Research Tips

Start with a general search  Try to google your topic  Check out what Wikipedia has to say  Get some ideas of key words and opinions that you can use for later research  Remember you CANNOT use Wikipedia or similar sites, but they can give you good ideas!

Try the library first  Full of dependable sources!  Use the keywords/links in the abstract to find more sources  Check out the video that the ULV librarian made to help us out:

Keyword Searches  Try many different combination of keywords and their synonyms  If you can’t find anything – try, try again!!  Use “and” when you want to find articles that have all of the words you are searching for  alcohol and drinking and age

Try credible websites .edu and.gov are good sources  Be careful of.org  Org just means that the group does not make a profit – it does not mean the group is unbiased  Ex: churches get.org but they can have strong opinions on various topics  Some.com are fine, too  There are many respected groups that do make a profit but report quality information  Ex: newspapers, magazines, etc  Ask the teacher whether it is acceptable or not if you don’t know

Use the References from Articles You’ve Found  Look at the bottom of the article and there is a list of potential new sources (even Wikipedia)

Try Google or Google Scholar  Many full text articles are there   When you ALREADY HAVE the title and/or author

Check with Friends  See if a friend that is already at a college or university will loan you access to their library sources

Don’t forget books  But keep it modern

Reading Order for Article  Read Abstract – does it sound like your topics?  Read Introduction and Conclusion - does it sound like your topics?  Skim article for relevant points – use it in your paper (paraphrase or summary)

Research Article Structure  Introduction – past research (look for other potential sources…)  Method – the set up for the current experiment  Procedure – the actual current experiment  Results – the outcome of the current experiment (in detail)  Conclusion – the outcome of the experiment and what it means/how it fits their field of study (good for you)