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======= Date Modified 18 Sep 2012 15:37:00 =======
Thanks everyone.
Quote From lysethia:
Hi Tt_dan,
Thought I'd add my experiences/opinion to the mix. Something I wish I'd realised sooner in my PhD is that the reading part is never "done". That is at no point did I ever stop looking for literature and reading it. I'd say the bulk of your reading will be done in your first year, and I certainly advocate writing as soon as you start reading. I also recommend some form of reference management. I use Mendeley as I like that you can search all your pdfs for words in the text, and words in your own reviews/tags. Don't worry that you have to keep reading more, though do make sure you're reading relevant work (you'll get better at identifying this as time goes on). Eventually you'll get to the point where you've read the majority of work which relates specifically to your area and it will just be a case of keeping on top of it.
Hope this helps.
Hello lysethia,
I realised that as well. Reading is a never ending activity but I wish by the end of the year, I could finish the bulk of the main literature and start doing the actual work. I just downloaded Mendeley; is it secure? (I have EndNotes but never gotten myself to use it properly lol) The program wants me to login using my email, and I'm a bit paranoid that this program might send all my work to the web :O
Thanks for the kind words; they are really helpful : )
Quote From DrJeckyll:
Hi,
I managed to publish a paper out of my literature review. It took me 9 months to complete a first draft, and then I re-wrote it probably 15 times until it reached the press.
The most important advices I can give:
1. Be really focused on your topic and read only specific papers on it. It is fine to read a book to get the overall concept of a field you are not familiar with, but this is enough.
2. Keep detailed notes on every paper in a systematic way. First of all I categorise the papers on the sub-topics of my PhD. Say that my PhD is about penguin and polar bear feeding habits, then I will have two spreadsheets one for penguins and one for bears. On each excel spreadsheet I have columns: Author, Number of participants, Methods used, Statistical Analysis used and main results. In that way I can summarise and compare among studies and explain whether different methodologies might be responsible for observed outcomes, or which study is more accurate based on the population size.
Hope that helps. It takes long, but I think it is worth it. And I also started writing from day 1, even while creating these tables.
Hello DrJeckyll,
Hey, that's my main objective as well! To publish it. I was actually planning to do this within a few months; ha! didn't happen : / I just made a draft of the paper to 'see' how it would look like on a formal paper; 70% of it is full of errors and various typos lol.
Point no. 2 seems to be something that's inside my head but never put on paper; I think I will (no, I must) give it a try!
Quote From DocInsanity:
Tt_dan - I know the feeling! I think part of the problem is the immense curiosity probably most PhD students have. There's so much I'd like to read, and I really don't have the time.
Curiosity kills the cat lol, but we have to be curious or the Professors/panel members will! : p
