Seyed Mohammad Jafari PhD Candidate in Management Graduate School of Management (GSM) University of Putra Malaysia (UPM) May 25, 2011 Research Tools A Thesis Writing Approach

What is this?

Thesis writing is a journey at circuit

Equip yourself 

Content Research tools help research student to spend less time on search and more time on discovery Content of Part I:  Finding proper keywords  Initial appraisal of the topic and getting more familiar with it  Conducting a systematic literature review  Evaluating a paper/journal quality  Keeping up-to-date (Alert system)

Content Content of Part II:  Review of “Research Tools I (Part I)”  Mind-mapping  Searching inside the articles  Organizing the references (Reference management)  How to avoid plagiarism  Plagiarism checking tools

Thesis writing flow using research tools Selecting a topic Finding related Keywords Initial evaluation of the topic Systematic literature review Selecting core papers on the topic Mind-Mapping Keeping up to date Avoid Plagiarism Indexing the sources Cite while you write Reference Management

Selecting a topic Source of a topic Availability of Fund Researcher’s interest Continuing MSc thesis Essential Science Indicator (ESI) Available Supervisors Availability of instrument Exp: Emerging Research Fronts Fast Moving Fronts Top Topics

Finding proper keywords KeyWords Plus Google Wonder Wheel Google AdWords

Initial appraisal of your topic and getting more familiar with it

Evaluating a paper/journal quality 1- Initial Appraisal: o Author o Journal (ISI vs. non-ISI) o Publisher (well known vs. unknown) o Date of Publication (most recent one) o Edition or Revision (make sure you found the latest version) 2- Content Analysis: Intended Audience Objective Reasoning Coverage Writing Style Evaluative Reviews h-index Impact Factor Exp: AutoSummary Tools

h-index A scientist has index h if h of [his/her] Np papers have at least h citations each, and the other (Np − h) papers have at most h citations each (Jorge E. Hirsch)

Publish or Perish

Impact Factor

Journal Citation Reports (JCR)

Conducting ‏a systematic literature review Go Forward Go Backward Systematic Literature Review Related Articles Review Articles (Meta-analysis) Review Articles (Meta-analysis) Webster, J., & Watson, R. (2002). Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review. MIS Quarterly, 26(2),

Conducting ‏a systematic literature review

Search Engines Advance Search/ Analyze Results Advance Search/ Analyze Results Conducting ‏a systematic literature review

Keeping up-to-date (Alert system) Activate databases alert systems Activate databases alert systems Others Publishers

Research as a Puzzle 

Mind-Mapping

Searching inside the articles Desktop Search Smartly keywords selection Boolean search techniques

Organizing the references (Reference management) References Management Save time in reference management Save time in reference management Import into EndNote Cite while you write

How to avoid plagiarism Plagiarism: copying someone else’s words, information or even ideas without acknowledging the source (the person and the work) Plagiarism Similarity  Within the acceptance range (e.g. 20%) (%0)

Paraphrasing Solution No direct copy and paste from articles Correct citation to the references Put definitions and direct citations in “quotation” Exclude “Table of content” & “References” before submission How to avoid plagiarism

Plagiarism checking tools Checking tools Needs subscription Free Only for initial appraisal

Plagiarism checking tools

Q&A

References   Research Tools Mind Map by Nader Ale Ebrahim Research Tools Mind Map 

Good luck in your research