Just Starting Your Dissertation?
Parts I, II, and III
Dr. Lyn Walden
Just Starting Your Dissertation? Part I
If you are just starting your dissertation/proposal/prospectus; at this stage in your professional life, you know nothing! You must cite every statement of fact. You cannot make one assertion unless you write, according to Jones (year), [or] Jones (year) concluded [or], thus and such (Jones, Year).
Please know, someone will cross check every reference in your paper to your reference list and every reference in your list to your paper. Also remember, some reviewer will check every—YES, every reference you use and will trace the URL or DOI back to see if the reference exists and is it the correct one for your study. What do you think PAs (professor’s assistants) do?
Finally, remember the 85% rule as you write: The general rule is that 85% of all your references must be peer-reviewed and empirical, and “deemed current,” which means published with 5 years of the date the dean signs your dissertation. Be careful and save the 15% for historical information, your theoretical/conceptual framework, and for the methodology or instrument information.
Please know, some chairs require that 95-100% of the references in your literature review be “deemed current.” Ask questions. Does this rule apply to you? May you use dissertations or books? How many pages is the minimum for your lit review? Is there a rule for the number of peer-reviewed references for each section? What is the minimum number of pages for your prospectus? Proposal? Dissertation? APA does not address this, which gives much latitude to your chair. Ask questions!
If you have questions regarding editing, content, or qualitative methodology, just write and I will answer them: [email protected]. If you have questions about quantitative research designs, possible I can help. Remember, this is your degree, your future.
Just Starting Your Dissertation? Part II
For argument sake, let us pretend I hired a construction company to build a deck on the back of my house. On the first day of this project, the contractor shows up with several men ready to work; however, he has no blueprint, no tools, no wood, no fasteners, nothing. When I ask the contractor how does he plan to stay on track and finish the deck in the time promised and within budget without the necessary supplies, the contractor tells me how skilled he is at building decks; in fact, he is an expert. He also says that he can build my deck without supplies, or he will magically produce enough supplies scattered around my backyard to build my deck.
What do you think I would do? Would I fire the incompetent man at once? Or would I say, “Of course, how silly of me. Please, go forward. I will get out of your way.”
In my mind, this hypothetical is analogous to a doctoral learner (term prior to IRB approval) claiming that he or she can write a proposal or a prospectus without the necessary supplies—current statistics and an annotated bibliography with plagiarism-free synopses of all current peer-reviewed journal articles on the chosen topic. The learner cannot proclaim that no research is available. Because if no research is available, how can he or she write the introduction and background, much less write a minimum of 30 pages on the chosen topic for the literature review?
Before starting any scholarly research paper, especially a dissertation, the writer must thoroughly and exhaustively research the topic of interest. Any knowledge or experience the writer believes he or she has on the chosen topic is irrelevant. It is impossible to write a scholarly research paper (in this example, a dissertation) without extensively and thoroughly researching the chosen topic. Period.
All too often, I hear the same complaints: My chair does not give me any guidance or help. My friends are moving through the process, and I am not moving forward at all. My chair does not read my drafts. My chair nitpicks my work. My chair does not understand my topic. My chair does not like me.
Yet, when I read the learner’s paper as well as chair comments, the problem is evident: The paper is void of current, peer-reviewed research and/or the paper contains Google, not Google Scholar, information often taken from advertisements.
Before writing a prospectus or proposal, two criteria must be evident: First, the study must be significant or show social significance. Second, the study must address a gap in the literature. How can a doctoral learner claim a study is significant or the study will fill a gap in the literature if he or she has not thoroughly researched all pertinent, available peer-reviewed literature on chosen topic?
Regardless of how well the learner believes he or she understands the topic and even if the learner believes he or she is an expert on the topic, to obtain approval to proceed through the dissertation maze, the learner must research the chosen topic thoroughly using a university library (not a public library). Then, the learner must demonstrate that a minimum of 30 pertinent and current articles have been properly annotated and are plagiarism free (plagiarism is defined as three words in a row of “borrowed” material).
If the requirement for the literature review is a minimum of 35 pages and assuming the theoretical/conceptual framework is 3 or 4 pages and the introduction and summary take up another page, then the learner must have a minimum of 30 pages of current, peer-reviewed articles, all annotated and ready to go.
However, in my opinion and from my observations, the lack of learner preparedness is partially the fault of the chair and/or the university that allows a doctoral learner to write any part of the prospectus or proposal without first demonstrating that he or she has conducted an exhaustive search of the literature. How can a learner demonstrate this? He or she could present an annotation of at least 30 current, peer-reviewed articles. What is current? Most universities define “deemed current” as published no more than 5 years from the date the dean signs the dissertation.
I believe the chair should also require the most current statistics available on the topic of interest (for example, demographics of an area, attrition rates, most current technology, graduation rates per state, prevalence of a disease, etc.). Finally, a learner must know the important journals to track. For example, if the learner has found a gap in the literature on some aspect of autism, then he or she should, on a regular basis, look for newly published articles in Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, the Journal of Special Education, and Exceptional Children as well as others. Ideally, the learner should also track the movers and shakers in their field of study; for example, if writing on teacher attrition, the movers and shakers are Linda Darling-Hammond and Richard Ingersoll. If writing on poor graduation scores, the learner should consider following the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Without knowing what information is available, how can anyone claim that a gap in the literature exists? Without using current research, how can anyone claim his or her study has social significance? Who knows? The issue the learner seeks to investigate could be resolved.
In conclusion, a doctoral learner cannot expect a shortcut magically to appear to help him or her write a dissertation. Writing a dissertation is difficult and requires self-discipline, dedication, motivation, and tenacity. From my observations, a lack of or poor planning is one of the main reasons for failure.
Just Starting Your Dissertation? Part III
If you do not take the time to set up your paper, you will be off by a degree or two throughout. I promise you, if your chair does not catch this, someone will.
PAGE SET-UP
Before you start any academic paper, right click your mouse while on the page of text, CLICK: Paragraph…. Indents and Spacing… and set:
Alignment-Left; Outline Level: Body Text
Indentation: 0 and 0
Special: First Line for general typing, Hanging (.5) for references
Spacing: 0 and 0
Line Spacing: Double
Tabs
Make certain all your bullets, numbers, and indents are .5 including the bullet—no more. This is a hot button with reviewers. Click on your ruler—just under the taskbar, far right, hover your cursor in the edge and you will get the “ruler” prompt to click.
(Center figures and graphs; left margin for all tables.)
To get your numbers or bullets at .5 including the symbol, right click, Paragraph,
Alignment-Left; Outline Level: Body Text
Indentation: .3 and 0
Special: None
Spacing: 0 and 0
Line Spacing: Double
Then highlight your text and click on Bullets or Numbering: Note—you must use the same bullets throughout, and numbers are only used for items in an ordered sequence. If you are not quite at .5, line everything up with your ruler by clicking on the first letter of the first item in your list. You will see the tab marks above in the ruler, just move them.
If your tabs are giving you problems, clear them: Right click, Paragraph, bottom left-Tabs, Clear All—okay.
COUPLE OF HINTS
In Home under Fonts, top row, third set of Aas…. Check this out: This feature will correct all those times you accidentally type with your cap key on.
Page Layout—Page background—I recommend you color, put on a watermark and the date to identify the latest version of your paper.
Become your own editor:
In Word 2010: File, Options, Proofing, Setting--Grammar and Style. Check all plus spaces between sentences—2 [except in references for some universities], quotation marks—outside, and comma after series—yes. Set all on the main page that applies, especially readability statistics.
To check your Page Breaks, go to the VIEW tab, CLICK “DRAFT.” This will show you if you inadvertently set a PAGE BREAK or if you need to set one. To get out of that view, go back to VIEW and CLICK “PRINT.”
If you need to see if you have set a line before your headings or if you have hit “enter,” go to the HOME tab, under the PARAGRAPH section, CLICK the paragraph symbol--¶. This will show you much of your formatting. Unclick whenever you wish. To check you references, go to the HOME tab, “EDITING,” highlight the reference, then CLICK “FIND.” If you have used the reference, a column will pop up on the left side of your screen. You can see where you have used (or not) the reference.
Depending on the Version of Word (We are giving directions for 2010, you may need to Google for other editions) you are using, go into FILE, CLICK “OPTIONS” and
Set PROOFING to catch your spacing, grammar, style, parenthesis, and as many other errors as your version of Word will allow.
Add your personal options under Customized Ribbons. Personally, I could not live without crop. You can adjust any setting to meet your needs.
Preparing to Write
Keep a few thumb drives available and use a permanent marker to label each one. Label in such a way to help you remember this. Save your document to a flash drive as well as a digital cloud. (I use Amazon Drive.) Do not keep your back-ups in the same location at your home or office. Use a different file name for each document, and try not to make the mistake I made; save your files with a name that will make sense to you in 10 years. EDD781 will not help you locate a paper in a couple of years.
Use Save As and save the document with a different name or extension each time. I use the client’s name and the date without punctuation. Example: Suzie May 2 2020 I also watermark drafts when there are several drafts in a short amount of time. Email copies to yourself and make an email file for the drafts.
References
Keep track of your references. I recommend emailing them to yourself at least twice a month, more often when actively writing.
Make sure every source cited is in the reference list and every source in the reference list are cited. There are several methods to check references.
Some people prefer to work with paper. If this applies to you, print off your references and use the printed page to cross check references. You can also copy and paste each citation in the document beginning with page one to an Excel spread sheet. Make a second copy of the list of citations in another page of the spread sheet and then sort. Compare the sorted list with your reference list. You will also be able to see if you have correctly cited using et al. and you will also be able to see that all references are in the text and all references in the text are in the reference list.
When you cross check references, also look for proper use of “et al.” and past tense when writing what an author or authors wrote. Remember to use past tense (Jones (2016) credited, proposed, discussed, believed, etc.; not credits, proposes, discusses, believes, etc.). Also make certain the authors’ names are spelled the same in text and in the reference list.
Make certain the accent marks are added as well. For example, if you used this book, “The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researcher,” please note that the author’s last name has an accent mark.
Line Breaks
Do not divide words at the end of a line in the text or in the reference list, and do not use the hyphenation function divide words at the ends of lines (be sure this feature is turned off). “Let a line run short rather than break a word at the end of a line” (APA, 2010, p. 229). If for some reason a part of a line would look better on another page or you want to keep something on the same line, use “shift enter.”
Do not use contractions such as don’t, it’s, won’t; write out the entire word (e.g., “do not”, “it is”, “will not”).
Never use a link that goes to a commercial subscription database such as EBSCO. Only use a URL that can be accessed by the general public. Do not use the URL provided by your university library unless the university name is NOT in the URL link.
As you add to the reference list, do not hit Enter where you believe a line would end. Do not use the tab key for a hanging indent. Set the formatting:
RIGHT CLICK: Paragraph…. Indents and Spacing… and set:
Alignment-Left; Outline Level: Body Text
Indentation: 0 and 0
Special: First Line for general typing, Hanging (.5) for references
Spacing: 0 and 0
Line Spacing: Double
Notice: The first citation has no tab marks and only one “Enter” mark. When I look at the second citation, I know the author has not set up the document correctly. Your proposal or dissertation will go through several reviewers and several computers. The formatting can and probably will move in the second example. In the first example, the reviewers can do what they will, the formatting will stay firm.
Finally, for references for now, do not break a reference over two pages. To prevent this, highlight all refences, Right Click, Paragraph, Line and Page Breaks, and make certain you have “Keep Lines Together” checked.
Be certain to ask if you have a question.
For now, Happy Writing,
Dr. Lyn Walden [email protected]
Watch out for Unclear Antecedents, which are hot points with some deans.
Replace pronouns such as this, them, there, it, as it, their, etc. with a clear reference to defined subjects. For example, if a writer states “This is false because….” the reader may ask “what does this refer to?” Avoid using at the beginning of a sentence. As in, “This causes concern.'' Reason: “`this'' can refer to the subject of the previous sentence, the entire previous sentence, the entire previous paragraph, the entire previous section, etc. More important, it can be interpreted in the concrete sense or in the meta-sense. For example, in: ``X does Y. This means ...'' the reader can assume ``this'' refers to Y or to the fact that X does it. Even when restricted (e.g., ``this computation...''), the phrase is weak and often ambiguous. Never use that to refer to a person. Remember: A pronoun refers to the last-named noun. Most university editors do not allow the use of any unclear antecedents.
Watch Vague References to Time:
“Current,” “today'', ``modern times''-- Today is tomorrow's yesterday. Define each reference to time. Replace any “vague reference to time,” which is a hot item for the reviewers (e.g., currently, a few years ago, presently, lately, etc.). Be specific when writing about time (e.g., In 2020 or in the 21st century). [Note, the “st” after century is not in superscript, which is never used in APA writing.]
If you are just starting your dissertation/proposal/prospectus; at this stage in your professional life, you know nothing! You must cite every statement of fact. You cannot make one assertion unless you write, according to Jones (year), [or] Jones (year) concluded [or], thus and such (Jones, Year).
Please know, someone will cross check every reference in your paper to your reference list and every reference in your list to your paper. Also remember, some reviewer will check every—YES, every reference you use and will trace the URL or DOI back to see if the reference exists and is it the correct one for your study. What do you think PAs (professor’s assistants) do?
Finally, remember the 85% rule as you write: The general rule is that 85% of all your references must be peer-reviewed and empirical, and “deemed current,” which means published with 5 years of the date the dean signs your dissertation. Be careful and save the 15% for historical information, your theoretical/conceptual framework, and for the methodology or instrument information.
Please know, some chairs require that 95-100% of the references in your literature review be “deemed current.” Ask questions. Does this rule apply to you? May you use dissertations or books? How many pages is the minimum for your lit review? Is there a rule for the number of peer-reviewed references for each section? What is the minimum number of pages for your prospectus? Proposal? Dissertation? APA does not address this, which gives much latitude to your chair. Ask questions!
If you have questions regarding editing, content, or qualitative methodology, just write and I will answer them: [email protected]. If you have questions about quantitative research designs, possible I can help. Remember, this is your degree, your future.
Just Starting Your Dissertation? Part II
For argument sake, let us pretend I hired a construction company to build a deck on the back of my house. On the first day of this project, the contractor shows up with several men ready to work; however, he has no blueprint, no tools, no wood, no fasteners, nothing. When I ask the contractor how does he plan to stay on track and finish the deck in the time promised and within budget without the necessary supplies, the contractor tells me how skilled he is at building decks; in fact, he is an expert. He also says that he can build my deck without supplies, or he will magically produce enough supplies scattered around my backyard to build my deck.
What do you think I would do? Would I fire the incompetent man at once? Or would I say, “Of course, how silly of me. Please, go forward. I will get out of your way.”
In my mind, this hypothetical is analogous to a doctoral learner (term prior to IRB approval) claiming that he or she can write a proposal or a prospectus without the necessary supplies—current statistics and an annotated bibliography with plagiarism-free synopses of all current peer-reviewed journal articles on the chosen topic. The learner cannot proclaim that no research is available. Because if no research is available, how can he or she write the introduction and background, much less write a minimum of 30 pages on the chosen topic for the literature review?
Before starting any scholarly research paper, especially a dissertation, the writer must thoroughly and exhaustively research the topic of interest. Any knowledge or experience the writer believes he or she has on the chosen topic is irrelevant. It is impossible to write a scholarly research paper (in this example, a dissertation) without extensively and thoroughly researching the chosen topic. Period.
All too often, I hear the same complaints: My chair does not give me any guidance or help. My friends are moving through the process, and I am not moving forward at all. My chair does not read my drafts. My chair nitpicks my work. My chair does not understand my topic. My chair does not like me.
Yet, when I read the learner’s paper as well as chair comments, the problem is evident: The paper is void of current, peer-reviewed research and/or the paper contains Google, not Google Scholar, information often taken from advertisements.
Before writing a prospectus or proposal, two criteria must be evident: First, the study must be significant or show social significance. Second, the study must address a gap in the literature. How can a doctoral learner claim a study is significant or the study will fill a gap in the literature if he or she has not thoroughly researched all pertinent, available peer-reviewed literature on chosen topic?
Regardless of how well the learner believes he or she understands the topic and even if the learner believes he or she is an expert on the topic, to obtain approval to proceed through the dissertation maze, the learner must research the chosen topic thoroughly using a university library (not a public library). Then, the learner must demonstrate that a minimum of 30 pertinent and current articles have been properly annotated and are plagiarism free (plagiarism is defined as three words in a row of “borrowed” material).
If the requirement for the literature review is a minimum of 35 pages and assuming the theoretical/conceptual framework is 3 or 4 pages and the introduction and summary take up another page, then the learner must have a minimum of 30 pages of current, peer-reviewed articles, all annotated and ready to go.
However, in my opinion and from my observations, the lack of learner preparedness is partially the fault of the chair and/or the university that allows a doctoral learner to write any part of the prospectus or proposal without first demonstrating that he or she has conducted an exhaustive search of the literature. How can a learner demonstrate this? He or she could present an annotation of at least 30 current, peer-reviewed articles. What is current? Most universities define “deemed current” as published no more than 5 years from the date the dean signs the dissertation.
I believe the chair should also require the most current statistics available on the topic of interest (for example, demographics of an area, attrition rates, most current technology, graduation rates per state, prevalence of a disease, etc.). Finally, a learner must know the important journals to track. For example, if the learner has found a gap in the literature on some aspect of autism, then he or she should, on a regular basis, look for newly published articles in Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, the Journal of Special Education, and Exceptional Children as well as others. Ideally, the learner should also track the movers and shakers in their field of study; for example, if writing on teacher attrition, the movers and shakers are Linda Darling-Hammond and Richard Ingersoll. If writing on poor graduation scores, the learner should consider following the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Without knowing what information is available, how can anyone claim that a gap in the literature exists? Without using current research, how can anyone claim his or her study has social significance? Who knows? The issue the learner seeks to investigate could be resolved.
In conclusion, a doctoral learner cannot expect a shortcut magically to appear to help him or her write a dissertation. Writing a dissertation is difficult and requires self-discipline, dedication, motivation, and tenacity. From my observations, a lack of or poor planning is one of the main reasons for failure.
Just Starting Your Dissertation? Part III
If you do not take the time to set up your paper, you will be off by a degree or two throughout. I promise you, if your chair does not catch this, someone will.
PAGE SET-UP
Before you start any academic paper, right click your mouse while on the page of text, CLICK: Paragraph…. Indents and Spacing… and set:
Alignment-Left; Outline Level: Body Text
Indentation: 0 and 0
Special: First Line for general typing, Hanging (.5) for references
Spacing: 0 and 0
Line Spacing: Double
Tabs
Make certain all your bullets, numbers, and indents are .5 including the bullet—no more. This is a hot button with reviewers. Click on your ruler—just under the taskbar, far right, hover your cursor in the edge and you will get the “ruler” prompt to click.
(Center figures and graphs; left margin for all tables.)
To get your numbers or bullets at .5 including the symbol, right click, Paragraph,
Alignment-Left; Outline Level: Body Text
Indentation: .3 and 0
Special: None
Spacing: 0 and 0
Line Spacing: Double
Then highlight your text and click on Bullets or Numbering: Note—you must use the same bullets throughout, and numbers are only used for items in an ordered sequence. If you are not quite at .5, line everything up with your ruler by clicking on the first letter of the first item in your list. You will see the tab marks above in the ruler, just move them.
If your tabs are giving you problems, clear them: Right click, Paragraph, bottom left-Tabs, Clear All—okay.
COUPLE OF HINTS
In Home under Fonts, top row, third set of Aas…. Check this out: This feature will correct all those times you accidentally type with your cap key on.
Page Layout—Page background—I recommend you color, put on a watermark and the date to identify the latest version of your paper.
Become your own editor:
In Word 2010: File, Options, Proofing, Setting--Grammar and Style. Check all plus spaces between sentences—2 [except in references for some universities], quotation marks—outside, and comma after series—yes. Set all on the main page that applies, especially readability statistics.
To check your Page Breaks, go to the VIEW tab, CLICK “DRAFT.” This will show you if you inadvertently set a PAGE BREAK or if you need to set one. To get out of that view, go back to VIEW and CLICK “PRINT.”
If you need to see if you have set a line before your headings or if you have hit “enter,” go to the HOME tab, under the PARAGRAPH section, CLICK the paragraph symbol--¶. This will show you much of your formatting. Unclick whenever you wish. To check you references, go to the HOME tab, “EDITING,” highlight the reference, then CLICK “FIND.” If you have used the reference, a column will pop up on the left side of your screen. You can see where you have used (or not) the reference.
Depending on the Version of Word (We are giving directions for 2010, you may need to Google for other editions) you are using, go into FILE, CLICK “OPTIONS” and
Set PROOFING to catch your spacing, grammar, style, parenthesis, and as many other errors as your version of Word will allow.
Add your personal options under Customized Ribbons. Personally, I could not live without crop. You can adjust any setting to meet your needs.
Preparing to Write
Keep a few thumb drives available and use a permanent marker to label each one. Label in such a way to help you remember this. Save your document to a flash drive as well as a digital cloud. (I use Amazon Drive.) Do not keep your back-ups in the same location at your home or office. Use a different file name for each document, and try not to make the mistake I made; save your files with a name that will make sense to you in 10 years. EDD781 will not help you locate a paper in a couple of years.
Use Save As and save the document with a different name or extension each time. I use the client’s name and the date without punctuation. Example: Suzie May 2 2020 I also watermark drafts when there are several drafts in a short amount of time. Email copies to yourself and make an email file for the drafts.
References
Keep track of your references. I recommend emailing them to yourself at least twice a month, more often when actively writing.
Make sure every source cited is in the reference list and every source in the reference list are cited. There are several methods to check references.
Some people prefer to work with paper. If this applies to you, print off your references and use the printed page to cross check references. You can also copy and paste each citation in the document beginning with page one to an Excel spread sheet. Make a second copy of the list of citations in another page of the spread sheet and then sort. Compare the sorted list with your reference list. You will also be able to see if you have correctly cited using et al. and you will also be able to see that all references are in the text and all references in the text are in the reference list.
When you cross check references, also look for proper use of “et al.” and past tense when writing what an author or authors wrote. Remember to use past tense (Jones (2016) credited, proposed, discussed, believed, etc.; not credits, proposes, discusses, believes, etc.). Also make certain the authors’ names are spelled the same in text and in the reference list.
Make certain the accent marks are added as well. For example, if you used this book, “The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researcher,” please note that the author’s last name has an accent mark.
Line Breaks
Do not divide words at the end of a line in the text or in the reference list, and do not use the hyphenation function divide words at the ends of lines (be sure this feature is turned off). “Let a line run short rather than break a word at the end of a line” (APA, 2010, p. 229). If for some reason a part of a line would look better on another page or you want to keep something on the same line, use “shift enter.”
Do not use contractions such as don’t, it’s, won’t; write out the entire word (e.g., “do not”, “it is”, “will not”).
Never use a link that goes to a commercial subscription database such as EBSCO. Only use a URL that can be accessed by the general public. Do not use the URL provided by your university library unless the university name is NOT in the URL link.
As you add to the reference list, do not hit Enter where you believe a line would end. Do not use the tab key for a hanging indent. Set the formatting:
RIGHT CLICK: Paragraph…. Indents and Spacing… and set:
Alignment-Left; Outline Level: Body Text
Indentation: 0 and 0
Special: First Line for general typing, Hanging (.5) for references
Spacing: 0 and 0
Line Spacing: Double
Notice: The first citation has no tab marks and only one “Enter” mark. When I look at the second citation, I know the author has not set up the document correctly. Your proposal or dissertation will go through several reviewers and several computers. The formatting can and probably will move in the second example. In the first example, the reviewers can do what they will, the formatting will stay firm.
Finally, for references for now, do not break a reference over two pages. To prevent this, highlight all refences, Right Click, Paragraph, Line and Page Breaks, and make certain you have “Keep Lines Together” checked.
Be certain to ask if you have a question.
For now, Happy Writing,
Dr. Lyn Walden [email protected]
Watch out for Unclear Antecedents, which are hot points with some deans.
Replace pronouns such as this, them, there, it, as it, their, etc. with a clear reference to defined subjects. For example, if a writer states “This is false because….” the reader may ask “what does this refer to?” Avoid using at the beginning of a sentence. As in, “This causes concern.'' Reason: “`this'' can refer to the subject of the previous sentence, the entire previous sentence, the entire previous paragraph, the entire previous section, etc. More important, it can be interpreted in the concrete sense or in the meta-sense. For example, in: ``X does Y. This means ...'' the reader can assume ``this'' refers to Y or to the fact that X does it. Even when restricted (e.g., ``this computation...''), the phrase is weak and often ambiguous. Never use that to refer to a person. Remember: A pronoun refers to the last-named noun. Most university editors do not allow the use of any unclear antecedents.
Watch Vague References to Time:
“Current,” “today'', ``modern times''-- Today is tomorrow's yesterday. Define each reference to time. Replace any “vague reference to time,” which is a hot item for the reviewers (e.g., currently, a few years ago, presently, lately, etc.). Be specific when writing about time (e.g., In 2020 or in the 21st century). [Note, the “st” after century is not in superscript, which is never used in APA writing.]