STEP 1 - State your research question
- Use a Venn Diagram (or other method) to map out your topic
- Choose a topic that is appropriate to the scope of your research
- Think of your professional / academic / personal interests
- Find gaps in the existing literature
STEP 2 - Choose Keywords for Search
- Identify your key ideas and other ways to phrase them
- Identify broader, narrower, and related terms
- Look in encyclopedias and handbooks
- Find gaps in the existing research
STEP 3 - Choose databases
- Consider subject specific databases (like APA PsychINFO)
- Or mutli-disciplinary databases (like Academic Search Complete)
- Consider what subjects you are researching
- Consider filter options for databases
- If you aren't getting results in one database, try another
STEP 4 - Locate Sources
- Use databases' subject headings (like MeSH)
- Refine your topic based on search results
- Use the bibliographies on relevant sources to find other articles
STEP 5 - Expand / narrow search
- If you are finding too many sources, try narrowing your search
- If you are finding no sources, try expanding your search
- You don't need to change your research topic, just the scope of your search
STEP 6 - Record Citations
- Keep track of the articles you found
- Write down the keywords you used
- Use citation management tools
- Follow APA guidelines
- Determine if the articles you have found are relevant to your work
- Use your sources critically, and evaluate them
