InternetResearching:HowtoGuideforFindingQuality,AcademicResearch

HowtoAccesstheBestInternetInformationforyourResearch

InternetSearching

1)UsingResearchDatabases&ArticleIndexes:
Dontforgettousetheresourcesfoundinyourschoolsdatabases.Thisisthe1st
placeyoushouldlookforonlineresearch.Manyoftheseresourcesallowyouto
searchforrefereed/peerreviewed,scholarlyarticlesandhighlyspecializedresearch.

2)Scholarlyresearch:
Whenyouneedtofindscholarly,academicresearch,useGoogleScholar.(Ifthisisforcollege
research,besuretosetyourpreferencestoyourcollege)

3)InternetResearch:
ResearchingforacademicresourcesontheInternetismuchdifferentthanresearchingforpersonaluse.
Teachersandprofessorsmayrequiretheirstudentstoonlyusescholarlyresearchforassignments.Here
areafewtipstohelpyoutonavigatetheInternetandfindthebestacademicresearchforyourresearch
need.

Becomeanexpertresearcherbylearningtousespecialfeaturesfoundinsearchengines.We
recommendyouuseGoogleasyoursearchengine,butthereareotherexcellentchoices.

1. OpenGoogle
2. Enteryourresearchtopic.Trytousethemostspecifictermpossibletotargetyourresearch.
3. ClickonthesettingswheelandselectAdvancedSearch

UsingGoogleAdvancedSearchallowsyoutopinpointyourresearch.

Besuretolimityourresearchbydomain(.eduand.gov.arethebestdomainsforacademic
research).

Youcanalsoselectaparticularfiletype.Manycollegeprofessorssharetheirlecturenotesand
theirPPTlessonsonline.

Onceyouhavefoundtheperfectwebsiteforyourresearch,copytheURL.ThengotoGoogle
Search.Inthesearchboxtyperelated:(pastetheURL),andhitenter.Thisisagreatwayto
expandyourtargetedresearch.

AdditionalResources

TheLibraryattheUniversityofIllinoishasanexcellentwebresourceforresearchandforidentifying
andlocatingpeerreviewed(refereed)journalarticles:uiuc.libguides.com.
DianaHacker'ssite:http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/.
OWLResourcesfromtheUniversityofPurdue:http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/.

OWLhasgreatresourcesforhelpingyouwithMLAformatting,too:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/.
OWLWebQuest:O
WLWebquest2013WithoutAnswers.

FindingPeerReviewed(Refereed)JournalArticles:

DirectoryofOpenAccessJournals:http://www.doaj.org/.
OpenJGate:http://www.openjgate.com/.

CitationResources

Easybib.comisanoutstanding,userfriendlysitethathelpsyoutoquicklyandeasilygenerate
citations.
Usec itationmachine.nettociteyoursourcesusingMLA,APA,orChicagostyle.
Bibme.orgisanexcellentcitationbuildingsitealsohelpsyoucreateanannotatedbibliography.
LEO:AnnotatedBibliographiesgivesstepbystepinstructionsforcreatinganannotatedbibliography.

ThesisGenerator

ThesisGeneratorisaterrifictoolfromtheUniversityofPhoenixitwillhelpyouasyouwriteathesis
statementforapersuasiveessay.
LEO:LiteracyEducationOnline
LEO:AnnotatedBibliographies

WebSiteEvaluation

Toevaluateawebsite:
1. ChecktheURLWhattypeofsiteisit?(educational,commercial,governmental,etc)
2. Truncatebacktofindsourceandcheckifthissourceisreputable,impartial,etc.
3. Googletheauthortocheckhis/hercredentials
4. Findthedatethesitewaslastupdated(especiallyifcurrentinformationisimportant)
5. Lookforinformation,suchas"AboutUs"tofindwhoisbehindtheresearchandwhetherthesourceis
authoritative
6. Checkevaluationsofthesite
7. CopytheURLofthesiteyouwanttoevaluate.GotoGoogleandinthesearchboxtypelink:(paste
theURL).T hisshowsyouwhatsiteslinktoyourpageasaresource.Ifreputablesitelinktothispage,
thisdemonstratescredibility.Also,byclickingonsomeofthesitesthatlinktoyourpage,youcan
expandyourtargetedsearching,byexploringthesenewresourcestofindadditional,similarsitesthat
maybehelpfulforyourresearch.
Finally,whenconductinginternetsearchesforschoolresearch,don'tforgetour"LibraryWithoutWalls"
commercialdatabases.YouKNOWthesesitesarereputable&extremelyvaluable.
Also,manyofthedatabasesaregreatresourcesforfindingrefereedjournalarticles.Wheninadatabase
suchasGaleStudentResourcesinContext,clickontheAdvancedSearchfeature.Limityoursearchby
selectingonlytheinformationyouneed,includinglimitingto"peerreviewed"articles.Clickheretofollowthe
link.