Here are a few more tips and tricks to help make the research process a little easier:
- Keep track of your sources. When you find an article that you want to keep, go ahead and save a copy to a flashdrive. If you are absolutely sure you are going to use it in your paper, print it out. However, do NOT print out every article that you think is relevant to your topic. Journal articles can be very long and you'll end up wasting a lot of paper on sources you don't need.
- Start your reference list NOW! Many databases will create the reference for you. As you find sources you want to use in your paper, go ahead and create a word document that contains the references. This will save you time at the end when you are trying to put together the list.
- Look at other reference lists. There's no need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to research. If you find an article that's very helpful, look to see where they got their information (their reference list). If any of those articles look like they might be helpful, go find them. This can help save you lots of time when doing research.
- Ask a librarian for help. If you run into roadblocks, don't hesitate to ask a librarian for help. It's what they're there for! Librarians can help you navigate the databases and refine your search strategy.
Searching for articles can take some time. But don't worry! You'll get the hang of it.
Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when searching the databases for journal articles:
- Before you start searching, create a list of search terms related to your topic. Use this list to create your search. As you find sources, add new keywords to your list.
- Use Boolean search operators to narrow down your search. If you do a search and get too many results, you can narrow your search down by using AND, OR, and NOT to combine search terms. For example, a search of the databases for the keyword rape will bring back thousands of results. However, searching with the terms rape AND "college campus" will return fewer results.
- Check the "Full Text" box, if it's an option. This will ensure that you are only shown results that you have access to.
- Remember that each database is different. Each database contains different journals and journal articles. And each database may look different from the others.
