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'This wise, deeply considered and admirably pragmatic volume will be invaluable to graduate students and their supervisors in many disciplines.' - Professor Stanley Wells, Emeritus Professor, University of Birmingham
'Patrick Dunleavy has written a worthy successor to Sternberg's How to Complete and Survive a Dissertation. Sternberg illuminated the emotional management of the process; Dunleavy illuminates the management of text. Following his recommended disciplines, he has produced an elegant, witty and spare guide for the perplexed student.' - Herman Schwartz, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Politics Department, University of Virginia
'Authoring a PhD is superb. It is so in three ways: tone; nature of the advice offered; the fact that the book itself is an exemplary illustration of the principles it recommends. After reading it, it is hard to see how many PhD students ever managed to write an acceptable thesis without reading it. I know of no other work offering advice of such substance.' - John Peck, Cardiff University
'Pleasantly written, containing a lot of helpful suggestions, sound advice, and illuminating insights into the process of writing a thesis. I like the fact that the book has one clear, and original focus: it looks at the writing of a PhD as a process of authoring. This makes it useful not only for PhD students but also for more advanced scholars who are writing a book.' - Giseline Kuipers, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
'Elegantly written and contains crisp and incisive insights. I will recommend this book widely to students because it will help them significantly with the successful completion of their PhD thesis...I have gained some good ideas from reading the text.' - Wyn Grant, University of Warwick
'Patrick Dunleavy has written a worthy successor to Sternberg's How to Complete and Survive a Dissertation. Sternberg illuminated the emotional management of the process; Dunleavy illuminates the management of text. Following his recommended disciplines, he has produced an elegant, witty and spare guide for the perplexed student.' - Herman Schwartz, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Politics Department, University of Virginia
'Authoring a PhD is superb. It is so in three ways: tone; nature of the advice offered; the fact that the book itself is an exemplary illustration of the principles it recommends. After reading it, it is hard to see how many PhD students ever managed to write an acceptable thesis without reading it. I know of no other work offering advice of such substance.' - John Peck, Cardiff University
'Pleasantly written, containing a lot of helpful suggestions, sound advice, and illuminating insights into the process of writing a thesis. I like the fact that the book has one clear, and original focus: it looks at the writing of a PhD as a process of authoring. This makes it useful not only for PhD students but also for more advanced scholars who are writing a book.' - Giseline Kuipers, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
'Elegantly written and contains crisp and incisive insights. I will recommend this book widely to students because it will help them significantly with the successful completion of their PhD thesis...I have gained some good ideas from reading the text.' - Wyn Grant, University of Warwick
Product Description
Authoring a PhD is a complex process. It involves having creative ideas, working out how to organize them, writing up from plans, upgrading the text, and finishing it speedily and to a good standard. It also includes being examined and getting published. Patrick Dunleavy has written Authoring a PhD based on his supervision experience with over 30 students. It provides solid advice to help your PhD students cope with both the intellectual issues and practical difficulties of organizing their work effectively. It is an indispensable and time saving aid for doctoral students in the humanities, social sciences, education, business studies, law, health, arts and visual arts, and related disciplines, and will also be a great help to supervisors.
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First Sentence
The authoring process involves all the component parts of producing a finished piece of text, that is: envisaging what to write, planning it in outline, drafting passages, writing the whole thing, revising and rewriting it, and finishing it in an appropriate form, together with publishing all or parts of your text. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The authoring process involves all the component parts of producing a finished piece of text, that is: envisaging what to write, planning it in outline, drafting passages, writing the whole thing, revising and rewriting it, and finishing it in an appropriate form, together with publishing all or parts of your text. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is written by a political scientist and I think this shows through quite clearly in the focus and content of the book. Although there is no specification of it in the title, the book is probably excellent for PhD students in disciplines similar to his, the usefulness is very much more limited for students in, for example, science.
The content of the book is detailed and reasonably comprehensive in many aspects of PhD authorship but I would be wary of blindly following his advice too closely without consideration of whether it is strictly appropriate for you. There are numerous passages in which his personal likes and dislikes in terms of PhD content are stressed but without sufficient acknowledgement that other examiners - and particularly those in other disciplines - might have contrasting, but equally strongly held, convictions. Examples given of thesis structure are less appropriate for natural scientists and medics than for those studying humanities.
In its favour, the book is particularly geared to those studying in the UK. While the differences between the UK PhD system and those of continental Europe and the US are mentioned, the emphasis remains on the UK, in contrast to much of the information available on the internet, for example.
In summary, this is a good, and generally well written, book but I would strongly recommend consulting at least one other on the same topic in order to gain a more balanced range of opinions rather than relying on one person's personal slant.
The content of the book is detailed and reasonably comprehensive in many aspects of PhD authorship but I would be wary of blindly following his advice too closely without consideration of whether it is strictly appropriate for you. There are numerous passages in which his personal likes and dislikes in terms of PhD content are stressed but without sufficient acknowledgement that other examiners - and particularly those in other disciplines - might have contrasting, but equally strongly held, convictions. Examples given of thesis structure are less appropriate for natural scientists and medics than for those studying humanities.
In its favour, the book is particularly geared to those studying in the UK. While the differences between the UK PhD system and those of continental Europe and the US are mentioned, the emphasis remains on the UK, in contrast to much of the information available on the internet, for example.
In summary, this is a good, and generally well written, book but I would strongly recommend consulting at least one other on the same topic in order to gain a more balanced range of opinions rather than relying on one person's personal slant.
52 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book because I'm thinking about doing a PhD part time and wanted to get a better idea of what it would entail and how to get started. I found it very easy to read and, most surprisingly, funny. I have to write long research reports for non-academic audiences and the book is full of excellent advice about structure and signposting which applies equally to this type of non-fiction writing as well. It is particularly good at suggesting how to help your readers to navigate your text rather than expecting them to go out of their way to understand your work.
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In the midst of an unstructured mass of data and ideas, this book helped me to construct a semi-workable framework for writing up my PhD thesis. Dunleavy is concise with languge and examples and unlike many 'how-to' dissertation writing books, does not clutter his book with useless anecdotes. His chapters on structuring and maintaining a coherent argument across a 80,000 - 100,000 word doctoral dissertation are a lifesaver to any social science/humanities student. Dunleavy gives practical advice on everything, including structuring your thesis, how to start and end chapters and sections of chapters, and gives practical tips on tricky language use. This book is one you will keep even after you finished your thesis as it contains helpful chapters on how to turn your thesis into papers and books, giving you an incentive to get out there and complete the degree ! Definitely a winner.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Really Very Good
I am writing my Phd in history, and had a look at about a dozen "how to" self-help PhD books, and Dunleavey really is the best one, as it gives you the info of micro-politics and... Read more
Published 17 days ago by enrique
Well worth it
Reading this book was well worth it. It provided me with the enlightenment and encouragement I needed at a difficult time and provided reassurance. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Fe
Really good book
Book was recommended to me. Can only say that is has been very useful ever since. I think it is a good guide at every stage of your research but obviously you'll have more of it if... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mel
Indispensible textbook
Patrick Dunleavy's Authoring a PhD is the manual many academics recommend to their students as they embark on a doctoral thesis. Read more
Published 7 months ago by reader 451
Turgid
This was almost as difficult to finish as the actual PhD thesis. I found the writing style to be dense and complicated. Buy Becker's, instead. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Van's fan
Very helpful on some aspects
I got this book when I was writing my MA dissertation and simultaneously writing research proposals for PhD applications. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Edith
Highly recommended for UK-based humanities research students!
This is an excellent resource for UK-based PhD and MRes students, especially those in the humanities, at the start of their three-four years. Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2010 by Jake Lange
Most valuable
This book focuses on the requirements entailed by the creation of a PhD thesis, but it actually covers matters which are relevant to most non-fiction writing, such as planning the... Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2010 by Artsreadings
Getting started with you PhD
This book really helps you process your thoughts and plan how to start, research and write up your PhD.
Published on 17 Nov 2009 by T. Christou
A must have for all writers
This book is fantastic. It has a step by step guide on how to write your PhD. Sadly I didn't realise how useful it is until I have reached a stage where I have to put my thesis... Read more
Published on 20 April 2009 by J. Shami
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