August, 2015 - PhD Thesis Bangalore

Google Books as a Source to Search for Free Books for PhD?

Going to the library ain’t easy. Or rather, it is very difficult. Firstly, you got to go there physically fighting out all the hurdles of commuting, weather, health, time and many others. To add to it you have to move along with your entire Jing bang of laptop, notes, books so that the time you spent there actually becomes productive. Hours spent in the library on daily basis can actually get depressing and may even challenge the smile of the most optimistic and cheerful of persons. For decades all together, this has been the only alternative with researchers and however mundane the task be, they have had to be doing this to be able to do their research. Blessed are those who are researchers of today’s time. They needn’t physically move out to the library for research. Rather the library has come to their door step. Google books give access to a whole lot of books online. It is simple easy and free. I suppose, it does not give access to the most latest of stuff, but for a dissertation sufficient content can be extracted from the net. Sometimes, Google Books does not give access to full books but eve getting to read few pages can help to solve the purpose you need to derive from the book.

I wonder, how many of the new scholars would understand the benefit of this wonderful advantage of Google Books which allows you to search for this specific content within the book so you need not hunt the entire book looking for a particular paragraph. Google does that for you and helps you to save your time and energy for other mundane tasks associated with PhD.

The present generation researchers, in my opinion should be indebted to technology, specifically Google for giving the simple techniques through which they can decorate their thesis with relevant citations without having to face the ordeal of visiting a library day after day.

Does a Doctoral Researcher Imagine Beyond the Possible?

Most of the research scholar’s time is gobbled up by none other than Google. All these year of research life that I have experienced, my initial years dealt with overactive imagination bouts where I attempted to create the most impressive of the literature review. This was what I call as a lot of archival research … Continue reading “Does a Doctoral Researcher Imagine Beyond the Possible?”

Most of the research scholar’s time is gobbled up by none other than Google. All these year of research life that I have experienced, my initial years dealt with overactive imagination bouts where I attempted to create the most impressive of the literature review. This was what I call as a lot of archival research and now when I am at a mature stage of my thesis writing, I can really say that my search revolves around means and ways to garnish my thesis or season it with salt and pepper.

Oh Well, I have been able to show so much creativity and write with such creative instinct perhaps because now I am a deep rooted researcher who can really think and imagine beyond the impossible. I have, at multiple occasions, tried to personify my thesis and my role as a researcher in varied ways. At my best imaginative phases, my daily task is not any different than being a shepherd. When the spring is here, the pastures are full of sheep. That’s my data, my work that I have reared and got ready over the time. My job now is to get them into an alignment and take them out the gate, as so planned…!!

This is my PhD picture and I have many such pictures I have imagined over the time that I can share. At you r creative and imaginative best, what is your picture?

PhD Rising Standards

The approach for getting a PhD has always remained the same. With the passage of time, we see more and more PhDs on the domain and it is unarguable true that it is difficult to get a degree than it was ever before. Research is getting more and more review centric. To add to it, the kind of competition that is there in the academic world. Often these days, editors are seen accepting and rejecting the manuscript on the grounds of the contributions that have been offered in the paper. The greatest of academic careers are built on the basis of the published papers which serve as the ladder for climbing up on higher designations. The number of authors that compete for the same publishing space are higher than ever before and consequently finding space in a top tier journal is a challenge that not many are able to accomplish. It is important to be very clear about two things in the nascent stage of you academic career. Rather, I would say, do not start your academic career till the time you are not sure of these two things. They are:

Have a clear vision about the contribution your PhD is going to make. The more focussed and narrower your vision be, the better it is.

Develop the approach to learn to think like a reviewer or editor. You can do that by staying abreast with notes that the editors of the top tier journals keep updating. Do not leave any opportunity to meet the editor of journals in conferences and seminars. In fact, it should be on your list of priority when you go to attend any academic event. To add to it, grab opportunities to review others work. It is the best way to sharpen your own skills.

Writing a Conference Paper! Here You Go…..

It took me a long time to write my first conference paper. I was meaning to write it for a long time and couldn’t somehow just do it. Now that I have done it, I thought might as well reflect on it. Like I said, it was my first attempt and I drew a lesson … Continue reading “Writing a Conference Paper! Here You Go…..”

It took me a long time to write my first conference paper. I was meaning to write it for a long time and couldn’t somehow just do it. Now that I have done it, I thought might as well reflect on it.

Like I said, it was my first attempt and I drew a lesson from each attempt I made and every mistake I committed. In my writing process, the first tip I have for myself and all others is to not focus on writing right but rather focus on writing in itself. Never also underestimate the amount of time you would need to complete a certain task at hand. I ended up spending a lot of time on data transcription and so found hardly any time to do the other component of the document.

Planning is very important for writing a paper and I would say, all the more better is to write your plan so that you no longer have to stare at a blank page and get jitters before starting to write. A big help that the plan would do is to make you feel that all that is needed to be done is to fill the gaps in between the plan. Not that the task becomes simpler but when you think it is simpler, there is a psychological push to go ahead with it and the hurdles are overcome with a greater zest. The boost and confidence keeps your spirits high. A very useful advice is , don’t be critical in the beginning only, first just get written. Leave the correction work for later. Some for yourself and the rest for your supervisor and peer. They should also have some constructive contribution in your document.

Sometimes most of our energy gets consumed in writing and we have no interest and inclination left in reading the paper again. Then it so happens that we give the document to the reviewer with some very silly mistakes because of which there is a lot of embarrassment to face at a later stage. So do read what you have written.

Make sure that in this entire process, you do not forget your deadline and then in the end, do not forget the most important rule of the game. Yeah, this is IMPERATIVE. After submission, go and enjoy life and do not moan over the quality or standard of the submitted document. After all it is the fruit of your hard work and dedication so it is your baby and you got to be proud of it.