Textbooks

Advanced Library Skills for Physics Research  by Lauren Stieglitz (CC BY).

Literature searching and information evaluation for upper level undergraduates and Master’s students, from the University of Alberta Library.

Advanced Research Skills: Conducting Literature and Systematic Reviews by Kelly Dermody, Cecile Farnum, Daniel Jakubek, Jo-Anne Petropoulos, Jane Schmidt, and Reece Steinberg (CC BY).

A short course for graduate students to increase their proficiency in conducting research for literature and systematic reviews. After taking the mini-course graduate students will understand how to conduct their review, how to execute appropriate searches, manage their results, and demonstrate strategic reading skills. Module 1 provides a quick overview of the different types of academic reviews and the steps involved in conducting them. Module 2 demonstrates how to formulate a research question and how to search for sources. Module 3 discusses how to select and organize sources. Finally, Module 4 outlines techniques for reading and assessing the quality of sources. The course contains interactive H5P activities for students to test their learning. Students have access to a workbook of reflective activities to document their research process. The intended outcome is to ensure graduate students understand how to conduct and manage their own research for their academic success and future careers.

Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research, 1st Canadian Edition  by Lindsey MacCallum, adapted by the University of Regina (CC BY).

Canadian adaptation by the University of Regina, with engaging graphics, compelling examples, and easy-to-understand explanations that make Choosing and Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research, a valuable, open-access resource for completing research-based writing assignments and projects. Students will be better equipped to tackle the challenges of developing research questions, evaluating and choosing the right sources, searching for information, avoiding plagiarism, and much more.

Confident Supervisors: Creating Independent Researchers by Susan Gasson, Jillian Blacker, Ian Stoodley, Abbe Winter and Christine Bruce(CC BY-NC-SA).

Confident Supervisors is intended to be both a textbook and a professional development resource for Higher Degree Research supervisors and researcher developers involved in providing workshops and resources to support research supervisors in their practice. Throughout this book, authors introduce different theoretical frameworks and concepts to provide supervisors with tools and strategies for responding to the challenges and opportunities associated with research supervision. It contains chapters written by current supervisors and research support partners who are engaged in the scholarship of supervision and can share the practical and theoretical constructs they employ in their practice. The authors have been drawn from a broad range of higher education and research contexts and contribute understandings of local and global relevance.

Critical Thinking in Academic Research by Cindy Gruwell and Robin Ewing (CC BY-SA).

This book will introduce students to the techniques and principles of critical thinking, and provides guidance on developing research questions and finding resources to answer the questions.

Data Feminism by Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein (CC BY).

A new way of thinking about data science and data ethics that is informed by the ideas of intersectional feminism.

Doing Research: A Student’s Guide to Finding and Using the Best Sources by Celia Brinkerhoff (CC BY) .

A modules-based approach to learning research skills that emphasizes the reflective nature of information discovery, the contextual basis for evaluating that information, and a recognition that information has value.

Engaging Researchers with Data Management: The Cookbook edited by Connie Clare , Maria Cruz, Elli Papadopoulou, James Savage, Marta Teperek, Yan Wang (CC BY).

Engaging Researchers with Data Management is an invaluable collection of 24 case studies, drawn from institutions across the globe, that demonstrate clearly and practically how to engage the research community with RDM. These case studies together illustrate the variety of innovative strategies research institutions have developed to engage with their researchers about managing research data.

Graduate Research Project Guide by Sel Young-Lee and Siyon Rhee (CC BY-NC-SA).

This book presents a step-by-step guide to help graduate students complete a Master’s thesis or graduate research project paper for those who conduct research using a secondary dataset.

Informed Arguments: A Guide to Writing and Research by Terri Pantuso, Sarah LeMire, Kathy Anders (CC BY-NC-SA).

This book is appropriate for a first-year composition course focusing on academic writing, reading, researching, and speaking. Major concepts in argument theory are covered.

Introduction to College Research by Walter D. Butler; Aloha Sargent; and Kelsey Smith (CC BY)

This book acknowledges the changing information landscape, covering key concepts in information literacy to support a research process with intention. It critically examines the everyday online environment such as algorithms, the attention economy, information disorder and cynicism, information hygiene, and fact-checking. This is followed by an exploration of information source types, meaningful research topics, keyword choices, effective search strategies, library resources, Web search considerations, the ethical use of information, and citation.

Library 160: Introduction to College-Level Research by Iowa State University Library Instruction Services (CC BY-SA).

You will learn how scholarly information is produced, organized, and accessed; how to construct and use effective search strategies in a variety of web tools and scholarly databases; how to choose finding tools appropriate to the type of information you need; critical thinking skills in the evaluation of resources; and best practices in the ethical use of information.

Niagara College Libraries + Learning Commons Information Skills Online Handbook by Jackie Chambers Page and Siscoe Boschman (CC BY).

This handbook introduces and reinforces essential information literacy skills for students beginning their post-secondary careers.

Research Methods Handbook by Farrow, R., Iniesto, F., Weller, M. & Pitt., R. (CC BY).

In this guide we explore some of these issues with a focus on open research, drawing on insights from researchers within the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN). Open practices in research can challenge assumptions about how to create and share new knowledge. In the handbook, we draw on insights from experienced open researchers to build understanding of research in the open. The advice given applies to all research, but is of particular relevance to those interested in open approaches.

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• Sask map by Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).