I see most people who have responded so far are clearly saying no, but I think that often it is a fine line between e.g. "cleaning" up a dataset, so that no erroneous outliers f*ck up your stats and "tweaking" results overall by selecting the data points that fit into one's interpretation. (The latter being not okay, whereas the former could be justified). I think it always depends on how procedures are described in papers, and e.g. if your friend, Sneaks, describes how many outliers were removed, what procedure (even if it was eyeballing it) was used, then, it is open and transparent, which is what is needed (and reviewers can criticise and judge). Yes, ideally, you would also show the stats including those outliers (in an appendix for instance).
So for your questions, yes, I have e.g. removed outliers (following a procedure) and described it in my paper. But yes, I see your point, it is of supreme importance to maintain academic integrity, and e.g. fabricating data is not acceptable!! I always ask myself whether my data "manipulation" changes the overall conclusions from the work, and if so, then something is not quite right, but if it e.g. strengthens a case by making things clearer, then that could be acceptable (and I think that approach is widespread in science..)

Hey Walminski - dont be sad, it looks pretty good to me. Now see all the things I still need to do, until the end of March!
Chapter 1- introduction - 90 % done, final edit required though!
Chapter 2 - paper 1 -done
Chapter 3 - paper 2 -done
Chapter 4 - paper 3 -just waiting for comments from co-authors on draft, then re-write/re-work to get ready for submission (this could be quick job or could be a big job..)
Chapter 5 - just sent off to sups for comments, then re-write/re-write (hopefully not longer than 2 weeks?)
Chapter 6 - paper 4 - draft manuscript needs serious polishing before can submit to journal
Chapter 7 - conclusion- 0% i hope I can russle up a decent conclusions chapter in 3 weeks.
Arghhh - lots to do!! and so many little things, like deciding a bloody title for the thesis!

BUT, key is to just work bit by bit everyday and not focus too much on what's still needs to be done overall, but what you have already done and the next manageable step you can achieve in a day/week/month.. My simplistic simple-mind kind of advice: Make a plan for the month ahead and stick to it..

I know it does not really help, but my sup always said that his PhD only really came all together (inc. getting results) in the final year. There is something in it, I think. Things will fall into place in a weird way. Dont give up, you are half-way there (just count the chapters you already have done!!)(up)
Look, have a (mince)

Mmm, I am always dissapointed when people choose very ordinary names or ones that are very popular at the time (my own name is actually quite typical of that:p). So my "recipe" for name giving: 1st name - choose some intruiging, unusual without going overboard or choosing something that is terribly difficult to spell/say. Middle name - choose something you really love/something traditional, e.g. name of inspirational figure(whatever)/ name of grandparent, favourite auntie/uncle. If you can give more than one middle name, then that's great and the second middle name can be wild again!8-)
Have fun(up)

Hi Teek. I think it is admirable in the way you plan to hold yourself accountable, and hats off for that. As a word of warning though (from someone who is in the final weeks of writing up) - it is not only the word count that counts :p but also the quality of writing/composition/strength of your arguments etc. I know that is so obvious, but my point is that sometimes you might be working your a** off revising and editing existing text to get to the required standard, with no change in word count. So, the word count is not the be-all-and-end-all. I found after having done lab work or data analysis, it can take some time to get the head round about what's actually going on, what the data mean, what you can say and what not... Anyway, my point - dont beat yourself up for not writing all the time, but I guess, there are some things like experimental set up you can describe without too much thinking? Start with that, maybe?!
Good luck, may the words flow.. from brain to paper(sprout)

Okay my two cents worth:
As you say, being first author is like the holy grail, but being second author on "someone else's paper" is not bad at all, and while it does not scream "amazing" on a CV, it does bulk up your publication record and shows that you are competent researcher, and contribute to work of publishable standard.
About your PhD work - is there maybe some particular angle (data analysis wise) that has not been considered yet, which you could do after the PhD and then publish as first author? I understand why you are peeved at your boss for not giving you the chance to write it up as first author (I'd be annyoyed like hell), but it seems the whole rule on authorship can vary from sup to sup/discipline to discipline.. (I am not in biosciences, so dont know..)
(sprout)

Walminski- your post is ace. I really like most of your posts.. great to have you on the forum!
I am not into Valentine's either, but a romantic smilie for PGF would be nice, I reckon..

(sprout)

Hey Bilbo - you have had your thesis bound! :-) This is great, must be an awsome feeling of seeing it all together in print/hardcopy..
I hope your viva prep will go well, keep us updated,
P.

Congratulations!! Super news! Well done(sprout)

I know it might be an obvious one, but have you checked out your university's career service? Here at my uni, they have lots of advice, events, blogs etc and they are an amazing resource. Maybe you can arrange a chat with a careers adviser, just to get some hints and tips on CVs, cover letters, speculative applications etc.

Best of luck

(sprout)

Hi SickNtired
Do check out what other people have said and the good advice given to others in your situation, e.g. check out the motivational thread:

http://www.postgraduateforum.com/threadViewer.aspx?TID=13256

My advice is to think back on when you started, or think of a time when you were motivated and excited about your PhD, and see the final phase of finishing in those terms, making it all the years of work worth it...
Just keep going, dont give up and as my meditation teacher always says "You dont have to like it, you just have to do it":-)

Also, people have talked about it here a lot: mytomatoes.com (or pomodoro technique) maybe it could help you work through the next 6 months?!

All the best(sprout)

Hi everyone. Sounds like everyone is getting on okay, and I am too, work-wise. I am on schedule and not terrified by the prospect of submitting in a few months time. BUT, I am realising how this focussed thesis working is making me less and less sociable. For one, I am seemingly tired all the time, but also, I just dont know what to say to people. I am not doing anything apart from working on the thesis (and a bit of watching telly) and eating/sleeping etc, and many leisure activties are on hold at the moment. At lunch times when I meet up with others in my department, I am so passive, I am not really engaging much with anyone, talking little. I know it's a phase and everything, and others have written about in the forum, but I do feel strange about. It's not that I am normally massively sociable, popular or anything, but I just feel I have no energy to make an effort with anyone else (maybe except by boyfriend who I see at the weekends), which is sad really. Does anyone feel like that, too?:-(

I think you are right that the norm for a science PhD is to apply for a supervisor-suggested topic, although I also know of people who have written their own proposals, but often in collaboration with a potential supervisor. I think one of the reasons for that is that it can very much depend on what instrumentation/facilities etc are available in the department, which are crucial for being able to actually do the necessary experiments. Some equipment can be so extremely expensive that no PhD grant in the world would allow you to buy your own kit outright.
If you want to write your own proposal, I would not worry too much about the details of the research design (but consider the available equipment, see point above). If you have identified a particular area you want to work in, contact potential supervisors/departments and suggest your general idea to them, and see whether they are happy to discuss your general proposal in more detail and see what is realistic and doable.
Good luck(sprout)

It's funny that.. After so many people were raving about the tomatoes, I gave it another go and after not finding it amazing the first time round, this time it actually seemed to work for me and I found it encouraging to see that I was staying focussed.. It is good in the way that you can track what you have achieved, or what task is taking several tomatoes... interesting... So, today I did 11 tomatoes.. which is ok (but nothing to write home about - Sue, I am amazed at your tomato targets during the final write up -20? wow..)

(sprout)

Hi Sue

I feel like you - tired and overwhelmed, although my circumstances are a different (no non-thesis dayjob for instance!). But fact is (and we all know that) that motivation, drive and will power comes in waves. You obviously finished your presentation, worked on that article and now you need a breather. Although revising a chapter sounds like easy work, I have always found that revising text can be terribly annoying and hard, especially if one wants to do a good job at it. I have just found out that a paper that I worked on seemingly forever (with lots! of revisions made following reviewers comments) has now been finally accepted by the journal, provided I make a few further minor revisions. When I read the email from the editor, I should have been jumping up and down with joy, but all I could think of were the additional revisions! I am sooo fed up with this bit of work, and although the comments made are all addressable(?!), I am struggling to go through them without taking a break (this is what I am in fact doing now:p). So, I can empathise with you, looking back through one's work, revising stuff is just tough.

Procrastination...mm. Yes, I do it, too, although I am counting the days until submission - why? It seems the only way to stay sane. I have decided not to beat myself up about it, go with the flow. I am fully aware I am doing it when I am doing it (like coming here responding to posts), but I am not fighting it. I am doing work everyday, I make (some) progress, and some days it's less than on others. I have a plan on what to do each week and I am hell sticking to it, but of course, it has in built "buffers". The key is meet the targets (not to excel at them).

So, you dream about a holiday? Good for you, at some point you will have submitted your thesis and thinking about what comes after (only the good things of course) surely helps to keep the mind in an upbeat mode..
I hope the conference will be interesting and good fun, and until then, well, do what you can (after 9pm) and if it's not much, okay, maybe some sections of your thesis will be a bit shorter than you would have wanted "in an ideal world".;-)

Good luck and keep it up(sprout) - Poppy:-)

Hey Jinkim- I also got one of those cats, but for some reason the "meouw" sound does not work, but anyway it does the japanese bells and sounds:-) It's absolute ace!

I suppose the most geeky present I got this year is an "Asterix and Obelix" comics in LATIN! I did Latin at school, but otherwise...(??) I am struggling to understand most of it, but I am actually surprised that I remember some Latin (or so I think:p), and some of it makes sense.. Well, actually, I already know the plot... Bless my mum, I guess she always likes to give me a challenge.. or is it her language-teacher-nature coming through??