• Software,  Technology

    Removing notes from PowerPoint: a game changer for Mac

    I have been juggling a significant teaching load this year. I generally use PowerPoint as a visual aid for teaching; and, for my own purposes, often use the ‘notes’ function in PowerPoint. For accessibility, I distribute PowerPoints as an editable file – not a PDF – on the learning management system, but this often means my notes need to be removed before the PowerPoints are distributed. Deleting notes across PowerPoints is time-consuming and repetitive – there has to be a better way. There is – and it is a game changer. For those using a PC, there is a fairly simple solution to delete all notes: https://www.howtogeek.com/730732/how-to-delete-all-presentation-notes-at-once-in-microsoft-powerpoint/ On a Mac,…

  • Research,  Software

    Tracking impact

    Universities are increasingly attuned to the ‘impact’ agenda – seeking to measure and quantify the impact of our work on society. The Australian Research Council defines ‘research impact’ as ‘the contribution that research makes to the economy, society, environment or culture, beyond the contribution to academic research.’ In many fields, ‘impact’ is measured through citation counts. This is problematic for multiple reasons: self-citations can ‘game’ citation counts (and are included in most citation measures); and a highly cited article could be cited a lot because it is so bad! So use citation data with caution. Also, we need to contextualise any impact data in the context of our field; so…

  • Money in a bucket
    Research

    Making the most of a grant

    After six (disrupted) years, I have finally come to the end of my Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. It has been an incredible privilege to spend this time intensively researching. I think – I hope – I have done that privilege justice. You can see my grant outputs at ageworks.info. But what isn’t often talked about is how hard it can be work to work on a large grant alone for so many years. The camaraderie of teaching is gone, and there are no grounds to complain when things get tough – being on a grant is a privilege, after all! Suck it up, sunshine. Intensively researching…

  • Writing

    Book publishing

    Academic book publishing is a fraught process. Crafting and pitching a book proposal takes time, and it takes even longer for that proposal to be (hopefully) accepted. But how do we decide which book publisher to approach? What factors should we consider in choosing a publisher? And what do we need to negotiate in a book contract?  First, some things to consider in choosing a book publisher: Prestige: like it or not, prestige has to factor in to the choice of book publisher. Which publishing house is well-respected in your field? What publication will support your career progression and promotion? Impact: Which publisher is likely to have the most impact…

  • White page with lots of numbers
    Software,  Technology

    How to Excel (with Excel)

    Legal academics have a well-known aversion to numbers. But Excel – for all its faults – can be a huge help when managing large amounts of data, be it numbers or words. I have used Excel to analyse cases, build tables and charts, and manage all sorts of data. We spoke with Christina Ward, Liaison Librarian (Research) at Melbourne Law School, about essential tips for using Excel for academic research. Our tips: To swap rows and columns in a table, copy the table, select “paste special” and click transpose. To reverse rows or columns in a table, try this trick. To manage data, the sort and filter functions are incredibly…

  • Keys
    Research

    Be brave: how to negotiate open access rights with your publisher

    For Open Access Week 2020, I spoke with Dimity Flanagan (Manager, Scholarly Communications) at the University of Melbourne about why open access is important and the practicalities of making research open. My thoughts (originally published here) are reposted below. Q. Why is it important to you to take the extra time to make sure more of your research is available open access? For me, open access is important for a number of reasons. First, it is a way in which we can ensure that publicly-funded research is made accessible to the public. Second, open access extends the reach and impact of our scholarship. I have discovered this somewhat by accident:…

  • Software,  Technology,  Writing

    Microsoft Word

    Love it or hate it, Microsoft Word is ubiquitous in an academic setting (at least, for those of us who don’t use LaTeX!). But are you using Word in the best way? Are there tips or tricks you are missing, that could save time or agony? We spoke with Christina Ward, Liaison Librarian (Research) at Melbourne Law School, about the essential tips for using Word for academic research, and navigating large documents (like a PhD!). Comparing documents: do you have co-authors who always forget to track changes when amending a document? Has a copy editor returned your files to you, but failed to identify the changes? Comparing documents will be…

  • Career

    Haters gonna hate: Dealing with criticism

    Criticism is part and parcel of academic work. It is embedded in journal reviewer reports, conference questions and grant reports. We need criticism: it can help us to see our work in a new light, overcome road blocks, and reach our full academic potential. The problem occurs, however, when criticism is no longer constructive but destructive. So how can we deal with potentially destructive feedback? We spoke with Professor Katy Barnett as part of Melbourne Law School’s Early Career Network seminar series about how we should navigate criticism. Here are our ideas and suggestions: 1. Recognise that destructive feedback is not about you: it reflects the person’s own insecurities or…

  • Career

    Academic De-cluttering

    It seems like de-cluttering is all the rage at the moment. Whether it be our sock drawer or that odd cupboard with kitchen utensils, sorting, clearing and rearranging our lives can give us a feeling of empowerment and control, and help to reveal what is really important. But what about our professional lives? Are they in need of de-cluttering also? Academic careers are funny things: as we become more senior, there are more opportunities, more invitations, and more projects to get involved in. We sometimes become so busy that there isn’t a chance to think strategically about what we are saying ‘yes’ to, and why. While it may be hard…

  • Software

    Reference management

    Do you spend hours fussing with footnotes or battling with bibliographies? Does the thought of resubmitting that article fill you with fear, because the house style is different? Are you spending valuable funds on research assistance to fix footnotes? There is a better way: reference management systems can transform your research. Introducing: Zotero Zotero is my preferred reference management system. It is easy to use, integrates well with other software like Word, and can be adapted to your individual referencing needs. The best bit: it is free. It can be downloaded here. For legal academics, there is an extension of Zotero called Juris-M. This offers additional functionality if you often…