The below tips and resources are designed to help guide you through the steps of the research process. The information found below will assist you in gathering, organizing and presenting your information. Click the links to view. Good luck on your research project!
- Research Tips from College Students - Take It From Us! - Videos developed by college students to help you do a successful research project from Kent State.
- Evaluation Checklist for Research Projects - A list that will help you organize your project and also make sure your have completed all the steps to make yours an 'A' effort.
- What is the Next Step after Choosing my Topic? - Make your research run more smoothly by using tips from this page including brainstorming key words, finding background information, using sources more effectively, refining your topic, using boolean search terms, and broadening or narrowing your search.
- Selecting Resources - Information Timeline - Considering your topic, will you need recent information, or will older information work? Here is a timeline to help you determine which sources will work best for your topic.
- Print Source Evaluation Sheet - Not every author knows what s/he is talking about. There are always people who simply want to make a profit. Here is a easy way to help you decide if a source is valid and worth your time.
- Website Evaluation Sheet - Anyone anywhere can post something to the web. However, not everyone knows what they are talking about or necessarily knows how to clearly convey a message. Of course there are always people who simply want to make a profit. Here's an easy way to decide if a website is valid and worth your time.
- Am I Plagiarising? - A general quide to understanding written plagiarism.
- Purdue OWL Guide to Citing Sources - Use this as a basic guide to create your 'Works Cited' page or use an online citation tool of your choice such as EasyBib or NoodleTools.
- EasyBibEDU - One stop shopping for all your citation needs!
- Overview of MLA8 - Citation rules have change. Here is a summary of the latest rulebook.
- Sample Works Cited Page - An example of what your correctly formatted 'Works Cited' page should look like from Purdue OWL
- Parenthetical/In-text Citations - Instructions for correctly constructing parenthetical/in-text citations from Purdue OWL.
- Research HOW TO VIDEOS from EasyBib - Thirty-three quick little videos that cover almost any aspect of conducting research you could ask about. Have a question? Here is a great place to find an easy-to-follow answer.
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What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is use of another person’s work or ideas without acknowledging the author whether the work is published or unpublished, professional or amateur, graphic or digital. If another’s words, phrases, ideas, opinions, designs, or facts are used, credit must be given. When words and ideas are noted, the source should be clearly indicated to enable researchers to differentiate their own thoughts from others.
Plagiarism is theft of intellectual property and is a serious offense. In the corporate world such thefts are prosecuted, in the publishing world plagiarism can damage or end a career, and in the academic world it can result in the loss of a grade, dismissal from class, or even more serious penalties. A good way to understand plagiarism is to identify with someone who owns intellectual property. Imagine a situation where you have written a story, poem, song lyrics, or computer program and someone else claims it as their work by using it without asking permission or by selling it for profit. You would feel you deserved credit and compensation if the idea had been sold.
Bankhead, Betty. Write It! A Guide for Research. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1999.
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Sources used for this web page:
Winningham, Marley J., (2009), "Location and Access: Evaluate Sources Early and Often." Big 6 Newsletter, 10.1.1. www.big6.com
Eisenberg, Michael B. and Robert E. Berkowitz. Teaching Information & Technology Skills: The Big6 in Secondary Schools. Worthington, Ohio: Linworth Publishing, Inc. 1990, 186-187.
Sample Works Cited page example adapted from Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2003 (312).
How to Recognize Plagiarism, Indiana University Bloomington's School of Education, 2005. Web. <https://www.indiana.edu-istd/overview.html>.
