Authoring a Ph.D. How to Plan, Draft, Write

Authoring a PhD involves having creative ideas, working out how to organize them, writing up from plans, upgrading text, and finishing it speedily and to a good standard. It also involves being examined and getting work published. This book provides a huge range of ideas and suggestions to help PhD candidates cope with both the intellectual issues involved and the practical difficulties of organizing their work effectively.

Patrick Dunleavy is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, and a member of the Academy of the Social Sciences, London.

List of figures and tables

ix

Preface

x

Becoming an author

1

(17)

Authoring is more than just writing

2

(3)

Different models of PhD and the tasks of authoring

5

(6)

Managing readers' expectations

11

(7)

Envisioning the thesis as a whole

18

(25)

Defining the central research questions

18

(8)

Doing original work

26

(17)

Planning an integrated thesis: the macro-structure

43

(33)

The whole and the core

44

(9)

Focusing down or opening out

53

(9)

Four patterns of explanation

62

(14)

Organizing a chapter or paper: the micro-structure

76

(27)

Dividing a chapter into sections

76

(8)

Devising headings and subheadings

84

(5)

Handling starts and finishes

89

(14)

Writing clearly: style and referencing issues

103

(31)

The elements of good research style

104

(16)

Effective referencing

120

(14)

Developing your text and managing the writing process

134

(23)

Drafting, upgrading and going public

135

(8)

Remodelling text

143

(5)

Organizing the writing process

148

(9)

Handling attention points: data, charts and graphics

157

(40)

Principles for presenting data well

159

(6)

Handling tables

165

(7)

Designing charts and graphs

172

(13)

Other techniques for data reduction

185

(7)

Using diagrams and images

192

(5)

The end-game: finishing your doctorate

197

(30)

From a first full draft to your final text

199

(10)

Submitting the thesis and choosing examiners

209

(8)

The final oral examination (viva)

217

(10)

Publishing your research

227

(37)

Writing and submitting journal papers

227

(24)

Re-working your thesis as a book

251

(13)

Afterword

264

(2)

Glossary of maxims, terms and phrases

266

(11)

Notes

277

(10)

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Authoring a Ph.D. How to Plan, Draft, Write and Finish a Doctoral Thesis or Dissertation

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials