Research Methods & resources at Queen's library

Research resources at Queen's are extensive and there are several approaches to discovering what is available in your discipline. This workshop provides an introduction to searching research literature strategically and comprehensively using a range of tools including discovery layers, interdisciplinary and discipline-specific databases, article alerts, open access materials, and citation analysis. Support for e-thesis production and citation management will also be reviewed.

Library - Cory Laverty & Nasser Saleh

Resources & tips (61KB)

Introduction to research tools(114KB)

How to Write a Literature Review

Learning how to identify existing scholarship on a subject and to critically evaluate it is an essential skill in both academia and beyond. This workshop focuses on how to conduct and then integrate a literature review into a thesis in a purposeful and meaningful way. The workshop emphasizes the transferrable skills associated with conducting literature reviews that employers outside academia highly value.

Writing Centre -

Susan Korba

Dealing with Perfectionism in Writing

If perfectionism hinders completion of your writing and/or causes undue emotional stress, this workshop will offer guidance in meeting these challenges. In this session, you will evaluate the effects of perfectionism on your writing, learn about practical anti-perfectionism strategies to help you begin and complete projects

Learning Strategies - Linda Williams

Resources & Tips (66KB)

Revising graduate level writing & eliciting feedback from supervisors

This workshop will address the fundamentals of editing a large project, from polishing a draft to integrating your supervisor's comments.

Writing Centre - Susan Korba & Dr Ana Siljak

 Presentation slides(920KB)

Good citation practices

An important skill in becoming a responsible researcher is knowing what, how and when to cite. Proper citation is essential for acknowledging the work of others and your own. The Library's collection of citation-tracking databases offers new search and analytical capabilities that can help you understand the impact of your research and the research of others. Knowing where and how often your work is being cited is useful when preparing grant applications, applying for a new academic or research position, writing a reference letter or nomination for an award, preparing a tenure or promotion portfolio and deciding where to submit an article for publication.

Library -

Michael White

Dissertation Boot Camp

This one week intensive boot camp is designed to accelerate your progress in the final stages of writing your Master's or PhD thesis. Participants commit to spending four (5 days in June) days writing their dissertation in a comfortable environment dedicated to writing. The Writing Center and Learning Strategies will provide one-on-one learning and writing support if desired, as well as some short spot-light talks on subjects especially relevant to the thesis writing, such as maintaining writing momentum. Group discussions will also focus on challenges common to graduate-level writing and, especially, large writing projects.

Research Data Management : Why it Plays an Important Role in your Research

Do you plan to collect your own or use existing data for you research?  Do you want to be able to re-use, share, verify, or find(!) your data in the future?  This introductory workshop will cover the reasons for data management and an introduction to data capture, storage, and description as well as resources available to you here at Queen’s University.  This is not a workshop for specific software, but an overview for all.

Library 

Jeff Moon

Writing an Abstract

An engaging and compelling abstract is one of the gateways to successful conference presentations, grant applications, and publications. Learning how to write an effective abstract is an essential skill for graduate students. This workshop will offer insights on how to balance conciseness with detail,  and how to capture effectively the central arguments of your submission.

SGS & Faculty 

Dr Bob Montgomerie

Resources & Tips (60KB)

Research Across the disciplines : Panel discussion

Research is not always limited to a single discipline. The terms “cross-disciplinary” or “multi-disciplinary”  are often used to describe current research and writing in academia.  This panel discussion will include Faculty, Graduate Students and Librarians who will discuss their techniques and methods for starting research in a new discipline (or across more than one discipline). This session will appeal to anyone who is embarking on a project where they need to go beyond their disciplines and cross over to new ones for their research.

Library -

Natalie Soini, faculty & grad students

Tips & Strategies for Timely Degree Completion

This workshop will provide some pragmatic strategies on how to complete your degree in a timely way. Material from the SGS student survey on times to completion will be discussed.   Topics include: defining and following a timetable for completion, meeting program requirements, setting micro deadlines, communicating with your supervisor, getting feedback on your work, maintaining momentum, juggling professional, personal and academic demands. 

Additional Resource - Planning your Doctorate:Schedule for Success

This valuable resource includes a yearly calendar put together by VITAE, a Cambridge, UK-based organization "championing the personal, professional and career development of doctoral researchers and research staff in higher education institutions and research institutes".

SGS - Dr Cathie Krull (Sociology)

Presentation slides (777KB)

Planning your doctorate:Schedule for Success

Tips on Applying for scholarships & fellowships – SSHRC, CIHR & OGS

This session will provide information about what makes an application stand out, what sells and what doesn’t, and how best to present your research. Faculty members who have sat on review panels for Tri-Council Agencies  & OGS will share their experiences and address questions.

SGS & Faculty 

• Tips on Grant Writing

• The Art of Writing Proposals (SSRC)

Presentation slides(261KB)

Tips on Applying for Scholarships & fellowships – NSERC, CIHR & OGS

This session will provide information about what makes an application stand out, what sells and what doesn’t, and how best to present your research. Faculty members who have sat on review panels for Tri-Council Agencies will share their experiences and address questions.

SGS & Faculty 

Tips on Grant Writing

 Presentation Slides(333KB)

Top Ten Tips on Grant & Fellowship Application Success

(Preparing an effective grant/fellowship application)

This workshop provides tools and strategies on how to write a persuasive and compelling grant application. Topics include: the importance of starting early, writing with simplicity and clarity, defining a project with a realistic scope, and demonstrating effectively your ability to carry out the research.

ORS

Nancy Churchman

 Resources & Tips(69KB)

Getting published in the sciences & health sciences 

This seminar/workshop will provide insight on how the world of academic publishing works. You will develop a better understanding of how different commercial publishing models (subscription based and 'open access') work, and how their survival strategies have an impact on your choice of journals. You will also come to appreciate how journal editors determine which articles are desirable for their publications.

SGS - Dr Peter Davies (DBMS)

 Resources & Tips(93KB)

Presentation slides (84KB)

Getting published in the sciences, applied sciences & Engineering

This workshop provides background information on academic publications in the sciences, applied sciences and engineering.  Topics include the structure and formatting of your paper, academic journals and the publication submission process, the peer review process, collaborative work and co-authorship, as well as tips and strategies on how to choose the appropriate journal/press,  how to know when an article is ready to send out, and more.

SGS - Dr Karen Rudie (Electrical & Computer Engineering)

 Resources & Tips (87KB)

Presentation slides (31KB)

Getting published in the social sciences & humanities

This seminar/workshop will provide insight on how the world of academic publishing works. You will develop a better understanding of how different commercial publishing models (subscription based and 'open access') work, and how their survival strategies have an impact on your choice of journals. You will also come to appreciate how journal editors determine which articles are desirable for their publications.

SGS - Dr Jeffrey Collins (History)

Resources & tips (93KB)

Presentation Slides(302KB)

Conferences : from abstract to the audience –sciences, health sciences & applied sciences

This conference will cover the do’s and don’ts of academic conferences, beginning with how to identify conferences in your field, how to write an effective abstract, how to put together a panel with participants from other universities, how to write a conference paper and how to present it in an effective and engaging manner.  Two workshops will be offered: one for Humanities/Social Sciences and another for graduate students in the sciences and applied sciences.

SGS - Dr John Smol (Biology)

Resources & tips(71KB)

Conferences : from abstract to the audience – social sciences & humanities

This conference will cover the do’s and don’ts of academic conferences, beginning with how to identify conferences in your field, how to write an effective abstract, how to put together a panel with participants from other universities, how to write a conference paper and how to present it in an effective and engaging manner.  Two workshops will be offered: one for Humanities/Social Sciences and another for graduate students in the sciences and applied sciences.

SGS - Dr James Miller (Religious Studies)

Resources & Tips (71KB)

Poster boards : Tips & Tricks

Designing an effective poster board for presentations at conferences and meetings is a required skill in many academic programs.  The workshop will provide information on how to showcase your research effectively in the limited space of the poster board.  Tips on how to convey information to a diverse audience will also be covered and how you can use your poster to generate conversation with academic peers.

SGS - Dr Susan Boehnke (Neuroscience)

Resources & tips(69KB)

Poster of research work (64KB)

Winter

Principles of Teaching & Learning

This session describes the key concepts that connect teaching with learning and explores how what the teacher does can influence what the student does and learns.

CTL

Lauren Anstey & Laura Kinderman

Assessment for Learning

With what we evaluate signaling what we want students to learn, this interactive session discusses the options, selection, and implementation of assessment for supporting student learning.

CTL - Everett Igobwa

Resources & tips (88KB)

Teaching for Inclusivity/Equity Issues in the Classroom

Providing effective feedback on student writing

In your work as a teaching assistant and teaching fellow, much of your interaction with your students revolves around evaluating their writing. In this workshop, you will learn how to provide the kind of feedback that your students can use to improve their work. Through interactive evaluation of writing samples, you will also learn techniques for choosing which issues to focus on, blending positive reinforcement with constructive criticism, and providing an amount of feedback that balances your students’ needs with your own time constraints.

Writing Center

Deanna Mason

Partnerships -Successful Partnerships across Disciplines.

Funding agencies increasingly value research projects that incorporate mutli disciplinary reseachers working in partnership together.  This workshop introduces you to some of the opportunities and challenges of working with researchers from other disciplines than your own on a shared project.  It also covers partnerships with parties outside the university or from other universities and-or colleges.  The workshop will feature academics who are part of multi disciplinary research teams funded by the Tri Council agencies.  SSHRC, NSERC and CIHR all emphasize partnerships across disciplines, across audiences and the wider community,and between institutions.  Learn how to make the most of these opportunities and to build bridges with other researchers.