Graduate Student Research Support

"You don't know what you don't know." An expression we often hear at graduate student orientations.

Graduate school offers an opportunity to deepen your expertise in a given discipline. As you work through your courses and move into your research phase, there are numerous things you can do to help establish yourself as a scholar. This guide attempts to provide a bit of guidance in the following areas:

1. Reading, writing & citing
2. Managing research data
3. Understanding various types of analysis
4. Developing a scholarly identity and understanding the publishing process

These areas are all parts of the research lifecyle.

Image taken from Navigating the Research Lifecycle for the Modern Researcher, 2024

We try to highlight steps that may be less explicit in the process of generating scholarship. Please use the menu to the left to navigate the guide.

Read to Write: Your Grad Success Starter Series

This three-part workshop series, cohosted by the Graduate Writing Hub at The Writing Center and UC Irvine Libraries, focuses on developing helpful habits, workflows, and processes to create an infrastructure for scholarship. You can register through the Library Events calendar or on ZotSpot.

Reading Smart: Seamlessly Manage Your PDFs and Notes with Zotero

Master the ultimate organizational tool—Zotero! Learn to manage readings and citations, organize notes, and streamline workflows. 
In-person - Friday, October 10, 1:00 - 2:30pm, Langson Library 228. Register for in-person Reading Smart.
Zoom - Thursday, October 16, 1:00 - 2:30pm. Register for Reading Smart on Zoom.

Read to Succeed: Strategic Reading Techniques for Grad School Writing

Enhance efficiency in reading and writing with smart strategies using emerging techs and tools, such as Zotero and Notion.
In-person - Wednesday, October 29, 2:00 - 3:30pm, Langson Library 228. Register for in-person Read to Succeed.
Zoom - Thursday, October 30, 2:00 - 3:00pm. Register for Read to Succeed on Zoom.

The Art of the Lit Review: Approaching Literature Reviews with Confidence

Gain insights into literature reviews, identify seminal works, and structure reviews efficiently. Includes hands on activities.
In-person - Friday, November 14, 1:00 - 2:30pm, Langson Library 228. Register for in-person Art of the Lit Review.
Zoom - Tuesday, November 18, 1:00 - 2:00pm. Register for Art of the Lit Review on Zoom.

Interested in learning Python or R? Or how to Text Mine? UCI Libraries hosts numerous skill building workshops throughout the academic year. Check out a few of our upcoming events below, or view the full list of upcoming events on the DSS website.