When creating a new research tip, please bear in mind the following:
- avoid creating duplicates. Before you create a new research topic, please search for any duplicates first. If you find one but there is something wrong with it (eg it hasn’t been properly cateogorized), please first leave a comment on it suggesting the improvement. If the research tip’s author is unreceptive to the change, you can create a duplicate but please refer to the duplicated tip
- Use concise titles. The title should generally be no more than 15 words long
- Start with a short introduction in the tip’s main content. This should be no longer than a paragraph, and it should help users to quickly evaluate whether or not your tip applies to their research goal.
- Mention any fees. If the usage of the tip requires a payment or subscription, please mention it and give an idea of how expensive it is.
- Provide a link or instructions on how to access the tip. If the tip is to use a particular online data source, provide a link to it. If it’s an offline resource, give other instructions.
- Provide step-by-step instructions of how to use apply the tip, especially bearing in mind what research goals you claim this tip applies to. (Eg if your tip applies to research goals to find birth dates for individuals born in the US state of Ohio from a US national website, provide instructions on how to arrive at the website’s area for Ohio birth dates)
- Follow-up with any caveats, like any tricks to bear in mind when applying the tip, and common mistakes users might make
- Categorize the tip as specifically as possible. If you’re tip only helps to find birth dates for individuals born in Ohio, don’t claim it applies to individuals born in entire USA. If you have some reason for claiming it applies more widely than it appears it should, mention that at the end of the tip’s main content.
Anything we missed? Please contact us with suggestions.