======= Date Modified 11 Jan 2012 04:29:54 =======
Hi Billy, you just have to add them. It's pretty much protocol when publishing I think. I'm currently revising a paper on my Masters for submission to a fairly prestigious journal and I have my supervisor as coauthor, even though she has not had any input into the writing of this paper at all. She was my supervisor for the thesis so certainly was a strong influence when I wrote the thesis, so she becomes the author on this paper as well.

I was added as a minor-coauthor on a colleague's paper along with a few others, simply because I had made some comments about her program (orally) and these may have had influences on aspects of her program. I certainly didn't ask to be included and felt a bit silly when I was acknowledged but she knew the form for the journal and wanted to do this.

It seems a bit strange at first, especially if, like me, you are wondering whether the coauthors are going to be happy with what you put their name to but once you get over the 'authorship' issue and just see it as an academic protocol that acknowledges the idea that knowledge is never produced in a vacuum, it doesn't get too annoying. The readers all know that the first author or first two authors are pretty much the writers of the piece.

Email them. It will make you feel better and stop you worrying so much and they will probably understand. My experience is that usually when you think something is not clear enough or has been ommitted, an academic picks it up straight away.

I'm not saying this to worry you, they don't notice it and think 'omg, why is this person doing this-they shouldn't be a postgrad', their critical antenae just start waving and buzzing and they then have to point it out to you so you can fix it up for them. It's almost compulsive, I think.

It is all part of the process- criticise, the person then changes things, academic is happy and generally the writing is stronger and more cohesive-or in my most recent case trying to get an article published on MEd thesis-they can follow my methodogy more clearly (I left some steps out because I had such a minimal word limit).

We all feel like real idiots all the time...I think that I was hoping that doing a doctorate would make me feel less of an idiot but actually it doesn't.

Buzzy how far through are you? Just wanting to know as this might help people giving advice. I've certainly heard of postgrads who have completed a masters even though they began doing a doctorate. Can the publications be put together into a thesis-are they really disparate (on different topics) or could be connected in a critical or theoretical way (on different aspects of similar topic)?

Just wondering also whether you have spoken to others about this-family, student advisors, counsellors or your supervisors? Hope very much that you can come to some compromise or solution rather than just walking away.(gift)

Thanks Gemma, education is costly and this is in term's of financial costs, time costs and the impact on relationships and other aspects of life. IMHO it is all worth it and over time, one can manage to achieve or do quite a bit. However, I think what I realised after reading Potato's post was something that I was hiding from myself a little over this past year. This was I was hoping that I could have all of my goals and dreams at once (if that makes sense).

2011 (for me) was generally a pretty successful year but it was really hard work and I became quite sick towards the end of it with a stupid virus that really slowed me down. This was while my day job really cranked up (in term's of responsibility and outcomes) and while I was applying for the PhD, finishing off the Masters process (writing a conference paper and journal article) and completing a chapter in an academic book for new teachers. Then the PhD began mid October.

Once you added these processes to the fact that I have a family (okay they are young adults- one at home, one interstate and one in and out of home every few months-but they still want advice, help and to spend time with their Mum when they need her). Plus, while I ended an unhappy relationship and very long term relationship two years ago, I would like to keep my options open for another and I want to try to be a good friend. Then there is home maintenance, exercise, siblings (who are now back on the scene after many years absence). These things are really important to me and I had to recognise that while the PhD is a very significant personal goal, from the perspective of my workplace, family and friends, that is all it is- a significant personal goal-nothing more. They are really supportive of this goal but would probably think that taking another part-time job on top of every thing I am currently doing is really a bit of an indulgence to help me step into the waters of academia without taking too many risks.

People on this forum downsize, take risks and make huge sacrifices all the time for their doctorates. And if they really want academia, they probably look at downsizing their jobs a little if they keep full time jobs (unless they are currently in academia). So I guess what I am saying is that it is important to be realistic and acknowledge what it is you have to do sometimes to achieve your goals. I know from conversations with parents in my role as curriculum coordinator, parents are quite scathing and certainly complain about teachers who neglect their teaching in order to pursue other things like academic study-not that they mind teachers pursuing these things-but they do if they feel their children's time in the class room has been compromised.

In my case, I do want the PhD, but my current work is important both from a financial and a career point of view, so is my health and the new life I am developing. I really want the PhD for personal development and to allow me to write and publish more than I do for the purposes of working as an academic. I took a long hard look at myself over the last few days and so I am going to leave the extra work for this year and focus on my current position, the PhD and my family, friends and to getting my house slowly renovated (a long and expensive process which is going to take me some years alas).

Thanks posters,

P:-)

Sometimes when you (one) is really caught up in a very stressful situation and the brain is on overload, you need to have a short break before making a decision. I appreciate that you have only so much time before you complete (9 months-3 to go + a further 6 with extension) and given where you are, you don't want to be 'wasting' time but can you afford to take about 5-10 days off, so that you can clear your mind and let it work out what might be the best plan? This isn't an answer to your problem, but if you do have a little bit of breathing space, you might come up with a more practical answer or at least work out the next step more easily. Just saying this because your last post seemed to suggest that you were genuinely so caught up in the whole process, that it was beginning to be difficult to prioritise or make any decisions at all. Good luck and best wishes btw.

======= Date Modified 06 Jan 2012 05:57:31 =======
Thanks Dan, your reply was really helpful. I contacted the lecturer and informed her about my workload and she has suggested that I take it up in the second semester (that is August to November here) once I have my work load under control. She also promised to pass on a bit of marking my way, (if it came up) this semester to help ease me into it.

Your reply was especially helpful as it outlined the sort of work you did and where you had to expend most energy. Part of me really agrees with your suggestion that full time work, Phd and a part time uni tutoring role is probably not really doable. And if things are too busy on home, work and study front then, I will turn down the offer but I'm so keen to get into academia that I feel if don't get involved and interested and take up every opportunity, I might not get work. I love my present job but I would still like to teach at uni.

I guess (reality check here) that a lot of people would downsize their current job a bit, keep up the study and then look for the uni work and maybe that is a decision that I will need to make in the future-instead of wanting to have it all. Thanks again Dan
:-)

At least you weren't naked! Hope the viva goes really well and am sure your thesis will be excellent. Just think about it Sneaks...most of us dream of these things with the usual naked, in skimpy pj's or only in underwear theme running through...at least your anxiety dream was really imaginative!:-)

Terrible title for a thread but I am hoping that people read and respond. My situation is that I have a job as a teacher in a secondary college with a fairly responsible POR (position of responsibility). I have also started my PhD and the workplace is relatively supportive (as much as they can be given that they are very demanding work-wise).

Late last year I applied for a secondment position that (if I had got it) would have meant that I could teach as a practitioner lecturer at the university for two years and my workplace would have kept my job for me at the end. Secretly though, I thought that if I did get it, I would do whatever it took (ethically) to stay on at the uni. Well, they received a bumper year of outstanding applicants and I didn't get it but I did request feedback (in a very polite way) and have just received this. The feedback was that:

in any other year I would have definitely been interviewed (it was just a year of many outstanding applicants)
if something had happened to the three candidates interviewed I was next on the list-application was good but I needed to expand just a little more on criteria (I kept things just a little shorter because in my current school workplace they tend not to want overly long selection criteria but next time I will make sure I expand fully).
I made more than the usual p ratings (their criteria for shortlisting and interview) but the applicants interviewed had one thing that I didn't have. This was experience in online tuition for the university.

The lecturer who responded to my feedback request is responsible for staffing and has suggested I apply to her to get online tuition experience (as a paid part-time online tutor).

I thought the feedback was great and am really excited but for one thing. I nearly burnt out last year through a huge workload at my paying job and with trying to get my masters thesis presented and written up in articles, etc. The year was pretty successful but I thought that this year 2012 I needed to go for a bit more balance. I really want to do the online tuition but am worried that I am setting myself up this year for more overwork. Yet it seems that this is pretty much what I am going to have to do if I really want that academic job-what do others think? Ever since having started this pathway (with my masters thesis), I have just had to pack in the work on top of my actual job and I can do it but it is pretty tough.

Have others completed this sort of work (online tuition part-time) especially on top of their PhD and a full time job and how have they found this? (Long post sorry but I want to make the best decision).

Hi Natassia, your most recent response reads as if you really have dealt well with this particular issue and have sorted it out as much as you can (with respect to how you feel and what you will do).

I thought I would just add that sometimes I find, even when I have dealt with a situation and have sorted it out in my own head, it takes a little while for the hurt, anger, or whatever the feeling is, to completely go away. This doesn't mean that I haven't resolved it, just that the feeling takes the time that it takes to go and I just have to wait it out. It does go and in the meantime, I have usually tried to follow a sane course of action that (which while it acknowledges the feeling) ensures that I am doing everything I can to move past it and move on appropriately. I was thinking that this seems to be the stage you might be in at present.

Good luck with the chapter 1 writing-you would be much further on than me in your PhD at present, I began mid October and am part-time but my supervisor also likes to have me present things as if they were further on than they are (in my head), and it seems a bit difficult at times. I am sure though that you will do well and the next meeting will be fine.

Thanks Holly! Very much appreciated:-)

======= Date Modified 09 Dec 2011 21:08:20 =======
Hi Cornflower, I'm just going to comment on the volunteering bit because I think the suggestions of others for alternatives is really good and I've spent a fair few Christmasses of my own in not so happy circumstances as a very young single parent, so I know how the whole day can seem hollow sometimes and how tough it is to put on the mask at that time-which you still need to do just for your own self-respect.

But with regard to the volunteering: this is something that is commonly put forward to people by well-meaning others (counsellors) and journalists as a recipe for 'giving at Christmas' (and for helping oneself through a difficult season).

The College that I work at has a religious affilliation and so volunteering and support societies all come as part of the deal with my workplace.

However, volunteer programs tend to be run as year long commitments through an organised and systematic process. So most of the volunteers who might be supporting at a Christmas function, or something similar, have been volunteers for a while and Christmas is just one of the many different projects that they might volunteer for. These organisations tend not to take on people just to help out on Christmas day for some good reasons, although I don't think that the person who spoke to you had any need to be disparaging or patronising.

Will friends be spending their entire days with family? My children are now grown and this Christmas we will be together before my eldest son is posted overseas. However, this Christmas is a very different one. In the past as their mother (once they were grown), I never expected, nor would I now, expect my children and partners, friends, etc to spend every waking minute with me over the Christmas days. Perhaps some of your friends would welcome some time out from their parents, the alcoholic family friend and bratty younger cousins for an hour or two on Christmas day.

Hi Lughna, once you get on to the Enneagram it's a slippery slope, I'm telling ya!:-) I used to test as INFJ and thought that this described me until my boss made all of the executives (or whatever we are!)in my workplace do a two day Enneagram course with follow up counselling interviews. That led me on a crazy journey trying to work out what the hell my Enneagram type is! As did all of my colleagues on the course.

Eventually I bought a test and book in frustration and tested as 9 on the enneagram with some other strong areas in 3 and 4-this nearly did my head in but when I thought about it after going round in endless navel gazing circles for days (but much more interesting than processing Middle School student elective choices, marking work or redoing my Masters thesis into a journal article );-), I thought well if I'm a nine, I can't be an INFJ so retested time and again on the Myer Briggs and finally worked out I was an INFP-but one who had learned to be a bit more decisive over a long history of stupid mistakes!

Which, if these things have any validity at all,is the one I would be at heart. I really wanted to be a thinking type and liked intuition and hated the idea of being disorganised at heart and a 'feeler' (yuck term), but I probably am closest to an INFP, but one who has learned to think clearly and be decisive because life is just too difficult if I am not. But I know that fine detail is something I have to really work at and so to being more objective and less subjective overall. I can do it but not easily. Online, I am probably more gregarious than in life-my extraverted side only comes out in writing and if you know me really well.

But all types are okay in academia.

Manfred, the other thing to do is to start saying 'no' to the extra things that are dumped on you. Do them if you really benefit, it helps your PhD OR just because you have a bit of time and are happy to help the person asking but don't just do them because you've been asked. If you are a helpful sort of person, people will ask you all the time but it is healthier and you are ultimately happier if you set some boundaries around what your role is in the office and as a PhD candidate. Good luck

:-)

Talk to him about how you feel. Some men aren't keen on the 'feeling' discussions but most will put up with them and talk about things if they want a relationship. This is as long as they don't occur too frequently and seem to make you and the relationship happier overall. (Meaning-the discussion has a productive outcome and isn't just a long whinge or circular negative talk that goes nowhere and happens all the time).

He has probably put you on the 'backburner' ( meaning prioritising study over relationship) for a while because the PhD is such a big thing-especially in the beginning when it is new and exciting. However, this doesn't mean he doesn't value you or the relationship. It may just mean that he is comfortable enough and trusts you enough to believe that he can focus on the PhD for a bit, and that you will be okay with this-not walk out on him immediately.

Once you have had a relationship for a while, (aka around 18 months or so), most people believe that they can be loving, etc but don't need to make their partner the focus of every waking minute. So believing that you have to be his priority all the time is perhaps a bit unrealistic for a long term relationship. But you do need to talk to him and tell him how you feel so that you can have a dicussion, he can reassure you and you can both make plans about things you can do when you are together so that you don't feel so isolated.

If you can't live with this, then you might need to think about whether this relationship is for you or has a long-term future but I wouldn't make that decision without trying to sort out what your issues are at present. And you might need to give him a break...two months into a PhD and he is going to be pretty absorbed and invested in it for a while but that doesn't mean he doesn't love or value you.

The other thing is...what is going on in your life right now? I mean, aside from your boyfriend and his PhD? What sorts of plans and projects do you have going and are you still staying in touch with friends and going out and having some fun. It is important that you do this...don't just sit around waiting for him and being miserable. Do some things that you really enjoy and love doing, so that if you are apart at times, life isn't just about waiting only for the times when you are together.:-)(gift)

======= Date Modified 16 Nov 2011 09:14:22 =======
@ Andreaa- Love the song and did my Masters at your uni...but not in science or chemistry though and I was distance in the main. I hope when I am so many years through, I am not singing it-but given that my supervisor said a couple of weeks ago that she thought that it would take three to five years for me (part-timer), I have a feeling that I might be singing a version of it in six years...very nice thread post.

@CathS-hope today has been a good one-whatever you do-don't just quit though. A friend and colleague of mine has been going through a very long part-time phd and the final stages seemed to go on for ages but she just got word through that she has passed only a couple of days ago and she will graduate once some corrections have been made-I think it has been 9 years and will be ten by the time she actually graduates but she has done it! You can do it and it won't be that many years...(mince) If I seem a bit incoherent it is because it has been the day from hell (workwise) and I have just killed dinner (totally burnt)!:-( And I just noticed that CathS post was quite a while ago...hope things have been better since then.