Welcome to this lightning guide to the benefits of blogging at De Montfort University’s Research Conference for Doctoral and Early Career Researchers entitled: Your Research Journey: The challenges of writing. I have a blog that I update when I can. Often it is as a result of doing literature reviews or writing articles and experiences as I pursue my PhD. There is also other stuff on there I like to share – family history, travel and random ideas to get off my chest. As I only have ten minutes I just want to give you some key points about blogging that will hopefully inspire you. I am Head of Public Engagement at DMU so it is important that I encourage all staff and students to deploy a variety of methods of sharing knowledge. Once such was of reaching out and sharing ideas is blogging. Like most engagement, the benefits are usually two-fold for you and the university and your audience. Academic blogging is a valid and useful method of public engagement. It allows you share your work and ideas. Like all forms of public engagement, this can help to build trust and understanding of the work, particularly research, that takes universities, and helps to increase understanding of our relevance to, and impact, on society. That said, there are drawbacks to consider – you may get trolled for your ideas or receive critiques that perhaps you didn’t want to hear. In the main the benefits of blogging outweigh the negatives. Positive outcomes include creating new networks, contacts and building your researcher reputation.
Why blog?
There are plenty of reasons why blogging is a good idea and lots of good articles online as to why. Here are some points from a recent Times Higher article:
- Blogging can help you to establish writing as a routine
- Blogging allows you to experiment with your writing “voice”
- Blogging helps you to get to the point
- Blogging points you to your reader
- Blogging requires you to be concise
- Blogging allows you to experiment with forms of writing
- Blogging helps you to become a more confident writer
Where should I create my blog?
If you are at DMU you can have a WordPress blog in the DMU Commons, like mine. You simply request a site from the CELT team at DMU and build the site yourself. It’s easy. There are benefits to this. You can view all the blogs being created on the site via the Pan Commons link: https://pan.our.dmu.ac.uk and connect with academics and students at DMU for collaboration. You can also build a blog outside DMU Commons using WordPress or other blogging platforms. You can also create a blog in Medium – an online publishing platform developed by a Twitter co-founder. I use both with the magic of copy and paste. It’s also linked to Twitter so you get a good audience for your work and feedback.
The How:
There are some good tips on the Get a Life PhD blog. Again I’ll briefly outline the headline ideas.
- Your blog needs to be interesting or useful
- Write as clearly as possible – avoid jargon
- Use Subheadings
- Use Images
- Create good post titles to attract audiences
- Use social media
- Join conversations
- Guest blog on established websites
I also found some of these on the Guardian Higher Education website useful:
- Write about yourself and your life
- Be clear what your blog is for
- Think about how controversial you want to be
- Remember: a blogpost is a publication
- Think about how often you want to blog
When:
We are all busy people. I really found this blog post useful for a few hacks to make blogging a by-product of stuff you were doing anyway. Here are the key points:
- Doing an interesting lecture? Put your lecture notes in a blog post.
- Writing a detailed email reply? “Reply to public” with a blog post.
- Answering the same question a second time? Put it in a blog post.
- Writing interesting code? Comment a snippet into a post.
- Doing something geeky at home? Blog about what you learned.
The important thing about blogging is ultimately the writing practice it will give you first and foremost. The audience and networks develop over time. I have found the 15 minute a day academic writing challenge a good motivator for writing everyday.
Who?
Who blogs at DMU? Here are some good DMU blogs I really like:
- Mine obviously…
- DMU Archivist Katherine Short’s Art and Heritage blog
- DMU Reader in Digital Heritage, Dr Douglas Cawthorne’s Digital Heritage Blog
- DMU library has a great blog
And there are lots more in DMU commons that can be found in the Pan Commons and beyond. Have a look. But ultimately the best advice I have learned is:
Blog because you want to.
The Research Conference for Doctoral and Early Career Researchers Your Research Journey: The challenges of writing takes place at De Montfort University on May 11 2017 in the Hugh Aston Building. Registration is in room 2.41 9.30-4.00.
Event Details below. Sign up here
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Research Conference for Doctoral and Early Career Researchers Your Research Journey: The challenges of writing 11 May 2017 http://libguides.library.dmu.ac.uk/researchers/conference2017 |
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Time |
Session |
Speakers |
Location |
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9.30 |
Registration /Tea and Coffee |
2.41 |
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10.00 |
Welcome Keynote speaker |
Professor Nigel Wright, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, DMU Dr Melanie Petch, Staff and Educational Developer, Researcher and Writer, University of Leicester |
Lecture Theatre 2.07 |
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10.45 |
Write early. Write often. Write badly |
Jason Eyre, Senior Lecturer in Learning Development, Centre for Learning and Study Support, Library and Learning Services, DMU |
Lecture Theatre 2.07 |
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11.20 |
Tea and Coffee |
2.41 / 2.40 |
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11.40-12.20 |
Lightning talks: PhDs/ECRs experiences of writing and top tips (10 mins each) Using mind maps to structure your writing Blogging Using Scrivener to plan projects and write my PhD |
Dr Emily Forster, Lecturer in Learning Development, Centre for Learning and Study Support (CLaSS), DMU Mark Charlton, Head of Public Engagement, DMU Oluwafunmilayo Adewole Kruczkowska (Funmi), Early career fellow and a PhD candidate, DMU Dr Motje Wolf, Lecturer in Education, DMU |
Lecture Theatre 2.07 |
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12.20 |
Writing successful grants |
Dr Rebecca Hames, Research Councils and Charities Officer, Department of Research, Business and Innovation, DMU |
Lecture Theatre 2.07 |
12.55
1.40
Lunch
2.41 / 2.40
Lightning talks: PhDs/ECRs experiences of writing and top tips (10 mins each)
‘How to write, what to write, where to write, when to write!
The limits of my language are the limits of my world? On the challenge of writing as an international researcher. (confirmed)
Setting up a Write Club
Dr Christina Quinlan, VC2020 Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice, DMU
Dr Arina Cirstea, Lecturer, Centre for Learning and Student Support (CLaSS), DMU
Dr Jen-Hsien Hsu, Dr Gertjan Lucas, & Dr Te Klangboonkrong
Lecturers in Business and Management, DMU
Lecture Theatre 2.07
2.10
“An interesting and well written paper, however……” [an editor’s perspective]
Dr Tracey Harwood, Reader in Digital Marketing and Consumer Culture, Usability Lab, Institute of Creative Technologies, DMU
Lecture Theatre 2.07
2.40
Parallel sessions – choose one
Guide to Getting Published: Emerald Publishing
Publishing with IEEE
Simon Linacre, Head of Business, Management & Economics Journals, Emerald Publishing
Christopher Lewis, National Account Manager, Content Online Ltd
Lecture Theatre 2.07
2.39
3.40
Panel Q&A
4.00
Close
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Description of main sessions |
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Keynote: Nine Years On: A Retrospective Look at the Process of Writing a Thesis Dr Melanie Petch returns to DMU to take a retrospective look at the process of writing her thesis. Despite not having held or read the thesis for nine years, she will share the pleasure and pain of writing, as she remembers it, and recall the memories and emotions that are connected to writing. She will offer the audience a walkthrough of the finished thesis, pausing to reflect on areas where high emotional investments were made. This process will also trigger the more practical elements of writing, such as: how to ensure your voice has a place in the thesis and where best to position it, approaches for pulling the thesis together, and ways of overcoming procrastination. The ‘doctoral writer narrative’ will interweave with the ‘experienced practitioner narrative’, where she will share supportive strategies she has used in her professional role as a researcher developer. Attendees will leave with a deeper appreciation of how a thesis takes shape, and some takeaway approaches to pursue post-conference. |
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Write early. Write often. Write badly This session draws on several years of experience working with staff and research students on writing development and attempts to distil some of the key lessons and insights picked up over the years into a smorgasbord of techniques for getting writing done. |
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Writing successful grants This introductory workshop covers basic principles of good grant writing, starting with the phrasing of a compelling research theme to the actual construction of the proposal itself. Major differences between traditional “academic prose” and persuasive grant writing are highlighted. Common pitfalls that can lead to early rejection of good ideas are reviewed, matched with practical strategies for better writing. Special attention will be paid to the perspectives of grant reviewers and how to write in ways that will meet their expectations. |
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“An interesting and well written paper, however……” [an editor’s perspective] This session puts you in the shoes of the journal editor to critically reflect on the process of publication through periodicals from desk review to resubmission |
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Guide to Getting Published: Emerald Publishing Emerald are a publishing company with a portfolio of Emerald Publishing’s Guide to Getting Published (GGP) is based on experiences of working with the editors of more than 300 journals and provides insight to help new or potential authors give their papers the best possible chance of acceptance and publication. Given by Emerald publishing expert Simon Linacre, the event is part of our commitment to actively supporting authors – existing and future – and is aimed at helping authors progress successfully through the various stages from pre-submission of the manuscript, to revision and, finally, publication. Ultimately, the aim is to inspire attendees to believe they could now write a paper based on their research and practice. nearly 300 journals and more than 2,500 books. They specialise in applied fields, including business, information management, public policy, health and social care, education and engineering |
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Publishing with IEEE IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organisation dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. They publish approximately 200 journals, transactions and magazines and more than 1,500 conferences in the areas of electrical engineering, computer science, electronics and other technical subjects. The session will provide insights and tips on getting published with IEEE. |
CIVIC LEARNING 