Skip to Main Content

Microsoft Word for Dissertations

While the context of this Guide is dissertations, the many features described here will also help you format research papers, conference abstracts, case studies, and other complex documents.

Enough seriousness, you could use some of these:

A meme: getting a phd so when i get something in the mail that l've purchased i can say "Ah, just what the doctor ordered!" every single time until i die
A meme: Flight attendant: Is there a doctor on the plane? Me: Yes, but I'm not that kind of ... Flight attendant: The pilots are debating the merits of the terminologies of "the dark ages" vs. "late antiquity" vs. "the early middle ages". Me: Okay. I'm here.
A meme: The Institute of Unfinished Research has concluded that 6 out of 10 people
A meme showing two figs.  One is labeled "Fig 1".  The other is "Fig 2"
A meme: showing a pie chart titled "Should your pie chart use a gradient?" with "Yes" and "no" as the options.  Both are presented as gradients on the pie chart, making it useless.
A meme: *demon stands amid your destroyed work space* Demon: *booming* HOW? How were you able to summon me?! You (frantically clicking undo) *screaming and crying*: I don't know. I was just trying to format an outline in Word. You were supposed to be bullet points
A meme: A Venn diagram with Pizza styles like Stuffed Crust, Detroit-style, Wood-fired on the left. On the right, "Citation styles", with AMA, APA, MLA.  The common area of the diagram just has "Chicago"
A meme: Person 1: HEY, LOOK, WE HAVE A BUNCH OF DATA! I'M GONNA ANALYZE IT.    Person 2: NO, YOU FOOL! THAT WILL ONLY CREATE MORE DATA!
A Meme  *when the villain in the movie has a PhD* Viewers without a PhD: Ah, they are just saying he's a smart villain. Makes sense. Viewers with a Ph

Origin of the term "Doctor"

Anyone who says that an MD is the only degree which should be referred to as "Doctor" should understand that using this title to describe someone with a Doctor of Philosophy degree was a practice in place centuries before the term began to be used for the Doctor of Medicine degree.

From Britannica:

The term doctor, from the Latin verb docere, meaning “to teach,” emerged in the Middle Ages, when it was used to describe theologians who were qualified to teach religious doctrine. By the 14th century the title had been expanded to refer to all those who received a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree. In the 17th century, with the growth of respect for medical training, medical schools, primarily in Scotland, began to address physicians as doctors. Previously, physicians had been excluded from this title because their training was considered to be professional (preparing students for careers) rather than the kind of advanced discipline-specific learning offered via a graduate program.

 

Last Updated: Oct 23, 2025 2:23 PM