Senior university and college students often find themselves presented with a dramatic new challenge: the task of writing their first thesis.

What is expected? What should the thesis consist of? How can the whole process be made a bit easier? With only one or two semesters to get the work done, what does the student need to do to ensure that the thesis is finished on time?

In How to Write a Better Minor Thesis, experienced advisors Dr Paul Gruba and Professor Justin Zobel lay out step-by-step guidelines for writing a minor thesis. Based on decades of working with students undertaking their first piece of research, they take novice researchers through the process of thesis writing from initial steps to final on-time submission. Written in a friendly manner, this concise book and companion to their senior text on the challenges of research writing, How To Write A Better Minor Thesis will help you to successfully tackle this new challenge.

How to Write a Better Minor Thesis contains sections of condensed material from How To Write A Better Thesis, complementing the entirely new material written for minor thesis students.

Dr Paul Gruba is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Languages and Linguistics, University of Melbourne. Originally trained as a journalist, Paul now focuses his research on the role of new media in language learning. He teaches, and supervises, on a range of topics in the area of applied linguistics.

Professor Justin Zobel is Head of the University of Melbourne’s Department of Computing & Information Systems. In the research community, Professor Zobel is best known for his role in the development of algorithms for efficient text search; other areas of activity include bioinformatics and algorithmics. He is an author of two books on postgraduate study and research methods (Writing for Computer Science and How To Write A Better Thesis), has supervised around one hundred research students, and has taught research methods for twenty-five years.