STUDENT RESEARCH
Resources
Citing sources, writing funding proposals, creating presentations—successful research involves many steps and a lot of work. Take your project from idea to presentation with resources from the Office of Research Services and the MacEwan Library.
Planning and building your project
Every research project starts with an idea, but turning that idea into a clear path forward takes time. Find the tools and guidance you need to shape your question, find and evaluate sources, choose methods and build a solid foundation for your work.
Strong research starts with strong sources. Subject librarians can help you locate scholarly articles, books, data and creative works. They can also show you how to evaluate what is reliable and relevant. This support goes beyond the library catalogue and includes web sources and discipline-specific tools.
Many projects require you to understand what has already been studied in your area of interest. Subject librarians support literature reviews by helping you scan existing research, identify key themes and position your project within a broader scholarly context. These skills are helpful for funding applications and honours projects.
Whether your project uses surveys, experiments, interviews, textual analysis or creative practices, support is available. Librarians can help you find methodology resources, manage data and use tools, including citation managers or knowledge synthesis software.
Correctly tracking sources and applying citation styles takes time. Librarians can help you understand citation styles such as APA, MLA or Chicago, choose and use citation tools and organize your research materials.
For help developing your argument and structure, visit the Writing Centre to hone your written communication, access peer-to-peer consultations and attend workshops and events.
Responsible research
Research comes with responsibilities. If your project involves people and animals or their data, you may need ethics training, approval or both before you start. Completing the right training early protects participants, meets university requirements and keeps your project on track.
If you are completing a small research project as part of a course, you are required to complete the Research Ethics Training for Students course in paskwâwi-mostos mêskanâs. This training introduces core ethical principles and helps you identify and address ethical issues in student research. Once you complete the modules and knowledge checks, you receive a certificate of completion.
If you are working on an honours thesis or an independent study course that involves human participants in the project, you should complete the full TCPS-2 Core Tutorial instead.
Projects that involve people in activities such as interviews, surveys, focus groups or observations may require an ethics review. The Office of Research Services provides guidance on whether approval is needed and how to meet institutional and national standards.
Start this process early and talk with your instructor or supervisor so that you understand what requirements apply to your project.
If your research involves live animals, ethics approval and training are required before any work begins. Students must complete the Animal Research Ethics Board (AREB) Animal User Training (Part 1) course through paskwâwi-mostos mêskanâs. This self-enrolled course includes four modules based on Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) guidelines.
Animal users complete the core module, animal emergency training and a specialized module related to their animal model. Additional training, depending on the type of animal work involved, is delivered in person (Part 2).
Ethical research also includes understanding authorship, data ownership and copyright. These issues affect how you use sources, share your work and collaborate with others. Be thoughtful about what you keep. Do not save research data unless you have permission and understand the ethical requirements. Talk with your supervisor early about expectations and responsibilities.
The Library can help you understand fair dealing, re-use of content and your rights as an author.
Protecting your research is an essential part of planning any scholarly activity. This includes being aware of sensitive technologies, affiliations of concern and the security risks that can arise when working with certain partners, data or international collaborations. MacEwan has policies, guidance and tools in place to support researchers in meeting research security requirements.
Additionally, if you are travelling outside of Canada for research, you are also expected to follow established travel management and cybersecurity protocols. These guidelines are designed to support your personal safety, protect your devices and reduce risks to research data while abroad.
Learn more about research security and travel
If you have questions or are unsure whether research security requirements apply to your work, please contact research@macewan.ca for guidance.
FEATURED COURSE
Students working in Room 5-025 must complete the Fish Room Orientation course in mêskanâs. This training includes an orientation video and is intended for students working in the space who are not handling vertebrate fish such as those working with coral.
Enrol in mêskanâs