Category: Dissertation Help

Firstly, give a direct and composed response: It is not wise to respond to the reviewer feedback ASAP. Buy time and think over the best response after taking the advice and opinions of the experts so that what you write back is matching well with expectations of the reviewer now. Remember, you have to incorporate a detailed document at this stage that summarises the different changes suggested by the reviewer while you stick to the facts only.
Do not give up at the stage of “Revise and Resubmit”: There are surprising figures stating the number of people who give up at the stage when the reviewer says, “Revise and resubmit”. I Insist, that it is important to do so as it is often the last stage after having crossed all the hurdles. It is, trust me, quite absurd that the author goes through the rigorous process of writing the paper in the first place making it through the editors and finally giving up at the right stage. Always remember that failure is not losing, it is just stage when you decide to give up.
If you are confident, you may challenge the reviewers: In my opinion, it is perfect to challenge the suggestions given by the reviewer, provide you have a valid justification for the same. Editors do accept a rational justification in light of all the suggestions given by them being considered.
Have a timeline in your mind for your publication: Journals have different ranks and the time they take for the review process. Certain journals take more time than others. If you have a reason such as a job interview coming up or any other deadline for which you want your paper published sooner than do consider the time taken by journals for publication.
Keep reminding yourself that the finished article has been through a process: Publishing is challenging. The finished article is a proof that a lot has gone into it is making from the first stage onwards.
Do not look at the failures but keep trying and not give up. Publication in good journals is difficult but surely not impossible.

Often we have read and heard that completing a PhD can be one of the most difficult tasks of your life and keeping your motivating levels consistent throughout the programmes is often , nearly impossible. Here are some reasons I find apply for why there is lack of motivation in a PhD programme:

1. Research is not easy and it is very difficult to come out with something that is even slightly or barely novel. It demands a very high level of standard when it comes to the strength of the arguments in the empirical content of your research. These high demands require a lot of hard work and sometimes even without a needed and deserved break.

2. The standards we know are high and they are at the same time ambiguous and have a strong element of subjectivity in them. The review that you may get for your work from different experts may be all together contradictory. For the same work, some people may call it worthy and suggest immediate publication and others may call it vague and lacking novelty. It is not easy to live up to everyone‘s standards.

3. It is strange surprising and difficult to comprehend that despite the high standards that the school may set for a doctoral scholar, very few of the final researches have that kind of worthiness. In fact most the researches don’t even get read by people beyond your field. An understanding of all these things does put the researcher in a state of self-doubt about the quality of the work being created in the department so your motivation level is difficult to keep up.

4. Lastly, I want to say, though it may sound bitter, extrinsic motivation does play an important role and we are paid practically peanuts for the work we do and with all the work that you put into your PhD, eventually you would not be paid a million bucks for it and if you would be lucky, you would be earning like another average employee anywhere else.

With all these above mentioned concerns, who can help u you to stay motivated in your PhD? It is no one else but your own self. Train your mind to develop a deep emotional understanding of these factors along with the development of your own intellectual capital.

We have grown up with this phrase, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”.
Have you heard of the advantages of a handful of tomatoes?

PhD students often discover new heights of procrastination during the course. More than what they could every think they were capable of. A lot of us have this really weird and sudden compulsive urge to finish up any assigned task at the earliest. However, very rarely do we feel the same kind of urge to meet deadlines that are assigned for PhD work. There is some weird reason for it and I have found it difficult to comprehend all these years. I have tried some of the new time management techniques and I am going to discuss them with you here.

One of the most straight forward and blunt technique that I have come across is the POMODORO TECHNIQUE. It was developed by Francesco Cirillo and has named it behind a timer that is tomato shaped. Each one of the Pomodoro in the technique is nothing but a representation of the unit of time and then upon each one of the accomplishments in the stipulated time, you get a break. The technique worked very well for me in many my tasks that were related to editing chapters for books and papers. It also worked when I had to start writing from a scratch. I have my doubts though, about this activity working in the case of reading assignments or listening and writing notes. It supplements the task by alarm and in high concentration activities, alarms are nothing but distractions and end up doing more harm than good.

I want to discuss with you some specific benefits of this technique:

Adding up small little accomplishments, it increases your confidence level and keeps the motivation higher for the next day

When you are focused on only one activity at a specific point of time, it would make you more systematic and attentive to details

A continuous application of this time management technique actually would acquaint you of your pattern of concentration. It would help you to get a grab of your settling time and performance pattern so that you could cash it better the next time.

Since you have to perform in a regulated time, it helps you to understand what you can do realistically and what exactly wishful thinking. it would bring down you disappointments and start each day by having more objective and achievable goals.

I would definitely recommend you to try this and see how you can benefit from this technique. HAPPY POMODORO

The idea to take up doctoral research comes in the minds of the some people suddenly and for others it lingers on for a while before actually getting executed. It needs a lot of brave decision making to shift from “thinking about doing” to “actually doing”. In the case of taking up a PhD programme, you need to first start thinking like an academic person. It won’t be without any challenges and here are a few that you may want to know about:

Knowing your reason: The most important thing is to know why you want to do any research. It should begin with a spark that requires you find out something that you really really want to explore. It is quite basic and at the same time mandatory to be able to aptly articulate what you desire to do in a very specific and concise manner. Know and remember that a PhD is awarded for a novel contribution in existing research. Even if the newness is what we call “modest”, one should know exactly what to research.

Identifying the University/Programme: The study patterns, fee structure, reputation and various others factors could contribute in narrowing your search for the right university and. You need to be comfortable with each of the parameter. Before you actually finalise one programme or university, evaluate at least 2 or 3 shortlisted providers on your preferences. Another critical consideration is the specialisation one is seeking. Institutions have their own specialised areas and focus on different genres. The experts they have on board also vary accordingly. Chose the institution that has specialisation in your area of interest. You would be exposing yourself to better opportunities, avenues and perhaps even a bright academic career.

Winning over your potential supervisor: You need to have a supervisor who is authority in your chosen area of research. The potential research guides look at the scholars as major distraction in their research work. You need to be able to win them over so that they agree to supervise you. The winning over, has to be in intellectual capacity and you need to show that you have the brain power to carry forward the research you intend to do. You need to show that you are an independent scholar and can work with intellect and discipline and the supervisors risk is minimized with a bright candidate.

More than once I have asked this to myself: What is my reason to do a PhD? What motivated me to get onto this never ending journey of challenges?

All the doctoral scholars I have met, have asked themselves these questions. I have come to believe, this kind of apprehensive feeling is quite normal for scholars. In fact it is a great feeling I think as asking this question to yourself, is a means of introspection to gain a better understanding of what we are doing and why are we doing it?

I have often thought about my answer to these questions in my life and every time, instead of a very concrete answer, such as, as great job, better salary or any other material target I have always had an abstract answer, “to be happy!” my small little accomplishments during the PhD programme, such as paper presentations, publications, sharing experiences in seminar. However, my mental state has not be the same all the time and I have faced existential crisis a few times in the course. In my times of crisis, I have been blessed with advices such as, “You have a rare opportunity and you must benefit potentially from it.”

I am sure, as a research scholar, you must be having your dark days and bright days. At times you would feel that there isn’t any light at the end of the tunnel but do not forget that there is a reason for you to be in this programme. And you do not have to be bogged down by the challenges, rather be grateful for the life changing opportunity you have to do this PhD programme.