CONDUCTING RESEARCH ONLINE

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHILE RESEARCHING: Before you start, it's a good idea to check your assignment outline for the kind of sources your professor is looking for. If it's not specified, then anything relatively reliable is okay. If they say only 'scholarly,' 'peer-reviewed,' or 'academic' anywhere in their source requirements, then your search needs to be much more specific.

WHAT IS A PEER-REVIEWED/ACADEMIC/SCHOLARLY SOURCE?: if your professor asks for these kinds of sources specifically, then the linked library resources below will be especially useful! First of all, all of the terms listed above are referring to the same kind of source, so I will call them peer-reviewed out of convenience. Secondly, a peer-reviewed source is exactly what it sounds like: it's a source that has been reviewed by the author's peers. Basically what happens is a scholar writes an article, based on research, and submits it to an academic journal. If this journal wants to publish the author's writing, they anonymously send it out to other scholars who are experts in the field who edit it and send it back to the author. This process happens until all parties are satisfied with the article's accuracy. So, when a professor asks for a peer-reviewed article, they are asking for the pinnacle of academic research, accuracy, and credibility.

HOW TO FIND A PEER-REVIEWED SOURCE: a lot of people hear 'scholarly' and automatically jump onto Google Scholar. I get it; the urge is strong! But refrain. Google Scholar is tricky or inexperienced researchers because it doesn't indicate if a source is peer-reviewed or not, but online university libraries will! Once you access your library's advanced search option, select 'peer-reviewed' and 'articles' as two filters. Then, everything that the database pulls up will be peer-reviewed sources that are usually accessed through academic journals.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ARTICLES AND JOURNALS?: this can be another really confusing piece of jargon that can make communicating within your essay and to professors/peers difficult. An academic journal is kind of like a scholarly magazine. It is published monthly/annually etc (varies depending on the journal) It has a name like Journal of English Literature and is always written about in italics. The articles are shorter pieces within the journal (like book chapters). These articles are submitted by a range of scholars, and selected based on a common theme outlined by the journal. The articles are the things that you will refer to in your papers; usually, the journals are only cited within your bibliography. The article titles are always written about in "double quotation marks."

USING WIKIPEDIA AS A SOURCE (OR OTHER THINGS LIKE IT): to use or not to use, that is the question. If you're new to a topic and need a place to jump off, I recommend using it! There's nothing wrong with grounding yourself in the topic before you jump down the rabbit hole of academic research. While you're reading through those less-credible sources, take note of keywords, dates, occurrences, people, and concepts that you think are relevant; these can then become keywords that you input into your online library's advanced search option.

Ontario Universities' Libraries

Online libraries are a great resource for conducting reliable research for essays. Linked below are the online databases provided by each Ontario university.

HOW THEY WORK: to access each library, you need to have a log in associated with said institution. If you're signed into that school's wifi, you will be able to access it without manually signing in. If you're accessing from home, you'll need to sign in. Once you sign in, you can use the advanced search setting to search keywords for your topic and filter the kind of source you're looking for.

University of Toronto

Western University

York University

University of Waterloo

University of Windsor

Carleton University

Wilfrid Laurier University

HOW TO TAKE EFFECTIVE NOTES WHILE RESEARCHING:

1. ORGANIZE - regardless of how or where you take notes, the most important first step is organizing your information in a way that will be easy for you to navigate in the future (even if that future is only in two hours because you procrastinated writing). Every time you open a new source, start a new section in your notes and title it with the author and title of the source. This way, when you go back to them, you know how to cite all of your information.

2. PAGE NUMBERS - If you're working with a source that is paginated (uses page numbers), indicate the page number every time you write down a point beside that point. This will allow you to a) complete in-text citations accurately b) reference back to that page if your notes prove to be insufficient.

3. PARAPHRASING - Whenever you take notes, paraphrase/summarize the information you're recording in your own words. This will help you avoid plagiarism. If you end up writing something down word-for-word from your source, indicate that in your notes right away. This way, if you use that information in your essay, you will be able to either paraphrase then or include it as a direct quotation.

4. ISOLATING ARGUMENTS - Peer-reviewed sources are great for this because you're able to use the article's abstract or introduction paragraph as a guide to isolate the author's main points/argument. Even if you don't think this information will apply directly to what you're writing about, recording it can ensure that you don't misquote the author, and you're aware of where they're coming from.

5. RECORD STATISTICS - Avoid only referring to statistics in your notes, thinking that you can revisit the article later. This will end up becoming a lot more tedious than you think. Just record them while you're there.

6. CITE IMMEDIATELY - Once you start taking notes from a source, generate a citation immediately. This can then be pasted in the document you plan to write in. You can also write out the in-text citation in your notes so that you don't need to think about it later. If you format your bibliography as you go, you'll be less likely to make mistakes because it won't be rushed at the end when you're just a) so over that paper b) struggling to make a deadline.

7. TAKE NOTES BY HAND - I know professors will preach taking all notes by hand and it's old news by now, but I'm going to recommend it anyway. Taking notes by hand is a great way to force yourself to use your words economically. What I mean by this is, you'll be less likely to regurgitate information from the source in bulk because it's so much more work to handwrite than type. It also allows you to have your source open and your paper beside you, rather than constantly switching between documents. Handwriting will also force to you read more carefully and process the information you're noting.

8. DON'T COPY AND PASTE - If you disagree with point 7 and think there is absolutely NO WAY you're going to write down all of that research by hand, then at the very least, avoid copying and pasting. If you simply copy and paste you a) risk paraphrasing inaccurately b) risk barely reading the source.