Recent content by Valter

I thought I knew how to write a research paper. I was wrong. My first year of grad school, I wrote a 30-page literature review. I was proud of it. I had read 80 articles. I summarized each one carefully. My advisor read it. She said: "This is a summary. Where's the synthesis?" I didn't know...

I have a problem. I can't stop finding new sources. Every time I think I'm done, I find one more article. Then that article cites five more. It's a hydra. My advisor says: "Your literature review doesn't need to include everything. It needs to include enough." But what does "enough" mean? I've...

Let me tell you about the worst month of my PhD. I had a 30-page literature review due. I'd been "researching" for six months — which really meant collecting PDFs I never read. My advisor sent me an email that just said "send me something by Friday." Something. Anything. I panicked. I had 80...