Skip to main content
search
Category

PhD tips

May 19

How to reduce economics manuscript word count to meet journal guidelines

By Academic papers, Editing, PhD tips

Pair of orange scissors cutting a sheet of paper to symbolize reducing economics manuscript word count

“Please forgive the long letter; I didn’t have time to write a short one.”
― Blaise Pascal

When preparing a manuscript for submission to a top economics journal, word count can be a problem if you haven’t written specifically for that journal. For example, a job market paper or a PhD thesis chapter needs to undergo a metamorphosis before it becomes journal ready.

How do you shorten an economics manuscript so you don’t alter its content or your odds of a smooth review?

Reducing manuscript size doesn’t require an editor’s professional skills or experience, so it’s something you can do yourself. It does, however, require time, patience, and motivation. But with some tips, reducing the length of an economics manuscript gets easier.

Following these steps should help you reduce word count so your economics paper meets the submission requirements of your target journal. Read More

Mar 30

How I wrote my PhD thesis in three months

By Academic papers, Lessons learned, PhD tips, Writing

Keyboard with academic hat to represent how I wrote my PhD thesis in three monthsUp until the end of my doctoral studies, I’d been a procrastinator. Completing an abstract for a conference would take me a week, drafting a literature review, a month. I liked writing but couldn’t focus on it when I had a deadline to meet. Any writing task was too much for me to handle in an efficient manner.

But writing my PhD thesis had to be different, I told myself when I could finally see the finish line. I couldn’t afford to procrastinate. My PhD scholarship was about to expire, I didn’t have the money for a prolonged stay in the UK, and I didn’t want to be on the island anymore. So, I decided I would leave Cardiff in three months, bought a one-way ticket back home, and then opened the folder “PhD stuff” on my laptop. It was thesis o’clock. Read More

Jan 25

Publishing economics papers: Advice from experts

By Academic papers, PhD tips, Writing

Open book with blue globe on top to represent publishing economics papers

If publishing economics papers in top economics journals is your goal, you need excellent writing skills, because the economics literature has high standards. So, you need to learn how to write economics research papers that present your results clearly and use flawless language. The following tips from economics researchers, writers, editors, reviewers, and faculty will help you write better economics articles for scholarly journals. Read More

Oct 15

What’s the best way to improve a presentation?

By Lessons learned, PhD tips, Short and sweet

You can improve a presentation by paying attention to the choice of illustrations, text, fonts, colors, and all the other details of a slideshow. Make sure every element is visible, the text is free of errors, and the colors don’t send the wrong message.

But the best way to improve a presentation is to show it to someone who has no idea about the topic of your presentation, ask them what they think about it, and use their feedback to tweak the presentation. Read More

Sep 30

PhD dissertation to book: Roadmap and advice for authors

By Books, PhD tips, Writing

Magician hat with a book coming out of it to represent the PhD dissertation to book transformation

An example of a PhD dissertation to book metamorphosis that became a New York Times bestseller is Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are. Thanks to the traveler who left a copy of this book in a hotel in Corvara, Italy, because it inspired me to write this article on PhD-based books.

Why get your PhD published as a book? For many reasons. You may want to make the most of the effort you’ve put in during your doctorate. Or your breakthrough discovery must reach a wider audience. No matter your motivation, write it down. It will serve you as a reminder later, when revising your manuscript gets tough.

Let’s discover what it takes to turn a PhD thesis into a book so that you know what to expect if you choose to go down this road.

Read More

Close Menu