Take some time to make sure that you understand your assignment question.
It can be helpful to highlight the keywords in the question and to think about the wider concepts that are relevant to the topic. These keywords and concepts will help you search for information.
Sample question
Make a list of alternative words/concepts to use in your search:
| concept 1 | concept 2 | concept 3 |
| computer games | gender | age |
| online games | sex differences | children/young adults/teens/youth/adolescents |
| gaming | male / female | social aspects |
| video games | boys / girls | psychological aspects |
Tip : You might start your MultiSearch search combining two terms such as: Gender AND "online games"
Note that the AND in capitals will connect the concepts in the search results. The inverted comma's will search for "online games" as a phrase.
In academic publishing, the goal of peer review is to assess the quality of articles submitted for publication in a scholarly journal. Before an article is deemed appropriate to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, it must undergo the following process:
Because a peer-reviewed journal will not publish articles that fail to meet the standards established for a given discipline, peer-reviewed articles that are accepted for publication exemplify the best research practices in a field.
Courtesy Lloyd Sealy Library, USA.
The easiest and fastest way to find peer-reviewed articles is to search the online library databases, many of which include peer-reviewed journals.
Hans Weingartz Leonce49
"Primary sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. Often these sources are created at the time when the events or conditions are occurring, but primary sources can also include autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories recorded later."
- Yale University, Primary Sources at Yale 2008
Primary sources can include:
A quick guide to using Primary sources from the DoHistory website.
Secondary sources comment on, describe, discuss, analyse, and interpret primary sources of information. For this reason, they are usually created after the event or time period recorded by the primary sources they use. Examples include;
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Tertiary sources are similar to secondary sources in that they both interpret primary sources of information. Tertiary sources, however, are usually condensed summaries and are useful as general reference material, offering definitions and overviews when you are starting on your research. Examples include;
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
OERs are free and accessible online teaching and learning resources.
OERs, are educational materials which are licensed in ways that provide permissions for individuals and institutions to re-use, adapt and modify the materials for their own use. OERs can, and do include full courses, textbooks, streaming videos, exams, software, and any other materials or techniques supporting learning.
You can read more detailed information on our OER libguide.
Sometimes you may be asked to come up with your own research question to write about. It can be daunting to try and think of a topic that is original and interesting. Generating Ideas is a short module which will give you some good pointers to get you started with thinking creatively around a topic. Just log in to iLearn to get started.
Ask Yourself:
How recent?
Do you need current information, a historical overview or a combination of both?
What type of sources?
You might think differently about your topic once you start researching it. This is normal. Just redefine your topic as you go and adjust your search strategies.
