How to Write Acknowledgement: The 3-Minute Guide for Students

Writing acknowledgements is an important part of completing any academic project, from a dissertation to a school project. It is an opportunity to thank those who have helped you on the journey to completing your work.

In this guide, we will give you just enough information you will need to complete your acknowledgement section for your writing. Nothing more and nothing less. Let’s dive right in!

The acknowledgement section is where you show appreciation to people who helped or supported you intellectually, mentally, or financially in your academic writing. It should be no longer than one page.

Acknowledgement are commonly found in academic writings such as:

• School/college projects
• Research papers
• Theses
• Dissertations

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Why should I include an acknowledgement section in my writing?

Acknowledging assistance and contributions from others can establish your integrity as a researcher. This will eventually make your work more credible.

Where to put the acknoweldgement section?

Generally, the acknowledgements should be put right after the title page and before the table of contents.

For term papers, you can also write your acknowledgement at the end, after the conclusion, and before the reference section.  

How long should an acknowledgement be?

The length of an acknowledgement should not be more than one page if you are writing for your thesis or dissertation. You should keep your acknowledgement as short as possible thanking all the individuals helping your throughout the project.

For a simple college or school project, you should write at least a paragraph or two thanking at least your college/school and teachers/instructors. A short 1-2 paragraph or 100-150 words for your acknowledgement section is fine.

What should be acknowledged about?

In your acknowledgement section, you can show gratitude for those who provide you with resources in the following area;

• Technical help may include people who helped you by providing materials and supplies.
• Intellectual help includes academic advice and assistance.
• Mental help can be any kind of verbal support and encouragement.
• Financial help is obviously related to monetary support

Who should I include in the acknowledgement?

In general, there are two main categories of acknowledgements: professional and personal. And sometimes people would include a spiritual acknowledgement to the higher power.

It’s a common practice to put professional acknowledgements first, followed by any personal ones. And in the case of spiritual acknowledgement, it will be out up front regardless.

• Your Supervisor/ Teacher
• Professors
• Lab assistants
• Academic staff of your school/college
• Your college/school
• Your faculty/department
• Classmates
• Friends/Your colleagues
• Family members

Start by listing all the people whom you wish to thank for helping or collaborating with your project. It could be your teacher, your friends, your families, and others. List everyone whom you think has helped you achieve your project goals. 

Then you would have to organize them, starting with those people who helped you the most with the project. After that, you can thank your college or university as well.

When thanking professionals, always write out their full names and provide their titles. For example, “I would like to thank Dr. Steve Kerr, Professor Matt Simms for their support in this project.” 

If you intend to include a list of people from one institution or organization, it is best to list their names in alphabetical order. 

What is the tone and format of the acknowledgement section?

You should write your acknowledgement in formal language with complete sentences. Although the first person is not used in academic research projects, you can use it in the acknowledgement for the thesis section. In other words, personal pronouns such as “I, my, me …”are nearly always used in the acknowledgements.

The information supplied in the acknowledgement section of academic writing should be kept concise. It should only include persons who are directly involved with the project.

Phrases to use while writing an acknowledgement

Strong ‘Thank You’

(You will use these lines for those who have helped you the most.)

• I’m extremely grateful to …
• I’d like to express my deepest thanks to…
• This project would not have been possible without…
• I cannot begin to express my thanks to……, who…
• I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to…
• I would like to pay my special regards to …
• I would like to recognize the invaluable assistance of…..

Medium ‘Thank You’

• I would also like to thank…
• I must also thank…
• I’d also like to express my gratitude to…
• Especially, I would like to thank…
• I am very grateful to…
• I should also appreciate…

Weaker ‘Thank You’

• I’d also like to acknowledge the help of…
• I’d also like to thank…
• Finally, I would like to thank…
• I am very grateful to…

After thanking everyone, you should also mention why you are thanking them. You can thank those people for their advice, suggestions, sharing their experience, guidance, support, etc., and appreciate their support and help for your project.

Here’s an example of an acknowledgement for a research paper: