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Mushtaq Bilal, PhD Profile picture
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Nov 19 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Here's a Zotero+Research Rabbit workflow that you can master in 25min to make your literature review process super-smooth:
1. Log in to your Research Rabbit (RR) account
2. Connect it to Zotero (left of your screen)
3. Log in to your Zotero account
4. Accept defaults
5. Go back to RR, and click on "New Collection"
6. Name the collection: [Project Name]-Mock
7. Sync to Zotero (bottom of your screen)
8. RR will ask you to choose a name for collection to be synced
9. Type in the name of the collection you just made
10. Go to Zotero, and see if the collection has been exported
11. Go back to RR, and click on "Add Paper"
12. Look up papers using keywords, etc.
13. Add papers to your RR collection
14. Click on "Similar Works" in RR to find more relevant papers
14. Re-sync it with Zotero
15. Go to Zotero, and select all the papers in the collection
16. Right click, and then select "Find available PDFs"
17. Open the PDFs in Zotero's Note Editor
18. Read and take notes (okay this bit will take longer that 25min 😀)
19. Open a blank document in MS Word/Google Docs
20. Click on the Zotero tab, then "Add notes"
21. Import notes from Zotero
22. Synthesize your notes
23. Rewrite to get a decent first draft of your literature review
24. Go to the top of the thread and retweet the first tweet to share it with your friends
24. Follow me @MushtaqBilalPhD for more tips on academic writing
If you want an expanded version of this workflow with visuals, reply with a 👍
Now if you want an expanded version of this workflow with visuals and all, check out the thread below:

If you find this workflow helpful, please consider paying it forward: teach a friend or a colleague.

Here you go:

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More from @MushtaqBilalPhD

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD Profile picture
Nov 20
5 dumb things I did during my PhD...and 5 smart:
Dumb things first (in no particular order of dumbness) 😀
❌Trying to prove myself

👎 Like many international and first-gen PhDs in the US, I tried to prove I was smart enough to be there.

😢 This made me feel insecure and anxious.

✅ You're smart, that's why you're in a PhD program. You don't have to prove anything.
Read 14 tweets
Mushtaq Bilal, PhD Profile picture
Nov 18
One of the most important parts of the academic writing process: seeking and incorporating feedback.

But most folks don't know how to go about it, especially when they are starting out.

Here's how to ask for feedback and incorporate it in your work:
Say, you're working on a journal article or a dissertation chapter.

You wrote a first draft, revised it, and now you think you are ready to submit it to a journal or your dissertation committee.

Congratulations, but hang on a second.
Before you submit your work anywhere you must ask for feedback.

But ask who?

I always recommend asking two people for critical feedback: a fellow grad student and a professor.
Read 19 tweets
Mushtaq Bilal, PhD Profile picture
Nov 17
In response to the tweet about my students coming late folks are saying:

1. I should take a quiz soon after the class starts, so those who miss lose their grade.

2. I should close the door after a certain time.

Here's how I think about it:

1. Taking a quiz will inevitably mean increased work for me.

I will first have to design a question, conduct the quiz, then mark it, then enter those marks in the grading scale.

This feels like self-flagellation to me 😀

If someone paid me $10k/month I'd think about it.
2. Some teachers closed classroom door when I was in high school.

One day our literature teacher said his job was to bring people *in* the classroom, not close doors on those who wanted to get in, no matter how late.

That has stuck with me. I can't bring myself to close doors.
Read 5 tweets
Mushtaq Bilal, PhD Profile picture
Nov 17
Who is the "ideal reader" (of your journal article, dissertation chapter, etc.) and why you should imagine such a reader:
Quick recap before I dive in: this is the 5th thread in a series that I am doing on how to conceive, develop, draft, and revise a piece of academic writing.

You can read my last thread on how to revise your first draft here:

Let's get cracking:

In his 1983 book "Imagined Communities," Benedict Anderson writes that in the 18th century, large, anonymous communities started getting *imagined* through two products of print-capitalism: the novel and the newspaper.

He calls them "imagined communities." A photo of Benedict Anderson's book "Imagined Communiti
Read 17 tweets
Mushtaq Bilal, PhD Profile picture
Nov 16
Week 13 of the semester.

My class starts at 8:30am on Mon and Wed.

This is my classroom at 8:30am on Mon with zero students 😢

Then there's me all suited up and ready to teach academic writing.

On Mon I asked the students a few questions for coming late: A photo of Mushtaq's classroom. There are two rows of white Mushtaq's selfie in his classroom. He is wearing a navy blue
Here are the findings:

Mode of conveyance

• Some students live on-campus (10 min walk from dorm to class)
• Some come to the campus in chauffeur-driven cars
• Some ride their motorbikes
• Some are driven by their friends/parents
• Some drive their own cars
Students' reason for coming late in their own words:

• Getting up late in the morning
• Laziness
• Traffic

Since none of their reasons were unavoidable, I spent some time impressing upon them the need to be on time.
Read 4 tweets
Mushtaq Bilal, PhD Profile picture
Nov 15
How to revise a first draft (of your journal article, dissertation chapter, etc.):

[This strategy helped me finish my dissertation in 12 months]
Before diving in: this is the 4th thread of a series that I'm doing on how to conceive, develop, draft, and revise a piece of academic writing.

You can read my last thread on how to write a perfect first draft here:

Let's get cracking:

Before you start revising your first draft, it's very important that you *finish* it.

What do I mean by "finishing"?
Read 18 tweets

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