How to write a PhD in less than 3 years

1. Why is the author qualified to write this book?

Personal experience and a genuine desire to share it are the author’s main asseta and aspirations, respectively. He has been through the PhD thesis-writing process successfully and feels he has some useful tips to share through the pages of this short book on how the challenge of writing a doctoral thesis can best be handled. At the same time, not being a professional academic ‘with an axe to grind’, the author has good reasons to believe that his take on the issues addressed in this book will be more easily accessible to the average reader and his views less tainted with the professional bias underlying some of the extant works on this topic.

These are his credentials: the author completed his PhD thesis in 27 months, inclusive of the three-month waiting period between the submission of his thesis and its defence. Although he did have a modest capital of writing experience that he could build on, this was his first (and, most probably, only) PhD ever. Moreover, the author wrote his PhD while working full-time (from a responsible and commitment-intensive position), without ‘recycling’ for the purposes of his thesis any of his professional work. During this 27 month period the author lived a, more or less, normal life: he travelled (including for the purposes of his PhD), he published (inter alia on non PhD-related topics), he went on holidays and he kept in touch with friends and family. And yet, he managed to complete his PhD research and writing in slightly over two years. ‘Is he, perhaps, an exceptionally gifted and extraordinarily talented person, whose experience can only be of limited relevance to the average candidate?’ I hear you ask. As much as the author would have liked that to have been the case, the answer is ‘no’. ‘Did he have a very strong academic predisposition or inclination towards research?’ some of you may ask. Again the answer is ‘no’, even if some further qualifications are, this time, apposite: the author was, certainly, an above average undergraduate student (even if by no means an outstanding one), having held a ‘2:1’ degree from one of the better Law Schools in the UK and a postgraduate degree awarded with ‘Merit’ from another (slightly better) Law School, also in the UK, before he took up a research degree in London; moreover, he had already had some experience with publishing prior to taking up his PhD degree (having, therefore, had a modest capital of writing experience that he could draw on for the purposes of his research work). However, never was the author awarded any academic distinctions or prizes (and not because he never entered a competition) nor did he otherwise leave his mark as an extraordinary student. ‘Did the author have any other links to the academic community that helped him take up and finish his PhD sooner rather than later?’ Certainly not: the author had never set eyes on his supervisor before their first meeting and was, at the time of his application for admission as a research student, something of an ‘unknown quantity’, having for several years been out of academia (including for a two year stint of relative intellectual stagnation during his military service). ‘Did the author perhaps ‘recycle’ work he had previously done in a different, non-academic capacity?’ Not at all: his was original work, from beginning to end, conducted after he became registered as a postgraduate research student. ‘Did he enjoy the benefit of decisive external assistance with his work, helping him finish sooner than one would normally expect?’ Again, the answer is ‘no’, although he would often discuss his research work with colleagues, friends and family to sound their (mostly) non-expert take on some of his ideas and to test their robustness. What the author did, however, do was to follow the advice dispensed in the pages of this short book (and which he mostly had common sense to thank for) and to prosecute, with quasi-religious devotion, the routine explained below. Curious? Just read through and you will know enough to be able to visualise yourself doing just as well (or, why not, better), learning from the most reliable source of information there is: somebody else’s personal experience.

One word of caution is apposite for the benefit of the reader. Writing a PhD thesis involves, somewhat unsurprisingly, a good deal of (formal) writing. This is a skill that cannot be acquired through reading up on other people’s reflections on the subject of ‘writing’: it is a skill the acquisition of which involves effort and, most of all, daily, relentless practice. The purpose of this book – which is addressed mainly to UK University doctoral degree candidates (or prospective candidates) from the fields of humanities and social sciences but which will, in many respects, be of relevance to candidates from other disciplines or studying in different parts of the world as well as to Master degree candidates whose work involves the writing of a dissertation –is to ‘demystify’ the main aspects of the doctoral thesis writing exercise, to guide you through the key stages of your postgraduate research work and, most of all, to help you reach your objective sooner rather than later. The difficult tasks of choosing a promising research topic and of achieving an adequate level of scholarship in its examination remain yours throughout. Good luck!