On the Day After a Rejection
A rejection does not take the paper away from you. It changes your relationship to the paper. This field note explains what to do the day after a rejection and…
Field Notes
Shorter observations on methods, teaching, service, and the daily practice of research.
On the Temptation to Cite People You Have Never Read
Not every citation carries the same responsibility. This field note explains when inherited citations are acceptable, when they become risky, and why serious citations should be read before they are…
The Footnote That Belongs in the Main Text
Some footnotes are not asides. They contain qualifications, objections, methods, or theoretical claims that the paper depends on. This field note explains how to identify the footnotes that should be…
How to Read a Peer Review on the Day You Receive It
The day a peer review arrives is not the day to answer it. This field note explains how to read reviewer comments carefully, separate emotion from editorial judgment, and prepare…
What an Abstract Is, What It Is Not, and the Sentence Most Researchers Leave Out
Most abstracts summarize what a paper contains. Strong abstracts do more. They state what the paper finds and why that finding matters. This field note explains the consequence sentence many…