LibGuides: Support for research staff and students: Information for research students

Getting help

If you would like further help, book an appointment with your Academic Liaison Librarian

They can help you with:

finding information, such as accessing and using subject databases and e-journals,
keeping up-to-date in your area of research,
finding specific types of publications such as conference proceedings
EndNote, the bibliographic management system
setting up an ORCID

They will also be able to advise you on who to contact for advice on publishing your research, Research Data Management and building your research profile.

Information for Research Postgraduates

The links on this page have been selected to help students studying for a PhD to find useful information on our website. For basic information about borrowing, photocopying, and other services see the 'Using the Library' link below.

If you are just starting your PhD you may find the Study advice guide for research postgraduates useful.

Using the Library
A guide for research postgraduates
Expert guidance from Study Advice at the University of Reading for research postgraduates.

Resources for doing your research

Catalogues of our resources

Search Enterprise catalogue
Search Enterprise for books and journals held at the University of Reading.
Search Summon discovery service
Use Summon to find article and e-book chapters.
BrowZine
BrowZine draws together many of our e-journals in an attractive, easy to use interface. Download the app to create your own 'bookshelf' of journal titles and to be alerted to new issues - it's then easy to see new tables of contents. You can save articles to read at a more convenient time, or export the citation details to EndNote or another referencing system.
Special Collections Services website
Provides further information about the University of Reading Special Collections service, which covers rare books and archive material.

Databases for finding references to journal articles and other materials

A-Z list of databases
A full list of databases that the Library subscribes to.
Databases by subject
Find databases relevant to your area of study.
Video, image and sound resources
We have access to various databases and websites that provide images, videos and sound resources.
Accessing e-resources
Guidance on accessing the Library's electronic resources.
EThOS
E-theses Online Service from the British Library. Doctoral theses from across the UK. Some are available to download instantly, scanned copies can be ordered for. For more guidance on using EThOS, see our guide below.

Guides

Doing a systematic review
An introduction to the steps involved in doing a systematic review and how it differs from a literature review.
Effective database searching
This guide outlines useful methods you can use to find the information you need using databases.
Finding conference papers
Info on sources to use to find conference papers.
Finding journal articles
Guidance on finding journal articles in your subject.
Finding theses
A guide to identifying and consulting theses produced at Reading and beyond.
Citing references guide
Includes guidance on why, when and how to use references correctly in your academic writing.
Keeping up-to-date
Library guide to keeping up to date with new publications in your subject.
Library webpages on EndNote
Guidance on EndNote software for managing references.
Doing your literature search
A guide to finding articles, books and other materials on your subject
Using other libraries
Advice on visiting other libraries, including the SCONUL Access scheme which grants access to other university libraries.

Writing your thesis

Finding theses
A guide to identifying and consulting theses produced at Reading and beyond.
Research student policies and procedures
Information for graduate students.
Copyright and theses
This page outlines your responsibilities when using third party material in your thesis.
Printing and Binding
Use our partner binding service to print and bind your thesis.

Building your research profile

Tracking Publications
For guidance on where to publish, assessing the impact of your research and building up your research profile

The Vitae Researcher Development Framework

Vitae Researcher Development Framework
This Framework describes the knowledge, behaviour and attributes of successful researchers.

Collections Based Research PhD Training Programme

This training programme is designed for PhD researchers who are working with collections. It is based at Special Collections and the Museum of English Rural Life and is taught by academic and collections staff at the University of Reading.

Attendance is free for anyone undertaking a PhD at the University of Reading or any other academic institution.

For more details click here