Wednesday 17 February 2016

#14daypaper How to Write a Conference Paper in a Fortnight


One of the many new and scary things at PhD level is writing a conference paper. It's new because it's the first time you're asked to condense your research into 20 minutes for an audience of non-specialists. It can be scary because there is  no guide on how to write a conference paper. People work differently, think differently and write differently. This means that most guidance is quite general.

General guidance can be useful, but I don't want to be general. I want to be specific. So, I'm starting a new series. Starting from the 22nd February, I'm going to share exactly how I go about writing a paper in 14 days.

A disclaimer: I am not an expert. This is only the third conference paper I've ever written. So this series is an example, not a comprehensive guide. You might find my way of doing things is perfect for you. You might think this is most absurd approach possible. You might think both. Both is good because what I'd like to do with this series is spark discussion about how different people approach this challenge.

Before I start, I should a few more disclaimers, for context:
1) I am a part-time student. So the 14 days I'm counting are PhD work days, not calendar days.
2) This paper is for a graduate-level, non-specialist conference, so the tone and content are specific to that context.
3) I'm developing my paper from a piece I wrote 6 months ago, so I already have something to start on.  


To help foster conversation, I'll be tweeting the process at #14daypaper. Please join in. I'll storify the tweets once the project is over. If you want to write along with me, please do! Let me know how you get on.


Ready? Let's do this.

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