College research projects done right
Blog: Monday Project Management Blog
Finding the right way to organize your research is always a struggle. There are many methods, and ways to do research, which makes the deciding between them as time consuming as the research itself.
At large, when students conduct research, they come up with a research plan and then go through three stages: Collecting data and sources, data analysis, and writing a paper.
But first, we need to find the right system to manage our project and accomplish our goals, especially if we are working with additional collaborators. Staying aligned and having visibility into what the other is doing is crucial to keep your work efficient and on point.
As a student researching a paper, you don’t always have the experience in writing a long paper and the amount of recommended methods usually equal the amount of people asked, if not more. As a grad student, I remember trying new methods every time I approached a new project, which was definitely not optimal.
In this article we’ll break down the ways you can utilize monday.com to organize your sources, and manage research projects that include one or more collaborators.
Data collection and note taking with monday.com
Data collection can be very excruciating, but when done correctly, can save a lot of time in analysing the data and generating your paper.
Every source you add to your collection usually has several attributes that can be tracked on your monday.com account:
- Name
- Full citation
- Link
- Document
- Relevant page or pages
- And the gist or summary of the source
- Quality of source
Having these pieces of information allows you to easily navigate your sources for whatever it is you are trying to find. Just imagine having to keep your notes and sources on paper or on different documents.
monday.com created a template that allows you to keep track of all your sources in one place, as well as to easily search them.
Analysis of Data
The next step towards writing your paper is making the most out of your research.
Connecting the dots between the different sources is always a challenge. Thanks to monday.com, all of your notes are now completely searchable, and you can find common keywords and ideas by simply searching your database.
Now, you can see all relevant sources for a single idea in one place, without needing to scroll between pages or cross reference different applications.
Structuring your paper
It’s now time to structure your paper.
The best way to stay coherent in your paper is outlining it before starting to write it. Normally, I would use a whiteboard for that, moving around the different topics I want to write about from one place to another until they make sense. Other times, I use sticky notes to keep organized.
Using monday.com makes moving your sources around very easy and intuitive. You can drag and drop your sources into the order that makes the most sense, divide them into chapters, and instantly get an outline of your entire paper.
If you still want to use a whiteboard, no worries, we got you covered. You can use our collaborative whiteboard without leaving monday.com.
Collaborating with your friends
A productive collaboration usually consists of good alignment and easy communication. When choosing a platform to gather your research data, make sure to take these into consideration.
Having live access into what your friends are researching and their notes, helps you stay on track and prevents duplications. It becomes easier to plan your next research topics, get insights into what was already done, and make sure that no one is spending time on the wrong topic.
When collaborating with your peers on a research project, you also have a choice of a communication platform. Having one platform that covers both communications and databases can save you valuable time. Communicating in context can help you make the most of both your time and resources, as you can easily ask your friend questions about materials they already researched.
Conclusion
Staying organized is one of the most challenging parts of writing a research paper or conducting a research project. With monday.com you can stay organized, and also gain better insights into your research, easily communicate with your peers, stay aligned with your team, and save time.
If that’s not enough, we’ve created research templates to help you hit the ground running.
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