Thesis examiner got it wrong (in one place)

I hate to say it, but please get used to people shitting all over your work in snarky and passive aggressive ways. Wait until you get anonymous "reviewer 2" who insinuates that you're an incompetent idiot or something fun like that. It's difficult not to take it personally, but you have to learn to do just that in order to survive.

In any event, you're correct in this case so please do stick to your guns. You could maybe even just talk to this person about it in person and explain that you read the primary source and got the quote from there so that's why you cited it.

A couple of tips to deal with not so constructive criticism... First, I read the reviews let myself get angry or sad or whatever. But, I don't make any revisions or response right away. Second, I try to remind myself that most are trying to help, but they are academics so they often lack interpersonal skills. This is easier if I've let myself feel hurt and then take the time to let those feelings play out. Finally, I go back and read the critique again and pick out the helpful parts while ignoring anything that is snarky or passive aggressive.

/r/AskAcademia Thread Parent