It is important that we adhere to certain basic principles in our scientific work. This means that we should always observe the standards of our respective fields, be honest with our data, critically question results and, of course, respect the intellectual property of others. We should also support each other and not interfere with each other's research efforts.

• Here you can find the rules of good scientific practice of TU Dortmund University as well as a guide to these rules.
• English: Rules of good Scientific Practice, Handout on the rules for good practice

Scientific work marks a significant step in our academic careers. It requires precision, dedication and the ability to process complex information. We enter a field characterized by rules and standards, but also by possibilities and discoveries.

• You will get a first insight into this world in this self-study course: Better Research - Getting started in scientific work.
• Scientific Writing also teaches you the most important basic rules, which you can check with the help of a checklist.
• Designing a scientific paper: structure, layout, citation

Open Educational Resources (OER) are educational materials of any kind (texts, videos, images, podcasts, etc.) that are published under a free license. They allow free access, use and redistribution by others.

With free licenses(Creative Commons) you can decide under which conditions your works can be used by others. You should always observe them if you want to use the works of others.

• This video gives you a simple overview: "OER compact - What are Open Educational Resources?" (A work of the OER project LOERn created under CC BY-SA 4.0)
• If you would like to publish your work and are wondering which license is the right one, you can find an overview here: "Which is the right CC license for me?" (Graphic: Barbara Klute and Jöran Muuß-Merholz for wb-web under CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Link list around OER

Seeing through fake news or questionable research plays a major role in science. Why? Because it is about preserving the honesty and reliability of research, strengthening trust in science and using scarce resources wisely. These websites deal with this topic and it is worth taking a look:

• Klicksafe - EU initiative with the aim of promoting people's online skills and supporting them in using the internet competently and critically with a wide range of services.
• Research against fake news - various BMBF research projects on understanding, recognizing and combating fake news.
• Disinformation - an information pool with the opportunity to test your own approach to news, from the NRW Media Authority.

LaTeX is often used for scientific papers, research articles, books, presentations and mathematical formulas. You can use it to create complex documents that look professional. Unlike word processing programs such as Microsoft Word or LibreOffice Writer, which display formatted text, LaTeX describes the content and layout of the document using so-called markup. This requires some practice, but don't let it put you off, because once you get used to it, it can make it easier to create professional documents.

• Click here to visit the LaTeX website and Overleaf, a free, collaborative online LaTeX editor.

To familiarize yourself with LaTeX, we recommend the following materials (in addition to our workshops):

• Moodle self-study course of the University Library (in cooperation with the HyLeC): LaTeX introduction: material and exercises
• The slides for our HyLeC LaTeX workshop
• A comprehensive multilingual offer to learn Latex yourself: Learn LaTeX

With the open source software Decker you can create your own web-based interactive presentations professionally. All content supported by modern web browsers, from simple videos to interactive demo programs, can be integrated. A major advantage of Decker is that the slides are readable for screen readers and German and English subtitles are automatically generated for video recordings and presentations.

• Our HyLeC materials are also created with decker. Prof. Botsch presented the advantages of the tool at the dortmunder decker day 2024. Take a look and test it for yourself.
• Click here to go to the main page of Decker. There you will find everything you need for installation as well as a comprehensive manual and instructions.
• Don't worry! You don't have to work through everything to get started. You can learn the most important first steps for creating your own presentations here: Link to Hauer's workshop slides (will be sent later)

Citavi is an indispensable tool for many students. It allows you to organize sources efficiently, structure your thoughts clearly and write academic papers precisely. Thanks to Citavi, you can concentrate fully on the content without having to worry about managing your sources.

• Here you can find a short Citavi video from the TU Dortmund University Library on this topic.

Several criteria play an important role when evaluating literature for academic research. These include the topicality of the sources, the credibility of the authors or publishers or the relevance to the research topic. It is important to question critically and only use trustworthy and reliable sources in order to ensure the quality and credibility of your own work.

• A video on evaluation criteria for literature research from TU Dortmund University Library gives you an insight into what you need to consider.

The correct citation of sources is of crucial importance for academic work. It is important to understand how different types of documents should be cited, be it a book, journal article, website or other type of source. Each document type requires specific formatting to properly acknowledge the source and avoid plagiarism. By familiarizing ourselves with the different citation styles and following the rules carefully, we can put our research on a solid footing.

• TU Dortmund University Library has created a video that discusses the processing of literature, i.e. citation in general.
• A further video, Citation - document types and their citation, deals with the different document types.
• Scientific citation was created by Heidelberg University Library and contains answers to the most frequently asked questions on the subject of citation.