For PhD Students

The 10 commandments of a PhD

1. Edit and spell check before sending a draft.

2. Before sending the draft read it again.

      • Does it make sense?
      • Are there any redundant repetitions?

3. What are the main literature questions?

4. What are the literature controversies/gaps?

5. If there is a shortcoming? Are you suggesting you make a methodological contribution?

6. What are you proposing to research, ie what are the main hypotheses? State them clearly.

7. How do you propose to test your hypotheses?

      • a. Data (Country and Variables) – Why is this data interesting / useful?
      • b. Date Range – is it recent and long-enough period?
      • c. Methodology / model – Is there any support in the literature for choosing one methodology over others?

8. What are your main findings?

9. What can we learn from your study? What can one take way? Do your findings have policy implications?

10. Re-check your draft. What are the main weaknesses a critical reviewer could pick out, ie. How can you avoid a “so what?” moment. Can they be dealt with or are they inherent limitations?


Source: Professor Dimitris Andriosopoulos, Professor in Finance, Strathclyde Business School