Category Archives: English language

style, tone and grammar – native speaker bias in peer reviews

Posted on October 12, 2020 by pat thomson

This is a guest post from Dr Randi Stebbins. Randi is Director of the University of Iceland Centre for Writing. Peer review is a central part of academic publication. The process of back and forth between authors and reviewers is … Continue reading →

Posted in English language, grammar, journal article, peer review, reviewing, style | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

starting the PhD – learning new vocabulary

Posted on January 28, 2019 by pat thomson

Scholarly work often involves learning new words. You know this right? Sometimes it even seems that in order to be considered a scholar you have to speak in words no one else can understand. Well that’s the stereotype. But let’s … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, English language, language, starting the PhD, syntax, vocabulary, word bank | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

academic publishing in English

Posted on July 6, 2017 by pat thomson

This week I was at a sociology of education summer school. As you might expect, I was there to talk about academic writing and publishing. In this context, I wanted to situate my usual topic in a wider context, and … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, argument, English language, publishing | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

a double plus bad PhD experience

Posted on September 21, 2015 by pat thomson

A few weeks ago someone posted this comment on patter. I think it’s worth reposting. As a non-native English Phd researcher, my conclusion is that doing a PhD written in English language is almost doing a PhD in creative English … Continue reading →

Posted in English language, international PhD, supervision | Tagged , , | 43 Comments

getting published in English language journals

Posted on February 27, 2014 by pat thomson

I am often asked to say something about problems faced by scholars who are expected to publish in English, despite this not being their mother tongue. People refer to my book on getting published and ask for more. My book … Continue reading →

Posted in conversation, English language, publishing | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

the PhD and publication/by publication – a very peculiar practice? part one

Posted on April 18, 2013 by pat thomson

It is now increasingly common in parts of Europe for PhDs in the humanities and social sciences to be awarded on the basis of publication. The norm seems to be three, but sometimes four, papers in international peer reviewed journals. … Continue reading →

Posted in English language, Europe, monograph, parity, PhD, PhD by publication, publishing, thesis | Tagged , , , , | 41 Comments