List of Research Skill Development Resources

This page provides a list of resources related to developing your skills with social scientific research.  These resources will primarily focus on those skills used to conduct social science research using large-sample survey designs, which is my area of expertise.

Literature Search and Retrieval

• PsycINFO User Guide – this website from EBSCO Connect provides links to pages that give detail directions on how to use its database from basic to advanced searches.
• Google Scholar Basic Search – the first page of this PDF gives instructions on how to use the basic and advance search feature and gives a list of word phrases to use to aid in your search.
• Using Google Scholar Effectively – this YouTube video shows five different helpful hints to use Google Scholar to your advantage to search and retrieve articles.
• Google Scholar Literature Review – this YouTube video uses an example to walk you through how you can have a broad topic on Google Scholar and be able to narrow in your search results.
• PsycINFO Literature Review – this YouTube video uses an example of a random topic to show how you can use the PsycINFO/EBSCOhost database to find articles.
• Research Literature Databases Relevant to Psychology (UK students can access via their linkblue account) – a list of databases such as PsychINFO that psychology researchers use to find relevant peer-reviewed journal articles and other types of literature such as book chapters and psychological instruments
• Database Searching Skills and Databases & Advanced Searching – general tips for searching literature databases from UK Libraries experts.

Literature Review, Synthesis, and Annotated Bibliography

• Systematic & Other Advanced Reviews Video Tutorials – this page has both video recordings for viewing and the associated PowerPoint slide decks for downloading.
• Conducting Literature Reviews – this page has a list of online resources on the theory and practice of conducting a literature review.
• Literature Review in Psychology – this PDF from a writing center goes into explaining the detail on what a literature review is and how to find a topic and gather articles on it, read the selected articles, and how to write one.
• Psych Lit Review Writing Video Series – This YouTube playlist goes through how to write the introduction, body, and conclusion of a psychology literature review.
• Literature Reviews in PsycINFO – The middle of this page shows you how to find literature reviews in PsycINFO to be able to use their research to conduct your own lit review.
• Synthesis Matrix – Using a review matrix enables you to quickly compare and contrast articles in order to determine the scope of research across time. A review matrix can help you more easily spot differences and similarities between journal articles about a given research topic.
• Literature Review Guideline– This APA website page gives general considerations and elements of a literature review.
• Systematic Literature Reviews – Cochrane is the authority on conducting systematic reviews, Campbell focuses specifically on conducting systematic reviews in social sciences, and this Rutgers libguide also gives a step-by-step walkthrough of the process.

Study Design and Methodology

• For University of Kentucky Students or those at another academic institution that pays SAGE for a student-wide subscription: SAGE Research Methods Database has resources to answer research methods and statistics questions. It also has the Project Planner, which provides step by step guidance for completing a research project from conceptualization to publication.

Data Collection & Participant Recruitment

• List of Free Archival Psychology & Social Science Public Datasets – list of over 25 datasets along the the name of the sponsoring organization and a link to the webpage where the dataset can be downloaded.

Data Analysis

• See my List of Helpful Statistics, SPSS, and Mplus Tutorial Videos page for these resources.
• Qualitative Analysis Programs
  • MAXQDA – Supports coding, theme building, and mixed-methods social science research.
  • ATLAS.ti – Used for sorting and analyzing qualitative data like interviews and open-ended responses.
  • QualCoder – Free tool for manually coding and analyzing qualitative research data.
  • NVivo (AI features) – Helps code interviews, find patterns, and organize qualitative data for analysis.

Writing Manuscripts for Publication in Peer-Reviewed Journals

• Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded – The book takes an integrated approach, using the principles of story structure to discuss every aspect of successful science writing, from the overall structure of a paper or proposal to individual sections, paragraphs, sentences, and words.
• The OWL at Purdue has a comprehensive and free website that reviews APA Style 7th Edition rules you must follow when writing papers in APA style.  Their sample APA Style 7th Edition paper is one of the best ways to learn the new rules.
• For University of Kentucky Students or those at another academic institution that pay for a student-wide subscription:
  • Silvia, P. J., & EBSCO Publishing. (2019). How to write a lot: A practical guide to productive academic writing (Second edition.). American Psychological Association. (digital copy available for free through UK Libraries: access here)
  • Bell, D. J., Foster, S. L., & Cone, J. D. (2019). Dissertations and theses from start to finish: Psychology and related fields. American Psychological Association. (digital copy available for free through UK Libraries: access here)

Revising and Resubmitting Manuscripts Based on Peer Reviewer Feedback

• Manuscript Rejection and Peer Review – Explains what to do after rejection, how to fix and resubmit a paper, and gives tips for giving useful peer feedback.
• Navigating Major Revisions in Peer Review – Breaks down how to deal with big revision requests, understand reviewer notes, and improve your paper.
• Revising a Peer-Reviewed Manuscript – A step by step guide for sorting reviewer comments, making changes, and improving your paper for acceptance.
• Responding to Reviewer Comments (APA Guidelines) – Explains how to reply to each reviewer comment clearly, respectfully, and show exactly what you changed.
• How to Respond to Reviewer Comments and Revise a Research Manuscript (Video Guide) – Walks through how to handle reviewer feedback, structure revisions, and improve a research paper for resubmission.

Presenting Your Research at a Conference: Posters and Presentations

• Presenting at a Conference – from the US National Institutes of Health.
• Wiley Poster – tips on creating a research poster.
• How to Build a Poster in PowerPoint and Publisher – Making an APA-style poster.
• Revising a Presentation – how to give a good psychology talk.
• Poster Design Advice – from the American Psychological Association.
• Conference Presentation Advice – from the American Psychological Association.
• A video on the #BetterPoster movement by Mike Morrison – an approach designed to make posters “more efficient, more usable, and easier to create.”
• #BetterPoster template – A collection of posters using the #BetterPoster format.
• Alda-Kavli Webinar Series – How to Effectively Communicate the Implications of Your Scientific Findings to Lay Audiences and other Stakeholders 

Miscellaneous

• How to Organize Your Digital Files – Tips for creating an organized method for storing and retrieving your computer files.

Helpful AI tools for social science research

1. Writing, Summarizing, Idea Development
   1. ChatGPT (OpenAI) – Helps with writing, summarizing studies, coding, and organizing ideas for social science research.
   2. Google Gemini – Useful for quick research help, explaining articles, and connecting info across Google tools.
   3. Claude (Anthropic) – Strong at reading long papers, summarizing interviews, and pulling out themes from text.
2. Literature Review & Research Discovery Tools
   1. Elicit – AI tool that finds academic papers and summarizes findings for faster literature reviews.
   2. Perplexity AI – Search-based AI that gives fast answers with sources for background research.
   3. Anara – AI research workspace that helps search papers, summarize studies, organize sources, and connect findings across documents for literature review and academic writing.
3. Understanding & Explaining Research
   1. SciSpace – Breaks down research papers into simple explanations so methods and results are easier to understand.
4. Data Analysis, Transcription, & Insight Generation
   1. Dovetail – Organizes interview data and helps find insights and recurring themes.
   2. Speak AI – Transcribes interviews and automatically identifies patterns and key topics.
   3. Tellet – Runs AI assisted interviews and turns responses into organized insights.
   4. Energent.ai – Helps analyze large datasets and turns them into summaries and visual patterns.