---
name: thesis-preparation
description: Plan, organize, draft, and prepare theses and dissertations with explicit contribution boundaries, institutional checks, reproducible sources, and evidence-based viva preparation.
---

# Thesis preparation

Use this method for thesis planning, chapter development, document assembly, submission preparation, or viva preparation. Apply the [research contract](../../docs/RESEARCH-CONTRACT.md). A thesis is both a sustained research argument and an institutional artifact; scientific coherence does not establish compliance with a university's current rules.

## Establish the thesis contract

Collect degree and discipline, research question, completed and ongoing work, institutional handbook, supervisor guidance, submission date, chapter or article-based format, word limits, and required declarations. Verify current requirements from the supplied or accessible official source when possible. Record the version or date of the rules inspected. Mark requirements unverified when only an old template or remembered convention is available.

Create a contribution inventory. Separate the candidate's original work, collaborative work, shared infrastructure, published articles, reproduced background, and future plans. Record coauthor contributions and any required permissions or statements for reused published material. Do not transform participation in a project into sole authorship or treat an unfinished analysis as a completed chapter result.

## Build a coherent research architecture

Write a thesis-level question and explain how each chapter advances it. For every proposed chapter, specify its purpose, inputs, principal claim, evidence, dependencies, and completion criteria. A collection of related projects needs an explicit connecting argument, not merely transitions between unrelated papers.

Distinguish background needed to understand the thesis from the literature directly establishing its research gap. Keep novelty claims bounded by the literature actually searched. Route evidence gaps or contested interpretations through [scientific reasoning](../scientific-reasoning/SKILL.md) and [research validation](../research-validation/SKILL.md).

For empirical chapters, make design, data provenance, analytical decisions, and uncertainty recoverable. For qualitative chapters, preserve context, methodological orientation, reflexivity, and links from material to interpretation. For theoretical chapters, expose definitions, assumptions, proof structure, and limits. For computational chapters, document models, conventions, software, parameters, convergence, and validation evidence. Integrate these approaches according to the actual project instead of imposing a uniform methodological template.

## Plan and execute the work

Build a schedule around deliverables and dependencies: analysis needed for a claim, chapter draft, supervisor review, revision, integration, formatting, and final checks. Include institutional deadlines and realistic review time where known. Use dates as planning commitments, not evidence that a chapter is scientifically complete.

Draft central results and methods before polishing the introduction. Write chapter introductions and conclusions that connect to the thesis-level question. Maintain a shared notation ledger, bibliography, terminology list, and figure provenance record. Where article-based material repeats methods or background, reduce redundancy only within the institution's rules and preserve required publication acknowledgments.

For LaTeX, organize a main file with separate chapter sources and managed figure and reference directories. Use semantic chapter commands and stable labels. Do not assume a particular front-matter order, margin, declaration, or signature requirement without checking the institution. Use [TeX layout](../tex-layout/SKILL.md) and [document production](../document-production/SKILL.md) for implementation.

## Prepare submission and defense

Create a submission checklist from actual requirements: metadata, declarations, abstracts, publication statements, permissions, ethics material, references, file format, naming, repository conditions, and any required forms. Identify items the researcher or institution must supply. Do not claim submission readiness while required approvals or checks remain unresolved.

For viva or defense preparation, develop questions about the research question, contribution, assumptions, methodological choices, alternatives, limitations, and next steps. Build answers from the thesis evidence. Rehearse explaining a central result at several depths and responding candidly to a valid criticism. Do not fabricate examiner preferences or promise likely questions as certain.

## Deliver and verify

Deliver the chapter plan or editable thesis package requested, a status ledger, institutional requirements checked, and remaining scientific or administrative dependencies. For final artifacts, compile a fresh output, inspect every page, reconcile references and notation, and verify chapter and appendix order. Check that the abstract and overall conclusion accurately summarize completed work and individual contribution. Report actual build, visual inspection, and institutional verification separately. A well-formatted draft must remain labeled a draft until its applicable scientific and submission conditions are met.