These resources are for doctoral students at the preproposal stage and who are not yet working or are just beginning to work on their official proposal documents.
Receiving a doctoral degree means you have demonstrated your ability to do independent, original scholarly work at the doctoral level. At Walden, this means completing a doctoral capstone document—dissertation, doctoral study, project study, or doctoral project—to be published in the ProQuest database.
Part of becoming an independent academic writer means knowing the skills you need to develop in your writing process as well as the resources available to help you develop them. The time you spend working with faculty to develop your preproposal document(s) is also a perfect opportunity to reflect on your writing skills and what further work you need to do to prepare yourself to write the proposal and final study.
The Writing Center offers instructional feedback on premise and prospectus documents through the paper review appointments in myPASS. The Preproposal Starter Kit offers resources to help you hone your scholarly voice and plan, draft, and polish your writing at the doctoral level so you are prepared once you start work on your proposal.
Writing support for longer writing projects required of doctoral students like proposals and final studies can be found on the Doctoral Capstone Form and Style site, where numerous services and resources for students at the capstone stage are housed. The Form and Style editors have a limited amount of time to review proposal and final study chapters or sections, by faculty request only; committee chairs can find the application for the Chapter Edit service on the Toolbox for Faculty site.
As you begin planning and preparing to write the dissertation, doctoral study, project study, or project to fulfill your degree, understand that there are key differences between writing successfully for courses and writing a long-form, doctoral-level manuscript.
While you have been developing the strong research, writing, and citation skills throughout your program, for the doctoral capstone you will write and revise one document in multiple phases, with multiple stages of approval, and with feedback from multiple people.
In the Doctoral Capstone Students webinar series, review the Transitioning from Coursework to Doctoral Capstone Writing and Writing Process for Longer Research Projects webinars to get a fuller idea of what to expect as you transition from student to doctoral scholar.
Doctoral programs in the U.S.-style academic system are generally divided into two stages:
Long-form research writing allows scholars room to explore complex issues and ask more sophisticated questions. A doctoral capstone study represents:
Completing a longer research project is how doctoral-level scholars demonstrate they are independent researchers. You will need to be self-directed, self-sufficient, and self-aware about your writing skills and your writing process.
Use the resources in this kit to build a strong foundation so you can support yourself through the doctoral writing journey ahead.
Know what the requirements are for your program and what courses, forms, and documents you need to complete before you can start work on your official proposal. Read degree and program guidelines carefully and make sure you have up-to-date copies of important documents easily accessible for quick reference.
Outside the Writing Center:
Student Success Advising
Consult with your student success advisor about program and degree requirements.
Office of Research and Doctoral Services: Office of Student Research Administration
Doctoral Capstone Resources Guide
In addition to knowing the specific requirements and expectations for your program and degree, learn what the expectations are for a doctoral-level academic writer.
Writing Resources:
Webinars
WriteCast (Writing Center podcast)
Outside the Writing Center:
Academic Skills Center
Walden Library
Office of Research and Doctoral Services
Understand your strengths and weaknesses as an independent academic writer. Keep in mind that writing a doctoral capstone study is a unique process, and grades on previous coursework are often not a sufficient indicator of how prepared you are to complete a longer piece of original research.
Writing Resources:
Blog
Outside the Writing Center:
Academic Skills Center
Be proactive and self-sufficient in your writing practice. Learn how to assess your own writing; incorporate both general and specific feedback throughout a draft; build up your support system; and compile resources, tools, and practices that help support you in your writing and research.
Remember to refer frequently to program-specific guidance documents, such as the premise and/or prospectus guides on ORDS site in conjunction with the templates on the Writing Center site, to be sure you have followed all guidelines and met all requirements before submitting to faculty for feedback.
Writing Resources:
Webinars
Blog
WriteCast (Writing Center podcast)
Outside the Writing Center:
Walden Library
Academic Skills Center
Outside Walden:
Write to generate and develop your ideas. Think of writing as a process to help get your thinking started, not just a way to capture a finished product on the page. The doctoral capstone document is long, and it will go through many drafts and versions—use that process as an opportunity to practice your skills and become an expert in your topic.
Writing Resources:
Webinars
Blog
Become your own reviewer—develop your skills so you can make organizational and sentence-level adjustments to improve your draft as well as prepare clean, APA-compliant documents to submit to your committee.
You are ultimately the one responsible for preparing a publication-worthy document at the time of graduation—start developing the self-editing skills and peer support network now to sustain you through the long process of writing and revising a doctoral capstone research project.
Writing Resources:
Webinars
Blog
WriteCast (Writing Center podcast)
Outside the Writing Center:
Academic Skills Center
