Copyright
Copyright information is very important when it comes to academic publications. It is crucial to understand what rights an author can maintain when submitting papers to journals or conferences.
An example copyright guideline when publishing to ASME. Copyright guidelines often vary from publisher to publisher: ASME copyright guidelines.
The author's guide for the Joint Army-Navy_NASA-Air Force Conference includes authorship rules, copyright information and guidelines: Journal of Propulsion and Energetics.
Fellowship Applications
Fellowships can be a good way to get funding for your project. Knowing how to write a strong, compelling application is important.
Carnegie Mellon: Advice on Writing Proposals to the National Science Foundation
Job Application Documents
The ultimate goal of graduate school is to get a job doing what you love. A strong CV or resume and other application materials can show off your skills.
Patents and Intellectual Property
A high-level view of the importance of Patents for engineers and warnings regarding public disclosures such as presentations, and publications: American Society of Mechanical Engineers: Intellectual property and engineers.
Proposals
As an engineer, writing proposals and applying for funding will be a part of your life throughout your career. Learn how to generate a compelling proposal and how to aim it at your audience.
Publishing Ethics
Comprehensive resource covering copyright, plagiarism, conflicts of interest, etc.: Wiley: Publishing Ethics
Thesis/Dissertation
You have been doing research for years, and the time has come to gather it all together into your thesis or dissertation. Although a thesis or dissertation can be similar in structure to a journal or conference paper, it is usually far longer and has its own unique challenges.
Thesis Whisperer: How Do I Start my Discussion Chapter?
Using Your Lab Notebook
Lab notebooks are a powerful tool but are often under-utilized or poorly organized. Below are resources meant to improve the effectiveness and utility of your lab notebook.
Brief page with recommendations on how to keep a tidy lab notebook: Science and Engineering Project Laboratory Notebooks: Getting Started Guide.
Microsoft OneNote is an application included in the Microsoft Office suite of software. This guide provides an excellent reference if you are interested in going paperless with your lab work: Quick guide for using Microsoft OneNote as laboratory notebook.
MIT's Mechanical Engineering departments guide to keeping a good lab notebook. While it does include information specific to their labs, it does include a lot of techniques and methodologies that can be useful for new and experienced researchers: MIT: Instructions for using your laboratory notebook.
Writing Readable Code
veryone has come across code that was illegible and confusing. Here are some resources to help you write code in such a way that it communicates its purpose and process to the reader.
High level view of how to make code readable. Content is generalizable to any programming language: Writing highly readable code.
Excellent style guide specifically tailored for MATLAB. Naming conventions, and formatting rules to keep code consistent from author to author: Matlab Style Guidelines.