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Dissertation due on the 16th - How many references should I have

So currently I'm sitting at 5100 words, currently working through my case studies (2 movie case studies) and I will move onto my final findings on my research.

My dissertation is 10,000 words long so that gives (If i want enough time before I go back to work to finish) 4 days to finish by doing roughly 1300 words per day.

Because I study Film the movies I talk about (even if they are just mentioned) needed to be put down as a reference, like an idiot I forgot to bookmark where I got some of my earlier references. So currently im sitting at 11 references at 5100 words (not including the movies or the prior references I have spoken about).

How many would you suggest is enough? Obviously keeping in mind that I still have another 4900 words left?

Just counted overall I have 36 references - some of which are film names, few from books but majority are articles from websites (I struggled with finding books about my topic).

Also would I need to add references when talking about characters - for example my dissertation is about the comic book genre in cinema if im talking about the comic book character and not the movie version would I still have to reference them?
(edited 4 years ago)
Reply 1
mine was about 11k words and about 50 references, which my supervisor said was a good amount
but i think my topic required more than most do
Original post by TheAspiringNerd
So currently I'm sitting at 5100 words, currently working through my case studies (2 movie case studies) and I will move onto my final findings on my research.

My dissertation is 10,000 words long so that gives (If i want enough time before I go back to work to finish) 4 days to finish by doing roughly 1300 words per day.

Because I study Film the movies I talk about (even if they are just mentioned) needed to be put down as a reference, like an idiot I forgot to bookmark where I got some of my earlier references. So currently im sitting at 11 references at 5100 words (not including the movies or the prior references I have spoken about).

How many would you suggest is enough? Obviously keeping in mind that I still have another 4900 words left?

Just counted overall I have 36 references - some of which are film names, few from books but majority are articles from websites (I struggled with finding books about my topic).

Also would I need to add references when talking about characters - for example my dissertation is about the comic book genre in cinema if im talking about the comic book character and not the movie version would I still have to reference them?

How long is a piece of string?

If you're using all of your references appropriately, then usually it's a case of quality over quantity. While some people say that the rule is '1 reference for every 100 words you write', I'd say that that depends on what you are writing about and how in depth you're exploring each reference.

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