Motivation

	Make it clear for yourself why you want to do what you do. This is very important to you, but not so important for anyone else. If you don't have a strong motivation to learn about the problems themselves, you had better forget the whole thing. Just to become doctor is not a sufficient reason. Therefore do not spend much time telling the story of how you got motivated about what you do.
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Plan

	Your study plan will initially function as the proposal for your studies. It will later be the body of text that evolves along the process as your own guideline and serves as the means to convince supervisors, funding sources, research schools etc. about your intentions.	Link to
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Focus

	Make sure that you know exactly what issues are within your field and which ones fall outside.
	Don't worry if such clearly distinct fields do not exist in the real world, you may have to force them. Your focus should be narrow enough for you to become a universal expert of that field, yet broad enough to make sense. Do not try to cover everything.
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Background

	Make sure you know every work done in the field before you in your field of focus. SPEND A LOT OF TIME here.
	Get acquainted with the classics of the field (often books) as well as new trends (often journal or conference articles).
	Build a mental map of the opposing paradigms and views and define your positionwith respect to them, critically.
	Read at least a couple of dissertations of the field of close to the field. What are the bottom, top and acceptable levels? Device a file system and a tools of keeping track of everything and to facilitatereferring to literature.
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Thesis or claim

	Against the background of the above mentioned, WHAT DO YOU CLAIM? What are your primary assumptions or intuitions that can turn out to be right or wrong, work or not work, effective vs. noneffective, satisfactory vs. unsatisfactory? What is it that you do and nobody else has done you know this for sure because you are a universal expert of your focus area)? What is the aspect of novelty you introduce?
	Remember Popper: Hypotheses should be falsifiable. That is, whatever you claim should not be obvious or something that can be said to be true whatever the results.
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Method

	What artistic or scientific tools do you use to work out your goals? Figure out what tools exist from methodological litterature. Do not reinvent a wheel! Learn the methods, achieve the tools. Go ahead and borrow tools from other fields, but learn to use them properly. SPEND MUCH TIME here. REJECT INTROSPECTION as a method! It is a way to achieve intuitions, not a research method. Relying on it will lead to a catastrophe.
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Objectivity vs. subjectivity

	Whether or not you believe in objectivity or truth (I don't), work as if you did. Unlike art, in research nobody should strive toward subjectivity. In my opinion, doctoral projects may contain subjectivity-driven parts, i.e. art productions, but the thesis should strive toward the opposite direction, i.e. analytic distance to one's own world. Not easy!
	Anchor your work to a ground with a maximally good holding: Definitions that as many people as possible agree with, empirical results if possible, as much evidence as possible.
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Literary expression

	As a doctoral student you are deeply involved with writing and engaged with thegenre of doctoral dissertations. Therefore,
	Keep continuously working with your writing skills. Get a good guide for scientific writing. Take courses.
	Always check your text many times to eliminate needless grammar errors and typos.
	Use a spelling checker before you give your text to anyone.
	Develop your default style sheets and stationery files to save time.
	Develop a circle of peers with whom to exchange texts for mutual proofreading.
	Learn to appreciate feedback, don't get hurt.
	Choose a referencing method that you always use, systematically (E.g. APA standard).	Link to
	Composing a dissertation of journal articles makes sometimes more sense than writing a thick monography.
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Logic and argumentation

	Keep an eye on the logic of your argumentation and match it with imagined or real opponents. This applies to bridging chapter to another as well as to the architecture of the entire work. You are defending your thesis all the way! Beware of elliptic reasoning!
	Technically, I suggest using the outline function of your text editor or specific outline program to manage the flow of argumentation.
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Terms and concepts

	If useful terminology exists, stick to it.
	Avoid using many synonymic expressions for the same concept. caution. Taste them and test them with other people. Do not fall into love with your slogans.
	ALWAYS DEFINE A TERM or concept BEFORE you start using it, not in next chapter of next page. Do not rely on the assumed familiarity of the audience with your term.
	AVOID "SCIENTIFIC" JARGON!
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Supervision

	Everyone definitely needs a SUPERVISOR, and the earlier the better. This is not just a formality. The supervisor will save you from making many mistakes, some of which can be fatal. A good supervisor will keep you on the right track and going.
	Do not expect the supervisor come to you, or somebody else to find you one. Be active, get networked and discuss with peer students and professors.
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Interaction and research community

	You need to know what others do and others need to know what you do. DON'T WORK IN ISOLATION but as a member of a research community.
	Present your work in workshops and conferences and keep publishing. Feedback is essential for you.
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Conventions and traditions

	Make sure you know the traditions and conventions. You will have to be aware of where you do not want to follow them, i.e. if you want to do things different, you need to know different from what. Take the dissertation as an essay in a particular genre of literature.
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Continuous evaluation

	Evaluation should not be done only afterwards, but continuously.
	How do you measure your success in what you did? Don't do things you cannot evaluate.
	How do you relate your work to other work of the field?
	How do you check whether what you claimed turned out to be true or false - if this is relevant at all?
	Do not be afraid of coming to a negative conclusion. Remember Popper: Hypotheses should be falsifiable.
	Be not afraid of reporting relative results.
	Anticipate the criticism you will receive.
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Audience

	FOR WHOM DO YOU WRITE?
	If you write to ANYONE, NO ONE will grasp.
	On the other hand, if you think you write to a narrow group of experts, don't be fooled by yourself - there may not be such a group since you are supposed to be doing something unique.
	Write for a constrained but large enough audience with such and such backround and interests, with examples in your mind.
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Language

	Make your choice:
	Finnish (or other minor language as mother tongue): easier to write in mother tongue however, key concepts that originate form another language may be very difficult to translate it is honorable to develop academic concepts in one's own language minimal audience and response.
	English (or other major language): hard to begin writing, but will improve with training easier to reflect discourse in the same language larger audience, easier to participate in international discourse
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Get organized

	Work systematically:
	Keep reading and widening your awareness of the focal fields, as well as more general multi-disciplinary perspectives. Report your findings to your professor or supervisor, preferably in a form that you can use in your thesis or in some other publication.
	Keep your own bibliography database.
	Stick to your schedule and weekly rhythm.
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Guides

	Links to a variety of guides.	Link to
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Thanks to

	Eeva Kurki for comments
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