.png)
Resource Database
How to Navigate Our Resources
1. Create an account with us
2. Choose a step in the research process below
3. Click "Read More" and follow the link to the appropriate files
4. Download our free flow charts and worksheets
5. If you have any further questions, contact our content team via email at hello@researchgirl.org
Protocol
A free, self-paced course in research methods from your first research question to a published paper.
Introduction
Protocol teaches you how research actually works: how to ask a question worth answering, find and read the literature, design a study that can support its own conclusions, analyse what you collect, and communicate it.
Seventeen interactive modules, each with activities, worked examples and practice built in. Work at your own pace, in any order, and pick up where you left off. Complete all seventeen and you earn a certificate.
It is completely free, there are no deadlines, and it assumes no prior research experience.
Who it is for
Students who want to do research and have not been shown how. Whether you are looking for your first lab, planning a science fair project, writing up results you already have, or trying to make sense of a paper someone sent you, start wherever is useful and skip what is not.
What you will be able to do
-
Turn a broad interest into a specific, testable research question
-
Search the literature properly, and read a paper without reading every word
-
Choose a study design that fits your question, and know what it can and cannot show
-
Pick the right statistical test, and present data honestly
-
Keep records that hold up, and understand peer review and preprints
Curriculum​
Phase 1: Foundations of Research
1. The Scientific Method
2. Types of STEM Research
3. Research Ethics
Phase 2: Finding and Using Existing Knowledge
4. Literature Searches
5. How to Read a Paper
Phase 3: Designing Your Study
6. Maintaining Lab Notes
7. Parts of a Research Project
8. Developing a Research Question
9. Developing a Hypothesis
10. Study Design & Methodology
11. Planning & Conducting Experiments
12. Dry Lab Techniques
Phase 4: Collecting and Analysing Data
13. Quantifying Qualitative Data
14. Statistical Analysis Catalogue
15. Presenting Your Data
Phase 5: Communicating Research
16. What is Peer Reviewing?
17. What is Preprinting?
Reference tools
Three standalone tools, available any time, and not part of the seventeen:
-
Scientific Research Glossary: every term used in the course, searchable
-
Open Source Data Catalogue: vetted open-access databases you can build a project on without a lab
-
Talking About Your Research During Interviews: how to present your work to mentors and committees, with a practice simulator
Certificate on Completion
Finish all seventeen modules and Research Girl emails you a certificate with your name, the course name and the date you completed it.
