======= Date Modified 16 Jun 2011 20:59:04 =======
You're not useless at all KB but really inspirational. Triumphing over your bipolar is a massive achievement and your submission date being brought forward was only done becuase your supv team obviously have every faith in you.

A friend of mine did her acknowledgements before she had written a word of her PhD so writing yours when you're nearly done isn't so bad;-). You're nearly there, do your list tonight and start ticking things off :-)

Looking forward to hearing your viva details (up)

Wow, congrats Sneaks, a real proper staff member - C8-)8-)L

That's true what KB says about papers. In an American context 'paper' can mean essay, presentation etc :-( - oh dear.

I have only presented at one conference where the 'paper' was required beforehand but I have a friend who has presented at 4 or 5 where he had to submit the full paper before.

Difficult questions!

I'm not sure but it probably wouldn't be good idea to present EXACTLY the same poster at different conferences although if the audience is different, then why not? Hmmmm, not sure.

Usually what you see is people presenting a paper at a conference which they later submit to a journal. If you haven't been asked to submit the paper beforehand, you can get away with a looser type of presentation at a conference which wouldn't be acceptable for a journal article.

Some conference papers are published in conference proceedings - if you intend submitting something to a journal I think you need to be careful about having a paper published 'already' in conference proceedings.

======= Date Modified 16 Jun 2011 16:24:17 =======
Hi Chococake

'My' understanding and the way it's happened for me:

99.999999999% of times you have to submit an abstract and wait to see if you're accepted. Once it is, you then write the paper and present on the day of the conference. Some conferences expect the full paper submitted in advance of the conference. In this case, you must wait to see if your abstract is accepted. If it is, you then submit the paper (via email normally) before the actual conference.

Situ with a poster is that you must submit a text abstract of what your poster will be about. Presuming it's accepted you then complete the poster. Then you arrive at conference with physical poster and stick it up where the organisers decide. Usually posters are viewed at coffee break times and before proceedings start. You are expected to hover close to your poster to answer the questions which may or may not come. Many people wander around the posters and read the ones they're interested in.

Hope that helps a bit

Btw: I presented my pilot study at a conference!

Thanks Sneaks, useful resource, particularly for handy synopsis of methodologies I'm not using but of course considered in depth before rejecting;-)

nice obscure word that 'table' - I'm sure it was easy to find;-)

It's not really considered good practice to do it very often. One or two in a paper would probably be okay but any more would not be good. In the main you are expected to go back to the original work, certainly for your thesis. If citing somebody citing somebody else is part of the general preamble etc it's not so bad but if it's part of your core argument, then no!

Of course, I have read every word of every sentence of every work cited in my 20 page PhD bibliography - not! It's one thing I am really worried about come the viva!

After years working shift work (16 possible shifts in a fluctuating fortnightly roster!) morning or evening doesn't bother me but whenever I start, it takes me a while to get going.

Dunni, can completely relate to hubby 'minding' techniques. Do you get a list of household duties completed as well?? Constant praise is required, and I'm not talking to kiddies!! Good job translating article, here's hoping you don't have to argue against it in French in your viva:p

Star-shaped, snap re: first goal!

Does anybody else find it hard to get back into it the next day after the day before?? I only stopped working yesterday as I felt like sand had been thrown in my eyes but now this morning it's hard to get back into the rhthym :-(.

tried two libraries, can access the journal but not that far back - sorry

Really annoying for you Sneaks :-s. Supervisors, pah, who'd have em??

Was just about to apologise for ranting in this thread about individual issues of mine, so belated apologies :$

Star-shaped: my supv is similar and says that it's only his take on things etc. However he has said this a few times about the debates [how has he missed them in my introduction, I wonder??]. I have a 'prelude to analysis' chapter now which means that surely they can't be missed there. I do feel they were better placed in the introduction but with the additional info I have added to this area it would make my intro too long so I'll leave them where they are.

Thanks for input Star-shaped, appreciated :-)

Was it actually read???

Am trawling through my supv's comments on my draft, many of which I agree with, some of which - hmmmmmmm. One of his main gripes is that I don't devote attention to the circumstances of the 'birth' of the policy at the kernel of my research. A new chapter is required, slotted (awkwardly I feel) after my methods, before my findings. I am to include parliamentary debates etc. I DO DO this in my introduction so have now cut these from my intro and inserted after my methods. There was me this morning writing all this stuff up feeling a distinct sense of deja vu. It's now mid-thesis but I preferred it where it was :-(

Am very p**ed off at the moment :-s. Also have decided that rather than comment on parliamentary debates I am going to include direct quotes from transcripts so they can't be missed!

Pass the pavlova :-(

Welcome aboard Charlie :-)

Honestly - comparing yourself to others is the slippery slope to panic! Everybody does things at different times and it all depends; depends on your topic, your supv, your own work patterns, your outside interests etc etc.

Where was I after 20 months? Not a thing written thesis-wisw as I'm part of a graduate education programme and had assignments and modules to complete. I'm in the social sciences so I devoted my 2nd year to fieldwork which I finished just before the start of 3rd year. 3rd year I have spent trying to catch up on all the stuff I wish I had written in 1st and 2nd year! I'm now a few months from submission (I hope!) and have a draft done. I wrote from A-Z in a few months and am now editing it. With the benefit of hindsight, would I follow the same pattern? Em, probably not! Having said that, a draft is a draft and it's done and 'only' the editing left to do. With each stage I used to think 'if only I could get shot of this stage, everything would be fine and things will flow'. In reality I lurched from angst to angst about what I was doing.

My advice is to compare yourself to yourself! Draw up a list of what you need to do and then break it down into more manageable chunks. For example, by the end of the summer you might want to have 'x' achieved. Therefore what do you need to do to get that done? Work it out week by week and then daily, draw up a to do list.

Good luck and yes, as a vehicle for procrastination, the forum is a Ferrari! That said I have gotten some really useful practical advice and tips from it :-)