Notes on doing research properly. Referenced, practical guidance on methods, evidence, writing and citing — 5 published articles and counting.
Proposals & problem statements6 min read
A proposal is a promise about the study you intend to carry out. This guide works through the structure a supervisor expects, the problem statement, objectives, questions, methodology and scope, and the mistakes that send drafts back for revision.
Read the articleAlso in this issue
Academic integrity & AI
AI can help you read, plan, check and revise. It cannot be the source of your claims. This piece covers verification, fabricated citations, disclosure, privacy and the institutional rules that apply to you.
11 Oct 2026
Dissertation & thesis preparation
What each chapter is for, how the research questions connect to the methodology, how the literature supports the problem, and why the conclusion must follow from findings you actually have.
11 Oct 2026
Proposals & problem statements6 min read
A proposal is a promise about the study you intend to carry out. This guide works through the structure a supervisor expects, the problem statement, objectives, questions, methodology and scope, and the mistakes that send drafts back for revision.
Latest articles
Every piece is written to be read end to end — one idea, worked through, with the sources it stands on.
Academic integrity & AI5 min read
AI can help you read, plan, check and revise. It cannot be the source of your claims. This piece covers verification, fabricated citations, disclosure, privacy and the institutional rules that apply to you.
Dissertation & thesis preparation6 min read
What each chapter is for, how the research questions connect to the methodology, how the literature supports the problem, and why the conclusion must follow from findings you actually have.
Citations & referencing5 min read
In-text citations and reference entries do different jobs. This explainer covers author and date formats, direct quotation, paraphrasing, DOI handling and the mistakes that appear most often in marked work.
Literature reviews5 min read
Where to search, how to phrase a query, how to tell a scholarly article from a confident web page, and how to keep track of what you have read so the reference list writes itself.