Category Archives: text work/identity work

should you publish during your PhD?

Posted on August 23, 2021 by pat thomson

So you are not doing PhD by publication. You’re not in a country and/or discipline which expects you to publish during your PhD – yes really, some do. And you hear conflicting advice about whether publishing during your PhD is … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, publishing, text work/identity work, thesis, writing for publication | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

not letting go of the text

Posted on July 9, 2018 by pat thomson

A couple of weeks ago I was asked if I had any advice for someone who struggled to let go of their writing – they wrote but then it was really difficult to send the writing off to their supervisor. … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, critique, supervision, text, text work/identity work | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

why​ is writing a literature review such hard work? part two

Posted on July 2, 2018 by pat thomson

Yes, some examiners do ask doctoral researchers to change their literature review to show how they are “located” in the text. OK, let’s pretend this is you. What do those pesky examiners mean exactly? At one level this is a … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, Joseph Harris, literature review, text work/identity work, transforming knowledge | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

threshold concepts in academic writing

Posted on February 26, 2018 by pat thomson

Please note, I write my blog on weekends. It is not part of my workload, nor in my job description. I support the #USS strike. Many of you probably know what the term a ‘threshold concept’ means. My understanding of … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, identity, scholarly identity, text work/identity work, threshold concept | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

choosing your words – starting the phd

Posted on November 6, 2017 by pat thomson

Beginning academic writers often look for academic phrase banks and word lists to help them write ‘right’. The most popular of these is the Manchester Academic Phrase Bank – now also available in print. There are also general lists of … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, text work/identity work, word bank, words | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

co-writing strategies – or – what could possibly go wrong?

Posted on December 15, 2016 by pat thomson

Writing collaboratively can be a joy. But it can also be challenging.  It is important when writing with others to choose a strategy which is not only manageable but also has more likelihood of joy than challenge. The talk-write together approach Barbara and … Continue reading →

Posted in co - witing, coconstruction, collaboration, collaborative work, text work/identity work, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

text work/identity work

Posted on September 9, 2015 by pat thomson

When we write we not only produce text, we also produce ourselves as scholars. As we make textual decisions – what to write about, who to cite and who to leave out, what evidence to include, how we use language … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, literature review, text work/identity work | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

reflecting on PhD learning

Posted on December 11, 2014 by pat thomson

Some supervisors ask the doctoral researchers they work with to formally reflect on their learning. A what-am-I-learning conversation might be a regular part of supervision. Reflection is also often self initiated – ongoing thoughts are recorded in a doctoral researcher journal … Continue reading →

Posted in doctoral research, text work/identity work, thesis, viva | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

a blogging ‘identity’

Posted on January 21, 2013 by pat thomson

I erased a post this morning, for the first time. I didn’t get rid of it altogether, because it’s OK. I just removed it from the schedule and saved it. I took it out of this blog because I realized … Continue reading →

Posted in academic blogging, identity, pedagogy, public/private, text work/identity work, there | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments