A preface is your opportunity to inform your audience about your experiences during the writing of your thesis or dissertation.
A preface is much more personal than other types of academic writing. It is written mainly in the first person and is one of the few places where using first-person is considered acceptable. Your preface is typically written upon completion of your thesis or dissertation, as a final step.
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The following items can be included in the preface:
Your (brief) personal background
Any (brief) personal experiences or circumstances that motivated you to pursue this type of academic work
The target group for which your thesis or dissertation was written
Your name, the place name, and the date at the time of writing, at the end of the preface
While it’s common practice to briefly acknowledge any individuals and/or institutions who have helped you during your writing and editing process, these should mostly be saved for your acknowledgements section.
Indeed, it is often common practice to write either a preface or an acknowledgements section, not both.
Check out this example about how to write a preface. The trick is to write the preface in a style that is personal, yet still professional. Remember that this is one of the few occurrences where first-person is acceptable, and in fact encouraged.
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Tegan is an American based in Amsterdam, with master's degrees in political science and education administration. While she is definitely a political scientist at heart, her experience working at universities led to a passion for making social science topics more approachable and exciting to students.