Writing Well and Being Well for Your PhD and Beyond

Writing Well and Being Well for Your PhD and Beyond
Author: Katherine Firth
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2023-09-05
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1000936120

Prioritizing wellbeing alongside academic development, this book provides practical advice to help students write well, and be well, during their PhD and throughout their career. In this unique book, Katherine Firth offers expert guidance on developing a writing practice and avoiding burnout, providing strategies and insights for developing a sustainable writing career beyond the PhD thesis. The book covers every stage of the academic writing process, from planning and researching, through getting words on the page, to the often unexpectedly time-consuming editing and polishing. Readers are reminded that writing a thesis is hard work, but it needn’t be damaging work. Each chapter includes a toolbox of strategies and techniques, such as meditations, writing exercises and tips to maintain physical wellbeing, that will help doctoral candidates start writing and keep writing, without sacrificing their health, wellbeing or relationships. Relevant at any stage of the writing process, this book will help doctoral students and early career researchers to produce great words that people want to read, examiners want to pass and editors want to publish.

How to Fix Your Academic Writing Trouble: A Practical Guide

How to Fix Your Academic Writing Trouble: A Practical Guide
Author: Inger Mewburn
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2018-12-21
Genre: Study Aids
ISBN: 0335243339

Are you confused by the feedback you get from your academic teachers and mentors? This clear and accessible guide to decoding academic feedback will help you interpret what your lecturer or research supervisor is really trying to tell you about your writing—and show you how to fix it. It will help you master a range of techniques and strategies to take your writing to the next level and along the way you’ll learn why academic text looks the way it does, and how to produce that ‘authoritative scholarly voice’ that everyone talks about. This book is an easy-to-use resource for postgraduate students and researchers in all disciplines, and even professional academics, to diagnose their writing issues and find ways to fix them. This book would also be a valuable text for academic writing courses and writing groups, such as those offered in doctoral and Master's by research degree programmes. 'Whether they have writing problems or not, every academic writer will want this handy compendium of effective strategies and sound explanations on their book shelf—it’s a must-have.' Pat Thomson, Professor of Education, University of Nottingham, UK

Doctoral Writing

Doctoral Writing
Author: Susan Carter
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2020-01-01
Genre: Study Aids
ISBN: 9811518084

This book on doctoral writing offers a refreshingly new approach to help Ph.D. students and their supervisors overcome the host of writing challenges that can make—or break—the dissertation process. The book’s unique contribution to the field of doctoral writing is its style of reflection on ongoing, lived practice; this is more readable than a simple how-to book, making it a welcome resource to support doctoral writing. The experiences and practices of research writing are explored through bite-sized vignettes, stories, and actionable ‘teachable’ accounts.Doctoral Writing: Practices, Processes and Pleasures has its origins in a highly successful academic blog with an international following. Inspired by the popularity of the blog (which had more than 14,800 followers as of October 2019) and a desire to make our six years’ worth of posts more accessible, this book has been authored, reworked, and curated by the three editors of the blog and reconceived as a conveniently structured book.

Authoring a PhD

Authoring a PhD
Author: Patrick Dunleavy
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2017-04-28
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0230802087

This engaging and highly regarded book takes readers through the key stages of their PhD research journey, from the initial ideas through to successful completion and publication. It gives helpful guidance on forming research questions, organising ideas, pulling together a final draft, handling the viva and getting published. Each chapter contains a wealth of practical suggestions and tips for readers to try out and adapt to their own research needs and disciplinary style. This text will be essential reading for PhD students and their supervisors in humanities, arts, social sciences, business, law, health and related disciplines.

Your PhD Survival Guide

Your PhD Survival Guide
Author: Katherine Firth
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 119
Release: 2020-12-21
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000286568

Accessible, insightful and a must-have toolkit for all final year doctoral students, the founders of the ‘Thesis Boot Camp’ intensive writing programme show how to survive and thrive through the challenging final year of writing and submitting a thesis. Drawing on an understanding of the intellectual, professional, practical and personal elements of the doctorate to help readers gain insight into what it means to finish a PhD and how to get there, this book covers the common challenges and ways to resolve them. It includes advice on: Project management skills to plan, track, iterate and report on the complex task of bringing a multi-year research project to a successful close Personal effectiveness and self-care to support students to thrive in body, mind and relationships, including challenging supervisor relationships. The successful ‘generative’ writing processes which get writers into the zone and producing thousands of words; and then provides the skills to structure and polish those words to publishable quality. What it means to survive a PhD and consider multiple possible futures. Written for students in all disciplines, and relevant to university systems around the world, this unique book expertly guides students through the final 6–12 months of the thesis. The 'Insider Guides to Success in Academia' offers support and practical advice to doctoral students and early-career researchers. Covering the topics that really matter, but which often get overlooked, this indispensable series provides practical and realistic guidance to address many of the needs and challenges of trying to operate, and remain, in academia. These neat pocket guides fill specific and significant gaps in current literature. Each book offers insider perspectives on the often implicit rules of the game -- the things you need to know but usually aren't told by institutional postgraduate support, researcher development units, or supervisors -- and will address a practical topic that is key to career progression. They are essential reading for doctoral students, early-career researchers, supervisors, mentors, or anyone looking to launch or maintain their career in academia.

Mastering Your PhD

Mastering Your PhD
Author: Patricia Gosling
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2010-11-19
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3642158471

"Mastering Your PhD: Survival and Success in the Doctoral Years and Beyond" helps guide PhD students through their graduate student years. Filled with practical advice on getting started, communicating with your supervisor, staying the course, and planning for the future, this book is a handy guide for graduate students who need that extra bit of help getting started and making it through. While mainly directed at PhD students in the sciences, the book's scope is broad enough to encompass the obstacles and hurdles that almost all PhD students face during their doctoral training. Who should read this book? Students of the physical and life sciences, computer science, math, and medicine who are thinking about entering a PhD program; doctoral students at the beginning of their research; and any graduate student who is feeling frustrated and stuck. It's never too early -- or too late! This second edition contains a variety of new material, including additional chapters on how to communicate better with your supervisor, dealing with difficult people, how to find a mentor, and new chapters on your next career step, once you have your coveted doctoral degree in hand.

The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research

The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research
Author: Gordon Rugg
Publisher: Open University Press
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2004-06
Genre: Education
ISBN:

Enter the competition! "A breath of fresh air - I wish someone had told me this beforehand." PhD student, UK "If you are contemplating a PhD, buy the book and read it straight through to get the larger picture; then re-read each section in greater detail as you tackle each stage of your work. I did the basic research for my PhD in about twelve months, then spent two years writing up the results - and producing possibly too much. It succeeded, but I think I might have made a better job of it if I had read a book like this first. But they didn't exist in those days." Mantex This book looks at things the other books don't tell you about doing a PhD - what it's really like and how to come through it with a happy ending! It covers all the things you wish someone had told you before you started: What a PhD is really about, and how to do one well The "unwritten rules" of research and of academic writing What your supervisor actually means by terms like "good referencing" and "clean research question" How to write like a skilled researcher How academic careers really work An ideal resource if someone you care about (including yourself!) is undergoing or considering a PhD. This book turns lost, clueless students back into people who know what they are doing, and who can enjoy life again.

From Dissertation to Book

From Dissertation to Book
Author: William Germano
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2014-02-27
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 022606218X

How to transform a thesis into a publishable work that can engage audiences beyond the academic committee. When a dissertation crosses my desk, I usually want to grab it by its metaphorical lapels and give it a good shake. “You know something!” I would say if it could hear me. “Now tell it to us in language we can understand!” Since its publication in 2005, From Dissertation to Book has helped thousands of young academic authors get their books beyond the thesis committee and into the hands of interested publishers and general readers. Now revised and updated to reflect the evolution of scholarly publishing, this edition includes a new chapter arguing that the future of academic writing is in the hands of young scholars who must create work that meets the broader expectations of readers rather than the narrow requirements of academic committees. At the heart of From Dissertation to Book is the idea that revising the dissertation is fundamentally a process of shifting its focus from the concerns of a narrow audience—a committee or advisors—to those of a broader scholarly audience that wants writing to be both informative and engaging. William Germano offers clear guidance on how to do this, with advice on such topics as rethinking the table of contents, taming runaway footnotes, shaping chapter length, and confronting the limitations of jargon, alongside helpful timetables for light or heavy revision. Germano draws on his years of experience in both academia and publishing to show writers how to turn a dissertation into a book that an audience will actually enjoy, whether reading on a page or a screen. He also acknowledges that not all dissertations can or even should become books and explores other, often overlooked, options, such as turning them into journal articles or chapters in an edited work. With clear directions, engaging examples, and an eye for the idiosyncrasies of academic writing, he reveals to recent PhDs the secrets of careful and thoughtful revision—a skill that will be truly invaluable as they add “author” to their curriculum vitae.

How to Write a Lot

How to Write a Lot
Author: Paul J. Silvia
Publisher: Amer Psychological Assn
Total Pages: 149
Release: 2007-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9781591477433

All students and professors need to write, and many struggle to finish their stalled dissertations, journal articles, book chapters, or grant proposals. Writing is hard work and can be difficult to wedge into a frenetic academic schedule. In this practical, light-hearted, and encouraging book, Paul Silvia explains that writing productively does not require innate skills or special traits but specific tactics and actions. Drawing examples from his own field of psychology, he shows readers how to overcome motivational roadblocks and become prolific without sacrificing evenings, weekends, and vacations. After describing strategies for writing productively, the author gives detailed advice from the trenches on how to write, submit, revise, and resubmit articles, how to improve writing quality, and how to write and publish academic work.

The Professor Is In

The Professor Is In
Author: Karen Kelsky
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2015-08-04
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0553419420

The definitive career guide for grad students, adjuncts, post-docs and anyone else eager to get tenure or turn their Ph.D. into their ideal job Each year tens of thousands of students will, after years of hard work and enormous amounts of money, earn their Ph.D. And each year only a small percentage of them will land a job that justifies and rewards their investment. For every comfortably tenured professor or well-paid former academic, there are countless underpaid and overworked adjuncts, and many more who simply give up in frustration. Those who do make it share an important asset that separates them from the pack: they have a plan. They understand exactly what they need to do to set themselves up for success. They know what really moves the needle in academic job searches, how to avoid the all-too-common mistakes that sink so many of their peers, and how to decide when to point their Ph.D. toward other, non-academic options. Karen Kelsky has made it her mission to help readers join the select few who get the most out of their Ph.D. As a former tenured professor and department head who oversaw numerous academic job searches, she knows from experience exactly what gets an academic applicant a job. And as the creator of the popular and widely respected advice site The Professor is In, she has helped countless Ph.D.’s turn themselves into stronger applicants and land their dream careers. Now, for the first time ever, Karen has poured all her best advice into a single handy guide that addresses the most important issues facing any Ph.D., including: -When, where, and what to publish -Writing a foolproof grant application -Cultivating references and crafting the perfect CV -Acing the job talk and campus interview -Avoiding the adjunct trap -Making the leap to nonacademic work, when the time is right The Professor Is In addresses all of these issues, and many more.