Reading List 

There are many great resources to build your creative research skills. Here are a few of our favorite reads and resources, organized loosely by topic.

General Creativity 

• Sawyer, Keith. 2013. Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity. A clear and practical science-based book on enhancing creativity.

• Carson, Shelley. 2010. Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity, and Innovation in Your Life. This book focuses on the neuroscience of creativity, with a lot of great quizzes and exercises to apply lessons learned.

• Speaking of Psychology podcast, “The neuroscience of creativity” (Episode 10). An interesting podcast on the neuroscience of creativity.

Creativity and Science 

• Beveridge, William Ian Beardmore. 1957. The Art of Scientific Investigation. Classic exploration of the role of creativity in science.

• Schwartz, Martin A. 2008. “The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research.” Journal of Cell Science 121(11): 1771–1771. An excellent article on failing and feeling like you have no idea what you’re doing next. 

• Cravens, Amanda E. et al. 2014. “Reflecting, Iterating, and Tolerating Ambiguity: Highlighting the Creative Process of Scientific and Scholarly Research for Doctoral Education.” International Journal of Doctoral Studies 9: 229–47. An empirical look at how top scholars use creativity in their research.

Design Thinking

• Kelley, Tom, and David Kelley. 2013. Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All. An overview of design thinking, written by two of the disciplines’ founders.

• Burnett, William, and David John Evans. 2016. Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life. Design thinking applied to figuring out what to do with your life and career, with lots of exercises and reflection prompts.

• Bobinet, Kyra. 2015. Well Designed Life: 10 Lessons in Brain Science & Design Thinking for a Mindful, Healthy, & Purposeful Life. Design thinking applied to a range of life challenges with a particular focus on health and habit formation. Includes information about how your brain works.

• Resources Page, Stanford d.school. A great collection of resources for learning about and using design thinking. We particularly like the Design Thinking Bootleg.

• Ulibarri, Nicola et al. 2014. “Research as Design: Developing Creative Confidence in Doctoral Students Through Design Thinking.” International Journal of Doctoral Studies 9: 249–70. An early evaluation of our workshop curriculum.

Building habits, reflection, and journaling

• Fogg, BJ. Tiny Habits. A guided program to make or break habits in just a few minutes a day.

• Bolker, Joan. 1998. Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis. A short and sweet book on how to use writing to reflect and move your ideas forward -- not just for PhD students!

• Stevens, Dannelle D., and Joanne E. Cooper. 2009. Journal Keeping: How to Use Reflective Writing for Learning, Teaching, Professional Insight and Positive Change. Using journaling as an ongoing tool to capture academic insight.

• McGonigal, Kelly. 2013. The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It. Building and maintaining new habits, with exercises.

Mindfulness

• Kabat-Zinn, Jon. 2018. Falling Awake: How to Practice Mindfulness in Everyday Life. A basic primer introducing mindfulness. 

• Brach, Tara. 2003. Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha. A guide to mindfulness with a particular focus on moving past self-criticism and focusing on the present moment. Includes practices and meditations.

• Brown, Kirk Warren, J. David Creswell, and Richard M. Ryan, eds. 2015. Handbook of Mindfulness: Theory, Research, and Practice. A thorough overview of empirical research on mindfulness.

Emotions and emotional intelligence

• Goleman, Daniel. 2005. Emotional Intelligence. One of the most thorough books on emotional intelligence, why it matters, and how to cultivate it. 

• Neff, Kristin. 2015. Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself. Empirical investigation discussing the importance of self-compassion, including exercises to practice.

• Rosenberg, Marshall. 2012. Living Nonviolent Communication: Practical Tools to Connect and Communicate Skillfully in Every Situation. How to use language to express and work through emotions, and help others do the same.

Teamwork & team science

• National Cancer Institute. “Team Science Toolkit.” An excellent resource on all things team science.

• National Research Council. 2015. Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science. Synthesizes current research on team science to provide guidance on working in interdisciplinary, collaborative, or cross-institutional scientific teams.

Writing resources

• Silva, Paul J. 2007. How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing. As the title says, it’s a short and helpful guide on writing productively. 

• Schimel, Joshua. 2011. Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded. Great advice on all aspects of academic writing, from pitching an argument to the structure of sentences and paragraphs.