Category Archives: conclusion

“showing” and “telling” in the thesis

Posted on August 30, 2021 by pat thomson

The thesis must show and tell your examiner that its writer is ready to be called Dr. Yep. Dr (insert your surname here.) What do I mean by show and tell? Well, even if these are not the usual definitions, … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, audit trail, conclusion, introduction, literature reviews, methods, show and tell, thesis | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

does a thesis conclusion have “recommendations”?

Posted on August 16, 2021 by pat thomson

I’ve seen many a thesis which concludes with a set of recommendations that arise from the research. This practice troubles me. I’ve got two basic concerns about putting recommendations in a thesis conclusion. My position may be a bit contentious … Continue reading →

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concluding a paper

Posted on May 31, 2021 by pat thomson

Conclusions can be hard. There are a few big traps that conclusion writers can fall into. In order to avoid them, try the following three things. Deep breath. It’s good to be bold. The conclusion generally requires bigging up what … Continue reading →

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leave a good last impression – the thesis conclusion

Posted on January 29, 2018 by pat thomson

Writing the conclusion to the thesis is hard. It’s often done badly. And it’s something that doctoral researchers often get asked to do more work on. Not at all what they/you need. Writing a conclusion is important. The conclusion is … Continue reading →

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‘internationalising’ a journal article

Posted on October 9, 2017 by pat thomson

Thankyou for your paper… blah blah blah revisions… blah blah… You need to make sure that your paper speaks to an international audience. It’s not uncommon to get this kind of reviewer feedback on a journal article, particularly in the … Continue reading →

Posted in conclusion, internationalising, introduction, journal article, literature review, now what, so what | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

conclusions – practice getting to the point(s)

Posted on July 4, 2016 by pat thomson

It’s coming to the end of the academic year in the northern hemisphere and lots of doctoral researchers are also coming to the end of their thesis writing. They are writing their conclusion and perhaps even thinking about what might … Continue reading →

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is your research or your paper needed? #knowhow

Posted on August 5, 2015 by pat thomson

A successful research proposal or published academic paper or book almost always justifies its own existence. Omitting the reasoning that produced the bid, project paper or book can lead to bid failure and paper rejection. A research project In order … Continue reading →

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writing course – the conclusion

Posted on February 10, 2015 by pat thomson

At last the end… but it’s not over yet. Finishing off a paper is always hard. Just when you’ve had about enough, you have to raise the energy and enthusiasm for more. The intellectual work you’ve been doing isn’t quite … Continue reading →

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connecting chapters/chapter conclusions

Posted on January 27, 2014 by pat thomson

This post is the second of four which address the question of how you achieve flow across a thesis text. The previous post (here) offered a three-part approach to beginning to write a chapter. The three moves, link, focus and … Continue reading →

Posted in chapter, conclusion, crunching, flow | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

writing course day four

Posted on April 6, 2013 by pat thomson

Today in the writing course we began with a shut-up-and-write about what needed to go in the methods section. • What does the journal’s community expect in this section? • What do readers need to know to trust what you … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, conclusion, middle work, reviewing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment