how long should an honors thesis be

Honors Theses

What this handout is about.

Writing a senior honors thesis, or any major research essay, can seem daunting at first. A thesis requires a reflective, multi-stage writing process. This handout will walk you through those stages. It is targeted at students in the humanities and social sciences, since their theses tend to involve more writing than projects in the hard sciences. Yet all thesis writers may find the organizational strategies helpful.

Introduction

What is an honors thesis.

That depends quite a bit on your field of study. However, all honors theses have at least two things in common:

• They are based on students’ original research.
• They take the form of a written manuscript, which presents the findings of that research. In the humanities, theses average 50-75 pages in length and consist of two or more chapters. In the social sciences, the manuscript may be shorter, depending on whether the project involves more quantitative than qualitative research. In the hard sciences, the manuscript may be shorter still, often taking the form of a sophisticated laboratory report.

Who can write an honors thesis?

In general, students who are at the end of their junior year, have an overall 3.2 GPA, and meet their departmental requirements can write a senior thesis. For information about your eligibility, contact:

• UNC Honors Program
• Your departmental administrators of undergraduate studies/honors

Why write an honors thesis?

Satisfy your intellectual curiosity This is the most compelling reason to write a thesis. Whether it’s the short stories of Flannery O’Connor or the challenges of urban poverty, you’ve studied topics in college that really piqued your interest. Now’s your chance to follow your passions, explore further, and contribute some original ideas and research in your field.

Develop transferable skills Whether you choose to stay in your field of study or not, the process of developing and crafting a feasible research project will hone skills that will serve you well in almost any future job. After all, most jobs require some form of problem solving and oral and written communication. Writing an honors thesis requires that you:

• ask smart questions
• acquire the investigative instincts needed to find answers
• navigate libraries, laboratories, archives, databases, and other research venues
• develop the flexibility to redirect your research if your initial plan flops
• master the art of time management
• hone your argumentation skills
• organize a lengthy piece of writing
• polish your oral communication skills by presenting and defending your project to faculty and peers

Work closely with faculty mentors At large research universities like Carolina, you’ve likely taken classes where you barely got to know your instructor. Writing a thesis offers the opportunity to work one-on-one with a with faculty adviser. Such mentors can enrich your intellectual development and later serve as invaluable references for graduate school and employment.

Open windows into future professions An honors thesis will give you a taste of what it’s like to do research in your field. Even if you’re a sociology major, you may not really know what it’s like to be a sociologist. Writing a sociology thesis would open a window into that world. It also might help you decide whether to pursue that field in graduate school or in your future career.

How do you write an honors thesis?

Get an idea of what’s expected.

It’s a good idea to review some of the honors theses other students have submitted to get a sense of what an honors thesis might look like and what kinds of things might be appropriate topics. Look for examples from the previous year in the Carolina Digital Repository. You may also be able to find past theses collected in your major department or at the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library. Pay special attention to theses written by students who share your major.

Choose a topic

Ideally, you should start thinking about topics early in your junior year, so you can begin your research and writing quickly during your senior year. (Many departments require that you submit a proposal for an honors thesis project during the spring of your junior year.)

How should you choose a topic?

• Read widely in the fields that interest you. Make a habit of browsing professional journals to survey the “hot” areas of research and to familiarize yourself with your field’s stylistic conventions. (You’ll find the most recent issues of the major professional journals in the periodicals reading room on the first floor of Davis Library).
• Set up appointments to talk with faculty in your field. This is a good idea, since you’ll eventually need to select an advisor and a second reader. Faculty also can help you start narrowing down potential topics.
• Look at honors theses from the past. The North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library holds UNC honors theses. To get a sense of the typical scope of a thesis, take a look at a sampling from your field.

What makes a good topic?

• It’s fascinating. Above all, choose something that grips your imagination. If you don’t, the chances are good that you’ll struggle to finish.
• It’s doable. Even if a topic interests you, it won’t work out unless you have access to the materials you need to research it. Also be sure that your topic is narrow enough. Let’s take an example: Say you’re interested in the efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and early 1980s. That’s a big topic that probably can’t be adequately covered in a single thesis. You need to find a case study within that larger topic. For example, maybe you’re particularly interested in the states that did not ratify the ERA. Of those states, perhaps you’ll select North Carolina, since you’ll have ready access to local research materials. And maybe you want to focus primarily on the ERA’s opponents. Beyond that, maybe you’re particularly interested in female opponents of the ERA. Now you’ve got a much more manageable topic: Women in North Carolina Who Opposed the ERA in the 1970s and 1980s.
• It contains a question. There’s a big difference between having a topic and having a guiding research question. Taking the above topic, perhaps your main question is: Why did some women in North Carolina oppose the ERA? You will, of course, generate other questions: Who were the most outspoken opponents? White women? Middle-class women? How did they oppose the ERA? Public protests? Legislative petitions? etc. etc. Yet it’s good to start with a guiding question that will focus your research.

Goal-setting and time management

The senior year is an exceptionally busy time for college students. In addition to the usual load of courses and jobs, seniors have the daunting task of applying for jobs and/or graduate school. These demands are angst producing and time consuming If that scenario sounds familiar, don’t panic! Do start strategizing about how to make a time for your thesis. You may need to take a lighter course load or eliminate extracurricular activities. Even if the thesis is the only thing on your plate, you still need to make a systematic schedule for yourself. Most departments require that you take a class that guides you through the honors project, so deadlines likely will be set for you. Still, you should set your own goals for meeting those deadlines. Here are a few suggestions for goal setting and time management:

Start early. Keep in mind that many departments will require that you turn in your thesis sometime in early April, so don’t count on having the entire spring semester to finish your work. Ideally, you’ll start the research process the semester or summer before your senior year so that the writing process can begin early in the fall. Some goal-setting will be done for you if you are taking a required class that guides you through the honors project. But any substantive research project requires a clear timetable.

Set clear goals in making a timetable. Find out the final deadline for turning in your project to your department. Working backwards from that deadline, figure out how much time you can allow for the various stages of production.

Here is a sample timetable. Use it, however, with two caveats in mind:

• The timetable for your thesis might look very different depending on your departmental requirements.
• You may not wish to proceed through these stages in a linear fashion. You may want to revise chapter one before you write chapter two. Or you might want to write your introduction last, not first. This sample is designed simply to help you start thinking about how to customize your own schedule.

Sample timetable

Avoid falling into the trap of procrastination. Once you’ve set goals for yourself, stick to them! For some tips on how to do this, see our handout on procrastination .

Consistent production

It’s a good idea to try to squeeze in a bit of thesis work every day—even if it’s just fifteen minutes of journaling or brainstorming about your topic. Or maybe you’ll spend that fifteen minutes taking notes on a book. The important thing is to accomplish a bit of active production (i.e., putting words on paper) for your thesis every day. That way, you develop good writing habits that will help you keep your project moving forward.

Make yourself accountable to someone other than yourself

Since most of you will be taking a required thesis seminar, you will have deadlines. Yet you might want to form a writing group or enlist a peer reader, some person or people who can help you stick to your goals. Moreover, if your advisor encourages you to work mostly independently, don’t be afraid to ask them to set up periodic meetings at which you’ll turn in installments of your project.

Brainstorming and freewriting

One of the biggest challenges of a lengthy writing project is keeping the creative juices flowing. Here’s where freewriting can help. Try keeping a small notebook handy where you jot down stray ideas that pop into your head. Or schedule time to freewrite. You may find that such exercises “free” you up to articulate your argument and generate new ideas. Here are some questions to stimulate freewriting.

Questions for basic brainstorming at the beginning of your project:

• What do I already know about this topic?
• Why do I care about this topic?
• Why is this topic important to people other than myself
• What more do I want to learn about this topic?
• What is the main question that I am trying to answer?
• Where can I look for additional information?
• Who is my audience and how can I reach them?
• How will my work inform my larger field of study?
• What’s the main goal of my research project?

Questions for reflection throughout your project:

• What’s my main argument? How has it changed since I began the project?
• What’s the most important evidence that I have in support of my “big point”?
• What questions do my sources not answer?
• How does my case study inform or challenge my field writ large?
• Does my project reinforce or contradict noted scholars in my field? How?
• What is the most surprising finding of my research?
• What is the most frustrating part of this project?
• What is the most rewarding part of this project?
• What will be my work’s most important contribution?

Research and note-taking

In conducting research, you will need to find both primary sources (“firsthand” sources that come directly from the period/events/people you are studying) and secondary sources (“secondhand” sources that are filtered through the interpretations of experts in your field.) The nature of your research will vary tremendously, depending on what field you’re in. For some general suggestions on finding sources, consult the UNC Libraries tutorials . Whatever the exact nature of the research you’re conducting, you’ll be taking lots of notes and should reflect critically on how you do that. Too often it’s assumed that the research phase of a project involves very little substantive writing (i.e., writing that involves thinking). We sit down with our research materials and plunder them for basic facts and useful quotations. That mechanical type of information-recording is important. But a more thoughtful type of writing and analytical thinking is also essential at this stage. Some general guidelines for note-taking:

First of all, develop a research system. There are lots of ways to take and organize your notes. Whether you choose to use note cards, computer databases, or notebooks, follow two cardinal rules:

• Make careful distinctions between direct quotations and your paraphrasing! This is critical if you want to be sure to avoid accidentally plagiarizing someone else’s work. For more on this, see our handout on plagiarism .
• Record full citations for each source. Don’t get lazy here! It will be far more difficult to find the proper citation later than to write it down now.

Keeping those rules in mind, here’s a template for the types of information that your note cards/legal pad sheets/computer files should include for each of your sources:

Abbreviated subject heading: Include two or three words to remind you of what this sources is about (this shorthand categorization is essential for the later sorting of your sources).

Complete bibliographic citation:

• author, title, publisher, copyright date, and page numbers for published works
• box and folder numbers and document descriptions for archival sources
• complete web page title, author, address, and date accessed for online sources

Notes on facts, quotations, and arguments: Depending on the type of source you’re using, the content of your notes will vary. If, for example, you’re using US Census data, then you’ll mainly be writing down statistics and numbers. If you’re looking at someone else’s diary, you might jot down a number of quotations that illustrate the subject’s feelings and perspectives. If you’re looking at a secondary source, you’ll want to make note not just of factual information provided by the author but also of their key arguments.

Your interpretation of the source: This is the most important part of note-taking. Don’t just record facts. Go ahead and take a stab at interpreting them. As historians Jacques Barzun and Henry F. Graff insist, “A note is a thought.” So what do these thoughts entail? Ask yourself questions about the context and significance of each source.

Interpreting the context of a source:

• Who wrote/created the source?
• When, and under what circumstances, was it written/created?
• Why was it written/created? What was the agenda behind the source?
• How was it written/created?
• If using a secondary source: How does it speak to other scholarship in the field?

Interpreting the significance of a source:

• How does this source answer (or complicate) my guiding research questions?
• Does it pose new questions for my project? What are they?
• Does it challenge my fundamental argument? If so, how?
• Given the source’s context, how reliable is it?

You don’t need to answer all of these questions for each source, but you should set a goal of engaging in at least one or two sentences of thoughtful, interpretative writing for each source. If you do so, you’ll make much easier the next task that awaits you: drafting.

The dread of drafting

Why do we often dread drafting? We dread drafting because it requires synthesis, one of the more difficult forms of thinking and interpretation. If you’ve been free-writing and taking thoughtful notes during the research phase of your project, then the drafting should be far less painful. Here are some tips on how to get started:

Sort your “evidence” or research into analytical categories:

• Some people file note cards into categories.
• The technologically-oriented among us take notes using computer database programs that have built-in sorting mechanisms.
• Others cut and paste evidence into detailed outlines on their computer.
• Still others stack books, notes, and photocopies into topically-arranged piles.There is not a single right way, but this step—in some form or fashion—is essential!

If you’ve been forcing yourself to put subject headings on your notes as you go along, you’ll have generated a number of important analytical categories. Now, you need to refine those categories and sort your evidence. Everyone has a different “sorting style.”

Formulate working arguments for your entire thesis and individual chapters. Once you’ve sorted your evidence, you need to spend some time thinking about your project’s “big picture.” You need to be able to answer two questions in specific terms:

• What is the overall argument of my thesis?
• What are the sub-arguments of each chapter and how do they relate to my main argument?

Keep in mind that “working arguments” may change after you start writing. But a senior thesis is big and potentially unwieldy. If you leave this business of argument to chance, you may end up with a tangle of ideas. See our handout on arguments and handout on thesis statements for some general advice on formulating arguments.

Divide your thesis into manageable chunks. The surest road to frustration at this stage is getting obsessed with the big picture. What? Didn’t we just say that you needed to focus on the big picture? Yes, by all means, yes. You do need to focus on the big picture in order to get a conceptual handle on your project, but you also need to break your thesis down into manageable chunks of writing. For example, take a small stack of note cards and flesh them out on paper. Or write through one point on a chapter outline. Those small bits of prose will add up quickly.

Just start! Even if it’s not at the beginning. Are you having trouble writing those first few pages of your chapter? Sometimes the introduction is the toughest place to start. You should have a rough idea of your overall argument before you begin writing one of the main chapters, but you might find it easier to start writing in the middle of a chapter of somewhere other than word one. Grab hold where you evidence is strongest and your ideas are clearest.

Keep up the momentum! Assuming the first draft won’t be your last draft, try to get your thoughts on paper without spending too much time fussing over minor stylistic concerns. At the drafting stage, it’s all about getting those ideas on paper. Once that task is done, you can turn your attention to revising.

Peter Elbow, in Writing With Power, suggests that writing is difficult because it requires two conflicting tasks: creating and criticizing. While these two tasks are intimately intertwined, the drafting stage focuses on creating, while revising requires criticizing. If you leave your revising to the last minute, then you’ve left out a crucial stage of the writing process. See our handout for some general tips on revising . The challenges of revising an honors thesis may include:

Juggling feedback from multiple readers

A senior thesis may mark the first time that you have had to juggle feedback from a wide range of readers:

• your adviser
• a second (and sometimes third) faculty reader
• the professor and students in your honors thesis seminar

You may feel overwhelmed by the prospect of incorporating all this advice. Keep in mind that some advice is better than others. You will probably want to take most seriously the advice of your adviser since they carry the most weight in giving your project a stamp of approval. But sometimes your adviser may give you more advice than you can digest. If so, don’t be afraid to approach them—in a polite and cooperative spirit, of course—and ask for some help in prioritizing that advice. See our handout for some tips on getting and receiving feedback .

Refining your argument

It’s especially easy in writing a lengthy work to lose sight of your main ideas. So spend some time after you’ve drafted to go back and clarify your overall argument and the individual chapter arguments and make sure they match the evidence you present.

Organizing and reorganizing

Again, in writing a 50-75 page thesis, things can get jumbled. You may find it particularly helpful to make a “reverse outline” of each of your chapters. That will help you to see the big sections in your work and move things around so there’s a logical flow of ideas. See our handout on  organization  for more organizational suggestions and tips on making a reverse outline

Plugging in holes in your evidence

It’s unlikely that you anticipated everything you needed to look up before you drafted your thesis. Save some time at the revising stage to plug in the holes in your research. Make sure that you have both primary and secondary evidence to support and contextualize your main ideas.

Saving time for the small stuff

Even though your argument, evidence, and organization are most important, leave plenty of time to polish your prose. At this point, you’ve spent a very long time on your thesis. Don’t let minor blemishes (misspellings and incorrect grammar) distract your readers!

Formatting and final touches

You’re almost done! You’ve researched, drafted, and revised your thesis; now you need to take care of those pesky little formatting matters. An honors thesis should replicate—on a smaller scale—the appearance of a dissertation or master’s thesis. So, you need to include the “trappings” of a formal piece of academic work. For specific questions on formatting matters, check with your department to see if it has a style guide that you should use. For general formatting guidelines, consult the Graduate School’s Guide to Dissertations and Theses . Keeping in mind the caveat that you should always check with your department first about its stylistic guidelines, here’s a brief overview of the final “finishing touches” that you’ll need to put on your honors thesis:

• Honors Thesis
• Name of Department
• University of North Carolina
• These parts of the thesis will vary in format depending on whether your discipline uses MLA, APA, CBE, or Chicago (also known in its shortened version as Turabian) style. Whichever style you’re using, stick to the rules and be consistent. It might be helpful to buy an appropriate style guide. Or consult the UNC LibrariesYear Citations/footnotes and works cited/reference pages  citation tutorial
• In addition, in the bottom left corner, you need to leave space for your adviser and faculty readers to sign their names. For example:

Approved by: _____________________

Adviser: Prof. Jane Doe

• This is not a required component of an honors thesis. However, if you want to thank particular librarians, archivists, interviewees, and advisers, here’s the place to do it. You should include an acknowledgments page if you received a grant from the university or an outside agency that supported your research. It’s a good idea to acknowledge folks who helped you with a major project, but do not feel the need to go overboard with copious and flowery expressions of gratitude. You can—and should—always write additional thank-you notes to people who gave you assistance.
• Formatted much like the table of contents.
• You’ll need to save this until the end, because it needs to reflect your final pagination. Once you’ve made all changes to the body of the thesis, then type up your table of contents with the titles of each section aligned on the left and the page numbers on which those sections begin flush right.
• Each page of your thesis needs a number, although not all page numbers are displayed. All pages that precede the first page of the main text (i.e., your introduction or chapter one) are numbered with small roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, v, etc.). All pages thereafter use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.).
• Your text should be double spaced (except, in some cases, long excerpts of quoted material), in a 12 point font and a standard font style (e.g., Times New Roman). An honors thesis isn’t the place to experiment with funky fonts—they won’t enhance your work, they’ll only distract your readers.
• In general, leave a one-inch inch margin on all sides. However, for the copy of your thesis that will be bound by the library, you need to leave a 1.25-inch margin on the left.

How do I defend my honors thesis?

Graciously, enthusiastically, and confidently. The term defense is scary and misleading—it conjures up images of a military exercise or an athletic maneuver. An academic defense ideally shouldn’t be a combative scene but a congenial conversation about the work’s merits and weaknesses. That said, the defense probably won’t be like the average conversation that you have with your friends. You’ll be the center of attention. And you may get some challenging questions. Thus, it’s a good idea to spend some time preparing yourself. First of all, you’ll want to prepare 5-10 minutes of opening comments. Here’s a good time to preempt some criticisms by frankly acknowledging what you think your work’s greatest strengths and weaknesses are. Then you may be asked some typical questions:

• What is the main argument of your thesis?
• How does it fit in with the work of Ms. Famous Scholar?
• Have you read the work of Mr. Important Author?

NOTE: Don’t get too flustered if you haven’t! Most scholars have their favorite authors and books and may bring one or more of them up, even if the person or book is only tangentially related to the topic at hand. Should you get this question, answer honestly and simply jot down the title or the author’s name for future reference. No one expects you to have read everything that’s out there.

• Why did you choose this particular case study to explore your topic?
• If you were to expand this project in graduate school, how would you do so?

Should you get some biting criticism of your work, try not to get defensive. Yes, this is a defense, but you’ll probably only fan the flames if you lose your cool. Keep in mind that all academic work has flaws or weaknesses, and you can be sure that your professors have received criticisms of their own work. It’s part of the academic enterprise. Accept criticism graciously and learn from it. If you receive criticism that is unfair, stand up for yourself confidently, but in a good spirit. Above all, try to have fun! A defense is a rare opportunity to have eminent scholars in your field focus on YOU and your ideas and work. And the defense marks the end of a long and arduous journey. You have every right to be proud of your accomplishments!

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Atchity, Kenneth. 1986. A Writer’s Time: A Guide to the Creative Process from Vision Through Revision . New York: W.W. Norton.

Barzun, Jacques, and Henry F. Graff. 2012. The Modern Researcher , 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Elbow, Peter. 1998. Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process . New York: Oxford University Press.

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. 2014. “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing , 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Lamott, Anne. 1994. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life . New York: Pantheon.

Lasch, Christopher. 2002. Plain Style: A Guide to Written English. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Turabian, Kate. 2018. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, Dissertations , 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Lee Honors College

Lee Honors College Western Michigan University Kalamazoo MI 49008-5244 USA (269) 387-3230

Honors Thesis Handbook

The honors thesis is a long-standing tradition in honors programs and colleges, including the Lee Honors College at Western Michigan University. An honors thesis is defined as an original work of undergraduate research or creative scholarship completed by an undergraduate honors student. Completing an honors thesis is required in order to graduate from the Lee Honors College. More importantly, your honors thesis is an opportunity to demonstrate what you are capable of contributing to your chosen field rather than just what you know. Examples of honors theses include senior engineering design projects, creative works of fiction, original documentaries, novel educational curricula, original performances or works of art, and traditional research papers. 

Your honors thesis will be published online in ScholarWorks alongside your fellow Lee Honors College graduates dating back to the 1960s. Publication allows you to use this accomplishment to market yourself to future employers and graduate schools. Your thesis title and thesis mentor will be listed on your official university transcript. 

Please note that this handbook is a generalized overview designed to support honors students enrolled in all majors at the university. More detailed information may always be obtained by attending a thesis workshop and/or meeting with an honors advisor. 

PLEASE NOTE: Students with majors in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (except for graphic and printing sciences), graphic design, product design and data science may use their senior design projects for their honors theses. Applicable students will need to refer to specific instructions received via email during their senior year to count their projects as their honors theses. Please also see the ‘creative works and group projects’ section below in Step 9. 

Steps and Timeline

Step 1: Attend a thesis information workshop (during sophomore year) 

Workshops are facilitated by honors advisors and designed to help you learn the process of completing an honors thesis specific to your major and help you begin thinking about potential topics and faculty mentors. 

Step 2: Enroll in your thesis preparation course (varies by major)

Most honors students will enroll in HNRS 4980: How and Why to Write an Honors Thesis, but some academic programs have approved substitutions for HNRS 4980. A full list can be found on the honors college requirements page of the website. Students required to enroll in HNRS 4980 should complete the course by the end of their junior year. This course is designed to prepare you to begin your thesis and counts toward your honors course credit hour requirement. 

Step 3: Select a thesis topic (during the junior year)

It is never too early to begin thinking about a thesis topic! Ideally, the thesis topic should be chosen early in the junior year for most majors. Please note that students majoring in biology, biomedical sciences, chemistry, physics and psychology should meet with faculty in their department about gaining access to a research lab to complete their thesis and NOT select a topic on their own. 

When thinking about potential thesis topics, ask yourself: 

What interests me about my major?

What areas of expertise do my department’s faculty have?

What project will most effectively demonstrate my education, skills and abilities to future employers and/or graduate schools?

What skills do I possess (e.g., bilingualism, video editing, graphic design) that could help make my project more unique?

What project is robust enough to help leverage it as an honors graduate AND practical to complete within my degree plan?

What projects are published in ScholarWorks written by students in my or similar majors?

If I plan to pursue a career or graduate school outside of my major, what thesis project could allow me to demonstrate my ability to successfully transition outside my major?

What experiences have I had in classes, internships, study abroad, etc., that I can incorporate into my thesis?

Do not worry if your ideas are still a bit nebulous when you proceed to step three. It may be helpful to schedule an appointment to discuss your ideas and questions with an honors college administrator or advisor. 

Step 4: Choose your thesis committee chair (in your junior year)

With a thesis topic in mind, the next step is to find a thesis committee chair (also referred to as the thesis mentor or advisor). The thesis chair should have significant expertise not just in your general program of study, but in an area closely related to the topic you have chosen for your honors thesis.

*Note: The thesis chair must be a full-time faculty member at WMU, and may not be a family member, even if they are full-time WMU faculty.

There are many ways to find a thesis chair. It may be a faculty member from a course you took; or it may be a professor you identify through looking up their research interests, work, and publications that align with your interests (look at their profiles on departmental websites). Also check ScholarWorks to see which faculty have served as chairs for prior students. Another option is to schedule an appointment with an honors advisor to see if they can help you find an appropriate honors thesis chair or introduce you to a faculty member you found by searching the internet. Hint: Faculty will be the most receptive to students who are professional and well prepared.

How to reach out to a faculty member:

Office hours.

After or before class if you are currently one of their students.

Networking – use connections such as peers, graduate students, or individuals in the honors college to help introduce you to a faculty member.

When deciding on a thesis committee chair remember that this is a long-term professional working relationship. Below are some things to consider when choosing a thesis committee chair:

Expertise/Knowledge: a faculty member need not be the world’s expert on the exact topic of all aspects of your thesis. Below are some areas of expertise that a chair could help with.

Discipline expertise – familiarity with the discipline, ideas, theories, or concepts you are using.

Area/Location/Population expertise – familiarity with the place and people you may work with.

Methods/Skills – familiarity with how you will go about doing your thesis.

Availability: how available do you need your chair to be for you?

Busy – faculty can often be quite busy. If they are up for tenure, in demand for guest lectures, or travel often, these can limit the amount of time they have available for you.

Graduate and honors students – if a faculty has a large number of graduate or honors students, that they have already agreed to work with, this will also cut into the amount of time they are available.

Communication/Working Relationship:

Hard to know beforehand but knowing what type of working relationship you want with your committee chair may help you decide.

A good working relationship or ability to communicate will make the whole thesis process much smoother.

Note: a good working relationship is also important as your thesis committee chair will be a prime candidate to write you letters of recommendation for future endeavors (graduate school or job applications).

Make sure that your first contact, whether by email, or an in-person appointment, leaves a good impression. Be on time for your appointment, and if you must reschedule, do so early - do not be a no-show! Keep in mind that faculty are very busy, and certain times of the semester may not be ideal to set up a meeting with them, especially if they do not know you.

Prepare to demonstrate that you have done preliminary research on your topic by reading some textbooks, journal articles or other scholarly or artistic materials. Be ready to discuss what you are interested in and why you think this faculty member would be a good fit. The more prepared and enthusiastic you are about your potential project, the more likely it is that a busy faculty member will want to take the time to serve as your thesis chair! Also, be open-minded in your discussions. It may be that your topic will be difficult to research, or that there is already a great deal of work that has been done in that area. A potential thesis chair might suggest some other ideas for a thesis topic – listen to these and consider them carefully (you are coming to them for their expertise, after all), but do make sure that you settle on a topic that is interesting to you, as well as to your thesis chair.

Step 5: Submit your thesis declaration form (in your junior year)

Ideally, you should submit this form at least three semesters before you intend to graduate. You can find it in the forms section of the honors college website. 

To submit your declaration form, you will need a less-than-one-page description of your project that has been approved by a full-time faculty member who has agreed to serve as your thesis chair. Your thesis declaration form will either be approved or recommended for amendment by the honors college; this decision will be communicated to you and your thesis chair via WMU email.  

Recommendation for amendment usually occurs for one of three reasons: (1) questions or concerns exist regarding institutional compliance; (2) the proposed thesis chair is not a full-time WMU faculty member, or is ineligible to serve as chair for some other reason; or (3) the thesis topic is not sufficient in scope with respect to your field of study and/or honors standards. You will be informed what the problems are that must be addressed before the proposal can be reconsidered and are encouraged to make an appointment to come in to the honors college if you need more information.  

On the declaration form, you will be asked four compliance questions relating to the following: 1) will you be collecting data from humans; 2) will you be using vertebrate animals; 3) will you be using recombinant DNA; and 4) will your project be funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) or National Institutes of Health (NIH). Below is more information on each.   

The WMU Institutional Review Board (IRB) is responsible for oversight of all research related to human subjects. This includes the use of surveys, even if they are completely anonymous. If you write a thesis that needs WMU-IRB approval, and you have not received it before you begin your research, the study is invalid and the thesis must be destroyed. This is also a research ethics violation which may subject you to discipline by The Office of Student Conduct. This is a federal, not a University or honors college regulation. Only the WMU-IRB can determine whether approval is required, and only the WMU-IRB can grant approval for research that involves people. If there is any question that your proposed research might need WMU-IRB approval, you should check with your thesis chair, an honors advisor, or directly contact the WMU-IRB before you proceed with your work. CITI training is a required set of modules that all researchers must complete before beginning IRB-approved research and will be extremely helpful to prepare you for the IRB process. Depending on the population you would like to study and the methodology you have chosen there are varying levels of IRB review, so please be sure to submit early in the process and not collect ANY data prior to approval. If your research changes after you have received IRB approval, you may need to update your IRB protocol or submit a new one. More information is available on the WMU-IRB website .

If your project involves animals, you must contact the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at (269) 387-4484.  Only the IACUC can grant approval for research that involves animals. Further information on conducting research with animals is available on the animal care website . 

If your project involves the use of recombinant or synthetic DNA, or microbiological agents and their products, or life sciences research, you must contact the Institutional Biosafety Committee (WMU-IBC) at (269) 387-8293. Further information on conducting research with any of the materials listed above can be found on the biosafety website .

Check with your thesis chair to make sure you are aware if your project will receive any funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) or the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

When you complete your thesis declaration form, you will answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the above questions. You do NOT have to be approved by the respective compliance offices prior to submitting the thesis declaration form.  

Step 6: Choose additional committee members (in your junior year)

In addition to the honors thesis chair, you must select at least one, ideally two, other expert(s) to serve on your committee. You should consult with your thesis chair regarding possible members of your committee soon after you choose a topic. The committee members need not be WMU faculty but should have expertise relevant to your topic of study. When deciding who will be a good committee member, discuss with your thesis chair how the potential member would add to your project, provide diversity of thought, or provide expertise outside of that possessed by your chair. The committee could include faculty from the same or another department or college at WMU, faculty from another institution, graduate students, WMU staff, or members of the broader community. Note that your committee may NOT be comprised of only a faculty member and a graduate student who is advised or supervised by that faculty member. Also note that you may NOT include family members, partners or significant others on your committee. If you wish to include a graduate student advised or supervised by your thesis chair, you may do so, but you must then select an additional committee member who does not work in the research group of your thesis chair. 

Step 7: Register for HNRS 4990: Honors College Thesis (for the semester you plan to defend your thesis)

Most honors students will enroll in HNRS 4990: Honors College Thesis, but some academic programs have approved substitutions for HNRS 4990. A full list can be found on the honors college requirements page . Honors students must enroll in and complete at least one credit (up to a maximum of three credits) of HNRS 4990: Honors College Thesis, or an approved substitute, prior to graduation. This course must be completed the semester you plan to defend your thesis, and not before. This course counts toward the Experiential portion of the honors credit hour requirement. The thesis chair serves as instructor of record for your credit(s), which means that the thesis chair will be responsible for assigning the grade for your work on your honors thesis. 

In order to be registered for HNRS 4990, you must complete and submit the HNRS 4990 registration form at least one week prior to the semester in which you wish to enroll in the course . 

Please note! If HNRS 4990 credits are being used to meet your minimum credits required for university graduation, you must successfully complete and defend your thesis by commencement to graduate on time. Be sure to discuss HNRS 4990 credits with your academic college advisor when applying for your graduation audit. 

Step 8: Submit your thesis defense certificate request form (at least one month before thesis defense)

Once you have decided on a thesis defense date, you should submit your thesis defense certificate request form . This form must be filed at least 30 days before your thesis defense. This form includes your final thesis title as you would like it to appear on graduation materials, your intended date of graduation, the date you will defend your thesis and names of your committee members. We strongly encourage all students to defend during Thesis Celebration Days, which are held in the honors college at the end of each fall and spring semester. The defense request form will be used by the honors college staff to record your thesis title for graduation, to advertise your thesis defense and to generate a packet of materials for your thesis committee. Your packet will be delivered to you via email and should be taken to your defense to be completed by your committee members, and then returned to the honors college according to the instructions included in the packet.

Step 9: Defend your thesis (before you graduate)

We recommend that you defend your thesis at least one semester before you intend to graduate, but most honors graduates defend during their final semester. You MUST defend before you graduate, or you will not graduate from the Lee Honors College.

You should make sure that your whole committee has a final version of your written thesis at least one week, (preferably two), before your defense so that they have plenty of time to review it. You should plan for your defense to take about an hour– check with your thesis committee in advance. Rooms are reserved for one hour during the Thesis Celebration Days at the honors college. If your committee anticipates that more than one hour will be needed for your defense, please make certain that your room is available or make plans to continue the closed-door portion of your defense in another location.

The defense consists of three parts: 

An oral presentation of your work, open to the public; 

A public question and answer session; 

A closed-door oral examination with your thesis committee. 

The oral presentation typically consists of a 15-20 minute overview of your thesis work. In the sciences, social sciences, business and education, this is generally a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation including a description of the motivation for your work, a summary of related work, the approach you used, the results obtained, your conclusions and their significance. In the humanities, this might include a reading from your original paper. Engineering and the fine arts defenses are typically handled a little differently (see below). 

After you complete your presentation, allow 5-15 minutes for questions from the public audience. Following this period, your committee (at a minimum, your thesis chair and one committee member must be present for the exam) will conduct a closed-door oral examination. Many students are very worried about the oral exam – don’t be! This is your chance to show off your knowledge, discuss what you might have done differently in retrospect and what you would do if you were to continue this project, for example, as a graduate student. 

Engineering Students: College of Engineering and Applied Sciences students typically use their senior design project as the honors thesis and the presentation given at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences Senior Design Day will serve as a substitute for the oral defense. Engineering students may also choose to present their work during the Thesis Celebration Days. In this case, the committee does not need to be present and no oral examination follows the presentation.

Fine Arts Students: BFA students in curricula in the College of Fine Arts typically review their creative work and artifacts such as portfolios and/or recordings with their committee during their oral defense because their public portion is typically a recital, performance or exhibit that occurs at a separate time. 

Creative Works and Group Projects: A brief reflection paper is required for creative works and group projects. For creative works, this paper should address why you made the choices you made for your creative project and a self-evaluation of the final product along with any other information you wish to include, as well as any additional writing required by your thesis advisor. For group projects, this paper should address the role you played in the group project, how your own education, experiences and contributions are demonstrated in the final copy, as well as any additional writing required by your thesis advisor.

Step 10: Submit your final approved thesis

After your successful thesis defense, your committee may recommend some further revisions to your written thesis. You have 30 days after you graduate to turn in your final, revised and approved thesis. The thesis and the abstract should be submitted electronically as a PDF or MP3, MP4 or WAV file, together with a signed copy of each of the documents in your thesis packet (completed and signed ScholarWorks agreement and signed defense certificate). For detailed instructions on the submission of your final thesis project, please read carefully the instruction sheet included in your defense packet. 

Note: For some students, research conducted for the honors thesis contains proprietary information that cannot be released to the general public. In that case, the final thesis should be submitted via the regular process laid out above, but students should select the appropriate level of publication visibility as described in the ScholarWorks agreement included in the thesis packet. If you have questions about the ScholarWorks form, please contact Jennifer Townsend . 

A cautionary note! Please consult with your thesis chair before responding to any requests from publishers or conferences regarding your honors thesis. Predatory publishers send unsolicited requests for articles, may send false information about their journals and typically charge large fees to authors. Likewise, sham conference organizers will send targeted emails asking for abstract or article contributions with substantial submission fees. 

Questions? Schedule an honors thesis advising appointment . 

Thesis Checklist

Now that you've carefully and thoroughly read through the thesis handbook, bookmark or print out this handy thesis checklist to help keep you on track during your thesis process!

A Distinctive Achievement Honors Thesis

As a Schreyer Scholar, you are required to complete an undergraduate honors thesis as the culmination of your honors experience. The goal of the thesis is to demonstrate a command of relevant scholastic work and to make a personal contribution to that scholarship.

Your thesis project can take many forms — from laboratory experiments all the way to artistic creations. Your thesis document captures the relevant background, methods, and techniques and describes the details of the completion of the individual project.

Two Penn State faculty members evaluate and approve your thesis — a thesis supervisor and an honors adviser in your area of honors.

Planning is Key Project Guide

The thesis is, by design, your most ambitious undertaking as a Scholar.

A successful thesis requires a viable proposal, goal-setting, time management, and interpersonal skills on top of the disciplinary skills associated with your intended area of honors. This guide will walk you through the thesis process. Keep in mind, though, that your honors adviser and thesis supervisor are your key resources.

Planning A Thesis

An ideal thesis project should:

• Satisfy your intellectual curiosity
• Give you the opportunity to work closely with faculty
• Develop transferable skills
• Clarify your post-graduation plans

The single biggest factor in determining thesis quality is your level of interest in and engagement with the topic, so consider multiple possibilities rather than selecting the first one that seems attractive to you.

From the perspective of the Schreyer Honors College, the purpose of the thesis experience is to develop your intellectual and professional identity in the field and to help you think about your future.

Once complete, the purpose of the thesis is to advance knowledge, understanding, or creative value in its field.

Lab-Based Research Fields

We recommend avoiding the temptation to stick with your first lab placement merely out of convenience if the topic is not interesting to you. The quality of your thesis is truly dependent on the depth of your interest and the energy behind your curiosity. Your intellectual engagement is the thing that will carry you through what may at times feel like a long and sometimes difficult process.

A Thesis Needs A Thesis

A thesis is problem-oriented and identifies something of importance whose answer or best interpretation is not fully known or agreed-upon by people who make their careers in the field, and it proceeds towards the answer or best interpretation. Even with a creative or performance thesis, the purpose is not to demonstrate technical ability (writing, painting, acting, composing, etc.), but to express something you think is worth expressing and hasn't been fully expressed already.

Identifying a Topic

An interest can come from anywhere, but the problem that defines a thesis can only come from a thorough acquaintance with "the literature," the accumulated knowledge or creative value in your field.

By speaking with faculty (preferably more than one) and reading professional journals (again, more than one), you not only get a "crowd-sourced" sense of what is important, you also get a sense of what the open questions are. This is where you start to strike a balance between ambition and feasibility.

Feasibility & Realistic Ambition

You might want to come up with the definitive explanation for Rome's decline and fall, or the cure for cancer. There is strong evidence — several thousand prior theses — that your honors thesis will not accomplish anything on that scale. This realization might be disheartening, but it is an introduction to the reality of modern scholarship: Knowledge almost always moves incrementally and the individual units of knowledge production and dissemination (theses, journal articles, books, etc.) are only rarely revolutionary in isolation. This is part of what the thesis experience will test for you — whether or not you want to continue via graduate school in that kind of slow-moving enterprise.

The feasibility of a given thesis problem is bounded, as mathematicians might say, by several factors.

The honors thesis should not extend your time at Penn State by design. There are circumstances where you might defer graduation to complete your thesis, but that should not be your initial plan.

Resources are a potential issue in that even a comprehensive and well-funded university like Penn State does not have the physical infrastructure for every possible kind of research. The expense of ambitious off-campus research, such as a comparative study requiring visits to several countries, can easily exceed our funding abilities. If you expect to incur more than $300 in expenses, you should get commitments from your department and academic college before proceeding.

Proposal, Supervisor & Area of Honors

Thesis proposal.

The thesis proposal is due at the end of your third year, assuming you're on a four-year path to graduation. File your Thesis Proposal with the Schreyer Honors College via the Student Records System (SRS) . The end-of-third-year requirement is from the Honors College, but your major may expect a much earlier commitment so be sure to talk to your honors adviser as early as your second year about this. The thesis proposal needs the following things:

• Supervision
• A Working Title
• Purpose/Objective
• Intended Outcome
• Project Interest
• Will your thesis satisfy other requirements?
• Does your thesis involve working with human, animals, or biohazardous materials or radioactive isotopes?

The Honors College staff does not review the content of the proposal, so the intended audience is your thesis supervisor and the honors adviser in your intended area of honors.

Thesis Supervisor

Your thesis supervisor is the professor who has primary responsibility for supervising your thesis.

Ideally your thesis supervisor will be the single most appropriate person for your thesis in the whole university, or at least at your whole campus, in terms of specialization and, where relevant, resources. How far you can stray from that ideal depends on the nature of the thesis. If specific lab resources are needed then you cannot stray too far, but if general intellectual mentoring is the extent of the required supervision then you have more flexibility, including the flexibility to choose a topic that does not align closely with the supervisor's specialization.

Apart from a professor being unavailable for or declining your project, the biggest reason to consider bypassing the "single most appropriate person" is that you have doubts about whether you would get along with them. Do not put too much stock in second-hand information about a professor, but if after meeting him or her you have concerns then you should certainly consider continuing your search.

Area of Honors

Thesis honors adviser.

An honors adviser from the area in which you are pursuing honors must read and approve your thesis. If the thesis supervisor and thesis honors adviser are the same person, you must find a second eligible faculty member from your area of honors to read and approve your thesis.

Multiple Majors

If you have more than one major, you can do the following:

• Pick one major and write a thesis for honors solely in that major
• Pick a topic that can legitimately earn honors in both majors. This will be considered interdisciplinary .
• Write multiple theses, one for honors in each major

The first scenario is the most common, followed by the second depending on how closely related the majors are. You can also pick a non-major area of honors.

Second- and Third-Year Entrants (including Paterno Fellows)

If you were admitted to the Honors College after your first year or via the Liberal Arts Paterno Fellows program, you are expected to write your thesis for honors in your entrance major. You do have the right to pursue honors elsewhere, for instance in a concurrent major for which you were not admitted to the Honors College, but there is no guarantee of approval.

Topic, Not Professor

Typically, the area of honors suggested by the topic aligns with the professor's affiliation, as when you seek honors in history based on a history thesis supervised by a professor of history. But if the supervisor happens to be a professor of literature, you are still able to pursue honors in history based on the substance and methodology of the thesis.

This is especially worth remembering in the life sciences, where faculty expertise is spread among many different departments and colleges. As always, the honors adviser in the intended area of honors is the gatekeeper for whether a given thesis topic and supervisor are acceptable.

From Proposal to Thesis

Timetable & benchmarks.

The thesis proposal does not require a timetable, but you and your supervisor should have a clear idea of how much you should accomplish on a monthly basis all the way through completion. Not all of those monthly benchmarks will be actual written work; for many Schreyer Scholars the write-up will not come until toward the end. If you fall behind during the earlier part of the thesis timeline, it will be difficult if not impossible to make up that ground later.

Regular Meetings with Your Thesis Supervisor

You should take proactive steps against procrastination by making yourself accountable to someone other than yourself. Scheduling regular meetings (or e-mailing regular updates) with your thesis supervisor — even if you are working in the same lab routinely — is the best way to do that. You should also regularly update your thesis honors adviser.

Think ahead, preferably well before the time of your thesis proposal, about what your thesis work will mean for your fourth-year schedule. This is especially important if you have a significant capstone requirement like student teaching for education majors, or if you expect to do a lot of job interviews or graduate/professional school visits.

There are many reasons to plan to include the summer between third and fourth year in your research timeline: those mentioned above, plus the benefit of devoting yourself full-time to the thesis, whether it is in a lab on campus or in the field. Funding opportunities for full-time summer thesis research include Schreyer Honors College grants , the Erickson Undergraduate Education Discovery Grant , and funding via your thesis supervisor (especially in the sciences and engineering).

Department & College Thesis Guides

In addition to this guide, many departments and colleges have thesis guides with important information about their deadlines and expectations. If you do not see your college or department listed, consult with your honors adviser.

• College of Agricultural Sciences
• Smeal College of Business
• Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications
• Aerospace Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Biobehavioral Health
• Communication Sciences and Disorders
• Hospitality Management
• Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management
• College of Information Sciences and Technology
• Comparative Literature
• Germanic & Slavic Languages and Literatures
• Global & International Studies
• Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
• College of Nursing
• Astronomy & Astrophysics: Thesis 1
• Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
• Chemistry: Thesis 1 | Thesis 2 | Thesis 3
• Mathematics: Thesis 1 | Thesis 2 | Thesis 3 | Thesis 4 | Thesis 5 | Thesis 6

Follow the Template Formatting Guide

The formatting requirements in this guide apply to all Schreyer Honors theses. Please follow the thesis templates provided below:

Information about using LaTeX is available from the University Libraries .

Formatting Requirements

Fonts & color.

All text should use the Times New Roman font.

Reduced type may be used within tables, figures, and appendices, but font size should be at least 11-point in size and must be completely legible.

The majority of your thesis document should be in black font, however, color is permissible in figures, tables, links, etc.

Organization

Begin each section on a new page. Do the same with each element of the front matter, the reference section, and the appendix.

Try to avoid typing a heading near the bottom of a page unless there is room for at least two lines of text following the heading. Instead you should simply leave a little extra space on the page and begin the heading on the next page.

If you wish you use a "display" page (a page that shows only the chapter title) at the beginning of chapters or appendices, be sure to do so consistently and to count the display page when numbering the pages.

Page Numbers

Excluding the title page, every page in the document, including those with tables and figures, must be counted. Use lower case Roman numerals for the front matter and Arabic numbers for the text. The text (or body) of the thesis must begin on page 1. Follow the template provided at the top of this section.

Use the template provided as a pattern for creating your title page. Be sure all faculty members are identified by their correct professional titles. Check with the department for current information. Do not use such designations as "PhD" or "Dr." on the title page. (Ex. John Smith, Professor of English, Thesis Supervisor).

Electronic Approvals

Please submit your final thesis to your Thesis Supervisor and Thesis Honors Adviser at least two weeks prior to the final submission due date to allow them ample time for review and suggested changes. Also, please communicate with your professors to find out their schedule and preferred amount of time to review your thesis. Once your thesis is submitted, your committee will review the thesis one last time before giving their final approval.

Number of Approvals

A minimum of two approvals is required on each thesis. If one of the approvers has a dual role (e.g. Thesis Supervisor and Honors Adviser), then list both roles under the professional title. Do not list the same person twice. If the sharing of roles leaves you with fewer than the required number of approvals, an additional approver must be added (Faculty Reader).

Professional Titles

Be sure to identify all faculty by their correct professional titles. Check with the department for current information. Do not use such designations as "PhD" or "Dr." on the title page.

This is a one-paragraph summary of the content of your thesis that identifies concisely the content of the thesis manuscript and important results of your project. Some students like to think of it as an advertisement — i.e., when someone finishes reading it, they should want to examine the rest of your work. Keep it short and include the most interesting points.

The abstract follows the title page, must have the heading ABSTRACT at the top, and is always page Roman number i. There is no restriction on the length of the abstract, but it is usually no longer than one page.

Table of Contents

The table of contents is essentially a topic outline of the thesis and it is compiled by listing the headings in the thesis. You may choose to include first-level headings, first- and second-levels, or all levels. Keep in mind there usually is no index in a thesis, and thus a fairly detailed table of contents can serve as a useful guide for the reader. The table of contents must appear immediately after the abstract and should not list the abstract, the table of contents itself, or the vita.

Be sure the headings listed in the table of contents match word-for-word the headings in the text. Double check to be sure the page numbers are shown. In listing appendices, indicate the title of each appendix. If using display pages, the number of the display page should appear in the table of contents.

Formatting Final Touches

An honors thesis manuscript should replicate the appearance of professional writing in your discipline. Include the elements of a formal piece of academic work accordingly. For specific questions on organization or labeling, check with your thesis supervisor to see if there is a style guide you should use.

Acknowledgements (Optional)

Acknowledgements are not a required component of an honors thesis, but if you want to thank particular colleagues, faculty, librarians, archivists, interviewees, and advisers, here's the place to do it. You should include an acknowledgements page if you received a grant from the University or an outside agency that supported your research.

Tables & Figures

A table is a columnar arrangement of information, often numbers, organized to save space and convey relationships at a glance. A rule of thumb to use in deciding whether given materials are tables or figures is that tables can be typed, but figures must be drawn.

A figure is a graphic illustration such as a chart, graph, diagram, map, or photograph.

Please be sure to insert your table or figure. Do not copy and paste. Once the figure or table is inserted, you right click on it to apply the appropriate label. Afterwards, return to the list of tables or list of figures page, right click on the list, and "update table (entire table)" and the page will automatically hyperlink.

Captions & Numbering

Each table and each figure in the text must have a number and caption. Number them consecutively throughout, beginning with 1, or by chapter using a decimal system.

Style Guides

These parts of the thesis will vary in format depending on the style guide you are following. Your discipline will use a consistent style guide, such as MLA, APA, CBE, or Chicago. Whichever style you are using, stick to the rules and be consistent.

Appendices (Optional)

Material that is pertinent but is somewhat tangential or very detailed (raw data, procedural explanations, etc.) may be placed in an appendix. Appendices should be designated A, B, C (not 1, 2, 3 or I, II, III). If there is only one appendix, call it simply Appendix, not Appendix A. Titles of appendices must be listed in the table of contents. Appendix pages must be numbered consecutively with the text of the thesis (do not number the page A-1, A-2, etc.).

Bibliography/References (Optional)

A thesis can include a bibliography or reference section listing all works that are referred to in the text, and in some cases other works also consulted in the course of research and writing. This section may either precede or follow the appendices (if any), or may appear at the end of each chapter. Usually a single section is more convenient and useful for both author and reader.

The forms used for listing sources in the bibliography/reference section are detailed and complicated, and they vary considerably among academic disciplines. For this reason, you will need to follow a scholarly style manual in your field or perhaps a recent issue of a leading journal as a guide in compiling this section of the thesis.

Academic Vita (Optional)

The academic vita is optional, must be the last page of the document, and is not given a page number or listed in the table of contents. The title — Academic Vita — and the author's name should appear at the top. A standard outline style or a prose form may be used. The vita should be similar to a resume. Do not include your GPA and personal information.

The Final Step Submission Guide

Once your final thesis is approved by your thesis supervisor and honors adviser, you may submit the thesis electronically. This guide will provide the details on how to submit your thesis.

Access Levels for Honors Thesis

Open access.

Your electronic thesis is available to anyone who wishes to access it on the web unless you request restricted access. Open access distribution makes the work more widely available than a bound copy on a library shelf.

Restricted Access (Penn State Only)

Access restricted to individuals having a valid Penn State Access Account, for a period of two years. Allows restricted access of the entire work beginning immediately after degree conferral. At the end of the two-year period, the status will automatically change to Open Access. Intended for use by authors in cases where prior public release of the work may compromise its acceptance for publication.

This option secures the body of the thesis for a period of two years. Selection of this option required that an invention disclosure (ID) be filed with the Office of Technology Management (OTM) prior to submission of the final honors thesis and confirmed by OTM. At the end of the two-year period, the work will be released automatically for Open Access unless a written request is made to extend this option for an additional year. The written request for an extension should be sent 30 days prior to the end of the two-year period to the Schreyer Honors College, 10 Schreyer Honors College, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, or by e-mail to [email protected] . Please note: No one will be able to view your work under this option.

Submission Requirements

Electronic submission of the final honors thesis became a requirement in spring semester of 2010. Both the mandatory draft submission and the final copy must be submitted online.

The "official" copy of the honors thesis is the electronic file (eHT), and this is the copy that will be on file with the University Libraries. Electronic submission does not prevent the author from producing hard copies for the department or for personal use. All copies are the responsibility of the author and should be made prior to submission. The Schreyer Honors College does not provide copies.

How to Submit

In order to submit your thesis, you must upload a draft in PDF format to the Electronic Honors Thesis (eHT) website .

What/When to Upload

• The initial submission, the Thesis Format Review, should be the textual thesis only and should be in a single PDF file (it may include image files such as TIFFs or JPEGs)
• The recommended file naming convention is Last_First_Title.pdf
• Failure to submit the Format Review by the deadline will result in removal from the honors graduation checklist. If this occurs, you must either defer graduation or withdraw/be dismissed from the Honors College

Uploading Video, Audio or Large Images

If your thesis content is such that you feel you need to upload content other than text to properly represent your work, upload the textual portion of your thesis first as a single, standalone PDF file. Then, add additional files for any other content as separate uploads.

If the majority of your thesis work is a multimedia presentation (video, slideshow, audio recording, etc.) you are required to upload these files in addition to your PDF.

Acceptable formats include:

Please do not upload any ZIP files. If uploading more than one file, keep individual file sizes for the supplementary material under 50 MB where possible. Large files will upload, but it may take a long time to download for future use.

Final Submission & Approval

Final submission.

In order to submit your final thesis:

• Refer to the thesis templates above to create your title page (no page number).
• Make sure you have correctly spelled "Schreyer Honors College".
• Be sure to include the department in which you are earning honors, your semester and year of graduation (Ex. Spring 2024, not May 2024), your thesis title and your name.
• List the name and professional title of your thesis supervisor and honors adviser (in the department granting honors). If your honors adviser and thesis supervisor are the same person, a second faculty reader signature from the department granting honors is required.
• Include your abstract following your title page (Roman numeral i).
• Make sure your thesis is saved in PDF format.
• Upload your final thesis on the eHT website .

Final Approval

When the final thesis is approved, the author and all committee members will be notified via e-mail of the approval. Your thesis will then be accessible on the eHT website within a month after graduation unless you have specified restricted access.

Schreyer has motivated me to push myself and do things I would have wished to have done, but wouldn't have done without Schreyer. Tara Golthi ' 20 Media Studies

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Honors Program

Thesis overview.

• Thesis Supervisor
• Online Submission Instructions
• Online Approval Instructions
• Thesis Extensions
• Publishing in Digital Commons

For May 2025 graduates, approved theses are due by May 2, 2025, in Quest. For August 2025 graduates, approved theses are due by August 31, 2025, in Quest. For December 2025 graduates, approved theses are due by December 5, 2025, in Quest. For December 2024 graduates, approved theses are due by December 6, 2024 in Quest.

Your Honors thesis represents the culmination of your Honors academic career. When you are finished, you will have produced something that is a unique contribution to your field. While you will work with multiple people who will support your efforts, your thesis is your own . For many students, the thesis is the first time they have attempted a project of this scale, so it should be viewed as a learning experience —no one starts out knowing how to do a thesis!

Depending on your major and your academic and professional plans, your thesis may consist of a traditional research project, piece of scholarship , or a creative product . The exact requirements (such as format or page length) are set by major departments and Honors advisors, and your thesis must include some written document that will be submitted to the Honors Program via the Quest system and must be approved by the thesis supervisor and Honors advisor.

Required thesis submission – All graduating Honors students are required to submit the final version of your Honors thesis/project , after all updates have been made, in the Quest system for approval from your thesis supervisor and Honors advisor.  Please allow time for approval of your thesis supervisor and Honors advisor by the deadline above based on your graduation date.

Other requirements

Graduation as an Honors Scholar requires at least 3 Honors credits toward your thesis. These credits may be through independent study or some other course in your major; you and your Honors advisor will designate your thesis credits on your Honors Scholar Preliminary and Final Plans of Study. Some departments require more than 3 thesis credits , typically in the form of a two-semester sequence. Check with your major Honors advisor on your thesis requirements.

You will designate a thesis supervisor to mentor you through your project. This information, along with your thesis title and abstract, will be included in your Honors Thesis Plan by your final semester, but you should establish this relationship much further in advance.

Thesis support

If you have questions about the thesis process, talk with your Honors advisor—they will have the most accurate information for your major. You can also contact Dr. Jaclyn Chancey , Enrichment Programs Director for Curriculum, Assessment, and Planning.

Molecular and Cell Biology

Honors Thesis Guidelines

Also, see " Writing Your Honors Thesis " by Dr. Robert Beatty (updated 3/20/15)

Congratulations! You have excelled in the challenging MCB major at UC Berkeley and are about to graduate with honors. Your thesis is a synthesis of at least two semesters of independent research and represents one of the most important documents you will write at UC Berkeley. It is critical that you turn in your very best work.

Basic Concepts

Traditionally, the thesis is written in the format of a research paper with Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results (including tables and figures), Discussion, and References. Your research advisor may have additional requirements for your thesis, which you should discuss with him/her well ahead of the due date. For example, if you have generated a significant number of plasmids, used a large number of oligonucleotide primers or antibodies, or developed protocols for a side project only peripherally related to your thesis work, your research advisor may ask that you list/describe these in an appendix at the end of your thesis. We are often asked, “How long should my thesis be?” It should be long enough to fully develop your ideas, clearly present your data, and carefully discuss the results and the implications of the work. MCB faculty have all seen 80-page theses that would have been much improved in a shorter format, as well as 10-page theses that were underdeveloped.

A thesis usually describes hypothesis-based research. A hypothesis is a suggested explanation for a phenomenon – it is experimentally testable and allows one to predict outcomes of experiments. When experimental results are consistent with the hypothesis, they increase the probability that the hypothesis is valid. Hypothesis-driven research often appeals to a much broader audience than a more descriptive paper because (a) the emphasis on the biological question (“big picture”) addressed by the hypothesis helps readers understand the motivation for the work, (b) possible experimental outcomes are predicted and interpreted in the context of the hypothesis, and (c) the reader becomes engaged in the logic of your arguments and thus the justification for your experiments. Sometimes, a student engages in research to develop new methods or to optimize protocols; although this work is not usually hypothesis-driven, the student can and should provide a clear explanation to justify why s/he undertook the project.

Example: You have been working hard to crystallize a protein and near the end of your thesis, you get amazing crystals that refract to 2.0 angstrom resolution. What is your hypothesis? Would you state “I hypothesize that I can crystallize protein X under anaerobic conditions and high salt concentration”? Of course not. You need to step back and think about WHY you are crystallizing this protein. Why are you compelled to crystallize Protein X? What is the big picture? For example, you might propose that there are specific structural changes in Protein X upon phosphorylation that make it a target for anti-cancer drugs – this is a much more appealing motivation for experiments. In this scenario, solving the structure of Protein X is only one step towards addressing the question, but much more interesting because the reader understands and appreciates the big picture. You can always include a Future Directions section that would state for the reader the experiments you would propose next!

Your thesis should include significant background and references so that any professor, postdoctoral fellow, graduate student, or advanced undergraduate from any MCB division, can understand the motivation for and significance of your work. References must be included when discussing the work of others. Plagiarism (copying text or figures from any source, printed or online, without attribution) is unacceptable and will result in an automatic failure.

Practical advice

These are only suggestions – in talking with your research advisor and lab members, you may come up with a different approach! This approach assumes that your hypothesis is already well developed and has guided your experiments.

• Start with the data and figures. Figures should be of professional quality and have descriptive legends, comparable to figures published in scientific journals. Every figure should be referred to, in order, in the narrative, in a way that readers understand the motivation for the experiment, the proposed outcomes, and the actual observations.
• Once you lay out the big picture and the data, talk through your figures to envision the text transitions between each figure. You may see obvious gaps when more information/data is needed for a particular transition, or you may decide that you need to present the work in a different order. Science is rarely linear. To support your conclusions, the presentation of your results should be in a LOGICAL order, not in the chronoLOGICAL order in which you did the experiments.
• After deciding on a logical order for your figures, you will be able to write the Results section.
• After writing the Results section, it will be much easier to see how to discuss your results. Whereas the Results describe the data, the Discussion is the place to highlight the importance of your findings and put them in the context of the field. Writing the Discussion after the Results are completed will also help you see what background you need to cover in the Introduction to ensure the reader has the appropriate context to understand the question addressed by your hypothesis and to follow the experimental logic.
• In the Results section, some data interpretation may be necessary to transition from one experiment to the next (e.g. to motivate the next question/experiment); however, remember that a full discussion of the implications of the results should be reserved for the Discussion.
• Write the abstract LAST. An abstract is typically 200-400 words and outlines the hypothesis and the key conclusions of the work. Your main points will be obvious and much easier to state after completing the Results and Discussion.
• If you get writer’s block, you can always start with the Materials and Methods. This section is usually written in narrative form, without bullet points or numbering.
• If you are having difficulty, get help from your research advisor or others in the lab early on. If you need additional advice, check with your faculty advisor.

Hallmarks of an “Excellent” Piece of Scientific writing

(adapted from UC Davis “Writing across Curriculum” Program):

• Ideas: A well-written thesis will provide a thoughtful answer to a question worth asking. The hypothesis and central ideas of the work are clearly stated. The thesis clearly addresses any nuances and complexity, but stays on track, without straying unnecessarily from the main point.
• Support: The data presented convincingly support the main conclusion(s). It should be clear that the author has critically and thoroughly analyzed the data, as well as the work of others.
• Organization and Coherence: The document is well organized and logically structured and follows a standard scientific format that is familiar to the reader. Transitions are well crafted and lead the reader easily from one experiment and/or observation and/or idea to the next. Paragraphs make clear points in support of the question/hypothesis and represent logical transitions from one idea to the next.
• Style: The document demonstrates that the author has a clear command of the English language. The sentence style is appropriate for the scientific audience and varied enough to keep their interest. Words are chosen carefully and for their precise meaning.
• Mechanics: The document contains very few, if any, spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. Abbreviations are defined the first time they appear in the text. References follow the standard, accepted format.

Writing an Honors Thesis

An Honors Thesis is a substantial piece of independent research that an undergraduate carries out over two semesters. Students writing Honors Theses take PHIL 691H and 692H, in two different semesters. What follows answers all the most common questions about Honors Theses in Philosophy.

All necessary forms are fillable and downloadable.

Honors Thesis Application

Honors Thesis Contract

Honors Thesis Learning Contract

Who can write an Honors Thesis in Philosophy?

Any Philosophy major who has a total, cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 and a GPA of at least 3.5 (with a maximum of one course with a PS grade) among their PHIL courses can in principle write an Honors Thesis. In addition, students need to satisfy a set of specific pre-requisites, as outlined below.

What are the pre-requisites for an Honors Thesis in Philosophy?

The requirements for writing an Honors Thesis in Philosophy include

• having taken at least five PHIL courses, including two numbered higher than 299;
• having a total PHIL GPA of at least 3.5 (with a maximum of one course with a PS grade); and
• having done one of the following four things:
• taken and passed PHIL 397;
• successfully completed an Honors Contract associated with a PHIL course;
• received an A or A- in a 300-level course in the same area of philosophy as the proposed thesis ; or
• taken and passed a 400-level course in the same area of philosophy as the proposed thesis .

When should I get started?

You should get started with the application process and search for a prospective advisor the semester before you plan to start writing your thesis – that is, the semester before the one in which you want to take PHIL 691H.

Often, though not always, PHIL 691H and 692H are taken in the fall and spring semesters of the senior year, respectively. It is also possible to start earlier and take 691H in the spring semester of the junior year and PHIL 692H in the fall of the senior year. Starting earlier has some important advantages. One is that it means you will finish your thesis in time to use it as a writing sample, should you decide to apply to graduate school. Another is that it avoids a mad rush near the very end of your last semester.

How do I get started?

Step 1: fill out the honors thesis application.

The first thing you need to do is fill out an Honors Thesis Application   and submit it to the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) for their approval.

Step 2: Find an Honors Thesis Advisor with the help of the DUS

Once you have been approved to write an Honors Thesis, you will consult with the DUS about the project that you have in mind and about which faculty member would be an appropriate advisor for your thesis. It is recommended that you reach out informally to prospective advisors to talk about their availability and interest in your project ahead of time, and that you include those suggestions in your application, but it is not until your application has been approved that the DUS will officially invite the faculty member of your choice to serve as your advisor. You will be included in this correspondence and will receive written confirmation from your prospective advisor.

Agreeing to be the advisor for an Honors Thesis is a major commitment, so bear in mind that there is a real possibility that someone asked to be your advisor will say no. Unfortunately, if we cannot find an advisor, you cannot write an Honors Thesis.

Step 3: Fill out the required paperwork needed to register for PHIL 691H

Finally, preferably one or two weeks before the start of classes (or as soon as you have secured the commitment of a faculty advisor), you need to fill out an Honors Thesis Contract  and an Honors Thesis Learning Contract , get them both signed by your advisor, and email them to the DUS.

Once the DUS approves both of these forms, they’ll get you registered for PHIL 691H. All of this should take place no later than the 5th day of classes in any given semester (preferably sooner).

What happens when I take PHIL 691H and PHIL 692H?

PHIL 691H and PHIL 692H are the course numbers that you sign up for to get credit for working on an Honors Thesis. These classes have official meeting times and places. In the case of PHIL 691H , those are a mere formality: You will meet with your advisor at times you both agree upon. But in the case of PHIL 692H , they are not a mere formality: The class will actually meet as a group, at least for the first few weeks of the semester (please see below).

When you take PHIL 691H, you should meet with your advisor during the first 5 days of classes and, if you have not done so already, fill out an Honors Thesis Learning Contract  and turn in to the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) . This Contract will serve as your course syllabus and must be turned in and approved no later than the 5th day of classes in any given semester (preferably sooner). Once the DUS approves your Honors Thesis Learning Contract, they’ll get you registered for PHIL 691H.

Over the course of the semester, you will meet regularly with your advisor. By the last day of classes, you must turn in a 10-page paper on your thesis topic; this can turn out to be part of your final thesis, but it doesn’t have to. In order to continue working on an Honors Thesis the following semester, this paper must show promise of your ability to complete one, in the opinion of your advisor. Your advisor should assign you a grade of “ SP ” at the conclusion of the semester, signifying “satisfactory progress” (so you can move on to PHIL 692H). Please see page 3 of this document for more information.

When you take PHIL 692H, you’ll still need to work with your advisor to fill out an Honors Thesis Learning Contract . This Contract will serve as your course syllabus and must be turned in to and approved by the DUS  no later than the 5th day of classes in any given semester (preferably sooner).

Once the DUS approves your Honors Thesis Learning Contract, they’ll get you registered for PHIL 692H.

At the end of the second semester of senior honors thesis work (PHIL 692H), your advisor should assign you a permanent letter grade. Your advisor should also change your PHIL 691H grade from “ SP ” to a permanent letter grade. Please see page 3 of this document for more information.

The Graduate Course Option

If you and your advisor agree, you may exercise the Graduate Course Option. If you do this, then during the semester when you are enrolled in either PHIL 691H or PHIL 692H, you will attend and do the work for a graduate level PHIL course. (You won’t be officially enrolled in that course.) A paper you write for this course will be the basis for your Honors Thesis. If you exercise this option, then you will be excused from the other requirements of the thesis course (either 691H or 692H) that you are taking that semester.

Who can be my advisor?

Any faculty member on a longer-than-one-year contract in the Department of Philosophy may serve as your honors thesis advisor. You will eventually form a committee of three professors, of which one can be from outside the Department.  But your advisor must have an appointment in the Philosophy Department. Graduate Students are not eligible to advise Honors Theses.

Who should be my advisor?

Any faculty member on a longer-than-one-year contract in the Department of Philosophy may serve as your honors thesis advisor. It makes most sense to ask a professor who already knows you from having had you as a student in a class. In some cases, though, this is either not possible, or else there is someone on the faculty who is an expert on the topic you want to write about, but from whom you have not taken a class. Information about which faculty members are especially qualified to advise thesis projects in particular areas of philosophy can be found  here .

What about the defense?

You and your advisor should compose a committee of three professors (including the advisor) who will examine you and your thesis. Once the committee is composed, you will need to schedule an oral examination, a.k.a. a defense. You should take the initiative here, communicating with all members of your committee in an effort to find a block of time (a little over an hour) when all three of you can meet. The thesis must be defended by a deadline , set by Honors Carolina , which is usually a couple of weeks before the end of classes. Students are required to upload the final version of their thesis to the  Carolina Digital Repository  by the final day of class in the semester in which they complete the thesis course work and thesis defense.

What is an Honors Thesis in Philosophy like?

An Honors Thesis in Philosophy is a piece of writing in the same genre as a typical philosophy journal article. There is no specific length requirement, but 30 pages (double-spaced) is a good guideline. Some examples of successfully defended Honors The easiest way to find theses of past philosophy students is on the web in the Carolina Digital Repository . Some older, hard copies of theses are located on the bookshelf in suite 107 of Caldwell Hall. (You may ask the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) , or anyone else who happens to be handy, to show you where it is!)

How does the Honors Thesis get evaluated?

The honors thesis committee will evaluate the quality and originality of your thesis as well as of your defense and then decides between the following three options:

• they may award only course credit for the thesis work if the thesis is of acceptable quality;
• they may designate that the student graduate with honors if the thesis is of a very strong quality;
• they may  recommend  that the student graduate with highest honors if the thesis is of exceptional quality.

As a matter of best practice, our philosophy department requires that examining committees refer all candidates for highest honors to our Undergraduate Committee chaired by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. This committee evaluates nominated projects and makes the final decision on awarding highest honors. Highest honors should be awarded only to students who have met the most rigorous standards of scholarly excellence.

Getting started

Preparing for the honors thesis

What is the honors thesis?

The honors thesis is the culmination of Barrett students’ honors experience and their entire undergraduate education.

The honors thesis is an original piece of work developed by a student under the guidance of a thesis committee. It is an opportunity for students to work closely with faculty on important research questions and creative ideas. The honors thesis can have either a research or creative focus, and enables students to design, execute and present an intellectually rigorous project in their chosen field of study.

The first step in the honors thesis process is the completion of a thesis preparation workshop.

These workshops are places for you to brainstorm topics, learn about the honors thesis process, gain feedback on your ideas, ask questions, and create a to-do list for your honors thesis. Completion of a thesis preparation workshop is required before enrolling in thesis credits, and we encourage you to participate in a workshop by the first semester of your junior year.

There are two options for completing a thesis preparation workshop.

Enroll in the online self-paced workshop 

Or, sign up to attend a live workshop offered in the fall or spring semester:

Thurs Sept 5th 12pm–1pm Barrett Suite, Lantana Hall 121 (Polytechnic campus) No RSVP required

Mon Sept 9th 4pm–5pm Barrett Suite, Athena Conference Room (West Valley campus) RSVP

Wed Sept 11th 4:30pm–6pm Barrett Student Center, Vista Del Sol (Tempe campus) RSVP

Wed Sept 18th 11am–12pm Barrett Suite, Athena Conference Room (West Valley campus) RSVP

Tues Sept 24th 3:30pm–5pm Edson College focus Virtual (Zoom) RSVP

Thurs Sept 26th 9:30am–10:30am Barrett Suite, Athena Conference Room (West Valley campus) RSVP

Thurs Sept 26th 4:30pm–6pm Virtual (Zoom) RSVP

Mon Sept 30th 10am–11am Barrett Suite, Athena Conference Room (West Valley campus) RSVP

Wed Oct 2nd 4:30pm–6pm College of Health Solutions focus Virtual (Zoom) RSVP

Wed Oct 2nd 5pm–6pm Virtual (Zoom) No RSVP Required

Tues Oct 8th 5pm–6:30pm Barrett Student Center, Vista Del Sol (Tempe campus) RSVP

Fri Oct 25th 4:30pm–6pm Virtual (Zoom) RSVP

Tues Nov 12th 5:00pm–6:30pm Barrett Student Center, Vista Del Sol (Tempe campus) RSVP

Thurs Nov 14th 4pm–5pm Virtual (Zoom) No RSVP Required

Fri Nov 22nd 4:30pm–6pm Virtual (Zoom) RSVP

Thurs Feb 20th 3:30pm–5pm Cronkite School focus Virtual (Zoom) RSVP

Tues Feb 26th 12pm–1:30pm Watts College focus Virtual (Zoom) RSVP

Ready to take the next step?

Following the completion of a thesis preparation workshop, Barrett students should schedule a thesis advising appointment with their Barrett Honors Advisor to discuss and review the guidebook, checklist and the due dates that correspond with the semester they intend to complete their undergraduate degree.

Honors Thesis Student Guidebook

Please explore the resources available to you within this guidebook to ensure your success. Refer to the checklist on page 13 to continue moving forward in the process.

View the Student Guidebook

Student Guidebook sections

What is the honors thesis.

The honors thesis project is an original piece of work by a student, in collaboration with their thesis director and committee. Most students complete an honors thesis within their major department but may choose a topic outside of the major. Each department may set its own standards for methodology (i.e., empirical, comparative, or descriptive), project length, and so on. Review the relevant Opportunities in the Major documents created by the Faculty Honors Advisors (FHAs)  here , and contact the FHAs in your area(s) of interest for additional information.

A thesis can be:

• A scholarly research project involving analysis that is presented in written form. Represents a commitment to research, critical thinking, and an informed viewpoint of the student.
• A creative project that combines scholarship and creative work in which the primary outcome consists of something other than a written document but includes a written document that supports the creative endeavor and involves scholarly research.
• A group project that brings together more than one Barrett student to work on a thesis collaboratively. Working in a group gives students valuable experience and enables them to take on larger, more complicated topics. Students may begin a group project with approval of a Thesis Director.

Selecting a Topic

Because the honors thesis is the culmination of undergraduate studies, begin thinking about a topic early. Many students base the honors thesis on an aspect of coursework, internship, or research. Once an area of interest is identified, take two or three courses that concentrate in that specific area.  Selecting a topic should ultimately be done under the guidance of faculty. The honors thesis is a joint effort between students and faculty.

Consider these tips and resources as you begin the process of selecting a topic: 

• Reflect on past experience to determine interests.
• Talk to faculty including Faculty Honors Advisors about topics that are interesting and relevant to coursework, major, career interests, or from ongoing faculty research.
• View past honors theses through the ASU Library Digital Repository .

Thesis Pathways

Honors Thesis Pathways are unique thesis opportunities, where students can be paired with faculty on interesting and engaging topics. The pathway options provide students a structured experience in completing their thesis, while researching a topic that interests them.

The committee consists of a Director, a Second Committee Member, and may include a Third Committee Member. Ultimately, your committee must approve your thesis/creative project, so work closely with them throughout the process.  Specific academic unit committee requirements can be found here .

• Any member of ASU faculty with professional expertise in the project area. (This excludes graduate students.)
• Includes lecturer and tenure-line faculty.
• Primary supervisor of the project.
• Conducts regular meetings, provides feedback, sets expectations, and presides over the defense.

*Emeritus faculty may serve as thesis directors as approved by the FHA from the department which the thesis is to be completed. Directors are expected to be physically present at the honors thesis defense. They may not be reimbursed for travel related to attending the defense.

Second Committee Member

• Individual whom you and your Director decide is appropriate to serve based on knowledge and experience with the thesis topic.
• Credentials will be determined by the Director and the criteria of that academic unit.
• Conducts regular meetings, provides feedback, and offers additional evaluation at the defense.

Third Committee Member (optional-varies by academic unit)

• Faculty member or qualified professional.
• If required, credentials will be determined by the Director and the criteria of that academic unit.
• External Examiners are Third Committee Members.
• Offer insight and expertise on the topic and provides additional evaluation at the defense.

The prospectus serves as an action plan for the honors thesis and provides a definitive list of goals, procedures, expectations, and an overall timeline including internal deadlines for your work. This will lay the groundwork for your project and serve as a reference point for you and your committee. You and your committee should work together to solidify a topic and create project goals. 

Submit your prospectus online

Registration and Grading

To register:

• Be enrolled in Barrett, The Honors College and in academic good standing. 
• Have the approval of the faculty member who serves as the Director. 
• In-person Barrett thesis workshop
• Online (via Blackboard) Barrett thesis workshop. Self-enroll- search words “Barrett Honors Thesis Online Workshop”
• Major specific thesis preparatory workshop or course may be available in limited academic units.

Register for the honors thesis through the department of the Director .   First, obtain override permission from the department of the Director during normal enrollment periods. 

Thesis Credits (up to 6 hours)

• 492 Honors Directed Study: taken in the first semester during research and creation of the project (not offered by all departments).
• 493 Honors Thesis: taken in the second semester for defense and completion of the project.  
• 492 and 493 are sequential and may not be taken in the same semester.  
• You must register for and successfully complete at least 493 (or its equivalent) to graduate from Barrett, The Honors College.

Grading the Honors Thesis

When the honors thesis is completed and approved by the committee, the Director assigns a course grade. Criteria and evaluation for grading are determined by the Director and the standards of that academic discipline.   

If you enroll in 492, the Director has the option of assigning a Z grade until the project is completed.

The assignment of a Z grade indicates that a project is in progress and delays placement of a final grade until completion. 

Defense and Final Steps

• Presentation and summary of the honors thesis. Format, content, and length are determined by the Director and standards of the content area. Plan to review the origins of the project, its scope, the methodology used, significant findings, and conclusions. 
• Submit final draft to the committee at least two weeks before the defense. Allow time for revisions leading up to the defense.
• Work with your committee to set a defense and report to Barrett using the Honors Defense and Thesis Approval form. Once submitted, your Director will automatically be emailed an approval link on the date of your defense.
• All committee members must participate in the defense.
• Group projects: Each student is required to submit an individual Honors Defense and Thesis Approval form. All group members must participate in the defense. 
• Defenses are open to the ASU community and published to the Defense Calendar.
• Following the presentation, committee members will ask questions about issues raised in the work, choices made in the research, and any further outcomes.
• At the conclusion of the discussion, the committee will convene to provide an outcome that will determine next steps.

Thesis Outcomes

• Minor format/editorial corrections may be suggested.
• Director will report approval using the Final Thesis Approval link emailed to them on the defense date.
• Your next step is to upload your approved final project to the Barrett Digital Repository.

Provisional Approval (Common outcome)

• More significant revisions required.
• Once revisions are complete, Director will report approval using the Final Thesis Approval link emailed to them on the defense date.
• Your next step is to upload your approved final project to the Barrett Digital Repository after revisions are approved.

Not approved (Least common outcome)

• Basic design and/or overall execution of the honors thesis is significantly flawed.
• The Director and committee may continue working with the student to make major revisions. You should discuss this with committee and Honors Advisor about implications on Barrett graduation.

WRITING AN HONORS THESIS IN THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Updated January 2022

Honors English students, following Schreyer Honors College requirements, compose a thesis of significant scholarly research or creative writing. The thesis is completed in close consultation with a thesis supervisor during the semester before the student’s graduation semester, while the student is enrolled in English 494H.

In the graduation semester, students polish and submit their theses for approval by the thesis supervisor and the honors advisor and then submit them to Schreyer Honors College. Dates of final submission vary; please consult your honors advisor and the Schreyer website .

An Honors Thesis in English

An English honors thesis in scholarly research and interpretation should be an ambitious, well-researched, in-depth study focused on a topic chosen by the student in consultation with the thesis supervisor.

An English honors thesis in creative writing should be a sophisticated and well-crafted creative project written in consultation with the thesis supervisor, a project that demonstrates the student’s increasing proficiency of their chosen creative genre(s).

The Critical/Literary Studies Thesis

A critical / literary studies thesis might arise from a range of possibilities: a course paper you would like to extend; an interest you were unable to pursue in class; a connection between two classes that you’ve made on your own; an author, set of works, or theme you want to explore in greater depth; a critical question that has been puzzling you; a body of literature that you want to contextualize; a topic relevant to post-graduate plans (e.g., law school, graduate school, marketing career, writing career, and so forth). Consider also your skill sets, your workload and experiences, and the timeline for completion. The questions you’re asking should be open to productive analysis, questions worth asking.

The topic should challenge you, so that you’re neither summarizing nor skimming the surface of the primary and secondary work under consideration. Chapters within the thesis should build upon each other and connect to an overarching theme or argument. The thesis should be as clear and concise as possible. Make sure the argument is structured, with each chapter and each paragraph having a clear role to play in the development of the argument.

Because the thesis is a scholarly product, it will demonstrate good research skills and effective use of secondary readings. It will also be grammatically correct. Your work will be entering existing critical conversations with other scholarship, so your research should be sufficiently completed prior to your finalizing the thesis plan. Your work should have properly formatted notes and bibliography, whether in Chicago, MLA, or APA style.

Note length stipulations: Honors theses in critical / literary studies may be as short as 8,000 words but no longer than 15,000 words. If the thesis is shorter or longer than these advised limits, explain your thinking and decision-making in the introduction of your thesis.

The Creative Thesis

The creative thesis will be an innovative, stylistically sophisticated work, attentive to language and voice. The work should develop a sustained narrative or theme. Most students who write creative theses produce a collection of short stories or personal essays, a novella, a memoir, a research-based piece of creative nonfiction or a collection of poems. It is very, very difficult to write a novel in one semester, so unless you already have a novel underway, writing a novel is probably not a realistic thesis project. Creative works should be unified (by theme, by topic, or in some other way).

Students should already have taken a 200-level creative writing workshop in the chosen genre(s) and a 300- or 400-level workshop in this same genre(s). (You can be signed up to take the 400-level workshop in 494H semester.) Ideally, students will have studied creative writing with the faculty member who will serve as supervisor, but note that this is a suggestion and not a requirement. Schedule an initial meeting with your prospective thesis supervisor to discuss your plans for the execution of your creative work.

Note this requirement! Creative works will offer an introductory reflective essay (five to eight pages) outlining the project’s aims and placing the project into the context of the style and/or themes of work by other authors. The introductory reflection should address how your creative project complements or challenges work done by others. It should 1) explain the goals of the project and 2) place it into the context of relevant creative or critical texts. Any works referred to in this essay should be documented using Chicago, MLA, of APA style.

Note length stipulations: Honors theses in creative writing may be as short as 8,000 words but no longer than 15,000 words. If the thesis is shorter or longer than these advised limits, explain your thinking and decision-making in the introductory reflective essay. 

The Thesis Supervisor

Schreyer Honors College requires thesis proposals to be submitted in early April of the year before graduation. For this reason, you must have a thesis supervisor by March, so that you can draft your proposal under the supervisor’s direction.

The first step in finding a thesis supervisor is having a meeting with your honors advisor in order to talk through your thesis interests. When identifying a thesis supervisor, consider professors with whom you have a good rapport; professors whose creative or scholarly interests seem like they might dovetail with your own; professors willing to oversee experimental work. You do not need an exact match with any given professor’s work or interests. For instance, a professor’s methodology might fit yours, even if the focus of their research differs.

Before approaching a potential thesis supervisor, meet with your honors advisor to confirm that this would be an appropriate fit for you. After meeting with your honors advisor, you will be making an appointment to meet with the potential thesis supervisor. During that meeting, you will offer some plans with concrete ideas. Be open-minded. Be prepared to listen to alternatives. Discuss the professor’s willingness to supervise the thesis. (Sometimes faculty are already committed to other projects.) If a faculty member cannot agree to supervise, use the opportunity to ask for further suggestions about your topic and a potentially appropriate supervisor, then check back in with your honors advisor.

Crafting the Thesis Proposal

For students graduating in the spring semester of any given year, thesis proposals are due in early April of the prior year. As with other deadlines, the Schreyer Honors College will prompt you to complete the thesis proposal form on the SRS site. Start planning the thesis as soon as a supervisor has been identified. Look at other proposals and at completed theses for good models. Read one or two award-winning theses to get a sense of the scope and depth of a successful thesis: < https://honors.libraries.psu.edu/catalog >.

Critical / literary studies thesis proposals will articulate the questions being asked, identify the primary and secondary materials to be used, and hypothesize about a general argument to be made. You might not have specified your conclusions yet, but a well formulated set of questions is key.

Creative thesis proposals will identify the genre(s) of writing, identify the writing method and approach, and situate the work within the critical context of that genre.

Both kinds of theses require, at the proposal stage, a bibliography (in standard documentation format) of sources consulted. This will reveal how your project is in conversation with other relevant work.

Once you have drafted the thesis proposal, consult with your proposed thesis supervisor and your honors advisor, allowing them sufficient time to offer suggestions. Do not submit a proposal without getting the approval of your thesis supervisor and honors advisor! Expect to get feedback on your plans. Give your thesis supervisor and your honors advisor time to respond to your proposal draft, because it’s complicated to make changes once you submit the form for them to sign off on.

Planning the Project

One semester prior to the ENGL 494 semester, consult with your thesis supervisor to develop a reading list to be completed before you start writing. For theses written in the fall (for May graduation), this will be summer reading; for theses written in the spring (for December graduation), this reading will have to be compacted over the holiday break.

For critical / literary studies theses, read in both primary (the literature, films, authors, or evidence you are analyzing) and secondary materials (articles and books about your topic).

For creative theses , read primary texts in your chosen genre, along with such secondary sources as reviews of these works and articles and books about writing and the writer’s life.

Finding primary materials. The primary materials you’re using should extend beyond what you’ve done in classwork, but do not take on too much. In the end, the quality of the analysis matters much more than pages generated. If you can sustain an analysis of a single novel for fifty pages, offer a thorough account of the secondary criticism on that novel and make a real contribution to that criticism. Note, however, that a twenty-five page plot summary of a single novel is not worthy of honors in English.

Finding secondary materials. Look for important secondary studies offering fresh and provocative approaches to your topic or genre as well as studies that articulate the relationship between your topic and general literary history.

Library and internet databases will assist your work . Library databases of both primary and secondary writings can assist your background research. Think flexibly about useful keywords for searching databases. Also, consider using the resources found in the notes of scholars whose work you have discovered. Using other scholars’ resources will assist your work in identifying pertinent additional primary and secondary sources. If two or three very current articles cite the same older work, you have probably found a foundational critical study.

Look into possible grants to assist your work. Schreyer Research Grants, Erickson Grants, and Liberal Arts Enrichment Grants are available. Consult with the Schreyer Honors College about summer research funding, research travel funding, and other ways to support ambitious research projects. Erickson grants and Liberal Arts Enrichment Grants are available to rising seniors who will incur expenses for their research. If you are a Paterno Fellow, ask the fellows assistant if grants might be available to assist your work. Also consult this link: https://la.psu.edu/beyond-the-classroom/research/

Preliminary Research/Writing and the 494H Semester

During the semester and/or break before the 494H semester, set a rigorous schedule for reading and note-taking. Of course, you will continue to read while you are writing during that semester. But concentrate now on getting the foundation for what you want to say.

Work on developing connections and ideas across your readings. Take the time to take notes! As you continue reading, you might find that your ideas and goals change. That’s a success! Be aware that if your original idea isn’t going anywhere, you need to keep pushing to find a new idea. If your sources aren’t helping you develop new ideas, find new sources.

Try putting findings or notes or creative materials into a preliminary outline of your thesis chapters, so that you can construct a fuller outline before you formally start writing during the 494H semester. Writing is a form of thinking, so start writing and see where your ideas go. Drafting helps refine both ideas and purpose.

Keep in contact with your thesis supervisor. You can use email for this, or zoom, if your professor prefers. Let your supervisor know about how your reading is going and any new ideas you have.

Strategies for success in the 494H semester

Remember you are getting three honors course credits for ENGL 494, so treat this time commitment seriously! Three credits total 135 hours, so use your time wisely. Incorporate time into your schedule for the multiple drafts of each section.

Set aside time each week for your thesis preparation and writing.

Plan to meet with your thesis supervisor on a regular basis (every other week is typical) throughout the semester. Set up a schedule and keep to it. Remember that the thesis supervisor has agreed to help you with your work, so respect your supervisor’s time. Don’t miss meetings or have nothing to show. Set deadlines for the submission of each chapter with your thesis supervisor.

Be responsible: Aim to allow your supervisor two weeks to read and respond to your written work. Be in regular communication with your thesis supervisor. Also, don’t make your thesis supervisor or the honors advisors track you down. Arrive at meetings promptly. If the honors advisor or thesis supervisor drops you a line by email, answer it promptly. Even if – especially if – you fall behind, stay in communication with thesis supervisor and with the honors advisor.

Remember that advice is given to you to help you improve. Listen to your thesis supervisor’s advice and suggestions. If your honors advisor, your second reader, offers suggestions, listen to these suggestions, too! Follow the advice or else respond in a mature and informed way. If you disagree with suggestions offered you, or if you wish to go in another direction, initiate a fruitful dialogue with your supervisor or honors advisor about the project. Let your supervisor and honors advisor know that you are listening.

The Graded Thesis Draft Submitted During the 494H Semester

A complete draft of your thesis is due at the end of the 494H semester.

The thesis supervisor evaluates your consistent progress toward completion, your regular communication about your work, and your effort to acknowledge and use the supervisor’s feedback. Your supervisor is the one who determines your grade, even though the honors advisors are the professors of record for the 494H course. Remember that the grade for 494H evaluates your draft, not the final thesis.

The grade for 494H evaluates the student in the following areas: 1) consistent progress in thesis planning, research, and writing; 2) regular communication with the thesis supervisor through the 494H semester; 3) attention, in revision, to the supervisor’s advice. Thesis supervisors will take into account any additional expectations particular to a thesis topic, the ambition and originality of the developing project, and, in the case of critical / literary theses, the student’s growing skills in employing secondary sources in original ways.

Revision and Submission of Thesis

The final thesis is due according to the Schreyer Honors College’s deadline, near the middle of the student’s final semester. The Schreyer Honors College’s deadlines are firm. The first Schreyer deadline is for formatting approval. Students are responsible for making sure to follow the most up-to-date formatting and submission guidelines on the Schreyer website. See the guidelines: shc.psu.edu/academic/thesis/formatting.cfm

At the time the thesis is submitted to Schreyer for format approval, submit the final draft to your thesis supervisor and honors advisor. The honors advisor might require revisions concerning the clarity of presentation to non-specialist readers, grammar and usage errors, and so forth. You must have the approval of your supervisor and your honors advisor for your thesis to be approved by Schreyer, so be sure to take seriously the feedback offered at this point.

The second Schreyer deadline is for final submission, at which point your thesis supervisor and your honors advisor must approve your thesis. Follow the Schreyer guidelines for submitting the final version of your thesis and getting the digital signatures of approval from your thesis supervisor and your honors advisor.

For questions, please contact the English Honors Advisers .

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Guidelines for your honors thesis

An honors thesis in Classical Studies is, first, a study of primary sources for the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, like literary and historical texts, inscriptions, sculptures, vase paintings, and murals. After identifying an area of interest, you will work with a faculty advisor to define an appropriate, interesting topic and make a research and writing plan. Emphasis should be placed upon critical analysis and interpretation of primary evidence while secondary literature can be used to build background knowledge and support your interpretation of primary sources. The final thesis should not only be a synthesis of secondary literature.

Other innovative projects are also possible, especially those combining primary evidence from the classical world with your expertise in another discipline. All theses involve significant, analytical writing, the nature and scope of which is to be determined in consultation with the faculty advisor, second reader, and the director of undergraduate studies.

Application for admission into the departmental honors program is usually made during the junior year and the thesis is written during the senior year. You may be nominated by a faculty member or may nominate yourself. Acceptance into the honors program is made by the honors advisor and the Undergraduate Committee.

Faculty advisor

Each honors thesis will be directed by a faculty advisor whose areas of expertise relates to the thesis topic.

In either the spring of the junior year or at the start of the senior year, you should approach a faculty member and discuss your plans of study or areas of interest. You may also consult with the director of undergraduate studies (DUS). If you plan to study abroad, you should set up your thesis project with a faculty advisor before leaving for travel, preferably during the spring of your junior year.

With the advisor, you will narrow the topic and decide whether the project requires one or two semesters of work (C399 in the fall and/or C499 in spring). You will write a one-page abstract describing the project, specifying which primary sources it will focus on and outlining the plan to study.

The faculty advisor in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies will select a second faculty member to serve as reader. The reader should review and comment on the abstract and may be consulted as the student works. After the thesis is turned in to the DUS , s/he will promptly arrange for a copy of the thesis to be made for the advisor and the reader.

Both advisors will read the thesis and report a grade to the DUS along with brief comments about the argument, use of evidence, clarity of presentation, editorial matters, etc. The readers will submit their reports to the DUS within one week of receiving copies of the thesis. The readers may require revisions to be completed before the final submission, though these should be limited to reasonable changes that can be made within the timeframe.

You will receive as a grade the average of the two grades. In a case of wide disparity, the undergraduate advisor will also read and grade the thesis and the three grades will be averaged.

The thesis must be submitted to the director of undergraduate studies no later than six weeks before graduation in the semester in which you graduate or plan to complete your studies at Indiana University Bloomington. This deadline allows time for the usual revisions and assures that you will receive honors at the time of graduation. Because working out the argument and polishing the writing take more time than is usually imagined, you should present a draft of the thesis to the advisors at least one month before this deadline. The DUS will have copies made and distribute them to the two readers.

A clean, absolutely final copy of the thesis must be submitted to the director of undergraduate studies no later than the last day of classes in the semester in which you graduate or plan to complete your studies at Indiana University Bloomington.

Honors theses are bound by the department and preserved in the departmental library with doctoral theses and faculty publications.

C399 & C499

Students usually write a thesis over two semesters, registering for C399 (3 credits) for the first semester of work and C499 (3 credits) for the second. An exception may be made, for example, for a student who has begun a project while studying abroad during the first semester of senior year but wishes to write a thesis in their final semester.

This course work (3 or 6 credits) is in addition to the 27 credit hours required of the regular major. The thesis writer must visit the director of undergraduate studies (DUS) and pick up a copy of these guidelines in order to obtain authorization to register for C399 and/or C499.

C399 Readings for Honors should be a tutorial focusing on the area/s which the thesis will explore. The semester should be dedicated to general research, preparation of a bibliography, and an outline of the project. At the beginning of the semester, you and your faculty instructor will put together a statement outlining the readings and work to be completed in this tutorial as well as the schedule of meeting times. At the end of the course, both you and the instructor will each submit a brief report.

An honors thesis should be between 30 and 40 pages in length.

It should have the following formal features:

• table of contents
• chapters with informative titles (and sub-heading as appropriate)
• bibliography of all works used in writing the thesis
• footnotes citing primary and secondary sources
• numbered plates with illustrations (as appropriate)
• continuous pagination

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The Honors College Capstone Thesis is a major research or creative project prepared by an Honors student under the mentorship of a faculty member. It meets the Capstone requirement for graduating through the Honors College and is required for the Honors student who wishes to earn recognition as a Distinguished Honors Scholar.