To write at the doctoral level, you must meet high standards of communication. Both the content of your writing (i.e., your ideas per se) and the formatting of your document (i.e., how you present your ideas) are equally important in doctoral writing. The areas that you must pay special attention to when you write are:
 

Content

Organization

Grammar

Style

To write at the doctoral level, you must meet high standards of communication. Both the content of your writing (i.e., your ideas per se) and the formatting of your document (i.e., how you present your ideas) are equally important in doctoral writing. The areas that you must pay special attention to when you write are:
 

Content

Organization

Grammar

Style

In this article, we examine issues related to the grammatical correctness of your doctoral papers. 

To write at the doctoral level, you must meet high standards of communication. Both the content of your writing (i.e., your ideas per se) and the formatting of your document (i.e., how you present your ideas) are equally important in doctoral writing. The areas that you must pay special attention to when you write are:
 

Content

Organization

Grammar

Style

In this article, we examine issues related to the organization of your doctoral papers. 

To write at the doctoral level, you must meet high standards of communication. Both the content of your writing (i.e., your ideas per se) and the formatting of your document (i.e., how you present your ideas) are equally important in doctoral writing. The areas that you must pay special attention to when you write are:
 

Content

Organization

Grammar

Style

In this article, we examine issues related to the content of your doctoral papers. 

This article is about how to optimize your doctoral journey so that you can produce your best work and complete your program of study in the shortest possible time.

Earning a doctorate is not just about writing a quality dissertation. That is necessary, but not sufficient. Besides selecting a dissertation committee whose members have the expertise to assist you in crafting your dissertation, you must choose a chair with the knowledge and competence to guide you through the dissertation review process.

Because choosing the members of your dissertation committee is a crucial decision that can make the difference between earning a doctorate or being ABD, you need to do so with care. But how do you decide who should be on your committee and why they should be on it?

One of the biggest challenge that students face in their doctoral programs is finding a viable (i.e., doable and researchable) dissertation topic.

The most common initial topic that I have encountered in many years of working on dissertation committees (as chair, member, content expert, or methodologist) is one that a student lives with every day at work.

One of the characteristics of systems that we are all familiar with is the fact that the parts of a system are interconnected. As a result, a change in one part of the system affects the other parts of the system to varying degrees.

There are 10 interrelated steps in the dissertation process:

One of the secrets of accelerating your progress toward your ultimate goal of earning a doctoral degree is to practice the 4 Ps.

I am not referring to Product, Price, Promotion, and Place, the 4 Ps of Marketing.

Rather, I am referring to an equally important list of Ps related to doctoral study—Planning, Persistence, Patience, and Participation.

In this article, I will discuss the fourth P—Participation.

One of the secrets of accelerating your progress toward your ultimate goal of earning a doctoral degree is to practice the 4 Ps.

I am not referring to Product, Price, Promotion, and Place, the 4 Ps of Marketing.

Rather, I am referring to an equally important list of Ps related to doctoral study—Planning, Persistence, Patience, and Participation.

In this article, I will discuss the third P—Patience.

One of the secrets of accelerating your progress toward your ultimate goal of earning a doctoral degree is to practice the 4 Ps.

I am not referring to Product, Price, Promotion, and Place, the 4 Ps of Marketing.

Rather, I am referring to an equally important list of Ps related to doctoral study—Planning, Persistence, Patience, and Participation.

In this article, I will discuss the second P—Persistence.

One of the secrets of accelerating your progress toward your ultimate goal of earning a doctoral degree is to practice the 4 Ps.

I am not referring to Product, Price, Promotion, and Place, the 4 Ps of Marketing.

Rather, I am referring to an equally important list of Ps related to doctoral study—Planning, Persistence, Patience, and Participation.

In this article, I will discuss the first P—Planning. In, subsequent blog articles, I will discuss the other three Ps.

What are the secrets of completing a high quality dissertation (or doctoral study) successfully and rapidly?

That’s what I most wanted to know when I was a doctoral student. So, I made it a point to seek out experts in dissertation research who spoke at required doctoral residencies I attended.

The experts I had the privilege to meet, who were exceptionally knowledgeable and helpful, all said the same thing:
 

If you want to succeed in your doctoral journey, then you must do some work on your dissertation frequently—every day if possible.

Let’s contrast this approach to what most students do.

When I was a doctoral student, my mentor was a terrific fellow who had very high academic standards (which I appreciated), but who was also blessed with a sense of humor (which I also appreciated).

A short time into my program of study, he correctly surmised that I had several key goals: (a) to learn as much as possible by doing high quality work, (b) to save money by finishing as quickly as possible, and (c) not to trade-off one (quality) for the other (speed).

In short, I wanted it all. Compromise was not an option. Given this set of specifications, my mentor came up with a saying that became my mantra: “Work hard, go fast, save money!”

A doctoral journey is the academic adventure of a lifetime.

If you find the right school and have good advisors, a doctoral journey can be a magical ride. If you are less fortunate, it can be an endurance test rivaling an ultramarathon. Either way, it will have its share of ups and downs. How you handle them will determine whether you succeed or fail in your quest.

A surprising number of doctoral students, perhaps because their course work is so carefully scheduled by the university, think that the dissertation is a sprint to the finish line. Nothing could be further from the truth.

One good analogy is that a dissertation is like a marathon.