We Thought We Solved Everything. Then the Printer Jammed.

If everything is figured out, then there is no need to question and no mysteries to uncover with curiosity. We Thought We Solved Everything… I’ve been pondering whether those of us haunted by impostor syndrome are onto something. Perhaps it’s not us but those without this self-doubt who are missing the mark. Maybe we’re not … Read more

What should a Ph.D. student do if their scientific writing doesn’t seem good enough? Is there any way to improve it?

(Adapted from an answer I gave several years ago to this question on Quora) I’m assuming you are actively writing. If not, you must start there. Here are some things I have tried to follow to improve my scientific writing: Understand the basic parts of a scientific paper. This might sound trivial, but it is the … Read more

A Systematic Guide to Literature Reviews

As a graduate student, I’ve looked at hundreds of research papers. Over the years, I realized the necessity to develop a system for myself to effectively keep track of, organize, and process – in a word, harness – all this knowledge. Further, I realized I needed to have a system that made it easy to … Read more

An Authorship Framework for Research Papers

Authorship disputes are a persistent problem in academia, and they often lead to feelings of resentment. These disputes are a waste of energy, discouraging, and (mostly) avoidable. To reduce the chance of disputes in my lab, I reviewed a couple of journal papers on authorship guidelines and an example or two that other labs had … Read more