Welcome to the library's research and publishing support

The library’s research and publishing support offers PhD students and researchers help and resources throughout the research process. Below is a summary of our primary services: information retrieval, referencing, publishing, increasing the visibility of research, courses and support, accessing the library’s collections.

Information retrieval

Do you want to stay up to date on relevant information resources in your subject, learn more about how to monitor developments in your field, or how to evaluate and assess journals?

The university library offers individual guidance related to searching for academic literature, for instance for a research application, a research project, or a systematic review. Guidance topics include search engines, processes, strategies, techniques, et cetera.

You can also receive guidance on how to stay up to date on developments in your field through various types of alerts and RSS feeds, and how to use citation databases to evaluate articles and journals that are of interest to you. 

Email us at forskarstod@kau.se to make an appointment.

Referencing

EndNote is a reference management software that is available for all Karlstad University staff on Mac or PC. Reference management software is a useful tool in academic writing and lets you collect, organise, and save references that you want to use in your work. You can then simply import references into your word processor and create a list of references based on your preferred style.

The library offers courses in EndNote on demand, either at the library or elsewhere on campus. Email us at forskarstod@kau.se to find out more.

Publish

One of Karlstad University’s strategic subgoals is good international and national dissemination of research. Choosing the right publishing channels is a key contributing factor to this goal. The library’s research support can offer help and guidance: 

  • We help you publish your report in the university’s publication series Karlstad University Studies.
  • We can distribute your research through Karlstad University Press.
  • We help you register and publish your work in our digital repository, DiVA.
  • We offer help and guidance on open access publication aspects such as licensing and funding.
  • We offer guidance on copyright issues such as publishing agreements with publishers or the use of copyrighted material.
  • We conduct bibliometric analyses and offer guidance on how to use bibliometrics in the analysis of research output.
  • We offer individual guidance but are also happy to visit your research group or subject meeting. We can also customise themed presentations and seminars to suit you.

Contact: publiceringsstod@kau.se

Increase the visibility of your research

New technology has significantly increased opportunities for researchers to make themselves and their work more visible. Today, funders and other actors expect easy access to both research output and the researchers themselves. A social media presence and a research profile can increase your visibility, and this in turn can help you both access and maintain research networks.

The library’s research support can help you by:

  • Setting up a research profile on kau.se and external platforms such as Academia.edu, Google Scholar, Publons, ResearchGate, and Mendeley.
  • Helping you register for a unique research ID with ORCID.org.
  • Offering you as a new PhD/licentiate holder the opportunity to present your research on our podcast series Forskningspodden.

Contact: publiceringsstod@kau.se

Courses and support

The library offers writing tutorials for PhD students who want to improve their academic writing, individually or in a group. The service is offered for Swedish and English texts, regardless of what your first language is.

The course Information retrieval, 3 ECTS is primarily intended for PhD students in the beginning of their research career who want to learn more about information retrieval, publishing strategies, open access, bibliometrics, copyright et cetera. The course is taught in English in the spring semester and Swedish in the autumn semester.

The library offers workshops on the reference management software EndNote on demand, either at the library or elsewhere on campus (learn more under Referencing below). Contact us if you are interested in taking the course.

The library hosts Nvivo workshops for researchers at Karlstad University. Nvivo is a software that helps with the analysis of qualitative data, where you can collect and structure material and ideas for a project in an organised manner. All Karlstad University staff can access the software on Mac or PC. Contact us if you are interested.

Do you have any other requests? We are happy to visit your research group or subject meeting and can customise presentations and seminars to suit you.

Email us at forskarstod@kau.se to make an appointment or to learn more.

Accessing the library's collections, e-resources, acquisitions and interlibrary loans

The library’s collections comprise books, journals, reference works et cetera, both in printed and electronic format. Whenever possible, acquisition of all types of material should be driven by demand. This is generally ensured through the library’s collaboration with teachers and researchers from the university’s subjects. We want high-quality collections that are well used and up to date. We can also get other material that you need for your research on loan from other libraries. Use our forms for purchasing suggestions and interlibrary loans below.