10-Steps to Research Success

1.) Review research paper requirements

• Note intended audience, purpose, length, citation style, resources permitted, and other guidelines in description of research paper assignment.

2.) Identify broad topics of interest.

• Ideas from textbook table-of-contents, ebrary/books on operations management, reliable websites, journal/trade publications, or click on the Wordle shown below.

 

3.) Determine keywords

• Keep a list of potential keywords to help in future searches.

4.) Expand keyword list

• Use synonyms, thesaurus, ideas from peers/instructor, and words from relevant articles.

5.) Identify Funderburg Library databases

• EBSCOhost's Academic Search Premier, Business Search Premier, Corporate ResourceNet.
• First Research, Google Scholar, Hoover's, JSTOR, Lexis Nexis.

6.) Search databases using keywords

• Start with only 1 or 2 keywords and then add other words to narrow results.
• Mix-and-match words from keyword list created earlier.
• Use EBSCOhost's "Search History" to track of keywords and search results.

7.) Browse search results for relevant articles

• Scan for topic of interest, recurring themes, and a sufficient number of articles.

8.) Begin to narrow topic and save potential articles

• Use database tools to narrow results by date, fulltext, subjects, etc.
• In EBSCOhost databases, make use of Folders to save potential articles.
• Use email feature in JSTOR and Lexis Nexis.

9.) Do additional searches with different keyword combinations

• Do not hesitate to Text-a-Librarian (260) 232-2755 for advice.

10.) Narrow topic for thesis statement based on search results

• Get feedback from instructor on thesis statement ideas.
• For more advice, consult with librarian (jslichtsinn@manchester.edu; x5015).

 

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