How Many References Should You Include in a Dissertation?

Referencing is a key aspect of academic writing. It ensures that the content stays credible and ignores plagiarism.

On the other once it comes to adding references in a dissertation, only some people know how many add them.

Further, there are plenty of different citation styles and every of them has its own certain rules. Every citation has its own guidelines that adapt to a certain field.

But then, there are no such rules on how many references you must use in your thesis. And it is not rocket science. It can usually depend on the level of study, research, and university.

However, if you are a beginner writer looking for the right answers, we are here to assist you.

Value of references in your dissertation

Firstly, before I am going to answer the question of what the exact number of references is in a dissertation. You must grasp its value.

We will first learn it via example. Just imagine you are visiting the Shibuya Street in Japan, Tokyo on Mindat. And your aim is to plan a scream. The world will be going to finish in the amount of 24 hours’ span.’’

Will anyone listen to you? Well, they will ignore you because you are talking and trying to grab the attention of people without stating the fact.

So, the same goes for the dissertation; how can you add and write anything without references? You are writing a thesis based on the fact, not writing a creative book.

Let us talk about it in detail in the next section.

1. To ignore plagiarism

Plagiarism happens mostly when you are using an idea without offering it due credit. Or it also happens when learners copy and paste the content as it is.

So, you will need to add a reference in your thesis.

2. To support the statements

Once you add a quote in your dissertation, you provide proof as a means to support your claims. It is essential because it reveals that you have done your careful research.

3. To prove knowledge of the field

Once you cite a wide range of sources in your thesis, it shows that you are familiar with the recent research.

It is essential the reason is that these kinds of citations are used by a skilled researcher, and their work needs reading.

4. To offer phrases to other scholars

Once you mention the state, you praise the work of the others who wrote their content. It is essential to be a researcher it tells you to respect your job. Further, you will need to take credit for other credits.

If you need help with your literature review, just go to Google and type how to write a literature review dissertation. Wider range of queries you will see, take the ideas after that begin writing. Or you can also hire an experienced thesis writer, who can also help you with your work.

But, how many references are vital in your dissertation?

There is no exact answer to how many references to add to your dissertation. However, the answers lie in plenty of factors. These are as follows.

1. The degree level of the dissertation

As there are three levels of degree programs, such as bachelor's, master's, and as well PHD.

1. Bachelor's program

A bachelor's level dissertation needs at least 10,000 to 15,000 words to finish the program. For those kinds of thesis, normally 45 to 50 references will be needed.

Further, you can also add 100 references to the right bar to include in your thesis.

2. Masters

At the level of a master’s dissertation, the word count needs to be increased by at least 15000 to 25000. You can add 100 references that are more suitable for this kind of thesis.

3. PHD

PHD PhD-level dissertation normally requires 50000 or more words. While writing a PHD thesis, you will need to add at least 150 references or more, let's say 200. This will be an ideal benchmark.

2.The topic idea of your dissertation

How many references must you add to your thesis? As well as depending on the idea of your dissertation.

So, if you are doing research on a very new topic, that has little info available or even no info accessible which you can start writing.

On the other hand, if no info is available, in that case, you will need to add references. Most of the time, universities advise learners to select another topic.

So, if you're stuck on your thesis or need help with dissertation, consult an experienced and veteran thesis writer. A writer must be a subject specialist and know how to perform research and add references.

3 . Academic requirements

Few universities have different academic requirements of adding referencing in a dissertation. Further, a lot of universities enable learners to add no more than 25 references in a master’s thesis.

These universities accept it; on the other hand, some won’t allow more than 50 references. Moreover, it also depends on the nature of the thesis, like its methodologies, such as quantitative and qualitative.

How can my dissertation create an ideal use of referencing?

Now you totally grasp why referencing is vital in a thesis, also the word counts depend on many factors.

So, in this guide, I will offer you a complete guide on how you can add referencing in your dissertation.

You can follow it and offer a quality finish to your work.

• Last name of the author. (eg, Bred Lawrence, use: Lawrence)
• Year/Date
• The Title of the Work. (In Italic)
• The type of Publication (eg, web page, article, journal, complete book)
• Level of Dissertation
• University/College Name
• Source link

Ending Note:

Hence, these are the complete guidelines of what is the exact references in your dissertation. Hopefully, now you will have obtained the idea in-depth.

Always remember that many factors comprise how much you need to add to your content.