TXST Research Support

Planning your research project? Let these tools and services help with this process. The University Libraries assists with literature reviews, citation management, and data management plans. The Office of Research supports collaboration tools, ethics and compliance, and grant planning.

Identify collaborators, find funding opportunities, and gain other support to help your research proposal and planning process. This step of the research process is supported by the Division of Research.

Services and Tools:

• Use Pivot: Search for funding opportunities and view matching faculty from TXST or other institutions.
  • Pivot Instructional Videos
• Faculty Profiles - Connect with faculty and researchers
• Build your team with strategies to locate expertise. The Division of Research can help connect researchers across disciplines.

Within the Division of Research, the Research Integrity and Compliance office ensures that all research and scholarship is performed in an ethical manner promoting the Responsible Conduct of Research.

Tools and Services:

• Protocols and compliance information.
• Training and workshops are offered each semester for TXST researchers.

Conducting a comprehensive literature search for a critical analysis of the published works related to a research topic is a key element of scholarly communication. Whether the literature review is for a dissertation, thesis, or other project, it provides a foundation and rationale on which to build research questions, identify gaps, and support claims. Assistance with conducting a literature review in your discipline is available through faculty workshops, graduate workshops, and individual research consultations using the services below.

Citation Management Tools exist to save you time from typing bibliographies and in-text citations by hand. There are many citation managers out there. Some are free, and some require a subscription or charge for extra storage. 

Learn more about Citation Management Tools

The University Libraries collaborate with university partners to connect researchers with the necessary tools, resources, and expertise for research data management at every stage, from planning to archiving. Our goal is to promote best practices and tools that save time, protect data, and enhance research impact. We offer in-depth guidance on Data Management plans and strategies for organizing and curating data throughout the research lifecycle.

A data management plan (DMP) will help you manage your data, meet funder requirements, and help others use your data if shared. A DMP is simply a 1-2 page summary explaining how you are planning to manage the data gathered in the course of your research project. Most funding agencies, publishers, or other research supporters require a data management plan. The idea being that if they fund your research, the data resulting from that research must be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable (FAIR). Having a plan in place for storing, describing, and managing your data is important in every research project and especially when working with a team so that everyone is aligned on file formats, naming, storage, and sharing.

Learn more about Data Management Plans and Research and Data Services

Effective grant planning is essential for securing funding to support your research. This process involves identifying potential funding sources, understanding the requirements of different grant opportunities, and developing a clear, compelling proposal that aligns with funders' priorities. Key steps include defining your research goals, building a project timeline and budget, assembling a strong research team, and ensuring compliance with institutional and funder guidelines.

Individual Colleges and TXST Units often have PreAward Research Coordinators who specifically help with application preparation, the submission process, and working with the Office of Sponsored Programs.  It is highly recommended that you reach out to your College's Research Coordinator (RC), Chair, Associate Dean of Research, or the Office of Research Development as appropriate at the beginning of grant planning. Information about individual college and unit award and academic contacts can be found on the Institutional Factsheet. 

Additionally, TXST's research support services can provide valuable guidance on crafting competitive applications and navigating the submission process.

Research Development provides a broad range of services including: 

• Grant Development Support: Guiding faculty through the proposal lifecycle with tailored consultations, narrative development, and competitive positioning
• Grant Development Project Management: Coordinating complex, multi-investigator proposals to ensure alignment with funding agency priorities and submission requirements
• Research Development Workshops: Offering expert-led training to enhance proposal quality and competitiveness
• Limited Submissions Management: Overseeing internal review processes to optimize institutional funding opportunities
• Collaborator and Funding Identification: Connecting Faculty with internal and external research partners and funding sponsors

Additional resources:

Request a Letter of Institutional Support

Research Development Office Hours

Information for Proposal Preparation and Submission

Grant Funding Research Guide

If you intend to publish your research findings, consider including publishing costs in your extramural project budget. Publishing costs are an allowable direct cost, unless explicitly listed in the funder's RFA/RFP as an unallowable expense.

The open access publishing fee, also known as an article processing charge (APC), varies by journal. To make the most accurate estimate:

1. Consider where you anticipate submitting your research for publication, and
2. Look up the APC on the journal's website.
3. If you do not know yet where you will publish, $3,000 per article is a reasonable estimate.