A note from Jo: On 28 October 2023 Daniel Sohege posted a thread on Bluesky and Twitter about what they call “Autistic Imposter Syndrome”. I recognized much of what they described from conversations with an autistic friend. They kindly agreed to have me turn it into a guest post here. I’ve kept their name for […]
Read More »Finding Your Way: Academic life as a journey
One of the great attractions of an academic career is the level of autonomy and freedom that you have. Some possible paths are clearly marked. Others are less obvious. Roadblocks are a frequent problem. Regardless of your stage of career, posts in this section help you identify the signposts and make decisions.
Why are you writing this book?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Why are you writing this book? A book is a big project. Depending where you mark the beginning, book writing can take years. Not only is it hard to protect the time, given all your other commitments, but it can be hard to sustain momentum. Some of that is […]
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Radical alternative ways to approach productivity in the PhD
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Radical alternative ways to approach productivity in the PhD This month’s article is by a guest author, Jamie Pei. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is that I try to follow my own advice and take a proper vacation. I’m on annual leave for the first […]
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Making Decisions: Applying for Funding
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Making Decisions: Applying for research funding Funding can often feel like an externally imposed mandate that has more to do with institutional underfunding than your own research needs. Conversely, if you do lab based research, securing funding may be fundamental to your ability to pursue an academic career at […]
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You don’t have to find a “gap” in the literature
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · You don’t need to find a “gap” in the literature Your research, and the publications based on that research, need to make an original contribution to knowledge. Over the past 20 years, I’ve seen a lot of ways academics, at every career stage, get in a bit of a […]
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Academic Writing & Publishing: A Discussion with Katherine Firth
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Academic Writing: An Interview with Katherine Firth This post is an edited transcript of my interview with Katherine Firth in October 2019 to celebrate the publication of my Short Guide on Peer Review. JoVE: Hello. So I am Jo Van Every, and this is Katherine Firth. [Katherine confirms]. […]
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Making Decisions about your writing
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Making decisions about writing This is a belated addition to the Making Decisions series that begins with Managing the energy you use to make decisions, published in August 2021. You might want to read the introductory post first. You can also find links to other posts in the series […]
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Spotlight On: Meaningfulness Matters
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Meaningfulness Matters: A Spotlight I have been supporting academics with research and writing in some way since 2005. It took several years for my business to evolve into what it is today, but one thing that has remained consistent is my belief that focusing on what matters to you […]
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What to do about a stalled book project
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · What to do about a stalled book project Are you *not* writing a book? Maybe it’s your “thesis book”. Maybe it’s something else. You might have a contract for it. You might not have started it, but think you should have by now. You might have a lot of […]
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What if you need an extension?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · What if *you* need an extension? I’ve been seeing a lot of conversation on Twitter about granting extensions to students. Much of it is framed in terms of compassion and kindness. There seems to be a prominent school of thought that you should just do this, almost automatically. That […]
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Making Decisions: peer review
This post was originally written in February 2021 as a follow up to Planning Your Winter Semester and was shared in the Academic Writing Studio. It has been edited and divided into a series of shorter posts for ease of reading. The general principles—habits, routines, and default responses—are explained in the first post in the […]
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Overcommitted? Declaring a moratorium
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Overcommitted? Declaring a moratorium It’s easy to get overcommitted. In addition to all the things you have to do, there are a lot of things you would like to do. You don’t want to manage your workload by dropping everything that makes your work meaningful. In fact, I encourage […]
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