October 2025 – patter
2 posts published by pat thomson during October 2025| patter
If you’re deep in the throes of doctoral work, you’ve probably had that moment where someone asks you about your “contribution to knowledge” and you freeze up like a deer in headlights. You might have solid claims emerging from your research, but somehow articulating your actual contribution feels impossibly abstract. Claims and contributions are related […]| patter
Research results are not the same as research claims. This is one of those distinctions that sounds simple but can trip researchers up. But understanding the difference can be really helpful. …| patter
Every academic writer knows the sting of a harsh review. Every one. Including me. We’ve all had them. The review that is scathing, brutal and toxic. The immediate impulse is often to fire back defensively, ignore the review completely, or let it consume your thoughts for days. But there’s a third option that can be […]| patter
So you’ve got this mountain of “stuff” that keeps revealing new secrets every time you look at it. Or maybe you’re doing a PhD by publication and panicking about how to sort out the art…| patter
This is a post for all the people just starting their doctoral programmes. And for those supporting them. Criticality in scholarship is the practice of approaching all knowledge claims, including your own, sceptically. It’s about developing “productive scepticism”. Productive scepticism isn’t cynicism that dismisses everything, but thoughtful inquiry that seeks to understand how knowledge is […]| patter
Academic writing can be a pretty solitary pastime. Lonely even. There’s nobody to talk to in those moments when you just can’t seem to think your way through the fog or find the right way to get an idea onto the page. These are the times when many people turn to their dog or cat […]| patter
The myth of ideal academic writing time persists. We all long to be in a quiet office, surrounded by books, with hours of uninterrupted time to craft elegant arguments. But the reality is very diff…| patter
When Dr. Sarah’s first peer-reviewed article appeared in the Journal of Sustainability and Urban Policy, her social media announcements said: “Delighted to share my latest research on urban sustainability frameworks! Grateful to the reviewers and editors who helped strengthen this work. #Academia #Research” The response was immediate and positive. Congratulations from colleagues, re-posts from her department, […]| patter
Ever thought about writing a campus novel? I often play with plots but never get around to the writing. And I get stuck on endings, just as I do when I write an academic paper! I recently dipped in…| patter
You know that feeling, right? It’s two days before your big conference presentation and you’re lying in bed at 3am, staring at the ceiling wondering if anyone will turn up. And if they do, whether you will be able to say what you want to say. Your heart’s racing, your brain won’t stop, and you’re […]| patter
Still reading. This month it’s Schmit, John S (2022)The sociolinguistics of written identity, Constructing a self. Cham, Switzerland: PalgraveMacmillan. Schmit is a writing and linguistics professo…| patter
One of the most common questions I am asked, and that I hear being discussed in doctoral and ECR support groups, is whether to write with supervisors and former supervisors. Or most often, I read o…| patter
All research does some things and not others. There are lots of ways in research writing to signal what we do, and don’t do. Heere’s some of the most important. Problem posing – how…| patter
