thesis for the paper

Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

• Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to  be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

• Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

• Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

• Do I answer the question? Yes!
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How to write a thesis statement + examples

What is a thesis statement?

Is a thesis statement a question, how do you write a good thesis statement, how do i know if my thesis statement is good, examples of thesis statements, helpful resources on how to write a thesis statement, frequently asked questions about writing a thesis statement, related articles.

A thesis statement is the main argument of your paper or thesis.

The thesis statement is one of the most important elements of any piece of academic writing . It is a brief statement of your paper’s main argument. Essentially, you are stating what you will be writing about.

You can see your thesis statement as an answer to a question. While it also contains the question, it should really give an answer to the question with new information and not just restate or reiterate it.

Your thesis statement is part of your introduction. Learn more about how to write a good thesis introduction in our introduction guide .

A thesis statement is not a question. A statement must be arguable and provable through evidence and analysis. While your thesis might stem from a research question, it should be in the form of a statement.

Tip: A thesis statement is typically 1-2 sentences. For a longer project like a thesis, the statement may be several sentences or a paragraph.

A good thesis statement needs to do the following:

• Condense the main idea of your thesis into one or two sentences.
• Answer your project’s main research question.
• Clearly state your position in relation to the topic .
• Make an argument that requires support or evidence.

Once you have written down a thesis statement, check if it fulfills the following criteria:

• Your statement needs to be provable by evidence. As an argument, a thesis statement needs to be debatable.
• Your statement needs to be precise. Do not give away too much information in the thesis statement and do not load it with unnecessary information.
• Your statement cannot say that one solution is simply right or simply wrong as a matter of fact. You should draw upon verified facts to persuade the reader of your solution, but you cannot just declare something as right or wrong.

As previously mentioned, your thesis statement should answer a question.

If the question is:

What do you think the City of New York should do to reduce traffic congestion?

A good thesis statement restates the question and answers it:

In this paper, I will argue that the City of New York should focus on providing exclusive lanes for public transport and adaptive traffic signals to reduce traffic congestion by the year 2035.

Here is another example. If the question is:

How can we end poverty?

A good thesis statement should give more than one solution to the problem in question:

In this paper, I will argue that introducing universal basic income can help reduce poverty and positively impact the way we work.

• The Writing Center of the University of North Carolina has a list of questions to ask to see if your thesis is strong .

A thesis statement is part of the introduction of your paper. It is usually found in the first or second paragraph to let the reader know your research purpose from the beginning.

In general, a thesis statement should have one or two sentences. But the length really depends on the overall length of your project. Take a look at our guide about the length of thesis statements for more insight on this topic.

Here is a list of Thesis Statement Examples that will help you understand better how to write them.

Every good essay should include a thesis statement as part of its introduction, no matter the academic level. Of course, if you are a high school student you are not expected to have the same type of thesis as a PhD student.

Here is a great YouTube tutorial showing How To Write An Essay: Thesis Statements .

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Writing a Paper: Thesis Statements

Basics of thesis statements.

The thesis statement is the brief articulation of your paper's central argument and purpose. You might hear it referred to as simply a "thesis." Every scholarly paper should have a thesis statement, and strong thesis statements are concise, specific, and arguable. Concise means the thesis is short: perhaps one or two sentences for a shorter paper. Specific means the thesis deals with a narrow and focused topic, appropriate to the paper's length. Arguable means that a scholar in your field could disagree (or perhaps already has!).

Strong thesis statements address specific intellectual questions, have clear positions, and use a structure that reflects the overall structure of the paper. Read on to learn more about constructing a strong thesis statement.

Being Specific

This thesis statement has no specific argument:

Needs Improvement: In this essay, I will examine two scholarly articles to find similarities and differences.

This statement is concise, but it is neither specific nor arguable—a reader might wonder, "Which scholarly articles? What is the topic of this paper? What field is the author writing in?" Additionally, the purpose of the paper—to "examine…to find similarities and differences" is not of a scholarly level. Identifying similarities and differences is a good first step, but strong academic argument goes further, analyzing what those similarities and differences might mean or imply.

Better: In this essay, I will argue that Bowler's (2003) autocratic management style, when coupled with Smith's (2007) theory of social cognition, can reduce the expenses associated with employee turnover.

The new revision here is still concise, as well as specific and arguable.  We can see that it is specific because the writer is mentioning (a) concrete ideas and (b) exact authors.  We can also gather the field (business) and the topic (management and employee turnover). The statement is arguable because the student goes beyond merely comparing; he or she draws conclusions from that comparison ("can reduce the expenses associated with employee turnover").

Making a Unique Argument

This thesis draft repeats the language of the writing prompt without making a unique argument:

Needs Improvement: The purpose of this essay is to monitor, assess, and evaluate an educational program for its strengths and weaknesses. Then, I will provide suggestions for improvement.

You can see here that the student has simply stated the paper's assignment, without articulating specifically how he or she will address it. The student can correct this error simply by phrasing the thesis statement as a specific answer to the assignment prompt.

Better: Through a series of student interviews, I found that Kennedy High School's antibullying program was ineffective. In order to address issues of conflict between students, I argue that Kennedy High School should embrace policies outlined by the California Department of Education (2010).

Words like "ineffective" and "argue" show here that the student has clearly thought through the assignment and analyzed the material; he or she is putting forth a specific and debatable position. The concrete information ("student interviews," "antibullying") further prepares the reader for the body of the paper and demonstrates how the student has addressed the assignment prompt without just restating that language.

Creating a Debate

This thesis statement includes only obvious fact or plot summary instead of argument:

Needs Improvement: Leadership is an important quality in nurse educators.

A good strategy to determine if your thesis statement is too broad (and therefore, not arguable) is to ask yourself, "Would a scholar in my field disagree with this point?" Here, we can see easily that no scholar is likely to argue that leadership is an unimportant quality in nurse educators.  The student needs to come up with a more arguable claim, and probably a narrower one; remember that a short paper needs a more focused topic than a dissertation.

Better: Roderick's (2009) theory of participatory leadership  is particularly appropriate to nurse educators working within the emergency medicine field, where students benefit most from collegial and kinesthetic learning.

Here, the student has identified a particular type of leadership ("participatory leadership"), narrowing the topic, and has made an arguable claim (this type of leadership is "appropriate" to a specific type of nurse educator). Conceivably, a scholar in the nursing field might disagree with this approach. The student's paper can now proceed, providing specific pieces of evidence to support the arguable central claim.

Choosing the Right Words

This thesis statement uses large or scholarly-sounding words that have no real substance:

Needs Improvement: Scholars should work to seize metacognitive outcomes by harnessing discipline-based networks to empower collaborative infrastructures.

There are many words in this sentence that may be buzzwords in the student's field or key terms taken from other texts, but together they do not communicate a clear, specific meaning. Sometimes students think scholarly writing means constructing complex sentences using special language, but actually it's usually a stronger choice to write clear, simple sentences. When in doubt, remember that your ideas should be complex, not your sentence structure.

Better: Ecologists should work to educate the U.S. public on conservation methods by making use of local and national green organizations to create a widespread communication plan.

Notice in the revision that the field is now clear (ecology), and the language has been made much more field-specific ("conservation methods," "green organizations"), so the reader is able to see concretely the ideas the student is communicating.

Leaving Room for Discussion

This thesis statement is not capable of development or advancement in the paper:

Needs Improvement: There are always alternatives to illegal drug use.

This sample thesis statement makes a claim, but it is not a claim that will sustain extended discussion. This claim is the type of claim that might be appropriate for the conclusion of a paper, but in the beginning of the paper, the student is left with nowhere to go. What further points can be made? If there are "always alternatives" to the problem the student is identifying, then why bother developing a paper around that claim? Ideally, a thesis statement should be complex enough to explore over the length of the entire paper.

Better: The most effective treatment plan for methamphetamine addiction may be a combination of pharmacological and cognitive therapy, as argued by Baker (2008), Smith (2009), and Xavier (2011).

In the revised thesis, you can see the student make a specific, debatable claim that has the potential to generate several pages' worth of discussion. When drafting a thesis statement, think about the questions your thesis statement will generate: What follow-up inquiries might a reader have? In the first example, there are almost no additional questions implied, but the revised example allows for a good deal more exploration.

Thesis Mad Libs

If you are having trouble getting started, try using the models below to generate a rough model of a thesis statement! These models are intended for drafting purposes only and should not appear in your final work.

• In this essay, I argue ____, using ______ to assert _____.
• While scholars have often argued ______, I argue______, because_______.
• Through an analysis of ______, I argue ______, which is important because_______.

Words to Avoid and to Embrace

When drafting your thesis statement, avoid words like explore, investigate, learn, compile, summarize , and explain to describe the main purpose of your paper. These words imply a paper that summarizes or "reports," rather than synthesizing and analyzing.

Instead of the terms above, try words like argue, critique, question , and interrogate . These more analytical words may help you begin strongly, by articulating a specific, critical, scholarly position.

Read Kayla's blog post for tips on taking a stand in a well-crafted thesis statement.

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How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement: 4 Steps + Examples

What’s Covered:

What is the purpose of a thesis statement, writing a good thesis statement: 4 steps, common pitfalls to avoid, where to get your essay edited for free.

When you set out to write an essay, there has to be some kind of point to it, right? Otherwise, your essay would just be a big jumble of word salad that makes absolutely no sense. An essay needs a central point that ties into everything else. That main point is called a thesis statement, and it’s the core of any essay or research paper.

You may hear about Master degree candidates writing a thesis, and that is an entire paper–not to be confused with the thesis statement, which is typically one sentence that contains your paper’s focus. 

Read on to learn more about thesis statements and how to write them. We’ve also included some solid examples for you to reference.

Typically the last sentence of your introductory paragraph, the thesis statement serves as the roadmap for your essay. When your reader gets to the thesis statement, they should have a clear outline of your main point, as well as the information you’ll be presenting in order to either prove or support your point. 

The thesis statement should not be confused for a topic sentence , which is the first sentence of every paragraph in your essay. If you need help writing topic sentences, numerous resources are available. Topic sentences should go along with your thesis statement, though.

Since the thesis statement is the most important sentence of your entire essay or paper, it’s imperative that you get this part right. Otherwise, your paper will not have a good flow and will seem disjointed. That’s why it’s vital not to rush through developing one. It’s a methodical process with steps that you need to follow in order to create the best thesis statement possible.

Step 1: Decide what kind of paper you’re writing

When you’re assigned an essay, there are several different types you may get. Argumentative essays are designed to get the reader to agree with you on a topic. Informative or expository essays present information to the reader. Analytical essays offer up a point and then expand on it by analyzing relevant information. Thesis statements can look and sound different based on the type of paper you’re writing. For example:

• Argumentative: The United States needs a viable third political party to decrease bipartisanship, increase options, and help reduce corruption in government.
• Informative: The Libertarian party has thrown off elections before by gaining enough support in states to get on the ballot and by taking away crucial votes from candidates.
• Analytical: An analysis of past presidential elections shows that while third party votes may have been the minority, they did affect the outcome of the elections in 2020, 2016, and beyond.

Step 2: Figure out what point you want to make

Once you know what type of paper you’re writing, you then need to figure out the point you want to make with your thesis statement, and subsequently, your paper. In other words, you need to decide to answer a question about something, such as:

• What impact did reality TV have on American society?
• How has the musical Hamilton affected perception of American history?
• Why do I want to major in [chosen major here]?

If you have an argumentative essay, then you will be writing about an opinion. To make it easier, you may want to choose an opinion that you feel passionate about so that you’re writing about something that interests you. For example, if you have an interest in preserving the environment, you may want to choose a topic that relates to that. 

If you’re writing your college essay and they ask why you want to attend that school, you may want to have a main point and back it up with information, something along the lines of:

“Attending Harvard University would benefit me both academically and professionally, as it would give me a strong knowledge base upon which to build my career, develop my network, and hopefully give me an advantage in my chosen field.”

Step 3: Determine what information you’ll use to back up your point

Once you have the point you want to make, you need to figure out how you plan to back it up throughout the rest of your essay. Without this information, it will be hard to either prove or argue the main point of your thesis statement. If you decide to write about the Hamilton example, you may decide to address any falsehoods that the writer put into the musical, such as:

“The musical Hamilton, while accurate in many ways, leaves out key parts of American history, presents a nationalist view of founding fathers, and downplays the racism of the times.”

Once you’ve written your initial working thesis statement, you’ll then need to get information to back that up. For example, the musical completely leaves out Benjamin Franklin, portrays the founding fathers in a nationalist way that is too complimentary, and shows Hamilton as a staunch abolitionist despite the fact that his family likely did own slaves. 

Step 4: Revise and refine your thesis statement before you start writing

Read through your thesis statement several times before you begin to compose your full essay. You need to make sure the statement is ironclad, since it is the foundation of the entire paper. Edit it or have a peer review it for you to make sure everything makes sense and that you feel like you can truly write a paper on the topic. Once you’ve done that, you can then begin writing your paper.

When writing a thesis statement, there are some common pitfalls you should avoid so that your paper can be as solid as possible. Make sure you always edit the thesis statement before you do anything else. You also want to ensure that the thesis statement is clear and concise. Don’t make your reader hunt for your point. Finally, put your thesis statement at the end of the first paragraph and have your introduction flow toward that statement. Your reader will expect to find your statement in its traditional spot.

If you’re having trouble getting started, or need some guidance on your essay, there are tools available that can help you. CollegeVine offers a free peer essay review tool where one of your peers can read through your essay and provide you with valuable feedback. Getting essay feedback from a peer can help you wow your instructor or college admissions officer with an impactful essay that effectively illustrates your point.

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Think of yourself as a member of a jury, listening to a lawyer who is presenting an opening argument. You'll want to know very soon whether the lawyer believes the accused to be guilty or not guilty, and how the lawyer plans to convince you. Readers of academic essays are like jury members: before they have read too far, they want to know what the essay argues as well as how the writer plans to make the argument. After reading your thesis statement, the reader should think, "This essay is going to try to convince me of something. I'm not convinced yet, but I'm interested to see how I might be."

An effective thesis cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." A thesis is not a topic; nor is it a fact; nor is it an opinion. "Reasons for the fall of communism" is a topic. "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" is a fact known by educated people. "The fall of communism is the best thing that ever happened in Europe" is an opinion. (Superlatives like "the best" almost always lead to trouble. It's impossible to weigh every "thing" that ever happened in Europe. And what about the fall of Hitler? Couldn't that be "the best thing"?)

A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should "telegraph" how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay.

Steps in Constructing a Thesis

First, analyze your primary sources.  Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication. Does the author contradict himself or herself? Is a point made and later reversed? What are the deeper implications of the author's argument? Figuring out the why to one or more of these questions, or to related questions, will put you on the path to developing a working thesis. (Without the why, you probably have only come up with an observation—that there are, for instance, many different metaphors in such-and-such a poem—which is not a thesis.)

Once you have a working thesis, write it down.  There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea for a thesis, then forgetting it when you lose concentration. And by writing down your thesis you will be forced to think of it clearly, logically, and concisely. You probably will not be able to write out a final-draft version of your thesis the first time you try, but you'll get yourself on the right track by writing down what you have.

Keep your thesis prominent in your introduction.  A good, standard place for your thesis statement is at the end of an introductory paragraph, especially in shorter (5-15 page) essays. Readers are used to finding theses there, so they automatically pay more attention when they read the last sentence of your introduction. Although this is not required in all academic essays, it is a good rule of thumb.

Anticipate the counterarguments.  Once you have a working thesis, you should think about what might be said against it. This will help you to refine your thesis, and it will also make you think of the arguments that you'll need to refute later on in your essay. (Every argument has a counterargument. If yours doesn't, then it's not an argument—it may be a fact, or an opinion, but it is not an argument.)

This statement is on its way to being a thesis. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counterarguments. For example, a political observer might believe that Dukakis lost because he suffered from a "soft-on-crime" image. If you complicate your thesis by anticipating the counterargument, you'll strengthen your argument, as shown in the sentence below.

Some Caveats and Some Examples

A thesis is never a question.  Readers of academic essays expect to have questions discussed, explored, or even answered. A question ("Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe?") is not an argument, and without an argument, a thesis is dead in the water.

A thesis is never a list.  "For political, economic, social and cultural reasons, communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" does a good job of "telegraphing" the reader what to expect in the essay—a section about political reasons, a section about economic reasons, a section about social reasons, and a section about cultural reasons. However, political, economic, social and cultural reasons are pretty much the only possible reasons why communism could collapse. This sentence lacks tension and doesn't advance an argument. Everyone knows that politics, economics, and culture are important.

A thesis should never be vague, combative or confrontational.  An ineffective thesis would be, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because communism is evil." This is hard to argue (evil from whose perspective? what does evil mean?) and it is likely to mark you as moralistic and judgmental rather than rational and thorough. It also may spark a defensive reaction from readers sympathetic to communism. If readers strongly disagree with you right off the bat, they may stop reading.

An effective thesis has a definable, arguable claim.  "While cultural forces contributed to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of economies played the key role in driving its decline" is an effective thesis sentence that "telegraphs," so that the reader expects the essay to have a section about cultural forces and another about the disintegration of economies. This thesis makes a definite, arguable claim: that the disintegration of economies played a more important role than cultural forces in defeating communism in Eastern Europe. The reader would react to this statement by thinking, "Perhaps what the author says is true, but I am not convinced. I want to read further to see how the author argues this claim."

A thesis should be as clear and specific as possible.  Avoid overused, general terms and abstractions. For example, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because of the ruling elite's inability to address the economic concerns of the people" is more powerful than "Communism collapsed due to societal discontent."

Copyright 1999, Maxine Rodburg and The Tutors of the Writing Center at Harvard University

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How to write a thesis statement, what is a thesis statement.

Almost all of us—even if we don’t do it consciously—look early in an essay for a one- or two-sentence condensation of the argument or analysis that is to follow. We refer to that condensation as a thesis statement.

Why Should Your Essay Contain a Thesis Statement?

• to test your ideas by distilling them into a sentence or two
• to better organize and develop your argument
• to provide your reader with a “guide” to your argument

In general, your thesis statement will accomplish these goals if you think of the thesis as the answer to the question your paper explores.

How Can You Write a Good Thesis Statement?

Here are some helpful hints to get you started. You can either scroll down or select a link to a specific topic.

How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One

How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned

Almost all assignments, no matter how complicated, can be reduced to a single question. Your first step, then, is to distill the assignment into a specific question. For example, if your assignment is, “Write a report to the local school board explaining the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class,” turn the request into a question like, “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?” After you’ve chosen the question your essay will answer, compose one or two complete sentences answering that question.

Q: “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?” A: “The potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class are . . .”

A: “Using computers in a fourth-grade class promises to improve . . .”

The answer to the question is the thesis statement for the essay.

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How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned

Even if your assignment doesn’t ask a specific question, your thesis statement still needs to answer a question about the issue you’d like to explore. In this situation, your job is to figure out what question you’d like to write about.

A good thesis statement will usually include the following four attributes:

• take on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree
• deal with a subject that can be adequately treated given the nature of the assignment
• express one main idea
• assert your conclusions about a subject

Let’s see how to generate a thesis statement for a social policy paper.

Brainstorm the topic . Let’s say that your class focuses upon the problems posed by changes in the dietary habits of Americans. You find that you are interested in the amount of sugar Americans consume.

You start out with a thesis statement like this:

Sugar consumption.

This fragment isn’t a thesis statement. Instead, it simply indicates a general subject. Furthermore, your reader doesn’t know what you want to say about sugar consumption.

Narrow the topic . Your readings about the topic, however, have led you to the conclusion that elementary school children are consuming far more sugar than is healthy.

You change your thesis to look like this:

Reducing sugar consumption by elementary school children.

This fragment not only announces your subject, but it focuses on one segment of the population: elementary school children. Furthermore, it raises a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree, because while most people might agree that children consume more sugar than they used to, not everyone would agree on what should be done or who should do it. You should note that this fragment is not a thesis statement because your reader doesn’t know your conclusions on the topic.

Take a position on the topic. After reflecting on the topic a little while longer, you decide that what you really want to say about this topic is that something should be done to reduce the amount of sugar these children consume.

You revise your thesis statement to look like this:

More attention should be paid to the food and beverage choices available to elementary school children.

This statement asserts your position, but the terms more attention and food and beverage choices are vague.

Use specific language . You decide to explain what you mean about food and beverage choices , so you write:

Experts estimate that half of elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar.

This statement is specific, but it isn’t a thesis. It merely reports a statistic instead of making an assertion.

Make an assertion based on clearly stated support. You finally revise your thesis statement one more time to look like this:

Because half of all American elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar, schools should be required to replace the beverages in soda machines with healthy alternatives.

Notice how the thesis answers the question, “What should be done to reduce sugar consumption by children, and who should do it?” When you started thinking about the paper, you may not have had a specific question in mind, but as you became more involved in the topic, your ideas became more specific. Your thesis changed to reflect your new insights.

How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One

1. a strong thesis statement takes some sort of stand..

Remember that your thesis needs to show your conclusions about a subject. For example, if you are writing a paper for a class on fitness, you might be asked to choose a popular weight-loss product to evaluate. Here are two thesis statements:

There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement.

This is a weak thesis statement. First, it fails to take a stand. Second, the phrase negative and positive aspects is vague.

Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger to customers.

This is a strong thesis because it takes a stand, and because it's specific.

2. A strong thesis statement justifies discussion.

Your thesis should indicate the point of the discussion. If your assignment is to write a paper on kinship systems, using your own family as an example, you might come up with either of these two thesis statements:

My family is an extended family.

This is a weak thesis because it merely states an observation. Your reader won’t be able to tell the point of the statement, and will probably stop reading.

While most American families would view consanguineal marriage as a threat to the nuclear family structure, many Iranian families, like my own, believe that these marriages help reinforce kinship ties in an extended family.

This is a strong thesis because it shows how your experience contradicts a widely-accepted view. A good strategy for creating a strong thesis is to show that the topic is controversial. Readers will be interested in reading the rest of the essay to see how you support your point.

3. A strong thesis statement expresses one main idea.

Readers need to be able to see that your paper has one main point. If your thesis statement expresses more than one idea, then you might confuse your readers about the subject of your paper. For example:

Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and Web pages can provide both advertising and customer support.

This is a weak thesis statement because the reader can’t decide whether the paper is about marketing on the Internet or Web pages. To revise the thesis, the relationship between the two ideas needs to become more clear. One way to revise the thesis would be to write:

Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing potential, companies should exploit this potential by using Web pages that offer both advertising and customer support.

This is a strong thesis because it shows that the two ideas are related. Hint: a great many clear and engaging thesis statements contain words like because , since , so , although , unless , and however .

4. A strong thesis statement is specific.

A thesis statement should show exactly what your paper will be about, and will help you keep your paper to a manageable topic. For example, if you're writing a seven-to-ten page paper on hunger, you might say:

World hunger has many causes and effects.

This is a weak thesis statement for two major reasons. First, world hunger can’t be discussed thoroughly in seven to ten pages. Second, many causes and effects is vague. You should be able to identify specific causes and effects. A revised thesis might look like this:

Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely profitable.

This is a strong thesis statement because it narrows the subject to a more specific and manageable topic, and it also identifies the specific causes for the existence of hunger.

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Everything You Need to Know About Thesis Statement

Table of Contents

Persuasion is a skill that every human leverages to achieve their goals. For example, you persuade your friends to join you on some trip, your parents to purchase you an automobile, and your committee or audience to provide you approval for your research proposal.

Likewise, every scholarly task is aimed to persuade your readers or audience for certain goals. And the end goal is to incline the readers towards your perspective (facts and evidence-based). So, the act of convincing readers of your viewpoints via research work is often termed academic argument, and it follows a predetermined pattern of guidelines-based writing. After providing a comprehensive introduction to the research topic, you are supposed to state your perspective on the topic in a sentence or two, known as Thesis Statement . It summarizes the argument you will make throughout the paper.

Also, the Thesis Statement often serves as an answer to your research question. Thus, the thesis statement is a must for every research paper and scholarly work.

What is Thesis Statement?

A Thesis Statement:

• Describes how you interpret the subject matter's cause, significance, and results.
• Is a guideline for the paper. In other words, it provides an understanding of the research topic.
• Directly answers the question you are asked. The thesis is not the question itself but an interpretation of it. For example, a thesis can be about World War II, and it should also provide a way to understand the war.
• Claims that other people might disagree with.
• Is a single sentence at the beginning of your paper or near the end of the first para (where you present your argument to the reader). The body of the essay is the rest of the paper. It gathers and organizes evidence to support your argument.

A thesis statement should be concise and easily understandable. Use it as a magnet to attract your readers to keep them reading your paper till the end.

What is the purpose or the goal of the thesis statement?

The real purpose of the thesis statement is:

• To establish a gateway through which your readers can make an entrance into your research paper.
• To bring the entire research paper together to an epicenter of various arguments provided throughout the paper.

Simply put, the goal of writing a strong thesis statement is to make your research paper appear interesting enough for the readers to understand it and prove your arguments right completely.

Additionally, the goal of the thesis statement varies from the kind of research you are presenting. If your thesis provides some claims, justifications, or study, you should present an argumentative thesis statement . However, if your thesis is based on analysis, interpretation, demonstration of cause and effect, comparisons, and contrast, you should develop a persuasive thesis statement.

What is the length of an Ideal Thesis Statement?

You should write your thesis statement in 1-2 sentences. Ideally, it should not be more than 50 words in total.

Also, you should try inserting the thesis statement at the end of the topic introduction or just before the background information.

While writing your thesis statement, be mindful that a thesis statement is never meant to be factual. Your thesis statement is one of the most important elements of your thesis that will help your audience understand what you discuss throughout your paper. So, ensure that your thesis statement must appear like an arguable statement, not a factual one.

Many early researchers or young scholars choose to write factual statements as thesis statements as they are easy to prove. However, resorting to factual statements instead of arguable ones will overshadow your analytical and critical thinking skills, which readers anticipate in your paper.

How to Start a Thesis Statement?

The thesis statement is an outline of your research topic in one sentence. Therefore, you must write it in a concise and catchy style. So, here are a few quick tips that help you understand how to start a thesis statement for a research paper:

Discover Your Research Question

Once the subject matter is finalized for writing a research paper, the next requirement is to figure out the research question. While formulating your research question, make sure that it shows the gaps in the current field of study and should serve as a primary interrogation point for your research.

Figure out the answer and develop your argument

Carry out intensive research to determine the perfect answer for your research question. Your answer should further guide you to structure your entire research paper and its content flow.

For example, if you write an argumentative paper, craft your opinion and create an argument. Then, develop your claim against the topics you want to cover and justify it through various data & facts.

Establish back-up for your Answer with Evidence

The more you research, the more you will learn about the variations in the research answer that you were trying to formulate. Similarly, with various sources and newer evidence coming up, you should be able to make an answer that should stand coherently, correctly, relevant, and justified enough. The answer should enhance the reader’s understanding of your paper from beginning to end.

How to determine if my thesis statement is strong?

Make a self-evaluation of your thesis statement and check if it stands the following interrogation:

• Does it answer the question?

Re-read to understand the question prompt to ensure that your answer or the thesis statement itself doesn't skip the focus of the question. Try rephrasing it if you feel that the question prompt is not structured or appropriately discussed.

• Does my thesis statement appear like an argument (for or against)?

Suppose you have chosen to present the facts and rationality behind it in the best way possible and assume that no one would or could ever disagree with it. It indicates that you've presented a summary instead of presenting an argument. So, always pick an opinion from the topic and justify your arguments backed with various evidence.

• Is the Thesis Statement explicit and specific?

It may lack a strong argument if you have written a very general statement or vaguely crafted a thesis statement. Your audience will figure it out instantly.

Therefore, if you have used words like “good’’ or “bad,” try to put it more specifically by answering and figuring out “Why something is good”? Or ''What makes something good or bad”?

• Does it clear the “So What” test?

After reading any research paper, the prompt question that pops up from a reader's mind is, "So What?". Now, if your thesis statement urges the reader with such questions, you need to develop a strong argument or relationship that bridges your research topic to a more significant real-world problem.

• Does it go beyond the “How” and “Why” assessments?

After going through your thesis statement, if the readers come up with questions like "How" and 'Why," it indicates that your statement failed to provide the reader with the critical insights to understand your thesis statement and is too open-ended. So, you must provide your readers with the best statement explaining the introduction's real significance and the impending need for further research.

Thesis Statement Examples

Follow through with some interesting and creative thesis statements to clarify your doubts and better understand the concept.

Example 1: Social Media affects public awareness both positively and negatively

Yeah, it does answer the question. However, the answer is pretty vague and generic as it shows the effects both positively and negatively.

Not accurately. The statement can be argued only with the people having opinions either on positive or the negative aspect. Therefore, it fails to address every section of the audience.

• Is the Thesis statement specific enough?

Not exactly. This thesis statement doesn't provide any details on positive and negative impacts.

No, not at all. The thesis statement stated above provides no clarifications over how the positive or negative impacts build up or the factors that build up such impacts.

Again, No. It fails to justify why anyone should bother about the impacts, be it positive or negative.

A stronger and alternate version for the above thesis statement can be:

Since not every piece of information provided on social media is credible and reliable enough, users have become avid consumers of critical information and, therefore, more informed.

Even though the above thesis statement is lengthy, it answers every question and provides details over cause, effect, and critical aspects that readers can easily challenge.

Example 2: Analytical Thesis Statement

• Water is extremely important for human survival, but consuming contaminated water poses many health risks.
• The hibernation period is one of the most important periods in animals for healthy well-being. Still, it renders them in a state of weakness and exposed to external and environmental threats.

Example 3: Argumentative Thesis Statement

• At the end of the nineteenth century, French women lawyers experienced misogynist attacks from male lawyers when they attempted to enter the legal profession because male lawyers wanted to keep women out of judgeships.
• High levels of alcohol consumption have detrimental effects on your health, such as weight gain, heart disease, and liver complications.

Tips for writing a Strong Thesis Statement

A strong thesis statement is the foremost requirement of academic writing, and it holds greater importance when written for research papers. However, it becomes more crucial when you want your readers to get convinced of your opinions or perspective of the subject matter.

Below are some pro-tips that can help you crack the code of how to write a strong thesis statement, especially for research papers, thesis, and dissertations:

Keep it specific

Readers often get disappointed and confused when you present a weak argument based on a generic thesis statement. To develop a strong thesis statement, focus on one key aspect and develop it further.

Keep it simple and clear

The essence of your entire research paper is dependent on your thesis statement. Also, a strong thesis statement stays hinged over the clarity it provides. Therefore, don't disrupt the meaning or clarity of your research paper by using some jargonish words or complexing it by combining different concepts.

Ingrain your opinions

Your thesis statement should explicitly display your opinion or position for the subject matter under discussion. Your reader wants to understand your position in detail and the factors you will justify with evidence and facts.

Make it unique and Original

Your audience or the readers have gone through the subject matter several times in their careers. Hence, you must present your thesis statement in a unique and completely original form. Never use generic statements; grow some risk-taking capability and surprise your readers.

Keep it Concise and Coherent

Your thesis statement can be considered good only if it is concise yet informational. Don’t make it wordy in any case, and never go beyond more than 50 words.

Additionally, your research paper will discuss many aspects of a topic. Still, in the end, every single aspect should come together to form a coherent whole, addressing, explaining, and justifying the research question.

Conclusion: How to write a Thesis Statement?

A strong thesis statement is the one of the most important elements of your research paper. The thesis statement always serves as a pillar that carries the entire load of a research paper and it’s several sections.

Whether your research paper is worthy of your audience time or not, entirely hinges upon your thesis statement. A thesis statement always depicts the plan for the research but a good thesis statement reflects your opinions, viewpoints and of course the trajectory that it sets for the entire paper.

So, always try to write a good thesis statement by carefully following its structure, about which we have already discussed.

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Hope the article has explained everything that you needed to know about the thesis statement. In case you have any questions or doubts, join our SciSpace (Formerly Typeset) community platform and put your questions there. We will make sure that you get your answers at the earliest.

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Thesis – Structure, Example and Writing Guide

Table of contents.

Definition:

Thesis is a scholarly document that presents a student’s original research and findings on a particular topic or question. It is usually written as a requirement for a graduate degree program and is intended to demonstrate the student’s mastery of the subject matter and their ability to conduct independent research.

History of Thesis

The concept of a thesis can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was used as a way for students to demonstrate their knowledge of a particular subject. However, the modern form of the thesis as a scholarly document used to earn a degree is a relatively recent development.

The origin of the modern thesis can be traced back to medieval universities in Europe. During this time, students were required to present a “disputation” in which they would defend a particular thesis in front of their peers and faculty members. These disputations served as a way to demonstrate the student’s mastery of the subject matter and were often the final requirement for earning a degree.

In the 17th century, the concept of the thesis was formalized further with the creation of the modern research university. Students were now required to complete a research project and present their findings in a written document, which would serve as the basis for their degree.

The modern thesis as we know it today has evolved over time, with different disciplines and institutions adopting their own standards and formats. However, the basic elements of a thesis – original research, a clear research question, a thorough review of the literature, and a well-argued conclusion – remain the same.

Structure of Thesis

The structure of a thesis may vary slightly depending on the specific requirements of the institution, department, or field of study, but generally, it follows a specific format.

Here’s a breakdown of the structure of a thesis:

This is the first page of the thesis that includes the title of the thesis, the name of the author, the name of the institution, the department, the date, and any other relevant information required by the institution.

This is a brief summary of the thesis that provides an overview of the research question, methodology, findings, and conclusions.

This page provides a list of all the chapters and sections in the thesis and their page numbers.

Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the research question, the context of the research, and the purpose of the study. The introduction should also outline the methodology and the scope of the research.

Literature Review

This chapter provides a critical analysis of the relevant literature on the research topic. It should demonstrate the gap in the existing knowledge and justify the need for the research.

Methodology

This chapter provides a detailed description of the research methods used to gather and analyze data. It should explain the research design, the sampling method, data collection techniques, and data analysis procedures.

This chapter presents the findings of the research. It should include tables, graphs, and charts to illustrate the results.

This chapter interprets the results and relates them to the research question. It should explain the significance of the findings and their implications for the research topic.

This chapter summarizes the key findings and the main conclusions of the research. It should also provide recommendations for future research.

This section provides a list of all the sources cited in the thesis. The citation style may vary depending on the requirements of the institution or the field of study.

This section includes any additional material that supports the research, such as raw data, survey questionnaires, or other relevant documents.

How to write Thesis

Here are some steps to help you write a thesis:

• Choose a Topic: The first step in writing a thesis is to choose a topic that interests you and is relevant to your field of study. You should also consider the scope of the topic and the availability of resources for research.
• Develop a Research Question: Once you have chosen a topic, you need to develop a research question that you will answer in your thesis. The research question should be specific, clear, and feasible.
• Conduct a Literature Review: Before you start your research, you need to conduct a literature review to identify the existing knowledge and gaps in the field. This will help you refine your research question and develop a research methodology.
• Develop a Research Methodology: Once you have refined your research question, you need to develop a research methodology that includes the research design, data collection methods, and data analysis procedures.
• Collect and Analyze Data: After developing your research methodology, you need to collect and analyze data. This may involve conducting surveys, interviews, experiments, or analyzing existing data.
• Write the Thesis: Once you have analyzed the data, you need to write the thesis. The thesis should follow a specific structure that includes an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, and references.
• Edit and Proofread: After completing the thesis, you need to edit and proofread it carefully. You should also have someone else review it to ensure that it is clear, concise, and free of errors.
• Submit the Thesis: Finally, you need to submit the thesis to your academic advisor or committee for review and evaluation.

Example of Thesis

Example of Thesis template for Students:

Title of Thesis

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

Chapter 4: Results

Chapter 5: Discussion

Chapter 6: Conclusion

References:

Appendices:

Note: That’s just a basic template, but it should give you an idea of the structure and content that a typical thesis might include. Be sure to consult with your department or supervisor for any specific formatting requirements they may have. Good luck with your thesis!

Application of Thesis

Thesis is an important academic document that serves several purposes. Here are some of the applications of thesis:

• Academic Requirement: A thesis is a requirement for many academic programs, especially at the graduate level. It is an essential component of the evaluation process and demonstrates the student’s ability to conduct original research and contribute to the knowledge in their field.
• Career Advancement: A thesis can also help in career advancement. Employers often value candidates who have completed a thesis as it demonstrates their research skills, critical thinking abilities, and their dedication to their field of study.
• Publication : A thesis can serve as a basis for future publications in academic journals, books, or conference proceedings. It provides the researcher with an opportunity to present their research to a wider audience and contribute to the body of knowledge in their field.
• Personal Development: Writing a thesis is a challenging task that requires time, dedication, and perseverance. It provides the student with an opportunity to develop critical thinking, research, and writing skills that are essential for their personal and professional development.
• Impact on Society: The findings of a thesis can have an impact on society by addressing important issues, providing insights into complex problems, and contributing to the development of policies and practices.

Purpose of Thesis

The purpose of a thesis is to present original research findings in a clear and organized manner. It is a formal document that demonstrates a student’s ability to conduct independent research and contribute to the knowledge in their field of study. The primary purposes of a thesis are:

• To Contribute to Knowledge: The main purpose of a thesis is to contribute to the knowledge in a particular field of study. By conducting original research and presenting their findings, the student adds new insights and perspectives to the existing body of knowledge.
• To Demonstrate Research Skills: A thesis is an opportunity for the student to demonstrate their research skills. This includes the ability to formulate a research question, design a research methodology, collect and analyze data, and draw conclusions based on their findings.
• To Develop Critical Thinking: Writing a thesis requires critical thinking and analysis. The student must evaluate existing literature and identify gaps in the field, as well as develop and defend their own ideas.
• To Provide Evidence of Competence : A thesis provides evidence of the student’s competence in their field of study. It demonstrates their ability to apply theoretical concepts to real-world problems, and their ability to communicate their ideas effectively.
• To Facilitate Career Advancement : Completing a thesis can help the student advance their career by demonstrating their research skills and dedication to their field of study. It can also provide a basis for future publications, presentations, or research projects.

When to Write Thesis

The timing for writing a thesis depends on the specific requirements of the academic program or institution. In most cases, the opportunity to write a thesis is typically offered at the graduate level, but there may be exceptions.

Generally, students should plan to write their thesis during the final year of their graduate program. This allows sufficient time for conducting research, analyzing data, and writing the thesis. It is important to start planning the thesis early and to identify a research topic and research advisor as soon as possible.

In some cases, students may be able to write a thesis as part of an undergraduate program or as an independent research project outside of an academic program. In such cases, it is important to consult with faculty advisors or mentors to ensure that the research is appropriately designed and executed.

It is important to note that the process of writing a thesis can be time-consuming and requires a significant amount of effort and dedication. It is important to plan accordingly and to allocate sufficient time for conducting research, analyzing data, and writing the thesis.

Characteristics of Thesis

The characteristics of a thesis vary depending on the specific academic program or institution. However, some general characteristics of a thesis include:

• Originality : A thesis should present original research findings or insights. It should demonstrate the student’s ability to conduct independent research and contribute to the knowledge in their field of study.
• Clarity : A thesis should be clear and concise. It should present the research question, methodology, findings, and conclusions in a logical and organized manner. It should also be well-written, with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
• Research-Based: A thesis should be based on rigorous research, which involves collecting and analyzing data from various sources. The research should be well-designed, with appropriate research methods and techniques.
• Evidence-Based : A thesis should be based on evidence, which means that all claims made in the thesis should be supported by data or literature. The evidence should be properly cited using appropriate citation styles.
• Critical Thinking: A thesis should demonstrate the student’s ability to critically analyze and evaluate information. It should present the student’s own ideas and arguments, and engage with existing literature in the field.
• Academic Style : A thesis should adhere to the conventions of academic writing. It should be well-structured, with clear headings and subheadings, and should use appropriate academic language.

Advantages of Thesis

There are several advantages to writing a thesis, including:

• Development of Research Skills: Writing a thesis requires extensive research and analytical skills. It helps to develop the student’s research skills, including the ability to formulate research questions, design and execute research methodologies, collect and analyze data, and draw conclusions based on their findings.
• Contribution to Knowledge: Writing a thesis provides an opportunity for the student to contribute to the knowledge in their field of study. By conducting original research, they can add new insights and perspectives to the existing body of knowledge.
• Preparation for Future Research: Completing a thesis prepares the student for future research projects. It provides them with the necessary skills to design and execute research methodologies, analyze data, and draw conclusions based on their findings.
• Career Advancement: Writing a thesis can help to advance the student’s career. It demonstrates their research skills and dedication to their field of study, and provides a basis for future publications, presentations, or research projects.
• Personal Growth: Completing a thesis can be a challenging and rewarding experience. It requires dedication, hard work, and perseverance. It can help the student to develop self-confidence, independence, and a sense of accomplishment.

Limitations of Thesis

There are also some limitations to writing a thesis, including:

• Time and Resources: Writing a thesis requires a significant amount of time and resources. It can be a time-consuming and expensive process, as it may involve conducting original research, analyzing data, and producing a lengthy document.
• Narrow Focus: A thesis is typically focused on a specific research question or topic, which may limit the student’s exposure to other areas within their field of study.
• Limited Audience: A thesis is usually only read by a small number of people, such as the student’s thesis advisor and committee members. This limits the potential impact of the research findings.
• Lack of Real-World Application : Some thesis topics may be highly theoretical or academic in nature, which may limit their practical application in the real world.
• Pressure and Stress : Writing a thesis can be a stressful and pressure-filled experience, as it may involve meeting strict deadlines, conducting original research, and producing a high-quality document.
• Potential for Isolation: Writing a thesis can be a solitary experience, as the student may spend a significant amount of time working independently on their research and writing.

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Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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How to Write a Thesis: The Ultimate Research Guide

A college thesis paper is the crowning achievement of a student’s hard work. For many, a thesis is the culmination of many years of study within a particular major or field, such as literature, history, or business. 

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In a student’s final year, the thesis can be seen as the final component of one’s candidacy for a degree; in other words, it is the last opportunity a student has to show off what they’ve learned and internalized.

Generally speaking, a thesis should challenge an intellectual question in a persuasive manner, inciting thought-provoking discussion or argument in readers. College theses are mostly just extended  academic essays , though it is important to include all of the elements that are expected in a well-developed college thesis. 

Drafting a thesis statement

Most research for a college thesis begins with a question. Think about the topics and theories that you’ve studied over the course of your degree. Is there a question that hasn’t been answered adequately in your field? Is there a topic that’s sustained your intrigue and is worth exploring further? 

As you keep this question in mind, read everything you can about the topic. Ask one of the college librarians for assistance—they will know exactly what you’re looking for and what materials will best support your research. In addition to searching for information online, perusing academic databases, journals, and books can be very helpful. 

In this initial drafting phase, the more information you gather, the easier it will be to form your argument. Your thesis statement should answer this one simple question: what is your paper about? Being able to clearly articulate your argument or assertion in your thesis statement is key, as your readers will be able to quickly identify what you’re trying to prove.

READ MORE: Thesis statements

Organizing an outline 

With so many ideas and tidbits from your initial research floating around, creating an outline is essential for organization. Even if your professor hasn’t asked for one, outlines are still incredibly helpful tools for structuring your thesis—which will probably be the longest and most involved paper you’ve ever written. 

All academic essays have an introduction and a conclusion . (Typically, your thesis statement will come at the end of your introduction.) The paragraphs in between will make up your supporting arguments, but it is important that your argument flows smoothly. 

As you organize your outline, plan out the subject for each paragraph or subsection. You’ll want to make sure that each subject supports your thesis statement and furthers your argument. Know that your outline is merely a starting point; as you conduct research and start writing, the structure is apt to change.

READ MORE: 7 Helpful Essay Tips

Gathering supporting evidence and research

After defining the outline and thesis statement, you are ready to start the process of developing your supporting evidence. For your dissertation to be successful, you need to effectively argue your claims, and the best way to do so is by relying on hard facts.  

Spend time rigorously researching your topic. Gathering between 15-20 primary and secondary sources is a good rule of thumb at this stage. As you research, you can link up supporting evidence with certain sections of your paper based on your outline. The more evidence you compile, the better equipped you will be to root your claims in fact-based logic—which will fortify your overall argument. 

Start writing

At this point, it’s finally time to start writing. Don’t think too deeply about finding the perfect words for every sentence; get the bulk of the argument down and worry about editing later. Being a perfectionist while writing will only impede your progress. 

It’s important to remember that an effective thesis has a definable, arguable claim. Your sentences should be concise, authoritative, and specific. By focusing on structure and the way your points flow together, your thesis will gain persuasive strength.   

While writing, keep in mind that a solid argument not only revolves around a strong thesis but also acknowledges opposing points of view. Anticipating the counterarguments will help you refine your thesis. After all, every argument has a counterargument. If yours doesn’t, your paper might be an opinion, but not a valid argument.  

Formatting special sections like appendices 

Once you’ve written, tweaked, and finished your thesis, you can turn your attention to the “special” sections of your paper, like its appendix or bibliography. Depending on the instructions you’ve received, your bibliography may need to follow a specific style and format, such as  APA ,  MLA , or  Chicago Style . Remember that each formatting style has specific guidelines for citing different types of sources, including  books ,  PDFs ,  TV shows , and speeches . Use Grammarly’s free Citation Generator for more help in citing your sources. 

After all the hard work you’ve done, you don’t want to lose points because your table of contents was ill-defined or you forgot to add page numbers. Getting a second pair of eyes to look over your formatting and using a writing assistant are two handy ways to double-check your paper before submitting it.

There is no greater feeling than turning in an assignment that you’ve spent months—if not years—working to complete. By following these useful steps, you can feel confident that your thesis paper presents an interesting and irrefutable argument that showcases all you’ve learned. 

How To Write A Research Paper

Research Paper Thesis

How To Write a Thesis For a Research Paper Step by Step

12 min read

Published on: Mar 6, 2024

Last updated on: Mar 5, 2024

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Creating a strong thesis for a research paper can be tough for researchers and scholars. Despite their expertise, condensing complex ideas into a clear thesis statement is a common struggle.

This concise element encapsulates the core arguments or points of the piece. Notably, a thesis statement serves various roles, prominently addressing the research question.

This guide offers a step-by-step approach for researchers and scholars to learn thesis writing. From choosing a solid topic to balancing academic standards, each step aims to empower you in creating a thesis that meets scholarly criteria and resonates widely.

This guide ensures you develop a strong thesis, making your research paper stand out in academic circles.

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What is a Thesis Statement?

A thesis statement is a concise sentence that presents the main point or argument of a research paper or an essay. 

According to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Writing Center , a thesis statement is defined as, "a concise, declarative statement that encapsulates the central argument or main point of an academic paper or essay. It serves as a guidepost for the reader, outlining the focus and direction of the piece"  

In a standard academic essay writing or research paper , the thesis statement is typically placed at the end of the introduction. It serves as a roadmap for the reader, providing a concise summary of the main point or argument that the paper will explore.

The structure of an introduction often follows a general pattern:

• Hook/Attention Grabber
• Background Information/Context
• Thesis Statement

There is no strict rule regarding the length of a thesis statement, as it can vary depending on the complexity of the topic and the scope of the paper. However, as a general guideline, a thesis statement is typically one or two sentences long. 

Qualities of a Good Thesis Statement

A strong thesis statement possesses several key qualities that contribute to its effectiveness:

• Clarity and Precision : Clearly conveys the main idea without unnecessary complexity, avoiding vague language.
• Debatable and Focused : Presents a claim open to interpretation, requiring support and evidence, and maintains a narrow focus.
• Assertive and Defensible: Takes a clear position, avoiding indecisiveness, and is defensible through logical reasoning and evidence.
• Relevance to the Topic : Directly relates to the subject matter, avoiding irrelevant or off-topic statements.
• Scope Limitation : Defines the paper's scope, avoiding broad, sweeping statements to maintain focus.
• Analytical and Thought-Provoking : Goes beyond stating facts, presenting an argument that requires analysis and thought, encouraging consideration of multiple perspectives.
• Coherent and Well-Structured : Well-crafted with a logical structure, serving as a roadmap to guide the reader through the main points of the research paper.

How To Write a Thesis Statement in 5 Steps 

Writing a thesis statement involves several key steps to ensure that it is clear, concise, and effectively conveys the main idea of your essay or research paper. Here's a guide with steps and examples:

Step 1. Understand the Assignment

Before diving into writing a thesis statement, thoroughly understand the assignment's requirements, including the topic, length, and specific guidelines provided by your instructor or the prompt.

Step 2. Narrow Down Your Topic

Choose a specific aspect or angle within your broader topic that you can effectively address in your paper. This helps in focusing your research and drafting a more precise thesis.

Example : If your original topic is "Global warming," narrow it down to "The impact of deforestation on global warming."

Step 3. Conduct Research

Gather relevant information and evidence from reputable sources to support your thesis. A well-researched thesis is more likely to be compelling and convincing.

Example : Find studies, scientific articles, or statistics that demonstrate the connection between deforestation and increased carbon emissions.

Step 4. Identify Your Position or Claim

Determine your stance on the narrowed topic. What is the main argument or point you want to make?

Example : Decide that your position is that "Deforestation contributes significantly to the acceleration of global warming."

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Step 5. Craft a Concise Thesis Statement

Summarize your main argument in a clear, specific, and concise sentence. This will be the central point around which your entire paper revolves.

Example : "The rampant deforestation observed globally is a primary driver of increased carbon emissions, leading to a substantial acceleration of global warming."

Step 6. Make It Arguable

Ensure that your thesis statement is debatable. Avoid stating facts that everyone would agree with; instead, present a claim that invites discussion.

Example : "While some argue that deforestation has minimal impact on global warming, the overwhelming evidence supports the assertion that it plays a significant role."

Step 7. Consider Counterarguments

Anticipate potential counterarguments and address them within your thesis. This shows that you've considered different perspectives and strengthens your overall position.

Example : "While some contend that other factors contribute to global warming, the undeniable link between deforestation and increased carbon emissions cannot be ignored."

Step 8. Ensure Clarity and Specificity

Avoid vague language and make sure your thesis clearly communicates the main point of your paper. Provide enough detail to guide your reader.

Example : "Deforestation's impact on global warming is a complex issue that demands immediate attention."

Step 9. Review and Revise

Critically evaluate your thesis for clarity, relevance, and strength. Revise as needed to ensure it encapsulates your main argument effectively.

The final Thesis Statement may look like this: 

Types of Thesis Statements

Thesis statements serve as the core of a research paper, providing the main argument or purpose of the work. Here are a few types of thesis statements with examples:

Argumentative Thesis Statement

Argumentative thesis statements assert a specific stance on an issue and provide reasons or evidence to support that viewpoint. They aim to persuade the reader of a particular perspective.

Here is a thesis statement example for argumentative essay :

Analytical Thesis Statement

Analytical thesis statements break down a topic into its constituent parts, examining it critically to understand its components or significance. They don't argue a point but rather analyze and interpret.

Expository Thesis Statement

Expository thesis statements present factual information or explain a topic without expressing opinions or arguments. They aim to inform and elucidate.

Comparative Thesis Statement

Comparative thesis statements highlight similarities and differences between two or more subjects, offering an evaluation or analysis of their relationship.

Cause and Effect Thesis Statement

Cause and effect thesis statements outline the relationship between events or phenomena, indicating how one factor influences another and the resulting consequences.

Research Paper Thesis Template

A useful guideline for creating a thesis statement is to follow a three-part structure that includes the topic, the main point or claim, and the supporting reasons or evidence. This formula can be expressed as:

Topic + Claim + Reasons/Evidence

Here's a breakdown of each component:

Follow the steps above and use this research paper thesis statement template to develop a useful thesis. 

Thesis For a Research Paper Examples

Here are a few thesis statement examples for research papers:

Research Paper Thesis Examples

Thesis For a Research Paper Middle School

College thesis statement examples, thesis for a research report, thesis statement for a research paper in apa format.

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Thesis For a History Research Paper

Thesis statements for personal essays, examples of weak and strong thesis statements.

Here's a table with examples of weak and strong thesis statements across three different subjects:

Tips for Writing Strong Thesis Statements

Here are some tips for developing strong thesis statements:

• Challenge conventional wisdom or commonly held beliefs in your thesis.
• Use powerful and vivid words to evoke emotions or curiosity in your thesis.
• Introduce a fresh perspective or angle that hasn't been widely discussed.
• Offer a glimpse into potential solutions or broader implications of your thesis.
• Pose a thought-provoking question or a startling fact to engage the reader.
• Highlight the contemporary relevance or timeliness of your thesis statement.
• Appeal to the reader's emotions or personal experiences to make a connection.
• Emphasize the importance of exploring contradictions or complexities in your topic.
• Encourage the reader to contemplate the deeper implications of your thesis.
• Highlight how your thesis reflects personal growth or a change in perspective over time.

Thesis Statement Assessment Checklist

So, you may be wondering, how do I know if my thesis is strong? Use the checklist below to assess the strength of your thesis statement:

Summit it Up!

Crafting a strong thesis for a research paper involves precision, specificity, and a clear position. Remember to regularly revisit and refine your thesis as you progress through the writing process. 

If you find yourself struggling to formulate the perfect thesis statement, worry not! The professionals at CollegeEssay.org are here to provide expert assistance. 

Our professional writing service can guide you through the process, ensuring a compelling and impactful thesis statement. 

Get custom research paper  today and elevate the quality of your academic work.

Commonly Asked Questions

How does a research hypothesis differ from a thesis statement.

A research hypothesis is a specific, testable prediction about the outcome of a research study. On the other hand, a thesis statement is a broader statement summarizing the main argument of a paper.

Can a thesis statement change during the research process?

Yes, as you conduct research and refine your understanding of the topic, it's common for your thesis statement to evolve or be adjusted.

How does the thesis statement relate to the research methodology?

The thesis statement may hint at the research approach but focuses more on the main argument. The methodology is detailed separately in the research paper to explain how the study was conducted.

How do I choose the right tone for my thesis statement?

Tailor the tone to match the nature of your research. It can be analytical, argumentative, or explanatory, depending on the purpose and style of your paper.

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The thesis statement or main claim must be debatable

An argumentative or persuasive piece of writing must begin with a debatable thesis or claim. In other words, the thesis must be something that people could reasonably have differing opinions on. If your thesis is something that is generally agreed upon or accepted as fact then there is no reason to try to persuade people.

Example of a non-debatable thesis statement:

This thesis statement is not debatable. First, the word pollution implies that something is bad or negative in some way. Furthermore, all studies agree that pollution is a problem; they simply disagree on the impact it will have or the scope of the problem. No one could reasonably argue that pollution is unambiguously good.

Example of a debatable thesis statement:

This is an example of a debatable thesis because reasonable people could disagree with it. Some people might think that this is how we should spend the nation's money. Others might feel that we should be spending more money on education. Still others could argue that corporations, not the government, should be paying to limit pollution.

Another example of a debatable thesis statement:

In this example there is also room for disagreement between rational individuals. Some citizens might think focusing on recycling programs rather than private automobiles is the most effective strategy.

The thesis needs to be narrow

Although the scope of your paper might seem overwhelming at the start, generally the narrower the thesis the more effective your argument will be. Your thesis or claim must be supported by evidence. The broader your claim is, the more evidence you will need to convince readers that your position is right.

Example of a thesis that is too broad:

There are several reasons this statement is too broad to argue. First, what is included in the category "drugs"? Is the author talking about illegal drug use, recreational drug use (which might include alcohol and cigarettes), or all uses of medication in general? Second, in what ways are drugs detrimental? Is drug use causing deaths (and is the author equating deaths from overdoses and deaths from drug related violence)? Is drug use changing the moral climate or causing the economy to decline? Finally, what does the author mean by "society"? Is the author referring only to America or to the global population? Does the author make any distinction between the effects on children and adults? There are just too many questions that the claim leaves open. The author could not cover all of the topics listed above, yet the generality of the claim leaves all of these possibilities open to debate.

Example of a narrow or focused thesis:

In this example the topic of drugs has been narrowed down to illegal drugs and the detriment has been narrowed down to gang violence. This is a much more manageable topic.

We could narrow each debatable thesis from the previous examples in the following way:

Narrowed debatable thesis 1:

This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just the amount of money used but also how the money could actually help to control pollution.

Narrowed debatable thesis 2:

This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just what the focus of a national anti-pollution campaign should be but also why this is the appropriate focus.

Qualifiers such as " typically ," " generally ," " usually ," or " on average " also help to limit the scope of your claim by allowing for the almost inevitable exception to the rule.

Types of claims

Claims typically fall into one of four categories. Thinking about how you want to approach your topic, or, in other words, what type of claim you want to make, is one way to focus your thesis on one particular aspect of your broader topic.

Claims of fact or definition: These claims argue about what the definition of something is or whether something is a settled fact. Example:

Claims of cause and effect: These claims argue that one person, thing, or event caused another thing or event to occur. Example:

Claims about value: These are claims made of what something is worth, whether we value it or not, how we would rate or categorize something. Example:

Claims about solutions or policies: These are claims that argue for or against a certain solution or policy approach to a problem. Example:

Which type of claim is right for your argument? Which type of thesis or claim you use for your argument will depend on your position and knowledge of the topic, your audience, and the context of your paper. You might want to think about where you imagine your audience to be on this topic and pinpoint where you think the biggest difference in viewpoints might be. Even if you start with one type of claim you probably will be using several within the paper. Regardless of the type of claim you choose to utilize it is key to identify the controversy or debate you are addressing and to define your position early on in the paper.

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[Mamba-Survey-2024] Paper list for State-Space-Model/Mamba and it's Applications

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Paper list for State-Space-Model and its Applications

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💥 update log.

• [2024.04.15] We release the first version of the survey on state space model [ arXiv ]

Thesis & Surveys

Modeling sequences with structured state spaces , Responsibility: Albert Gu, Publication: [Stanford, California] : [Stanford University], 2023 [ Thesis (330 pages) ] [ PDF ]

State Space Model for New-Generation Network Alternative to Transformers: A Survey , Xiao Wang, Shiao Wang, Yuhe Ding, Yuehang Li, Wentao Wu, Yao Rong, Weizhe Kong, Ju Huang, Shihao Li, Haoxiang Yang, Ziwen Wang, Bo Jiang, Chenglong Li, Yaowei Wang, Yonghong Tian, Jin Tang, 2024 [ PDF ] [ arXiv ]

CU-Mamba: Selective State Space Models with Channel Learning for Image Restoration , arXiv:2404.11778, Rui Deng, Tianpei Gu [ Paper ]

State-space Decomposition Model for Video Prediction Considering Long-term Motion Trend , Fei Cui, Jiaojiao Fang, Xiaojiang Wu, Zelong Lai, Mengke Yang, Menghan Jia, Guizhong Liu [ Paper ]

Text-controlled Motion Mamba: Text-Instructed Temporal Grounding of Human Motion , Xinghan Wang, Zixi Kang, Yadong Mu, arXiv:2404.11375 [ Paper ]

HumMUSS: Human Motion Understanding using State Space Models , Arnab Kumar Mondal, Stefano Alletto, Denis Tome, CVPR 2024, arXiv:2404.10880 [ Paper ]

HSIDMamba: Exploring Bidirectional State-Space Models for Hyperspectral Denoising , Yang Liu, Jiahua Xiao, Yu Guo, Peilin Jiang, Haiwei Yang, Fei Wang [ Paper ]

FusionMamba: Dynamic Feature Enhancement for Multimodal Image Fusion with Mamba , Xinyu Xie, Yawen Cui, Chio-In Ieong, Tao Tan, Xiaozhi Zhang, Xubin Zheng, Zitong Yu [ Paper ] [ Code ]

FreqMamba: Viewing Mamba from a Frequency Perspective for Image Deraining , Zou Zhen, Yu Hu, Zhao Feng [ Paper ]

A Novel State Space Model with Local Enhancement and State Sharing for Image Fusion , Zihan Cao, Xiao Wu, Liang-Jian Deng, Yu Zhong [ Paper ]

Fusion-Mamba for Cross-modality Object Detection , arXiv:2404.09146, Wenhao Dong, Haodong Zhu, Shaohui Lin, Xiaoyan Luo, Yunhang Shen, Xuhui Liu, Juan Zhang, Guodong Guo, Baochang Zhang [ Paper ]

" Linear recurrent units for sequential recommendation. " Yue, Zhenrui, et al. Proceedings of the 17th ACM International Conference on Web Search and Data Mining. 2024. [ Paper ] [ Code ]

State-Space Modeling of Shape-constrained Functional Time Series , Daichi Hiraki, Yasuyuki Hamura, Kaoru Irie, Shonosuke Sugasawa, arXiv:2404.07586 [ Paper ]

HGRN2: Gated Linear RNNs with State Expansion , Zhen Qin, Songlin Yang, Weixuan Sun, Xuyang Shen, Dong Li, Weigao Sun, Yiran Zhong, arXiv:2404.07904 [ Paper ] [ Code ]

MambaDFuse: A Mamba-based Dual-phase Model for Multi-modality Image Fusion , Zhe Li, Haiwei Pan, Kejia Zhang, Yuhua Wang, Fengming Yu, arXiv:2404.08406 [ Paper ]

SpectralMamba: Efficient Mamba for Hyperspectral Image Classification , Jing Yao, Danfeng Hong, Chenyu Li, Jocelyn Chanussot, arXiv:2404.08489 [ Paper ] [ Code ]

SurvMamba: State Space Model with Multi-grained Multi-modal Interaction for Survival Prediction , Ying Chen, Jiajing Xie, Yuxiang Lin, Yuhang Song, Wenxian Yang, Rongshan Yu, arXiv:2404.08027 [ Paper ]

[2024_143] FusionMamba: Efficient Image Fusion with State Space Model , Siran Peng, Xiangyu Zhu, Haoyu Deng, Zhen Lei, Liang-Jian Deng [ Paper ]

[2024_142] DGMamba: Domain Generalization via Generalized State Space Model , Shaocong Long, Qianyu Zhou, Xiangtai Li, Xuequan Lu, Chenhao Ying, Yuan Luo, Lizhuang Ma, Shuicheng Yan [ Paper ]

[2024_141] ViM-UNet: Vision Mamba for Biomedical Segmentation , Anwai Archit, Constantin Pape [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_140] Simba: Mamba augmented U-ShiftGCN for Skeletal Action Recognition in Videos , Soumyabrata Chaudhuri, Saumik Bhattacharya [ Paper ]

[2024_139] MambaAD: Exploring State Space Models for Multi-class Unsupervised Anomaly Detection , Haoyang He, Yuhu Bai, Jiangning Zhang, Qingdong He, Hongxu Chen, Zhenye Gan, Chengjie Wang, Xiangtai Li, Guanzhong Tian, Lei Xie [ Paper ]

[2024_138] 3DMambaComplete: Exploring Structured State Space Model for Point Cloud Completion , Yixuan Li, Weidong Yang, Ben Fei [ Paper ]

[2024_137] RhythmMamba: Fast Remote Physiological Measurement with Arbitrary Length Videos , Bochao Zou, Zizheng Guo, Xiaocheng Hu, Huimin Ma [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_136] VMambaMorph: a Visual Mamba-based Framework with Cross-Scan Module for Deformable 3D Image Registration , Ziyang Wang, Jian-Qing Zheng, Chao Ma, Tao Guo [ Paper ]

[2024_135] 3DMambaIPF: A State Space Model for Iterative Point Cloud Filtering via Differentiable Rendering , Qingyuan Zhou, Weidong Yang, Ben Fei, Jingyi Xu, Rui Zhang, Keyi Liu, Yeqi Luo, Ying He [ Paper ]

[2024_134] Sigma: Siamese Mamba Network for Multi-Modal Semantic Segmentation , Zifu Wan, Yuhao Wang, Silong Yong, Pingping Zhang, Simon Stepputtis, Katia Sycara, Yaqi Xie [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_133] xT: Nested Tokenization for Larger Context in Large Images , Ritwik Gupta, Shufan Li, Tyler Zhu, Jitendra Malik, Trevor Darrell, Karttikeya Mangalam [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_132] Locating and Editing Factual Associations in Mamba , Arnab Sen Sharma, David Atkinson, David Bau [ Paper ]

[2024_131] InsectMamba: Insect Pest Classification with State Space Model , Qianning Wang, Chenglin Wang, Zhixin Lai, Yucheng Zhou [ Paper ]

[2024_130] ChangeMamba: Remote Sensing Change Detection with Spatio-Temporal State Space Model , Hongruixuan Chen, Jian Song, Chengxi Han, Junshi Xia, Naoto Yokoya [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_129] RS-Mamba for Large Remote Sensing Image Dense Prediction , Sijie Zhao, Hao Chen, Xueliang Zhang, Pengfeng Xiao, Lei Bai, Wanli Ouyang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_128] RS3Mamba: Visual State Space Model for Remote Sensing Images Semantic Segmentation , Xianping Ma, Xiaokang Zhang, Man-On Pun [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_127] SPMamba: State-space model is all you need in speech separation , Kai Li, Guo Chen [ Paper ]

[2024_126] On the reduction of Linear Parameter-Varying State-Space models , E. Javier Olucha, Bogoljub Terzin, Amritam Das, Roland Tóth [ Paper ]

[2024_125] Samba: Semantic Segmentation of Remotely Sensed Images with State Space Model , Qinfeng Zhu, Yuanzhi Cai, Yuan Fang, Yihan Yang, Cheng Chen, Lei Fan, Anh Nguyen [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_124] T-Mamba: Frequency-Enhanced Gated Long-Range Dependency for Tooth 3D CBCT Segmentation , Jing Hao, Lei He, Kuo Feng Hung [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_123] Decision Mamba: Reinforcement Learning via Sequence Modeling with Selective State Spaces , Toshihiro Ota [ Paper ]

[2024_122] RankMamba, Benchmarking Mamba's Document Ranking Performance in the Era of Transformers , Zhichao Xu [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_121] SpikeMba: Multi-Modal Spiking Saliency Mamba for Temporal Video Grounding , Wenrui Li, Xiaopeng Hong, Xiaopeng Fan [ Paper ]

[2024_120] HSIMamba: Hyperpsectral Imaging Efficient Feature Learning with Bidirectional State Space for Classification , Judy X Yang, Jun Zhou, Jing Wang, Hui Tian, Alan Wee Chung Liew [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_119] HARMamba: Efficient Wearable Sensor Human Activity Recognition Based on Bidirectional Selective SSM , Shuangjian Li, Tao Zhu, Furong Duan, Liming Chen, Huansheng Ning, Yaping Wan [ Paper ]

[2024_118] UltraLight VM-UNet: Parallel Vision Mamba Significantly Reduces Parameters for Skin Lesion Segmentation , Renkai Wu, Yinghao Liu, Pengchen Liang, Qing Chang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_117] MambaMixer: Efficient Selective State Space Models with Dual Token and Channel Selection , Ali Behrouz, Michele Santacatterina, Ramin Zabih [ Paper ]

[2024_116] Dual-path Mamba: Short and Long-term Bidirectional Selective Structured State Space Models for Speech Separation , Xilin Jiang, Cong Han, Nima Mesgarani [ Paper ]

[2024_115] STG-Mamba: Spatial-Temporal Graph Learning via Selective State Space Model , Lincan Li, Hanchen Wang, Wenjie Zhang, Adelle Coster [ Paper ]

[2024_114] Cobra: Extending Mamba to Multi-Modal Large Language Model for Efficient Inference , Han Zhao, Min Zhang, Wei Zhao, Pengxiang Ding, Siteng Huang, Donglin Wang [ Paper ]

[2024_113] Music to Dance as Language Translation using Sequence Models , André Correia, Luís A. Alexandre [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_112] CMViM: Contrastive Masked Vim Autoencoder for 3D Multi-modal Representation Learning for AD classification , Guangqian Yang, Kangrui Du, Zhihan Yang, Ye Du, Yongping Zheng, Shujun Wang [ Paper ]

[2024_111] Proprioception Is All You Need: Terrain Classification for Boreal Forests , Damien LaRocque, William Guimont-Martin, David-Alexandre Duclos, Philippe Giguère, François Pomerleau [ Paper ]

[2024_110] ReMamber: Referring Image Segmentation with Mamba Twister , Yuhuan Yang, Chaofan Ma, Jiangchao Yao, Zhun Zhong, Ya Zhang, Yanfeng Wang [ Paper ]

[2024_109] Mechanistic Design and Scaling of Hybrid Architectures , Michael Poli, Armin W Thomas, Eric Nguyen, Pragaash Ponnusamy, Björn Deiseroth, Kristian Kersting, Taiji Suzuki, Brian Hie, Stefano Ermon, Christopher Ré, Ce Zhang, Stefano Massaroli [ Paper ]

[2024_108] Model order reduction of deep structured state-space models: A system-theoretic approach , Marco Forgione, Manas Mejari, Dario Piga

[2024_107] Modeling Analog Dynamic Range Compressors using Deep Learning and State-space Models , Hanzhi Yin, Gang Cheng, Christian J. Steinmetz, Ruibin Yuan, Richard M. Stern, Roger B. Dannenberg [ Paper ]

[2024_106] Uncovering Selective State Space Model's Capabilities in Lifelong Sequential Recommendation , Jiyuan Yang, Yuanzi Li, Jingyu Zhao, Hanbing Wang, Muyang Ma, Jun Ma, Zhaochun Ren, Mengqi Zhang, Xin Xin, Zhumin Chen, Pengjie Ren [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_105] State Space Models as Foundation Models: A Control Theoretic Overview , Carmen Amo Alonso, Jerome Sieber, Melanie N. Zeilinger [ Paper ]

[2024_104] Serpent: Scalable and Efficient Image Restoration via Multi-scale Structured State Space Models , Mohammad Shahab Sepehri, Zalan Fabian, Mahdi Soltanolkotabi [ Paper ]

[2024_103] Jamba: A Hybrid Transformer-Mamba Language Model , Opher Lieber, Barak Lenz, Hofit Bata, Gal Cohen, Jhonathan Osin, Itay Dalmedigos, Erez Safahi, Shaked Meirom, Yonatan Belinkov, Shai Shalev-Shwartz, Omri Abend, Raz Alon, Tomer Asida, Amir Bergman, Roman Glozman, Michael Gokhman, Avashalom Manevich, Nir Ratner, Noam Rozen, Erez Shwartz, Mor Zusman, Yoav Shoham [ Paper ] [ Website ] [ Huggingface ]

[2024_102] Gamba: Marry Gaussian Splatting with Mamba for single view 3D reconstruction , Qiuhong Shen, Xuanyu Yi, Zike Wu, Pan Zhou, Hanwang Zhang, Shuicheng Yan, Xinchao Wang [ Paper ]

[2024_101] RSMamba: Remote Sensing Image Classification with State Space Model , [ Project ] [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_100] Rotate to Scan: UNet-like Mamba with Triplet SSM Module for Medical Image Segmentation , Hao Tang, Lianglun Cheng, Guoheng Huang, Zhengguang Tan, Junhao Lu, Kaihong Wu [ Paper ]

[2024_099] PlainMamba: Improving Non-Hierarchical Mamba in Visual Recognition , Chenhongyi Yang, Zehui Chen, Miguel Espinosa, Linus Ericsson, Zhenyu Wang, Jiaming Liu, Elliot J. Crowley [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_098] Integrating Mamba Sequence Model and Hierarchical Upsampling Network for Accurate Semantic Segmentation of Multiple Sclerosis Legion , Kazi Shahriar Sanjid, Md. Tanzim Hossain, Md. Shakib Shahariar Junayed, Dr. Mohammad Monir Uddin [ Paper ]

[2024_097] VMRNN: Integrating Vision Mamba and LSTM for Efficient and Accurate Spatiotemporal Forecasting , Yujin Tang, Peijie Dong, Zhenheng Tang, Xiaowen Chu, Junwei Liang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_096] SiMBA: Simplified Mamba-Based Architecture for Vision and Multivariate Time series , Badri N. Patro, Vijay S. Agneeswaran [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_095] Repeat After Me: Transformers are Better than State Space Models at Copying , Samy Jelassi, David Brandfonbrener, Sham M. Kakade, Eran Malach [ Paper ]

[2024_094] H-vmunet: High-order Vision Mamba UNet for Medical Image Segmentation , Renkai Wu, Yinghao Liu, Pengchen Liang, Qing Chang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_093] VL-Mamba: Exploring State Space Models for Multimodal Learning , Yanyuan Qiao, Zheng Yu, Longteng Guo, Sihan Chen, Zijia Zhao, Mingzhen Sun, Qi Wu, Jing Liu [ Paper ] [ Project ] [ Code ]

[2024_092] ProMamba: Prompt-Mamba for polyp segmentation , Jianhao Xie, Ruofan Liao, Ziang Zhang, Sida Yi, Yuesheng Zhu, Guibo Luo [ Paper ]

[2024_091] ZigMa: Zigzag Mamba Diffusion Model , Vincent Tao Hu, Stefan Andreas Baumann, Ming Gui, Olga Grebenkova, Pingchuan Ma, Johannes Fischer, Bjorn Ommer [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_090] On the low-shot transferability of [V]-Mamba , Diganta Misra, Jay Gala, Antonio Orvieto [ Paper ]

[2024_089] Is Mamba Effective for Time Series Forecasting? Zihan Wang, Fanheng Kong, Shi Feng, Ming Wang, Han Zhao, Daling Wang, Yifei Zhang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_088] VmambaIR: Visual State Space Model for Image Restoration , Yuan Shi, Bin Xia, Xiaoyu Jin, Xing Wang, Tianyu Zhao, Xin Xia, Xuefeng Xiao, Wenming Yang [ Paper ]

[2024_087] Understanding Robustness of Visual State Space Models for Image Classification , Chengbin Du, Yanxi Li, Chang Xu [ Paper ]

[2024_086] Regularization-Based Efficient Continual Learning in Deep State-Space Models , Yuanhang Zhang, Zhidi Lin, Yiyong Sun, Feng Yin, Carsten Fritsche [ Paper ]

[2024_085] TimeMachine: A Time Series is Worth 4 Mambas for Long-term Forecasting , Md Atik Ahamed, Qiang Cheng [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_084] EfficientVMamba: Atrous Selective Scan for Light Weight Visual Mamba , Xiaohuan Pei, Tao Huang, Chang Xu [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_083] MambaTalk: Efficient Holistic Gesture Synthesis with Selective State Space Models , Zunnan Xu, Yukang Lin, Haonan Han, Sicheng Yang, Ronghui Li, Yachao Zhang, Xiu Li [ Paper ]

[2024_082] LocalMamba: Visual State Space Model with Windowed Selective Scan , Tao Huang, Xiaohuan Pei, Shan You, Fei Wang, Chen Qian, Chang Xu [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_081] VM-UNET-V2 Rethinking Vision Mamba UNet for Medical Image Segmentation , Mingya Zhang, Yue Yu, Limei Gu, Tingsheng Lin, Xianping Tao [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_080] Video Mamba Suite: State Space Model as a Versatile Alternative for Video Understanding , Guo Chen, Yifei Huang, Jilan Xu, Baoqi Pei, Zhe Chen, Zhiqi Li, Jiahao Wang, Kunchang Li, Tong Lu, Limin Wang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_079] Hierarchical State Space Models for Continuous Sequence-to-Sequence Modeling , Raunaq Bhirangi, Chenyu Wang, Venkatesh Pattabiraman, Carmel Majidi, Abhinav Gupta, Tess Hellebrekers, Lerrel Pinto [ Paper ]

[2024_078] MambaStock: Selective state space model for stock prediction , Zhuangwei Shi [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_077] Simple linear attention language models balance the recall-throughput tradeoff , Simran Arora, Sabri Eyuboglu, Michael Zhang, Aman Timalsina, Silas Alberti, Dylan Zinsley, James Zou, Atri Rudra, Christopher Ré [ Paper ]

[2024_076] LightM-UNet: Mamba Assists in Lightweight UNet for Medical Image Segmentation , Weibin Liao, Yinghao Zhu, Xinyuan Wang, Chengwei Pan, Yasha Wang, Liantao Ma [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_075] Motion-Guided Dual-Camera Tracker for Low-Cost Skill Evaluation of Gastric Endoscopy , Yuelin Zhang, Wanquan Yan, Kim Yan, Chun Ping Lam, Yufu Qiu, Pengyu Zheng, Raymond Shing-Yan Tang, Shing Shin Cheng [ Paper ]

[2024_074] Caduceus: Bi-Directional Equivariant Long-Range DNA Sequence Modeling , Yair Schiff, Chia-Hsiang Kao, Aaron Gokaslan, Tri Dao, Albert Gu, Volodymyr Kuleshov [ Paper ]

[2024_073] MD-Dose: A Diffusion Model based on the Mamba for Radiotherapy Dose Prediction , Linjie Fu, Xia Li, Xiuding Cai, Yingkai Wang, Xueyao Wang, Yali Shen, Yu Yao [ Paper ]

[2024_072] Activating Wider Areas in Image Super-Resolution , Cheng Cheng, Hang Wang, Hongbin Sun [ Paper ]

[2024_071] Multichannel Long-Term Streaming Neural Speech Enhancement for Static and Moving Speakers , Changsheng Quan, Xiaofei Li [ Paper ]

[2024_070] A multi-cohort study on prediction of acute brain dysfunction states using selective state space models , Brandon Silva, Miguel Contreras, Sabyasachi Bandyopadhyay, Yuanfang Ren, Ziyuan Guan, Jeremy Balch, Kia Khezeli, Tezcan Ozrazgat Baslanti, Ben Shickel, Azra Bihorac, Parisa Rashidi [ Paper ]

[2024_069] The pitfalls of next-token prediction , Gregor Bachmann, Vaishnavh Nagarajan [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_068] Large Window-based Mamba UNet for Medical Image Segmentation: Beyond Convolution and Self-attention , Jinhong Wang, Jintai Chen, Danny Chen, Jian Wu [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_067] Motion Mamba: Efficient and Long Sequence Motion Generation with Hierarchical and Bidirectional Selective SSM , Zeyu Zhang, Akide Liu, Ian Reid, Richard Hartley, Bohan Zhuang, Hao Tang [ Paper ] [ Project ] [ Code ]

[2024_066] ClinicalMamba: A Generative Clinical Language Model on Longitudinal Clinical Notes , Zhichao Yang, Avijit Mitra, Sunjae Kwon, Hong Yu [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_065] MambaMIL: Enhancing Long Sequence Modeling with Sequence Reordering in Computational Pathology , Shu Yang, Yihui Wang, Hao Chen [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_064] Point Mamba: A Novel Point Cloud Backbone Based on State Space Model with Octree-Based Ordering Strategy , Jiuming Liu, Ruiji Yu, Yian Wang, Yu Zheng, Tianchen Deng, Weicai Ye, Hesheng Wang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_063] VideoMamba: State Space Model for Efficient Video Understanding , Kunchang Li, Xinhao Li, Yi Wang, Yinan He, Yali Wang, Limin Wang, Yu Qiao [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_062] MamMIL: Multiple Instance Learning for Whole Slide Images with State Space Models , Zijie Fang, Yifeng Wang, Zhi Wang, Jian Zhang, Xiangyang Ji, Yongbing Zhang [ Paper ]

[2024_061] Video Diffusion State Space Models , Zhengcong Fei, Mingyuan Fan, Changqian Yu, Jusnshi Huang, [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_060] Mamba4Rec: Towards Efficient Sequential Recommendation with Selective State Space Models , Chengkai Liu, Jianghao Lin, Jianling Wang, Hanzhou Liu, James Caverlee [ Paper ]

[2024_059] MedMamba: Vision Mamba for Medical Image Classification , Yubiao Yue, Zhenzhang Li [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_058] Griffin: Mixing Gated Linear Recurrences with Local Attention for Efficient Language Models , Soham De, Samuel L. Smith, Anushan Fernando, Aleksandar Botev, George Cristian-Muraru, Albert Gu, Ruba Haroun, Leonard Berrada, Yutian Chen, Srivatsan Srinivasan, Guillaume Desjardins, Arnaud Doucet, David Budden, Yee Whye Teh, Razvan Pascanu, Nando De Freitas, Caglar Gulcehre [ Paper ]

[2024_057] Gated Linear Attention Transformers with Hardware-Efficient Training , Songlin Yang, Bailin Wang, Yikang Shen, Rameswar Panda, Yoon Kim [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_056] DenseMamba: State Space Models with Dense Hidden Connection for Efficient Large Language Models , [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_055] The Hidden Attention of Mamba Models , [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_054] MiM-ISTD: Mamba-in-Mamba for Efficient Infrared Small Target Detection , Tianxiang Chen, Zhentao Tan, Tao Gong, Qi Chu, Yue Wu, Bin Liu, Jieping Ye, Nenghai Yu [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_053] Point Could Mamba: Point Cloud Learning via State Space Model , Tao Zhang, Xiangtai Li, Haobo Yuan, Shunping Ji, Shuicheng Yan [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_052] Res-VMamba: Fine-Grained Food Category Visual Classification Using Selective State Space Models with Deep Residual Learning , Chi-Sheng Chen, Guan-Ying Chen, Dong Zhou, Di Jiang, Dai-Shi Chen [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_051] MambaMIR: An Arbitrary-Masked Mamba for Joint Medical Image Reconstruction and Uncertainty Estimation , Jiahao Huang, Liutao Yang, Fanwen Wang, Yinzhe Wu, Yang Nan, Angelica I. Aviles-Rivero, Carola-Bibiane Schönlieb, Daoqiang Zhang, Guang Yang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_050] MambaIR: A Simple Baseline for Image Restoration with State-Space Model , Hang Guo, Jinmin Li, Tao Dai, Zhihao Ouyang, Xudong Ren, Shu-Tao Xia [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_049] State Space Models for Event Cameras , Nikola Zubić, Mathias Gehrig, Davide Scaramuzza [ Paper ]

[2024_048][ICLR 2024] FlashFFTConv: Efficient Convolutions for Long Sequences with Tensor Cores , Daniel Y Fu, Hermann Kumbong, Eric Nguyen, Christopher Re [ Paper ]

[2024_047] Variational quantization for state space models , Etienne David, Jean Bellot, Sylvain Le Corff [ Paper ]

[2024_046] Efficient Long Sequence Modeling via State Space Augmented Transformer , Simiao Zuo, Xiaodong Liu, Jian Jiao, Denis X Charles, Eren Manavoglu, Tuo Zhao, Jianfeng Gao [ Paper ]

[2024_045][ICLR 2024] Robustifying State-space Models for Long Sequences via Approximate Diagonalization , Annan Yu, Arnur Nigmetov, Dmitriy Morozov, Michael W. Mahoney, N. Benjamin Erichson [ Paper ]

[2024_044] From generalization analysis to optimization designs for state space models , Fusheng Liu, Qianxiao Li [ Paper ]

[2024_043] A 2-Dimensional State Space Layer for Spatial Inductive Bias , Ethan Baron, Itamar Zimerman, Lior Wolf [ Paper ]

[2024_042][ICLR 2024] Hieros: Hierarchical Imagination on Structured State Space Sequence World Models , Paul Mattes, Rainer Schlosser, Ralf Herbrich [ Paper ]

[2024_041] S4++: Elevating Long Sequence Modeling with State Memory Reply , [ Paper ]

[2024_040][Rejected by ICLR 2024] Mamba: Linear-Time Sequence Modeling with Selective State Spaces , Albert Gu, Tri Dao [ Paper ] [ Mamba: The Hard Way ] [ annotated-mamba ]

[2024_039][ICLR 2024] Gated recurrent neural networks discover attention , Nicolas Zucchet, Seijin Kobayashi, Yassir Akram, Johannes Von Oswald, Maxime Larcher, Angelika Steger, Joao Sacramento [ Paper ]

[2024_038][ICLR 2024] GateLoop: Fully Data-Controlled Linear Recurrence for Sequence Modeling , Tobias Katsch [ Paper ]

[2024_037][ICLR 2024] Never Train from Scratch: Fair Comparison of Long-Sequence Models Requires Data-Driven Priors , Ido Amos, Jonathan Berant, Ankit Gupta [ Paper ]

[2024_036] [ICLR 2024] Mastering Memory Tasks with World Models , Mohammad Reza Samsami, Artem Zholus, Janarthanan Rajendran, Sarath Chandar [ Paper ]

[2024_035] Spectral State Space Models , Naman Agarwal, Daniel Suo, Xinyi Chen, Elad Hazan [ Paper ]

[2024_034] Graph Mamba: Towards Learning on Graphs with State Space Models , Ali Behrouz, Farnoosh Hashemi [ Paper ]

[2024_033] Can Mamba Learn How to Learn? A Comparative Study on In-Context Learning Tasks , Jongho Park, Jaeseung Park, Zheyang Xiong, Nayoung Lee, Jaewoong Cho, Samet Oymak, Kangwook Lee, Dimitris Papailiopoulos [ Paper ]

[2024_032] Is Mamba Capable of In-Context Learning? Riccardo Grazzi, Julien Siems, Simon Schrodi, Thomas Brox, Frank Hutter [ Paper ]

[2024_031] LOCOST: State-Space Models for Long Document Abstractive Summarization , Florian Le Bronnec, Song Duong, Mathieu Ravaut, Alexandre Allauzen, Nancy F. Chen, Vincent Guigue, Alberto Lumbreras, Laure Soulier, Patrick Gallinari [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_030] RWKV-TS: Beyond Traditional Recurrent Neural Network for Time Series Tasks , Haowen Hou, F. Richard Yu [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_029] BlackMamba: Mixture of Experts for State-Space Models , Quentin Anthony, Yury Tokpanov, Paolo Glorioso, Beren Millidge [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_028] Recurrent Distance Filtering for Graph Representation Learning , Yuhui Ding, Antonio Orvieto, Bobby He, Thomas Hofmann [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_027] SSM Meets Video Diffusion Models: Efficient Video Generation with Structured State Spaces , Yuta Oshima, Shohei Taniguchi, Masahiro Suzuki, Yutaka Matsuo [ Paper ]

[2024_026] Pan-Mamba: Effective pan-sharpening with State Space Model , Xuanhua He, Ke Cao, Keyu Yan, Rui Li, Chengjun Xie, Jie Zhang, Man Zhou [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_025] Weak-Mamba-UNet: Visual Mamba Makes CNN and ViT Work Better for Scribble-based Medical Image Segmentation , Ziyang Wang, Chao Ma [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_024] PointMamba: A Simple State Space Model for Point Cloud Analysis , Dingkang Liang, Xin Zhou, Xinyu Wang, Xingkui Zhu, Wei Xu, Zhikang Zou, Xiaoqing Ye, Xiang Bai [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_023] P-Mamba: Marrying Perona Malik Diffusion with Mamba for Efficient Pediatric Echocardiographic Left Ventricular Segmentation , Zi Ye, Tianxiang Chen [ Paper ]

[2024_022] Semi-Mamba-UNet: Pixel-Level Contrastive Cross-Supervised Visual Mamba-based UNet for Semi-Supervised Medical Image Segmentation , Ziyang Wang, Chao Ma [ Paper ]

[2024_021] FD-Vision Mamba for Endoscopic Exposure Correction , Zhuoran Zheng, Jun Zhang, [ Paper ]

[2024_020] Scalable Diffusion Models with State Space Backbone , Zhengcong Fei, Mingyuan Fan, Changqian Yu, Junshi Huang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_019] Mamba-ND: Selective State Space Modeling for Multi-Dimensional Data , Shufan Li, Harkanwar Singh, Aditya Grover [ Paper ]

[2024_018] Mamba-UNet: UNet-Like Pure Visual Mamba for Medical Image Segmentation , Ziyang Wang, Jian-Qing Zheng, Yichi Zhang, Ge Cui, Lei Li [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_017] MambaTab: A Simple Yet Effective Approach for Handling Tabular Data , Md Atik Ahamed1, Qiang Cheng [ Paper ]

[2024_016] nnMamba: 3D Biomedical Image Segmentation, Classification and Landmark Detection with State Space Model , Haifan Gong, Luoyao Kang, Yitao Wang, Xiang Wan, Haofeng Li [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_015] U-shaped Vision Mamba for Single Image Dehazing , Zhuoran Zheng, Chen Wu [ Paper ]

[2024_014] Graph-Mamba: Towards Long-Range Graph Sequence Modeling with Selective State Spaces , Chloe Wang, Oleksii Tsepa, Jun Ma, Bo Wang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_013] VM-UNet: Vision Mamba UNet for Medical Image Segmentation , Jiacheng Ruan, Suncheng Xiang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_012] Swin-UMamba: Mamba-based UNet with ImageNet-based pretraining , Jiarun Liu, Hao Yang, Hong-Yu Zhou, Yan Xi, Lequan Yu, Yizhou Yu, Yong Liang, Guangming Shi, Shaoting Zhang, Hairong Zheng, Shanshan Wang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_011] Ma, Jun, Feifei Li, and Bo Wang. " U-mamba: Enhancing long-range dependency for biomedical image segmentation ." arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.04722 (2024). [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_010] Vivim: a Video Vision Mamba for Medical Video Object Segmentation , Yijun Yang, Zhaohu Xing, and Lei Zhu [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_009] Wang, Junxiong, et al. " MambaByte: Token-free Selective State Space Model. " arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.13660 (2024). [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_008] MoE-Mamba: Efficient Selective State Space Models with Mixture of Experts. Pióro, M., Ciebiera, K., Król, K., Ludziejewski, J., & Jaszczur, S. (2024). arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.04081. [ Paper ]

[2024_007] [ICLR-2024] MASTERING MEMORY TASKS WITH WORLD MODELS [ Paper ]

[2024_006] MambaMorph: a Mamba-based Backbone with Contrastive Feature Learning for Deformable MR-CT Registration , Tao Guo, Yinuo Wang, and Cai Meng [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_005] SegMamba: Long-range Sequential Modeling Mamba For 3D Medical Image Segmentation , [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_003] Vision Mamba: Efficient Visual Representation Learning with Bidirectional State Space Model , Lianghui Zhu1∗, Bencheng Liao1∗, Qian Zhang2, Xinlong Wang3, Wenyu Liu1, Xinggang Wang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_002] VMamba: Visual State Space Model , Yue Liu1,Yunjie Tian1,Yuzhong Zhao1, Hongtian Yu1, Lingxi Xie2, Yaowei Wang3, Qixiang Ye1, Yunfan Liu1 [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2024_001] Theoretical Foundations of Deep Selective State-Space Models , Nicola Muca Cirone, Antonio Orvieto, Benjamin Walker, Cristopher Salvi, Terry Lyons [ Paper ]

[2023_018] [CHIL 2023] Modeling Multivariate Biosignals With Graph Neural Networks and Structured State Space Models , Siyi Tang, Jared A. Dunnmon, Liangqiong Qu, Khaled K. Saab, Tina Baykaner, Christopher Lee-Messer, Daniel L. Rubin [ Paper ]

[2023_017] "StableSSM: Alleviating the Curse of Memory in State-space Models through Stable Reparameterization." Wang, Shida, and Qianxiao Li. arXiv preprint arXiv:2311.14495 (2023). [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2023_016] State-space models with layer-wise nonlinearity are universal approximators with exponential decaying memory , Shida Wang, Beichen Xue [ Paper ]

[2023_015] Spiking Structured State Space Model for Monaural Speech Enhancement . Du, Y., Liu, X., & Chua, Y. (2023). arXiv preprint arXiv:2309.03641. [ Paper ]

[2023_014] Mastering Diverse Domains through World Models , Danijar Hafner,12 Jurgis Pasukonis,1 Jimmy Ba,2 Timothy Lillicrap [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2023_013] Selective Structured State-Spaces for Long-Form Video Understanding , Jue Wang Wentao Zhu Pichao Wang Xiang Yu Linda Liu Mohamed Omar Raffay Hamid [ Paper ]

[2023_012] Mamba: Linear-Time Sequence Modeling with Selective State Spaces , Albert Gu*1and Tri Dao [ Paper ] [ Github ]

[2023_011] [NeurIPS 2023] Structured State Space Models for In-Context Reinforcement Learning , Chris Lu, Yannick Schroecker, Albert Gu, Emilio Parisotto, Jakob Foerster, Satinder Singh, Feryal Behbahani [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2023_010] Diffusion Models Without Attention , Jing Nathan Yan, Jiatao Gu, Alexander M. Rush [ Paper ]

[2023_009] Hierarchically Gated Recurrent Neural Network for Sequence Modeling , Zhen Qin, Songlin Yang, Yiran Zhong [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2023_008] Retentive Network: A Successor to Transformer for Large Language Models , Yutao Sun, Li Dong, Shaohan Huang, Shuming Ma, Yuqing Xia, Jilong Xue, Jianyong Wang, Furu Wei [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2023_007] Convolutional State Space Models for Long-Range Spatiotemporal Modeling , Jimmy T.H. Smith, Shalini De Mello, Jan Kautz, Scott W. Linderman, Wonmin Byeon [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2023_006] Laughing Hyena Distillery: Extracting Compact Recurrences From Convolutions , Stefano Massaroli, Michael Poli, Daniel Y. Fu, Hermann Kumbong, Rom N. Parnichkun, Aman Timalsina, David W. Romero, Quinn McIntyre, Beidi Chen, Atri Rudra, Ce Zhang, Christopher Re, Stefano Ermon, Yoshua Bengio [ Paper ]

[2023_005] Structured state-space models are deep Wiener models , Fabio Bonassi, Carl Andersson, Per Mattsson, Thomas B. Schön [ Paper ]

[2023_004] Zoology: Measuring and Improving Recall in Efficient Language Models , Simran Arora, Sabri Eyuboglu, Aman Timalsina, Isys Johnson, Michael Poli, James Zou, Atri Rudra, Christopher Ré [ Paper ]

[2023_003] [ICML 2023] Resurrecting Recurrent Neural Networks for Long Sequences , Antonio Orvieto · Samuel Smith · Albert Gu · Anushan Fernando · Caglar Gulcehre · Razvan Pascanu · Soham De [ Paper ]

[2023_002] Hyena Hierarchy: Towards Larger Convolutional Language Models , Michael Poli, Stefano Massaroli, Eric Nguyen, Daniel Y. Fu, Tri Dao, Stephen Baccus, Yoshua Bengio, Stefano Ermon, Christopher Ré [ Paper ]

[2023_001] [ICLR 2023] Simplified State Space Layers for Sequence Modeling , Jimmy T.H. Smith, Andrew Warrington, Scott Linderman [ Paper ]

[2022_009] [ECCV-2022] Long Movie Clip Classification with State-Space Video Models , Md Mohaiminul Islam, Gedas Bertasius [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2022_008] [NIPS-2022] "S4nd: Modeling images and videos as multidimensional signals with state spaces." Nguyen, Eric, et al. Advances in neural information processing systems 35 (2022): 2846-2861. [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2022_007] [Pre-training] Wang, J., Yan, J. N., Gu, A., & Rush, A. M. (2022). Pretraining without attention . arXiv preprint arXiv:2212.10544. [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2022_006] Long Range Language Modeling via Gated State Spaces , Harsh Mehta1∗ Ankit Gupta2 Ashok Cutkosky3 Behnam Neyshabur1 [ Paper ]

[2022_005] [ICML2022] It’s Raw! Audio Generation with State-Space Models , Karan Goel, Albert Gu, Chris Donahue, and Christopher R´e [ Paper ]

[2022_004] Diagonal State Spaces are as Effective as Structured State Spaces , Ankit Gupta˚Albert Gu Jonathan Berant [ Paper ]

[2022_003] How to Train Your HiPPO: State Space Models with Generalized Orthogonal Basis Projections , Albert Gu∗†, Isys Johnson∗‡, Aman Timalsina‡, Atri Rudra‡, and Christopher R´e† [ Paper ]

[2022_002] On the Parameterization and Initialization of Diagonal State Space Models , Albert Gu†, Ankit Gupta‡, Karan Goel†, and Christopher R´e† [ Paper ]

[2022_001] Efficiently Modeling Long Sequences with Structured State Spaces , Albert Gu, Karan Goel, Christopher Ré [ Paper ] [ The Annotated S4 ]

Year 2021 and Before

[2021_003] Efficiently Modeling Long Sequences with Structured State Spaces , Albert Gu, Karan Goel, and Christopher R´e [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2021_002] HiPPO: Recurrent Memory with Optimal Polynomial Projections , Albert Gu∗†, Tri Dao∗†, Stefano Ermon†, Atri Rudra‡, and Christopher Ré† [ Paper ] [ Code ]

[2021_001] Combining Recurrent, Convolutional, and Continuous-time Models with Linear State-Space Layers , Albert Gu†, Isys Johnson†, Karan Goel†, Khaled Saab†, Tri Dao†, Atri Rudra‡, and Christopher Ré† [ Paper ]

Related Models

Diffusion-RWKV: Scaling RWKV-Like Architectures for Diffusion Models , Zhengcong Fei, Mingyuan Fan, Changqian Yu, Debang Li, Junshi Huang [ Paper ]

"Retentive network: A successor to transformer for large language models." Sun, Yutao, et al. arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.08621 (2023). [ Paper ] [ Code ]

TLS-RWKV: Real-Time Online Action Detection with Temporal Label Smoothing . Zhu, Z., Shao, W. & Jiao, D. Neural Process Lett 56, 57 (2024). [ Paper ]

RRWKV: Capturing Long-range Dependencies in RWKV , Leilei Wang [ Paper ]

RWKV-TS: Beyond Traditional Recurrent Neural Network for Time Series Tasks , Haowen Hou, F. Richard Yu [ Paper ] [ Code ]

Vision-RWKV: Efficient and Scalable Visual Perception with RWKV-Like Architectures , Yuchen Duan, Weiyun Wang, Zhe Chen, Xizhou Zhu, Lewei Lu, Tong Lu, Yu Qiao, Hongsheng Li, Jifeng Dai, Wenhai Wang [ Paper ] [ Code ]

RWKV: Reinventing RNNs for the Transformer Era , Bo Peng, Eric Alcaide, Quentin Anthony, Alon Albalak, Samuel Arcadinho, Stella Biderman, Huanqi Cao, Xin Cheng, Michael Chung, Matteo Grella, Kranthi Kiran GV, Xuzheng He, Haowen Hou, Jiaju Lin, Przemyslaw Kazienko, Jan Kocon, Jiaming Kong, Bartlomiej Koptyra, Hayden Lau, Krishna Sri Ipsit Mantri, Ferdinand Mom, Atsushi Saito, Guangyu Song, Xiangru Tang, Bolun Wang, Johan S. Wind, Stanislaw Wozniak, Ruichong Zhang, Zhenyuan Zhang, Qihang Zhao, Peng Zhou, Qinghua Zhou, Jian Zhu, Rui-Jie Zhu [ Paper ]

Other Useful URLs

• [ awesome-ssm-ml ]
• [ Awesome-Mamba-Papers ]
• [ XiudingCai/Awesome-Mamba-Collection ]
• [ Awesome-state-space-models ] Collection of papers/repos on state-space models.
• [ mamba-minimal ] Simple, minimal implementation of the Mamba SSM in one file of PyTorch.
• [ mamba.py ] A simple and efficient Mamba implementation in PyTorch and MLX.
• [ Introduction to State Space Models (SSM) ]
• [ State-Space Modelling by Kevin Kotzé ]
• [ Structured State Spaces: Combining Continuous-Time, Recurrent, and Convolutional Models ]
• [ A Visual Guide to Mamba and State Space Models ---An Alternative to Transformers for Language Modeling ] FEB 19, 2024, by MAARTEN GROOTENDORST.
• [ Structured State Spaces: A Brief Survey of Related Models ] by Albert Gu, Karan Goel, Khaled Saab, and Chris Ré

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