Years back, I was advised that I should not expect my PhD to be the best thing I would ever write. ‘It had better not be!’ expostulated the academic in question, ‘otherwise you’ll never be able to make any progress in your academic career.’ Although in fact this turned out to be true, it was [...]

‘Ibid.’ is an abbreviation for ‘ibidem‘ (‘in the same place’). The full stop in ‘ibid.’ is therefore obligatory. But it can be dashed hard to spot. To automate the search (in MS Word), hit Cntrl-F to bring up the Find/Replace box, enable Wildcards, and enter: ibid[!.] in the find box. This little string finds instances [...]

The grim, grim news from England flows unabated. The rule of the modern robber baron is unchallenged. This morning, for the first time in many years, I listened to BBC Radio 4′s ‘Today’ programme to hear the news of John Browne’s education review. In a saner world, it would be unthinkable that someone like John [...]

For working with reference lists Find a line with no period at the end, insert period. ([!.])^13 \1.^p Reverse the two words of an author’s name if ending in a comma. Add period. ^13() (), ^p\2, \1. Search for a date (just the year) which does not have a full stop after it. ([0-9]{4}) Search [...]

‘The service we offer is 100% legal, very legitimate and won’t make you a cheater’, this site informs us. Another essay writing service; but whereas the ‘essay-scam’ was almost charming in its feckless hysteria, this one oozes competence, guilt and pathetic self-justification. ‘Why this is not cheating’, it explains: If you buy one of our [...]