Research Tools: Literature Search and Scientific Source Comparison

Abstract

“Research Tools” can be defined as vehicles that broadly facilitate research and related activities. Scientific tools enable researchers to collect, organize, analyze, visualize and publicized research outputs. Dr. Nader has collected over 700 tools that enable students to follow the correct path in research and to ultimately produce high-quality research outputs with more accuracy and efficiency. It is assembled as an interactive Web-based mind map, titled “Research Tools”, which is updated periodically. “Research Tools” consists of a hierarchical set of nodes. It has four main nodes: (1) Searching the literature, (2) Writing a paper, (3) Targeting suitable journals, and (4) Enhancing visibility and impact of the research. Several free tools can be found in the child nodes. In this workshop some tools as an example from the part 1 (Searching the literature) will be described. The e-skills learned from the workshop are useful across various research disciplines and research institutions.