At a loss for words?

214 Evans Library | 205 West Campus Librarywritingcenter.tamu.edu | 979-458-1455

Managing Graduate Writing

Projects

Types of Projects • Research proposals

• Articles for peer-reviewed journals

• Thesis or dissertation

• Literature reviews

• Book chapters

• Conference papers

Before Writing

What is the purpose of your project? Who is your audience?

What is your scope? (What can you realistically accomplish in the time given?)

What are your deadlines?

What does the final product look like?

Consider the following questions:

Audience and Purpose

For each project, who might the audience be, and what is the purpose?

• Dissertation or thesis• Journal article• Grant proposal

How do the audience and purpose affect the content, tone, and style of a writing project?

Scope of Topic

Too big: Academic dishonesty Too narrow: First-year student athletes plagiarizing in an English 104 class in 2009 Just right: Faculty perceptions of student plagiarism at a single institution

*Your scope will be limited by time, available resources, and study type.

What might be an appropriate scope for a dissertation?

Develop a Timeline

Divide the project into manageable sections. Work backward from the date the project needs to be completed. Finish

screening articles

Literature review

draft

Finalize literature review

Finish methodssection

Finish results and discussion

Send article draft to chair

10/01/139/17/138/31/138/22/137/31/137/15/13

Examine the End Product

Review your target publication(s) for style.

StructureLanguage and tone Citations Point of viewPassive vs. active voice

Verb tense

Researching

Library Databases There are thousands of academic articles located here.

TAMU LibrariesThere is an extensive collection of books, newspaper articles, magazines, and journals.

Research Tips Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) effectively.

Ex. Cowboys AND Texas NOT football

Know truncation symbols and wildcard characters.Ex. wom?n = woman, women, womyn

Search for phrases rather than individual words by using quotation marks.

Ex. “magical realism” vs. magical realism

Also consider asking your chair for suggested reading, developing inclusion/exclusion criteria (no conference papers, only papers written in English, etc.), and/or meeting with your subject librarian .

Taken from http://library.tamu.edu/help/help-yourself/using-materials-services/online-tutorials/search-strategies.html

Whatever the subject, there’s a librarian for that.

Each subject librarian has a contact page. You can use resources on their page or chat, email, or meet in person with them.

Take careful notes. Keep track of all of your sources.

Avoid plagiarizing. Make a distinction between direct quotes and paraphrased information in your notes. Better yet, summarize the main points of the article in your own words.

Annotated Bibliography

Summarizes each work separately

Literature Review

Interweaves sources by topic, idea, or theory

Demonstrates your knowledge of literature and critical understanding of a topic, idea, or theory

Is usually done as a prerequisite to a literature review

Demonstrates your critical understanding of various texts

*Establishes a need for your research

Background Research

Managing Citations

How can you keep track of your citations?

• RefWorks Free through TAMU

• Endnote Free through TAMU

• Spreadsheet Organized by publication date, author, etc.

• Note cards Summaries of sources with citation

Literature Review

Looking at previous literature will help you refine your research topic.

Purpose: Use previous works that address your research question to show a gap in the literature or present the opportunity for additional research.

Demonstrate how you are adding to the academic conversation.

Literature ReviewHow do I know when to stop?

• Saturation You are finding the same sources using a variety of

relevant search terms.

• Tangents You are finding and reading sources outside of your

project’s scope.

• Timeline Because of time limitations, you need to stop searching and start writing.

*Or your chair tells you to stop!

Outlining Outlining might help you break up the project into smaller sections.

You can use headings and subheadings to organize your outline and your final product.

Use your outline to construct a timeline or daily task list.

Visuals

Refer to all figures and tables in the text, even if they are in the appendix.

See the Thesis Manual and journal requirements for more guidance on captions/labels for figures and tables.

Be aware of copyright guidelines.

Read what you have before you write or revise more.

Divide your project into manageable chunks, and make a list of tasks to do each day/week.

Join a writing group (in person or online).

Schedule time to write.

Reward yourself when you complete a section on time.

Make regular appointments at the University Writing Center.

Writing Strategies

• Pomodoro Technique®

• FocusWriter

• OmmWriter

• TreeSheets

• yWriter5

• StoryBook

Experiment with Different Software

Writing Center Services

• Dissertation and Thesis Jump Start Workshop

• Graduate Writing Groups• The DATA (Dissertation

and Thesis Assistance) Program

• Dissertation and Thesis Writing Retreat

• International Student Workshops

• Online and face-to-face consultations

Revise“The first draft reveals the art; revision reveals the artist.”

—Michael Lee

Revising

Allot ample time to revise your work.

Remember that even professional writers have editors.

The Thesis Office will give you revisions based on format. Your committee will give you more content-based revisions. The Writing Center can help with the rest.

Receiving Feedback

Where can find you find feedback?

• Chair/Committee• Writing Center consultant • Peers

Learn your weaknesses so that you can more effectively edit your own work. Find graded writing projects and identify patterns in comments/markings.

Recommended ResourcesGet Lit: Writing Literature ReviewsDr. Candace Schaeferhttp://writingcenter.tamu.edu/2009/news/get-lit-the-literature-review-workshop-video/

Handouts, Videos, and More: Dissertations & Theseshttp://writingcenter.tamu.edu/types-of-writtenoral-communication/

Tips from the Thesis OfficeDr. Laura Hammons http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/2009/consultant-resources/consulting-tips/thesis-office-presentation-spring-2009/

For More Help…

Visit our website or call us to schedule an appointment.

We can help you at any stage in the writing process!

214 Evans Library | 205 West Campus Librarywritingcenter.tamu.edu | 979-458-1455

We’ll help you find the write words.

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