Category Archives: writing research

bad writing advice

Posted on April 23, 2018 by pat thomson

There’s some very bad writing advice out there. Most of it is well-intentioned. Most doesn’t aim to make profit from anxious writers. But unfortunately readily available writing advice is not uniformly good. Does this matter? Caveat emptor perhaps? Well, there’s … Continue reading →

an ethics of analysis and writing

Posted on December 12, 2016 by pat thomson

How do you work ethically with material generated in an interview? I’ve been pondering this question recently as part of a more general think about ethical research practice*. Research ethics are covered in institutional forms – yes? Well no. The forms … Continue reading →

Posted in analysis, data analysis, ethics, Uncategorized, writing research | Tagged analysis, ethics, Pat Thomson, writing | 6 Comments

seven reasons why journals reject papers

Posted on May 20, 2013 by pat thomson

I’ve written about rejections several times, and most of this is scattered throughout the blog, so I thought it might be helpful to amalgamate the most important points together. All in one place. There are some very common reasons why … Continue reading →

Posted in journal, premature publication, publishing, refereeing, rejection, writing, writing research | Tagged journals, Pat Thomson, reasons for rejection | 36 Comments

should you, could you, would you… co-write with your supervisor?

Posted on May 13, 2013 by pat thomson

It’s not hard to find a horror story or two about the PhD researcher who wrote something with their supervisor only to find when it was published that they weren’t given credit for the work. The supervisor put their name … Continue reading →

Posted in co-writing, journal, supervision, theft, writing, writing research | Tagged academic theft, co-writing, Pat Thomson, supervisor | 15 Comments

just write – then plan, and write again – in #acwrimo and beyond

Posted on November 28, 2012 by pat thomson

Someone asked me the other day whether I thought ‘just write’ was a good idea. It is something that I support, although always with the caveat that it doesn’t work for everyone. I call this ‘writing along the way’ because … Continue reading →