Research guides

This resource is provided for La Trobe staff and students. It will help you to understand some of the potential risks and possible advantages of Artificial Intelligence for researchers.

Resources for understanding the role of reference management for researchers, including information and support for EndNote and Covidence.

Resources to help you make the best use of your La Trobe Academic Profile and to create and curate an online academic presence using other profile options.

Discover steps involved in a well organised literature search including identifying types of information required and using appropriate search tools.

Resources to explain and facilitate Open Access publishing at La Trobe University.

Resources for understanding and complying with requirements for research and academic integrity.

Understand how to use research databases to locate, retrieve, view and manage literature and information.

Understand how to develop a research question and how this guides research.

Starting a PhD or Masters by Research is a complex process involving administrative hurdles and academic adjustments. This guide serves as an orientation hub for commencing candidates. It outlines the structure of the degree, highlighting key milestones such as the confirmation of candidature, and explains the timeline you are expected to follow. You will find practical advice on establishing a professional and productive relationship with your supervisory team, including setting expectations and communication protocols.

The guide also directs you to the various support services available within the university, from wellbeing support to skills workshops. It emphasises the importance of planning your research early and understanding the resources available to you. By engaging with this guide, you can ensure you are administratively prepared and supported, allowing you to focus your energy on developing your research project from day one.

Writing a thesis requires a level of sophistication and precision that goes beyond undergraduate writing. This guide focuses on essential skills for graduate-level research writing, including tips and links to further resources.

Writing a thesis is a long, logistically and intellectually complex process. This guide focuses on some important principles for effective thesis writing and offers suggestions for how to approach each discrete chapter/ section.

This guide offers a practical repository for a wide range of tools and resources to help you throughout the process of writing your thesis.

Publishing your research is vital to communicating your findings to a broader audience and is essential if you want to build an academic career. Many disciplines now encourage graduate researchers to publish throughout their candidature. This guide offers advice about conference presentations, selecting journals and collaborative writing.

Writing literature reviews is a foundational element of a graduate thesis and one of the first pieces of writing you are required to do. This guide helps you understand the different types of literature reviews and their purpose in relation to the broader thesis.

Learn the steps to publishing your research in the appropriate journals.

Understand and improve open access to your research.

Understand the benefits of Read & Publish agreements and discounts for La Trobe authors.

Learn about copyright and licensing for research data.

Learn about what to do with your data once your research project is complete.

The context for research data management at La Trobe.

Learn about data sharing and publication.

Learn how to organise your data for efficient research.

Research data management roles for Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students and their supervisors.

Learn how to write about data management in research grant applications.

Learn about Research Data management planning at La Trobe and your options for storing your data safely and securely.

Learn about managing sensitive data.

Get up to speed with EndNote 21, featuring the latest tools for reference management and citation.

Create and manage your academic researcher profile to increase the visibility and impact of your work.

Set up search alerts and table of content notifications to stay updated with the latest research in your field.

Understand Altmetrics and how to track the online attention and social impact of your research outputs.

Explore how to use generative AI tools responsibly in your studies while maintaining academic integrity and critical thinking.

Navigate the ARC Research Management System (RMS) for submitting and managing Australian Research Council grants.

Locate masters and doctoral theses from Australian and international universities to support your research.

While Google is a tool we use daily, using it for academic research requires specific techniques to ensure quality. This guide explains how to use Google Scholar to find peer-reviewed literature and, crucially, how to link it to the Library’s holdings to access full-text articles for free. It also covers advanced search operators (like 'site:' or 'filetype:') to refine standard Google searches, helping you find reliable reports, government documents and statistics. You will learn about the limitations of Google, how to evaluate the credibility of web sources using critical frameworks and when to move to specialised library databases for more comprehensive results.

Discover how to locate and use grey literature – such as government reports and guidelines – for health research.

Learn strategies to measure, demonstrate and increase the academic and societal impact of your research.

Master Microsoft Word features for formatting long documents like theses and research reports.

News media is a valuable primary source for history, politics and social science research. This guide connects you with databases that provide full-text access to thousands of newspapers from around the world. You can find today’s headlines from major dailies or search historical archives dating back centuries to understand past events. The guide explains how to access major papers that are usually behind paywalls (like the Financial Times, The Age or New York Times) through library subscriptions. Whether you are tracking a current event, analysing media coverage or studying a historical moment, these resources offer comprehensive news access.

Learn how to store, manage, share and selectively publish your data in Open @ La Trobe (OPAL), our institutional repository.

Manage your online researcher identity and profiles to improve networking, visibility and citation metrics.

Understand the rigorous process of conducting a systematic review, from protocol registration to data synthesis.

Starting a research degree can be a daunting process, involving multiple administrative and academic challenges. This guide offers some tips and strategies for those commencing their graduate studies, including ideas for setting up systems, links to important contacts and resources to get your thesis writing off to a good start.