Researching for a thesis or academic paper can be overwhelming. First, you need to spend a lot of time searching and gathering information to build a solid foundation for your writing. Then you have to organize your findings. Without a system to separate the important results from the unnecessary ones, your research can begin to feel scattered - not just across too many tabs and windows, but also in your mind.
Why can't I focus on writing my thesis?
To stay focused during your research, you need to create a digital environment that respects your attention. Otherwise, notifications and new emails will constantly distract you. Battling your attention span and an ADHD brain is challenging enough, but the information overload in the early stages of research can make your heart race.
Where should I start? Have I read this article before? Where is this quote from? What's the name of the scientific database for biology articles? In this short guide, you'll learn how to navigate the twists and turns of the research process by creating a digital environment that gives you focus and clarity of thought.
Let's get started!
How to conduct research easily
Research is all about exploration. You need to be able to move from book to book, paper to paper, and you’ll be stumbling across all sorts of information along the way.
To capture this multitude of insights, you need a browser that supports the pace of your academic pursuits. That's why we've created Mirror - a digital workspace that helps you move easily between your findings - without losing focus.
Prepare your research tools
Let's say you're a biology student and, after careful consideration, you've decided to write your thesis on the relationship between fungi and plants. You've got some notes on the subject, but you need to compile a bibliography - a list of sources to support your work.
You need quick access to online academic libraries, a way to keep track of your readings, scientific illustration databases and citation tools. One way to do this without cognitive fatigue is to create a workspace in Mirror with different sessions to automatically organise your browsing.
Be mindful when browsing
As with anything online, the quality of the results depends on the site you are on and the words you type into the search bar. Start by creating a session for Research Databases such as Google Scholar, JSTOR, or PUBmed. If the results are too broad, try refining your search criteria by searching for papers by methodology or by focusing on a specific date range or geographic region.
You can also search for journals and libraries related to your field of study. BioOne, a peer-reviewed scientific library focused on the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences, would be a reliable resource to search for papers on fungal networks.
Collect a wide range of references
A well-researched dissertation usually involves more than just academic writing. News articles from trusted sources, video interviews, or documentaries can give you insight into how your research topic is discussed in society. However, these references should be clearly identified in your bibliography.
To save time, you can organize your browsing by creating groups within your bibliography session for academic papers, news articles, books, documentaries, and so on. This allows you to quickly see what you have and where you need to spend more time searching.
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Use groups and color to distinguish information
Not all saved items are equally important - either because they cover different research topics or because of their level of importance to your work. Groups allow you to distinguish between topics. Colors allow you to create subsections within those topics.
Continuing with our biology theme, you might create a Mycology group for articles related to the study of fungi, and a Wood Wide Web group for articles related to the relationship between fungi and trees.
Colors can create a hierarchy within the group. You can use red as a tag for Excelent, the color orange for Good and yellow for Fair. By defining your color code, Mirror allows you to get a visual overview of the most and least important sources for your research.
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A single space for all your papers, articles and books
Having all your research materials neatly organized in one place can save you time and keep you focused.
By adding your PDF files to the Mirror Drive, you can quickly browse all of your research sources-from the academic paper on fungal ecology you reviewed this morning to the readings from the Biology of Macro Fungi course you took last year.
It is your personal knowledge base. An essential tool for critical thinking.
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Take notes along the way
There are several good reasons to take notes as you research your dissertation. They help you think clearly, formulate hypotheses, and find gaps in your chosen topic.
You can use Mirror Notes to streamline this process. Use the magic wand in the top right corner of your browser to automatically add images, text, and graphics to your notes. Here you can explore something that has intrigued you. Like how the mycelium that connects trees might be motivated by carbon.
Don’t forget the images
It's easy to forget about images, graphics, and photos when you spend all your time reading and writing. Even if you find an image that could perfectly illustrate your thesis or be a great addition to a presentation, you end up overlooking it. Usually because the source of the image was not relevant enough to your written content.
With a new session you can keep images separated from your primary and secondary sources. Organize your thesis gallery by creating different groups for Science Drawings, Illustrations and Photos to easily navigate between your visual references. A group dedicated to scientific stock photo databases, such as Science Source or Servial Medical Art, can also be useful for a biology thesis.
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Keep your references organized
To properly cite your sources, you need a method. By creating a Mirror session just for the purpose of organizing your references, you can create groups for Style Guides and Citation Tools. You can use the Style Guides group to collect articles on how to properly use the citation style of your choice-be it APA, MLA, or the Chicago Style Guide.
The next step is to create a Citation Tools group for quick access to applications like Zotero, EndNote, and Mendeley. They'll help you gather sources and format your bibliography with ease.
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Now rest. Your research is on auto-save
You have been working on your thesis all day. It's time to take a break. With Mirror, you don't have to spend extra hours sifting through information to decide what's worth saving for tomorrow. The browser does it for you.
When you return, all your tabs will be exactly as you left them. Your mind, on the other hand, will be rested and ready for another day of research.