You have a chapter that is close to done: a literature review, a methodology, a discussion. You want to know what a careful reader will question before your supervisor or the assessors see it. This page sets out what is checked in each chapter, how your field changes those checks, what European supervision guides say about reading chapter drafts, and how to test a chapter yourself. From here, the pages per field go one chapter deeper.
No one sees their own blind spots, with or without AI help. Esmond points them out in your draft from within your field, along with factual errors and inconsistencies.
A chapter can be sound on its own and still cause problems in the thesis as a whole. The supervision booklet of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Southern Denmark warns that “sections of the thesis that seem to make sense in isolation might be problematic within the context of the work in its entirety, or vice versa.” So feedback on a chapter has two questions to answer: does the chapter hold up by itself, and does it still fit the chapters around it?
Supervisors also read selectively. The same booklet tells students: “Please note that it is not the intention that the supervisor should read the entire thesis before you submit it.” At the University of Oslo, the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics sets a minimum for its supervisors: “Read and provide detailed comments on chapter drafts at least once, but can themselves decide how extensive the review of revised chapters and the master's thesis as a whole should be.” A revised chapter may get a lighter reading than the first draft did, which makes your own check on the final version more important.
A hypothetical example of a commentYour introduction says the study compares two groups of schools, but your results chapter reports figures for one group only. Where are the results for the second group?
A first comment on one part of your own draft, right away and without an account.
Get a free previewThe questions below apply to many empirical and theoretical theses. The pages per field show where your discipline adds to them or changes them.
| Chapter | The main question a reader asks | A common reason for comments |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | Is the problem clear, and does the research question follow from it? | The question in the introduction differs from the one the conclusion answers |
| Literature review | Does the review lead to your question, or does it only summarize? | Studies listed one by one, with no comparison and no gap at the end |
| Methodology | Can this design answer this question, and could someone repeat it? | A method named without the reasons for choosing it |
| Results | Is every question or hypothesis answered, in the order it was set? | Interpretation mixed into the reporting, or a test that appears without a plan |
| Discussion | Do the claims stay within what the results show? | A stronger claim than the design allows, such as causal language after a correlational study |
| Conclusion | Does it answer the research question, and only that? | New material in the conclusion, or a summary that answers nothing |
The same chapter heading can ask for different work in different fields. A methodology chapter in psychology reports participants, measures and an analysis plan; in a doctrinal law dissertation it explains which legal sources carry weight and how they are interpreted; in engineering it sets out requirements, alternatives and how the design was verified. A literature review in nursing appraises evidence for practice; in engineering it compares existing designs against technical criteria. A supervisor in each field reads for those differences.
The table links to one page per chapter and field. Each goes through what that chapter does in the field, what is read for, guidance from departments, made-up examples of typical problems, and a checklist for your own draft.
| Field | Chapter pages |
|---|---|
| Psychology | Introduction, literature review, methods section, results section, discussion section |
| Nursing | Literature review |
| Social work | Literature review |
| Education | Literature review |
| Public health | Literature review |
| Law | Introduction, literature review, methodology |
| Business | Literature review |
| Engineering | Literature review, methodology, conclusion |
Some programs build the early chapters into supervision. At KTH's School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the pre-study with the methodology and the literature study is meant to become part of the thesis: “This should serve as a draft for the respective chapters of the final master's thesis.” The chapters that shape the rest are worth showing first. The Southern Denmark booklet advises: “Use your supervisor to discuss the problem formulation of your thesis, the method, your choice of theory, the structure, and the paragraphs heavy in analysis.”
The work stays yours. The Department of Physics at the University of Oslo puts it this way: “The master's project belongs to the master's student, and it is expected that the student drives the project forward.” In practice, that means you decide which chapter goes to which reader and what you ask about it. For who else can read a draft, see who can review my thesis and feedback before your supervisor reads it.
Some comments on a chapter can only be made with the other chapters in view. A reader who sees one chapter on its own can miss them.
These fragments are made up. None of them comes from a real thesis.
Esmond evaluates every assignment before you submit. It never writes it.
Esmond is an AI tool that doesn't write for you. If your course doesn't allow any AI tools, don't use Esmond for that work. If you're unsure, ask your instructor or advisor.
Esmond reads your draft from within your field and flags factual errors, inconsistencies, and blind spots, with the points a supervisor or the assessors may question. In a chapter, that can be a claim no source carries, a method that doesn't fit the question, a result the discussion overstates, or a conclusion that answers a different question. Open the sample report to see a review on a fictional thesis, or read how Esmond works. Before you use it for your thesis, check can I use Esmond?.
Esmond reads what you upload. If the file holds the whole draft, it can set this chapter against the others; if it holds one chapter, the review stays within that chapter and may raise a point that another chapter already answers.
Esmond adds no text to your chapter and puts no number on it. You decide which points to act on, and your supervisor and the assessors have the final say.
Yes. Your supervisor is the first reader, and in the guides quoted here, supervisors comment on chapter drafts. Other readers, such as peers or a tool that reviews content, can read a chapter too. A chapter read on its own can't be checked against the rest of the thesis, so name the research question and the chapters around it when you share it.
The ones that shape the rest: the problem statement and research question, the method, and the theoretical frame. The University of Southern Denmark's booklet names those, along with the structure and the parts heavy in analysis.
That depends on your program. The University of Southern Denmark's booklet says it is not the intention that the supervisor reads the entire thesis before submission. At the University of Oslo's Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, supervisors comment in detail on chapter drafts at least once and decide how much of revised chapters to read. Ask your supervisor what you can expect.
In a literature review, whether the studies are compared and lead to your question; in a methodology chapter, whether the design can answer the question and is described fully enough to repeat. Your field changes the details: see the chapter pages per field above, and your program's assessment criteria.
No. Editing works on language and form. Feedback on a chapter is about the content: the argument, the method, the sources, and whether the chapter fits the thesis. The changes stay yours.
Read on November 8, 2026.
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