The Graduate Skills Workshop series is a collection of workshops developed in collaboration with the Graduate School and the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) to support graduate research and success. Please reach out to our QEP Workshop coordinators if you have any questions about these workshops.
For questions regarding Research and Creative Activity Travel Grants, please contact the Graduate Student Resource Center.
Literature Review Workshop Series
Conducting a comprehensive literature review is important for graduate students who are identifying research problems and questions to advance their theses and dissertations. This session will identify strategies and best practices for searching scholarly resources, information organization, and identifying relevant studies to support your research.
Practical Strategies for Literature Review in Social Sciences:
Part I. Literature Search
Are you interested in streamlining your research process? Join us for a workshop tailored to doctoral students in the social sciences and learn savvy research skills to conduct comprehensive literature reviews in the social sciences. In this session, you will learn time-saving tips and strategies for navigating scholarly databases and the pros and cons of the search systems. The workshop will cover essential topics such as finding relevant studies and classic works, harvesting search terms, using search operators to refine your search, and identifying top journals for your research topics. Databases such as Social Science Premium Collection, ERIC, APA PsycINFO, Web of Science, JSTOR, and other search systems will be covered.
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Practical Strategies for Literature Review in Social Sciences:
Part II. Writing a Literature Review
This session is highly recommended for doctoral students who have previously taken Part I of this workshop series. Upon achieving proficiency in literature search techniques, we will move forward to the development of foundational skills for an effective literature review. In this workshop, you will learn the following topics: 1) Organizing and exporting references; 2) Identifying theories and research methodologies relevant to a specific research topic; 3) Synthesizing research studies; 4) Best practices for writing literature reviews, including tips on how to avoid common pitfalls, and 5) Citing various types of sources. Participants are recommended to take our Citation Management workshop before or after this workshop. Databases such as Scopus, PubMed, SAGE Research Methods, Dissertations & Theses (ProQuest), CINAHL Plus (EBSCO), and a few scholarly AI tools will be covered.
Writing a Literature Review in STEM
Conducting a comprehensive literature review is important for graduate students who are identifying research problems and questions to advance their theses and dissertations. This session will cover strategies and best practices for searching scholarly resources, information organization, and identifying relevant studies to support your research.
We’ll work through some of the foundational strategies for searching scientific literature to develop research questions and advance research in your discipline. Bring your research topics and questions!
Literature Review in Humanities
Knowing how to conduct a literature review using effective search strategies is one of the core skills required for researchers across disciplines. This workshop is designed for students in Arts and Humanities disciplines to learn how to locate and search relevant information from databases, journals, and books, track citation chains, keep apprised of current discourse, and organize their resources. Attendees will be able to analyze the genre of the literature review in their fields, systematize their selection and deselection of relevant sources, and craft a review that emphasizes the importance of their own research and writing.
Citation Management Workshop Series
Learn more about citing sources and managing citations in our Citation Management series including focused workshops on tools and citation styles.
View the scheduled workshops in this series
Introduction to Citation Management Using Zotero
Do you still do citations by hand? Invest one hour of your academic career to learn how to utilize a free citation management program and save yourself countless hours in the future. In this workshop, we will demonstrate how to use Zotero to collect, save, and organize citations and create citations and bibliographies with just a few clicks. Zotero is compatible with Microsoft Word and Google Docs, allowing you to link your sources directly to your writing. With just a few additional clicks, you can easily modify the style of your bibliography. The workshop is tailored to accommodate beginners and those with some Zotero experience. Participants interested in attending Systematic Review workshops are encouraged to take this workshop first.
Introduction to APA 7
This workshop introduces important aspects of the American Psychological Association (APA) Style used to format research papers and create citations. The introductory material describes what APA Style is, why it is used, and who should use it. We will go over common types of citations as well as common mistakes, and attendees will have an opportunity to practice citations and ask questions.
Introduction to Citation Management Using EndNote
EndNote is a powerful citation management tool that allows you to manage bibliographies and references when writing essays, articles, books, and reports. EndNote can be used alongside word processing software such as Microsoft Word and Google Docs, allowing you to cite your sources while you are writing. The software allows you to automatically format citations into any of over 2000 citation styles. This workshop will explore how to navigate the EndNote interface, import references and create libraries, and use the Cite-While-You-Write tool to cite your references directly in a document.
Introduction to R Studio
This 50-minute workshop is a basic introduction to performing data analysis and visualization using R Studio. It is open to beginners, including those who have never used R before. The workshop will include live coding examples and attendants are encouraged to download R Studio for free and follow along. Topics covered include Base R and R Studio, creating objects and datasets, importing and exporting data, performing arithmetic functions, installing packages, and creating data visualizations.
Introduction to Text Analysis
Computer-aided analysis offers a new way of looking at texts, whether they be classic works of literature or modern interview transcripts, a lifetime of letters or the full run of a newspaper. This session will introduce the basics of text analysis with Voyant, an easy-to-use analysis tool. Participants will gain hands-on experience loading different formats of text into Voyant and parsing the resulting analysis. No prior technical experience required.
Introduction to MATLAB
MATLAB is a multi-use numerical computing environment and programming language that is widely used for solving problems in various engineering, scientific, and mathematical fields. MATLAB comes with hundreds of built-in functions and commands that can be used for data analysis and visualization. This introductory workshop will explore various concepts integral to getting started with MATLAB, including working within the desktop environment, creating and manipulating vectors and matrices, importing external data, generating scripts, and creating 2D plots.
Introduction to R's ggplot
An overview of the R package ggplot2. Topics will include: the grammar of graphics, aesthetic mappings, geometries, and themes.
Introduction to Python for Humanities
This session will introduce you to Python through text-based game design. During this workshop, you will grasp fundamental programming concepts such as variables, control flow, and functions, all while creating interactive text-based games. This hands-on approach not only makes Python easy-to-grasp but also provides a practical way to apply coding skills.
Text Analysis with Python
Computer-aided analysis offers a new way of looking at texts. This session will introduce the basics of text analysis with Python. Participants will gain hands-on experience analyzing texts with different Python libraries and parsing the resulting analysis. No prior technical experience required.
Basic Text Encoding for Humanities Data Analysis
Explore the essentials of text encoding in this introductory workshop for humanities scholars. Expand how you engage with your corpus by using text encoding to enrich the types of analysis possible. This workshop will focus on parsing texts into manageable units to both analyze and describe documents using the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) guidelines. Gain hands-on experience with encoding techniques and tools that help preserve textual nuances and support digital humanities projects. Attendees will understand how to apply text encoding to analyze, share, and visualize texts effectively, unlocking new possibilities in humanities research