Reference management, writing, evaluation, cooperation
Reference management
We support the reference management software EndNote with free download for faculty members and support via tutorials, courses, consulting.
Other software programs such as Citavi, Zotero, Mendeley or Sciwheel can of course be used as well. The Heidelberg University Library offers information and partly training courses on the first three software programs mentioned above.
Citation and copyright
On our citation page, you will find brief notes on citation styles for doctoral theses and plagiarism detection as well as related links.
The University's Copyright page (in German) provides information on the use of copyrighted works for teaching and research.
Writing and publishing
Writing:
We give advice on the licensed writing and publishing software SciFlow and the word processing software MS Word (plus information on alternatives).
Reporting Guidelines for research reports:
The PRISMA Statement provides recommendations for reports of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs).
The CONSORT statement makes recommendations for writing about a randomized trial using primarily a 25-point checklist and flow chart.
Further reporting guidelines are described at the website of Cochrane Germany (partly in German).
Publishing:
Prior to publication, a suitable journal can be selected via a journal ranking database. A checklist for the selection of a trustworthy journal is offered by Think. Check. Submit.
Via PROSPERO you may prospectively register systematic reviews (protocol) and search in the existing entries.
Information on the Open Access Publication Fund and author discounts for OA journals at Heidelberg University Library can be found under Open Access.
Read, evaluate, summarise
The Covidence software platform supports you in the creation of systematic reviews and, above all, facilitates the collaborative screening of references (title/abstract and full text) and data extraction with customizable templates. A small contingent of review licenses is available to faculty members, the application process is explained under the link above. (On 5.2.24 there was a webinar on Covidence in general, which was recorded, screen + audio, English, approx. 55 min.)
CASP Checklists are 8 "critical appraisal tools … designed to be used when reading research, these include tools for Systematic Reviews, Randomised Controlled Trials, Cohort Studies, Case Control Studies, Economic Evaluations, Diagnostic Studies, Qualitative studies and Clinical Prediction Rule."
Cochrane Germany offers a good introduction to literature evaluation, including manuals and workshop notes, at http://www.cochrane.de/de/literaturbewertung (in German).
Summarizer tools help to summarise and analyse scientific texts, articles, well structured analysis texts and to focus on the core ideas of a text.
Cooperate
ResearchGate is a well-known platform for cooperation among scientists: you can create a comprehensive profile, track your own attention within RG via certain metrics (Stats), get informed about new publications (Research Interests), network with scientists (Following), and use a question-answer forum (Questions).