the structure of the paper but do not state the conclusions you have drawn . Thus, you might begin with something like this:

• This paper will look at modern language to see if it reflects male dominance or female oppression.
• I plan to analyze anger and derision in offensive language to see if they represent a challenge of society’s authority.

At some point, you can turn a purpose statement into a thesis statement. As you think and write about your topic, you can restrict, clarify, and refine your argument, crafting your thesis statement to reflect your thinking.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Compose a draft thesis statement

If you are writing a paper that will have an argumentative thesis and are having trouble getting started, the techniques in the table below may help you develop a temporary or “working” thesis statement.

Begin with a purpose statement that you will later turn into a thesis statement.

Assignment: Discuss the history of the Reform Party and explain its influence on the 1990 presidential and Congressional election.

Purpose Statement: This paper briefly sketches the history of the grassroots, conservative, Perot-led Reform Party and analyzes how it influenced the economic and social ideologies of the two mainstream parties.

Question-to-Assertion

If your assignment asks a specific question(s), turn the question(s) into an assertion and give reasons why it is true or reasons for your opinion.

Assignment : What do Aylmer and Rappaccini have to be proud of? Why aren’t they satisfied with these things? How does pride, as demonstrated in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” lead to unexpected problems?

Beginning thesis statement: Alymer and Rappaccinni are proud of their great knowledge; however, they are also very greedy and are driven to use their knowledge to alter some aspect of nature as a test of their ability. Evil results when they try to “play God.”

Write a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay you plan to write.

Main idea: The reason some toys succeed in the market is that they appeal to the consumers’ sense of the ridiculous and their basic desire to laugh at themselves.

Make a list of the ideas that you want to include; consider the ideas and try to group them.

• nature = peaceful
• war matériel = violent (competes with 1?)
• need for time and space to mourn the dead
• war is inescapable (competes with 3?)

Use a formula to arrive at a working thesis statement (you will revise this later).

• although most readers of _______ have argued that _______, closer examination shows that _______.
• _______ uses _______ and _____ to prove that ________.
• phenomenon x is a result of the combination of __________, __________, and _________.

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Beginning statements obtained through the methods illustrated above can serve as a framework for planning or drafting your paper, but remember they’re not yet the specific, argumentative thesis you want for the final version of your paper. In fact, in its first stages, a thesis statement usually is ill-formed or rough and serves only as a planning tool.

As you write, you may discover evidence that does not fit your temporary or “working” thesis. Or you may reach deeper insights about your topic as you do more research, and you will find that your thesis statement has to be more complicated to match the evidence that you want to use.

You must be willing to reject or omit some evidence in order to keep your paper cohesive and your reader focused. Or you may have to revise your thesis to match the evidence and insights that you want to discuss. Read your draft carefully, noting the conclusions you have drawn and the major ideas which support or prove those conclusions. These will be the elements of your final thesis statement.

Sometimes you will not be able to identify these elements in your early drafts, but as you consider how your argument is developing and how your evidence supports your main idea, ask yourself, “ What is the main point that I want to prove/discuss? ” and “ How will I convince the reader that this is true? ” When you can answer these questions, then you can begin to refine the thesis statement.

Refine and polish the thesis statement

To get to your final thesis, you’ll need to refine your draft thesis so that it’s specific and arguable.

• Ask if your draft thesis addresses the assignment
• Question each part of your draft thesis
• Clarify vague phrases and assertions
• Investigate alternatives to your draft thesis

Consult the example below for suggestions on how to refine your draft thesis statement.

Sample Assignment

Choose an activity and define it as a symbol of American culture. Your essay should cause the reader to think critically about the society which produces and enjoys that activity.

• Ask The phenomenon of drive-in facilities is an interesting symbol of american culture, and these facilities demonstrate significant characteristics of our society.This statement does not fulfill the assignment because it does not require the reader to think critically about society.

Drive-ins are an interesting symbol of American culture because they represent Americans’ significant creativity and business ingenuity.

Among the types of drive-in facilities familiar during the twentieth century, drive-in movie theaters best represent American creativity, not merely because they were the forerunner of later drive-ins and drive-throughs, but because of their impact on our culture: they changed our relationship to the automobile, changed the way people experienced movies, and changed movie-going into a family activity.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast-food establishments, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize America’s economic ingenuity, they also have affected our personal standards.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast- food restaurants, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize (1) Americans’ business ingenuity, they also have contributed (2) to an increasing homogenization of our culture, (3) a willingness to depersonalize relationships with others, and (4) a tendency to sacrifice quality for convenience.

This statement is now specific and fulfills all parts of the assignment. This version, like any good thesis, is not self-evident; its points, 1-4, will have to be proven with evidence in the body of the paper. The numbers in this statement indicate the order in which the points will be presented. Depending on the length of the paper, there could be one paragraph for each numbered item or there could be blocks of paragraph for even pages for each one.

Complete the final thesis statement

The bottom line.

As you move through the process of crafting a thesis, you’ll need to remember four things:

• Context matters! Think about your course materials and lectures. Try to relate your thesis to the ideas your instructor is discussing.
• As you go through the process described in this section, always keep your assignment in mind . You will be more successful when your thesis (and paper) responds to the assignment than if it argues a semi-related idea.
• Your thesis statement should be precise, focused, and contestable ; it should predict the sub-theses or blocks of information that you will use to prove your argument.
• Make sure that you keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Change your thesis as your paper evolves, because you do not want your thesis to promise more than your paper actually delivers.

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion. It keeps the reader on track–well able to understand and appreciate your argument.

Writing Process and Structure

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Generating Ideas for

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Generating Ideas for Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

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the•sis

• assiduously
• cognitivism
• combining form
• contestation
• developable
• dialectical
• dialectically
• thermotropic
• thermotropism
• Thermovoltaic
• Theromorpha
• theropod dinosaur
• thersitical
• thesmothete
• Thespesia populnea
• Thessalonian
• Thessalonians
• Thessalonica
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• Thessaloníki
• Theta function
• theta rhythm
• Thetford Mines
• these unmitigated disaster
• these ups and downs
• these were tailor made
• these were tailor-made
• these white lies
• these words of wisdom
• Thèses En Ligne
• Theseus and Pirithoüs
• Thesiger, Wilfred (Patrick)
• Thesis (academic)
• Thesis defence
• Thesis, Rule, Explanation, Analysis, Thesis
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thesis noun

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What does the noun thesis mean?

There are eight meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun thesis . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

thesis has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

How common is the noun thesis ?

How is the noun thesis pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the noun thesis come from.

Earliest known use

Middle English

The earliest known use of the noun thesis is in the Middle English period (1150—1500).

OED's earliest evidence for thesis is from before 1398, in a translation by John Trevisa, translator.

thesis is a borrowing from Greek.

Etymons: Greek θέσις .

Nearby entries

• thesaurus, n. 1823–
• thesaury, n. a1639–1708
• these, n. a1600–48
• these, pron. & adj. Old English–
• Thesean, adj. 1815–
• Theseid, n. 1725–
• Theseium, n. 1819–
• these-like, adj. 1644–
• thesial, adj. 1654
• thesicle, n. 1863–
• thesis, n. a1398–
• thesis-novel, n. 1934–
• thesis-play, n. 1902–
• thesmophilist, n. 1644–
• Thesmophorian, adj. 1891–
• Thesmophoric, adj. 1788–
• thesmothete, n. 1603–
• thesocyte, n. 1887–
• thesp, n. 1962–
• Thespian, adj. & n. 1675–
• Thespianism, n. 1914–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for thesis, n..

thesis, n. was first published in 1912; not yet revised.

thesis, n. was last modified in March 2024.

Revision of the OED is a long-term project. Entries in oed.com which have not been revised may include:

• corrections and revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations which have been added in subsequent print and online updates.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into thesis, n. in March 2024.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1912)

• Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

• View thesis in OED Second Edition

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The academic community can be conservative when it comes to enforcing academic writing style , but your writing shouldn’t be so boring that people lose interest midway through the first paragraph! Given that competition is at an all-time high for academics looking to publish their papers, we know you must be anxious about what you can do to improve your publishing odds.

To be sure, your research must be sound, your paper must be structured logically, and the different manuscript sections must contain the appropriate information. But your research must also be clearly explained. Clarity obviously depends on the correct use of English, and there are many common mistakes that you should watch out for, for example when it comes to articles , prepositions , word choice , and even punctuation . But even if you are on top of your grammar and sentence structure, you can still make your writing more compelling (or more boring) by using powerful verbs and phrases (vs the same weaker ones over and over). So, how do you go about achieving the latter?

Below are a few ways to breathe life into your writing.

1. Analyze Vocabulary Using Word Clouds

Have you heard of “Wordles”? A Wordle is a visual representation of words, with the size of each word being proportional to the number of times it appears in the text it is based on. The original company website seems to have gone out of business, but there are a number of free word cloud generation sites that allow you to copy and paste your draft manuscript into a text box to quickly discover how repetitive your writing is and which verbs you might want to replace to improve your manuscript.

Seeing a visual word cloud of your work might also help you assess the key themes and points readers will glean from your paper. If the Wordle result displays words you hadn’t intended to emphasize, then that’s a sign you should revise your paper to make sure readers will focus on the right information.

As an example, below is a Wordle of our article entitled, “ How to Choose the Best title for Your Journal Manuscript .” You can see how frequently certain terms appear in that post, based on the font size of the text. The keywords, “titles,” “journal,” “research,” and “papers,” were all the intended focus of our blog post.

2. Study Language Patterns of Similarly Published Works

Study the language pattern found in the most downloaded and cited articles published by your target journal. Understanding the journal’s editorial preferences will help you write in a style that appeals to the publication’s readership.

Another way to analyze the language of a target journal’s papers is to use Wordle (see above). If you copy and paste the text of an article related to your research topic into the applet, you can discover the common phrases and terms the paper’s authors used.

For example, if you were writing a paper on  links between smoking and cancer , you might look for a recent review on the topic, preferably published by your target journal. Copy and paste the text into Wordle and examine the key phrases to see if you’ve included similar wording in your own draft. The Wordle result might look like the following, based on the example linked above.

If you are not sure yet where to publish and just want some generally good examples of descriptive verbs, analytical verbs, and reporting verbs that are commonly used in academic writing, then have a look at this list of useful phrases for research papers .

3. Use More Active and Precise Verbs

Have you heard of synonyms? Of course you have. But have you looked beyond single-word replacements and rephrased entire clauses with stronger, more vivid ones? You’ll find this task is easier to do if you use the active voice more often than the passive voice . Even if you keep your original sentence structure, you can eliminate weak verbs like “be” from your draft and choose more vivid and precise action verbs. As always, however, be careful about using only a thesaurus to identify synonyms. Make sure the substitutes fit the context in which you need a more interesting or “perfect” word. Online dictionaries such as the Merriam-Webster and the Cambridge Dictionary are good sources to check entire phrases in context in case you are unsure whether a synonym is a good match for a word you want to replace. 

To help you build a strong arsenal of commonly used phrases in academic papers, we’ve compiled a list of synonyms you might want to consider when drafting or editing your research paper . While we do not suggest that the phrases in the “Original Word/Phrase” column should be completely avoided, we do recommend interspersing these with the more dynamic terms found under “Recommended Substitutes.”

A. Describing the scope of a current project or prior research

B. outlining a topic’s background, c. describing the analytical elements of a paper, d. discussing results, e. discussing methods, f. explaining the impact of new research, wordvice writing resources.

For additional information on how to tighten your sentences (e.g., eliminate wordiness and use active voice to greater effect), you can try Wordvice’s FREE APA Citation Generator and learn more about how to proofread and edit your paper to ensure your work is free of errors.

Before submitting your manuscript to academic journals, be sure to use our free AI proofreader to catch errors in grammar, spelling, and mechanics. And use our English editing services from Wordvice, including academic editing services , cover letter editing , manuscript editing , and research paper editing services to make sure your work is up to a high academic level.

We also have a collection of other useful articles for you, for example on how to strengthen your writing style , how to avoid fillers to write more powerful sentences , and how to eliminate prepositions and avoid nominalizations . Additionally, get advice on all the other important aspects of writing a research paper on our academic resources pages .

MIT Faculty Newsletter

• I. Congratulations to Grads and Families II: Resolution in Support of the FNL III: Revised Policies & Procedures; Editorial Board Election; Clarification
• The Hayden Library Renovation: Living Up to Its Promise
• The Danger of Nuclear Weapons and the Efforts at MIT to Reduce the Threats
• The News You Get From Poems
• New Transportation Connectivity Has Roots at MIT

Non-Native English-Speaking Graduate Students Still Face Significant Disadvantages

• Statement by MIT Faculty in Support of the Student Encampment on Kresge Lawn
• Encampment on Kresge Lawn
• Improving Our System of Faculty Governance
• Candidates for Election to Faculty Newsletter Editorial Board
• No More MIT Research for Israel’s Ministry of Defense
• Antiracism or Oppression: MIT Must Choose
• US Defense Spending Compared to Other Countries
• Past Issues
• Current Issue

https://fnl.mit.edu/may-june-2024/non-native-english-speaking-graduate-students-still-face-significant-disadvantages/

Almost half of MIT graduate students arrive from outside the United States and immediately enter a communication-intensive culture here in which they must understand lectures, read voluminous amounts of material, speak (and comprehend) in class and lab meetings, write papers and lab reports, and begin applying for internships and jobs. They then move toward writing proposals, a thesis, and journal articles and presenting at conferences and being teaching assistants, among other tasks. And although in many ways and from many places, students arrive with higher skills in English today than previously, many students – even those who have graduated from English-instruction undergraduate institutions – still have significant gaps in their linguistic skills and cultural knowledge about communication that impact their ability to participate fully and succeed at MIT and beyond.

This situation is reflected not only in the results of the annual English Evaluation Test (EET) – established in 1983 at the behest of faculty – but also in the results of the 2023 MIT Graduate Communication Survey as well as a recent meta-study (Amano, et. al. 2023) showing that non-native English speakers (NNESs) still face significant disadvantages in conducting and communicating their research compared to their native-English-speaking counterparts (NESs).

As director of MIT’s English Language Studies (ELS) group, I write to alert you to this ongoing need, and in the hopes of opening a broader dialogue on the subject. For now, though, I urge faculty and the administration to work to:

• Help NNES students understand the importance to their success at MIT and beyond of improving their communication skills in English,
• Help NNES students understand what is really involved – time, engagement, feedback, and practice/revision – in achieving that improvement, and
• Try to make it easier and more desirable for students to do that by affording them time and space to take the ELS classes recommended to them on the basis of the English Evaluation Test.

In a paper published last year, Amano, et. al. found that it takes early-career NNESs almost 50% longer than native English speakers (NESs) to read a journal paper and 50% longer to write one as well. Given the number of papers that students must read, that first discrepancy cumulatively represents enormous amounts of extra time and effort. And while MIT students are not immediately writing papers for publication, the finding suggests the greater difficulty in writing for NNESs generally. And these discrepancies stretch beyond the reading and writing processes to affect students’ wallets as well as others’ time: NNESs, Amano found, generally ask others to edit their work more often as a favor and also pay professionals more often to edit – not a negligible expense. Worse is that NNES researchers face rejection of submitted papers for the quality of the writing in English three times as often as do native speakers (Figure 1).

Students’ responses to the 2023 MIT Graduate Communication Survey – which I conducted last year with Dr. Elena Kallestinova, director of MIT’s Writing and Communication Center – echo these discrepancies. Of the over 7,200 graduate students sent the survey, almost 14% (996) responded, and NNESs reporting much greater difficulty in, first of all, reading and writing than their NES counterparts (Figure 2). For example, almost a quarter (23%) report a significant impact of slowness or inefficiency in reading (a rating of 4 or 5), compared to only 14% of native speakers. Adding in responses of tangible impact (a rating of 3), almost half (46%) of NNESs report their performance being affected, compared to only 38% of NESs.

With writing, almost 30% of NNESs report a significant impact of slowness or inefficiency in writing on their overall performance, whereas 20% of NESs report this. Again adding in ratings of 3, almost 60% of NNESs report a tangible impact, compared to 46% for NESs.

Students’ assessments of their own skills help explain these results. Three times as many NNESs (13%) rate their academic writing skills as “weak” or “very weak” as do native speakers (4.5%), while at the other end of the scale, less than half of NNESs (49%) rate their writing skills as “strong” or “very strong,” compared to three-fourths of native speakers (75%).

And while students’ perceptions of their own skill levels can either be too low or too high, these perceptions have their own significant impacts. When students were asked how much anxiety about their communication skills impacted their performance at MIT, similar gaps arise. In academic writing, one-fifth of non-native English speakers say that anxiety about their skills has significantly impacted their performance, and adding in tangible impact (a rating of 3 out of 5), the number rises to almost half (46%). Compare those numbers to 12% and 36%, respectively, for native speakers.

The discrepancies for oral communication are even starker. Almost a third (31%) of NNESs say that anxiety about their oral academic skills has significantly impacted their performance, and including tangible impact (3 out of 5), that percentage reaches 55%. The analogous figures for native speakers are 19.5% and 44%, respectively. Similarly, a full one-fifth of NNESs rate their oral academic communication skills as “weak” or “very weak,” compared to only 6% for NESs.

While we did not ask as much about what those impacts were, Amano, et. al.’s findings suggest some possible answers. They found that almost one-third of early-career NNESs always or often declined to attend conferences due to language barriers (pp. 6-7), and almost half always or often choose not to give oral presentations due to such barriers. And when they do present, it takes them almost twice as long (93% more time) to prepare as it does their NES colleagues.

Comprehending spoken English at MIT is also as great a problem for many NNES students as is speaking. As can be seen in Figure 3, NNESs (yellow) face much greater difficulty than NES students in understanding native speakers speaking at a normal pace and using idiomatic language (which most of us do much more than we might realize). Indeed, these results echo comments by several first-year students in ELS’s intermediate listening, speaking, and pronunciation course that they understand perhaps 60% of their lectures their first year.

Finally, cultural issues pose great, unique challenges to NNESs. As Figure 3 also shows, understanding and adapting to American classroom culture, in which much more interaction and engagement is expected than in many other cultures, is also a challenge. Moreover, significant differences exist in the norms and expectations in communication such as the structure of documents and talks (e.g., placement of key messages), lexical register (properly formal or informal vocabulary), and even how to engage in small talk at conferences, which serves important professional and social purposes.

What Can Be Done at MIT?

The English Evaluation Test (EET) was created to address such issues at the behest of faculty who were frustrated that many NNESs students could not write sufficiently clear theses (which advisors then often had to – and still often have to – edit significantly) or could not participate sufficiently well in lab meetings. Although NNES students take a standardized test such as the TOEFL or IELTS for admission to MIT, such tests have been shown not to be reliable indicators of academic readiness. Moreover, since those test scores are composites of separate scores for the four “core” skills, students may arrive with adequate skills in some areas but not in others. My colleagues in English Language Studies and I thus administer the EET, a four-part instrument tailored for MIT students, in August and again (on a much smaller scale) in January and provide not only scores on various skills but corresponding recommendations for ELS credit-bearing subjects that address these skill gaps.

Only a small percentage of students end up taking those classes, however. For example, this academic year, 298 students took the EET, and about 25% of those, or 72 students were recommended for a high-intermediate class, which is designed to be taken during students’ first year. Such a recommendation comes out of scores in the “Limited” range, meaning that the student will face significant difficulties completing regular academic communicative tasks that year. Seventeen students, or less than a quarter of those recommended, took those classes this year.

Recommendations for our advanced classes numbered even more (~120) – classes that focus on writing or speaking in particular contexts such as a thesis or conference presentation and that are thus designed for students’ second year or beyond, when they can use their research work for the assignments in our classes – but are fulfilled at an even lower rate.

Of course, while the Institute mandates the test for international students, it leaves the decisions – in the spirit of decentralization and departmental agency – of what to do with those recommendations to departments, advisors, and students. Some departments require students to fulfill those requirements, but most do not. So why do students not take the classes that the Institute tells them are necessary for them to be able to succeed fully here? While I am still coming to understand the many forces and factors at work here, I have come in my twelve years at MIT to believe that most students do not understand how important communication skills are going to be to them even in a STEM subject, or if they do, they feel too much pressure to focus on their disciplinary classes and their research. In short, without departmental and faculty encouragement or requirement, many will not find the time or impetus to take these subjects. Moreover, while undergraduate enrollments in ELS classes have rebounded to pre-Pandemic levels, graduate enrollments for some reason have not. Many students do want to take these classes, however, and in the MIT Graduate Student Survey, 93 NNESs out of 225 said a class had been recommended for them. Just under a quarter had taken those classes, and another 15% said they planned to take one. Of those who had not taken a class, several said that improving those skills was not as important to them as their other academic priorities, while others said that the classes conflicted with their other academic or research work.

However, as Figure 4 shows, many are interested and say they would be more likely to take an ELS class if their departments and faculty helped them fit the courses into their schedules or if their departments promoted the classes more to them

Departmental and faculty encouragement is also necessary because, due to cultural factors, the very people who need such support are the very ones who are less likely to do so. In our survey, 45% of NNESs said that “feeling shy about seeking out communication support” has tangibly affected their performance at MIT, compared to less than 30% for native speakers.

I do not pretend to understand all the factors that go into determining students’ curricula, and of course students need to be in the lab to do research. One idea might be to allow ELS classes to count as elective credits toward graduation, which apparently not all departments do. Another would be to encourage students to use their elective credits to take an ELS class rather than, say, an “extra” math class that may not be crucial for that student’s work.

It can be easy to underestimate how much a second-language student has to adjust on a daily basis to communicate clearly. And tangible improvement in language and communication skills requires dedicated attention (i.e., over the course of a semester), practice, detailed feedback, and revision. One cannot “phone it in,” absorb skills by sitting in occasionally, or improve skills tangibly with self-study (which inevitably falls by the wayside). Ultimately, though, it seems to me that granting a student admission implies to them that either they are already equipped to do all the work asked of them or else will be given the tools to do so once they get there. If once they are here, though, we tell students that they are not quite prepared but then do not afford them the time and space to utilize the resources available to them to become so, then we are, if not setting them up for failure or at least significant difficulty, depriving them of the chance to compete on a fair playing field. We are also ultimately depriving the rest of the Institute of the full range of the intelligence and creativity that these students have to offer.

I had the chance in October to ask President Kornbluth how important she thought linguistic and communication skills are for students, and she said: “When you’re competing in the job market as an MIT student or new graduate, potential employers will almost take for granted your technical and scientific qualifications. But they’re also looking for people who can express complex ideas in compelling ways and work effectively with everyone from co-workers to investors. In other words, to develop your own potential, learning to write and speak clearly and professionally is just as important as any technical skill.” I thus invite the Institute and faculty to explore ways to afford non-native-English-speaking graduate students the time and space to equip themselves communicatively and linguistically to tackle all the challenges and opportunities that MIT lays before them.

I also invite you to explore the full results of the Survey at https://cmsw.mit.edu/communication-survey-2023/ . And I invite anyone and everyone to reach out to me to discuss further how we in ELS can aid in these endeavors.

Amano, Tatsuya, et. al., The manifold costs of being a non-native English speaker in science PLOS Biology , July 2023, pp. 1-27. The 2023 MIT Graduate Communication Survey . MIT’s English Language Studies Group and the Writing and Communication Center. https://cmsw.mit.edu/communication-survey-2023/

How a dictionary definition helped decide Gary O’Neil’s FA disciplinary case

This is the story of one agitated manager, six match officials, one angry meeting and an alleged-but-disproved threat of violence.

It stars Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil and referee Tony Harrington and also features a cameo appearance from the Oxford English Dictionary.

And it ends with an £8,000 fine and a one-match touchline ban,  but a partial vindication for the Molineux boss.

This is The FA vs Gary O’Neil.

The background

In the 98th minute of Wolves’ 2-1 home defeat to West Ham United on April 6, captain Max Kilman headed home what appeared to be a dramatic late equaliser from a corner.

But the goal was chalked off after Harrington was sent to the pitchside monitor by video assistant referee (VAR) Tim Robinson and concluded that Wolves youngster Tawanda Chirewa should be penalised for offside.

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Chirewa was standing in an offside position close to West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski , but O’Neil was furious with the decision, branding it “probably the worst I’ve ever seen”, although a referees’ panel later backed the officials’ decision.

O’Neil insisted Chirewa had not impeded Fabianski in any way and therefore should not be deemed active.

O’Neil was charged a few days later with improper conduct . The charge alleged that O’Neil’s “language and/or behaviour was improper and/or threatening”.

The FA has now published the “written reasons” — essentially a detailed summary of O’Neil’s appearance before an independent regulatory commission on April 30 and the written evidence that was submitted in advance.

It reveals that O’Neil attempted to speak to the officials in their dressing room straight after the final whistle but was told to return after 30 minutes. O’Neil did, flanked by sporting director Matt Hobbs, and what ensued was an angry disagreement between the Wolves boss and the officiating team.

O’Neil threatened that there would be an “altercation”, with at least one official claiming that amounted to a threat of violence, and O’Neil was asked to leave — which he did, but not before telling the officials he hoped they would all be sacked.

The response

The report reveals O’Neil admitted the charge — but with a caveat.

“I confirm from the outset that I admit the charge in respect of my language and/or behaviour in/or around the match officials’ changing room being ‘improper’,” wrote O’Neil in a written statement.

“But I do not believe that I acted in a ‘threatening’ manner at any stage…”

That led to the commission treating O’Neil’s response as a ‘partial denial’.

The case for the FA

The case against O’Neil relied on written evidence from Harrington, assistant referees Mark Scholes and Akil Howson, fourth official Darren England, referee coach Keren Barratt and Premier League match delegate Clive Whitehead, who were all present in the officials’ room after the game.

“Upon entering, an irate Gary O’Neil demanded to see the video footage from the 90+8 minute incident of the game; where I disallowed a Wolves goal after an on-field review,” wrote Harrington in his statement.

“I calmly informed Gary O’Neil that this was not possible and after asking ‘why?’, he was reminded that this was against protocol.

“Gary O’Neil proceeded to demand an answer as to why the goal was disallowed: ‘Tell me why in law’.

“He proceeded to state that David Moyes and (Lukasz) Fabianski (West Ham goalkeeper) had told him the goal should not have been allowed and that he had also been in touch with Howard Webb (head of referees’ body PGMOL) before entering our changing room.

“He further demanded that I give him an answer as to why the goal was offside before stating: ‘I’m already on two yellow cards, so it doesn’t matter to me. My season is over. But if you’re not honest with me now, then there will be an altercation in here’.”

The case for O’Neil

O’Neil admitted using the words but denied the FA’s suggestion that they amounted to a physical threat against the officials.

The Wolves head coach insisted that he used ‘altercation’ to threaten an argument if the officials did not provide the clarification he wanted.

In his statement to the commission, O’Neil wrote: “I fully accept that, in hindsight, my choice of words was inappropriate, but I would like to stress that my use of the word ‘altercation’ was obviously not so as to imply a physical threat or any kind of threat at all — other than that if I did not receive (what I regarded to be) a more detailed answer from the match referee, there might be an argument.

Gary O’Neil says the decision to rule out Wolves’ late equaliser against West Ham was “crazy”. Tawanda Chirewa was deemed to have impeded West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, even though he was getting nowhere near Maximilian Kilman ’s header. #BBCFinalScore #WWFC pic.twitter.com/Mg6tltVtwN — Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) April 6, 2024

“That is what I meant by altercation — similar to, for example, one person saying to another that if the other person doesn’t do as the other wishes, then they would have a ‘falling out’.

“I have been involved in the game at a professional level since the age of 16 when I was given my debut with Portsmouth in 2000. I have never engaged in physical violence during my career (whether as a player or a coach) and certainly wasn’t looking to on this occasion.

“I maintained a respectful distance from the match referee throughout the conversation, never making any movements toward him (or anyone else in the room, for that matter) that could be classed as threatening, nor did I encroach upon his (or anyone else’s) personal space.

“I do not feel that my actions or behaviour could amount to any sort of physical threat towards the match referee or any of the other attendees in the match officials’ changing room. I also did not use any foul language.”

O’Neil also admitted his parting shot having been asked to leave the room.

“I admit I did make the remark ‘I hope you all get sacked’ in the heat of the moment,” he wrote in his statement.

“I was expressing my clear and extreme disappointment with what I considered to be the match referee having first made a decision that I (and others) felt was incorrect, followed by his attitude towards me and the failure to provide any real explanation for his decision.

“I only made this remark once, however, and I deny that I was asked to leave the changing room twice.

“I left at the first point of being asked.”

Why would Gary O'Neil want to walk away from Wolves?

The outcome

O’Neil was handed a one-match touchline ban, which he served during Wolves’ 5-1 loss to Manchester City last weekend, and was fined £8,000.

But the FA’s “written reasons” have now revealed an independent regulatory commission cleared O’Neil of threatening violence towards the officials, as the FA case had alleged.

The commission accepted O’Neil’s explanation, citing an online search of the Oxford English Dictionary definition of ‘altercation’ — “a heated argument or dispute; a quarrel”.

The written reasons read: “The commission were quite satisfied that objectively, there was no threat of physical violence.”

But the commission concluded “that Mr O’Neil’s demeanour was aggressive and that was threatening” and “Mr O’Neil’s behaviour and comments rightly stand to be condemned”.

The written reasons reveal the commission considered a heavier fine and a two-match touchline ban, but decided against tougher punishments as O’Neil had admitted the charge and apologised and had never before been charged with improper conduct as a player or a manager.

(Top photo: Gary O’Neil remonstrates with referee Tony Harrington after Wolves’ loss to West Ham in April; by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images) 

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Steve Madeley has been a journalist for almost 25 years, including nearly 20 years covering sport, mainly football. The majority of his career was spent with the Express & Star in the West Midlands. He has worked for most UK national newspapers and websites including The Times, The Mirror and BBC Sport Online and joined The Athletic in 2019. Follow Steve on Twitter @ SteveMadeley78

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