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KnowHow: PhD Sessions

Here you will find sessions and resources specifically targeted at PGR Researchers.

The programme currently runs three times a year.

  • November-December
  • March
  • June-July

We aim to make sessions available via our Library Training calendar approx. 6 weeks before each programme commences.

Sessions available in current programmes also get listed on this page.

Sessions are usually on Teams or Zoom. Further details will be available when you book.

 

Training available elsewhere

Open Research for sessions on all aspects of open research, including open access, FAIR data principles, responsible metrics and more.

Engage @ Liverpool is a cross-faulty research and methods initiative and a centre partner of the National Centre for Research Methods and provides training opportunities.

UK Data Service Introductory Training provide support on using a wide range of social science data available through their service. 

Sessions

 

View all Library events

PhD Sessions

NEW for the 2023/24 Academic Year!

This session entitled, 'Getting started with academic publishing and open access' will introduce the basics of academic publishing and provide you with the knowledge and confidence to choose the most appropriate outlet in which to publish your work. We will provide guidance on how to publish, including:  

  • The publishing lifecycle  
  • The different routes to open access publishing  
  • Funding options for open access  

Be sure to check out our Open Access webpages and our guide on how to make your work open access

Presentation:

PDF version of the presentation is available for download

 

 Click the image for a tutorial!

This session would be particularly useful to those who have already attended the Knowhow session 'Introduction to Endnote'  but also those who are familiar with the basics of endnote and want to know more about this referencing tool.

This workshop will cover:

  1. Organising your library: Groups; Smart Groups; Annotating records; Duplicates; Saving/moving your Library

  2. PDF handling: Attaching a PDF to a reference; Creating references from a folder of saved PDFs; Enable automatic importing; Annotating PDFs

  3. Merging thesis chapters

Advanced Endnote Desktop Workbook

What copyright issues should you take into account before submitting the final version of your thesis? What’s high risk and what’s low risk? How will readers gain access to your thesis after graduation? In this session, you will learn about the issues to consider when including material created by other people in your PhD thesis.

 

 
A PDF Version is available for download. 
 
link to copyright tutorial  Click the image for a tutorial!

NEW for the 2023/24 Academic Year!

 

This session will demonstrate different approaches and technologies for organising and linking your ideas throughout the PhD planning and writing process.

In this session we will cover:

  • Mind Mapping tips and tricks
  • Mind Mapping Software availability
  • Convergent and Divergent Thinking

Presentation

 

PDF Version of the slides is available for download.

 

  Click the image for a tutorial!

Overwhelmed with information? Not finding enough? This workshop will work through the stages of planning an effective search and using a database’s built-in search functionality to full effect. Learn how to cover all the bases to capture early, seminal and brand new research on your topic.

Presentation

 

PDF Version of the slides is available for download. 

 

Your data are valuable, and it is important they are kept safe, secure, and organised throughout your research project. Managing your research data is a part of good research practice, and it is important to think about how you will store, document, and share your data to ensure they remain usable as valuable research results. This session will introduce you to Research Data Management (RDM) and cover the basics of good RDM including Data Management Plans, managing sensitive data, data storage, and the importance of sharing your data.

 

Recording:

 

A PDF Version of the slides can be downloaded by clicking here.

Statistics at Liverpool

If you would like to improve your statistical skills, learn more about choosing appropriate tests or even if you are a beginner, take a look at the KnowHow statistics workshops/webinars coming up. For advanced statistics courses open to both staff and students, please see the Biostatistics page. There are also interactive tutorials available on Canvas covering different statistical topics.

If you are a student, you can also book a one to one appointment with one of our Stats@Liverpool tutors, who can help you with specific queries.

For demonstrations of performing most common statistical tests using SPSS, R and Stata see the KnowHow YouTube Channel.

Statistics at Liverpool: improve your statistical skills

NEW for the 2023/24 Academic Year!

 

This session will demonstrate techniques to save time when reading articles and considering which resources to read in depth, alongside showcasing different methods to make clear, concise and critical notes.

Attend this session to cover:

  • Note taking methods 
  • What to consider when selecting a method
  • Methods to increase reading and understanding speeds. 

 

Presentation

 

PDF version of the slides is available for download.

Download the Cornell Notes Template to get you started with new noting techniques. 

You can also find some further resources provided by ALDinHE for notetaking. 

 

 Click the image for a tutorial!

1) Getting started with a systematic review: developing your review question

This session is an introduction to systematic reviews and forms the first part of three sessions devoted to systematic reviews. Developing your review question is the important first step.

 

2) Planning and doing a search for your systematic review 

This session is the second in the series on systematic reviews. There will be a live session on searching a database of published research, in this case, MEDLINE. The skills demonstrated to use this database are transferable to any subject or discipline. The session will be interactive with you practising simple searching skills, so you will need a computer or smart device with a keyboard.

 

3) Doing your systematic review: managing data and reporting

Good research is systematic, disciplined and rigorous. It also has to reported clearly in a way that it can be reproduced and contested. The session will share advice and tips from experienced systematic review authors on how to plan and manage your search results, data extraction, quality assessment and reporting of your review.

NEW for the 2023/24 Academic Year!

 

This session will introduce the 'Think. Check. Submit.’ set of resources and equip you with the knowledge and tools to recognise trusted journals and publishers for your research. The session will consider approaches to assessing:

  • Predatory Journals
  • Peer review
  • Citation and Responsible Metrics

A list of the relevant websites used in the session can be found below:

 

Presentation

PDF Version of the slides is available for download.

 

 Click the image for a tutorial! 

PhD Life

Discover PhD Life: A Seminar Series for Research Postgraduates phdlife logo

Feeling like the weight of the world is on your shoulders? If you're a PhD student, you're not alone.

Join us for PhD Life, a new seminar series tailored to support research postgraduates like you in navigating the challenges that often accompany your academic journey. Each seminar will feature a speaker and delve into a range of valuable topics, including time management, well-being, research exploration, and career opportunities.

You'll be able to meet your fellow PGRs and share your experiences of PhD Life

Why Attend PhD Life Seminars?

  • Learn effective time management strategies.
  • Prioritise your well-being and mental health.
  • Explore exciting research and career paths.
  • Connect with fellow PGRs and share your experiences.

These sessions will be held in the Researcher Reading Room in Sydney Jones Library. Keep an eye out for sessions details on the Library Training calendar. 

Resources

Altmetric helps you track who has been talking about your research online in places like Twitter, blogs, news websites, policy documents etc. and can help you to engage people outside of academia with your research.  

At the end of this tutorial you should:

  • have an understanding of what Altmetrics are, how they can be useful, and issues to look out for 
  • know how to register for Altmetric and carry out basic searches 
  • be able to get started on a basic social media communication plan for your research/output 

 

 Click the image for a tutorial!

 

PDF Version of this resource is available. 

ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier (an ORCID iD) that you own and control, and that distinguishes you from every other researcher. You can connect your iD with your professional information — affiliations, grants, publications, peer review, and more.

At the end of this tutorial you should;

  • Understand how an Open Research and Contributor ID can benefit your research
  • Be equipped to create your own ORCiD and link to your accounts
  • Be able to link out using your ORCiD to support future research 

 

Image link to tutorial Click the image for a tutorial!

 

PDF Version of this resource is available.

Ready to publish your first paper and not sure where to start? This webinar will give a brief overview of what you need to think about when choosing a journal to publish in, as well as the tools available to help find the right one for you.

After attending this session you should know:

  • What to consider when choosing a journal and publisher
  • What predatory publishers are and how to avoid them
  • What tools are available to help you decide which journal to choose.

More resources on publishing can be found on the Library's Open Access pages. 

choosing the right journal to publish in thumbnail

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When working with personal or sensitive data it is essential that researchers know how to proceed.  We present a series of 3 short videos produced by the University of Liverpool’s Data Protection Officer Dan Howarth explaining the law and how to navigate data protection for researchers.

When considering how to initiate and manage your research, you will of course be considering ethics and research integrity as well as GDPR.

Introduction

Principles

Consent

On this page, we list some of the web-based tools available for researchers. 

Unless indicated, if you need or would like further support on an application you should go online to the community and/or company concerned. The University does not have an institutional subscription to all these tools. If you wish to purchase a subscription for your research project, please check with IT Services first. 

Digital Scholar Lab

The Gale Digital Scholar Lab is a cloud-based research environment that allows students and researchers to apply natural language processing tools to raw text data (OCR) from Gale's Primary Sources in a single research platform.

What Gale says

When performing analyses, finding, cleaning, and organising data, natural language processing (NLP) for historical texts is often a daunting task, especially when looking to generate meaningful results. Gale Digital Scholar Lab  removes these barriers and streamlines the workflow process, allowing researchers to spend more time identifying previously undiscovered data, testing theories, analysing results, and gaining new insights. 

Access

You can access the Digital Scholar Lab via the Library’s list of databases, which can be found on the Library Main Page under the Discover Search Bar. Choose Research Tools in the Database type section, it is listed alphabetically.  You will have to sign in to get access to the tool and have a google account to create an account with Gale.

Data Analysis

The web is a valuable tool to help with understanding your data analysis problems whether you are a novice or an expert

For those just starting or with some basic skills, there are the following.

LinkedIn Learning

The University has a license for LinkedIn Learning. This provides video-based training for a wide range of topics. Under the topic of data analysis, there are 195 courses listed. These range from relatively short introductions to the topic, such as Learning Data Analytics to multi-session courses with 30+ hours of content. Some are self-contained, whilst others are best appreciated if you install the suggested application software and do exercises as you progress through the course.

The Programming Historian

A popular text-based interactive site is The Programming Historian. As of August 2021, there are 86 lessons in English as well as a good range of courses in French, Spanish and Portuguese. These vary in difficulty with a range of topics covered. Several of these address data analysis needs relevant to the Humanities.

OpenRefine

OpenRefine is an Open Source tool that helps you explore, clean data and transform it from one format to another. It also allows your data to be augmented with data from other sources such as websites and web services.

OpenRefine is a Java-based tool that runs via a small server on your local computer, this ensures privacy and means your data never leaves your system.

Library Carpentry provides a useful introductory lesson, which includes sample data, in OpenRefine.

Amnesia 

Amnesia is a tool to transform personal data to anonymous data, which can then be used free of restrictions imposed by GDPR. It facilitates the replacement of unique values, or combinations of values, with more abstract ones. These abstractions can be saved and reapplied on similar data in the future. Amnesia can produce several solutions to fully anonymise a dataset, allowing the user to choose the most appropriate to the potential research application.

Amnesia is Open Source and can be used under a 3-Clause BSD License.

SketchEngine

SketchEngine is an online language analysis tool. It allows users to study large collections of language use, known as corpora, mainly collected from different websites, to reveal insights into language, information, content, and communication. The corpora on SketchEngine each contain several billions of words of English, Romance languages, Arabic, Chinese, and so on. Data is tagged with information such as part of speech (noun, verb, etc) and syntactic position (subject, object, modifier, etc). Searches can reveal patterns and meanings of language employed by many speakers and writers or can contest or elucidate received wisdom about language use. SketchEngine users can also upload their own corpora for analysis.

Access SketchEngine using the institutional login, using University credentials, with two-step identification.

Omeka

Omeka is a web publishing platform for sharing digital collections and creating online exhibitions. It’s widely used in the cultural heritage sector, but has wider applications for a range of humanities and arts research data, especially if you are interested in showcasing collections and sharing data with the public. The free, web-hosted version allows you to create a single site where you can upload images, audio, video, etc and apply rich, descriptive metadata using Dublin Core. If you need more sites and more storage, a range of pricing tiers are available. The open source, downloadable version of Omeka is even more powerful and versatile, although it may require some institutional IT support to run and maintain.

Recording of recent Introduction to OMEKA session from Dr Victoria Stobo.

An example of using Omeka to share research data (including crowd-sourced data): Hermoupolis Digital Heritage Management (Hermes).

 

Visual Abstracts

Visual abstracts are becoming popular tools for both journals and authors to help communicate and disseminate research. This video will explain what visual abstracts are, why they are used and will demonstrate how to create a visual abstract in both Canva and PowerPoint.

View Visual Abstract in Stream for transcription options. 

RDM and Anonymisation

Research data relating to research that involves personal or special category data should be anonymised.  Anonymisation reduces the risk of data breaches or mishandling and it is also an important element to sharing effectively.

This short video covers the concept of anonymisation. It is discipline agnostic.

research data management and anonymisation

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