Nicholas Gane

 The writing of a PhD is central to the process of completing your studies successfully  You will be examined orally through a viva but this will be based upon what is written on the page  You need to develop a style that is appropriate to your discipline, that is academically rigorous, clear and displays knowledge of key ideas and concepts  This takes practice…

 A recurrent theme in texts about academic writing is the importance of learning how ‘not to write’ (Billig, Mills and Back)  These authors all stress the importance of using clear terms for expressing your ideas  They argue that working with difficult ideas and concepts does not mean you cannot write clearly  Look for your own examples of ‘bad academic writing’ and look also for your own role models (who do you like to read, and why?)

 Think about your audience? Who is it/are they?  The key people to read your thesis are your examiners…  At some point think who this is likely to be  Avoid writing dogmatically, avoid unsubstantiated sweeping statements, don’t be antagonistic if you can help it  Make your thesis appealing to read – think about your written style  Ultimately this means thinking about your practice of writing

 Becker’s (1986) argues that good writing in the social sciences comes from two interlinked processes:  1). Talking through, discussing your ideas as you are writing; clarifying ideas before writing them down  2). Producing rough drafts, reworking them and clarifying what you want to say, how to express your key arguments (writing is an iterative process)  He argues that we should develop an ability to learn how to express complex ideas without too much jargon

 This question of jargon is hotly debated  On one hand, social science is exactly that: a science which necessarily requires a technical vocabulary  There are important concepts to each disciplinary field that need to be mastered  But sometimes it is tempting to use overly- technical terms to conceal what is really at stake in an argument (remember the passage from Roy Bhaskar)  There is a balance here – but always try to be precise and clear

 It is worth reading Billig’s book ‘Learning to Write Badly’ on this question  He argues that postgraduates are socialized into an academic culture in which it is acceptable to criticize some concepts against others but not to ‘criticize the special words en masse and to question whether, in fact, they need technical concepts’ (p.63)  He adds that we put distance between us and the world by refusing to use common language  He says that social scientists too often create their own nouns (‘governmentality’) and -izations  Is this right? Should we avoid ‘dumbing down’?

 Writing is about engaging in discussion with others – does your writing make sense to them?  Write and discuss as your go along; with your peer group, at conferences/seminars  Listen to any comments about your style of writing, even if you don’t agree with them  Ask yourself if the comments highlight issues of style or substance – try writing in different ways or at different levels of conceptual engagement and depth

 Nobody is a ‘natural’ writer  Good writing comes out of experimentation and practice  C.W. Mills in his chapter on the craft of social science tells us to keep files running all the time containing drafts of writings, notes, and so on  Keep writing down ideas as your research develops and make a conscious effort to write at every stage of your project  Keep working versions of each chapter of your thesis as your argument across your thesis starts to take shape (ie be flexible until you have a clear sense of the whole) – as you move through the thesis think about how the parts will all fit together

 It is rare, as social scientists, that we actually talk about the practice of writing (why?)  But when we do it is clear that writing is often something that we find difficult  So…you are not alone!  There are some common problems encountered in writing a PhD  Some of these are as follows…

 1). Striving for the perfection of every sentence – usually accompanied by a block of some sorts and a reluctance to show their writing to anyone  2). Writing in an overly-complicated way – making the thesis very difficult to read  3). The attempt to cover everything and every conceivable position – remember to place limits on what you plan to do and keep your research questions firmly in mind  4). The absence of a clear structure – be clear about the running order of your thesis and how why chapter follows another  5). Bibliographical errors

 Increasingly there is pressure for doctoral students to publish their work in scholarly journals  Talk to your supervisor(s) about this if this is something that you are interested in doing  They will know the field and will know how these journals run and the type of content they are looking for  And you can develop an awareness of the procedures of journals you are interested in publishing – check out the editors, refereeing processes, submission processes, specific style of each journal, length of papers, and so on

 Don’t submit same paper to more than one journal  Remember that you are publishing a stand-alone paper rather than part of your thesis – it needs to have its own rationale and a clear argument that makes sense in itself  You will have to make a contribution to a field of research that the journal has had some kind of investment in (look back at previous issues)  You will have a limited space - normally within 8,000 words  Your paper will be sent for blind peer review (normally to two or three referees)  Papers can be rejected, re-submitted, accepted with major or minor revisions  Very rarely are papers accepted without revision of some kind

 Often you will be asked to revise papers if you are going to be able to publish  This is an art in itself  Don’t be put off by the comments your receive. If you are invited to revise your paper then respond to referees, and explain to editors how you have responded – give yourself every chance of being published  Don’t argue too much with editors or ignore referees comments  Keep to word lengths used by journals  Follow the journal’s style guidelines

 Writing for journals can be frustrating (for all of us!)  Rejections can be common and it is important to not see rejection as the end  You can often learn from referees comments and improve your paper – this can be a very valuable process  Sometimes you need to go for journals that have more space available, not such a queue of submissions and papers accepted (the REF cycle is important here)

 Writing a PhD is a challenge  Think about the practice or craft of what you are doing  Keep writing – even if it is just for yourself. Try to write something every day – keep notebooks running all the time  Think about your audience and be reflect on your on writing: for example, what style do you want to develop  Don’t be scared to show your writing to other people – especially your supervisors  Try to enjoy writing and take pleasure from what you write…