Research : How to Research

How to Research (Module 1 of 4)

Strong research skills are essential for academic success. Knowing how to search, where to search, and how to evaluate information will support you throughout your higher education career, and beyond.

Top Tips

Check your project requirements.Use your assignment to identify your research topic, and information requirements.
Keywords, synonyms, and related terms.Identify the main terms in your research topic and think of related words that may be used to describe the same thing so that you can do multiple searches.
Where should you be looking?Do you need an overview that an online encyclopedia would provide? In-depth research from an academic journal article? Knowing what you need to find will help you decide on the best places to look.
Evaluate your sources to make sure you can trust the information.You may need to evaluate the author’s credentials, currency of the information, as well as potential bias at play in the research you find.
Help is a click away.If you have any questions related to research or information in general, get in touch with your college library.