Study Resources

The quality of what you read, how you select it and how you evaluate it is vital to the success of your studies - no matter what subject you are studying. The Library Resource Centre (LRC), or the equivalent offered in-country by one of our QMU Global partners, are gateways to millions of books, articles and texts.

Top Tip

Learning how to use the search tools is an important part of how you gain access to the books, articles and texts you require to study effectively. As such, watching the videos prepared by the subject Librarians on how to use the LRC services is a great place to start (do remember that whilst some resources may be relevant for Edinburgh campus students, there are a great many fantastic resources available online).

The standard of the materials available means that the resources you are accessing are contemporary, high quality, research-based and peer reviewed and are therefore reliable sources of data unlike what is often generally available online.

It is strongly recommended that you take the time to learn how to use the library systems early on in your academic career so that you are familiar with them throughout your studies.

The resources highlighted in this page are only some of the many available to you and it is not intended that you use only these. Your Study Guide will offer direction to many fantastic, supportive and appropriate resources. However, highighted below are those identified as perhaps being, at the very least, a good starting point.

The QMU Library team have created many incredibly useful Subject Guides, designed to be a starting point for the programme you are studying. Within these Study Guides, you may find a great many resources including links to books, journals, databases and so on: all of which collated within your subject focus and designed to support you on your learning journey.

Please do access the Study Guide that supports your programme

QMU UG & PG (Edinburgh Campus) + QMU Online

inc. Statitics & Data Resources

QMU Global

- Please note that whilst the Study Skills resource is available via Canvas - QMU's Virtual Learning Environment - students who do not use Canvas as their VLE will still have access via an 'open page' which is available for self-enrolment. However do be aware that some links within this page may not be accessible.

To familiarise yourself with Referencing and what is meant by the term 'Plagiarism', please refer to the created by the Library which will support your understanding.

Cite Them Right

To support effective referencing, the tool recommended by QMU is Cite Them Right. is a helpful guide on the importance of why and how we effectively reference in our academic studies. The website is accessible via your QMU account and contains useful guides to creating appropriate references for a range of different media.

With many resources being made available to you (via your programme LibGuide), this can perhaps feel overwhelming and whilst there are several databases you may wish you use and have access to Statista may be one you want to consider using (though, of course, not suggesting that this be the only one you use).

Statista is a database of contemporary statistics, accessible via your QMU email address, that you can use to demonstrate key aspects of how global society evolves; including business, society, politics, governance, economics, world trade and sectoral evolution.

Let’s imagine you have been set the task of looking at how trade between two countries has evolved over five years. Statista could be used to look at both countries, and their trade, so that you can compare them and even download a graph that demonstrates the numeric data in an easy to access format.

Gartner provides research and analysis services and offers a useful tool which may be used, again by matriculated students, as a source of data within the IT industry.

Access Gartner via your QMU login

Whilst only being one of the many resources available to you in support of your studies (available to access via your comprehensive LibGuide), is an online streaming platform that will support your studies utilising a range of film-based assets. Create an account using your QMU email address to access classic cinema, indie films, and top documentaries.

The is an international ‘think tank’ that has a goal to shape the global agenda. The research undertaken by the WEF is generally of high quality and is highly accessible. WEF publications are a useful and contemporary snapshot of some of the world’s pressing problems.

QMU is very proud to be a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and a member since October 2023.

PRME also provide a range of resources that can support you with your studies, including their curated lists of best multimedia available in categories related to sustainability and leadership education. We recommend their which breaks down their top recommendations on topics such as business & human rights, and research on responsible management.

To support the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) it is useful for all QMU students to have a working knowledge of the .

Increasingly, businesses are working within the UNSDGs in terms of strategic approach, growth, trade and product development. As a manager and leader of business in the future, you too will have to reflect on how your commercial activities are impacting our planet and life on it.

Getting you ‘work-ready’ is something that is built into the QMU Business School offering. We have a mix of assessments that help you develop skills in key areas such as presentations, team-working, critical thinking, and even debate.

Adding to this mix through undertaking additional training and development will broaden your appeal in the marketplace. As such, look for short-training courses that you think will help enhance your career.

There are resources available through Business Gateway, LinkedIn, QMU Careers, and commercial providers such as:

- A useful resource for finding discounts on subscriptions.
- Free online training courses, some of which are certificated.
- A great resource to further broaden your world view and understanding.
- Over 1,000 expert-led courses on leadership and management

It is always good think about what you want to do when you graduate and to focus your efforts on training and development that will help support your future career.

In addition to formal learning, there is ongoing informal learning like quality newspapers, podcasts, subscribing to websites, etc.

Thinking of starting your own business either during or after studying and want some advice and guidance?

Students at QMU are able to access our dedicated Startup Studio service which can offer guidance and support to those considering their future and planning early!

For some more fabulous resources, please consider using the following:

- A non-profit organisation that provides free access to data on topics related to the world's largest problems.

- An open access resource of statistical databases provided by the United Nations Statistics Division.