Research Tips

[HigherEd7]

I have never been big on research and now I am trying to learn more about it, and I have an interest.

When organizing a research study, I have never actually taken the time to develop a bibliography system. I just highlighted the information that I find important in the literature and then I end up wasting hours trying to find the information. This system has worked for me for years and several publications, but there must be a better way???????

Also, what is the average number of articles you should use for a good literature review? Does anyone use a writing program to organize all your references and cite your paper? I have used Word and it is not very user friendly.

Thanks in advance

[Parasaurolophus]

When organizing a research study, I have never actually taken the time to develop a bibliography system. I just highlighted the information that I find important in the literature and then I end up wasting hours trying to find the information. This system has worked for me for years and several publications, but there must be a better way???????

What do you mean? You don't keep track of where various bits of information or argumentation come from?

The solution is simple: cite it properly the first time around, as soon as you mention the relevant item in your paper. Then you don't have to search around for it later. I also keep the things I reference in a single folder labelled 'sources' which I keep inside the folder for each of my papers. When the paper is done, I move all of the files in that folder to my regular library folder.

Also, what is the average number of articles you should use for a good literature review?

However many it takes to get the job done and do a solid survey of the extant material?

Does anyone use a writing program to organize all your references and cite your paper? I have used Word and it is not very user friendly.

I use Word, which isn't good but is good enough. I might convert to ReadCube or Zotero or something in the near-to-medium term, however. I need a better way of searching all my PDFs, and that's the main reason; for citation purposes, it's not hard enough to motivate me to change my habits.

[HigherEd7]

Thank you for the tips! This is one area I need to work on and like I mentioned I am interested in research and I want to learn it. Once I am finished writing an article I through the articles in the trash and move on to the next topic.

When organizing a research study, I have never actually taken the time to develop a bibliography system. I just highlighted the information that I find important in the literature and then I end up wasting hours trying to find the information. This system has worked for me for years and several publications, but there must be a better way???????

What do you mean? You don't keep track of where various bits of information or argumentation come from?

The solution is simple: cite it properly the first time around, as soon as you mention the relevant item in your paper. Then you don't have to search around for it later. I also keep the things I reference in a single folder labelled 'sources' which I keep inside the folder for each of my papers. When the paper is done, I move all of the files in that folder to my regular library folder.

Also, what is the average number of articles you should use for a good literature review?

However many it takes to get the job done and do a solid survey of the extant material?

Does anyone use a writing program to organize all your references and cite your paper? I have used Word and it is not very user friendly.

I use Word, which isn't good but is good enough. I might convert to ReadCube or Zotero or something in the near-to-medium term, however. I need a better way of searching all my PDFs, and that's the main reason; for citation purposes, it's not hard enough to motivate me to change my habits.

[Parasaurolophus]

Once I am finished writing an article I through the articles in the trash and move on the next.

Yeah, don't do that. You'll probably want to reuse sources in other projects.

Plus, you want to build up a library of sources, because you can't count on your university library having what you need.

[Puget]

Yep, you seriously need to switch to software that will manage your collection of sources and allow you to search and cite in one easy workflow.

I use Papers, which is the precursor to Readcube. I've heard not so great things about Readcube and also don't like that is has a subscription model, so when my old version of Papers finally won't run anymore I'll probably switch to Zotero, which is what my grad students use and like, and which is free (just don't try to use the the google docs plug-in, a thousand curses on it's head). I will be very sad to have to transition though, as my Papers library has over 7000 articles, collected since I started grad school in 2006.

However many it takes to get the job done and do a solid survey of the extant material?

This is exactly what I tell my students when they ask this question.

HigherEd7, this is not meant to come off as snide or condescending, but from the various questions you ask here, it really seems like you didn't get sufficient mentoring in your graduate program. They are honestly the sort of questions I typically hear from first year grad students, not junior faculty. On the old fora, the phrase used to be "mentored by wolves." It's great you are recognizing some of these gaps in your training and working on them, but I suspect you need more than we here can really offer. Do you have a trusted senior colleague or two who can take you under their wings and show you the ropes?

[polly_mer]

I second the "mentored by wolves" possibility and the recommendation to find a mentor in the field or a closely related one.

For research purposes, I use Bibdesk to organize the reference files because I can take notes and search by keywords as well as link the PDF to the record.

The Bibdesk file works well with LaTeX/Bibtex to generate the citations as I'm writing each paper.  I am bemused at the idea of deleting the references when each paper is done. I have a BibDesk file that goes back more than 15 years and through many projects. It's been interesting to see how the same topic comes around again possibly a decade later and it's much easier to update the file than start completely over.

[HigherEd7]

Yep, you seriously need to switch to software that will manage your collection of sources and allow you to search and cite in one easy workflow.

I use Papers, which is the precursor to Readcube. I've heard not so great things about Readcube and also don't like that is has a subscription model, so when my old version of Papers finally won't run anymore I'll probably switch to Zotero, which is what my grad students use and like, and which is free (just don't try to use the the google docs plug-in, a thousand curses on it's head). I will be very sad to have to transition though, as my Papers library has over 7000 articles, collected since I started grad school in 2006.

However many it takes to get the job done and do a solid survey of the extant material?

This is exactly what I tell my students when they ask this question.

HigherEd7, this is not meant to come off as snide or condescending, but from the various questions you ask here, it really seems like you didn't get sufficient mentoring in your graduate program. They are honestly the sort of questions I typically hear from first year grad students, not junior faculty. On the old fora, the phrase used to be "mentored by wolves." It's great you are recognizing some of these gaps in your training and working on them, but I suspect you need more than we here can really offer. Do you have a trusted senior colleague or two who can take you under their wings and show you the ropes?

I agree with you 100% and I am working to fill these gaps. Thank you for your response.

[jerseyjay]

It seems that this is very discipline specific. I am also not sure if there is a correct way to do this--so long as the result is useful and does not result in plagiarism.

I am in history and have published about a dozen articles and two books, although I have also published several articles in what could probably be called literary criticism.

I was taught to take notes on notecards. I think I stopped doing this sometime in high school. I do not use Zotero or any similar software. To some degree this is because I learnt how to do research before such things become popular, and to some degree because I find the experience of taking notes manually helps me organize my thoughts well.

Now what I do is somewhat hybrid. If I am going through primary sources (usually archival material or newspapers, I will most often type notes into my word processor).

I also print out/copy some primary sources, which I organize, along with my notes, into manila files in a way that makes sense to me.

If I am looking at articles, books, and other secondary sources, I will usually write marginalia, unless it is a library book at which time I will usually write on a legal pad or in my computer, depending on my mood. (When I am at the library, I will often leave my computer in my bag and take notes in longhand, because it helps me concentrate more.)

I also begin writing early in the research process, before I have completed all my research. Over time, I will just skip the note taking stage and go directly into my text, making sure to footnote as a I go along.

In terms of throwing out my research when I am done: I keep anything (paper copies, printouts, etc.) that is hard to find or is a primary source.  For articles, it depends on whether I am going to keep researching a particular topic, or how hard it was to find the article. If it is just a question of downloading an article again, I find it easier to do that than search through my filing cabinet. Of course, if it is a foreign or rare article, I will keep a copy. For an article, I might have half a file cabinet drawer of material at the end, and for a book, I have had on average three or four boxes full of material.

I often toy with the idea for research years before I actually start serious researching, so I keep files (both physical and on my computer) of these ideas with the goal of somebody actually methodically going through them and doing the research.

I do not think that everybody, or even anybody, should follow my example. My point is it that research is somewhat idiosyncratic and so long as it works for you--and by that I mean it helps you be productive and avoid plagiarism, etc--than use whatever system works for you. It sounds as if you current system might not be working, so I I think it makes sense to survey various people, but then you will need to choose what works for you.

[HigherEd7]

It seems that this is very discipline specific. I am also not sure if there is a correct way to do this--so long as the result is useful and does not result in plagiarism.

I am in history and have published about a dozen articles and two books, although I have also published several articles in what could probably be called literary criticism.

I was taught to take notes on notecards. I think I stopped doing this sometime in high school. I do not use Zotero or any similar software. To some degree this is because I learnt how to do research before such things become popular, and to some degree because I find the experience of taking notes manually helps me organize my thoughts well.

Now what I do is somewhat hybrid. If I am going through primary sources (usually archival material or newspapers, I will most often type notes into my word processor).

I also print out/copy some primary sources, which I organize, along with my notes, into manila files in a way that makes sense to me.

If I am looking at articles, books, and other secondary sources, I will usually write marginalia, unless it is a library book at which time I will usually write on a legal pad or in my computer, depending on my mood. (When I am at the library, I will often leave my computer in my bag and take notes in longhand, because it helps me concentrate more.)

I also begin writing early in the research process, before I have completed all my research. Over time, I will just skip the note taking stage and go directly into my text, making sure to footnote as a I go along.

In terms of throwing out my research when I am done: I keep anything (paper copies, printouts, etc.) that is hard to find or is a primary source.  For articles, it depends on whether I am going to keep researching a particular topic, or how hard it was to find the article. If it is just a question of downloading an article again, I find it easier to do that than search through my filing cabinet. Of course, if it is a foreign or rare article, I will keep a copy. For an article, I might have half a file cabinet drawer of material at the end, and for a book, I have had on average three or four boxes full of material.

I often toy with the idea for research years before I actually start serious researching, so I keep files (both physical and on my computer) of these ideas with the goal of somebody actually methodically going through them and doing the research.

I do not think that everybody, or even anybody, should follow my example. My point is it that research is somewhat idiosyncratic and so long as it works for you--and by that I mean it helps you be productive and avoid plagiarism, etc--than use whatever system works for you. It sounds as if you current system might not be working, so I I think it makes sense to survey various people, but then you will need to choose what works for you.

Thank you for your response. I have a few colleagues who are just not well versed when it comes to research, I enjoy interacting with my students and finding better ways to teach then locked up in my office trying to write the next research article that is going to change the world,and that most people will more than likely not read. I have taken an interest and I want to learn the tricks of the trade.