Basic Steps in the Research Process:

1. Select a topic

2. Select suitable search terms in the discipline of study

3. Search the literature of specific discipline of study

4. Select appropriate print and electronic resources
   

5. Evaluate the information retrieved

6. Give credit to your sources

When doing research in higher education students are usually required by their professors to use more advanced types of publications for their term papers and other projects. Advanced "magazines" are referred to as scholarly journals. In fact, some professors will be adamant about NOT using articles from "popular" magazines. For further information about this see Scholarly journals, popular magazines or newspapers.

Point One: Select a Topic

1. If not assigned a topic, get ideas from:

   • Textbooks;

   • Subject encyclopedias and other books:
     Books are a great source of information. Some books offer an overview of a topic, others give in-depth information. Many books provide a list, called a bibliography, of additional useful resources (other books, journal articles, videos, etc.) on the topic covered in the book. To find books and other materials in the Rockhurst Greenlease Library, use the online catalog.

   • Periodical Indexes:
     To find newspaper, magazine or journal articles on a subject you must use a periodical index or abstract. The term "periodical" means any publication that is published on some regular schedule, i.e., weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, etc. These include newspapers, general magazines, scholarly and professional journals. Each periodical index covers a subject area, i.e., business, social sciences, etc. Some periodical indexes cover specific areas of a subject, i.e., chemistry, nursing, etc.
     

2. Try to pick a topic that interests you.

3. Narrow your topic to make it manageable:

• You are not writing a book.

• You have limited reading time.

• Your professor wants specifics, not a summary

Point Two: Select suitable search terms in the discipline of study

1. All disciplines have unique vocabulary.

2. Sources which identify vocabulary:

   • Professors;

   • Subject-specific thesaurus;

   • Subject-specific dictionary or encyclopedia;

   • Library of Congress Subject Headings

Point Three: Search the literature of the discipline of study

1. Where does the most recent research appear, in books or journal articles?

2. How quickly does research become out of date?

3. Who are the experts in the field?

   • Ask your faculty member for names.

   • Look for authors who publish frequently on the topic.

Point Four: Select appropriate print and electronic resources for the discipline

1. Use a Research Guide from the Greenlease Library website to identify appropriate print and electronic research sources for your topic:
   

   • Subject-specific periodical indexes which identify scholarly journal articles;

   • Subject-specific dictionaries, encyclopedias, directories, handbooks to identify subject-specific vocabulary, facts and an overview of a subject;

   • Subject-specific bibliographies found through the Online catalog, to identify books and other materials in the library collection.

   • Government publications to identify publications and statistics from federal and state agencies.
     

2. Use the Electronic Resources Subject List to identify appropriate databases for your subject area.
   

3. Use the Internet Sources Subject List to identify quality web sites for your subject

Point Five: Evaluate the information retrieved

1. Is it scholarship or propaganda?
   

2. Nine criteria for evaluating resources:
   

   • Relevance

   • Reliability

   • Credibility

   • Validity

   • Perspective

   • Timeliness

   • References

   • Purpose

   • Intended Audience
     

3. Are the web sites you used based on reliable facts or just someone's personal opinion?

Point Six: Give credit to your sources

1. Copyright Issues
   

• Remember, you do not own the copyright on the sources you use, so you cannot just do what you want with the information from these sources. You must cite your sources.
  

2. Citation style
   

   • Cite the sources you used in your research, using MLA, APA or some other citation syle.