Hi all,

I'm starting my dreaded upgrade report (urgh). I think I should be okay with it, however I have a 25k lit review and need to reduce this to just 1500 words in the upgrade report. Any ideas how to do this?

I was thinking of going through the lit review and pulling out the very key points. But would you include your theoretical perspective etc? It just feels like I've got so much to say! I'm also looking at four key concepts for my PhD, so I need to get across how important they are in less than 500 words eek!

Any advice about the above, or more generally about the upgrade would be very much appreciated!

How would you explain your lit review to your Mum, or your Granny? Try that for starters. Focus on the most essential items. Even try summarising it in speech recording your bletherings into the computer. That should get your brain into gear thinking about the core elements.

I think 1500 words is actually quite a lot for a lit review summary. You should be able to put everything important in there. Include the core secondary research, anything which inspires your methodology/theoretical approach, and the core ideas of your PhD.

Thanks Bilbo, that's really helpful!

I had a similar situation for my upgrade report where it crossed 3 topics that are seen as independent by those on the board. I just pulled out the major points, why they were the major points and then said something to the effect that 'this will be covered in more depth in the literature review'. I then flagged the rules and threw in a copy of the current draft chapters that the supervisor had approved at that point in time. I still don't know if they read the chapters or not, but figured it couldn't hurt unless they tried to lift it with their back instead of their legs.

Dear Button,

Just be brutal! cutting down any work is always difficult, you just need to identify the major works and ask yourself 'does the reader need to know this'. There are a few techniques that may help. For example, you could try grouping authors/literature together into clear schools of thought and write about the more broader developments in the field rather than specific studies. You could also be a little clever with the referencing. Depending on what referencing style you use and your discipline, you can use footnotes or endnotes, for example, to signal to the reader that you are aware of the more obscure literature etc. - but, obviously, don't overdo it.

Hope that helps, and good luck

Best,
Si