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Study Skills Series
The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research
Returning in its 3rd edition, this bestselling book on the process of PhD research provides friendly, engaging, and realistic advice on how to complete your doctorate.
268 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2004
94 people are currently reading
1278 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
August 24, 2014
The main advice of the book: Don't panic and blurt out the truth. :)
August 19, 2013
An excellent text on how to be an effective and efficient PhD student. The advice is general enough to be applicable to the majority of PhD programs, yet specific enough to not be vague, and to actually be helpful. My specific area of research is math / computer science, and the advice in this book is indeed quite useful. One of the habits I started from this book which I've found quite helpful is to maintain an updated annotated bibliography of all of the papers I've read. This has saved me quite a bit of time in my own writing and research. The book was written in the UK, so some of the differences in PhD procedure is a bit pronounced, but this is a minor gripe. I also thoroughly enjoyed the use of coffee throughout this book.
March 5, 2018
Doktora sürecini başından sonuna eğlenceli bir şekilde anlatmaya çalışan bir kitap. Kitap adı üstünde yazısız kurallardan bahsettiği ve bu kuralların yazılı hale getirilmemesinin bir nedeni de çok bilindik olmaları olduğu için yeni bir şey öğreniyormuş gibi hissetmiyorsunuz. Doktora öğrencisinden beklenen yetkinliklerin anlatıldığı ilk bölümler başarılı.
Ancak yazarların tez danışmanını ve tez jürisini tanrılaştırma, öğrenciyi ise kooskoca akademide yerini bilmesi gereken bir faniye indirgeme eğilimleri var. Burjuva akademisinin yapılanışına ilişkin eleştirelliğin olmamasını geçtim, bu kalıbın tek alternatif olduğunu da öğreniyoruz: Akademisyen ya statü, ya iktidar peşindedir ya da araştırmayı seviyordur, hobisini işi yapmıştır, diyorlar açık açık. Hakikat arayışı, ezilenin yanında saf tutma, dünyayı dönüştürme mi? Hiç duymamışlar.
Ancak yazarların tez danışmanını ve tez jürisini tanrılaştırma, öğrenciyi ise kooskoca akademide yerini bilmesi gereken bir faniye indirgeme eğilimleri var. Burjuva akademisinin yapılanışına ilişkin eleştirelliğin olmamasını geçtim, bu kalıbın tek alternatif olduğunu da öğreniyoruz: Akademisyen ya statü, ya iktidar peşindedir ya da araştırmayı seviyordur, hobisini işi yapmıştır, diyorlar açık açık. Hakikat arayışı, ezilenin yanında saf tutma, dünyayı dönüştürme mi? Hiç duymamışlar.
October 13, 2025
I started reading this before embarking on a PhD. I’m not sure what I think. I’ll have to reread parts of it.
I think I learned many unspoken rules during my PhD that were not contained in the book. Some unspoken rules include:
- you can use existing datasets as a fast track to getting data if your data collection is slow (for cog neuro research anyway)
- you can also write a literature review as a way to get more publications of data collection is slow or not yielding results
- academia is full of politics, appearance, status games and reputation games. Tread carefully. If people feel their expertise or authority is being challenged by a mere graduate students that’s not ideal.
- people research you even though you’re a mere graduate student. Before classes begin faculty almost always look over the roster to know who everyone is.
- a lot of success is about being ok with failure, trial and error, null results, trying again.
- you can look for mentorship elsewhere besides your advisor
- academia is an environment full of gossip and the gossip isn’t just entertainment, it’s how people learn about each other
- grants are a big deal for faculty - more than I ever knew before my PhD. You have to be careful to not get sucked into becoming a grant writer instead of a researcher
- a lot of things can be outsourced to undergraduate assistants - one of the best resources to be honest. But you have to train them well and motivate them.
- a lot of time is not spent on research but on planning to do research (getting ethics approval, picking a design, building and testing the experiment etc.)
- building social relationships and a network and having a positive reputation is a big part of academia, more so than in most regular jobs at a company / business. It’s a small world.
- your contract says you work 40 hours a week but you will always work more, and you will never get paid over time.
I think I learned many unspoken rules during my PhD that were not contained in the book. Some unspoken rules include:
- you can use existing datasets as a fast track to getting data if your data collection is slow (for cog neuro research anyway)
- you can also write a literature review as a way to get more publications of data collection is slow or not yielding results
- academia is full of politics, appearance, status games and reputation games. Tread carefully. If people feel their expertise or authority is being challenged by a mere graduate students that’s not ideal.
- people research you even though you’re a mere graduate student. Before classes begin faculty almost always look over the roster to know who everyone is.
- a lot of success is about being ok with failure, trial and error, null results, trying again.
- you can look for mentorship elsewhere besides your advisor
- academia is an environment full of gossip and the gossip isn’t just entertainment, it’s how people learn about each other
- grants are a big deal for faculty - more than I ever knew before my PhD. You have to be careful to not get sucked into becoming a grant writer instead of a researcher
- a lot of things can be outsourced to undergraduate assistants - one of the best resources to be honest. But you have to train them well and motivate them.
- a lot of time is not spent on research but on planning to do research (getting ethics approval, picking a design, building and testing the experiment etc.)
- building social relationships and a network and having a positive reputation is a big part of academia, more so than in most regular jobs at a company / business. It’s a small world.
- your contract says you work 40 hours a week but you will always work more, and you will never get paid over time.
April 22, 2015
Amazing book! I tend to have a bit of different philosophy from the authors, because of which I almost stopped reading after the third chapter. However, the book has amazing advice and perspective on the PhD. I think the most valuable element is that this book really focuses on the "in-between-the-lines" advice that is hard to articulate. For example, did you know that a reviewer can tell a lot about your character from the way that you present your references in terms of grammar and organization?
Overall this book is well done, and is at a level that should be reviewed by all PhD students.
Overall this book is well done, and is at a level that should be reviewed by all PhD students.
Want to read
April 29, 2013Useful, but occasionally rather blunt and cynical.
May 22, 2017
Good guide to PhD life. I wish I read it in my first year :)
January 2, 2021
Great book! Everything that academia expects you to know, but you had nowhere to learn.
December 19, 2023
my reading progress/pace on this hilariously reflects the PhD... (started a few months before the PhD, finished with a manic skim on a plane a few months before the end of the PhD) - I think this worked out because at the beginning I was going in with good things to know in advance, and by the end, I was reading about defenses and job talks and all the relevant things for the end of the degree program.
it's highly specific to PhDs in the UK, but to be expected as it was recommended to me by a friend who did his PhD in the UK.
it's also a bit outdated by now (presentation tips: have OverHead Projector slides as a backup?) and has a very particularly British-academic sense of humor, which sometimes felt a bit tiresome.
would probably give this 3.5 stars! just somewhat hard to pin down when is a really good time to read it, and needs some adequate context to understand what is relevant and not to one's culture and field. judging from my early annotations, I think I found a lot of the early content useful in the sense of figuring out what mindsets were healthy to adopt. I guess this is true of later sections too - I found it surprisingly validating to see a whole subsection dedicated to suggesting one takes time to tidy one's space of clutter, very relevant to some recent struggles.
I guess something that perpetuates a dropoff in momentum of reading it is, in the midst of the actual PhD, it feels better to take a rest from it than to read more about how to do it well.
I think it's an especially good resource for students who are not getting a lot of explicit support from their supervisors or don't have a mentorship community, or even a quick skim for those who are simply considering the PhD.
it's highly specific to PhDs in the UK, but to be expected as it was recommended to me by a friend who did his PhD in the UK.
it's also a bit outdated by now (presentation tips: have OverHead Projector slides as a backup?) and has a very particularly British-academic sense of humor, which sometimes felt a bit tiresome.
would probably give this 3.5 stars! just somewhat hard to pin down when is a really good time to read it, and needs some adequate context to understand what is relevant and not to one's culture and field. judging from my early annotations, I think I found a lot of the early content useful in the sense of figuring out what mindsets were healthy to adopt. I guess this is true of later sections too - I found it surprisingly validating to see a whole subsection dedicated to suggesting one takes time to tidy one's space of clutter, very relevant to some recent struggles.
I guess something that perpetuates a dropoff in momentum of reading it is, in the midst of the actual PhD, it feels better to take a rest from it than to read more about how to do it well.
I think it's an especially good resource for students who are not getting a lot of explicit support from their supervisors or don't have a mentorship community, or even a quick skim for those who are simply considering the PhD.
July 10, 2019
Sound advice for PhD students across disciplines. The title captures the content perfectly, the best guide I’ve seen so far to reading between the lines in academic contexts.
October 28, 2016
I would give this book 10 stars if I could. For me, it's one of the coolest, most down-to-earth and enlightening books I've read so far.
This book has given me "new eyes" for the PhD study - as an apprenticeship.
But more than that, the way this book decomposes and demystifies the PhD process, the techniques/suggestions it shares to deal with various problems, and the perspectives it keeps to see PhD study as a piece in a big picture (life), are all invaluable and transferable to dealing with other problems in life.
To end it with a quote from this book, "Learn to accept the pain as a friend and your life will be transformed."
This book has given me "new eyes" for the PhD study - as an apprenticeship.
But more than that, the way this book decomposes and demystifies the PhD process, the techniques/suggestions it shares to deal with various problems, and the perspectives it keeps to see PhD study as a piece in a big picture (life), are all invaluable and transferable to dealing with other problems in life.
To end it with a quote from this book, "Learn to accept the pain as a friend and your life will be transformed."
December 25, 2012
A friendly, easy to read description of some of the most important parts of doing a PhD. It gives you a general overview of what you should be aware of, in particular things which are "unofficial" but are expected of you. I would recommend this not only to current PhD students, but also to anyone considering going for one.
March 28, 2020
Deep Dive Into The Tacit Rules of a Ph.D.
A good read for future or current Ph.D. (or other graduate) students to learn about useful general tips for a Ph.D. that are generally not shared or discussed when one starts their doctoral studies. The one drawback of this book is that it’s really written for those who are in the Humanities. Otherwise a good read.
A good read for future or current Ph.D. (or other graduate) students to learn about useful general tips for a Ph.D. that are generally not shared or discussed when one starts their doctoral studies. The one drawback of this book is that it’s really written for those who are in the Humanities. Otherwise a good read.
December 31, 2020
Great book with lots of undisclosed tips on how to excel with the PhD. Quite comprehensive as it covers everything from literature review, to finding a research question to interviews and CV. Useful tool as reference for tips. For more detail on topics it may be better to refer to other more in depth books
February 27, 2013
I enjoyed reading this thoughtful book that goes beyond different perspectives about doing the PhD and what follows next. It does not only cover the obvious rules of PhD, but also cover how other supervisors think of you as a researcher.
July 4, 2016
Slightly patronizing - authors kind of assume that phd students are lazy and dumb, but then again maybe bad behavior does happen a lot. Otherwise very helpful tips, especially if you have no clue how to handle your phd life. Mainly informative for me as I've already read a lot on the subject.
October 11, 2018
Might want to re-visit a year or two after this. It has all chapter that you need for your PhD. Really helpful, and funny. Written in a way, as the author said, like conversation over a cup of coffee. Recommended.
April 21, 2019
if you are thinking to get a PhD, read this book
if you are just started PhD, read this book
if you just finished Viva , read this book
in summary, you should read this book regardless in which stage your PhD is..
if you are just started PhD, read this book
if you just finished Viva , read this book
in summary, you should read this book regardless in which stage your PhD is..
May 20, 2012
A must read by any PhD student.
December 1, 2011
A superb book. Motivating and informative
March 2, 2013
Good read if you are either pursuing or planning to pursue a PhD.
August 27, 2013
Highly recommended. I read it cover to cover.
September 22, 2013
Very useful guide for joining the world of academia and preparing, writing and completing an academic research.
January 5, 2016
Genuinely entertaining explanation of things one should expect to encounter during a PhD program.
October 10, 2016
This book doesn't need a fancy review, it needs a fancy re-reading. Lots of useful stuff.
May 30, 2017
Straightforward, with a decent bit of humor. Certainly not bloated, unlike a lot of these sorts of books, which I always appreciate.
December 13, 2017
I should have read this two years ago--having validated a lot of its lessons by experience rather than through received wisdom.
August 17, 2019
Very helpful indeed, I must read it again and again as I go through my PhD.
September 21, 2019
A very practical (and very funny) book that provides lots of sound advice on how to really get the best out of your doctoral experience.
December 10, 2019
Saved my life.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews