Here's how you can improve your research and reference skills through feedback.

Enhance your research and referencing skills by actively seeking feedback from professors, peers, or even fellow students. Focus on citation accuracy, clarity, and recurring patterns in the feedback to identify areas for improvement. Embrace constructive criticism, ask clarifying questions, and reflect on suggestions to revise your work. Use the feedback to set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound), such as mastering a specific citation style within a week. Track your progress regularly to ensure continuous improvement. Remember, consistent practice and feedback are key to mastering research and referencing.

While this is great advice, it's also important to keep in mind that all brains do not learn and retain equally. What works for them, may not work for you. One way to move forward with this reflection is to take the new methods and approaches you learned back to your original work to compare. As you review both, find your own way to cover all of the bases in a way that compliments your own learning style.

The referee process used in many journals and publications may seem overwhelming to a beginning professional. You spend so much time conceiving and developing an idea, and a distant editor pokes holes into your arguments. Don't fret! In most (certainly not all, but most!) cases, external reviews allow you to see how others view your work. External reviewers are common for academic librarians who seek promotion, and these reviews allow a comparable peer in a different academic setting to evaluate your work with honesty and candor. The same can be said for poster sessions or other external activities, such as giving a presentation at a conference. If an attendee has critical comments, don't be overly defensive. Listen, learn, and adjust.

Analyze feedback at two levels. The first step is to detemine if the feedback is constructive or superficial. Similar to Google reviews, you'll always have a few haters that give a "1" and a few admirers who give their family-owned business a "5." If the feedback is superficial, take it with a grain of salt. If it's constructive, ponder what is communicated. Realize that some criticism may come from a person who sees the issue differently. In libraries, this may mean that the source you suggested for them is one that they do not like, for whatever reason. If feedback is given in person, respond positively, even if the heart of their feedback may be critical. Grow from it. Realize that none of us is perfect, including the reviewer!

Two reference librarians may find entirely different ways to answer the same question. Two catalogers may have different approaches for assigning local subject headings to enhance a bibliographic record. While we sometimes must work in silos, we benefit from the knowledge and expertise of professional peers, whether they are in the same library or in an online community. Whenever possible, find opportunities to engage in constructive dialog. Invite peers to review your work for publication, poster sessions, or reference interactions. Seek to learn best practices from others, and tailor them to your individual style.

Reflection is an important part of one’s growth as a researcher. Going back to review your research products and reflecting on them helps you identify what you did well and what additional areas you could have explored to make your research more comprehensive. Reflecting on how you can improve your research process helps you to narrow down the time needed to conduct effective research. Being open to researching points of view contrary to one’s own point of view or research focus gives one a deeper understanding of the nuances involved in a topic of research.