Cover the Essentials with the Medical Center Library’s Fall 2025 Research Workshop Series, Beginning Aug. 28

The Medical Center Library will begin its Fall 2025 Research Workshop Series on Thursday, August 28.

Held on Zoom, the virtual seminars help students, faculty, and staff improve and expand their research skills and make more efficient use of library resources. The workshops are primarily concerned with research competencies in the health sciences, but the subjects are pertinent to researchers across a variety of disciplines. 

The Fall 2025 series will cover search strategies for commonly-used databases Embase and Web of Science along with best practices for locating, analyzing, and managing gray literature and gray data sources.

September 22-26 is Research Impact Week! The week-long event, open to all disciplines, will explore library tools and resources to help researchers understand and enhance the visibility and reach of their work. An in-person kick-off event on Monday will feature snacks, library swag, and a clay crafting station. MCL librarians will lead daily virtual workshops from Tuesday through Friday on identifying journals for publication, understanding open access citation advantage, and building online researcher profiles. 

The workshops are free to attend and open to all UK students, faculty, staff, and affiliated researchers. Pre-registration is required to attend workshops. Attendees who have registered will be provided with a recording of the presentation. 

Find more details and register for the workshops, and contact mclib@uky.edu with any questions.

Fall 2025 Series

The Fall 2025 workshops begin in late August and run to mid-November. Below, find a detailed description and registration link for each:

• Introduction to the Medical Center Library
  • Thursday, August 28, 2025
  • 12pm – 1pm
  • Zoom
  • Get to know what services and research resources your library offers. Learn about time saving tools for accessing full text and setting up search alerts.
  • Register here.
     
• Embase Essentials
  • Wednesday, October 15, 2025
  • 12pm – 1pm
  • Zoom
  • Learn the basics of searching and using Embase, a comprehensive biomedical literature database. 
  • Register here.
     
• Web of Science Essentials
  • Wednesday, October 29, 2025
  • 12pm – 1pm
  • Zoom
  • This workshop will cover the essentials of Web of Science, including how to perform effective searches, track citations, and identify key literature in your field.
  • Register here.
     
• Lost in the Gray: Gray Literature for Systematic Reviews
  • Thursday, November 6, 2025
  • 12pm – 1pm
  • Zoom
  • Identify different types of gray literature and how they can be used in evidence synthesis projects. Discover the purpose of including gray literature in reviews and investigate resources for gray literature discovery.
  • Register here.
     
• Who’s Counting? Locating and Using Gray Data in Health Sciences Research
  • Thursday, November 18, 2025
  • 12pm - 1pm
  • Zoom
  • Governments, non-profits, and international non-governmental organizations all collect and publish data that can be used for a variety of purposes in the health sciences, such as estimating disease prevalence across different regions or identifying potentially promising interventions for further study. But these “gray data” sources are often difficult to find and require researchers to understand their full context before analyzing them or bringing them together with other data sources. This session will cover some of the benefits of working with gray data, strategies for systematically locating data sources, and data management workflows for accurately reporting findings.
  • Register here.

Research Impact Week

• Research Impact Week Kickoff: Molding Your Research Impact
  • Monday, September 22, 2025
  • 11am – 1pm
  • Basement of the Medical Center Library
  • Celebrate the start of Research Impact Week at the Medical Center Library! Enjoy snacks, grab some library swag, and visit the clay craft station where you can explore the theme “Molding Your Research Impact.” While you're here, explore a selection of library resources and tools that can help you better understand, track, and share your research. 
  • Register here.
     
• Identifying Journals for Publication
  • Tuesday, September 23, 2025
  • 12pm – 1pm
  • Zoom
  • Learn strategies for investigating and evaluating your options when choosing a journal to publish your manuscript. This workshop will cover the tips and tools available through UK Libraries. 
  • Register here.
     
• Open Access Citation Advantage: Myth, Reality, or Somewhere in Between?
  • Wednesday, September 24, 2025
  • 12pm – 1pm
  • Zoom
  • Discover the Open Access Citation Advantage (OACA) in this engaging webinar exploring whether open access articles truly earn more citations. This workshop will break down the basics of OA publishing and dive into new research focused on OA citation trends at the University of Kentucky.
  • Register here.
     
• Building Your Research Identity: Online Research Profiles
  • Thursday, September 25, 2025
  • 12pm – 1pm
  • Zoom
  • Discover how to build and manage your online scholarly identity. Participants will learn how to create and optimize profiles on platforms like ORCID, Scopus, and Scholars@UK to enhance research visibility, track impact, and ensure accurate attribution of their work. Presenters will also discuss ForagerOne, UK’s platform for engaging undergraduate students in your research.
  • Register here.
     
• Beyond the Manuscript: Effective Data Sharing for Boosting Research Impact
  • Friday, September 26, 2025
  • 12pm – 1pm
  • Zoom
  • The datasets you produce in your research aren’t just an add-on to your publications – they can be standalone research outputs that can be cited, reused, and contribute to new findings. But not all shared data is good data, and datasets aren’t likely to be reused or cited if they’re disorganized, poorly described, or hard to access. This session will cover everything you need to know about maximizing the citation and reuse of your data, including picking a data repository that tracks usage metrics, curating your data prior to sharing, and making it as simple as possible for others to find, access, and cite your work. 
  • Register here.

The Reviews Are In

Past workshop participants have universally applauded their experience. In surveys following the workshops, 100% of participants who filled out the survey indicated that they had learned something new. 

“This was the clearest presentation of concrete steps for data management that I've ever seen,” commented one participant. Other commenters raved about the new techniques, tools, and resources they were able to add to their research repertoires.

Workshop contents met the expectations of 100% of participants who filled out the survey. 

Experience them for yourself – and catch up on what you’ve missed in prior years. The MCL has past workshop recordings and associated slides available for public view. Topics include:

• Introductory tutorials for tools, resources, and software used in health sciences research
• In-depth guidance and advanced search training for popular databases
• Extensive coverage of systematic reviews and other evidence synthesis projects

In the mood for more? Visit our Research Workshops & Tutorials page to find all of UK Libraries’ offerings, including our Digital Scholarship & Data Workshops & Events.