# 8. Writing the preface

When you have completed the substantial parts of your thesis, you can write the preface. This is the first section of your thesis of one or two pages, in which you describe how you stumbled upon your supervisor, your research question or your dataset (or all three at once). It is OK to tell a story (“It was a sunny day on campus…”), come up with an anecdote and write your preface in a personal style.

Also the preface is the place to thank people who have helped you with your thesis by providing data, by interpreting results of statistical analyses, or by proof reading and catching language errors. You can talk about your personal experiences in this section, but not in the remainder of your thesis.

In an empirical journal article, the preface takes the form of an ‘Acknowledgements’ section or a footnote. Make sure you thank everyone who contributed. In case your article has multiple contributors, describe the contributions of each person who contributed in an author contribution note.