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The “put up or shut up” sentence that I look for in every research paper."/>
How do I know I have a research paper ready to ship? The “put up or shut up” sentence that I look for in every research paper.
You’ve done the research, you’ve done the litera..
How to find a research problem in a haystack of papers
Your professor hands you a haystack of research papers, and asks you to go “find a research problem so you can work on it.”
How do you get started?
Maintain a career brag-book
Your future promotion would like to thank you now. If you’re a junior career professional, whether you’re in academia or industry, keep a brag book, a work portfolio of sorts, one that showcases your tangible and intangible impact at work, as well as others’ appreciation of you. A brag-book sets you apart. A brag-book is […]
A Ph.D. Pitch Deck
Because you’re always selling your Ph.D., whether you know it or not.
10 steps to start and maintain an evergreen literature survey
“How’s your literature survey coming along?” I was a first-year graduate student, when a fourth-year Ph.D. student asked me this question at a weekly meeting. I had no clue what a “literature survey” was. After asking around, I learned that “literature survey” was research speak for “Go find out everything others have done in your […]
A Great Paper Abstract in 5 Sentences
Your abstract is the trailer to the movie that is your paper. The abstract. The hurried after-thought to the paper you just finished writing. You dash off a few rambling words, just minutes before you hit “Submit” to ship your paper off for review to a conference or a journal. Here’s the rub. Your after-thought […]
Writing a research paper is like training for a marathon
You can’t cram all of your training mileage in at the end. The publication deadline looms. You open up your laptop, create a blank new document, but you don’t know where to start. I’ve been there. As a first-year Ph.D. student. I was paralyzed with anxiety the first few times I had to write a […]
10 speed bumps that distract the reviewer of your scientific paper
As a reviewer of over 400 scientific papers for conferences/journals, I love a well-written paper. The words sound right, the arguments feel logical, the sentences flow into each other at the right reading pace,
What to do when your paper is rejected
Your ideas are not bad. They are just not ready YET. I regret to inform you that your paper was not accepted. Sitting at my research-lab desk as a 2nd Year Ph.D. student, I had my first taste of a paper-rejection email. I sat and stared at my computer screen, hoping the words would somehow […]
Learning to think inside the box (of scientific assumptions)
Behind every research result is a box of assumptions. That box is a set of constraints for your research. These constraints breed creativity. It’s important to learn to think creatively inside that box, instead of worrying about the box, the size of the box, or that the box even exists. View the box of assumptions […]