Tag Archives: academic publishing

turning your thesis into a book

Posted on September 23, 2013 by pat thomson

Lots of people want to turn their thesis into a book. This is not always possible – not all theses make good books. But it may also not be desirable. Some disciplines revere the scholarly monograph so writing one may … Continue reading →

Posted in academic book, book proposal, publishing, thesis | Tagged , , | 27 Comments

happy birthday to patter… a reflection on the last two years

Posted on July 11, 2013 by pat thomson

Today is patter’s birthday. Two years of mostly two posts a week adds up to 186 posts, 187 counting this one. Starting with 2,000 hits in its first month, patter now gets about 25,000 hits a month. And 187 posts, … Continue reading →

Posted in academic blogging, feedback, networking, publishing | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

when senior academics are interested in your work …

Posted on October 8, 2012 by pat thomson

I was recently told a very disconcerting story by a supervisor about something that had just happened to one of the doctoral researchers she was working with. I’m repeating it here because it’s a cautionary tale. The moral of the … Continue reading →

Posted in digital thesis programme, doctoral research, exploitation, gift economy, intellectual property, publishing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

early career researchers and the high impact journal

Posted on March 25, 2012 by pat thomson

I was recently on a shortlisting panel for the three year postdoctoral fellowships offered by my university. Each of the five faculties had produced their own priority list from which the panel was to choose a subset to be interviewed. … Continue reading →

Posted in dissemination, journal, knowledge production, publishing, readership | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

refereeing a journal article. part 3. writing the feedback

Posted on January 19, 2012 by pat thomson

Having read the article carefully, and decided whether it’s accept without change, revise and resubmit or reject, there is now the task of writing the feedback to the author/s. There are four things to keep in mind when writing feedback: … Continue reading →

Posted in feedback, journal, peer review, refereeing | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

never write a book without a publishing contract

Posted on November 6, 2011 by pat thomson

A colleague of mine told me recently that he was writing a book. Just on spec, he said. And did I have any advice about what publishers might be interested. What could I say? I wanted to say give up … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, publishing | Tagged | 7 Comments

can I get a book from my PhD?

Posted on October 22, 2011 by pat thomson

Well maybe is the answer. Maybe. First of all, all PhDs can generate some refereed journal articles. But not all PhDs have enough in them to become a book. This is because the PhD and a book have to do … Continue reading →

Posted in books, publishing, voice | Tagged | 4 Comments