The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research Quotes

“Swimming in shark-infested waters is a bad idea if there is blood in the water. It is an especially bad idea if the blood is yours.”
― Marian Petre, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“The supervisory relationship is a two-way one; you are supposed to be actively learning, not passively waiting to be told all the answers.”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“The usual structure, and one with which we have no quarrel, is one which begins with the earliest work in this area and proceeds via the most important past work up to the present. Your”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“Note also that ambiguity is even worse than vagueness, since if something is clear but ambiguous, readers may follow the unintended meaning without realizing that it's different from the intended meaning.”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“In most fields, reviewers would expect a high proportion of references to journal articles and conference proceedings – the proportions vary across disciplines and you need to know the usual proportions for your own discipline. What”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“References to specialist books, such as edited compilations by leading researchers in the field, are a completely different proposition and are usually fine. In”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“References to textbooks is also worrying: textbooks are generally simplified versions for students. References”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“Reference sections consisting solely of URLs and/or popular books suggest that the author is an amateur, and possibly a crank with an obsession, who is completely unaware of the academic literature on the subject. (Note that for some purposes, URLs are fine but using nothing else is a worrying sign.) References”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“Do the authors refer to the key literature and key concepts relating to this topic? If not, they might not be aware of it and may be clueless amateurs. How advanced are the references and concepts the authors use on the first page – are they just the standard undergraduate ones or do they include advanced, sophisticated ones? Do the authors give a reasonable-looking overview of relevant literatures and schools of thought or do they appear to be strongly biased in favour of one approach, either because they don't know about any others or because they're not prepared to listen to anyone else?”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“Open access journals offer free access to their contents, but charge the authors of those articles a significant publication fee after their papers have been accepted. Some”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“The observant reader will by now have noticed that this description of the pecking order contains absolutely no mention of the internet, of newspapers or of popular magazines. There”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“In addition, find out if there are any important mailing lists, bulletin boards or blogs in your area, as any of those are likely to provide leads.”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“Every significant point in the chain of reasoning and evidence in your thesis needs to be linked explicitly to the relevant literature. If”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“In your own field, you should read in depth and in breadth and in time – you should have a detailed knowledge of the relevant literature in your chosen area, and a general knowledge of the main work in related areas, and of previous work in your area for as far back as possible. For”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“The literature review in the dissertation should ‘make sense’ of the literature in terms of the thesis. If the literature review is well-structured and appropriately critical, then, ultimately, the research question emerges as a logical conclusion of the literature review.”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“They are usually great because they love ideas and asking questions – so they usually have an appetite for nifty ideas and good questions”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“Have a business card to hand, and perhaps a copy of a summary of your research (previously read and approved by your supervisor).”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“It's best to have a question prepared that requires a multi-word response: for instance, ‘Professor Katz, I was intrigued by your paper in Nature on semi-stochastic systems. I wondered whether you had tried applying that approach to trade networks?”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“Does the message offer them anything (e.g. access to data), and if so, can you deliver on that promise?”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“Is your message so long that it scrolls off the page when the addressee opens it? (If so, shorten it.)”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“How long would it take a reasonable human being to write a reply to your question? (If it's more than ten minutes, then consider rephrasing the question.)”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“If the researcher does reply to your message, be sure to send a thank-you message immediately. If you have a good summary of your research, or of a piece of it, then you might attach it to the follow-up message.”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“Phoning works best if you have a ‘hook’ for the person you're calling, for example if you've been referred to them by someone they know, or if you've already emailed them and suggested that you will call. You need to establish quickly who you are and why you're calling, and then you need to ask if this is a convenient time for, say, a five-minute conversation. Often, it won't be – be prepared to call back at another time. Also be prepared to follow up via email or post.”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“Cold calls can succeed if you can establish quickly that the exchange can be of mutual benefit. So think through in advance what you want, and what you have to offer in exchange.”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“People are busy. Interesting people are often very busy. One way to borrow some of their precious time is to offer them an exchange – to do something of value for them which allows them to free some time for you. For”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“These are a surprisingly useful incentive. If you offer someone some cash to be a subject in your experiment, it might motivate them to some extent. If you offer them an upmarket chocolate biscuit and real coffee, then this is likely to motivate them considerably more, and make them more cooperative and friendly into the bargain. There”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“Another is as a chance to unwind a bit at a gruelling conference or similar occasion. Treating someone to a cup of decent coffee as a break from a long admin session can be a real act of kindness, especially if you behave with tact and consideration during the coffee (for instance, by not talking about work, if your guest wants to get away from it for a while).”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“Eminent people are human too, and at venues such as conferences they can be very glad of a break and a decent cup of coffee paid for by someone else. Coffee”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“The secret of effective flattery is that it is barefaced, precise, economical and accurate. That is, it has to flow easily and openly from the flatterer, it has to relate specifically and accurately to the flatteree, you mustn't overdo it and it must bear some relation to reality. One well-informed, well-placed compliment on a recent publication will do more good than ten vague generalities. It”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research

“Shameless flattery usually takes the form of shameless flattery; bribery usually takes the form of coffee, chocolate biscuits and practical favours such as unearthing obscure references. (Just in case of misunderstanding, real bribery via monetary or sexual favours is unethical and illegal, and we emphatically disapprove of it.) There”
― Gordon Rugg, The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research