Tag Archives: literature

“showing” and “telling” in the thesis

The thesis must show and tell your examiner that its writer is ready to be called Dr. Yep. Dr (insert your surname here.) What do I mean by show and tell? Well, even if these are not the usual definitions, … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, audit trail, conclusion, introduction, literature reviews, methods, show and tell, thesis | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

quick lit – rapid evidence reviewing

This is one of a very occasional set of posts about some of my own academic work that you might find useful. A colleague and I have just undertaken what is called in the (academic) trade a Rapid Evidence Review. … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, literature mapping, literature review, literature reviews, Rapid Evidence Review | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

avoiding the laundry list literature review

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 , , , , , | 38 Comments

literature know-how – beware too much naming, not enough framing

You’re in the middle of working with literature. You find that you have to bring several texts together and compare them. Why? Well, you might be trying to establish points of difference and similarity between several papers. Or maybe you … Continue reading

Posted in list, literature review, literature reviews, paragraph, too much naming, topic sentence | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

conclusion mise-en-place. christmas present six

Any of you who watch cooking programmes will know the cheffy talk about mise-en-place. It’s a term used to describe all the various kinds of preparation that need to be done in order to whip up something that can be … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, conclusion, contribution, implications of research, mise-en-place | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments