Thesis Starter Pack
This page collects the essential information needed to start and organize a thesis with me. The goal is to clarify from the outset what to do, which tools to use, and what each person is responsible for.
Thesis request
Thesis requests must be made during office hours, either in person or on Zoom. Requests made by email will not be considered.
Before starting: administrative procedure
Before starting any research, analysis, writing, production of figures or tables, it is necessary to verify that all administrative aspects have been correctly set up.
The official steps for graduation are described on the School of Psychology website:
https://www.psicologia.unipd.it/studenti-iscritti/didattica-offerta-formativa/prove-finali
Managing the administrative procedure is the responsibility of the person writing the thesis. It is therefore important to check deadlines, required documentation, eligibility requirements for the final examination, credits, missing exams, and any online procedures to be completed well in advance.
Actions that require my intervention will be carried out promptly and in accordance with the official deadlines. Actions that depend on the person writing the thesis remain their responsibility.
For strictly administrative doubts or problems, it is recommended to contact the relevant offices directly. I remain available for general clarifications.
Work organization
Google Drive folder
Each person will have a shared Google Drive folder, indicatively named first-name-last-name. This folder must contain all materials related to the thesis: articles, chapter drafts, datasets, analysis scripts, figures, tables, presentations, and intermediate or final versions of the work. It is important to always use this folder, avoiding the dispersion of files across emails, personal folders, or non-shared local versions.
Communication
Communication will take place mainly by email or during office hours, either in person or on Zoom. To keep communication organized, it is preferable to use a single email thread with a clear subject line such as bachelor thesis first name last name. It is better to avoid opening new threads for every single question, except in specific cases.
Bibliographic research and citations
Regardless of the thesis topic, it is necessary to know some basic tools and rules for bibliographic research and source management.
Knowledge of the main APA rules is required for in-text citations, bibliography formatting, presentation of statistical results, tables, and figures. The APA manual is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OA-xIiocp7Jz1k27niUetv9GTOQi82kc/view?usp=sharing. It is not necessary to know every detail of the manual, but it is necessary to be able to correctly apply the main rules.
It is also necessary to know how to search the scientific literature independently, using appropriate databases and keywords that are consistent with the thesis topic. An introductory resource is available here.
The use of bibliographic management software is required. I recommend Zotero, which allows users to save and organize articles, insert in-text citations, automatically generate the bibliography, and reduce errors or inconsistencies.
The Metelli Library organizes useful courses for learning how to conduct effective bibliographic research: https://biblio.unipd.it/biblioteche/psicologia/laboratori-formazione.
Participation is strongly recommended in:
- Bibliographic research workshop on the PsycINFO database, also useful for strategies applicable to other databases, such as Scopus and Web of Science;
- Workshop on bibliography management with Zotero, useful for organizing sources and generating correct bibliographies.
Thesis writing
For theses that include data analysis, figures, tables, or statistical results, the use of a literate programming framework is required. I strongly recommend Quarto, which makes it possible to integrate text, code, analysis outputs, figures, tables, and bibliography into a single document, which can then be compiled into the final format, for example PDF or Word.
A Quarto template that follows the typographic rules required by the School of Psychology is available here: https://github.com/psicostat/thesis. Quarto has a steeper initial learning curve than a standard word processor, but it allows for a more organized, transparent, and reproducible workflow.
For theses with few analyses, few figures, or a mainly theoretical structure, Microsoft Word can be used. The University of Padua has a software agreement for Microsoft Office 365.
A Microsoft Word template is available here, together with an associated video tutorial: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14iOwggvZXK0vou1H2iVdpx6MJ4BxPAzb/view. In any case, it is strongly recommended to use Microsoft Word through Google Docs, within the shared folder, so that everyone works on the same document and comments and revisions can be added.
Data analysis and programming
If the thesis involves data analysis or programming activities, it is necessary to be able to understand and carry out the work independently. By independently, I mean that a certain degree of autonomy and initiative will be required, obviously under my supervision. I will not carry out the entire analysis, programming, or production of results on behalf of the person writing the thesis.
AI tools may be used as support, but it is necessary to understand the code produced, check it, and be able to explain it. AI is a support tool, not a substitute for personal work.
Advice on AI
The use of AI tools as support for thesis work is allowed and, in some cases, recommended. It can be useful for clarifying theoretical concepts, discussing scientific articles, improving the structure of a text, revising texts in English, checking the clarity of an explanation, or receiving suggestions on code and analyses.
However, these tools must be used critically. It is not recommended to have AI write entire pages without careful supervision; instead, it is useful to use it to improve the clarity of a paragraph, check the logical coherence of a section, rephrase unclear sentences, or receive feedback on the structure of a text.
It is also not recommended to systematically translate scientific articles from English into Italian in order to read them. Reading scientific articles in English is part of the training process. AI can instead be useful for clarifying complex passages, summarizing specific sections, explaining theoretical or methodological concepts, discussing the limitations and implications of an article, and checking understanding.