Designing a Research Strategy for Term Papers

Whether you are writing a long or a short paper, you will need to give some thought to where you are most likely to find the information you will need to support your thesis. Here are some general ideas, and the Reference Librarian can give you more input specific to your topic.

Hint: You may wish to use RefWorks to store and organize your references. You can also use it with Word to insert in-text citations as you write your paper and generate a reference list in the proper citation style.

Contents:

General Guidelines | Books | Periodicals| Reference books | Other Sources | Getting Help

General Guidelines

• Always ask your professor what types of resources you should use. Should you use newspapers? Books? Scholarly journal articles? Web sites? The best papers use a combination of resources, not relying on any one type.
  
• When is your paper due? If your time is short, you will have to use info that is immediately available. If you have more time, you can gather resources from other libraries or make requests via interlibrary loan.
  
• What citation style should you use? Remember to keep all your data to use when you write your reference list! Hint: RefWorks does this for you.
  
• How many pages should your paper be? The rule of thumb is one reference per one page of writing (therefore, 5 references for a 5 page paper) but be sure to ask your professor about this, also.

Using Books

For longer, more in depth papers, you may find that books will cover your topic in detail. Often, the search terms that you use when looking for books will be a bit more general than if you were looking for articles. For example, if you were writing a paper on a certain nurse theorist, you could do a keyword search for “nurse and theorists” as well as for the name of the person.

Begin your book search by using CLICnet, the Library’s online catalog.

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Using periodicals: journals, magazines and newspapers

All Library databases are linked from the same page: begin at Find Articles and select Databases and indexes.

What is a periodical and why should I use articles from periodicals?

“Periodicals” can refer to magazines, journals and newspapers that are published “periodically,” either weekly, monthly, bimonthly, quarterly or annually. Periodicals can be popular or scholarly. College professors often prefer that your papers rely on scholarly sources, so be sure to ask which you should use. (Learn more about popular and scholarly periodicals.)

There are several reasons to use articles from periodicals, including:

• Articles tend to be current. Because they are published fairly frequently, the articles tend to be up-to-date.
• Articles are usually quite focused. Since they are somewhat brief (compared to a book), they often focus on narrow or specific aspects of topics.
• Articles are detailed. Since they are quite focused, they often go into detail.

How do I select a journal database to search?

Look for a minute at the Library's Databases and indexes page.

For more general topics, there are several online databases in which you will find information on almost any topic. These databases include Academic Search Premier and Expanded Academic ASAP. Hint: To limit to articles that are scholarly or peer-reviewed, check the box provided before you search.

Look for links to these and other popular databases under A few CSC favorites.

If the topic of your paper pertains to a certain subject area (for example, Nursing or Psychology), you may want to see a list and description of the databases available for that subject. Under the heading Browse databases by subject, select the topic area.

For the complete listing and links to all CSC Library databases, look in the alphabetic list by selecting from the A to Z list .

How do I look for newspapers?

The Library subscribes to databases that give access to the full articles found in many local, national and international newspapers. Begin on the Library’s Web page and select Find Articles, then Databases and indexes. Under the listing for A few CSC favorites, try Lexis Nexis or ProQuest Newstand.

Local newspapers are good for finding information on local topics (for example, if you are writing on the future of mass transit, you may wish to mention plans for expanding the light rail in the Twin Cities). Our Library has subscriptions to the searchable full text of both Twin Cities newspapers.

For links and a complete listing of the newspaper databases, click the downward arrow near Browse databases by subject and select News and current events.

Reference Books

Almanacs, dictionaries, and encyclopedias are good sources for quick facts, statistics, backgrounds and definitions. They add authority to your paper and can be used to verify and support information you find in other sources. Ask a Librarian to help you, or browse the subject guide for your academic area. To do this, begin at the Library Web page and select Research Help then Research Guides.

Reference books cannot leave the Library, but you can make photocopies of pages you need (10 cents per page).

Several reference books are also available online. For example, Oxford Reference Online allows you to search over 100 reference sources in 20 different areas in a single search. To see what other online reference sources we own, begin at the Library Web page. Select Find Books then E-books.

Other types of sources

Besides books and periodicals, you may choose to use other types of sources, including:

• Web sites: read more about when to use Web sites and how to evaluate them for quality.
• Theses and dissertations: scholars will publish these documents to complete masters or doctoral degrees. Often, the works cited lists found in them can be useful. Search in library catalogs (such as CLICnet, WorldCat, or the U of MN’s MNCAT catalog) for theses.
• Government documents: the Federal government publishes reports that may range from pamphlets to books. The U of M is a government depository, and you can search for print items on MNCAT. Other government publications can be found on the Web site of the government organization for that area. For example, for research about No Child Left Behind, go to the Department of Education (www.ed.gov) and look under ‘Policies.’

Librarians may be able to suggest and locate other sources to supplement what you have found on your own.

Be sure to ask for help!!

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