Draft 2 - ILI Digital Credentialing: Use Sources

The anatomy of a scholarly article

While you are doing research, you will find numerous peer-reviewed scholarly articles that you believe will be useful to extend your knowledge and offer opposing viewpoints . Reading a scholarly article is very different from reading other types of information. Scholarly articles often contain very "academic" terminology and concepts. When you first begin reading scholarly articles, they may seem intimidating. Knowing more about how they are structured will make reading them easier. Most scholarly articles have a set structure:

Title: The title of an article should contain the keywords necessary to give the reader an idea what to expect the article will focus on.

Abstract (Summary): The abstract, generally written by the author(s) of the article, provides a concise summary of the whole article. Usually, it is under 250 words and highlights the focus, study results and conclusion(s) of the article. It is provided so that readers examining the article can decide quickly whether the article meets their needs.

Introduction (Why should we study this?): In this section, the authors introduce their topic, explain the purpose of the study, and present why it is important, unique or how it adds to existing knowledge in their field. Look for the author's hypothesis or thesis here. 

Literature Review (Who else is studying this?/"They say"): In this section, the authors synthesize and analyze previous research published on this topic.  This section outlines what others have found and what questions still remain. Most importantly, it situates the current study within the previous scholarly conversation.

Methodology / Materials and Methods (How did we study this?): This section of a scholarly article explains the details of how the study was performed. For quantitative research, it defines the variables and how they will be studied. There should be enough specifics so that you could repeat the study if you wanted. For qualitative research, this section contains analysis of primary sources, often observations, texts, interviews, music, film or art.

Results  (What happened): This section includes the findings from the study. Data gathered and statistical results are often found in the form of tables, charts, and graphs. Some papers include an analysis here.

Discussion / Analysis (What it means): This section should tell you what the authors felt was significant about their results. The authors analyze their data and describe what they believe it means.

Conclusion (What was learned): Here the authors offer their final thoughts and conclusions and may include: how the study addressed their hypothesis, how it contributes to the field, the strengths and weaknesses of the study, and recommendations for future research. Some papers combine the discussion and conclusion.

Reference list All scholarly articles end with a list of works cited throughout the article.

How to read a scholarly article

Article screenshots from:

Smith, M., Love, D. C., Rochman, C. M., & Neff, R. A. (2018). Microplastics in seafood and the implications for human health. Current environmental health reports, 5, 375-386.

De-la-Torre, G. E. (2020). Microplastics: an emerging threat to food security and human health. Journal of food science and technology, 57(5), 1601-1608.

Liu, K., Wang, X., Wei, N., Song, Z., & Li, D. (2019). Accurate quantification and transport estimation of suspended atmospheric microplastics in megacities: Implications for human health. Environment international, 132, 105127.

Demonstrate your research skills

Earn the Effective Consumer - Scholarly Sources Credential

We have discussed strategies to effectively interrogate a peer-reviewed article. Demonstrate you can implement these strategies by submitting a completed Read a Peer-reviewed Article worksheet at the link provided below.

Organize sources

You will read numerous sources while exploring your topic, developing a research question and thesis, and creating a literature review. In the humanities and social sciences, you will also need numerous primary sources to support your conclusions. As you read sources and identify useful ideas within them, it is important to carefully organize what you learn. Doing so can:

• make creating your works cited page much easier
• prevent unintentional plagiarism (by recording immediately where you first ran across an idea)
• prevent unintentional misrepresentation of sources (by helping you to remember their full context)

A strategy to help you organize sources

There is no "one-size-fits-all" guaranteed method to organize your sources as you research. Everyone's method varies slightly. But here are some key elements you should incorporate into the method that works best for you:

What should you record?

Step 1: When you find an article you might use, before you do anything else, record the full citation in your research log.

Step 2: When you encounter a useful passage in your article, before you do anything else, write down the page number(s) where you found the passage with the useful information. If the article has no page numbers, write down the section number or heading.

Step 3: Then, either:

a. Record the quotation you might use by writing down the author's words verbatim, with quotations marks ("") around them, to make it clear to you that these are all the author's words (If you leave out a chunk of text, note missing text with ellipses (...);

b. or summarize or paraphrase the passage. Write a big S(ummary) or P(araphrase) to indicate summary or paraphrase. If you use a phrase verbatim, put quotation marks around it.

Step 4: (Optional, but very useful) Record thoughts about how you searched to find the information or why the information is important. Clearly mark them as your own thoughts in some way.

Where should you record this information?

You should record the information listed in Steps 1-4 using a tool that is:

• convenient and easy for you to access and use (so you will be motivated to use it)
• makes it possible for you to categorize the sources to help you think about how they support emerging themes and subtopics
• makes it possible for you to reorder the sources as the organizational structure of your paper becomes clearer

The four most common tools to record your research log are:

Tool	Note cards	Word document or Google Doc	Excel spreadsheet or Google sheet	Citation Manager
Advantages	Commonly available Easy to use Easiest to categorize and reorder by simply shuffling cards	Commonly available Easy to use Easy to copy/paste	Commonly available Easy to copy/paste Easy to organize info by reordering/inserting rows Helps you visualize where you need more research	Free tool Easy to collaborate Links your notes to their associate saved document
Possible disadvantages	Requires you to record information by hand May misplace one or all cards by accident	Beware of copy/paste leading to unintentional plagiarism - carefully note direct quotes	Beware of copy/paste leading to unintentional plagiarism - carefully note direct quotes	Need to reference each article for notes / difficulty of organizing arguments

Librarian Tip:  Unintentional plagiarism happens most often when a student reads so much information that they honestly forget what they learned during exploratory and focused research and where they learned it. Because they forget, they do not properly distinguish between the authors' words and their own when writing their final draft. The best way to avoid this mistake is by carefully distinguishing between direct quotes and paraphrasing and by noting where you learned about specific aspects of your topic using one of the methods above.

Demonstrate your research skills

Earn the Effective Consumer - Organize Sources Credential

We have discussed strategies to effectively organize the information you gather as you conduct focused research. Demonstrate you can implement these strategies by submitting a evidence of your organizational strategy, such as a picture of your note cards, an organizational chart in Word or Excel, or a screenshot of your strategy in Zotero/Mendeley.

Is your paper well supported with evidence?

Since the point of integrating quotes, summaries and paraphrases is to ensure the claims you make in your paper are well supported with evidence, how can you make sure you are using your sources to effectively do just that? As you've seen in the examples above, academic writing typically uses a "They say / I say" model of argumentation, where you first acknowledge the prior scholarly conversation and then add your unique viewpoint, argument, interpretation or analysis. Below you will find a valuable tool to help you ensure you have properly introduced your claim, provided evidence of the past scholarly conversation and added your own analysis.

Demonstrate your research skills

Earn the Effective Consumer - Integrate Sources Credential

We have discussed strategies to effectively integrate the information you gather during your research. Demonstrate you can implement these strategies by submitting a completed Is your Paper Well Supported exercise, including the highlighted paper and the competed final reflection questions, at the link provided below.

Be credible

When working with sources, it is crucial your quotes, paraphrases, or summaries accurately reflect the intent and conclusions of the original author. When working with data you gathered through analysis of texts, observation or experimentation, you must take care to draw conclusions that are supported by the evidence you gathered. To do otherwise destroys the credibility of your work. There are three pitfalls you must avoid.

Fabrication, Falsification and Misrepresentation

Fabrication of a source or evidence/data is a serious, intentional breach of research ethics. Fabrication occurs when a researcher makes up (invents without proper study) evidence.

Falsification occurs when the researcher changes evidence or intentionally "cherry-picks" selections of evidence and uses them out of context to fit or support their argument.

Misrepresentation, though equally serious, may be unintentional and therefore an indication of "sloppy" scholarship. Misrepresentation of data occurs when the researcher describes honestly reported data/evidence in an incomplete or inaccurate manner.

What are some examples of how misrepresentation of evidence/data can occur?

Statistics: A researcher might use a statistical technique, such as multiple regression or the analysis of variance, to make their results appear more significant or convincing than they really are. Or the researcher might trim outliers when ‘cleaning up’ raw data. When visualizing data, the researcher might create deceptive graphs. Finally, the researcher might draw unwarranted inference from data. This is extremely poor scholarship and could constitute academic misconduct.

Summarizing/Paraphrasing/Quoting Text: A researcher may, intentionally or due to a lack of thorough understanding, misinterpret a source's full meaning or intent. They might, intentionally or due to incomplete reading, "cherry pick" a single phrase to quote from a source that does not represent the full meaning or intent of that source. Either is extremely poor scholarship and could constitute academic misconduct.

How to avoid misrepresenting evidence/data

• Consult reliable sources to determine if your methodology for processing/analyzing data is sound.
• Use caution when trimming data. Consult reliable sources to determine if your methodology for doing so is sound.
• Use caution when visualizing data. Consult reliable sources to determine is the type of visualization you have chosen properly represents the type of data/results you have.
• Before summarizing, paraphrasing or quoting text, read the entire text carefully and thoroughly, making sure you understand the author's overall intent and conclusion. Then make sure your summary, paraphrase or chosen quotation aligns with the author's intent.
• Carefully record the citation for your sources as you research, so you will not forget the full context of an idea, or forget where you originally came across an idea.

What is synthesis?

Synthesis refers to combining multiple sources and ideas, often from differing perspectives, to focus on their most salient points as related to your research project. As a scholarly writer, you will use information from multiple sources, combined with your own interpretation and analysis, to create new ideas. That is synthesis. A paragraph with good synthesis would likely include:

• -a topic sentence;
• -ideas from multiple sources that relate to that topic;
• -explicit language showing how those ideas connect;
• -a final sentence addressing what we can take away (or conclude) from these ideas

Let's look at an example.

Suppose you are researching how microplastics impact human health. You've read multiple articles that focused on what you expected to find: microplastics are heavily concentrated in the world's waterways; human ingest microplastics by eating seafood; and this impacts multiple bodily systems. But, you also found an article which states more research needs to be done on the impact of inhaling microplastics. That is the research gap you decide to address. When writing your introduction and literature review, you need to situate your focus within the prior scholarly conversation - you need to establish ingestion of microplastics via consumption of seafood is well studied, acknowledge the studies that have been done in that area, and then focus on your interest, inhalation. Here are two sample paragraphs that do exactly that:

First, let's look at the difference between summarizing and synthesizing in these two paragraphs. Version #2  contains all the same information and refers to all the same sources as Version #1, but look at the two highlighted sections in each version. Rather than summarizing each individual citation, as in Version #1,  Version #2 synthesizes the sources that establish where microplastics are found and the health impacts of eating them more succinctly, distilling them to their most salient information. This allows the reader to quickly understand the background, while focusing on the main issue - inhalation of microplastics.

Next, look at the overall structure of Version #2. The first sentence establishes the topic (the significance of microplastics and their impact on human health). The next sentences make connections between many studies that have been done on how humans ingest microplastics. The writer uses strategic connecting words, such as "for example" and "similarly" to help lead their reader through the information. The final sentence explains to the reader what they should take away - more research is needed on inhalation.

So, how do we synthesize multiple sources? Synthesizing sources means:

• Identifying and categorizing the different themes that emerge as we research;
• Given the thesis or hypothesis we decide to pursue, determining what themes from the previous scholarly conversation we need to include in our literature review, in order to situate our research within that previous knowledge;
• Logically ordering those themes to lead the reader from the general information that is known on the topic, to the specific aspect we will study;
• Combining multiple studies into succinct statements to distill the most vital information they contribute to current knowledge;
• Using transition words when writing that help the reader follow complex information. Transition words might:
  • add to an idea (e.g. furthermore, moreover, in addition);
  • introduce information (e.g. for example, for instance, including, as an illustration);
  • compare and contrast (e.g. similarly, in the same way, conversely, however);
  • make a concession (e.g. nevertheless, even though, despite this).
• Most importantly – including your own interpretation and evaluation of the previous scholarship and direction for future research.

Strategies to help you synthesize

As you read your various sources for your paper, record their citations and themes in a synthesis matrix. There are many ways to create a synthesis matrix. Below is one example. The themes that emerged during exploratory and focused research are listed across the top row, while associated citations and summaries of important information within those citation are recorded below each theme.

Why is it useful to create this sort of chart? It allows you to:

• See all the issues that arose as you researched and associate them with the sources that discuss them;
• Easily create an outline for your paper by determining a logical order in which to discuss the issues you identified;
• Write a paragraphs or paper sections on each issue, integrating information from all the sources related to it;
• Identify when you do or do not have enough sources for an issue you identified. In some cases, that might mean the issue isn't important enough to include in your paper. In some cases, you must include that issue, so you know you need to do more research, specifically on that issue.

Below are some sample synthesis matrix charts you might use or adapt.

Demonstrate your research skills

Earn the Effective Consumer - Synthesis Credential

We have discussed strategies to effectively synthesize the information you gather as you research. Demonstrate you can implement these strategies by submitting a completed Synthesis Matrix at the link provided below.

The basics of writing an annotated bibliography

What is an annotated bibliography? An annotated bibliography is a list of sources with citations related to a particular topic. Each source cited has a brief descriptive or evaluative summary. The annotated bibliography may refer to print and/or digital materials, such as, books, newspaper articles, journal articles, dissertations, government documents, pamphlets, web sites, etc., multimedia sources like films and audio recordings, or documents and materials preserved in archival collections.

When do we write an annotated bibliography? In lieu of writing a formal research paper, your professor may ask you to develop an annotated bibliography. You may be assigned to write an annotated bibliography for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to: 1) to show that you understand the literature underpinning a research problem; 2) to demonstrate that you can conduct an effective and thorough review of pertinent literature; or, 3) to share sources among your classmates so that, collectively, everyone in the class obtains a comprehensive understanding of key research about a particular topic. Think of an annotated bibliography as a more deliberate, in-depth review of the literature than what is normally conducted for a research paper.

On a broader level, writing an annotated bibliography can be excellent preparation for conducting a larger research project by allowing you to evaluate what research has already been conducted and where your proposed study may fit within it. By reading and critically analyzing a variety of sources associated with a research problem, you can begin to evaluate what the issues are and to gain a better perspective on what scholars are saying about your topic. As a result, you are better prepared to develop your own point of view and contributions to the literature.

In summary, a good annotated bibliography...

• Encourages you to think critically about the content of the works you are using, their place within the broader field of study, and their relation to your own research, assumptions, and ideas;
• Provides evidence that you have read and understood your sources;
• Establishes validity for the research you have done and of you as a researcher;
• Gives you an opportunity to consider and include key digital, multimedia, or archival materials among your review of the literature;
• Situates your study and underlying research problem in a continuing professional conversation;
• Provides an opportunity for others to determine whether a source will be helpful for their research; and,
• Could help researchers determine whether they are interested in a topic by providing background information and an idea of the kind of scholarly investigations that have been conducted in a particular area of study.

In addition, writing an annotated bibliography helps you develop skills related to critically reading and identifying the key points of a research study and to effectively synthesize the content in a way that helps the reader determine its validity and usefulness in relation to the research problem or topic of investigation.

What types of annotations are used in annotated bibliographies?

• Descriptive: This annotation describes the source without summarizing the actual argument, hypothesis, or message in the content. Like an abstract, it describes what the source addresses, what issues are being investigated, and any special features, such as appendices or bibliographies, that are used to supplement the main text. What it does not include is any evaluation or criticism of the content. This type of annotation seeks to answer the question: Does this source cover or address the topic I am researching? Collectively, this type of annotated bibliography characterizes prior research about a topic.
• Informative/Summative: This type of annotation summarizes what the content, message, or argument of the source is. It generally contains the hypothesis, methodology, and conclusion or findings, but like the descriptive type, you are not offering your own evaluative comments about such content. This type of annotation seeks to answer these types of questions: What are the author's main arguments? What conclusions did the author draw? Collectively, this type of annotated bibliography summarizes the way in which scholars have studied and documented outcomes about a topic.
• Evaluative/Critical/Analytical: This annotation includes your evaluative statements about the content of a source. It is the most common type of annotation your professor will ask you to write. Your critique may focus on describing a study's strengths and weaknesses or it may describe the applicability of the conclusions to the research problem you are studying. This type of annotation seeks to answer these types of questions: Is the reasoning sound? Is the methodology sound? Does this source address all the relevant issues? How does this source compare to other sources on this topic? Collectively, this type of annotated bibliography offers a detailed analysis and assessment of the research literature about a topic

Demonstrate your research skills

Earn the Effective Consumer - Annotated Bibliography Credential

We have discussed the purpose and format of an annotated bibliography. Demonstrate you can implement this information by submitting an annotated bibliography that you wrote for a course assignment or as a personal aid to organize your research using the link provided below.

The basics of writing a literature review

What is a literature review? A literature review surveys books, scholarly articles, and any other source relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, and by so doing, provides a description, summary, and critical evaluation of these works in relation to the research problem being investigated. Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of sources you have explored while researching a particular topic and to demonstrate to the audience how your research fits within a larger field of study. A literature review usually has an organizational pattern that combines both summary and synthesis of the prior scholarly conversation.

The purpose of a literature review is to:

• Place each work in the context of its contribution to understanding the research problem being studied.
• Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration.
• Identify new ways to interpret prior research.
• Reveal any gaps that exist in the literature.
• Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies.
• Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort.
• Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional research.
• Locate your own research within the context of existing literature [very important].

Types of Literature Reviews

Argumentative Review
This form examines literature selectively in order to support or refute an argument, deeply imbedded assumption, or philosophical problem already established in the literature. The purpose is to develop a body of literature that establishes a contrarian viewpoint. Given the value-laden nature of some social science research [e.g., educational reform; immigration control], argumentative approaches to analyzing the literature can be a legitimate and important form of discourse. However, note that they can also introduce problems of bias when they are used to make summary claims of the sort found in systematic reviews [see below].

Integrative Review
Considered a form of research that reviews, critiques, and synthesizes representative literature on a topic in an integrated way such that new frameworks and perspectives on the topic are generated. The body of literature includes all studies that address related or identical hypotheses or research problems. A well-done integrative review meets the same standards as primary research in regard to clarity, rigor, and replication. This is the most common form of review in the social sciences.

Historical Review
Few things rest in isolation from historical precedent. Historical literature reviews focus on examining research throughout a period of time, often starting with the first time an issue, concept, theory, phenomena emerged in the literature, then tracing its evolution within the scholarship of a discipline. The purpose is to place research in a historical context to show familiarity with state-of-the-art developments and to identify the likely directions for future research.

Methodological Review
A review does not always focus on what someone said [findings], but how they came about saying what they say [method of analysis]. Reviewing methods of analysis provides a framework of understanding at different levels [i.e. those of theory, substantive fields, research approaches, and data collection and analysis techniques], how researchers draw upon a wide variety of knowledge ranging from the conceptual level to practical documents for use in fieldwork in the areas of ontological and epistemological consideration, quantitative and qualitative integration, sampling, interviewing, data collection, and data analysis. This approach helps highlight ethical issues which you should be aware of and consider as you go through your own study.

Systematic Review
This form consists of an overview of existing evidence pertinent to a clearly formulated research question, which uses pre-specified and standardized methods to identify and critically appraise relevant research, and to collect, report, and analyze data from the studies that are included in the review. The goal is to deliberately document, critically evaluate, and summarize scientifically all of the research about a clearly defined research problem. Typically it focuses on a very specific empirical question, often posed in a cause-and-effect form, such as "To what extent does A contribute to B?" This type of literature review is primarily applied to examining prior research studies in clinical medicine and allied health fields, but it is increasingly being used in the social sciences.

Theoretical Review
The purpose of this form is to examine the corpus of theory that has accumulated in regard to an issue, concept, theory, phenomena. The theoretical literature review helps to establish what theories already exist, the relationships between them, to what degree the existing theories have been investigated, and to develop new hypotheses to be tested. Often this form is used to help establish a lack of appropriate theories or reveal that current theories are inadequate for explaining new or emerging research problems. The unit of analysis can focus on a theoretical concept or a whole theory or framework.

Librarian Tip: Your research discipline or major may often lend itself to a certain type of literature review. You should carefully examine the research you've found and take guidance from it to determine what style of literature review is best for your discipline.

Demonstrate your research skills

Earn the Effective Consumer - Literature Review Credential

We have discussed the purpose and format of a literature review. Demonstrate you can implement this information by submitting a literature review that you wrote for a course assignment using the link provided below.

Communication Formats

As a student who is expected to conduct research, you must be aware of the different ways you can communicate your research. Presenting your work is a key component of conducting research. You can communicate in 3 ways with the most common communication types:

• Verbal
• Non-verbal (written)
• Visual

The most effective communication format depends on the audience and purpose, how much time you have to deliver the message, and the method of delivery.

The Audience and Purpose

You are able to better craft your research message by making your communication style accessible, engaging, and informative for the audience. You contemplate the audience's needs so they will receive your message in the way you intended. But why are you communicating your research at all? Because you want to share your knowledge? It is important to know why you are imparting your knowledge to a certain group of people. Are you meant to inform, increase the understanding of a topic, share your experience, or propose a call to action? When considering communicating your work, ask yourself these questions:

• Who is the audience?
• How much do they know about the topic?
• What do you want them to walk away with (this relates to your purpose)?
  • Knowledge about your topic
  • Deep understanding of your topic
  • Ability to apply what you communicated

The Time

Besides knowing who you are communicating to and why, you should also think about how much time you have to get your message across to the audience. 

Short length formats 

You may be asked to only give a visual presentation of your research or a brief talk. In these instances, you need to decide the best format to represent your work. Here are some common short length communication formats that you may encounter when you are requested to illustrate your work:

Medium length formats

This time length gives you more time to consider the presentation of your research without the need to be so succinct. You can expand more on your research. Here are some common medium length communication formats that you should be aware of when presenting your work:

Long length formats

When presenting your research for a long period of time (or multiple times for multiple days), you should think about all the details of your research as you will need to have something meaningful to share for a long time. You can present your work in pieces, breaking up the process of your study to divulge in increments or put the whole research study in a single place to disclose everything all at once.

Below are some examples of communication formats that correspond with short, medium, and long length formats.

• Elevator Speech: This is a BRIEF talk to explain who you are and what you're working on. Typically, these speeches last less than a minute 
• Lightening Session: A very short presentation, given at a conference or similar forum. These sessions last around 5 minutes 
• Social Media posts: This medium of communication is being used more frequently in scholarly research. The use of social media in academic research relates to primary sources, data mining, collaboration, and more. Most importantly, social media is a quick tool to use to get your message out quickly. See the most popular social media platforms below and the options for using text, images, and videos in a short length format to relay a message:
  • For images: Instagram
  • For only text or text + images: Twitter, Facebook
  • For videos: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube
• Research Poster: An organized, visual display of your research project. In most cases, one presents their poster in a poster session at a conference or seminar
• Infographics: This is a visual representations of your research information that can include your results or data. The intention of an infographic is to present information quickly and clearly
• Panel discussion: A structured conversation that brings together a group of people to explore a specific topic or idea, share their perspectives/expertise, and engage in discourse with one another in front of an audience. The panel typically lasts around 45 minutes to 1 hour 
• Professional articles: These are scholarly articles that range in length from 12 to 19 pages. These can be case studies, literature reviews or research articles
• Papers: In academic writing, these can be technical reports, an essay, or a literary analysis. These papers are usually are shorter than 10 pages
• Blog post: This communication format allows for more detailed information over a social media post using Twitter or Facebook. A blog post can display your thoughts, insights, and reflections moreso than the limited amount of characters you are given if you use a tweet. (See below for blog platforms)
• Twitch: This is a live streaming service that is known for its use for gamers, but can be used as a way to interact with an audience in a unique way. The length of a live stream twitch is normally 1 hour.  
• Talks/presentations: If you are presenting at a conference, you may give your talk in multiple sessions over and over. This can take up 3 to 8 hours of your day for multiple days if you are attending a multi-day conference
• Workshops: You can organize a session in which a group of people are meant to collaborate and engage in discussions and do activities that relate to your research. This can be similar to a class session at Centre in which your professor presents a topic, then asks you and your classmates to work together on a project to expand/share your thoughts on the topic. The timing of workshops can vary from 1 hour to multiple days
• Podcasts: With this format, it is a way for you to broadcast your research in an auditory manner, live or on-demand. This is made available and saved for audiences to listen to at their convenience. Podcasts can be a one time program that lasts for 30 minutes to an hour or can be a multi-series, episodic form that lasts for years
• Full journal articles: The intent here would be to publish and share your research in a scholarly journal. These articles are 20 to 25 (or more) pages typically
• Dissertation, Books, or Book chapters: This format is similar to journal articles, but more detailed, speculative and reflective. The length varies, but can be hundreds of pages of information
• Live Videos: You want to present your work in a live video when you want to allow for the feel of a conversation as the audience has a participatory role and engagement is expected. As these videos are in real time, it is very important for you to be prepared and practice what you want to say beforehand. Here are a few popular tools for communicating your work using live videos: Microsoft Teams, Twitch, YouTube, and Zoom
• Recorded Videos: These differ from live videos in that you do not have to engage with an audience. You do need to account for accessibility when transcribing the video so all types people can experience your presentation. Here are some popular tools for recording videos: ScreenPal, YouTube, and Zoom
• Presentation software: To make your presentation as stimulating as possible, use text, video, audio, and/or graphic tools to aid in your talk. Communicating complex concepts to an audience with a varied range of awareness about your research topic can be difficult. The use of presentation tools can ease this burden for you. Here are examples of popular presentation software: Canva, Google Slides, Keynote, PowerPoint, and Prezi
• Blog platforms: Blogging to communicate your knowledge of a topic is a way for you to position yourself as an expert or authority figure. This is a less formal way to communicate to an audience that does not involve jumping through academic hurdles like getting funding to publish in a scholarly journal or bothering with peer-review. In this instance of communication, you are the boss. You do not have to answer to anyone when creating a blog. Here are a few examples of popular blog platforms: Medium, Squarespace, and Wordpress

The Method

You have figured out who you will be communicating to (and why) and how much time you have to present your message, but how will you communicate your research? Because you want to share your knowledge in the most sufficient way, you need to really scrutinize the technological landscape of communication modes. There are various ways for you to communicate your research. First, you should think about how your message will be delivered-whether that is synchronously (contemplating whether the presentation is in-person, on video, and/or via audio only) or asynchronously (contemplating whether the presentation will have video, audio only, text only, or text + audio). Once you've determined whether the event is happening at all at the same time or not and the communication method, now it is time for you to consider the technological methods available. There is a tool from The National Archives in the UK that will help you find the right platform to communicate information based on the audience you are hoping to reach and the content you choose to make. In addition to that, check out these different ways to share your knowledge and the technology that will facilitate that:

Librarian Tip! Research common techniques for presenting in your field. For example, Chemists may use Jupyter notebook to present chemical formulations.