1. Senior Research Project
Objectives
Students will perform research, select relevant sources, and extract needed information.

2. Finding Sources
The goal is to find three more relevant sources for your project using databases and searches. 
Types of sources
Use Databases to find reliable scholarly information
Use Academic Search Engines to find valid websites

3. How do you know if a source is valid?
If it’s a book, look at the date, the author, and check for bias (prejudice or a privileging of one idea over another).
If it’s a database, it will be credible but still search for bias.
If it’s a website- look at the URL (.net, .gov, and .edu are better than .com).
Use websites with caution!

4. Should You Use It? Evaluate a Source Using the CRAAP Test!

5. Currency When was it written and/or updated
Currency When was it written and/or updated? Is newer information available? If it’s a web site, do the links work?
If you need current information, check the date of the source.
On the other hand, sometimes older information works fine for certain topics.
Example: Research current treatments for type two diabetes.
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Example: Research the religion of Ancient Greek Civilization.

6. Relevance Is this information useful to my project
Relevance Is this information useful to my project? Does most of the information directly relate to my topic? Can you understand and use the information without plagiarizing? Are there better sources available?
Relevancy is important because you want to find sources that contain a lot of great information about your subject. Without a lot of information, it’s going to be hard to write your paper.
Example:
A source detailing the link between alcoholism and divorce may not be relevant if you are looking for information on how alcohol impacts the brain.
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7. Authority Who is the author. Who published the information
Authority Who is the author? Who published the information? Can they be considered experts in their fields? Are there sponsors tied to the author/publisher?
Authority refers to reviewing an author’s credentials. You need to determine whether the person presenting the information has the knowledge and background to be a good source. Databases with scholarly journals are your best bets to find good, reliable information.
Example:
If you are writing a paper on the health risks associated with energy drinks, a doctor would have more authority, and be a more credible source than a website from the energy drink company.
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8. Accuracy Is this information correct. Can you verify it elsewhere
Accuracy Is this information correct? Can you verify it elsewhere? Are the ideas supported by evidence? Does the author cite reliable sources?
Accuracy is important because you need correct information to make good decisions. Also, if you present inaccurate information, others may question your own credibility.
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Example:
If you tell readers that taking daily Vitamin C is 100 percent effective in preventing colds, you are providing inaccurate information, even if you found a source that said this was true.

9. Purpose Why was this site/information written?
Pay attention to the URL address
.com: commercial
.org: sponsored by an organization
.net: a network of professionals
.edu: associated with a university
.gov: associated with a government
You need to carefully examine the purpose of the information presented.
Is it trying to:
Educate?
Entertain?
Sell you a product?
Sway you to a particular
point of view?
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Example: If you looking for a website containing information on global warming, keep in mind that .edu or .gov would have the most current and academic information based on sound research

10. What do you look up? Choose your search terms carefully
Think of the most important search words you can use to find the exact information you need. Boil it down to a one or a few key words for your initial search.
If you find you’re not getting enough information, broaden things. If you’re not finding enough information about post-concussion syndrome, try searching for concussions.
If you’re finding too much non-relevant information, sometimes it helps to search with a few extra words sprinkled in:
Symptoms of _____________________
Examples of ______________________
How _____________ impacts ______________________
Current trends in ________________________

11. Let’s talk about Databases (A data base is a digital collection of information)
Databases are closed sources, so they are more scholarly and more credible than most websites.
Use Utah’s Online Library, conveniently found on the Bountiful High School Library Homepage to search databases and World Book Online.

12. World Book Encyclopedia
World Book Encyclopedia Online is a great place to start for information written by experts on a variety of topics.
Access it from Utah’s Online Library. Choose the Student Edition from the menu, and search for your terms. Articles also contain links to media and sometimes outside sources.
It’s a great resource to use for definitions and to see how difficult topics can be explained briefly and clearly.

13. Utah’s Online Library
Onlinelibrary.uen.org
The Reference Section of Utah’s Online Library has a number of great databases. I suggest using EBSCO: High School, andGale Reference Collection EBSCO links you to a number of different databases you can pick and choose from to help you locate information. I would choose to search all databases, so you don’t have to keep doing different searches. It also lets you filter for full-text and peer-reviewed articles.

14. Gale Databases
Gale has a lot of great information located in different places. Global Issues in Context, InfoTrac Newstand, InfoTrac Student Edition, and Opposing Viewpoints in Context can all help you find the information you need.

15. InfoTrac Newsstand and Infotrac Student edition
If you’re looking for very recent examples, try InfoTrac Newsstand. It searches through hundreds of newspapers worldwide. Use the autocomplete suggestions to help with further searching. If you type in your topic, it will suggest similar or narrower topics you can click on to find new information.
If you want in-depth information, try InfoTrac Student Edition. This resource lets you search through popular and scholarly magazines. The information is older than newspaper articles, but it is also better researched. If you use this database, I suggest going to the advanced search button, where you can select full-text articles and modify the search dates.

16. Global Issues in Context
This resource organizes information about a lot of problems in the world today by topic. You can do a standard database search in the Search box. More importantly, you can click on the topics to access a lot of different articles that can help you write your essay. I suggest clicking on the Browse Issues link to see an alphabetical list of information available in the database.
When you find an issue that matches what you’re looking for, click it to find links to a lot of different articles.
When you click on a major topic, it sends you to a page full of media about the issue. The featured content section contains the most important articles about the topic. You can also find links to newspaper articles, magazine articles, audio, and video related to the subject.

17. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Gale Opposing Viewpoints takes popular debate topics in the world today and shows you articles that are for and against the topics in question. You can do a standard search in the Search box to find information.
Like Global Issues, information is also arranged by topic, so click browse issues to see all of the topics available.
The Featured Content section contains great articles related to your topic. If I were you, I’d start here. It also links to other magazine and newspaper articles if you cannot find enough information from the featured content.

18. Academic Search Engines
A search engine will help you find information on the World Wide Web.
General search engines
Research Search Engines
Google
Bing
Yahoo
*These sites are designed for general online searches and do not filter out non-academic sources. Think of them as a last resort.
Many teachers do not want you to use these for research because the top matches are advertisements and paid sources.
Google Scholar
RefSeek.com
*These search engines are designed specifically for research and filter out non-academic sites.
Your teachers would prefer information from databases, but these are better than general search engines.

19. Research Tip: The Find Option
If you want to see if an article has exactly what you’re looking for, choose the “Find on Page” option from Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge. You can find it in the settings or press ctrl + f (hold down the ctrl key on the keyboard and press the letter f key).
Type the “must-have” word you’re looking for in the Find box, and it will highlight the words inside of the article for you.
Read all of the sentences above and below the highlighted words to see if it has what you need.
If you want to use the article, go back and reread it, taking notes on the information you can use in your essay.

20. Research tip: USE Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are used around phrases. By using quotations marks, you are telling the computer to only bring back pages with the terms you typed in the exact order you typed them.
Example:
“health care reform”
instead of
health AND care AND reform
Put example in color and have “health care reform” come in and then health and care and reform appear later.

21. Avoiding Plagiarism
Follow the 3 word rule—if you’re using more than three of the author’s words (excluding names), you’re probably plagiarizing.
Read a paragraph, look away, and write down a note from memory.
Put direct quotes in quotation marks to avoid plagiarism. Don’t copy and paste without writing down a source and putting the info in “quotation marks.”
Use parenthetical citations to list your source next to others’ ideas (Name Pg#). Use in-text citations to give credit to your sources: According to ________, _________________ (Pg#).
There are all sorts of plagiarism checkers out there now. People get kicked out of college for plagiarism or lose credibility (Melania Trump/Michelle Obama, Joe Biden/Neil Kinnock 1987).

22. Citations (Links on media Center Web Site)
Easybib.com is a web site that helps you build your own works cited pages in MLA and other formats. Sometimes they need a few minor changes (punctuation mainly) to comply with the formatting, but it does most of the heavy work for you. 
Citationmachine.net is another website specializing in creating citations for you.
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is considered an authority on formatting and can help you find and format source information. Use the navigation bar on the left to select APA or MLA guidelines.
The Weber State Writing Center has some great downloadable handouts about MLA format. They can be found under the Writing Center Handouts section.

23. Citing Sources: What Do You Need?
For articles not found in a database, you typically need to include
The name of the author (last name, first name) if given
The name of the article/web page in “quotation marks”
The name of the web site in italics
The date of publication
The full url (
The date you accessed the information

24. Works Cited
If you click the “Citation” option to the right of an article in Gale or Ebsco, it will show you exactly how to write it down on your Works Cited page according to MLA format.
World Book Encyclopedia includes correct citation information at the bottom of each article. You will have to add the hanging indent.
Google Scholar will give you citation information if you click the quotation mark symbol”.