Acknowledgments relate to the part of a research paper where the author shows gratitude to all the people who contributed their share to that research by any means. It is a simple list to include everyone, who supported the project. In thesis writing, it is the practice to acknowledge the contributions of departments or individuals. Who helped during the research work, either in financial terms or by just reviewing your work and giving remarks and helping make it any better.
It is a chance to show gratitude and appreciate the people with you in this research, respecting them and giving them part of acknowledgment for their support. The acknowledgment section has a beneficial impact and positive outcome for the dissertation; therefore, it is essential and significant to make a concise and reasonable acknowledgment for the dissertation. It needs some extra considerations to figure out who you have to thank who should be done—the best way to give it concisely rather than presenting it in an emotional sphere.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE INCLUDED IN YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT SECTION?
Acknowledgments constitute a space where authors can detail the division of labor within collaborators of a research project (Paul-Hus, Desrochers, 2019). Almost all academic papers have many people or departments who helped in preparing the written version or the research itself. This could be someone from sponsoring department, funding body, other researchers who literature you have used, or anyone, even your family, friends, work colleagues. If there is someone who helped you in any regard, they deserve to mention in the acknowledgment section.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT SECTION IN THESIS
The acknowledgment section is generally placed at the start of the thesis, somewhere between your abstract and introduction. However, each university has its guidelines, according to which the placement of the acknowledgment may vary. So, it would be better if you consulted your supervisor to know their preference before writing or finalizing your acknowledgment.
However, there are such right or wrong labeled guidelines; people who you want to acknowledge are generally and mostly up to your preferences. Writing an acknowledgment, the people or departments that need to be added are:
- First of all, your supervisors’ contribution.
- Research group, if you are working in a group or writing a master’s thesis and take help from any Ph.D. student.
- The staff of the laboratory, technicians.
- Organizational staff
- Referees that recommended them for that course
- Funding bodies
- Any partnership with industry and the individuals they worked with.
- Friends
- Colleagues
- Family
HOW LONG SHOULD BE YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT SECTION BE?
Generally, it is acceptable to write a one-page-long acknowledgment section or less. However, in a journal paper, it is recommended to add a short note as your acknowledgment section to show your gratitude. Which has given no help compared to thesis and research papers where acknowledgment is rather longer. Also, if you are planning to publish your research work, you need to know the publishers’ guidelines. Because most publishers have standards and guidelines governing acknowledgment, some contributors also provide guidelines on how their contribution should be accredited.
If you are of those students who tell their friends or any other service that please do my dissertation for me, make sure that your dissertation at the end has an adequate acknowledgment section.
HOW TO WRITE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT?
It is not something that you will need to learn. When you have so much work in research, you write your acknowledgment in a couple of minutes or two. You can start it off by general thankyou sentences such as:
I want to thank my supervisor [name] for his guidance through my research work.
I want to acknowledge my Professor [name] to develop my interest in [your subject area of thesis].
My colleague [name] was influential in defining my research path.
My friend [name] helped me in evaluating my findings.
My teacher [name] assisted me by reviewing my thesis.
However, if you still feel trapped and can’t think of the acknowledge statement, you can start your sentence as simple as “I would like to thank you”. There is no need to be extraordinarily fancy with your words. Make mention of the person’s name and the contribution he made to your research work. Also, you do not need to put any concluding paragraph at the end of your acknowledgment. Your acknowledgment will end with your last thank you.
WHY IS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT SO IMPORTANT?
Thesis writing is not an easy task. It can’t be done alone. You will always need some mentoring with your research, maybe your methodology, or simply proofreading your work. And not giving the due credits to the people who helped you throughout the research would not be fair. The sole purpose of acknowledgment is to write a thank you note for all the people who helped you throughout the thesis at any stage, even if it’s little help. You consider it a thank you post that you write when your friend gives you a birthday party.
Though the thesis acknowledgment does not have an academic bearing, your dissertation can not be complete without this section. Therefore, you make it a good and concise one. Start it by mentioning the people who supported you the most. However, if you are taking dissertation help online, you will find every guideline from the service.
Besides this, there are many other reasons that acknowledgment is important. It saves you from any claims made by the people who shared their contribution to your research work. And claims can sometimes cause penalties. However, some students include the acknowledgment section in their thesis or dissertation because they were complex, or others think they worked so hard. If any person has helped you throughout your degree years, you would like to show gratitude towards them.
IN A NUTSHELL
Many people think that the Acknowledgments section is a trivial and unimportant component. However, it institutes a dynamic means to guarantee that all associated support for the paper can be accordingly and clearly mentioned. You validate your integrity as an academic researcher by acknowledging people for their efforts and contributions. In addition, crediting other people for their help can also increase their presence in the academic world and possibly help boost their career and your own.
