Tag Archives: thesis

last-minute proofing – 12 things to look for

Posted on June 27, 2022 by pat thomson

The last stages of handing in a thesis or book can be very trying. It’s taken you an age to get to the point where this big hefty manuscript is as ready as it’s going to be. Well just about. You … Continue reading →

Posted in academic book, Big Book, proof-reading, proofreading, thesis | Tagged academic writing, book, Pat Thomson, proof reading, thesis | 4 Comments

recycling your thesis text – is it self plagiarism?

Posted on September 13, 2021 by pat thomson

The term self-plagiarism is usually associated with re-using your own work, recycling slabs of material already published, cutting and pasting from one text to another, producing something which duplicates something that has already appeared elsewhere. Self-plagiarism is not the same … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, plagiarism, re-use, self-plagiarism, thesis | Tagged Pat Thomson, self-plagiarism, text recycling, Text Recycling Project, thesis | 4 Comments

“showing” and “telling” in the thesis

Posted on August 30, 2021 by pat thomson

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

does a thesis conclusion have “recommendations”?

Posted on August 16, 2021 by pat thomson

I’ve seen many a thesis which concludes with a set of recommendations that arise from the research. This practice troubles me. I’ve got two basic concerns about putting recommendations in a thesis conclusion. My position may be a bit contentious … Continue reading →

Posted in conclusion, recommendations, thesis | Tagged conclusion, implications, Pat Thomson, recommendations, thesis | 1 Comment

the thesis discussion – making the move work

Posted on May 17, 2021 by pat thomson

This post comes back again at the discussion “chapter”. It seems you can never say too much about this tricky bit of the thesis. A caveat before I start. This post is written from a social science perspective and offers … Continue reading →

Posted in argument, discussion, thesis | Tagged argument, Pat Thomson, results and discussion, thesis, writing the discussion | 1 Comment

required, desirable and delightful elements of academic writing

Posted on May 3, 2021 by pat thomson

This is the time of year that I run writing workshops and courses. And because I’m preoccupied with teaching, I’m also thinking about new and different strategies for authoring and revision. Authoring and revision strategies are inter-related – heuristics used … Continue reading →

Posted in examiner, Kano Analysis, revision, thesis | Tagged authoring, examiner, Kano Analysis, Pat Thomson, revision, thesis | 4 Comments

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 →