research process

Research Process

Research Topic

Search Strategy

Retrieve Information

Evaluate Source

Cite the Source

Ask a Librarian

Research Topic

1. Decide on a topic for your research.
For assistance in finding a topic, see Selecting a Topic.

2. Formulate a research question.

State your topic in question form.
- For example, if you were interested in the security of electronic commerce on the World Wide Web, you might pose this question: "How safe is using the World Wide Web for electronic commerce?"
Identify keywords to use during your search.
- Possible keywords to use as search terms are "Web," "security" and "commerce."

3. Get an understanding or an overview of the topic.
A good overview usually consists of two parts:

Historical
Locate historical information on a given topic by consulting a general or subject-specific encyclopedia. For information about subject-specific encyclopedias, consult an appropriate library subject guide.
Current
Locate a current article from a current journal, magazine, or newspaper which discusses issues surrounding the topic. For instance, if you were to research the security of electronic commerce on the World Wide Web, you might read about the history of the Internet in addition to reading a current article about the security problem.

Formulate a search strategy

Once you have an idea of what it is you want to find, consider how you will go about finding the information you need. Pick out key words to use in your searches and consider relationships between your key words.
- See Search Tips for OhioLINK Databases, Database Searching--Search Operators, and the Search Strategy Work Sheet for more assistance.

Retrieve information sources

Start with Maag Library and OhioLINK Resources to find books and journal articles
Check the sources listed in Where to Start to Find Books.
See Where to start to Find Articles for detailed information about finding articles in periodicals and newspapers. Because periodicals are published on a more frequent basis, they tend to contain more up-to-date information than books. See also an explanation of the difference between general magazines and scholarly journals in Finding Scholarly Journals.
See How to Find the Information You Need for a listing of guides to other resources.

Evaluate your sources

Information comes from many sources which may or may not be reliable. Finding a book or a journal article in the library or getting information from a Web site does not always mean that it is a good source of information for your research. You must always evaluate sources according to your instructor's requirements.

To read more about evaluating sources, see Evaluating Print and Electronic Resources.

See also the Tutorial on Evaluating Web sites (from SUNY at Albany)

Document (cite) your sources

Use sources ethically.

To avoid plagiarism, you must credit sources when quoting or paraphrasing (stating someone else's ideas in your own words).

Follow a standard documentation style when citing sources and writing your bibliography.

Most disciplines prefer a particular documentation style. For example, some humanities follow Modern Language Association (MLA) standards while social sciences follow American Psychological Association (APA) standards. See Citing Sources for some of the style manuals available. If you are unsure which style to use, ask your instructor.

Revise, revise, revise.

Be prepared to revise your topic as well as your search strategy as you read and discover more information. In addition, remember that research is a time-consuming, often difficult process. You will achieve better results if you stay flexible and allow yourself ample time.