Tag Archives: thesis

tracking the path to research claims

Posted on January 6, 2020 by pat thomson

All researchers make claims about their work. Remember the phrase staking a claim? That’s what we are actually doing when we claim something. We are metaphorically placing a marker in a field that we are prepared to stand on, stand … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, argument, claim, claims, evidence, revision, revision strategy, thesis, thesis revision | Tagged argument, claims, evidence, Pat Thomson, revision, thesis | 1 Comment

writing the thesis from the middle

Posted on October 7, 2019 by pat thomson

This is a guest post from Dr Milena Popova, a rogue scholar and activist. They offer one-to-one academic tuition, and tweet as @elmyra. As I hit the start of the second year of my PhD, one of my supervisors casually … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, IMRAD, thesis | Tagged academic writing, IMRAD, Maria Popova, thesis, writing from the middle | 15 Comments

oh no, it’s thesis hand-in limbo

Posted on September 9, 2019 by pat thomson

It’s time to talk about the phenomenon of thesis limbo-land. That’s the unknown number of days between handing in and the examination. Handing in the thesis is both a triumph and exhausting. It’s no surprise that many people think of … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, hand-in limbo, handing in, phd defence, thesis, viva, wellbeing | Tagged handing in thesis, Pat Thomson, thesis, thesis lmbo, viva, wellbeing | 4 Comments

three thesis writing modes

Posted on August 12, 2019 by pat thomson

It’s pretty common to hear academic writing described in three stages – (1) thinking and preparation or pre-writing, (2) writing, and (3) post writing revision. In the doctorate you do pre-writing until you get to ‘writing up’. And that’s when … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, creative writing, foundation, generation and response, Graeme Harper, three modes of writing | Tagged academic writing, creative writing, Graeme Harper, thesis, three modes of writing | 7 Comments

don’t give your thesis examiner a bad first impression

Posted on May 27, 2019 by pat thomson

My hunch is that I’m a lot like most thesis examiners. When we get sent a thesis we often don’t plunge in straight away. We have a bit of a look around first. That’s not an unusual response to a … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, examiner, proofreading, thesis, thesis abstract | Tagged abstract, examiner, Pat Thomson, proofreading, reference list, thesis | 5 Comments

mapping a text

Posted on March 4, 2019 by pat thomson

I love a good map. I’m not talking about the satnav you have in your car, or its predecessor the street directory. Nor am I talking about the underground map I occasionally have to consult when I’m down in London. … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, argument, book writing, mapping, thesis | Tagged argument, book, mapping, Pat Thomson, thesis | 7 Comments

tiny texts – small is powerful

Posted on February 11, 2019 by pat thomson

I work a lot with tiny texts. Abstracts. Storyboards. Story threads. Lines of argument. Tiny texts are my academic writing tool of choice. If I had to abandon all the other writing strategies I have in my repertoire, this is … Continue reading →

Posted in abstracts, academic writing, methods, methods chapter, research methods, thesis, Tiny Text | Tagged abstratc, argument, methods chapter, Pat Thomson, thesis, Tiny Text | 6 Comments

revising a thesis chapter

Posted on October 15, 2018 by pat thomson

You’ve written a first draft of your chapter. Hooray! That’s an achievement. You can’t get anywhere without a first draft. Pat yourself on the back. And then… Step away from the desk. Take a break. Leave your draft and do … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, chapter, crappy first draft, revision, revision strategy, thesis, thesis revision | Tagged academic writing, first draft, Pat Thomson, thesis, thesis chapter, thesis revision | 3 Comments

writing more than one thing at the same time – part two, authoring

Posted on September 3, 2018 by pat thomson

There are good reasons for writing alongside the thesis. Besides contributing to the work (see first post) and your cv, there are authoring benefits. These include: the chance to learn more about academic writing the opportunity to develop a scholarly … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, academic writing voice, authority in writing, authorship, crafting writing, genre, good academic writing, writing more then one thing at once | Tagged authoring, convention, Pat Thomson, reader, thesis, voice, writing more than one thing at once | Leave a comment

publishing from the phd – make a publication plan

Posted on May 21, 2018 by pat thomson

There are two ways to approach publishing from your PhD. One is to write the first thing that interests you. Or the recent thing that you presented at a conference. Or write the thing that someone very important has invited … Continue reading →