Of course, as with every step of the research process, even with this “first” of the dissertation chapters, many universities diverge greatly in their approach and expectations for the introduction. More universities (particularly the major online universities) are actually requiring doctoral candidates to begin their dissertation chapters with what is traditionally Chapter 2, or the literature review, to ensure that a clear and compelling research gap truly exists before too much energy is devoted to finalizing a study’s design.

For dissertation consulting clients who are polishing a near-final product, we offer a comprehensive editing service, in which we check bibliographic information, ensure the work fits specific APA editing and university requirements, search for additional relevant quantitative or qualitative research in the field, and address any final feedback to enhance the chapter. For clients still in the conceptual stages or with rough outlines or research questions, we provide more comprehensive dissertation assistance, identifying past literature, forming a structure for the chapter, and turning an outline into a complete draft.

• First, we review your draft and university requirements to customize our support. Because introductory chapter requirements can vary widely based on universities’ expectations and priorities for doctoral research, our first step is to thoroughly review your draft (or your outline and preliminary notes) alongside your university guidelines and program requirements. As the foundation for the full dissertation to come, it’s important to ensure this initial work builds on any pre-dissertation materials, such as a concept paper or prospectus, and provides a clear overview of the remaining chapters.
• As the next step, we complete an extensive literature search. This step is critical to find recent and relevant research to support the need for your study and ensure a clear path forward into your literature review. Even clients who have already begun this process find that our analysts are able to identify new and compelling contemporary studies directly tied to their topics! We identify current and seminal studies by performing targeted keyword searches on large databases such as ProQuest, JSTOR, PubMed, ERIC, and EBSCOhost.
• From there, we turn to your proposed methodology, and ensure that the research questions (and hypotheses, if applicable), instrumentation, and sampling plan maintain alignment with the research gap and are completely feasible for you–along with your planned qualitative and/or statistical analysis. As part of this process, we also confirm that your proposed methodology properly addresses the research questions.
• Throughout your introduction, we ensure each of your foundational elements (problem, purpose, research questions, and methodology) are presented in polished academic prose and follow all dissertation editing requirements per your university’s style guide. Discussion of all literature is presented in past tense, as you are discussing previously published work in your field. In contrast, any reference to your proposed study is presented in future tense to clearly indicate that this research is pending approval and yet to be completed.