Thesis

[Count Zero]

Don't get worked up about the little formal details like that. I'm sure keeping the f and ff is quite all right. They're still heavily used in my department, too. Concentrate on the important things like what you want to say in your thesis, especially if you're short on time. No one will care about weird citations but they will care if your thesis isn't finished and plausible. Also, stay calm, you can do it. I basically wrote the main part of my thesis within three days or so. While I wouldn't recommend doing that it's quite possible. If there's one thing I learned it's that you don't really need much sleep nor food to function.

I have fond memories of writing my thesis.

I don't. See above.

 

[Goliath]

Oh, now it works. But now things are messed up and moved to pages where they should not be!
All right.. I am calm, I am calm, I am calm...

I´d better write it with paper and pencil, than with the computer! Sometimes I swear this computer programs have a mind on there own and they use it simply to annoy the people trying to work with them. (Or maybe I am just not proficient working with them, but they make me exlode!)

Edit: Now I know why its all messed up!!! My page numbers and foot-notes have gone missing!!!! Now I am really in a very bad mood!

Whatever you do, for Satan's sake, don't hit "Save."

Save this messed-up file under a different name, so that you can go back to your original file if necessary.

Once you've walled-off your original file, you can start fixing the messed-up file.

 

[Count Zero]

I missed this edit. I also recommend daily (or more often) backups of your thesis file to a USB stick or something.

 

[Myasishchev]

I just finished indexing my book.

Isn't there software that does this for you? I seem to recall a friend of mine who's had books published saying there was, but I can't say I was paying a lot of attention at the time so may have got the wrong end of the stick.

There may be, but if there is, I'm not familiar with it.

I will say, though--having the proofs in (searchable) PDF form made the whole thing much easier.

Indexing a book manuscript by hand must be a fucking nightmare.

I met British historian Colin Matthew shortly before he died, and he talked to us about all the work involved in indexing the Gladstone diaries. By hand. I can't imagine.

You know, it's actually sort of eye-opening to hear this testimony, after raging for three years at the general ineptitude of law school textbooks' indices. Maybe it was harder than I thought.

(Still, for $100 a pop, I say a decent index isn't too much to ask.)

 

[TerokNor]

@Goliath and Count Zero: Yeah I have a few backups and am now working with one of them instead. The text itself I have finished since days, its only those scientific stuff and formation and those things that are not as it should be yet. Well and I may have to redo my diagrammes... *grumbles* because I have no space between the number and %. Though...you think my professor really notices that? Its 20 diagrammes and I would hate to have to redo them all again.

But right now I think I will take a rest, because I am too angry at WORD right now.

TerokNor

 

[{ Emilia }]

Yeah, what Count Zero said. Don't panic.
As long as you use the same citation method consistently throughout your thesis it should be fine. Profs just don't like it if you're not consistent with it. (Unless you're studying English literature where profs are crazy about uniform international citation standards)

My thesis' printed version actually contained a couple of spelling errors in the bibliography because the place that printed it had issues with file conversions and weird characters in some Eastern European articles and books I used. I noticed it too late, was shocked for a week... and in the end my prof didn't give a damn about it.

 

[Count Zero]

Well and I may have to redo my diagrammes... *grumbles* because I have no space between the number and %. Though...you think my professor really notices that?

Probably not. But if he specifically said he wants them this way it would be best to comply. I would get the other stuff in order first. If you still have time left you can redo them.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I think I understand now what you are saying about the citations. I'm sure you understand a lot of this already but I am going to simplify it so that I can try to explain it properly. If you have a sentence that looks like this:

The British fought the colonies in the Revolutionary War (Some book, Publisher 2010, S. 9).

Then the period goes after the parentheses because the book and page number refer to that specific sentence that you wrote. A direct quote would look like this:

George Washinton stated that "we will fight for our independence" (Some book, Publisher 2010, S. 9).

If you write an entire paragraph or several sentences that are supported by a citation, then it would look like this:

In the Revolutionary War, the colonies used a large number of local militia that were called minutemen. To coordinate these efforts, the Continental Congress established an official army and appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief. In fact, the Marine Corps considers its birthday to be in 1775. (Some book, Publisher 2010, S. 9-10)

Now, if I were to use the f or ff as you have, regardless of whether you are citing for a single sentence, a quote, or a paragraph, there will always be a period after the f or ff. This is because it is an abbreviation of the Latin word folio, and abbreviations always have periods directly after them. A good comparison would be "etc." It always has a period after it, whether it is in parentheses, in the middle of a sentence, or elsewhere. In researching online, however, I did find that there are a couple of fields in the U.S. that want you to never put a period after f or ff, but this seems to be an exception. If your instructors or other books in your field use a period after f or ff, then you should use it as well, in every situation.

Following these rules, this means there may be times when you have two periods very near each other, like this:

The British fought the colonies in the Revolutionary War (Some book, Publisher 2010, S. 9f.).

It looks silly but that's the way it is. Keep in mind that these are all rules I've learned in the U.S. and I have no idea if they might have different standards elsewhere. Hopefully I have at least cleared up some confusion though. And thank goodness my field uses footnotes, they are so much nicer looking.

 

[{ Emilia }]

What Spot's Meow said.

Also: Take your time. Even though I suspect most students finish their thesis the night before they have to hand it in. I was actually one day early!

 

[Spot's Meow]

Also, I just wanted to point out (though I'm sure you know already) that the Replace feature in Word is your best friend. If you have lots of "ff" in your thesis already that you would like to add a period after, you don't have to do each one individually. Go to Replace and choose to replace all 'ff' with 'ff.' Actually, now that I think about it, just in case there are 'ff's in the middle of a word (where you obviously don't want a period added), you should probably replace all 'ff)' with 'ff.)' Things like this will help you to appreciate that you don't have to write your thesis with pencil and paper!

Oh, and you guys are lucky that only your professors worry about your grammar or citation errors. We had to turn our theses into the graduate department for approval, and they literally took out a ruler and measured the margins and placement of page numbers on each page. They had strict standards for how charts and graphs should be formatted, regardless of what your professor thought. It was such a hassle!

 

[Goliath]

Even though I suspect most students finish their thesis the night before they have to hand it in. I was actually one day early!

Keener!

 

[{ Emilia }]

Even though I suspect most students finish their thesis the night before they have to hand it in. I was actually one day early!

Keener!

Hey, it's totally unlike me!

(And I had to ask the prof for additional four weeks prior to that. )

 

[TerokNor]

Thanks! That does clear it up somewhat, just... I have it like this:

The British fought the colonies in the Revolutionary War (Some book, Publisher 2010, S. 9).

The British fought the colonies in the Revolutionary War. (Some book, Publisher 2010, S. 9f.)

And thats what I don´t understand, because if in the first one I used a book and the information stood at one page, I can have a dot in the end. However this literature-thing does not only refer to that one sentences, but can also refer two more sentences.

But when I have the f. than I cannot have the dot in the end after the braket, because it would only refer to one sentences, so I need to have it behind the sentences, so that it can refer too a whole paragraph. Why should it be different depending on if I got the inroamtion of one book page or of two book pages. That makes no sense to me.

TerokNor

 

[{ Emilia }]

Thanks! That does clear it up somewhat, just... I have it like this:

The British fought the colonies in the Revolutionary War (Some book, Publisher 2010, S. 9).

The British fought the colonies in the Revolutionary War. (Some book, Publisher 2010, S. 9f.)

Nothing wrong with:

The British fought the colonies in the Revolutionary War (Some book, Publisher 2010, S. 9f.).

One dot to indicate that "f" is an abbreviation. One dot to indicate the end of the sentence.

Or maybe I'm completely misunderstanding your problem!

 

[TerokNor]

If it would be like this, han it would be all right, but it seems its not like it.

The dot comes behind the sentences and not behind the braket if there an f. And thats what i don´tget. I did it the way you did it, with the dot behind the last bracket, no matter if theres an f inside or not, but the lady who corrected it, says thats wrong and I have to do it the other way. I asked her like 5 times, because it does not make sense to me, but she explained, that , if I have the dot behind the bracket, its not for the whole paragrapgh. However when theres not an f I have the dot also behind the bracket and its for the whole paragraph.

TerokNor

Thanks! That does clear it up somewhat, just... I have it like this:

The British fought the colonies in the Revolutionary War (Some book, Publisher 2010, S. 9).

The British fought the colonies in the Revolutionary War. (Some book, Publisher 2010, S. 9f.)

Nothing wrong with:

The British fought the colonies in the Revolutionary War (Some book, Publisher 2010, S. 9f.).

One dot to indicate that "f" is an abbreviation. One dot to indicate the end of the sentence.

Or maybe I'm completely misunderstanding your problem!

 

[Count Zero]

Meh, that's why I use footnotes instead of brackets. Looks neater, too.

 

[{ Emilia }]

Meh, that's why I use footnotes instead of brackets. Looks neater, too.

Quoted for emphasis.

I never use brackets for that.

 

[Goliath]

Footnotes rule. Parenthetical references drool.

 

[TerokNor]

*sigh* But I do. I use footnotes too, but for other things, like some definitions I do not want inside the text, but still in the work and such.
Oh well...

The good news is I don´t think I have to redo all the diagrams after all...cause when I try changing it the way it should be it changes itself simply back. So... if the computer wants it that way... fine. Now it stays that way.

TerokNor

 

[Spot's Meow]

What that person told you does not sound like it could be correct. There should be a dot after the f regardless of whether you are citing for just one sentence or a while paragraph. It is true that if you are citing for a paragraph then there will not be a dot after the last bracket, but there should still be a dot after the f. Honestly I don't think that other person knows what they are saying!

Anyway, good luck with everything. I hope you can be done with all of this soon!