Tag Archives: authority

can you cut and paste early text into your thesis?

Posted on January 30, 2023 by pat thomson

Well of course you can. The question is, should you? You wrote large chunks of text when you first started your doctorate. These writings were most likely to do with literatures, methodologies and research design, and the warrant for your … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, old text, rewriting, thesis | Tagged authority, identity, Pat Thomson, thesis, using old text | 4 Comments

leave a good last impression – the thesis conclusion

Posted on January 29, 2018 by pat thomson

Writing the conclusion to the thesis is hard. It’s often done badly. And it’s something that doctoral researchers often get asked to do more work on. Not at all what they/you need. Writing a conclusion is important. The conclusion is … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, authority in writing, conclusion, distance, thesis | Tagged authoritative writing, authority, conclusion, distance, Pat Thomson, thesis | 1 Comment

avoiding the laundry list literature review

Posted on September 11, 2017 by pat thomson

I’ve been asked to say more about the laundry list literature review. The laundry list is often called ‘He said, she said” – as one of the most usual forms of the laundry list is when most sentences start with a … Continue reading →

Posted in authority in writing, he said, she said, laundry list, literature review, passive voice, Uncategorized | Tagged authority, he said, laundry list, literature, Pat Thomson, she said | 38 Comments

writing an academic ransom note

Posted on November 28, 2016 by pat thomson

I’m in Australia at present. Inevitably I’m running some writing workshops. Inevitably I’m playing with some new strategies. I really do like to try out new things to see how they work, what they might do. And one of the … Continue reading →

Posted in argument, authentic voice, authority in writing | Tagged authority, Pat Thomson, ransom notes, voice, writing workshops | 2 Comments

boostering your introduction and conclusion

Posted on August 22, 2016 by pat thomson

Academic writing is known for its use of qualifiers – usually words which tone down the claims that are made. We academics know it is impossible/incredibly difficult to establish a generalisable result though research, and our writing signals this difficulty … Continue reading →

Posted in authority in writing | Tagged authority, boosters, conclusion, hedges, introduction, Ken Hyland, Pat Thomson | 3 Comments

exorcise the inner “doctoral student” from your writing

Posted on June 8, 2015 by pat thomson

Some of us can probably remember the film The Exorcist. It was one of those “demon child” films so popular in the 1970s. It featured Linda Blair as a possessed young teen – her green-slime spitting, 360 degree swiveling head … Continue reading →