#ecr chat

Managing a research project hits differently to a normal project. In a standard project, you know what you are trying to produce. You want to reduce the risk of not getting there. In a research project, 'not getting there' is not exactly something you want to approach, but is definitely part of the process and something you want to embrace. Risk of the unknown is part of the terrain.

So I was really happy to see that Inger Mewburn (Thesis Whisperer), Pat Thomson (Patter), Helen Kara and Aimee Grant had written this book. Today, we've published a section for their Introduction to celebrate.

"Starting is creation, an act of addition - you have something where you had nothing. Finishing is an act of commitment." - Chris Smith writes about the 80% Stall on the Breakthroughs and Blocks blog, 26 February 2026.

"This is a pivotal time in history. On the one side, we have the forces of darkness – individuals and organisations that reject evidence-based reasoning and/or want to lock up the world’s knowledge for their own gain. On the side of light, we have the intrepid librarians fighting (politely) and dedicated academics challenging (often not so politely) the status quo."