Category Archives: so what

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 →

Posted in conclusion, journal article, so what | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

‘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

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 →

Posted in academic writing, conclusion, introduction, research funding, research proposal, so what | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 →

Posted in academic writing, conclusion, journal, so what | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

writing a journal article? start with the So What question

Posted on January 5, 2015 by pat thomson

I’m running another writing course soon in Iceland and have been sorting through potential pre-reading material. In my file of pdfs I came across an editorial written by Neil Selwyn in the journal Learning, Media and Technology. The piece is … Continue reading →

Posted in journal, Neil Selwyn, so what, take home message | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments

early onset satisfaction – a bad thing for writing and writers

Posted on May 16, 2013 by pat thomson

(health warning – this post is a tiny rant) early onset satisfaction – this is a notion that I once heard Mem Fox talking about. She put EOS as the enemy of all writers. Feeling too happy with a piece … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, early onset satisfaction, premature publication, so what | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

rules for conference presentations

Posted on April 26, 2012 by pat thomson

Having just returned from a conference where the presentations were a little mixed – to say the least – I was reminded of the reality that conference presentations are not the same as the conference paper. The paper is the … Continue reading →

Posted in argument, audience, conference papers, conference presentation, powerpoint, so what | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments