Resources for Researchers and Students

Below is a list of resources that are intended to provide information for researchers and students. The research team at the Developmental Affective Neuroscience Lab does not endorse them or their providers. Therefore, the lab, its members, and the Department of Psychology at Columbia University do not accept liability for the accuracy of the resources provided. It is the researcher/student's responsibility to thoroughly assess and investigate the information listed below before acting upon it. The links below are not intended to provide a thorough representation of available resources, and are neither guaranteed to be exhaustive nor complete.

Open Science Philosophy

The aim of the Open Science movement is to make communicating scientific findings across institutions easier. By increasing the accessibility of scientific research and data, studies become easier to reproduce and research findings are able to have a greater impact on the scientific community and beyond. The DAN Lab subscribes to this philosophy and uses the following Open Science Tools to increase the accessibility and transparency of our methods and findings.

While adopting the Open Science model, we also keep in mind and prioritize our participants' privacy. We strive to maximize both data sharing and data security by de-identifying shared data sets; this ensures that any personal, sensitive, and identifiable information that we collect remains confidential and protected. We use the following methods and tools as guides to help us achieve this goal: HIPAA Guidelines and Data Security Guidelines at Columbia.

Open Science Tools

Big Data is generally defined as large, heterogenous, digital data sets which may undergo analysis using computational tools. In the age of Big Data, institutions and platforms have been created to manage and analyze data at a much larger scale. This allows researchers across the globe to link their findings and collaborate with one another. One way the DAN Lab participates in this is via the National Data Archive. The data we collect from our PACCT Study is de-identified, harmonized to a common standard, and available to qualified researchers who must apply for access.

Open Science Framework (OSF) is a free, open-source project management and collaboration tool that supports researchers throughout their entire project lifecycle and helps research teams work on projects privately or make them publicly accessible in the spirit of collaboration. OSF offers a wide range of services: search and discover papers, data, materials, and new collaborators; start a project, add collaborators, and give/gain access to protocols; store data, code, and other research materials; publish your reports and share papers in OSF Preprints.

Guides:

Video Tutorials:

DAN Lab OSF Links:

General Search Tool for Research Resources:

 

GitHub is a platform used to host code, files and open-source projects that are version controlled, allowing you and other researchers to collaborate on projects from anywhere. Features of GitHub include tools for automating workflows, code review, project management, and team management.

Guides:

Video Tutorials:

DAN Lab Links:

 

PsyArXiv is an open access preprint repository service that facilitates the rapid dissemination of psychological research, allowing researchers to upload working papers, unpublished work, manuscripts prior to peer review, and articles currently under review. PsyArXiv is a creation of the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science(SIPS) and the Center for Open Science (COS).

DAN Lab Links:

Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) is a free, HIPAA-compliant, secure online database system designed to create projects, manage online surveys, and collect, store, secure, organize, and analyze data for research studies and operations.

Guides:

Video Tutorials:

Qualtrics is a free online survey platform that allows you to organize your data collection by designing surveys, disseminating them, and analyzing the results, all in one place. It includes many easy-to-use features like branching, randomization, question/survey templates, options for multimedia content, direct export of data, and built-in dynamic reporting tools. You can also increase your sample size by posting surveys in 48 different languages!

Jupyter Notebook is an open-source web-based interactive computational service used to create and share documents containing code, equations, visualizations and narrative text.

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Video Tutorials:

A Data Usage Agreement (DUA) facilitates collaborations and allows data to be shared between researchers who are covered entities under the HIPAA Privacy Rule. DUAs govern how a Limited Data Set (LDS) will be used and protected by the intended recipients i.e. it ensures a secure way of sharing data to further research purposes. To check if it is possible to access DAN Lab data through a DUA, please contact our lab managers.

 

Open-Access Journals are scientific journals that are free and open to the general public i.e. they do not require payment, subscription, or membership and are available to whoever is interested in reading them. This makes it easier to communicate and disseminate research findings to the non-scientific community and enhances the visibility and impact of scientists' work. You can find some open-access journals using the links below:

Statistical Tools for Coding and Programming

R is a programming language and free software environment used for statistical computing and graphics. The following resources may be helpful to you if you are interested in learning R:

Tutorials and Courses:

Manuals and Reading:

Exercises:

 

Python is a programming language that can be used for processing big data and performing mathematical computations. The following resources may be helpful to you if you are interested in learning Python:

Tutorials and Courses:

Manuals and Reading:

Exercises:

Columbia University Libraries offer a number of resources for finding, evaluating, understanding, stewarding, and using data. Please see the Research Data Services page for more information.

Basic Research-Related Resources

Performing a literature search is a crucial first step in formulating and refining research questions. With the abundance of information available on the internet, it is imperative to seek out high quality reliable sources of information. The following resources can be used to learn how to conduct an efficient and fruitful literature search:

In order to be an effective and informed researcher, it is crucial to be able to efficiently read scientific literature as well as understand and remember it. The following resources can be useful in learning how to efficiently and effectively read research papers:

Writing scientific papers is a necessary skill to communicate research findings in an organized and succinct fashion to the larger scientific community. The following resources may be used as guides to writing empirical and review papers:

 

As a student or researcher, attending and presenting at research conferences is a common way to exhibit research findings to the larger scientific community. The following resources may serve as useful guides in preparing and presenting research findings in an effective manner:

 

Publishing your research findings is a crucial step in academia; this not only helps to disseminate your research findings, which can contribute to various fields from teaching to public health policy, but also enables other researchers to build on your work by replicating your research process and methods.

Psychology conferences enable researchers to discuss their research questions and share their research findings with peers in their field of interest and with the larger scientific community. Attending a conference is a great learning opportunity; it facilitates dialogue and feedback and is also a great place to network and job hunt! You can use the links below to find conferences to attend:

 

For Undergrads

Securing funding for your research can be a daunting task. It is important to find an institution or program that is appropriate for your research needs and goals. Below are some funding sources as well as scholarship and award opportunities to explore:

 

Columbia-Specific Resource

 

For Students

Obtaining financial support for your research through institutions or foundations is an integral part of being a scientific researcher. One of the most important steps in the funding application process is writing a grant proposal. Grant writing involves many components and persuades the granting institution that your research is worthwhile. You can use the resources below to help guide you through the grant writing process: