The St. Mike’s Writing and Research Help Centre offers personalised one-on-one appointments with friendly and experienced research librarians and writing instructors to level up your writing, thinking, and research skills. We’re located in the Kelly Library and can work with you either in-person or online.
Writing and Research Help Centre Services
What kinds of assignments can I get help with?
- Essays
- Research papers and projects
- Response papers, book reviews, and critiques
- Presentations
- Reports, including science reports
- Graduate school and scholarship applications
Please note that we’re not able to help with final exams or preparations for standardized tests (e.g., GRE, IELTS).
Should I book a “Research” appointment or a “Writing” appointment?
If you are looking for help finding books and articles, finding primary sources, figuring out how to use the library, narrowing your research topic, coming up with a research question, understanding the research process, or citation styles and your bibliography, book an appointment with a librarian for Research Help.
If you are looking for feedback on a writing assignment, developing a thesis, improving the structure or organization of your paper, or clarifying your grammar and style, book an appointment with a writing instructor for Writing Help.
Will writing instructors copy edit my essay?
Our goal is to help you develop your own skills in writing, revising, and editing your own work. While they do not proofread your essays, they can advise on organization and style, and they can identify recurring grammatical challenges.
Should I make an appointment if I already get good grades?
Yes! Experienced writers often seek out revision and editing help, outside insights, and feedback to improve their work. Think of your writing session as an opportunity to discuss your work with another experienced writer.
As researchers, we can sometimes get stuck in our habits or stick to known tools. Chat with a librarian to uncover advanced search strategies, databases you haven’t known about, and approaches to research.
Can you help me on science assignments?
Yes! Visit us to talk about theses, presentation of your evidence, and the conventions of different genres of scientific writing.
We can also work with you on strategies to make your writing more concise and impactful.
Can you help me if my first language isn’t English?
Absolutely! You can benefit from meeting with any writing instructor. If you’d like to make an appointment with an ELL specialist, narrow the appointment listings to “English-as-a-second-language-assistance” from the “Display Options” drop-down menu.
Can you help me with the content of my assignment?
Because we are not content experts in your field, our focus is on helping you excel at the research process and in developing your writing skills more generally.
You may find it helpful to talk through your ideas and explain a complex subject to someone who is not studying what you are studying. While we can’t give you feedback on the accuracy of your content, we can be a sounding board for your thoughts, ask you exploratory questions, and help you think through your project.
Can you help me with study habits, note-taking, time management, academic stress, and planning?
Teaching effective study habits, note-taking, time management, and all skills needed to help you succeed is best done by a Learning Strategist. Get help from a learning strategist for guidance on learning how to learn and effective student strategies.
Learning strategists help you develop new strategies for active studying and exam preparation, learn to manage time and stress, improve your project management and presentation skill, and navigate University resources. St. Mike’s has dedicated learning strategists that you can meet at the Kelly Library.
Appointments are 45 minutes long and can be either in-person at the Kelly Library or online.
Book an appointment with the SMC Learning Strategist.