Way under word count for honours project write up

I am just finishing the first draft of my honours project write up, and I am over 2000 words short of the (8000-10,000 word) word limit :frown:

The scope of my project was pretty limited (i was allocated it) and I have said everything I want to say in 6000 words! Has anyone else had a similar problem in the past? How strict is the word count usually? Is there any way I can bulk it up without sacrificing the quality of my report?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Reply 1

CustardCreams

I've not had any experience in this area yet, but I may have an idea. How about doing some sort of survey/questionnaire? Then you can talk about the results of that and if they fit in/do not fit in with what you would expect.

I'll try to think of other ideas!

Reply 2

tibbles209

Original post by CustardCreams

Thank you for your suggestion :smile:

Unfortunately my project is a pretty sciency one to do with intrinsic membrane proteins so a survey wouldn't be appropriate. Thanks for trying to help though :h:

Reply 3

llacerta

Is there definitely a lower word limit? I'm going to have the same 'problem' with my project but my supervisor told me that as the study we've conducted is very neuroscience-y, papers in the area tend to be shorter anyway so he's quite happy for us to go below the recommended word count as long as we've said everything we need to say- better that than including irrelevant stuff just to reach the word count!

So perhaps ask your supervisor what they think?

Reply 4

Cattree

Can you extend the introduction? Put in another section on background info and elucidate further on reasons why your project was important/where it fits in to current theories etc?

Reply 5

CustardCreams

Make sure you have:-
Expanded the text

Make the text clearer, more tutorial, and more thoughtful
Add more examples and intuitions to help the reader
Add new experiments/theorems/significance tests to leave no stone unturned
Consider counterarguments, variations, and alternative explanations
Give enough details to allow a reader to replicate the work or apply it in new settings

Contextualize the ideas

Open the thesis with a page or two that sells the work to a general audience
Mention all obviously related work and explain how it relates to yours
Discuss alternative solutions that you rejected or are leaving to future work
Point out connections to other areas, including other possible applications of your ideas
Describe possible generalizations (and try them if possible)
Lay out future work for yourself or others