We have all asked our first and second year PhD students to compose a review article, a chapter or at least an abstract for a conference. And we have all received writings that were well below average making us wonder, perhaps not reasonably, how our students managed to go through high school, undergrad and master studies without even picking up how to compose a simple paragraph. Apparently, this can happen. And part of learning how to be a scientist is learning how to communicate ideas in written form.
I believe that before things come down to composing a review or research article or even a PhD dissertation, you should make sure your students know how to handle themselves around writing. I can tell you from personal experience that receiving a thesis or a review article by someone that has never written anything before for editing is no fun at all. You end up exhausted from all the corrections you need to make and you will cause nothing but defensiveness and frustration to your student.
So, roll up your sleeves, because if you want your students to make you proud one day, you need to teach them how to write before they get to write their theses. In this article I outline a few useful tips that may navigate you through the tough process of teaching someone how to properly jot down their science.
Baby Step 1: Make sure the English is there.
Well, the good news is that there’s nothing much for you to do, if your student’s English is bad. Unless of course you also studied English and you have the time and willingness to teach them. That would be absolutely fantastic but, it is also completely unrealistic. What you can do if you are like me that English is not my first language and I don’t have time to teach it either, is to insist that your student takes up English lessons early on. This can be done with a proper teacher, with an online method or even with online seminars on scientific/academic writing for beginners. There’s plenty of those out there. You cannot babysit your students but occasionally asking how the lessons are going might remind them how important it is for them to be able to write correctly. On a side note, you could ask for your regular written lab reports (if you have them) in English and/or have your lab meetings in English. It will keep everyone on their toes the first few times but the benefit is massive. I once tried to establish “English Wednesdays” in my lab and although it didn’t last for longer than a few weeks I think people found it helpful.
Baby Step 2: Ask for written summaries of research articles.
Once the English issue is out of the way, start small. Don’t wait for the invitation from a journal to ask them to write a review while giving them also a strict deadline. I can assure you, if you do this, you will probably risk the future cardiovascular health of your student.
A review or a chapter requires that a person has not only read and understood the literature but that they also know how to cite, how to combine findings from different publications and have a relative perspective of the field. Isn’t this a bit much to ask from a junior PhD student? If you are not sure, let me tell you that it IS too much. You should expect them to want to do this, you should expect them to want to learn how to do this, but in no way should you expect them to know how to do this when they join your group for a PhD. I’m not saying that there aren’t exceptions. However, mostly junior PhD students have massive difficulties, and they shouldn’t be ashamed because they have all the time ahead of them to fix it.
So, a couple of months after your fresh PhD student joins your group, send them an interesting paper on their topic and ask for a summary specifying that it should not resemble the abstract. Perhaps you can add a little twist in it and ask for a few sentences emphasizing the novelty of the paper or how it could be relevant to your student’s project.
Receiving a small paragraph will not only give you hints on possible weaknesses but also, it will take you a few moments to correct it and give back condensed and meaningful input your student will put to use in the next paragraph you’ll ask them to write.
On a side note, if the English is still shaky and you cannot discriminate between difficulties in the use of English or in the understanding of the paper to be summarized, ask for a summary in the native language of your student, that is if you share it of course.
Baby Step 3: Ask for a comparison of two papers on the same topic
Once the summaries are good and they flow, start raising the difficulty slowly. I have used the following construct: I knew there were 2 papers contradicting each other in the literature on the topic of my student’s thesis. Therefore, I asked him to write a summary of each one and then another paragraph discussing his own opinion on the matter. There’s a lot of room for improvisation there. You can ask your student to place his or her opinion based on data from your own lab or even his or her own project if it’s advanced enough, or simply give an opinion based on other papers. The point is that your student will have to use language that we use in science to argue a point and not just describe facts. That’s already a huge advancement. It might take some time to get there of course, but when you get there, it will be worth the effort 100%.
Baby step 4: Assign the writing of a chapter or small review to your student but not as a sole author.
Preferably, either write it with them or ask more senior members of your group to write it with them. That way, you will ease them into handling big chunks of information. I find it very helpful, and my students do too, if we decide on the topic and then we spend a few days organizing the sections of the article or chapter. We maybe even write a couple of bullet points for each section so that we all know what needs to be researched and written. I also ask once a week more or less how things are going with the writing and I am there if they have questions or doubts about what to include. I don’t micromanage. I believe they should write freely without me breathing over their shoulders. There is going to be a lot of back-and-forth, especially if it’s their first time writing something, but I always give them plenty of time so that we can work on the manuscript with peace of mind. Learning how to write well is not something done overnight or when you are under pressure. Make sure you give clear and specific feedback when commenting on your student’s mistakes. Be helpful and not judgmental.
Once the baby steps are followed through, your students should feel more confident for their next writing assignment. Don’t exhaust them by asking 5 chapters and reviews a year but make sure they are involved in writing assignments regularly.
Are you currently or have you ever encountered difficulty writing? Do you have a specific type of difficulty when teaching your students how to write? Share in the comments!
