1. 4. Find Sources
1.1. Research Databases and Search Strategies
1.1.1. Use Google Scholar and the Library Catalog to find Scholarly articles, books, etc.
1.2. Credible Sources
1.2.1. Popular or Scholarly?
1.2.1.1. Identify what is credible or not.
2. 5. Analyze Your Materials
2.1. Cite Your Sources
2.1.1. Make sure all sources are credible
2.1.2. Use sources like Peer-Reviewed Articles, Scholarly Journals, Primary and secondary sources.
2.1.3. Evaluate Sources
2.1.3.1. Make sure you use scholarly sources for research.
2.2. Avoid Plagiarism
2.2.1. Don't just phrase sentences without citing them. Phrasing can also be plagiarism.
3. 1. Identify Topic
3.1. At first, pick something general because you can always narrow it down later in the process.
3.2. Locate materials: Choose something you're interested in and want to learn more about.
3.3. Use the internet
3.4. If you pick a topic you already know all about, it might be biased.
4. 2. Gather Basic Information of Topic
4.1. Background Information
4.1.1. Use background information to help narrow down topic
5. 3. Refine Topic to be More Specific
5.1. Refine your search topic. Example- Gorillas= Gorilla's Life in a Zoo
5.1.1. Keywords
5.1.1.1. Use keywords like "Gorilla" and "zoo" to narrow topic down
5.2. Phrase searches
5.2.1. Use certain phrases like "Gorilla's Captivity" to narrow search down
5.3. Locate Materials
5.3.1. Locate Relevant Sources
5.3.1.1. You can use information from the internet magazines or news sources
5.4. Types of Information
5.4.1. Make sure all information is relevant and scholarly