ABSTRACT
Most people heading towards preparing a dissertation keep some or all of their data, results, literature review elements, draft chapters, and so on as word-processing files on computers. The suggestions given in this chapter are based on experience – and particularly experience of getting things wrong. There is no point throwing away what might turn out to be good ideas for the sake of a bit of disk space. A researcher will need to collect the various chapters and appendices into a single version of his/her dissertation on computer. Alternatively, he/she will need to paginate the separate files so that when printed out they make a complete dissertation. Just as it is important to keep copies of important paper-based evidence of a research, it is vital to back up the electronic records too. It can be useful to add by hand at the start or finish of a file the actual date on which the researcher last worked on it.
