We do not simply help you publish at Mars Publications, we help you succeed. A three-year research project is a marathon rather than a sprint and most brilliant researchers have been affected half way through its course due to the expansion of their project to an unmanageable size.
Our firm focuses on strategic research consultancy where we offer the framework, clarity, and editing of professional manuscripts that you require to make a massive data set a tangible contribution to your discipline. Here is a look at how you can safeguard your most prized asset; the scope of your project.
How to avoid the pitfall of a scope creep-driven derailment of your 3-year project: Defining Your Scope
You start with a clear vision. You have your hypothesis, your methodology, and a three-year plan that is a lifetime of an opportunity. Then after a year and a half you find yourself drowning. Three new variables have been introduced, your literature review has swelled into a book of its own, your initial question is lost under a pile of interesting side-tangents.
This is Research Creep. Similar to scope creep in project management, research creep is the gradual increase of the objectives of a project beyond the initial idea of the project. It is the assassin of PhDs, grants and high-impact publications in a long-term study.
The following is the way to define your boundaries and stay on track with your project.
Define Your North Star Goal
Any study has to have an uncompromising core. This is your “North Star.” Write one sentence that describes what you are aiming to accomplish before you collect any piece of data.
When some new notion, or some interesting sub-topic, crops up–and it will–put the question to yourself: Does research into this help my North Star? Assuming that the answer is It is related, yet not It is essential, then place it in a Future Projects file.
The Power of “Phase-Gating”
The time span of three years is too much to consider it as a single block. Instead, use phase-gating. Break down your project into separate steps:
- Year 1: Literature Review and Methodology Design.
- Year 2: Collection and Preliminary Analysis of Data.
- Year 3: Final Synthesis and Professional Manuscript Editing.
After passing through a phase you close it. When you are in Year 2 and you discover a new paper, which moves a small theory a little, do not do the literature review all over again. Note it, and move forward.
Being aware of the Just One more Source Trap
The most powerful and at the same time a weakness of a researcher are curiosity. The rabbit hole does not have an end in the digital era. Research creep is usually encountered when we are not so certain of our discoveries and thus we seek and seek.
Set a “Data Ceiling.” Meanwhile, determine the early number of interviews, samples or sources that represent a representative set. When you reach that figure, quit collecting. Trust your design.
Early Professional Manuscript Editing
Instances of many researchers taking time to consider editing are only in the last month of Year 3. This is a mistake. By contracting the services of manuscript editing such as the services of Mars Publications when writing your first or second drafts, you can avoid research creep.
An editor is an objective party. They are able to notice when your story is going off course of your thesis. Writing is a self-imposed discipline of honing your prose and you can only do this by keeping your writing to a lean and mean writing. This is clear, and you do not end up in irrelevant sub-topics that only increase the number of words, but not the impact.
Develop a Parking Lot of Ideas
Research creep is not absent of good ideas, rather it is packed with ideas. You discover something in the correlation not intended, or a secondary question that is pressing. Rather than allowing these thoughts to distract your ongoing schedule, make a Parking Lot document.
Record the idea and enumerate the possible methodology and park the idea. This does not compromise your present deadline, but respects your intellectual curiosity. It also provides you with a head start on your following three year project.
Why Mars Publications is your Best Research Partner
It is a challenge to keep within the narrow boundaries when you are immersed in the data. You should have someone who looks at the forest, not the trees. Mars Publications offers the outside view that is needed to make your project lean and effective.
Our portfolio of services is:
- Strategic Project Mapping: Before you begin, we assist you in defining your area of scope.
- Developmental Review: We compare your progress to what you initially planned to do.
- Expert Manuscript Editing: We make sure that final output is perfect in terms of conciseness and submission at highest level journals.
Do not make out of your three year project a five year battle. By setting the limits of your scope and maintaining it, you will be able to make sure that your research does get in the hands of the people who need to read it.