The amount of literature in all fields is growing at an exponential rate. How can you keep up with the latest literature in your field? Here are some effective methods used by fellow research academics.

How do scientific researchers, especially academics, continue their education? This article explains many requirements — as well as learning avenues — which you can tailor to your specialty, academic institution and personality.

The first step in research is to outline the research problem. This article explains how to write the statement of the problem in your research, illustrating with an example.

The rationale for one’s research is the justification for undertaking a given study. It states the reason(s) why a researcher chooses to focus on the topic in question, including what the significance is and what gaps the research intends to fill.

Most scientific endeavours are articulated through words, and effective communication requires the skilful use of words. Here, we explain why it is important to express your research clearly.

The abbreviations ‘e.g.’ and ‘i.e.’ are common in academic writing, but people often get them confused. This article explains where each abbreviation comes from and how they should be used.

In academic writing, sentences can easily become long and difficult to read. This article offers an explanation for how commas and semicolons can be used to break up and clarify your writing.

After sentences, paragraphs are the next level at which a piece of text is broken up. This article explains and illustrates how paragraphs can be used to help convey your ideas more clearly.

An important part of writing up your research into a paper or dissertation involves being open and honest about what you think you could have done better, or what you would do differently if you were to repeat the experiment. This article offers some advice for deciding which limitations to include and how to frame them in your writing.

The key to using apps to support your research is in making sure that the apps you choose to use actually benefit you, rather than distract you. Here are some examples to help you use apps more efficiently and productively for your research.

It has become more important than ever to work with colleagues from adjacent, and sometimes, completely different fields to tackle pressing issues. In this article, we discuss how to approach working in this way and also the skills (especially soft skills) needed to extract the most value from inter- and multidisciplinary research collaborations.

Academic writing is not only about technical words or jargon but many other words that help you to convey your thoughts. How do you expand your vocabulary? This article provides some practical ways to do so.

Errors can affect the scientific rigour of a paper and the publication record of the author. There may also be times when a vital piece of information comes in just after your paper is published. As a researcher, you must know how such errors (errata) or missing details (addenda) are dealt with in academic publishing. 

Retractions are usually the result of concerns raised by editors or readers. When authors request the retraction of their own work, it is called a self-retraction. 

Choosing whether you will carry out a quantitative or a qualitative research project is one of the questions that many early career researchers (ECRs) struggle with the most. This article will help you to work out which approach you should use for your project.

Beginning the design of a quantitative research project can feel like stepping foot into a maze. Due to the potential complexity of designing a study like this, knowing which first step to take can be confusing. To help make it easier for you, we’ve split up the decision making into several distinct points that you can address separately.

Creating a qualitative research project can feel overwhelming. However, by breaking the process down into simple questions, you will find that you’re ready to start collecting data sooner than you think. This article offers a series of questions that you can use as a guide to design your qualitative research project. 

While methodology and method are sometimes used interchangeably, they certainly are not. This article explains the difference.

Chances are that you and other early career researchers (ECRs) have been using ‘dissertation’ and ‘thesis’ interchangeably. This article looks at the difference between the two terms, if indeed there is a difference.

A concept paper is a one- to two-page written document describing an idea for a project. There is no hard rule as to how this should be structured, but here are some tips on what to include and why to include them.