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Open Up Study Skills
How to get a PhD: a handbook for students and their supervisors
Since the first edition of this innovative book, thousands of doctoral students have gained their doctorates by following the spot-on advice it gives. Across all faculties and disciplines, it remains the book of choice for both students and their supervisors, establishing it as a worldwide bestseller.
This practical book guides students through all they need to know to approach the research, write and defend their ideas and ultimately produce a unique and robust academic thesis. It also gives supervisors and examiners invaluable tips on their role in the process.
With vignettes from doctoral candidates, the book demonstrates how problems can be approached and overcome.
Thoroughly updated to include new technologies and different forms of doctorate, new content includes coverage on:
Studying for a professional doctorate
The specifics of writing your PhD
Equal opportunities for non-traditional students and for students from minority groups
A self-evaluation questionnaire on doctoral supervisory practice (to complement the existing questionnaire on student progress)
"How to Get a PhD "is the essential handbook for doctoral students
280 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1987
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531 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
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January 24, 2018You might be interested to know that the ad for an open PhD position which we just posted on Linguist List mentions Goodreads.
September 28, 2015
I bought this book on the day I found out I had been offered a studentship at the University of Exeter. I was in the streets of Glasgow, feeling both exhilarated and terrified, and I naturally wandered towards where I always go to look for guidance when feeling unsure: books. In this case, Waterstones. This book caught my eye, and after reading it for half an hour, I was feeling calmer and somewhat reassured, so I brought it home with me.
Having finished it, I was not disappointed. This is a very useful book if you’re just starting out your doctorate and you’re unsure about the process, what skills you will need, what exactly is expected of you, and what to expect of your university and your supervisors. It covers topics from time management, to types of research, to practical advice on writing your thesis, and much more. It’s peppered throughout with tips and real-world examples from students and supervisors. If you’re a PhD student and anything like me, it helps to understand that no one has it all figured out, that feelings of excitement are likely to be followed by periods of panic or anxiety, that you are likely to question the interest and relevancy of your research quite regularly, and that writing is a much harder job than most people think. In short, it helps you feel more prepared. I can’t comment on its accuracy since I’m still very early on in the process, but I’ve found that knowing what (probably) lies ahead helps.
On the downside, this is a very general book. There are considerable differences in doing a PhD in the Humanities or Social Sciences, and doing in it Science, Technology or Medicine, for example. The book mentions these differences, but doesn’t go into much detail about them, which means that some of the advice included probably won’t apply to your particular PhD. But it’s a good starting point for a more general view of the process, so I’d recommend it to those who, like me, are on their first year, and still feeling a little lost.
Having finished it, I was not disappointed. This is a very useful book if you’re just starting out your doctorate and you’re unsure about the process, what skills you will need, what exactly is expected of you, and what to expect of your university and your supervisors. It covers topics from time management, to types of research, to practical advice on writing your thesis, and much more. It’s peppered throughout with tips and real-world examples from students and supervisors. If you’re a PhD student and anything like me, it helps to understand that no one has it all figured out, that feelings of excitement are likely to be followed by periods of panic or anxiety, that you are likely to question the interest and relevancy of your research quite regularly, and that writing is a much harder job than most people think. In short, it helps you feel more prepared. I can’t comment on its accuracy since I’m still very early on in the process, but I’ve found that knowing what (probably) lies ahead helps.
On the downside, this is a very general book. There are considerable differences in doing a PhD in the Humanities or Social Sciences, and doing in it Science, Technology or Medicine, for example. The book mentions these differences, but doesn’t go into much detail about them, which means that some of the advice included probably won’t apply to your particular PhD. But it’s a good starting point for a more general view of the process, so I’d recommend it to those who, like me, are on their first year, and still feeling a little lost.
April 22, 2019
some social science students who have read Kuhn’s work on ‘paradigm shifts’ in the history of natural science (science students have normally not heard of him) say rather indignantly: ‘Oh, do you mean a PhD has to be just doing normal science?’ And indeed we do mean that... It is the basic useful activity of scientists and scholars, and PhD students should be pleased to make a contribution to it. You can leave the paradigm shifts for after your PhD...
Liked it - it has a quiet rigour and schoolmistressy focus I wasn't expecting - but my god you have to skim. Many sentences could lose two-thirds of the words without losing any meaning; probably no-one exists for whom every chapter is relevant. But they make skimming easy by listing recommended actions in a box at the start of each chapter.
There's a thoughtful chapter on psychological mechanisms to watch out for.
( e.g. Enthusiasm -> overambition -> failure -> frustration -> no energy;
Specialisation -> isolation -> no stimulation -> no energy;
Learning -> independence -> shorter cycles -> faster learning -> fuzzies and progress.
Boredom -> Boredom -> Boredom. )
The many quotations from current PhD students are nice, showing the range of characters and concomitant problems you face, allowing you to tailor the advice a bit.
They confess that any general book on the matter is necessarily incomplete, since each field has its own defining skills, styles, and norms, often unwritten or badly written.
Call the reigning institutionalised, credentialist way of allocating epistemic value schoolism. This book is a particularly blithe example
It is only by understanding the need for precision and having the ability to apply yourself in a disciplined way that you will eventually get to the point where you have the right to follow up interesting leads and explore a series of ideas that arise out of the work in hand. We suggest that, for the moment, this should be after your doctorate.
(To be fair they also instruct you to think for yourself, to manage your supervisor, etc.)
The "non-traditional students" chapter is interesting, if only for the separate sections for male and female students which have almost the same advice. ("1. Join or establish a [gender]’ peer support group. 2. Discuss with your supervisors any problems in the male/female aspect of the student–supervisor relationship...") Neat but kind of disingenuous.
Questions and answers I (loosely) got from this:
* What needs to be done? -> It's your first job to find out
* What do I need to know to do it? -> field-specific; watch and learn.
* What are the standards? -> Read theses. List the craft practices of a good researcher.
* Who should my advisor be? -> Kind, active researcher, interested in your thing, low flight risk
* What counts as original enough? -> Read theses to find out, take the delta
* What counts as large enough? -> "an increment"
* How do I not get scooped? -> Don't worry about it. The important thing is to notice you have been.
* How do I not freeze up on seeing the fractal connectedness of all things? -> notice it, make a note, then return to your breath.
* What about my mental health? -> Exercise, take breaks and talk to fellow experts
* How do I not feel isolated? -> communicate more and better. Stay excited, people like it.
* What if I fuck up? -> Practice and get feedback! use no technique for the first time in your thesis. Do throwaways, etudes.
* Why should they listen to you? -> because you've nailed everything down and added a cherry
January 13, 2011
A very good book for fresh PhD students. Usually fresh Phd students has a lot of unrealistic expectations about the graduate school. So this book tell people about what the things really could be there in graduate school. What's more, this book list some skills that are important which other books often neglect.
August 15, 2019
Excellent, practical advice that I rather wish I had read BEFORE I wrote my proposal! Still managed it, but it would have been a bit less agonising. A very useful book indeed.
July 1, 2022
An excellent book full of very helpful advice, written in an accessible and encouraging style.
April 19, 2019
I came across this when looking for a guide on effective supervision of students. While only one of the chapters is explicitly targeted at supervisors, it is certainly suitable for generally guiding supervision, containing a great deal of specific advice to the student about the process of undergoing the PhD, which a supervisor can also make use of as a guide and reminder.
There is a pragmatic, descriptive focus to the book, with the authors emphasising the importance of students being responsible for their own studies, and not shying away from or minimising the common and significant psychological pressures of a PhD. A great deal of practical advice is given on the subject of the supervision relationship, including means of opening up necessary communication, strategies for a student to manage a less-than-perfect supervisor, and a clear description of what students should and should not expect, depending on their subject. Some details of the book are now slightly dated so far as the specifics of PhD programmes in the UK, but these are of no significance compared to the overall accuracy of its descriptions and examples as they pertain to PhDs across British academia.
The authors write extremely clearly, and the book is easily consumed in a short span of time (though this is given that the reader already understands the process being described, so students may take longer). I rather wish someone had shown me this (or rather, I had had the foresight to find it) towards the beginning of my own studies. I will endeavour to make sure any students of my own benefit from it.
There is a pragmatic, descriptive focus to the book, with the authors emphasising the importance of students being responsible for their own studies, and not shying away from or minimising the common and significant psychological pressures of a PhD. A great deal of practical advice is given on the subject of the supervision relationship, including means of opening up necessary communication, strategies for a student to manage a less-than-perfect supervisor, and a clear description of what students should and should not expect, depending on their subject. Some details of the book are now slightly dated so far as the specifics of PhD programmes in the UK, but these are of no significance compared to the overall accuracy of its descriptions and examples as they pertain to PhDs across British academia.
The authors write extremely clearly, and the book is easily consumed in a short span of time (though this is given that the reader already understands the process being described, so students may take longer). I rather wish someone had shown me this (or rather, I had had the foresight to find it) towards the beginning of my own studies. I will endeavour to make sure any students of my own benefit from it.
July 4, 2012
Very useful. Helped me out of a bad and demotivating time while on my PhD. Now when I find I am getting low on motivation I also remember some of the advice on this book. It was useful to get some perspective on things and understand that everyone faces major challenges while doing a PhD. I recommend it to anyone involved in academia, especially fellow PhD students and people considering starting a PhD program.
January 6, 2020
This is a handy book for those working towards achieving their PhD. I have attended multiple sessions and workshops about how to approach the PhD, and I was pleased to find that there are still some pieces of advice in this book that I had not heard before and will be using in my work.
Some chapters were more relevant to me at this stage than others, so as a result I did not intently read the whole book from cover to cover. I did, however, read most chapters with interest, skimmed parts of the less relevant chapters, and only completely ignored the chapters at the end that are aimed at supervisors rather than students.
The tone of the author can, at times, be a little too severe for my taste, and there were parts of this book that scared me just a little. However, I do not see this as a complete negative, as it is good to know what one is getting oneself into when they undertake a new project. I came away from this book with more ideas about how to improve my work than apprehensions, so I regard reading this book as a useful and positive experience overall.
This is one that I will be suggesting to others.
Some chapters were more relevant to me at this stage than others, so as a result I did not intently read the whole book from cover to cover. I did, however, read most chapters with interest, skimmed parts of the less relevant chapters, and only completely ignored the chapters at the end that are aimed at supervisors rather than students.
The tone of the author can, at times, be a little too severe for my taste, and there were parts of this book that scared me just a little. However, I do not see this as a complete negative, as it is good to know what one is getting oneself into when they undertake a new project. I came away from this book with more ideas about how to improve my work than apprehensions, so I regard reading this book as a useful and positive experience overall.
This is one that I will be suggesting to others.
May 5, 2018
I read this book more than a decade ago. A friend of mine suggested this book to me when I was a PhD student. Although I was half way through with my PhD work then, I still found it extremely useful. It has practical tips and ideas related to the PhD process. It sheds light on many myths, misconceptions, false fears and unworthy concerns related to the PhD process and informs the reader about more practical issues that need to be dealt with. As well as that it instills a sense of pragmatism in the psyche of the research student. I would say that every research student should definitely read this book once in their life. And it would be better to read it before embarking on the research journey.
December 27, 2024
For me, this is a new case where I wish I had read it sooner. In fact, I'm starting to think about whether I should recommend reading any of its chapters to graduate students who are thinking about starting research.
I got it because I'm particularly interested in the advice about supervisors: you know that even when you've been supervised sometimes it's not so clear what the best practices are, as these are more invisible than the bad ones. Also, you can find some chapters on how to research in general, and it was a good reminder for me, since immersed in the “publish or perish” policy, you can somehow forget it.
I got it because I'm particularly interested in the advice about supervisors: you know that even when you've been supervised sometimes it's not so clear what the best practices are, as these are more invisible than the bad ones. Also, you can find some chapters on how to research in general, and it was a good reminder for me, since immersed in the “publish or perish” policy, you can somehow forget it.
August 14, 2025
This book was borrowed to me by my PhD supervisor and as future PhD candidate, it was quite enlightening and reassuring for me to read it! A PhD is no more than a (training) journey towards becoming a research professional. I read about what are the parts involved in it, from what to do to what not to do, PhD’s parts and process, supervisor-student partnership and even how to supervise and institutional responsibilities. I strongly advise every PhD student or wanna be research professional to read it.
July 16, 2022
This book was a recommendation from one of my colleagues who is finishing her PhD. I asked her about how challenging it was to do a part-time doctorate while working full time. She has given some very good pointers, reading this book was among them. Reading this book made me realised I am not quite there yet to start my PhD.
At the end of the book there are some self-assessment questionnaires that are very useful to check your progress.
At the end of the book there are some self-assessment questionnaires that are very useful to check your progress.
September 5, 2018
Excelente libro para tener en cuenta en la vida de todo investigador. En algunas partes no refleja precisamente la realidad latinoamericana de hacer un doctorado; sin embargo, sigue siendo bastante útil en lo concerniente a definir el objeto del doctorado y desarrollar estrategias para no morir en el intento.
January 14, 2019
A PhD handbook that felt more suitable for me (a European PhD candidate) than other books I've read, probably since this book focuses on British PhD students. Clear and actionable advice. The book contains less fluff that the usual how-to books. I skipped some of the chapters that were not relevant to my situation (how to examine, and advice for institutions).
February 12, 2021
Bir tezin nasıl yazılacağından veya yazılması gerektiğinden ziyade sürece odaklanan bir kitap. Yer yer cesaret ve umut kırıcı fakat diğer yandan karşılaşılan veya karşılaşılabilecek potansiyel sorunları ortaya koyması ve bunlara yönelik çözümler geliştirmeye yönlendirmesi açısından önemli bir kaynak.
July 29, 2021
Recomiendo este libro a toda persona que desee realizar estudios de doctorado o se encuentre ya cursando algún programa. Más que conveniente es necesario que una persona esté atenta a cada una de las sugerencias y los hechos narrados por los autores.
Desde mi experiencia considero que conocer este tema me hubiese ayudado a transitar con mayor facilidad el tiempo de estudios.
Desde mi experiencia considero que conocer este tema me hubiese ayudado a transitar con mayor facilidad el tiempo de estudios.
November 30, 2021
The book entails practical advice and real experience of research students. It helps a lot for anyone who wants to pursue research career but is unsure how. The book is general, covering topics about communication with supervisors, time management, academic writing and so on. It is applicable to all subjects with a pinch of salt.
September 1, 2025
It's a concise guide that, generally, covers all aspects that are needed to get a PhD. I found it to be useful and got some motivation towards my PhD. I have also adopted some of the advice from the book, and had a change of attitude towards my PhD. Overall, i think it's a good read for all people considering or going through the terminal degree.
January 6, 2018
This is a really really really good book. Although it tackles mainly the British PhD system more than the American but overall it's very helpful and illuminating. Took me a year to finish, but was immensely enjoyable. Would recommend.
November 21, 2021
This book lays out the entire PhD preparation journey, but focusing on the process and the potential pitfalls you may face. The students can refer to this book for some guidance at each step of their doctoral research.
December 6, 2021
It helps you understand whether you are a type of person who enjoys getting a PhD.
I suggest this book to the people who are looking for a PhD position.
The authors could make the book smaller; however, as they say, it is not necessary to read this book from cover to cover.
I suggest this book to the people who are looking for a PhD position.
The authors could make the book smaller; however, as they say, it is not necessary to read this book from cover to cover.
August 13, 2022
An excellent summary of what a PhD is all about through a multi-faceted analysis for the prerequisites of acquiring one. Also, a quite helpful guide for UK research students. Definitely a great read in prior to a Research Programme.
May 12, 2025
Determination and application, rather than brilliance - that one line really struck me. This book changed my whole perspective on obtaining a PhD for the better. I am much more aware of what is required and how goals can be set more realistically to complete work along the way.
August 22, 2017
مش ضرورى اعتقد و كلام كتير ملوش لازمه و بديهى -_-
August 8, 2018
It's a very clear and comforting read. I wish I've read it earlier.
December 3, 2018
Compreshensive insight and examples for those intending to pursue a PhD.
March 21, 2019
A little dated but a good introduction specific to the UK PhD experience.
December 1, 2019
Muy bueno, un gran libro para aclara que es un doctorado y lo que implica. :)
June 10, 2020
The book is a little dated but the content is still very relevant to today's academic world. This is a great book full of useful information. Helpful for PhD candidates and also their supervisors.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews