Before writing
Rule 1: Read the damn papers
What exactly is a PhD thesis? I believe that the answer is simple: the thesis is the story of your PhD journey, written by the main character (that’s you). So how to shape such a story? Let’s start from the beginning. You are about to write a scientific thesis and for the sake of the argument let’s say that you already have some results to write about or even better, papers published.2 You have to have some background knowledge as well. Your work has to fit in a larger picture, be part of a larger story. To write your PhD story you need to know the basic constituents of a thesis. In a nutshell, the PhD thesis incorporates three components. First, it lays out the contextual framework of the scientific subject you are writing about (background). Second, it presents the problems that you as a scientist faced, along with what you did to solve them (results). Lastly, it includes some discussion points and potential future work. To formulate such a story and embellish it with the details of your own PhD journey, the knowledge you’ve acquired over the course of your PhD will play a significant role. The most prominent source of such knowledge is scientific literature.
Most people think that the PhD thesis is a strict, formal writing work. These people are wrong. You see, scientific writing does not necessarily mean the absence of creative writing. To write a story, you need to have a certain degree of imagination. But to integrate your scientific results into such a story and create a coherent narrative, you need to know about the subject you will be writing about. This means that you need to have a certain level of background knowledge as well, the main source of which is scientific papers. That’s also where you are going to find the citations you need for your thesis. Of course the papers are not the only source of knowledge you will have access to during your PhD. Taking advantage of other forms of knowledge dissemination, such as courses, workshops and conferences is your own responsibility. Use every possible means necessary to learn as much as possible about the subject you will be writing about. The discussions you have with your supervisors and colleagues are also going to be decisive in shaping your knowledge.
“To write, you need to read” as many people have said. If you have reached the final stage of your PhD and haven’t read a single paper (which I think is almost impossible), you are like a soldier standing on the front line with no weapons. Your chances are better if you stand prepared for the battle ahead. So, arm yourself with knowledge. Start reading early in your PhD. You will still have a pile of papers to read during the writing phase of your PhD (see Rule 2). The main point here is that the core of the reading material should be read before that phase starts. Performing your usual PhD duties can be extremely rewarding, but focusing only on working and not on reading can have a detrimental effect on your thesis writing. Don’t fall under the wrong impression. Reading is of paramount importance to a successful PhD.
Read the damn papers before you start writing.
If you have no results, in any form that satisfy the criteria set by your academic institution, well, that’s another problem entirely, one that I honestly hope that you find a solution for. Either way, my assumption here is that you have some results to write about, which will be integrated into the story of your PhD thesis.↩︎