Question: How do you find the people that are researching the same thing as you and do?

Monique Henson answered on 7 Nov 2015:

There are two main ways researchers find out what other people are doing: reading and talking. When researcher thinks they’ve found something new or interesting, they write a report (called an academic paper) on their work. They then submit it to journal, who get other researchers to check the report. If it passes the checks, then the report will get published online on a website where lots of other researchers can read it. Every day I look online to see what new reports have come out, so I can learn about what other people are working on.

The other way we find out what people are working on is by talking to other researchers. In particular, we hold big meetings (called conferences) where lots of researchers from all over the world get together just to talk about their research.

Sometimes you might find someone is doing the same thing as you. If they are, then you might choose to work with them. You don’t have to, but people often find they can make more progress by working together.