I've done it in an abstract submitted for a conference paper but I didn't do it as a full reference. It was something like: Jo Bloggs in his 1996 article 'Blah blah blah' has drawn attention to... I don't know then if you'd add the full thing to your bibliography but I'd have thought that would work!

Looks like it's film watching time now!

Okay, Posh Brunette, I was very angry when I wrote that and I concede that your view of love is valid - KB is right that we do all view things differently. I would say that you should listen to your own words though as you are clearly not accepting that Mlis may be valid in her view of things, however much the problem there is now severe clinical depression. I have to say though, however horrendous (when it's snatched away) it is to feel emotional responses to love at the level that I believe most people do, there is no way I would ever exchange that for your outlook which has just proved its selfishness and bitterness in the cruel way you responded to Mlis's situation. I am fully in support of free speech but, as in the Jan Moir situation recently, I think there are times when kindness and empathy should mean that people keep certain opinions to themselves. This is a cry for help which you have thrown back in Mlis's face.

PhD girl, I'm afraid you clearly have no idea what you're talking about regarding how people respond when somebody they love, and around whom their entire life revolves, hurts or leaves them. Yes, some people can get back on their feet and work through it but - as someone who's been there - I can tell you it is like the entire bottom has fallen out of your world. It's not just about getting back on your feet, it's about wondering what and where your feet even are. Several years on, and to be remarried next year, I am still in some ways affected by my ex-husband's adultery and treatment of me, which can affect my work and my relationships with everyone around me including my fiancé. It has even changed who I feel I am and who other people think I am. And I was someone who was able to get out of bed, went back to university and finished my degree. I pray you never have to know what it means to go through this, but until you have felt that kind of love and had it taken away I think you should keep your misguided opinions to yourself.

I work a 9-6 day but with flexibility as I do things like the shopping during the day sometimes and also I tend to count travelling time in that (which could be 1.5 hrs each way on a bad day, up to three times a week!). I'm now second year though and I don't think it's going to be enough so I need to start thinking of ways of increasing my hours without intruding on time for other things in my life. Getting up earlier is the obvious plan but I'm not such a morning person...

When I was taught referencing we were told that you should use the date accessed because websites change a lot. Check your dept's handbook!

Oh dear, Bewildered, that was an enormously depressing read. On the other hand, it's good to hear the other side!

Well, I was at a training session recently and the editor of a very well-respected journal in archaeology (I'm in Classics so it's not necessarily the same) said that many disciplines are now expecting four peer-reviewed publications to consider you for an academic job. It's not apparently true for all disciplines but he did say it was becoming more common! I don't know how true this is but I was well and truly panicked: I'm at the start of my second year and I can't see myself being able to produce 4 publications by the time I'm applying for a job! However, I know that the book is the most important aim in Classics so this may well affect things regarding papers. Hmm. :-(

This does indeed vary between universities and departments it seems. I would check it with your director of graduate research or equivalent. Our department handbook says one thing, the faculty handbook another regarding dates and my supervisors didn't know. It was only by checking it out that I discovered that the dept one is wrong and I have to upgrade by Christmas! This wouldn't be a problem if I hadn't just made changes to the project meaning it's all going to have to be new work. We have a progress check at the end of the first year that can be built upon for upgrade, but in my case that's not going to happen! That gives me 7 weeks to get a 10,000 word chapter written and submitted with all the supporting documentation... :-( There seem to be big differences between different people's views in the university on how important it is too, so I don't know how much I should be panicking yet!

Well yesterday I attended this HEA training day and we were told by the editor of a very prestigious journal in a field quite similar to mine that in some disciplines it was now a requirement that to be considered for a job you need to have 4 publications, and that this is becoming the case across the board! This scared me a lot... In my discipline I know the book is the big aim so I don't know if you'd need or be able to publish so many articles out of your thesis, but just thinking how long the process of getting an article into print even if it's accepted first time takes, why didn't someone tell me this before the start of my second year! Has anyone else heard this?!

An hour's teaching this morning has somehow filled the whole day so far, even though I left the house at 7.15! Now back home and bracing myself for the afternoon...

A few months ago I think I might have said quite well... But now I'm down to a so so!

Oh dear, now I'm reflecting on the productivity of my day too. I meant to go on to campus for a class I sit in on but that didn't happen, not least because I had a sudden 'moment' about the state of my desk and dashed out to buy a big metal box to file it all in. Since then I've been sorting through my swaying 'piling' system which was no doubt worthwhile (so much paper, so few results!) but means I've not done much actual thesis work today. :$ Worst of all I had confirmed yesterday, after much chasing, that my upgrade work has to be done for the end of term (not what it says in the department handbook!) which would be fine if my thesis hadn't just changed focus meaning the upgrade stuff will be all new work. I'm therefore swinging hourly between mild panic and my normal ability to procrastinate which isn't too productive... I'd like to say I'm now going to sit down and have an intensive hour to make up for it but with my fiancé due back soon it probably won't materialize!

Ah, the old networking issue... The graduate school tells us that 80% of jobs aren't advertised (but I have no idea where this statistic is from!) so this is an excellent point!

Definitely italics in my opinion. Underlining used to be used instead of italics on typewriters for book titles etc but these days I wouldn't ever use it for emphasis except when writing by hand, not even for titles in a document (which should usually be in bold).