Methods Festival 2017Session description form
30.-31.5. University of Jyväskylä
Session name: How to write the summary for my article based PhD?
Session Chair:Kirsi Lumme-Sandt(University of Tampere)
Session content and objective:
The publication-based, the article-based dissertation, PhD by publication… Whatever this this doctoral thesis format is called, it normally opens with a short summary and reflection of the articles and results included therein. Paradoxically with the increasing popularity of the format across academic disciplines, clear guidelines as to how to write the summary and what should be included in it remain a rarity. A range of different traditions in different universities and disciplines clearly co-exist, and no fool-proof single format can be identified for the writing of the summary. This session discusses the different genres of PhD summaries and provides practical tips on various aspects concerning the writing process.
The session consists of individual presentations where both personal experiences are reflected on, and practical aspects are raised. This is followed by a panel discussion during which experienced supervisors and recently graduated PhDs share their views and respond to questions from the audience. The session encourages discussion & debate with, and questions from the audience.
Background reading that may interest you (in Finnish)
Themes and speakers:
Name: Pirjo Nikander(University of Tampere)
Title of the presentation: The summary as a genre and a meta-text.
This presentation discusses the article-based PhD as a genre, and the role, format and contents of the summary across disciplines. During it, I wish to discuss and to raise discussion with the audience on:
- The technical and practical guidelines concerning the summary across
disciplines and universities.
- The danger of simply learning from existing, already published examples.
- Questions of self-plagiarism when applying cut-and-paste -practice.
- The wider role of the summary as a meta-text
Name: NelliPiattoeva
Title of the presentation: Summary article as a metanarrative
This presentation identifies some of the critical tasks of writing and supervising the summary article of a publication-based doctoral thesis. It argues that the summary article should be perceived as a meta narrative that not only reiterates the theoretical and methodological choices, and the empirical results, reported in the individual papers, but also, and more importantly, builds a story that explains how the individual papers link to each other and how they address the research objectives of the entire PhD. Writing the summary article enables the doctoral student to distance him/herself from the individual publications to consider and clarify their specific roles and contributions. In this manner the summary article actually guides the future readers in how they approach the individual publications.
The perspectives offered in this talk reflect the speaker’s personal experiences as a doctoral student, a PhD supervisor and a PhD pre-examiner.
Panel discussion
professor Maarit Alasuutari, University of Jyväskylä
professor Sarianna Sipilä, University of Jyväskylä
professor emeritus Pertti Järvinen, University of Tampere
University lecturer, PhD NelliPiattoeva, University of Tampere
University teacher, PhD Matias Slavov, University of Jyväskylä