A Note from Jo: This post has been repubished from Liz Gloyn’s own blog site, because it is relevant to the struggles I know my clients and Studio members unfortunately go through on a regular basis. Term has finished, the Christmas tree is up, and I’ve got a week before annual leave kicks in… so […]
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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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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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Who are you writing for?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide | Who are you writing for? One thing that’s difficult about writing a book is its scope. There is a lot of material to organize. It’s too big to hold in your head. It’s hard to maintain your motivation when you won’t see a finished product for a long time. […]
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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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Spotlight On: Peer Review
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Peer Review Peer review is central to academic freedom. It ensures that the criteria for evaluating the quality of scholarship are in the control of scholars and not subordinated to commercial, government, or other interests. My writing on peer review over the years has primarily focused on […]
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Optimizing Focus when your project brings up difficult emotions
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Optimizing focus when your project brings up difficult emotions At the end of A Meeting With Your Writing one day, a participant shared how she’d managed her focus on a project that brings up difficult emotions. I’ve been dealing with one thing that was very hard … with some […]
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Starting your academic writing year in mid-summer
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Starting your academic year in mid-summer When do academics celebrate the new year? This is a serious question for those of us who live in the northern hemisphere, where the beginning of the calendar year in January is more like the middle of the academic year. It seems like […]
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The value of intellectual engagement
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Valuing Intellectual Engagement Burnout and stress are not just about the quantity of work you have to do. Lack of control and a sense of meaninglessness are major contributors to burnout. It has become very clear that your difficulty managing your workload is not a personal failing. You are […]
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Shifting priorities within your research during the pandemic or other crisis
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Shifting priorities within your research during the pandemic or other crisis This post was written in the early stages of the Covid pandemic. One of the issues that had come up in both Office Hours (a group coaching session for members of the Academic Writing Studio) and in […]
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No, you don’t need to completely change your research focus
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · No, you don’t need to completely change your research focus This post was written in the early stages of the Covid pandemic. One of the issues that had come up in both Office Hours (a group coaching session for members of the Academic Writing Studio) and in the Establishing […]
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Transitioning to summer
Note: I wrote this just before the pandemic situation started to impact academic workloads in the UK, US, and Canada. I am re-publishing it now (March 2020) as a reminder that things would already have been in transition at this time of year. For more on the specific impacts of the pandemic response on academic […]
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