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Keeping Track of Research



Much like being a student or teacher, a key skill to avoid feeling overwhelmed with research (or missing deadlines) is to stay organized. There are many, many methods to doing this, but I have explained a few of my favourites below. I use multiple of these methods simultaneously…as you might have guessed if you know me well.


           Filing system: An elaborate hierarchy of folders and specific file names can help keep things organized. For example, you might have a folder named “research projects” and/or one named “publications”. Within those, each folder would refer to a specific project and could include information about the status of the project such as “final draft” “revision 1”, etc. Additionally, you can include information about the status of the project in the folder name of file name such as “under review” or “awaiting REB approval” etc.

Master list: Another way to keep things organized is to have a Word document listing your projects, their status and potentially file names or locations (see above). The advantage of having a master list of this type instead of (or in addition to) the filing system described above is that the list gives you one place to look at everything, so you’re not sifting through multiple folders to find what you’re looking for. Your master list could (should?) be colour-coded to make it even easier to navigate, such as keeping things you’re working on in red text and/or highlighting the status of projects.
Colour-coded spreadsheet: The advantage of a spreadsheet is that it can easily be sorted by column. Your spreadsheet might include columns for the title, collaborators, status, possible publication or presentation venue (plan a, plan b, etc) and notes. This way, you can sort and look at all of your projects that are currently “under review” for publication or have been accepted.

Calendar: In addition to keeping your documents organized, you should also have a system for keeping your tasks organized. You may wish to keep track of expiration dates for REB approvals, deadlines for article revisions, when research surveys are due to close, when funding applications are due, etc. You may also include tasks for yourself such as emailing reminders to participants in your research study, closing the REB file after your research is complete, writing sections of your article, etc.

CV: In your CV, you can include a section listing your ongoing research projects (and/or publications). You could use a similar organizational system such as using red text for things that you are currently working on, and even highlighting new entries in yellow for the current academic year to make them easier to find if you are asked for a list (e.g., for your annual review, contributing to ORSIE’s annual report, or sometimes CAFE requests this type of information).

I hope these ideas will help you keep your research and publications organized. As always, if you have any suggestions for things you’d like to see from me, please reach out to me via email or on MS Teams, or pop in during my weekly “office hours” every Friday from 12:30-1:30 on whereby(dot)com(slash)drlynne

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