Skripsi or Thesis Length

Skripsi or Thesis Length

      Written by Ari Julianto

One of the readers in this blog who sent me an email asked me about the length of a skripsi or thesis. How many pages should the skripsi or thesis be?

Standards vary widely, and the most important advice is to check with your department about the rules. Sometimes the department published a writing thesis guide for students where you can find the rules for the length of a skripsi or thesis.

But if you do not find the rule for the length of a skripsi or thesis, ask your thesis adviser about his preferences.Do that early and keep it in the back of your mind, but don’t think much about it until you are well into drafting the paper. Until  then, you should simply aim to write a thesis that is about as long as a good journal article in your field.

Not all fields have the same descriptions length. Articles—and theses—tend to be longer in fields such as history and anthropology, which require a fair amount of description alongside the analysis.

Articles are shorter in fields like economics that rely on mathematical models and quantitative analysis. Fields like political science and sociology lie somewhere in the middle. In international relations, for example, most journals ask for articles than run about fourteen thousand words, including footnotes, which is between fifty and sixty pages (assuming 250 words/page). That is a common range for senior theses in international relations, as well.

How about department of Teacher's Training and Education (FKIP)? Ideally, the length of the skripsi or thesis is over sixty pages in single page (Not including Reference and Appendices). Some other departement include Reference and Appendices as part of the skripsi or thesis.

As the conclusion I can draw that a skripsi or thesis is generally as long as a good article in your field. Still, you must check on your department’s requirements and ask your thesis adviser about his preferences. For FKIP skripsi or thesis ideally is sixty pages (not including Reference and Appendices).

I hope today's posting will be useful for all of us. Amien.