Writing and Publishing: Resources for Researchers and Scholars

This guide is brought to you by the Office of Scholarly Communications, where our goal is to help you reach yours.

Resources for Getting Started with Writing

Where should I start?

Contact the Engineering Librarian, who can assist with:

  • finding a topic
  • conducting a literature search
  • writing a literature review

Where can I go for help with writing?

Visit the Writing Studio in the Student Success Center on campus.

What are the best online writing tools?

Grammarly is your personal editor for spelling, punctuation, word choice, and sentence structure.

Citation Managers are your personal secretaries for organizing your sources, inserting endnotes, and creating a list of references.

  • Zotero
  • Mendeley
  • Endnote Basic

What about using AI tools for writing?

Please talk with your advisor about generative AI tools for writing research papers.

What do I do with my research data?

Visit the suite of data management library guides. Consult the Data Services Librarian, who can assist with:

  • data management
  • data visualization
  • submitting data to a repository

Can I use figures, graphs, and images from other publications?

If any of these elements are under copyright, you must obtain permission to use them. For information about copyright law, start with the copyright and fair use library guide. Contact the Scholarly Communications Librarian if you have questions.

The journal requires I have an ORCiD. What is that? How do I get one?

Review the section on ORCiD in the library guide Your Scholarly Reputation. If you have questions, please consult the Data Services Librarian, who can also help you with building an online research profile. (The library guide Your Scholarly Reputation provides information about creating such a profile.)

I want to make sure I understand the publishing agreement before I sign it. Who can answer my questions?

Contact the Scholarly Communications Librarian, who can assist with:

  • reading the publishing agreement
  • understanding options for open access licenses (explore the Creative Commons library guide for more information)

Is there funding to pay the article processing charge (APC) to make my publication open access?

Visit the Open Access library guide to learn about all the funding opportunities supported by the University Libraries.