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WRI 501: Reading and Writing about the Scientific Literature

This guide will assist gradute students in Engineering, Science and related fields to identify tools and resources for researching the literature in the field.

Library Resources for Graduate Students

A listing of library resources for graduate students is available at https://library.princeton.edu/2021-22-resources/graduates

Check the Upcoming Events page for a list of Library Workshops on everything from GIS to citation management and 3D printing

Check out the PUL Makerspace

Princeton's Research Computing also offers a variety of computing skills workshops.

LinkedIn Learning https://linkedinlearning.princeton.edu/

Getting started

Use the Main Catalog or to search for books, journal titles, videos and dissertations. To find journal articles, conference papers, book chapters on a particular topic, use a specialized database for your research area or Articles+.  Before you begin your research, you should ask yourself some questions to help you narrow your search parameters:

  • What kind of information are you looking for?
  • Do you need data? Do you want facts? Opinions? News reports? Research studies? Analyses? 

When working on a project, paper or dissertation, you need to perform library research for several reasons:

  • To keep up with the current thinking in the field
  • To review what is known about a given phenomenon or problem so that you can place your own contribution in context
  • To locate specific information needed to successfully carry out the experiment, project or solve the problem