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Tag: thesis annotation

Nathan

Keeping Tabs

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What can you do with sticky notes and highlighter tabs as part of viva prep?

  • Plan out your tasks!
  • Mark out chapters!
  • Point to typos!
  • Highlight key references!
  • Draw attention to important paragraphs!
  • Add notes!
  • Mark out key sections!
  • Colour code information!
  • Leave encouragements for yourself!

This is scratching the surface of course. There’s a lot you can do with very basic stationery to help make your thesis much more valuable as a resource for the viva.

Think about your needs. Keep it simple but get the most from your thesis and do what you can to build yourself up.

Nathan

Top & Bottom

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Header and footer margins are fairly big in a formatted thesis. Plenty of space for you to add useful notes.

At the top of a page you might:

  • Write a short sentence about the page contents;
  • Have a keyword;
  • Highlight a particular place on the page;
  • Leave an encouraging note;
  • Write a reminder.

At the bottom of a page you might:

  • Add a remark about a key reference;
  • Summarise any corrections you expect;
  • Note any particular points you expect questions on;
  • Leave another encouraging note;
  • Write another reminder!

There’s a lot of space at the top and bottom of every page in your thesis. Plenty of space for you to add useful notes – but you have to decide what will be most helpful for you.

Nathan

Margin Space

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In preparation for your viva you can use margin space to add to your thesis and make it as useful as possible for your viva.

You also need to balance.

Helpful but not overfull.

It doesn’t make sense to try to cram long sentences in.

Start by deciding on what you need from the space. What do you need to add to your thesis to make it useful? What does it make sense to put in the margin?

Keywords? Stickers and sticky notes? Things that draw attention to specific lines?

You have a lot of space in the borders. Your margins can be a useful space for viva prep, but don’t leave them cramped. The point is to make something useful for your viva.

A little thought and a little annotation goes a long way.

 

PS: viva coming up and an hour free tomorrow morning? Check out the details of 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva which is running at 11am tomorrow (Wednesday 24th September 2025). Find out why you can be confident, get access to a catch-up recording and my pdf guide to getting ready for the viva. Registration closes later this afternoon.

Nathan

Choose Your Highlights

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There’s a lot you could highlight in the text of your thesis as part of viva preparation. You could highlight:

  • Key questions you have found answers to;
  • Essential references you want to make stand out;
  • Quotes that help you to explain something;
  • Key numbers that make sense of data;
  • Important pages or sections you want to be able to find.

There’s a lot you could highlight. It’s your choice to decide what matters most and where to direct your attention.

 

The same is true when it comes to the things you highlight from your PhD journey. What are the highlights of the years you have spent working on your research and thesis? What do you want to remember? Where will you choose to put your attention?

What you choose to highlight makes a difference to your preparation and your confidence for your viva.

Nathan

One Sentence Per Page

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One purpose of annotation is to make a more useful version of your thesis for the viva. Another purpose is to engage again with your thesis and think more about what’s in there and what it means.

One helpful annotation you could make is to add one sentence to the top of each page: read, think and then add one sentence to the top of each page that summarises what’s below. One sentence, maybe ten words or less to briefly describe what else is on the page.

This fulfils the point of engaging with your thesis and thinking carefully about it – and creates a more useful version of your thesis for the viva, complete with a commentary track about everything you’ve presented.

Nathan

Ten Minute Annotation

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Annotating your thesis for the viva takes more than ten minutes! However, you can make a good start in a short amount of time:

  • Add sticky notes or tabs to mark the start of each chapter.
  • Add similar for any key sections that stand out to you in your thesis.
  • Add a summary sentence to the start of each chapter.
  • At the top of the title page write three things you are proud of from your research.
  • Further down on your title page write “You can do this!” – and then underline it.

Then take as much time as you need to finish annotating your thesis.

In ten minutes you can start well. What else do you need?

Nathan

Consistent & Different

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Thesis annotation is a useful part of viva prep. Take time to review your thesis and add details to make a more useful version for your viva. Make things in your thesis easier to find and easier to see at a glance.

Thesis annotation is inherently personal as your thesis is unique. Follow your preferences for information and marking up work to make your thesis helpful for you.

Two words that might help you annotate well are consistent and different.

  • Be consistent in how you annotate things. If you underline your typos in red ink, for example, do that throughout your thesis and don’t switch it up.
  • Be different in how you annotate different things. So, for example, if you use pink highlighter to emphasise key references then use a green highlighter to add emphasis to quotes or statistics.

Keep consistent and different in mind to make the final, annotated version of your thesis as useful as possible for you at the viva. Make it so that when you see an addition it is clear and unambiguous.

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2024: Viva Prep

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I’m always happy to get to this time of year when I can share some of my favourite posts from the last twelve months!

Today we begin with viva prep. It’s a key thing for any candidate to reflect on how they will get ready. The following five posts can help:

And of course there are many more posts about viva prep on Viva Survivors if you’re looking for ideas of what you can do to get ready for your viva!

Nathan

Tinsel, Wreathes & Viva Prep

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I’m not a Scrooge. I love Christmastime and all things festive. But some decorations just make me roll my eyes.

I’m not a tinsel fan. I hate the feel. I don’t like wrapping it round the tree. I frown whenever I see a detached strand on the carpet.

I’m not fussed on wreathes either. I like having one on our door. But I don’t really see the point in having five or six strategically placed around a house as well. It doesn’t do anything for me.

Of course, these decorations aren’t for me. They’re for my wife, my daughter, my relatives at their houses, and they’re just one way that someone might make their house festive and ready for Christmas. It’s nice to celebrate, and for some people certain decorations or traditions help make the celebration.

Which is how it works with viva prep as well!

For example, thesis annotation is an essential part of prep: it helps someone to think about their work, highlight what matters and make a more useful version of their thesis for the viva.

Some candidates might prefer to use red pen to underline typos, while others might prefer to note them with coloured tabs. One person might mark out a key section with a bookmark; another might decide that the best way for them is to use sticky notes.

And when it comes to practice a mock viva might be the best rehearsal for you. Your friend might prefer to give a seminar. You’re both right.

Personal preference plays a huge part in effective viva prep and Christmas celebrations!

Nathan

Coloured Tabs

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Annotation is a necessary step of good viva prep. It creates a more useful version of your thesis for the viva. It also helps the process of viva prep itself by giving you some good things to think about.

Coloured tabs help annotation a lot. They can:

  • Highlight important chapters or sections.
  • Draw attention to jargon or important terms.
  • Show you where some further editing might be needed.
  • Index information for probable discussion topics.
  • Allow you to find the best of your thesis with ease.

Coloured tabs are a simple stationery solution to various viva prep problems. And if this seems like a really simple post it’s because there’s not much more to say to highlight how useful they are!

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