Module 2
Types of research, effective literature search and citing biomedical documents and sources
Training course in research methodology, research protocol development and scientific writing 2025
September 10, 2025 - Geneva
A. Required readings
Types of research
- Go over the set of slides: An introduction to research designs and developing SRH research projects - Moazzam Ali (WHO).
- Study sections 3.2.4 ‘Quantitative versus qualitative research’ and 3.2.5 ‘Action research’ on pages 27 and 28 of the document: Fathalla MF, Fathalla MM. A practical guide for health researchers (WHO Regional Publications, Eastern Mediterranean. Series 30). WHO; 2004.
Effective literature search and citing biomedical documents and sources
- Go over the set of slides: Introduction to the WHO Library - Raqibat Idris (GFMER) (slide set with talking points).
- Go over the set of slide sets of 2: Discovery and re-use of scholarly literature (Research4Life, 2023)
- Go over the web file: Search PubMed
- Go over the web document: How to Search in the Cochrane Library (Cochrane Library, 2020)
- Study section 3.6 (pages 36 to 39) of the document: Fathalla MF, Fathalla MM. A practical guide for health researchers (WHO Regional Publications, Eastern Mediterranean. Series 30). WHO; 2004.
B. Assignment
Complete and submit the short paperwork assignment.
Interactive videos
- PubMed: Find articles by author (PubMed, 2020) (2 mins)
- PubMed: Find articles by journal (PubMed, 2020) (2 mins)
- PubMed: Find articles from a citation (PubMed, 2020) (2 mins)
- PubMed: Find articles on a topic (PubMed, 2020) (1 min)
- PubMed: Get the full text for an article (PubMed, 2020) (2 mins)
- PubMed subject search: How it works (PubMed, 2020) (4 mins)
- PubMed: Save searches and set e-mail alerts (PubMed, 2020) (2 mins)
- Navigating the Cochrane Library (Cochrane Library, 2019) (2:32 mins)
- How to Use MeSH in the Cochrane Library (Cochrane Library, 2019) (8:29 mins)
Additional online resources
- APA Format Citation Guide
This is a complete guide to APA (American Psychological Association) in-text and reference list citations. - Citing Medicine - NCBI Bookshelf
This is a complete guide to NLM reference style. - Cochrane Library Training Hub
- Grey Literature Interactive Tutorial (University of Toronto, n.d.) (10 mins)
- Harvard Format Citation Guide
This is a complete guide to Harvard in-text and reference list citations. - PubMed® Online Training
Other online tutorials by PubMed - Webinar: Joining and using Research4Life (60 mins YouTube video by Research4Life)
- WHO Library and Digital Information Networks
Citation managers
- EndNote BASIC – a free and web-based citation management software
- Mendeley Reference Manager
This is a free tool to manage your references. (Quick User Guide) - Zotero Reference & Citation Manager
This is a free tool to manage your references. (Quick Start Guide) - PMID2cite, PubMed Citation Tool
This is a free PubMed online tool that helps you generate citations and reference lists instantly from PubMed. - PMID2cite, Vancouver Reference Generator for PubMed Articles
A free PubMed online tool to help you apply Vancouver style format to any PubMed-indexed journal articles and create your online bibliography.
Reference document