Dissertation Support

The dissertation is a large project running over a period of time. This requires consideration for multiple aspects, including time management, copyright issues, reference management among others. 

Our recommendations are to put procedures in place to help you maximise your time management.  For example:

• Sign up for folder space in the databases to store articles or save your searches.
• Take notes as you read items so you can quickly differentiate between them later.
• Look for advice from former students and see tips from Academic Skills.

You will be assessing the quality and relevance of your many sources, as recommended in our Evaluating Sources guide, during the literature review and, sometimes, later phases of your project.  

In addition, you may also be expected to take account of scholarly research evaluation tools.  These can be seen in some of the bibliographic databases, e.g. Scopus and Web of Science. These tools include:

• Citation counts (or Times cited) - the number of times an article has been cited in subsequent articles.
• h-index - the number of articles an author has each with a certain number of subsequent citations.
• Impact - the number of citations an article receives within a set period of time and measured against similar entries in the same academic discipline.
• PlumX metrics - the number of mentions an article receives in multiple resources, including social media, and the number of times it is captured by reference management tools.

Prefer other tools, e.g. the checklists listed below, when evaluating the quality of research in clinical trials and other health-focused research studies.  

You will be accessing a wide range of sources, especially at the beginning of your project and throughout your literature review. 

It is recommended to put procedures in place to help you keep track of all of these sources.

Store the reference details in one place by using:

• A Word document.
• An Excel spreadsheet.
• An online reference management tool, e.g. EndNote (free via UWS) or Mendeley (personal login).

Remember to add brief notes as quick reminders to differentiate between items. 

In addition, EndNote, Mendeley and similar give the flexibility to group your references in different ways and they work with MS Word thus minimising the stress of formatting a reference list.

Many tools are available but the most versatile include:

• EndNote - use our Library Guides to get you started and learn top tips:
  • EndNote Online - logon, add your references, share and cite.  EndNote Online is a good place to start if you haven't used a reference management tool before.
  • EndNote Desktop - currently EndNote20.  Get tips on installing, adding references, sharing references with others, citing, publishing and more. Recommended for higher level researchers.
• Mendeley - free version is versatile and recommended for higher level researchers.  Mendeley has a modern setup with options to easily collaborate with others.  A wide range of user guides are available. 
• RefWorks - versatile subscription-based service.  A free option for those working in, and/or studying with, NHS Scotland or Social Care Services who have a Knowledge Network login. A range of user guides and videos are listed on the RefWorks page.
•  Zotero - versatile, free and easy to use. Zotero is a great first reference management tool.  A wide range of guides is available. 

Be aware of your responsibilities as a researcher for ethical considerations; legal use of data, sources and intellectual property.

• Check, and comply with your School's Ethics policy.
• See the Copyright at UWS guide to ensure compliance when re-using others' work.

Don't forget that you'll be referencing more items than ever before.

The usual guidelines for your course will apply - see Referencing at UWS for details.

Note: if you are compiling your reference list manually, please work to an earlier completion date to allow sufficient time to format your list.