A thesis here moves through three screens: the proposal, the outline and the chapters you write in. You can go back to any of them at any time.
1. Create the thesis
- On Your theses, give it a Working title. You can change it later.
- Choose where it starts: A paper I have written (it reads the paper and builds the proposal around it) or A topic (it checks the literature and helps you find the gap).
- Optionally pick a Citation style. Skip it to keep APA 7; you can change it at any time and every citation follows. A preview shows how a citation will look.
- Press Create thesis. You land on the proposal.
2. The proposal
- From a paper: upload your paper (PDF or Word). It is read once, and its references become your starting library. This takes a minute or two.
- From a topic: answer two or three questions in a short conversation. You can tap an option or type your own answer, and change an earlier answer with Edit while turns remain. Fill it in myself instead skips the conversation.
Either way you end with a form you can edit: working title, problem statement, objectives and Why this is not yet fully answered. Write that last one yourself; it is the part a committee reads closely.
3. The outline
Press Continue to the editor. If the thesis has only its first empty chapter, the outline is built in the background and its chapters appear in the chapter list within a minute. On the Outline screen you can regenerate it, add, move, rename and delete chapters and sections, and keep a glossary. Chapters you have written in are never overwritten or deleted by a regeneration.
4. Write
Open a chapter and write as you normally would. Ask for a suggestion when you want one (see Suggestions); the tools panel beside the text has your sources, papers, citations, chat, checks and comments. Every change is saved as you type.
To reorder your text, put the cursor in a paragraph, table or figure and press Ctrl+Shift+↑ or Ctrl+Shift+↓ (⌘+Shift on a Mac). The chapter title never moves, and nothing moves while a suggestion is showing.
Building a whole chapter
From a thesis’s More menu, Build a chapter plans a chapter from your objectives, writes each section from your library, checks it and has an examiner read it. Planning is free; the build is one unit of your monthly allowance. Every section arrives in your chapter as a draft: nothing enters the thesis until you accept it. Under a finished build, How was this build? takes a thumbs up or down and a line, which the Thesis Copilot team reads with the thesis title, never its text.