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Research Guides

Clear, free guides to the rules and methods behind academic work, from writing a research question to reporting statistics and citing sources. Each guide explains why, not just what.

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    37
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  • Categories
    5

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Guides for every stage of research

Guides arranged by the stage of a research project where you'll need them, from reading the literature to checking a final draft. Browse by subject below.

  • What to do, and why it matters
  • How to do it, step by step, with worked examples
  • The common mistakes, and the limits of any rule
  • Which ResearchKit tools help you apply it

  1. 1.Discover

    Read research critically and find what is already known.

  2. 2.Plan

    Turn a topic into a question, objectives and a workable plan.

  3. 3.Review

    Search, organise and synthesise the literature.

  4. 4.Design

    Choose an approach and plan the data you need.

  5. 5.Collect and analyse

    Choose the right analysis and understand what it shows.

  6. 6.Write

    Structure an argument and write it clearly.

  7. 7.Cite

    Credit every source correctly, in the style required.

  8. 8.Report

    Present results and summarise the work for readers.

  9. 9.Finalise

    Meet the limits and check the details before submission.

Citation

11 available now, 0 coming soon

How citation works, and how to credit sources correctly in any style.

  • How to choose a citation style

    Who decides which citation style you use, how the main styles differ, and what to do when instructions are missing or conflict.

  • APA 7 Citations and References

    Learn how APA 7 connects source metadata, in-text citations and reference-list entries, then build trustworthy outputs without inventing missing information.

  • MLA 9 Citation and Works Cited Guide

    Learn how MLA 9 builds Works Cited entries from a source and its container, how in-text citations point to them, and what to do when details are missing.

  • Chicago Author-Date Citations

    Learn Chicago's author-date system: how text citations such as (Yu 2020, 45) point to a reference list, how to cite books, journal articles and web pages, and how it differs from notes and bibliography.

  • Chicago Notes and Bibliography

    Learn Chicago's notes-and-bibliography system: full notes, shortened notes and bibliography entries for books, journal articles and web pages, and how it differs from author-date.

  • IEEE Citations and References

    Learn IEEE's numeric citation style: how [1], [2] and [3] point to a numbered reference list in citation order, and how to cite books, journal articles, conference papers and web pages.

  • Harvard Citations and References

    Learn Harvard referencing: what it is, why versions differ between universities, how in-text citations such as (Smith, 2015, p. 23) lead to a reference list, and how to reference books, journal articles and web pages.

  • How to cite a website

    What to record when you use a web page, how to handle a missing author or date, when to give an access date, and how the same page is cited in APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE and Harvard.

  • Reference list or bibliography?

    The difference between a reference list, a Works Cited list and a bibliography, which one APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE and Harvard use, what each should contain, and how to order it.

  • How to avoid plagiarism

    What counts as plagiarism, including patchwriting and self-plagiarism, how quoting, paraphrasing and citing work together, what similarity reports do and don't show, and habits that prevent it.

  • How the Reference Checker Works

    What ResearchKit's Reference Checker checks in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, IEEE and Harvard, how it matches citations to a reference list, what it can't check, and how to read and fix what it reports.

Research Methods

6 available now, 0 coming soon

Planning research: questions, approaches and reviewing the literature.

  • How to write a research question

    How to turn a topic into a focused, answerable research question: the elements a question names, the main types of question, the FINER criteria, a worked example of refining a broad question, and the common mistakes.

  • How to write research objectives

    What a general objective and specific objectives are, how to write and order them, which action verbs fit which research purpose, and how to check objectives against your research question, with worked examples.

  • How to write a good research title

    What a research title is for, what it should name, how long it should be, the common title patterns, and how to check yours against your question and design, with examples from Nepal and elsewhere.

  • Qualitative or quantitative research?

    How qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods and multi-method research differ in questions, data, sampling, analysis and quality criteria, and how to choose the approach your research question needs.

  • How to write a literature review

    What a literature review is for, the main types of review, how to search for and record sources, how to synthesise rather than summarise, how to find genuine gaps, and how to structure and write the review.

  • How to search academic literature

    How to turn a topic into search terms, use phrases, synonyms and operators, widen or narrow a search, judge the results, find DOIs and free full text, and record your search so you can repeat it.

Writing

8 available now, 0 coming soon

Structuring and writing academic work that meets its requirements.

  • How to structure an academic essay

    How to build an academic essay around an argument: analysing the question, writing a thesis statement, planning the body, writing introductions and conclusions, common structures for different essay types, and a worked plan.

  • Paragraph Structure and Counting

    How academic paragraphs are built, from topic sentence to transition; what makes a paragraph unified and coherent; why length varies; and how the Paragraph Counter decides where one paragraph ends and the next begins.

  • Sentence Structure and Counting

    How sentences are built from clauses, the four sentence types, why length and variety matter in academic writing, common problems such as fragments and run-ons, and how the Sentence Counter decides where a sentence ends.

  • Readability in Academic Writing

    What readability formulas measure, how Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, SMOG and the Automated Readability Index are calculated, why they disagree, and why a readability score is not a measure of writing quality.

  • How to paraphrase correctly

    A step-by-step method for restating a source's idea in your own words and structure, with worked examples, how to cite a paraphrase, when to quote instead, and the mistakes that turn a paraphrase into plagiarism.

  • How to write an abstract

    What an abstract must contain, how long it should be, structured and unstructured abstracts, a worked example sentence by sentence, keywords, and how to fit within a word or character limit.

  • How to meet a word limit

    What may count towards a word limit, how word counters count, and practical ways to cut wordy phrases, repetition and padding, or to develop a draft that falls short, with before-and-after examples.

  • How to count characters in academic writing

    What a character count is, how it differs from a word count, and why abstracts, titles, research proposals, journal submission systems and online forms often set limits in characters rather than words, including guidance for Nepali (Devanagari) and other multilingual text.

Statistics

6 available now, 0 coming soon

Choosing, interpreting and reporting statistical analyses.

  • How to choose a statistical test

    A practical, step-by-step guide to matching a research question, variables and study design with statistical tests, assumptions and interpretation.

  • Power Analysis

    What statistical power is, how α, effect size and sample size determine it, how to plan a sample size before collecting data for t tests, proportions, correlation and one-way ANOVA, and why observed power after a study is not the same thing.

  • Confidence Intervals

    What a confidence interval is and isn't, how standard errors, critical values and margins of error produce one, how intervals for means, proportions, their differences and correlations are calculated, and how to interpret and report them.

  • What a p-value tells you

    What a p-value measures, what it doesn't, the most common misinterpretations, why statistical significance isn't importance, and how to report and read p-values alongside effect sizes and confidence intervals.

  • SPSS: From data preparation to reporting

    A connected guide to preparing research data, choosing a supported analysis, running its IBM SPSS Statistics procedure, checking assumptions, reading output and reporting results.

  • How to report statistics in APA Style

    How to write statistical results in APA Style: formatting t, F, r, χ² and p, decimal places and leading zeros, effect sizes and confidence intervals, example sentences for common tests, and when to use a table.

Academic Skills

6 available now, 0 coming soon

Reading, organising and planning your academic work.

  • How to read a research paper

    How to read research papers efficiently and critically: the structure of a paper, Keshav's three-pass method, questions to judge a study's methods and statistics, how to take useful notes, and how to read many papers for a review.

  • How to manage your references

    How to keep track of sources from the start of a project: what details to record for each kind of source, using DOIs, choosing and using a reference manager, organising notes, and checking a generated reference list.

  • How to plan a dissertation

    How to plan a dissertation or thesis from start to submission: understanding the requirements, writing a proposal, building a realistic timeline with milestones, working with a supervisor, and the guides and tools for each stage.

  • How to write a research proposal

    How to write a research proposal: what it is, the sections it usually has, what each section must answer, how it differs from a paper and a thesis, and the mistakes to avoid. A plan for research you have not yet done.

  • How to write a research paper

    How to write a research paper: the usual sections, what each must contain, the difference between Results and Discussion, how it differs from a proposal and a thesis, and common mistakes. For reporting one completed study.

  • How to write a thesis or dissertation

    How to write a thesis or dissertation: the chapters it usually has, what a theoretical framework and appendices are for, how it differs from a proposal and a paper, how to build it in stages, and common mistakes.