Tag Archives: thesis

the IMRaD structure is rarely enough

Posted on January 22, 2024 by pat thomson

Imagine you’ve gone out to café and you ask for a salad. What arrives is a chopping board, a knife, a bowl, a lettuce, a tomato, a carrot, a bundle of random herbs, a mystery fruit and sundry bottles and jars. … Continue reading →

Posted in argument, IMRAD, narrative, reader, story | Tagged academic writing, argument, paper, Pat Thomson, red thread, story, thesis | Leave a comment

cutting and pasting early text into the thesis – part 2.

Posted on February 6, 2023 by pat thomson

So you are writing your thesis about the research that you have done. And what you write now is is likely to be a little different from the expanded proposal you wrote to confirm your candidature. And a little different … Continue reading →

Posted in literature review, revision, thesis, thesis revision | Tagged academic writing, cut and paste, Pat Thomson, revising, rewriting, thesis | 1 Comment

can you cut and paste early text into your thesis?

Posted on January 30, 2023 by pat thomson

Well of course you can. The question is, should you? You wrote large chunks of text when you first started your doctorate. These writings were most likely to do with literatures, methodologies and research design, and the warrant for your … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, old text, rewriting, thesis | Tagged authority, identity, Pat Thomson, thesis, using old text | 4 Comments

getting to grips with PSA – Pre Submission Angst

Posted on January 16, 2023 by pat thomson

Not everyone feels the same way about getting their thesis done. Some people can’t wait to submit. They are sick of it. They’re over it. The sooner they can get the text to something that their supervisor says is OK, … Continue reading →

Posted in completing, handing in, Pre Submission Angst, stuck points | Tagged academic writing, completing the thesis, Pat Thomson, Pre Submission Angst, thesis | 3 Comments

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 →