======= Date Modified 26 Jun 2011 21:09:31 =======
it's hard to say what causes your problem without seeing the code and perhaps a few other things. But a few general things worth double checking:

- are there any warnings/errors in your latex file that might point to the problem?

- have you got your bib-file in the same folder on your hard disk where your latex file is? (it's also possible to keep them separate if the path to the bibfiles is in the search path, iirc)?

- and then the general structure -- does it look like this? (exchange natbib and chicaco for whatever applies in your case)?

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[longnamesfirst,nonamebreak]{natbib}
\begin{document}

(Put content here, including \cite{Author2011}.)

\bibliographystyle{chicago}
\bibliography{myrefs}
\end{document}

- googling for the problem might also help, there's loads of help files available online for referencing with latex.

Hope you get it sorted soon!

thank you all for your comments, i'm feeling quite a bit reassured now!

hi there..

I might have a little problem. I've been accepted to talk at a conference this summer, which I'm quite happy about. However, due to some problems with my data set that appeared only after I had submitted the abstract and after the submission deadline, it seems that I won't be able to do exactly what I said I will do in the abstract. The topic would still be roughly the same, but the method and the dependent variable have changed. I wonder how big of a problem that is...? Would it be a good idea to contact the session organiser about this, or is this a common thing that doesn't need extra mentioning..? What do you think?

thanks for your thoughts.

Great idea using LaTeX, it's definitely worth the effort, in my opinion, and learning it takes less time than you might have thought.

If you're using Windows, I recommend MikTeX with TeXnicCenter as editor (but there's also other editors, it's a matter of taste but I find TeXnicCenter to be the best):

http://miktex.org/
http://www.texniccenter.org/

There's also several reference managers for LaTeX/BibTeX, e.g. JabRef has a nice graphical user interface: http://jabref.sourceforge.net/

For a list of introduction material into using LaTeX, have a look here: http://www.latex-project.org/guides/

yes it's possible to convert latex to word, e.g. with this little programme:

http://www.grindeq.com/latex2word.htm

You'll probably have to edit the converted text a little bit and correct a few things that the programme missed (at least in my experience), but in general it works ok in my opinion. Perhaps there's also other programmes out there, so perhaps also try out other programmes (google finds quite a lot).

hi there, was just wondering how you are doing and whether your situation has improved at all since you started this thread? (My reason for asking is of course that I feel to be in the exact same situation, which is really getting me down.)

======= Date Modified 21 Mar 2010 16:45:24 =======
I really feel for you, especially as I'm in a very similar situation, only not even close to submitting -- my supervisor isn't very interested in what I'm doing and has no guidance or advice whatsoever. I feel totally lost and lately quite depressed, at the moment having little hope in my project. I really admire you for having achieved so much, an almost completed thesis, in the face of these troubles! It shows that you are very capable and definitely possess very important qualities in academia -- fighting on in the face of difficulty, and working independently! It's quite understandable that you're feeling blue and nervous so close to the end of it all, but try to focus on the most immediate tasks and take them one at the time.

I am sorry that I don't have more practical advice, but I just wanted to say that to me it seems you definitely have what it takes for this game and that you are without a doubt on your way to getting this phd. I wish you loads of strength for the endspurt and really admire your achievements!!

Ha, see I didn't even think about that ;) most probably because I'm so isolated with my stuff, and hardly have supervision.. but you are right, it should be added...

Hi!
Since projects tend to change and evolve, I was wondering how happy people are with what has become/is becoming of their projects, measured against their general ambition? I'm currently somewhere in the middle with my work and I wonder if at the end all those things which I thought make my project interesting/special will have to be cut down (due to various practical reasons, most of all the curse of relying on secondary data), resulting in something fairly trivial/less interesting (but hopefully still sufficient for the originality requirement).

Is this common, and how do you feel about it?

Just wanted to tell you that i'm really sympathizing with you, since I'm having the exact same issues at the moment. Really worried that my project is too big and too ambitious, but I'm really torn because at the same time I'm very enthusiastic about the research problem and I can't think of ways to downsize it without destroying the research question itself. It's a real dilemma. I have some sort of exit strategy should it not work, but I do think that this would take away a lot of the interesting bits of the project.. arghh. Sorry for not actually being able to give advice, in any case I feel for you and hope things turn out fine for you without too much more headache!

======= Date Modified 21 Jan 2010 16:53:03 =======
@ Mathkitty:

JabRef! A good reference manager, open-source (i.e. free), with GUI, and especially great if you're using LaTeX! You can link your Pdf's to individual entries, enter abstracts, long general notes, create groups based on keywords, etc. and it works with BibTex (so bibliography/references are automatically generated according to the style you chose). Works with most operating systems, or at least with Linux and Windows.

Downloadable here: http://jabref.sourceforge.net/

just to add to the others, there's also open source referencing software, i.e. downloadble for free, for example JabRef. It's expecially useful if you're using LaTeX, I'm not sure how compatible it is with Word (compatible in terms of automatically generating the bibliography according to the style you need it) but if you are only looking for a database it's suitable in any case.

It's downloadable here: http://jabref.sourceforge.net/

Inkscape is great, and freely downloadable. It's a vector graphics programme (kind of an open-source imitation of corel draw), but you can also convert the results into a bitmap format. Very good for diagrams of all sorts, in my opinion.


Official site: http://www.inkscape.org/
Downloadable also here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/inkscape/files/
Some info on the programme: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkscape

======= Date Modified 17 Dec 2009 19:15:33 =======
Thanks yellowtreble, it's good to hear that you've come so far despite all the difficulties with supervision! I've already made some new year's resolutions with regard to being more active at networking and trying to get feedback from other academics. At the moment feeling rather low though and not very confident about my project and its future, but hope that taking a break for Christmas will put things into perspective. Thanks very much for your input!

I have to second the previous poster, Stieg Larsson's trilogy is really entertaining (I only read the first volume) and I normally don't read crime novels at all!