How do you get from “pre-research” to search, and then research?

Last time I posted about “pre-research”, I talked about moving from pre-research into searching and then researching for a literature review. I … More

Wikipedia, Dictionaries, Encyclopaedias and “pre-research”

We all know academic writing “shouldn’t quote Wikipedia”… but what we often get wrong is why it’s not ‘the done … More

Ten things I’ve learned about learning a new skill (especially if you are rubbish at it to start with)

  When you start a PhD, you are doing something you’ve been practicing for a long time, studying, and you’ve … More

5 situations when ‘Planning by Chatting’ is an effective technique

I’m currently setting up a Learning Hub for La Trobe to bring together all the learning support across 6 campuses, … More

Talking across disciplines

Is your work ‘interdisciplinary’? (Or maybe it is ‘cross-disciplinary’ or ‘multi-disciplinary’.) Or is the purpose of your work to take … More

What is knowledge and how do I contribute to it?

This is, perhaps, one of the biggest questions for many PhD candidates. Candidates know they need to make an ‘original … More

Turn your notes into writing using the Cornell Method SECOND EDITION

In 2012, I wrote a post for The Thesis Whisperer blog on the Cornell Method of note taking and how … More

Turning your research questions into a thesis

A typical aspect of early drafts of writing by doctoral candidates is the way they are focused on defining their … More

But what if I don’t wanna?

One of the biggest challenges for PhD candidates, and any writer, is motivation. There is little external motivation beyond ‘getting … More

To-do lists that actually work

I’m not actually much of a fan of to do lists. They aren’t actually much use, in my view, at … More