Software

• Canva (https://www.canva.com/education/) - Free basic with discount for premium plan to students.

• Creately (https://creately.com/) - Free with limited features.

• Lucidchart (https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/usecase/education) - Free with student/educational discount.

• Microsoft Excel (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/excel) - Free with Microsoft Office Suite (check onthehub.com)

• Visio (https://www.microsoft.com/en-ww/microsoft-365/visio/flowchart-software) - Not free but may be available for free through onthehub.com

A successful doctoral student is one that collaborates with their peers and their faculty. The use of collaboration tools makes the ability to share files, hold virtual meetings, and exchange ideas easier.

• Google Docs (https://www.google.com/docs/about/) - Free. Great way to share documents and collaborate on the same document.

• Microsoft OneDrive (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onedrive/online-cloud-storage) - Free. In addition as service as cloud storage, OneDrive allows students to share documents and files.

• Zoom (https://zoom.us/pricing) - Free for up to 40 minutes and 100 participants. One-on-one meetings are unlimited.

• Skype (https://www.skype.com/en/features/group-video-chat/) - Free.

• Go To Meeting (https://free.gotomeeting.com/) - Free for up to 40 minutes and 3 participants. 

• Google Hangouts (https://hangouts.google.com/) - Free with a gmail account.

File storage and backup is a critical step in protecting your data in the event of a system failure (such as hard drive) or file corruption.  Do not store your data in just one location. Instead, keep copies in at least two locations so that in the event one of the backups become corrupted or damaged, you have a second source. The last thing you want to happen is that you lose critical data during your doctoral program!  

There is a difference between file storage and backing up data. These two differences are discussed below. It is recommended you employ both options.

Cloud-based File Storage:

A nice benefit of using cloud-based file storage is the ability to access your data securely from anywhere you have an Internet connection. This allows you to work "on the go" without maintaining multiple copies on different computers, carrying external devices like flash drives, or keeping handwritten notes that you will use later to update your files. These services work by syncing your data in their cloud so that you have access to the most updated files.

• Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/basic) - 2GB free with option to pay for additional storage.

• Google Drive (https://www.google.com/intl/en_zm/drive/download/) - free with the option to pay for additional storage.  Although you can store Microsoft documents (such as Word and PowerPoint files), the preferred document type is Google Docs.

• Microsoft OneDrive (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onedrive/online-cloud-storage) - 5GB free with the option to pay for additional storage ($2.00/monthly for 100GB of data). With an outlook.com e-mail address (also free), you can edit Word, Excel, and other Microsoft documents directly from the browser.  This is a great option when editing files on a public computer as you do not have to save any files directly to the computer.

File Backup:

Unlike cloud-based file storage services, a backup service is not intended to serve as a storage location where you edit your files directly. Instead, backup services will back up and keep multiple versions of your data so that you can restore in the event of lost or corrupted files. When backing up your files, you also want to make sure you back up any data from programs, such as Atlas.ti, SPSS, EndNote library, etc.

• Acronis True Image (https://www.acronis.com/en-us/) - free to try.

• Backblaze (https://www.backblaze.com/) - free to try.

• Grammarly (https://www.grammarly.com/) - Free for basic; Google for 50% off coupons as the company is always offering discounts off their premium subscription.

• Scribbr Plagiarism Check (https://www.scribbr.com/plagiarism-checker/) - Up to $40 per document, depending on the number of words. Although Grammarly has a built in plagiarism checker, I recommend another source. In the course of writing a dissertation, you may forget to cite the author, or even worse, you directly quote from another source without knowing that the author had plagiarized from another paper (yes, this happened to me!). 

• GoodReader (https://goodreader.com/) - Free PDF reader and annotation.

• LastPass (https://www.lastpass.com/) - Free and paid password manager.

• NaturalReader Text to Speech (https://www.naturalreaders.com/software.html) - Free with limited features.

• QR Code Generator (https://www.qr-code-generator.com/) - Free online program to generate a QR code 

• Task Coach (https://www.taskcoach.org/) - Free software to keep track of tasks.

Effective note-taking is a fundamental part of being successful in any program. As you progress through a doctoral program, you will collect a lot of information that will contribute to your body of knowledge and later help you as you progress through your dissertation. Collecting, organizing, and retrieving this information later in the program is critical. Thus, great effective note-taking starts on day one. Picking the best method for note-taking from the start will allow you to build a repository of information that help you later in the program and even after you graduate (I often refer back to class notes). It does not matter which software you pick -- the key is to have a structured and organized process in which to store your notes.

• Evernote (https://evernote.com/students) - Free for basic use; $ for premium but provides a 50% discount for students (~$48 per year after discount).  Beware that the free version has limited storage space. A downside to this software is that if you stop paying for the premium service, you will not be able to access your notes later. 

• Google Keep (https://keep.google.com/) - Free with a Gmail account. Does not have a desktop application and is very basic in comparison to Evernote and Google Keep.

• Microsoft OneNote (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onenote/digital-note-taking-app) - Free.  A great feature is the web clipper (https://www.onenote.com/clipper) that allows you to "clip" and import various types of information directly from the Internet, such as articles, PDFs, even videos. 

Presenting research or other scholarly material is a common practice and an excellent way to feedback on your work. The ability to present your research can be challenging. But using software designed to present your research can aid in this process.

• Canva (https://www.canva.com/education/) - Free basic with discount for premium plan to students.

• Google Slides (https://www.google.com/slides/about/) - Free with a gmail account.

• LibreOffice (https://www.libreoffice.org/) - Free alternative option to the Microsoft Office Suite.

• Microsoft PowerPoint (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/powerpoint) - Requires subscription to Microsoft Office Suite. Visit OntheHub.com to download Office Suite for free as a student or check with your organization. 

• Prezi (https://prezi.com/pricing/edu/) - Free basic with discount for premium plan to students.

Qualitative Data Analysis is the process in which a researcher examines information (such as scholarly articles, interviews, surveys) to identify patterns and themes to answer a research question. This process is referred to as "qualitative coding." 

• Atlas.ti (https://atlasti.com/students/) - 14 day trial; student discount available. 

• NVivo (https://www.qsrinternational.com/nvivo-qualitative-data-analysis-software/home) - 14 day trial; student discount available.

• QDA Miner Lite (https://provalisresearch.com/products/qualitative-data-analysis-software/freeware/)  - Free lite version (with minimum features); academic discount available.

Quantitative Data Analysis is the process of analyzing numerical data, such as through descriptive data or inferential statistics. 

•  IBM SPSS Statistics (https://www.ibm.com/products/spss-statistics) - Pricey but worth it. Through OntheHub.com, you can save up to 99% of the regular price.

• R (https://www.r-project.org/) - Free, opensource statistical software. Requires knowledge of programming. 

• SAS (https://www.sas.com/en_us/home.html) - Requires programming knowledge as it does not provide the same easy-to-use interface as SPSS and STATA. 

• STATA (https://www.stata.com/order/new/edu/profplus/student-pricing/) - As low as $94/year for students (mid-size datasets). 

Reference managers aid in the electronic management, organization, citation, and referencing of articles and documents. While this process can be managed manually, dealing with a large number of references can be overwhelming and increases the chances of mistakes.

• EndNote (https://endnote.com/) - 30 day trial. Check OntheHub or your organization for opportunities to purchase at a significantly reduced price.

• Mendeley (https://www.mendeley.com) - Free. 

• Zotero (https://www.zotero.org/) - Free. 

• Audacity (https://www.audacityteam.org/) - Free audio recording. This software was used to make audio recordings to include in PowerPoint presentations. 

• Camtasia (https://www.techsmith.com/video-editor.html) - Trial with discount to full version for students.

• Loom (https://www.loom.com/education) - Free video and screen recording for students that allows up to 45 minutes of recording.

• Microsoft PowerPoint (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/powerpoint) - Requires subscription to Microsoft Office Suite. Visit OntheHub.com to download Office Suite for free as a student or check with your organization. 

Screening software aids a researcher in reviewing large number of articles to determine if those articles meet the inclusion criteria for the study. While this can be performed manually, screen software streamlines the process while documenting the decision making process. 

• Covidence (https://www.covidence.org/) - Free for 500 citations; annual license.

• DistillerSR (https://www.evidencepartners.com/pricing/student-pricing/) - Free for four months (one semester); $15/mo. for student access. Watch my demonstration.

• RevMan 5 (https://training.cochrane.org/online-learning/core-software-cochrane-reviews/revman) - Free to use online or to download.

• Google Forms (https://www.google.com/forms/about/) - Free form to create surveys.

• LimeSurvey (https://community.limesurvey.org/downloads/) - Free open-source that requires self-hosting. 

• SurveyMonkey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/) - Basic plan free with limited features.

• Qualtrics (https://www.qualtrics.com/free-account/) Basic plan is free with limited features.

• TypeForm (https://www.typeform.com/pricing/) - Basic plan is free with limited features

Although there are alternatives to Microsoft Word, it is highly recommended that students use Microsoft Word for their word processor. Being the most popular word process on the market, reference managers and other add-on softwares (such as Grammarly) are compatible with Word. Additionally, as students, you will be sharing documents with your faculty and other students and using a the same program will avoid compatibility issues. TIP: Checkout onthehub.com for a free copy of Microsoft Office Suite.

• LaTeX (https://www.latex-project.org/) - Free.

• LibreOffice (https://www.libreoffice.org/) - Free alternative to Microsoft Office Suite.