40
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What level of audience should one aim for in the introduction of a STEM thesis?
My answer to this question is always:
Write the thesis for your past self!
What I mean is that you should write the thesis (especially the intro) in a way that if you would have read it when you ...
- 36.8k
13
votes
Accepted
What level of audience should one aim for in the introduction of a STEM thesis?
Target anyone with an undergraduate degree in your field. Any more advanced and it becomes difficult for others to follow unless they are already specialists in your field. It does cost more space, ...
- 102k
7
votes
Accepted
How much is too much when defining and explaining terms in depth in a dissertation?
Please make your dissertation welcoming to those not in your specialty and to those who do not share your language fully.
I often read dissertations when I am trying to get to know a new subject. I ...
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5
votes
What level of audience should one aim for in the introduction of a STEM thesis?
I think it is an opinion-based question.
In my school (community), we follow a top-down writing approach. We first, start with an outline which should be understandable by any reader and then, we ...
- 4,359
5
votes
Best tips for writing sessions
I think one key to successful writing is to make it a regular habit, to lose the fear of the white page. The pomodoro method is a good start. But anything that helps you to write regularly, even if ...
- 426
5
votes
For inclusiveness sake, what is the consensus about which usage of "blind" should be changed?
The consensus is that pejorative and prejudice terminology should be changed. "Blind," in my experience, is neither.
"Blind experiment" means an experiment where something is ...
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3
votes
How much is too much when defining and explaining terms in depth in a dissertation?
Generally in order to be reader-friendly, it is more advisable to explain too much than too little. If you explain not enough, some parts of your thesis may be incomprehensible, which devalues them. ...
- 3,360
3
votes
Accepted
Does publishing in non-prestigious journal damage your portfolio
For a first publication don't overthink it. Something is better than nothing as long as you avoid predatory journals.
Among other things you will get experience in the publication process and in ...
- 258k
2
votes
How to deal with my PhD supervisors rudely critiquing all my draft papers?
Frankly, your writing needs to improve AND your PhD advisors are jerks.
Incoming graduate students are incapable of writing acceptable (let alone good) scientific papers (and that's not their fault). ...
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2
votes
Referencing in a paper
Is this for publication? Journals have author guidelines online outlining what formats are acceptable. If it is a thesis at your university, they will also have a guide for thesis submission. You ...
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2
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What level of audience should one aim for in the introduction of a STEM thesis?
When I want to learn something new, I often turn to PhD theses. Not all theses are equal, but some are very good to start with.
Very often, the introduction is quite naïve, in comparison to what a ...
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2
votes
How are academic writing conventions decided?
Convention means "the way it is usually done". As such it is pointless to try to initiate a new convention, it can only become a convention when it reaches sufficient support. So, what you ...
- 71.4k
2
votes
What level of audience should one aim for in the introduction of a STEM thesis?
I am currently (procrastinating about) writing my thesis. As I am almost finished, I speak only from the recent experience of a student on this question.
Should I write it so it is accessible for ...
- 343
1
vote
For inclusiveness sake, what is the consensus about which usage of "blind" should be changed?
what is the consensus on whether we should avoid using "blind" as a category of persons
I am not an expert on this topic, but a look at this page suggests that “blind” and “the blind” is ...
- 168k
1
vote
Accepted
How are academic writing conventions decided?
Suppose one would like to propose a new way of performing a specific task in academic writing, for example, a different/new way of citing. I realise this example is vague, but the example is not the ...
- 11.3k
1
vote
How are academic writing conventions decided?
I won't make any assessment of the merits of your idea, but yes, if you want to propose a new convention (e.g., a new way to cite items) then you could publish this as an academic paper. I'm not ...
- 43.7k
1
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What level of audience should one aim for in the introduction of a STEM thesis?
It really depends on the culture.
The introduction to my PhD thesis was
roughly what it would be about,
and references to books in case the reader did not understand the part above.
It was 1/3 of a ...
- 6,285
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