Submission Readiness Check
Assess your paper
Free resources
for researchers
Practical diagnostics, guides, articles and tools to help you finish your PhD, publish your research, supervise better and build a sustainable academic career.
MOST POPULAR RESOURCES
PhD Progress Self-Check
Check your progress
PhD Supervision Diagnostic
Clarify your support
Research Paper Starter Kit
Plan your manuscript
From Researcher to Supervisor
Reflect on leadership
Research vs Administration Audit
Audit your workload
Explore by topic
Overcome PhD Stagnation
Diagnostic & practical next steps
Improve Your Manuscript
Articles, checklists & writing tools
Become a Better PhD Supervisor
Guides & supervision resources
Reduce Academic Overwhelm
Frameworks & productivity tools
Clarify Your Career Direction
Career advice & application support
Present Research With Confidence
Presentation guides & advice
Expert guides
Six short guides on the challenges researchers meet most often – from a delayed PhD to a rejected paper. Each is free and full of practical advice. Click a cover to get the PDF by e-mail.
Smart Academics Blog
Explore the Smart Academics Blog: 160+ practical articles for researchers and research leaders.
Learn how to publish successfully, supervise effectively, communicate your research, build an academic career, and navigate the challenges of research life. Many articles include free worksheets, checklists, diagnostics and practical tools to help you put the ideas into practice.
Guidelines, worksheets & checklists
Finishing your PhD
Articles & guides
- 5 Reasons Why PhD Students Delay and How to Avoid
- So you want to finish your PhD on time?
- How to find time for research?
- New to the PhD? – 5 tips for a great start!
- Help! How to find the topic for my PhD?
- What makes PhD students succeed?
- Plan your project – save your PhD!
- 5 ways to boost your energy as a researcher!
- Overwhelmed by PhD work? Here’s the way out!
- Six smart strategies for a strong academic CV
- PhD motivation running low? Here’s the cure!
- Ten hacks to quick-start your thesis writing!
- How to get a private life and a PhD
- What’s needed to finish your PhD?
- Planning your PhD workday
- PhD project-planning quick-start
- 5 tips for an article-based (cumulative) PhD thesis
- No time for dissertation writing?
- Dissertation dilemma? Hand in a monograph or papers?
- Should I replace my PhD supervisor?
- Good PhD supervision: what you can expect
Worksheets & checklists
- Factsheet: What type of dissertation do I hand in & what to consider?
- Self-check: How good is my PhD supervision?
- Factsheet: Join a side project? YES or NO
- Quick guide: Planning your PhD project
- Self-test: Do you struggle with your PhD?
- Worksheet: 6 steps to outline a PhD project plan
- Worksheet: My PhD workday
- Worksheet: 6 steps to regain your personal life
- Worksheet: Identify reasons for the delay with your PhD
- Worksheet: Instant help with PhD overwhelm
- Worksheet: 5 tips to get your message across to your supervisor
- Worksheet: How to tackle low motivation
- Worksheet: How to get out of low PhD motivation?
Writing and publishing journal papers
Articles & guides
- Five easy ways to get started writing a research paper
- How do you get published in a good journal?
- 5 strategies to avoid initial paper rejection
- How to speed up paper writing
- How to write a paper abstract
- Predatory journals: How to identify them?
- 5 tips to get a paper accepted this year
- Mastering the literature review during the Corona lockdown
- The perfect paper – and how to create yours!
- Suggesting reviewers for your paper: rules to consider
- Writing productivity: Write more in less time
- Writer’s block: Stuck on your paper, with no idea how to move forward?
- Train your writing muscle: Achieve better results
- How to work on your paper without struggle
- 5 warning signs that indicate you should change the way you write papers
- 5 decisions that make writing your paper so much easier
- Find the right journal for your paper following these 8 steps
- Plagiarism and how to avoid it
- How to find a paper topic
- Five criteria every academic author should fulfil
- Boost your chances of paper acceptance with these 3 tips
- How do you prevent paper rejection?
Worksheets & checklists
- Checklist: Journal Paper Types
- Cheat sheet: Phrases to use when responding to reviewers
- Worksheet: My publishing strategy
- Decision tree: My options after being rejected!
- Worksheet: Assessing rejection risk
- Worksheet: Preventing writer’s block
- Worksheet: My struggle-free writing checklist
- Worksheet: Paper-writing training plan
- Checklist: Good Review Reports
- Checklist: Plagiarism self-check
- Test: Authorship criteria
- Worksheet: Identify your paper topic
- Worksheet: How to write YOUR perfect paper