This workshop, held on 27 June, aimed to spark discussion and debate around planning for finishing the doctoral thesis, drawing on the experiences of doctoral programme leaders and providing opportunities for group discussions and sharing experiences and strategies. It also covered essential advice on open access and copyright in relation to the thesis.
The workshop included a panel session with Professor Paul Harrison (PVC Research and Innovation), Dr Kathy Doherty (Head of Research Degrees in ACES), and Professor Jon Wheat (Head of Research Degrees in HWB), who shared their critical success factors and strategies for completing the thesis:
Plan!
With 12 months to go, you should have an idea of what chapters you’re going to have. As time goes on, this can be broken down into smaller, more detailed bite-sized chunks.
Write out of order
You don’t necessarily have to write your thesis in order (in fact, deliberately writing out of order is recommended). For example, scientists can write the methods chapter early on. Or write the ones you find easiest first – this will give you confidence for the rest.
By writing the introduction last you can ensure the thesis hangs together.
Write all the time
There is a popular misconception that you write your thesis at the end. This is not true – you must write throughout. There will be a period at the end when you’re drafting the final submission, and this will be almost impossible without having done some writing.
Write all the time – e.g. writing up your supervisory meeting notes helps you develop your argument. Keep a lab book or academic diary, where you note the justifications for the decisions you’ve made.
It’s daunting at first, but make a start and take it steady. Set yourself a target – e.g. 2 pages per day. This is very achievable – albeit easier on some days than others.
Don’t be scared to write things that don’t get used in the end. Writing text and then removing it is well worth doing. You can even keep a file of text that has been removed so it’s not lost.
Understand what’s required
You don’t want to exceed the word limit – examiners can refuse to examine it, and it’s good to get into the discipline of cutting and editing to remove redundancy.
Presentation is important – writing is not just the words. Understand the requirements for presentation – be clear what’s expected in terms of standard and quality. Don’t leave it to the last minute. Keep your references organised throughout.
Examiners will comment on the quality of the scholarly presentation. Pay close attention to checking things like the references in the text are properly listed in the references section, tables and graphs are correctly labelled, formatting is consistent, etc.
Persevere
Perseverance is important – you will have low points. Accept that on some days, writing simply doesn’t happen. On those days, spend time instead on the graphs or making sure that the attention to detail is covered. This shows the examiner how much care has gone into the thesis.
Recognise when you employ diversionary tactics to avoid writing. If you’re likely to put it off, find some good strategies to overcome the block – e.g. write bullet points instead of sentences, or find a writing buddy. Activities such as Free Writing or Shut Up and Write! sessions may help. By writing at an early stage you know what kind of writer you are and what strategies work for you.
Discuss your ideas
Talking is also important – take every opportunity to talk about your work, from discussion with colleagues through to conferences. Use your peers for support. Discuss your emerging ideas, impact, what you want to make from the work you’ve done. This helps to define the emerging thesis. Even if you don’t feel you have anything to say, present it anyway as a work in progress.
Get used to presenting and defending your work – this helps you define and focus on what your thesis is. This is particularly relevant for the more discursive disciplines.
Get someone to read your thesis.
Use your peers for support.
Know when to stop
It has to be good enough, not perfect. You have to be prepared to let it go – your thesis can always improve with more time, but you have to recognise what’s ‘good enough’. Take advice from your supervisors on this.
—————-
Pete Smith of the Library Research Support Team then outlined some essential considerations regarding electronic theses, publishing and open access. Organisation is key – ask copyright questions early, review your data management plan, and sort out confidentiality in good time.
For more information or advice on these areas, contact the Library Research Support Team.
Copyright and your electronic thesis
Electronic PhD theses are available through the Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA), making them widely available to researchers, funders, employers etc.
A hard copy thesis is not considered ‘published’, as it’s unlikely that a large number of people would read it. Electronic theses are more widely available, and are therefore considered to be published. This has implications for copyright.
Fair use of someone else’s work, with attribution, is acceptable – e.g. a couple of lines of text. Reproduction of whole chunks of text or images is classed as ‘unfair use’, and you’ll need to get permission from the copyright holder.
Most of the time, the electronic thesis will be the same as the hard copy. But if there are copyright issues, you may need to produce an edited version for the electronic thesis.
Sometimes publishers can’t turn a thesis into a book if it’s already available online. The University can put an embargo on an electronic thesis, to keep it hidden for a couple of years while you prepare the book.
The “Your thesis” section of the Library Research Support pages has more information, or contact the Team if you’re unsure.
Open access requirements
Open access aims to increase the (free) availability of research outputs, making them accessible to the public, other researchers, research funders and research users. It applies to all digital material, and there are particular requirements around the REF and research supported through public funding.
Publishing your thesis
Consider where you want to publish, reputation of publisher and journal, any charges, copyright ownership, and open access. Be wary of anyunsolicited approaches to publish your thesis at a charge.
The Think.Check.Submit website has advice on choosing where to publish your research.
If there are major ethical or commercial risks, a confidentiality embargo can be applied to the thesis. Talk to your supervisor about this.
Open access data
The underlying data for research projects are now shared on SHURDA (SHU Research Data Archive). This is relatively new, and aims to support (1) verification of work and process (2) reproducibility, and (3) reuse of data.
As part of your data management plan, you should consider what happens to your data once your PhD is completed. The default is that is goes online in SHURDA. Again, if there are ethical or commercial considerations, appropriate restrictions can be applied.
—————-
Resources
Library Research Support Team https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/libraryresearchsupport/ Useful information covering references, data management, publishing, electronic theses, open access and ORCID.
Planning & writing
Vitae resources on completing your doctorate https://www.vitae.ac.uk/doing-research/doing-a-doctorate/completing-your-doctorate (create an account/ log in with your SHU email address)
Shut Up and Write! https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/doctoralschool/writing/ Information on the approach and details of sessions at SHU
Free Writing – a paper-based (no typing) approach. Plan it out, then give yourself 5 minutes to write, with no stopping. It will not be the finished article, but will provide a scaffold of what you’re trying to say. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_writing
Data management
Online course on Research Data Management (available via Blackboard Academic CPD courses)
Research data store for active projects (Q drive) https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/libraryresearchsupport/manage/rdm/managingdata/research-store-q/
SHURDA – SHU Research Data Archive http://shurda.shu.ac.uk/
Publishing
SHURA – SHU Research Archive of scholarly outputs and publications http://shura.shu.ac.uk/
EThOS – British Library e-thesis online service http://ethos.bl.uk/Home.do
A searchable database of theses from UK and Ireland is also available through ProQuest Dissertation, accessible via the SHU Library Gateway
Think.Check.Submit – choosing the right journal for your research http://thinkchecksubmit.org/
In the Epigeum Research Skills Course (available via Blackboard Academic CPD courses)
- Getting published in the arts
- Getting published in the sciences
- Selecting a conference, presenting and networking