Resource hub

Reference documents

One- and two-page summaries. These are not designed to teach a method — the Study Methods articles do that — but to remind you of one you already know while you are working.

Citation reference

The three styles most commonly required at Canadian institutions, side by side. Always follow your instructor’s stated requirements where they differ from any published guide — departments frequently apply local variations, particularly to reference-list punctuation.

Reading lists

Curated further reading, with a note on what each list is for and roughly how demanding it is. We list books and articles we have read; we do not list titles because they are well known.

RDG 01 · Learning how to learn

Nine books and four review articles on memory, practice and expertise, arranged from accessible to technical. Suitable for anyone curious about why the methods on this site work. Roughly half the list is written for general readers.

RDG 04 · Research methods for beginners

Twelve titles covering question formation, design, sampling and analysis across the social sciences and humanities. Assembled with librarians at two Ontario universities. Several titles are available in most institutional libraries.

RDG 07 · Reasoning and evidence

Eight works on argument, probability and the reliable ways in which human judgement goes wrong. Demanding but rewarding; several are used as undergraduate texts in critical thinking courses.

RDG 09 · Writing well in an academic register

Six style guides and three books on scholarly writing specifically, including two written for people whose first language is not English. Emphasis on clarity rather than formality.

RDG 12 · The history and purpose of the university

Ten titles on how universities came to be organized as they are, and the arguments currently made about what they are for. Useful context for anyone spending several years inside one.

RDG 15 · Adult and lifelong learning

Seven works on returning to study, workplace learning and self-directed education, chosen with our mature-learner advisory group. Practical rather than theoretical.

Checklists

Checklists are for the moments when you are tired, rushed or too close to the work to see it. They are deliberately dull.

CHK 02 · Before submitting written work

• The file is named as the instructions require, and is in the required format.
• Word count is within range, and I know whether the count includes references.
• My thesis appears in the introduction and is the same thesis the conclusion refers to.
• Every source cited in the text appears in the reference list, and every entry in the reference list is cited in the text.
• Every quotation has a page number and I have checked it against the original.
• I have read the whole piece aloud, or had it read aloud to me, at least once.
• At least forty-eight hours passed between the last substantive edit and the final proofread.
• I have checked the specific criteria in the marking rubric against the finished text.

CHK 05 · Exam-week logistics

• Date, start time, building and room confirmed from the official timetable, not from memory or a group chat.
• Travel time checked for the actual day of the week and time of day.
• Permitted materials confirmed: calculator model, dictionary, formula sheet, water bottle.
• Identification prepared the night before.
• Accommodations arranged with the disability office, with written confirmation in hand.
• Sleep protected for the two nights before — not just the night before.
• Nothing new attempted in the final seventy-two hours; review only.

CHK 08 · Starting a long research project

• The question is written down in one sentence, and I have shown it to someone who was not afraid to say it is too broad.
• I know what would count as an answer, and what would count as failing to find one.
• Ethics approval requirements have been checked, even if I expect none to apply.
• A record-keeping system exists and has one entry in it already.
• The deadline is on a calendar together with two intermediate milestones.
• I know who to ask when I am stuck, and I have already contacted them once.

CHK 11 · Weekly review agenda

• Collect loose notes, handouts and open tabs into one place.
• Update the review tracker with anything studied this week.
• Re-date anything planned but not done, rather than carrying guilt forward.
• Look ahead two weeks for anything that needs starting now.
• Write the coming week’s three capability goals.
• Close the review. Thirty to forty minutes, not two hours.

Learning templates

Structures you fill in repeatedly. The printable versions are in the Practice Centre; described here so you can see which one fits before printing.

Academic planning resources

For work measured in terms and years rather than weeks. These are the questions worth answering before committing time to a programme, a project or a change of direction.

PLN 01 · Planning a term

Transcribe every deadline from every course onto one calendar in the first week. The purpose is not organization but discovery: almost every term contains one week carrying three deadlines, and knowing which week that is in September rather than November changes what you can do about it. Mark those weeks, then work backwards from each deadline to place a start date.

PLN 04 · Planning a multi-year programme

Map prerequisite chains before choosing optional courses. A single missed prerequisite in second year can delay graduation by a full term. Check whether your institution allows the requirement to be waived, and who decides. Where a course is offered only in alternate years, note it now.

PLN 07 · Planning a dissertation or major project

Twelve-month projects are usually planned as though they contain twelve productive months. They do not. Build the plan around eight, leaving four for the writing that always takes longer, the ethics process that always takes longer, and the illness or family event that arrives in most twelve-month periods. Set milestones at the point where something exists to show a supervisor, not at the point where a phase is complete.

PLN 10 · Planning a return to study

Adult learners returning after several years should budget for three things institutions rarely mention: rebuilding reading stamina, which takes about six weeks; learning the local vocabulary and administrative systems; and negotiating study time with the people you live with, in an explicit conversation rather than by hoping. Our returning to study collection covers all three.

External resources

Organizations whose material we regularly recommend. Listing them is not an endorsement of everything they publish, and we have no commercial relationship with any of them.

• Your institution’s writing centre. Almost every Canadian college and university runs one, most are free, and most are under-used. They will read a draft with you in a way no website can.
• Your subject librarian. Academic libraries assign librarians to disciplines. A thirty-minute appointment with the right one is worth several days of independent database searching.
• Public library systems. Canadian public libraries provide free access to research databases, language learning platforms and interlibrary loan, including for people not enrolled anywhere.
• Accessibility and disability services. Institutional offices arrange exam accommodations, alternative formats and assistive technology. Contact them early; approvals take weeks, not days.
• Statistics Canada and open government data. Reliable, citable Canadian data for student projects, with documentation explaining how each series was collected.