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Dissertation

Researching | Research Data Management | Writing | Publishing | Good Scientific Practice

Researching

All academic work begins with extensive research work to find existing research results, suitable literature and relevant sources or research data. But how and where should one begin with this search? Who can help when you don't know where to look next? How can huge amounts of literature be "managed" such that one is able to find the relevant passages again at a later date? And how does one draw up a proper bibliography?

Besides providing information on their website, the LMU University Library offers personal advisory services and regular seminars and e-tutorials on literature searching and reference management.

The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian state library) also offers workshops on literature searching and reference management.

The Plattform Literaturverwaltung (reference management platform) provides a compilation of software reviews.

The Munich archives keep a blog with information on Munich archives as well as upcoming events.

Archivportal-D offers an overview of all archives in Germany.

Once a year, the GraduateCenterLMU organizes a workshop for doctoral candidates on the subject of "Quellenrecherche im Archiv", including an excursion to archives.

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Research Data Management

The data obtained within the scope of research projects can range from text, image, film and sound documents to survey, laboratory and measurement data, objects, material samples, test procedures, databases, visualisations and much more. For the different phases that these data go through ("research data life cycle"), certain rules regarding good scientific practice must be observed.

The platform Forschungsdatenmanagement Bayern (research data management Bavaria) provides an overview of the Research Data Life Cycle, Software Tools and Online Training Programs as well as guidelines for the handling of research data (Policies).

The Alliance of Science Organizations in Germany has published Grundsätze zum Umgang mit Forschungsdaten (principles for handling research data) (PDF) and a Handreichung zum Forschungsdatenmanagement (guidelines on research data management) (PDF).

The guide Auffinden – Zitieren – Dokumentieren (finding – quoting – documenting) contains information on handling quantitative research data in Social Sciences and Economics.

The LMU Open Science Center aims to foster open science practices at LMU Munich and provides a Toolbox on its website.

The LMU data protection officers provide information on data protection regulations and institutions.

Some LMU faculties have established ethics committees, that advise on the handling of research data:

Die LMU University Library offers the platform Open Data LMU for the publication of research data. 

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Writing

When writing a piece of academic work, various competencies and skills are required. Besides academic writing – sometimes in a foreign language – these include using the correct forms for quotes, handling copyright and image rights correctly, formatting long texts, creating and incorporating diagrams and illustrations, and much more.

At the LMU University Library, you will find information on composing a piece of academic writing, including notes on further reading and on copyrights.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has published a guide on "Urheberrecht in der Wissenschaft".

The GraduateCenterLMU regularly organizes workshops for doctoral candidates on the subject of "Academic Writing", "Akademisches Schreiben", "Projekt Promotion", "Schreibroutinen entwickeln" and "Urheberrecht und Bildrechte".

The LMU Writing Center in Faculty 13 has details for all writing support services and offers help in founding writing groups.

The LMU International Office offers courses for international doctoral candidates on the subject of "Scientific German".

Workshops which cover the IT skills required when writing a dissertation (not only word processing, but also spreadsheets, processing images, statistics, databases, etc.) are offered by:

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Publishing

Once your dissertation had been accepted and you have passed the oral examination, your final challenge on the road to obtaining a doctorate lies in dealing with the necessary work for publishing your dissertation. Depending on the doctoral degree regulations in question, various degrees of publication are possible – on paper, in digital form or as a hybrid. However, you should carefully weight up the advantages and disadvantages before making your choice. Does the acceptance of the publication depend upon it being printed in book form by a renowned publishing house? Or is it more important for the book to be readily available anywhere in the world, at any time? Is there any way the two publication routes (printed and digital) can be combined? How much do each of the options cost?

Should you wish to publish intermediate results during the course of your doctorate project, please check first in the respective doctoral degree regulations and talk to your supervisor or the examination board in charge to see whether and/or to what extent this is permitted.

The website of the LMU University Library includes information on publishing dissertations and general information on open access publishing.

See open-access.net for more information on the subject of open access.

LMU unit I.6 provides information on copyright and final dissertations.

The GraduateCenterLMU organizes workshops for doctoral candidates on the topics of "Publishing" and "Urheberrecht und Bildrechte".

The Munich Digital Humanities work group (dhmuc.) provides information and organizes events on the subject of Digital Humanities.

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Good Scientific Practice

When planning and executing a doctoral project or publishing results, a wide range of questions may arise relating to good scientific practice and to ethical or legal issues.

In the Regulation of LMU München for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice (PDF), LMU Munich provides information on the rules of good scientific practice. Contact persons are the Ombudsperson for Self-Regulation in Science.

The GraduateCenterLMU provides introducing interdisciplinary information on responsible conduct in research and science in its e-learning course "Scientific Integrity and Good Scientific Practice".

Some LMU faculties have established ethics committees, that advise on ethical aspects of research projects:

The German Research Foundation (DFG) provides information on good scientific practice and on handling security-relevant research.

Other academic institutions have also published papers on the subject. These include: