Front cover -- Half title -- Title page -- copyright -- Contents -- List of figures -- Preface to the third edition -- Chapter 1 Why and how to use this book -- Why use this book? -- How and why the book can help, whatever your degree programme -- How and why the book can help, whatever your background and experience -- How and why the book can help in your topic and discipline -- How and why the book can help outside the United Kingdom -- How the book can help in the face of rapid changes in postgraduate education -- How and why the book can make a real difference to your research programme -- The best order to work through the chapters -- What the book does and does not do -- What else should you know? -- Chapter 2 Exploring routes, opportunities and funding -- The profusion of postgraduate awards -- Credit rating at postgraduate level -- Modes of postgraduate registration -- Fees and sources of funding -- Choosing the type of course or programme -- Is postgraduate research right for you? -- Making a short list of possible institutions -- Towards a research topic -- Chapter 3 Making an application -- The importance of pre-registration groundwork -- Timing first contacts with an institution -- Being interviewed for a place -- Checking out supervisory matters -- Agreeing work with or for an outside organization -- Handling other formalities -- Making an application -- Handling an offer -- Using waiting time constructively -- Chapter 4 Producing the research proposal -- The requirement to write one's own research proposal -- How the research proposal helps everyone concerned -- The limitations of a research proposal -- Essential elements of a research proposal -- Fleshing out the research proposal -- Putting boundaries on the research proposal -- The writing style of the research proposal -- Issues of time when preparing a research proposal.

Adapting the proposal to apply for a small grant or other funds -- Chapter 5 Settling in and taking stock -- The importance of settling in quickly -- Using induction events profitably -- Taking advantage of 'office' facilities on-campus -- Setting yourself up with office facilities off-campus -- Getting to know the academic staff -- Getting to know the people in the 'community' -- Getting to know how things work in the department -- Using public and other libraries -- Identifying national and international sources of support -- Chapter 6 Interacting with supervisors -- The importance of student-supervisor relationships -- The composition of supervisory teams -- Points to watch for with team supervision -- Roles and responsibilities of supervisors and students -- The developing nature of supervision -- Arranging meetings with a supervisor -- Making the most of meetings with supervisors -- Keeping records of meetings with supervisors -- Asking a supervisor for feedback and advice -- Responding to feedback and criticism from a supervisor -- Handling dissatisfaction with supervision -- Chapter 7 Reading round the subject: working procedures -- Why the work of others is important -- Identifying and accessing relevant material -- Reading purposefully and effectively -- Bibliographic management software -- Systems and styles for citing sources -- Using literature in your own work -- Implications for a 'Literature survey/Review' -- The distinction between a 'References' section and a 'Bibliography' -- Chapter 8 Reading round the subject: evaluating quality -- The importance of being able to evaluate the work of others -- Issues to consider when evaluating the work of others -- How do they use terms like 'research area', 'topic', 'theme', 'focus', 'hypothesis' and 'problem'? -- How do they use research methodologies?.

How do they demonstrate academic argument, academic discourse and scholarship? -- How do they use literature? -- What is their claim for original work? -- What is their claim for significant work? -- What is their claim for the reliability of their work? -- What is their claim for the validity of their work? -- The nature of 'truth': research paradigms and frameworks -- The 'traditional' research paradigm -- The 'interpretivist' research paradigm -- How appropriately are works of others set into research paradigms? -- The benchmark for quality -- Where next? -- Chapter 9 Handling ethical issues -- The place of ethics in research -- Towards an ethical research proposal -- Getting the research proposal approved for ethical considerations -- The ethics of ownership in research: conflicts of interest -- The ethics of ownership of the work of others: plagiarism -- Avoiding 'unintentional' plagiarism -- What to do if you meet malpractice and fraud -- Subject-specific ethical guidelines -- Chapter 10 Managing influences of personal circumstances -- The influences of personal circumstances and the need to adjust -- The full-time/part-time divide -- Being a 'mature' student -- Working away from the institution -- Undertaking research with or for an outside organization -- Undertaking teaching in the institution and being a 'graduate teaching assistant' -- Staff or student status? -- Fitting research into and around other paid employment -- Handling effects on family life -- Handling effects of living accommodation -- Coping with disability -- Handling illness, financial difficulties and other emergencies -- Other influential personal circumstances -- The three necessities: health, motivation and support -- Chapter 11 Succeeding as an 'overseas' research student -- The challenges of being a postgraduate research student outside your home country.

Preparing yourself while still at home -- Selecting a suitable institution -- Funding issues and their implications -- Timing the application -- The challenge of working in another language -- The challenge of thinking independently -- Other possible challenges -- Chapter 12 Managing your skills development -- The importance of skills -- The characteristics of a skill -- The process of becoming skilled -- The transferability of skills -- Ways of thinking about the skills developed in postgraduate research -- Recognizing the skills that you will develop in your own research -- A do-it-yourself training needs analysis/skills audit -- The joint statement on skills by the UK Research Councils -- Collecting and using evidence to demonstrate skills proficiency -- Locating suitable training -- 'Personal development planning' (PDP) -- The place of PDP in formal assessment processes -- Chapter 13 Planning out the work -- The value of working to a plan -- Planning in the long/short term -- The project management approach to planning -- The critical path approach to planning -- Developing a style of plan for your own use -- Identifying what is to go into a plan -- Planning extended work on location -- Coping with things not going according to plan -- Abandoning a plan -- Chapter 14 Getting into a productive routine -- The importance of a productive routine -- Maintaining a sense of direction: roles in which researchers need to operate -- Keeping records of ongoing work -- Finding out where your time goes -- Using time efficiently when supervisions and seminars are cancelled -- Matching the task to the time-slot -- Handling interruptions -- Coping with information overload -- Managing time at home with partners and family -- Managing time at the computer and on the Internet -- Attending training -- Using departmental research seminars.

Networking and serendipity -- Keeping 'office hours' versus using the 'psychological moment' -- Keeping 'office hours' versus keeping going for hours at a time -- Matching your approach to your preferred learning style -- Using music to manage yourself -- Directing your research to suit your personal needs and preferences -- Maintaining a healthy lifestyle -- Being realistic with yourself -- Chapter 15 Cooperating with others for mutual support -- The importance of mutual help and support -- Receiving advice, feedback and criticism -- Accepting or rejecting advice, feedback and criticism -- The rights and wrongs of using help from other people -- Looking after one's intellectual property when helping other people -- Supporting and getting support from other students -- Getting advice from academics in the department -- Soliciting help from experts in other institutions -- Getting support from family and friends -- Getting support from colleagues in the workplace -- Giving advice, feedback and criticism -- Chapter 16 Producing progress reports -- The importance of reports during the research programme -- Developing the content of a report -- Structuring the report -- Using basic word processing features to aid structuring -- Constructing the introductory paragraph as an orientation to the report -- Constructing the final paragraph for effective closure of the report -- Citing literature -- Adding figures and tables -- Adding appendices -- Developing an academic writing style -- Making the writing process more effective and efficient -- Capitalizing on all the features of word processing software -- Using reports to get feedback and advice -- Towards writing the thesis -- Chapter 17 Giving presentations on your work -- The value of giving presentations -- Identifying the purposes of a presentation -- Developing the content of a presentation.

Developing the structure of a presentation.