Category Archives: signposts

what is meta-text?

Posted on November 25, 2019 by pat thomson

This post is a response to question – yes I do answer them if and when I can. It’s not uncommon for doctoral researchers to find supervisors have written this feedback on a text – “You need more signposting here”. Occasionally … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, meta-text, overview, preview, signposts | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

thesis to book: you may need to change your writing ‘voice’

Posted on July 21, 2014 by pat thomson

Unlike thesis examiners, academic book publishers are looking for something that is, above all else, a decent read. A first book is by definition written by an author who isn’t widely known, so publishers will be particularly keen to see … Continue reading →

Posted in Helen Sword, nominalisation, signposts, thesis, thingification | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

don’t send your PhD examiner to sleep

Posted on July 3, 2014 by pat thomson

It’s 7. 30 pm and Pat is in the lounge room reading. She is examining a thesis but finding it hard to stay awake. Big Brother wonders what the problem might be and summons her to the diary room. “Well … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, signposts, thesis | Tagged , , , | 21 Comments

six differences between thesis and book chapters

Posted on November 25, 2013 by pat thomson

This post is in response to a question about chapters in books and dissertations. I do try to answer questions, although it sometimes takes a while! There ARE some key differences between a thesis and a book chapter – here … Continue reading →

Posted in argument, chapter, examiner, reader, signposts | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments

keeping your thesis reader/examiner on track

Posted on March 21, 2013 by pat thomson

I’m currently reading my fifth doctoral thesis for the year. I realized a while ago that I’ve now examined at least fifty doctorates. I guess that’s a lot. I recently decided to go back to my examination reports to see … Continue reading →

Posted in dissertation, doctoral research, examiner, reader, signposts, thesis | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

writing a road map – christmas present one

Posted on December 7, 2012 by pat thomson

During December I thought I would offer some short writing ‘hacks’, that can be used for practising particular aspects of academic writing. These will be in the form of ‘meta texts’, where the original content has been stripped out to … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, introduction, meta-text, sentence skeleton, signposts | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

a thinking tool (tt) for academic writing: front and backloading

Posted on October 15, 2012 by pat thomson

I ‘ve decided to post more on some of the thinking tools that I routinely use in my own writing and in conversation with early career researchers. You’ll see them off and on over the next few months. I’m going … Continue reading →

Posted in backloading, blank spot, blind spot, collocation, frontloading, signposts, thingification, thinking tool | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

doing the literature review – thinking about patterns and groups

Posted on March 9, 2012 by pat thomson

If you’ve ever watched small children playing then you’ll know that one of the things that they do is to sort things into groups. A bunch of coloured pens, pencils and markers can be sorted by type, colour, size, shape, … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, grouping and patterning, literature review, meta-commentary, signposts, thematisation | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

‘signposting’ your journal articles and chapters

Posted on September 18, 2011 by pat thomson

Many early journal writers are asked to put more signposting into their articles. Indeed, journal editors often list lack of signposting as a reason for requesting revisions.   So what is signposting and why is it needed? Signposting is the … Continue reading →

Posted in argument, crafting writing, journal, signposts | 8 Comments