Johanna Spiers – Post-Graduate Proof-Reader Blog

Why Post-Graduate Proof-Reader Beats AI at Proofreading Academic Work

As artificial intelligence tools continue advancing at a rapid pace, you might be wondering what value professional proof-readers like us can add to your postgrad thesis. However, when it comes to work that is as important as your amazing research, the human proof-readers at PGPR offer a better service than even the most advanced AI available today.

Superior accuracy

AI proofreading tools are getting better all the time when it comes to catching basic grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. However, PGPR’s friendly and professional team remain more accurate and can catch some subtle errors that AI tools miss.

We can spot things that AI might miss. Photo by Emiliano Vittoriosi on Unsplash

Our team of friendly proof-readers has a deeper understanding of the intricacies and nuances of language, which we have gained from our academic and editorial backgrounds. We can identify and correct complex sentence structure issues, convoluted phrasing, unclear arguments and inconsistencies in tone. We’ll correct issues with tense, pesky Oxford commas and jarring language in a way that AI just can’t handle.

We have the expertise…

PGPR was invented to help postgrad students who are using qualitative methods. As such, our team includes experts in interpretative phenomenological analysis, thematic analysis and grounded theory. However, we also have editors with experience in psychotherapy, education, creative writing, history and comms.

If you book one of our team for feedback, we might point out that a key piece of research is missing from a literature review or use our expertise to question assumptions that you have missed due to your closeness to your topic. We will also offer detailed thoughts on your analysis, data and use of methodology. We can delve deeper and provide specialised insight to strengthen your important work. AI tools lack this critical thinking and depth of subject matter expertise.

The PGPR experts are happy to share their knowledge with you. Photo by KOBU Agency on Unsplash

When it comes to qualitative research, that human touch is always going to be several steps ahead of AI. Qualitative data and analysis are nuanced, messy and very human. That’s what makes them fun, right? As advanced as AI gets, it won’t be able to spot the linguistic and thematic intricacies that we can help you with.

If you book one of our video consultations, you can talk over your questions with one of our team, who will be able to use their knowledge to look at your data and offer their expert thoughts on the challenges you’re having.

Clear communication for improved learning

One common complaint about AI proofreading tools is that students might not fully understand why a particular change is suggested or how to fix an identified issue. While AI flags problems, it doesn’t explain them. This provides little opportunity for you to improve your writing skills.

PGPR’s proof-readers take the time to communicate clearly with clients to explain identified issues and provide guidance on strengthening your academic writing. We tailor our feedback and instructions to your level of understanding so that we can help maximise your learning. Our aim is not just better papers now, but better writers for the future. Plus, if you have any questions after you receive your work, we’re always happy to answer or explain.

Customisation for individual needs

Every client and assignment is unique. Our proof-readers customise their editing style, comments and approach based on what you need. For advanced students, we may focus on refinement and polishing. We provide more guidance on structure, style and basic grammar for those newer to academic writing.

PGPR’s help is tailored to snugly fit your needs. Photo by Salvador Godoy on Unsplash

We have recently introduced a light proofreading service, as well as our standard proofing, plus you can also book PGPR for feedback and video consultations. Get in touch and chat with our wonderful admin assistant Layla to find out what is the best service for you.

The human touch

Completing a postgrad project can be lonely, especially if you’re the only student using qualitative methods in your department. Working directly with a caring, encouraging human proof-reader will give you a personalised experience that builds confidence and relieves stress. We can answer questions, alleviate worries, provide positive reinforcement when needed, and instil confidence in anyone who might be feeling intimidated by academic writing conventions.

Having an expert understand the thought process you were having when composing your paper and what you’re aiming to achieve can take much of the isolation out of writing. Our one-on-one interactions are tailored to each client’s needs. The human touch that AI lacks helps students feel supported while improving their work.

The friendly humans at PGPR are always happy to help. Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

Proven trust and reputation

PGPR has helped hundreds of clients over the years to earn better grades and advance their academic careers. Our experienced team has a strong reputation built on proven results that you can trust. We have received extensive praise and feedback; you can read case studies from some of our satisfied clients here.

In conclusion…

PGPR’s team of academics, editors, researchers and language experts provides a customised proof-reading experience with a human touch that artificial intelligence just can’t replicate. For any student who needs to submit their absolute best work, our proven expertise, nuanced understanding and caring supportive approach remain invaluable. AI has its uses, but when the crucial elements of your thesis are on the line, PGPR’s human insight can offer you the best service. Get in touch to hear more about our services.

How to use Track Changes

If you work in any profession that involves writing, you’re almost certainly going to be using Word’s Track Changes feature, or the Google Docs/OneDrive equivalent. Academics and postgrad students, who spend a lot of time writing and sending documents back and forth between teams, supervisors and journal editors will definitely need to use this handy function. Track Changes is a powerful tool that allows users to collaborate and review documents seamlessly.

As proof-readers, we use Track Changes all the time to ensure that our clients can check the changes we’ve made to their work and ensure that they are happy with those amendments. This tool is reasonably intuitive, but if you’ve not used it before, it can be confusing. And, like many Word functions, even if you’re used to the basics, some features can be hard to wrap your head around.

In this blog, we’ll explore the various aspects of Word’s Track Changes function, including switching between simple mark-up and all mark-up, as well as displaying revisions in balloons or in line.

Enabling Track Changes

To begin, open the Word document you wish to edit and navigate to the “Review” tab at the top of the window. In the “Tracking” group, click on the “Track Changes” button to enable the feature. Alternatively, if you use a PC, you can use the shortcut “Ctrl + Shift + E” to toggle Track Changes on and off. If you’re on a Mac, use “Command + Shift + E” to do this.

Simple Markup vs. All Markup

By default, Word displays changes using the “Simple Markup” option, which just uses a red line to indicate that some changes have been made in that section. However, you can switch to the “All Markup” mode to view a more detailed representation of the revisions made. To switch between these two modes, click on the drop-down arrow next to the “Display for Review” option in the “Tracking” group. Select “Simple Markup” to view changes discreetly, or choose “All Markup” to see specific revisions in detail

These images show you the difference between simple and all mark-up modes, using examples from my own PhD.

Displaying Revisions in Balloons

Word offers the flexibility to display revisions and comments either in balloons or in line with the text. In ‘all markup’, Word will default to using balloons, as you can see in the image above. Balloons make it simpler to see what text you will end up with, whereas inline revisions (see next point) can be tricky to follow.

However, if there have been extensive changes made to a piece, the text that is visible in balloons contracts, meaning you can only see some of the changes that have been made. As you start accepting the changes, you will see more and more of the edited text in the balloons.

To enable balloon display, follow these steps:

On the “Review” tab, click on the small arrow in the “Balloons” button within the “Tracking” group.
Choose the desired option from the drop-down menu. “Show All Revisions Inline” displays edits in the text, while “Show Revisions in Balloons” presents changes in the margin.
To specify the type of revisions shown in balloons, select “Balloons” again and click on “Show Revisions in Balloons.”

This image shows you how to display revisions in balloons

Inline Display of Revisions

You can also choose to display revisions in line with the text. This is particularly useful when working on shorter documents or if you want to see every single change that has been made.

To display revisions in line, follow these steps:

On the “Review” tab, click on the small arrow in the “Balloons” button within the “Tracking” group.
Choose the “Show All Revisions Inline” option from the drop-down menu.

The two images below show the difference between balloon and in-line revisions for the same (poorly written!) piece of text. Sometimes it’s useful to switch between these two modes. I generally work using balloons, but if I’m working on a heavily edited piece and there is one sentence where I really want to see what’s been amended, I’ll go to inline – and then almost always switch back again.

This image shows what balloon revisions look like when a lot of changes have been made

Managing Revisions and Comments

Track changes provides various options for managing revisions and comments efficiently. Here are a few essential features:

Accept or Reject Changes: To accept or reject a specific revision, right-click on it and choose “Accept” or “Reject” from the context menu. You can also choose to accept all comments and stop tracking if you wish to. It’s worth doing this now and then with a document which is going backwards and forwards many times in a big team, or it can become too messy and jumbled to read.
Reviewing Changes: Use the “Previous” and “Next” buttons in the “Changes” group to navigate through revisions quickly.
Adding Comments: Click on a specific section of text and select “New Comment” in the “Comments” group to provide feedback or clarifications.

*Take back control with the Track Changes feature!* Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash

Getting to grips with Track Changes can help streamline the proofreading process and help you communicate with your supervisors more easily about your ideas. By switching between simple mark-up and all mark-up, as well as choosing between balloons or in-line display for revisions, you can feel in control when you revise your beautiful thesis or paper. Whether you’re an academic, a postgrad student or a researcher, understanding the versatility of Track Changes can make your life easier.

If you have any questions about using track changes, or want us to use track changes to make your language sing, get in touch with the friendly team of PGPR experts using the box below.

The transition from undergrad to postgrad

You’ve toiled for three (or more) years. You’ve studied for exams and essays. You’ve loved summer holidays and drowned under textbooks. And finally, you’ve got your BSc. Well done! This is a huge achievement.

What’s next? If you’ve decided to carry on studying and move into the mysterious world of postgraduate work (whether that’s as a master’s student or a PhD), you might be wondering what this new life holds for you.

Fortunately, PGPR is here to help. Here are some of the challenges you might encounter when you transition from undergrad to postgrad work, as well as a few ways we can make that journey smoother for you.

Transition to solo learning and decision-making

Although undergrad studies are a big step on from GCSEs and A-Levels, they are still, to a large extent, tutor-led. You go to lectures and seminars where the agenda has been set by the teacher who is standing at the front of the room. You can pick which essay to write from a list of titles, but those titles are set by someone else. You’ll have a reading list and a revision timetable, term dates and reading weeks.

Things get a little different once you’re doing postgrad work. As a master’s or PhD student, it’s your job to set the script. You will be the one deciding what you need to read and when. You’ll be making decisions about where your research should go. This might feel daunting at first, but when you get used to it, the freedom can be liberating and inspiring.

Of course, you won’t be flying entirely solo, as you will have a supervisor who is experienced in your topic area and can mentor and guide you…

A woman wearing a graduation hat and sitting on a black tiger statue holds an uncorked and flowing champagne bottle in the air in a celebratory fashion. Undergrad work is a step up from A-levels, but postgrad studies can feel like a big leap into the unknown!

Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash

Relationship with supervisor

The relationship you have with your postgrad supervisor is unique. Ideally, they will be experts in either the methodology you’re using for your research project or the topic area of your research question – or both, if you’re lucky. Your supervisor’s job is to guide you through the postgrad process, helping you to identify and overcome challenges, and giving you advice about your research and writing.

You should have regular research meetings with your supervisor and be able to email or call them with questions when they arise. Eventually, you and your supervisor are likely to co-author peer-reviewed papers together. It’s common for supervisors to take an interest in and help the careers of their students for a long time after the postgrad course has ended (I benefitted hugely from my supervisor Jonathan A Smith’s mentorship long after my PhD had ended), so it’s worth staying in their good books!

It is not your supervisor’s job to give you a grade, as you will have been used to up until this point, to rewrite your work or give you ‘the answers’. Something to bear in mind is that supervisors are often busy, stressed-out members of university staff, so they might not be able to stick to the deadlines that have been originally set or give you as much feedback as you want.

Of course, if you’re doing a qualitative social sciences project and would like more feedback than your supervisor can give you, you can always book a VC or some written feedback with PGPR. Our friendly team of experts is always happy to help.

A black and white photo of a schoolteacher from the 1970s explaining optical calculations They might be vastly different from your teacher at school but your supervisor should be on hand to guide you through the postgrad process.

Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash

One big project

Undergrad courses are made up of lots of modules, essays, exams and projects. In contrast, a postgrad course tends to be one big research project, based on a single research question. While an undergrad degree is about getting a good grounding in all aspects of your discipline, postgrad work is about becoming an expert in the specific area that interests you the most.

This means it’s worth thinking carefully about what you want to research for your postgrad work. Is your potential topic something that genuinely fascinates you? Postgrad work can be gruelling and lonely, so if you’re working on a project you find boring, it might be hard to stick with it. Your postgrad findings are likely to set the stage for your academic career, if that’s the direction you decide to go in.

Your outputs will be your thesis plus the research papers and conference presentations you create based on your findings. If you need proofreading help with any of these pieces, we’re here for you.

Presenting at conferences and publishing papers

Some undergrads disseminate the findings from their research projects, but this is rare. However, once you become a postgrad student, turning your findings into papers and presentation conferences is par for the course. We’ve got some helpful blogs about writing up papers which you can find here, here, here, here, and here.

Sharing your findings with the world is exciting but can also feel scary at first. You are likely to encounter rejections and tricky feedback from reviewers, which can feel upsetting when this is work you’ve poured your heart and soul into. It’s OK to find this difficult, but it might be useful to remember that every single academic has faced the same problem. I’ve been publishing papers for many years now (you can see my Google Scholar page here) and I still get tough reviews. These days, they bother me a lot less as I know I can either action the suggestions that have been made to genuinely improve the paper, or make a convincing argument for why I disagree.

If you’re struggling to turn your lovely, detailed findings section into a shorter research paper, you can contact PGPR for some feedback, proofreading and/or word reduction help.

A person on stage throws their hands up in the air in a celebratory way, encouraging the audience to do the same. Presenting your findings can be nerve-wracking! But it’s all worth it in the end, we promise!

Photo by Jaime Lopes on Unsplash

Changes to deadlines

Something that can be hard to get used to when you transition from undergrad to postgrad is that deadlines become a lot more flexible. When you’re studying for a BSc, exam days, essay deadlines and term dates are set in stone. It’s not like that when you’re a postgrad. Sure, the university will be closed over Christmas, but otherwise you’re unlikely to be taking long breaks from your work. (However, you can decide to set your own holiday dates, which is a big bonus.)

You also might have a beautiful timetable written out for exactly when you plan to recruit your participants, do your interviews, analyse your data and get feedback from your supervisor – but real life doesn’t tend to pan out so beautifully. It might take longer to get ethics approval than you’d hoped. Your supervisor might go off sick and take longer to get back to you than initially planned. You have to learn to roll with these punches.

This flexibility in postgrad deadlines is why we don’t book clients’ work in advance – we have learned from experience that students often struggle to meet the deadlines we have worked out between us. That’s absolutely fine and as it should be. Once your work is ready for proofreading and/or feedback, send it over to us and we’ll work on it and get it back to you as soon as we can.

Contact PGPR

If you need help with feedback, proofreading or word reduction, get in touch with us via the box below to ask any questions or book a service.

Mental health resources for students

As we’ve stated in two of our previous blogs Five tips for looking after your mental health as a postgrad and Five tips for carrying on with your research when things are tough, postgrad work can be isolating and stressful. Sometimes, that stress can impact our mental health. If that happens, it’s important to know that you’re not alone and that it’s OK to ask for help.

We’ve put together a list of resources that postgrad students can use if they are struggling with their mental health.

Your university’s wellbeing team

Most UK universities have professional counsellors on their staff with whom you will be able to make a free appointment to talk. On a personal note, PGPR owner Johanna has had counselling at almost every university where she has studied or worked (which is quite a few) and she has always found university counsellors to be excellent. There is often a short waiting list as well. Of course, this might not be the case at your uni, but it’s a solid place to start.

Your GP

GPs are also a good starting point if you need some support with your mental health. They can talk over how you’re feeling and refer you to a mental health specialist. Additionally, this NHS page has some useful ideas for improving your mood.

Student Minds

Student Minds is the UK’s mental health charity for students. They empower students to develop the knowledge, confidence and skills to look after their own mental health, support others and create change. They offer peer support and workshops. You can read more about the support they offer here.

Mind

Mind are a UK charity who offer support to anyone struggling with mental ill health. Their website is chock full of useful blogs, stories from people who are living with various challenges and ideas for better wellbeing. You can also call their helpline on 0300 123 3393, or email them on info@mind.org.uk

Mental Health UK

This charity provides support and services for those dealing with various societal challenges, including money problems, navigating the system to get the right support and understanding loneliness and isolation. Like Mind, their website has lots of useful resources and ideas. Their wellbeing plan and five top tips for good mental health might be useful starting points; you can download them here.

The Samaritans

The Samaritans run a free, 24-hour helpline which is there to support people going through mental health crises, including suicidal feelings. You can ring them any time on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. You can read about other ways to contact them here.

Additionally, it’s important to know that if you ever feel that you are in danger of hurting yourself, you can call 999 for help.

Your mental health matters, and it’s always OK to talk about not being OK.

Seven Steps to a Marvellous Method Section

Whether you’re preparing a thesis, a paper or an essay, if you’re reporting on a study you have conducted, the method is crucial. This is the section that your readers will use to check how you conducted your research, so it’s vital that you clearly demonstrate what you did and how you did it. You can have the most beautifully nuanced findings in the world, but if the reader doesn’t know how you got to them, they won’t be able to trust in the validity of your work.

This sounds super serious, but don’t panic – although important, methodologies are one of the easier sections to write, as they tend to follow a specific structure and are all about reporting what you did. The good news is, you did that stuff! So you are the most uniquely qualified person to write about it. Check you out.

The level of detail you need in your method section will vary depending on the type of paper you’re writing. For example, a systematic review will need a much longer and more detailed method section than a small interview study. The following tips will be useful no matter what type of method section you’re working on.

Write your method first; in fact, start whilst still doing the study

When you’re in the midst of recruiting participants, juggling interview schedules or scouring databases for papers, it can feel like you will never forget the steps you took to get from A to B (and then to C and E and H). However, you’d be amazed at how quickly these details can vanish if you haven’t been taking careful notes. As such, we recommend starting to write your methodology section almost in real-time – as you’re doing the actual study. Yes, you’ll need to edit it later, but getting those key facts down while they’re fresh in your mind can save you a whole host of hair-pulling further down the road. Additionally, since the method can be straightforward to write, this is a great way to combat empty page syndrome. Yes, you’ve still got some of the longer sections to write, but you’ve made a start, and that’s always a good feeling.

A woman sits on the floor surrounded by lemons — Juggling the different parts of the methodology can feel like a struggle, but getting those key facts down while they’re fresh in your mind can save you a whole heap of time. Photo by Marije Woudsma on Unsplash

Follow the subheadings set out by your target journal or your institution

In their guidance for authors, journals often include a list of subheadings that they expect to see in a method section. This can be helpful, as the headings make it clear exactly what you need to include and what you can leave out. If you’re writing up a thesis, check with your supervisor or in your institution’s handbook to see if they also suggest subheadings. If they do, use them. Start by writing each subheading into a Word document, then make bullet points of all the relevant info for each one. You can shape those points into paragraphs in the next step.

Succinctly provide enough information so that someone can follow the steps you took and (where possible) replicate the study

Traditionally, the point of the method section is to give your readers enough information to replicate the study if they want to. This idea is more suitable for quantitative experiments – where you have a certain amount of control over the various variables – than qualitative research, which is led by participants and their stories. However, the principle still applies. Following the suggested subheadings, as per the point above, should help with this.

A woman relaxes in a chair reading a book about storytelling in design — Telling the story of how you designed your study is an important step! Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

You need to tell the story of what you did and how you did it. How did you contact and recruit participants? Where did you conduct your interviews? How did you record them? Which methodology did you use to analyse your data? Did you use any software to help you? Who gave you ethics clearance? All these questions will need to be answered. And, importantly, they should be answered using as few words as possible. This section is about presenting the facts, not flowery language. If you’re writing for a peer-reviewed paper, you’re likely to have quite a tight word count. If your method section is concise as possible, this frees up more words for your findings.

Think carefully about anonymisation vs information about participants

If you’re writing up a qualitative study, as most PGPR clients are, you need to think carefully about how much information you’re going to provide about your participants. Demographic details about the participants which have a bearing on the research question need to be provided, but participants’ identities must be protected. This information will often be presented in a table. Let’s say you’re writing up a study about what it’s like to give birth to your first child. Your table might include participants’ pseudonyms/ID numbers, their age, the age of their child and their ethnicity. You might choose to leave out where they live and their occupation. However, if your study is about young working mothers, occupation is more important, so you would include that, but perhaps leave out other details. Always check your consent form to be sure you’re not conveying any information that participants haven’t given you permission to share.

Ensure you provide enough info about the fit between your research question and your method

Unfortunately, there are still quite a few reviewers and examiners out there who don’t understand or trust qualitative methods. As such, you need to ensure that your justification for using the methodology you’ve picked is ironclad. You may only need a sentence or two, but do include some lines to explain why qualitative methods are the perfect fit for your study, even if it seems really obvious to you!

You need to ensure that your justification for using the methodology you’ve picked is ironclad. Photo by John Salvino on Unsplash

Save discussion of difficulties for the limitations section

Research is unpredictable. Things go wrong, and that’s fine. You might not have been able to recruit as many participants as you’d hoped. Some interviews might not have recorded perfectly. You might be new to qualitative methods and have struggled with analysis. None of these are reasons to beat yourself up; we’re all learning, all the time. If things have gone less than brilliantly, state that plainly in this section. You can then go on to talk about the implications of those hiccups and what you might do next time in your limitations section, all whilst reminding yourself that even the most esteemed professors run into difficulties at times. You’ve still completed your study and that is brilliant.

Contact PGPR

If you’re struggling with your method section – or any other area of your write-up – just get in touch with us via the box below. We’re a friendly team of qualitative and mixed methods experts who can help you with feedback, proofreading and word reduction on this and any other section of your thesis or paper.

How to cope with research interview stress

Collecting good data is one of the key elements of conducting a qualitative project. Of course, analysis, writing up and situating your findings within the existing literature are all important, but if you don’t have rich, relevant data, the rest can just be window dressing.

As qualitative researchers, we’re often speaking to participants about emotive and difficult subjects. Chronic illness, bereavement, burnout, experiences of discrimination – these are just some areas which tend to be the focus of the kind of work we do.

Additionally, there are the practical elements of recording data. Is the recorder working properly? If you’re meeting the participant in person, will the train getting you to them be on time? If you’re meeting virtually, will all the tech work OK?

Travelling to meet your interviewee? Make sure you’ve planned your trip and have a back-up plan in case of delays or cancellations. Photo by kwan fung on Unsplash

These elements combined can mean that conducting interviews takes its toll on the researcher just as much as the participant. If, like me, you find that conducting research interviews can be anxiety-provoking, here are some tips for handling that stress.

Create a flow chart you can follow before and after each interview

Knowing exactly the process you need to follow to ensure you’re prepared for an interview can remove the pressure. I’ve created a flow chart to follow so that I don’t need to worry I’ve forgotten anything. The chart has steps for when a participant first signs up to take part in the study (such as ensuring that I have their consent form and have filled in all the relevant paperwork), in the half hour before the interview (ensuring that anything which makes a noisy notification is switched off, that the recorder is charged and that I have a glass of water) and for afterwards (loading the audio file onto my machine and making field notes).

Test all your equipment

Before I start any research project, I tend to call a friend or relative and have a quick chat with them in the space from which I’m going to be conducting the interviews. These days, much qualitative interviewing is done either on the phone or via video chat. If that’s the case for you, test out both these options with someone friendly, and (with their permission!) record your conversations. That way, you can spot any difficulties in advance and feel reassured that those all-important interview recordings will come out crystal clear.

Meditation and deep-breathing exercises before an interview can help to de-stress the body. Photo by Le Minh Phuong on Unsplash

Take 10 minutes to meditate before each interview

I’ve started doing this recently and have found it immensely helpful in dealing with the anxiety that interviewing can cause. I sit on a comfy seat, away from my desk, and set a timer on my phone for 10 minutes. I then shut my eyes and take time to focus on my breathing. I observe any thoughts that come into my head, then try to let them go. This means that when I come back to my desk to conduct the interview, I am calmer and clearer headed than I would otherwise be.

Engage in self-care after each interview

Find something you can do at the end of an interview to look after your mental health. That might be going for a walk around the block, writing in a research diary, taking your lunch break or whatever it is that gives you a break. Your mental health is every bit as important as the health of the participants in your study, so take the time to look after it.

A black and white historical photo of a woman using early recording technology — Recording tech has come a long way, but it’s still always a good idea to test everything before starting your interview. Photo by Austrian National Library on Unsplash

Talk to your supervisor or university wellbeing team

If the pressure of conducting a series of interviews starts to get you down, have a chat with your supervisor or a university counsellor to help you deal with and process the emotions that interviews are stirring up in you. Research is always a team effort, so don’t feel bad about asking for support from the people you work with. Universities often have good wellbeing departments, so it’s worth reaching out to them if you want to talk about stress caused by interviews or any other element of your research journey.

Let PGPR lighten the load

Here at PGPR, we understand how stressful research can be. While we obviously can’t conduct your interviews for you, we can help by discussing your interview schedule with you in a video consultation, transcribing your audio files and offering feedback on your analysis. We’re a friendly, experienced team who are always happy to help. Get in touch via the button below to hear more about how we can help you.

Five tips for carrying on with your research when things are tough

Postgraduate research is hard work. You need to design a study. Pass ethics. Find participants. Gather and analyse data. Write up your findings. Get into journals and conferences. And, usually, do all this whilst you’re also juggling work, family and occasionally trying to have a bit of fun.

If something goes wrong – and sooner or later with research (as with life in general), something will go wrong – it can be hard to carry on. Perhaps you’re having to jump through a hundred hoops to get ethics clearance, or maybe participants keep cancelling on you. It could be that your supervisor is pushing you extra hard. In situations like this, you might find yourself wondering why you’re bothering.

It can be hard to find the motivation to carry on after months of hard graft!

Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

Does the world really need another piece of qualitative research? (Answer – yes it does!) Do you really have something to say? (Answer – absolutely, you do, you total badass!)

If you’re struggling to carry on with your postgrad research, here are five tips from PGPR to help you get back into the swing of things.

Take a break

Put your pen/laptop/tablet down and go outside. Look up at the sky (as long as it’s not raining of course). Read a good book, watch some reruns of Jane the Virgin. Gather your mates or your kids and go for a pizza. When you’re in the thick of a PhD, it can feel all-encompassing, but a good first step to tackling any research problem is to get things back into perspective. Other things in life can bring you joy – take a week off and go have some fun.

There is very little a pizza party with friends can’t solve!

Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

Try reading around the problem

Whatever issue it is that you’re facing, you can bet your bottom dollar (whatever THAT is) that someone else has had the same problem. Whether it’s a logistical issue or an analytical one, have a poke around on the internet, do a Google Scholar search and see if you can read a bit about how others in your situation have solved similar problems. Postgrad research can feel pretty lonely, but there are many other people out there doing what you’re doing, and we can all help each other.

Academic Twitter is (in my experience anyway) a pretty darn supportive place, so it might be worth asking a question on there. Trying using the hashtag #AcademicTwitter or tagging @AcademicChatter and hopefully, both answers and support will come along shortly.

Break the problem down into steps and tackle them one at a time

Challenges can feel overwhelming if we try to solve them all at once. Try instead to break the problem down into small, manageable chunks. Can you face the first one? Great – do that, then have a bit of chocolate. Leave part two till tomorrow. Rinse and repeat until the problem is dealt with. By the time you’re into the swing of it, I bet you it won’t feel as unsurmountable as it did to start off with.

Indulging in a few choccy treats as a reward for doing a bit of work is a-ok in our book!

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Make a list of the successes you’ve had

Another problem with – well – problems, is that when we have one, we can make it mean something personal about us. I couldn’t write a great discussion section the first time around, so I must be a failure and a terrible person. Try to stop thinking like that, because trust me, you are not a failure. Anyone who is doing postgrad work is a superstar and a brainiac to boot. This work is meant to be difficult, so the fact that you’re occasionally finding it difficult means that nothing has gone wrong. And it certainly doesn’t mean that you are anything other than amazing.

If you’re finding that hard to believe, try making a list of all the successes (big and small) you’ve had since you started your research career. Include everything from acing that undergrad exam to being accepted onto your master’s to recruiting your first four participants. You could also include cooking a lovely dinner for your family last night and mastering that impossible-looking posture at yoga.

Once you’ve mastered your research, you can do anything!

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If you managed all of those things, you can definitely manage this one too!

Book a PGPR VC

If you’re still feeling stuck with any element of your qualitative postgrad research project, a great solution could be to book a video consultation with PGPR. In these VCs, we spent an hour looking over your work and notes before the session, and then another hour talking the problems through with you via Zoom or Teams or whatever platform you like. Discussing the issue with one of our friendly team of qualitative experts is a great way to brainstorm, gain confidence and beat whatever issue is stopping you.

Get in touch with us via the button below to book.

How a PGPR video consultation can help you

Are you a postgrad student using qualitative methods to explore a social science topic?

Are you wrestling with your analysis, your themes, your write up? Or maybe you’re feeling nervous about your viva?

Qualitative research is an intense process that requires a lot of careful thinking. You need to hold many ideas in your mind as you consider connections between your themes and how your research fits into the wider picture. It’s no wonder analysis can cause a headache.

That’s why PGPR offers video consultations: hour-long sessions in which one of our team of qualitative experts talks you through the challenges you’re facing in your research project.

If you’re wondering whether a PGPR VC can help you, read the following examples to see how we’ve helped clients in the past…

We’re always happy to help our lovely clients

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Aimee was working on resubmitting a reflective assignment as part of her psychotherapy doctorate. She was finding it challenging to revise her previous submission to ensure she met the assessment criteria while expressing her lived experiences clearly in a formal academic style. Aimee sent us her original submission, along with the feedback from her assessors and the assessment criteria. Through a series of video consultations, we explored how Aimee could relate psychotherapeutic theory to both her personal and professional experiences. We identified specific areas where she could demonstrate her relevant understanding in relation to the required learning outcomes. By explaining her ideas verbally, Aimee felt more confident communicating her knowledge, and successfully reworked her assignment with a clearer narrative arc.

We helped Aimee with her reflective assignment through a VC

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Bob had completed the write up of his interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) findings for his doctoral thesis. He had received feedback that his work was descriptive rather than interpretative and was unsure how to address this. Bob sent us his results chapter and we had a chat about how we could best support him. We agreed that a general discussion about how to be interpretative would be too abstract, so decided he would select some quotes from his findings which we could explore together. During the hour, we talked through a small selection of extracts in depth. This allowed Bob to get a sense of how to approach his data interpretatively, what to look for and the types of questions he could ask himself. He then felt more able to apply this to the rest of his findings chapter, which he continued to revise on his own.

Thanks to a PGPR VC, Bob was able to rewrite his results chapter

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Cathy had completed her PhD viva and was unsure how to approach her revisions. She sent us her viva report and thesis. In a series of video consultations, we focused on the different amendments required. In one session, we made a detailed plan for a chapter she had been asked to re-structure so that she could go away and organise her writing with clarity. In another, we discussed the examiners’ request that Cathy acknowledge the influence of her position on the research. We decided that writing a single reflexive statement would be appropriate and talked through what she might include in it. Cathy later sent some sections of her amended thesis for proofreading and written feedback to iron out the last details. Her revised thesis was accepted.

Congratulations to Cathy!

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If you decide to book a VC with PGPR, we will spend an hour looking at your work before the session, and then an hour discussing the work once it’s done.

Previous PGPR VC client Andrea K said:

“I found my consultation meetings with Rachel incredibly helpful. When I felt stuck in my analysis, Rachel helped me to understand better what I am doing well (which motivated me to continue) as well as areas for further learning by discussing specific examples in my data. She definitely helped me to understand better how to put theory (IPA principles) into practice (analysis). Each consultation was used very efficiently thanks to Rachel’s clear focus, and she also made sure we had some time to discuss any questions/dilemmas that I had. I would recommend these consultations to anyone who feels stuck or wants to learn what they do well and what they can improve. Do not hesitate to contact the team if you have any other issues in your research study as they seem to consider individual needs and requests very well.”

Get in touch via the form below to book a session with one of our qualitative experts.

Five tips for staying on top of your references

Ask any seasoned researcher if they’ve ever got into a muddle with references, and they will have a war story or two to tell. Whilst references are an essential part of any scientific piece of writing, they are undeniably a massive pain in the you-know-what.

It all makes sense. You’re writing your beloved thesis, the mind-blowing ideas and ground-breaking theories flowing from your fingers. You know the literature, you know where your research question came from and how it’s added to our knowledge. You’re in Csikszentmihalyi’s magical state of flow (Csikszentmihalyi & Rathunde, 1993) (that, my friends, is an example of a reference) and you’re not going to break that off for a tiny little detail like who wrote the paper proving that positive mindset is the key to everything. You’ll come back to that! So instead, you insert something like (positive mindset paper, pink folder????, come back later) and carry on writing.

That’s fine if this is your strategy for one or two references.

It’s really not so fine if this is your strategy for the 500 or so which make up an entire PhD!

Fear not – here are PGPR’s five top tips for staying on top of your references from the outset.

An old painting of an intense battle scene with knights riding horses and dust clouds obscuring the background. — Ask any researcher about references and they’ll be certain to share their war stories…

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1. Start an account with a referencing software

This is essential. I know the software might seem alien and off-putting at first, and sometimes these systems are pretty clunky, but hand on heart, I think the best move I ever made as a researcher was to get to grips with EndNote from month one of my PhD.

Think of your referencing software as an online library where you store all the details of the reading you’ll do over the course of your thesis/paper/project. Most of them are simple to use once you’ve got used to them. Google and YouTube are also crammed full of helpful tips and videos for working these programs, or you can book an appointment with your uni librarian, who will walk you through it.

As stated, I use (and am a fan of) EndNote Web, which is free, but there are plenty of other choices out there, including the paid version of Endnote, Zotero and Mendeley.

Reading some of these blogs might help you to decide which to use. Or ask your PhD supervisor which they would recommend.

2. During the lit review, record each reference, with notes, as you go

One of the first steps of any research project, big or small, will be doing a lit review. This is good as it means you can get to grips with your new software early in the process and become confident with it. Every time you read a paper, chapter or web page, import or record its details in your software and make some notes. These notes will help you remember which paper is which when you come back to them in a few months. You can also keep different reference records in different folders for different projects, which will help you locate that finding you know you read somewhere at a later date.

Top tip: If you’re unsure what details you need to record, look for the paper in question in Google Scholar and then click the ‘cite’ button. This will tell you all the details you need to know (for journal articles, this will be title, authors, year and doi as well as publication name, volume, edition and page numbers), which you can then either import or copy and paste into your software.

3. Use your software system as you write

Now that all your references are neatly filed in your software, do ensure that you use that software to insert the in-text references as you write. If you use EndNote, you need to install a plug-in which then shows up in Word. Click ‘insert citation’ each time you need to do just that, and EndNote will format the in-text citation for you and put the full reference at the end of the document.

Writing references needn’t make you glum if you’ve got the right tools for the job.

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Inevitably, as you write, you will need to look for more references as questions arise, or to respond to feedback from your supervisor or peer reviewers. By this point, you will be confident with your software, so just keep adding to it as you go, being disciplined about recording all those details and notes with every paper you need. Then use the software to insert the new reference as you write.

4. Find out which referencing system you need to use for this piece and set that in your software

There are several systems for citing references in scientific papers, which include APA, Harvard, Vancouver and so on. These all differ slightly from each other and, to make matters even more confusing, differ within themselves as well. Harvard referencing, for example, is an umbrella term which is interpreted differently depending on which institution you’re at, while APA has 7 versions.

The intricate differences in these systems can lead to further confusion if you haven’t been staying on top of your references throughout the process. But this is where referencing software is so handy. If all the references in your thesis are linked to your software, you can change which referencing system the software uses to present those references, switching from APA7 to Vancouver at the touch of a button. This job would take days and days by hand and runs the risk of you throwing your laptop out the window in frustration.

5. Contact PGPR for help

If you’re reading this blog thinking, well, that’s all very useful but I’m already two years into my thesis and it’s all too late, don’t worry! PGPR can help. Our expert reference checkers can ensure that every in-text and full-length reference is formatted correctly for the system you’re using, locate any missing details and even cross-check your thesis to ensure that every in-text citation appears in the bibliography and vice versa. We even have some crazy people on our team (Hannah and Shannon) who enjoy this work! So just hand it over to us and you can get back to uncovering more thrilling new findings.

We’re always happy to help. Just get in touch via the form below.

How to write every day

If you’re working on the final stages of your thesis, there’s probably a lot of writing going on in your world right now. It’s also likely that you’re juggling that with a job, cooking dinners, spending time with your family and trying to get out of the house once a day for fresh air. Therefore, despite your best intentions, writing might not be happening as often as you’d like.

Here are some tips for carving out some time every day to get those brilliant findings and interpretations committed to the page.

1. Plan ahead

As much as possible, try to plan your weeks so that writing time is scheduled. Of course, life is unpredictable and sometimes we can’t stick to our plans, but if you at least know what you’re aiming for, you’re more likely to get there. If your schedule looks jam-packed, try to think creatively. Can you get up earlier a couple of days a week? Work in the evening while everyone else is watching TV? Get the kids to make the dinner one night so you can spend that time working? (Age of child dependent, of course!)

Having a plan in place helps you in the long run!

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2. Tell your housemates/partner/family that you have to shut the door

If you’re a housemate, a mother, a father or a spouse, you might feel that you need to drop everything the moment you’re needed by the people you love. Genuine emergencies aside, this is not the case. Can you set a time for working when you tell everyone that you’re not to be disturbed? Even if it’s only for half an hour a day, those half-hours will start stacking up, and so will your word count.

Setting clear boundaries with your loved ones is essential when working on a big project!

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3. Turn off social media

There’s no point telling your family that the door is shut if you’re going to spend all your time behind that closed door frantically checking Twitter and replying to your favourite WhatsApp group chats. Put your phone on silent, don’t open your emails and try to resist the urge to start Googling things as you write – it’s all too easy to fall into an internet rabbit hole that way. You can always look up how to spell phenomenological later; for now, just fudge it and get those words down.

4. Recognise and reward the wins

Writing a thesis is really hard, even when there isn’t a global pandemic. You are doing an amazing job and you deserve to be rewarded. Sadly, most of the time, everyone else is too wrapped up in their own challenges to recognise how awesome you multi-tasking postgrad students are, which means you might need to reward yourself. And that’s just dandy, cos no one knows what you like better than you do! If you pass a milestone, no matter how small, book yourself a day off, buy your favourite cake, settle down with a novel and convince your other half to rub your feet. You’ve earned it.

Celebrating those wins along the way will help you eventually cross the finish line!

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5. Don’t expect the impossible

It can be really tempting to start setting yourself huge targets: I’m going to write 2,000 words every single day without breaking a sweat. Sound familiar? The problem with these unrealistic targets is that if you can’t stick to them, you might start feeling discouraged, which makes it harder to come to your desk feeling positive and energised the next day. Plus, if you know you don’t have time for your 2,000 words that day, you might think well, there’s no point starting – I’ll begin tomorrow instead. You can see how this thinking can quickly lead to a week with no words written at all. Some of you might find it easier to set a time limit for each day instead or to think in terms of sections per week.

Do you have any tips for writing every day? Do let us know if so. And of course, once you’ve finished writing, you can always book us to proof-read your work so that you can be confident it’s as polished as it can be.

If you’d like to book PGPR to help you with your writing, just get in touch via the form below.