Writing Constructive Peer Review Reports
In this post, we explain what you can gain from providing peer reviews and tips on how to write constructive reports.
Read moreCategory Archives: PhD Hacks
Navigating the Peer Review Process as an Author: 10 Steps to Converting Your “Revise & Resubmit” into an Acceptance
In this second post of our three-part series on navigating the peer review process, we provide a 10-step process to convert your “revise & resubmit” into an acceptance. At long last – after (im)patiently waiting for a determination on your manuscript submission, you receive an Outlook notification from the editorial office! You excitedly click open the email message, anticipating the
Read moreDemystifying the Peer Review Process
In this three-part series, we will demystify the peer review process, provide tips on how to increase your chances of success following a “revise and resubmit,” and explain how to prepare a constructive peer report. The peer review process is a universal source of anxiety and frustration for all scholars, from students to tenured professors. Conflicting reviews, reviewers who seem
Read moreDeveloping a Professional Identity to Navigate the PhD Labyrinth
Rather than looking at your daily PhD existential crisis with dread, embrace it as part of your successful PhD journey. One of my favorite PhD Comics is when Celia looks at her watch, sees that it is time for her daily five-minute existential crises, and takes a brief break from her computer to tear out her hair in agony over
Read moreNavigating the Post-Candidacy Abyss: Locating the Elusive Dissertation Topic
Congratulations, you have achieved candidacy! Now what? The first couple years of a doctoral studies are arduous but predictable: slogging through tough coursework, learning new theories and methods, juggling academic work with teaching or other responsibilities, attending seminars, and trying to figure out academic culture. After some core milestones (such as coursework, comprehensive exams, candidacy papers, etc.), you gain a
Read moreBecome a Super-Mentee: 10 Strategies to Improve Your Relationship with Your Adviser
The PhD Comics provide endless spoofs on academic advisers, including deciphering their email punctuation marks, managing their cryptic instructions, endless cycles of paper revisions, and their lack of awareness about your research. Students across disciplines offer colorful descriptions of their dissertation supervisors, ranging from dark villains (Darth Vader, Voldemort) and disordered personalities (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), to superheroes who
Read moreThe PhD Knowledge Lifecycle: Actual Versus Perceived Knowledge
Surviving your dissertation and the job market requires a secret sauce of excellent research, strong work ethic, and effective project management. Dissertation advisers typically focus on the first two ingredients. However, project management skills are equally important, and not just for MBA, MPA, MHA, and other terminal degree students who are training for managerial positions. In this series, we will
Read moreJanuary’s Hack: Ten Strategies to Solicit Better Writing Feedback
In a painfully realistic PhD Comic series, a student receives his edited paper from his adviser whose “few tweaks” were a rewritten paper with his professor explaining, “it’s easier to rewrite it than to point out all the things you do wrong.” In discussing specific feedback, his adviser’s comments include using too many sentences, poor word choices, bad punctuation, and
Read moreThe Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Art of Decluttering Your Dissertation
In an all-too-relatable PhD Comic series, Celia tackles her anxiety by making a list of everything she needs to accomplish and categorizing them by their level of importance. To her horror, she realizes that they are all important. In a state of panic, she does the dishes, organizes the desktop icons on her computer, and finally crawls underneath her desk
Read morePhD Hacks: Strategic Management for Your Doctoral Studies
Take Control of Your Meetings to Get the Just-in-Time Mentoring You Need You eagerly enter your adviser’s office for your quarterly committee meeting, ready to discuss your burning questions. You can’t decide between two dissertation topics– what is the best choice? You ran some regressions and have an estimated odds ratio of 38.2– that can’t possibly be right, is something
Read more