Choose a topic that interests you and will hold your attention. If you do, the research will be more enjoyable! For ideas, you can use a reference article from the Find background info page. Or you might take look at one of the books or eBooks on that Find books page. You could get an idea for a topic almost anywhere: an article, a blog. But for a scholarly paper, you probably want to start with a scholarly source like a scholarly encyclopedia or a monograph.
Use both methods for the best results
Begin with a keyword search.
Browse the results and look at the full record of an especially appropriate article.
Scroll down to the subject headings/descriptors.
Click on the best subject heading/descriptor link.
Write down other listed subject terms and continue searching with those terms.
Before selecting a topic or starting your research, make sure you understand your assignment and its requirements. Consider the following:
When in doubt, consult with your instructor.
They call it "research" because it requires persistence and flexibility -- search and search again.
Try both keyword and subject searching.
Narrow a search by using subject headings. Locate subject headings by looking at the descriptors associated with pertinent articles and books.
Try these tips to narrow your search.
Try synonyms (AIDS or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). Can't think of any synonyms? Try an online thesaurus. Try these tips to expand your search.
Try both singular and plural forms of words. Use an "*" in Academic Search Premier to get a variety of word endings.
If searching a compound word, try it as one word and as two words (for example, rain forest and rainforest).
If searching a word with an internal dash, search it in each database with and without the internal dash (for example, search both x-ray and xray).
Free text, natural language or keyword searches are used with computerized databases and search engines.
Advantages
+ Excellent for new concepts or terminology
+ Will retrieve lots of results
Disadvantages
- Must think of all other synonyms
- Results will often not be about your topic (your term was only mentioned in the article)
Controlled vocabulary, descriptors, index terms or subject headings are used in computerized databases. Articles are analyzed and the content is matched to a limited number of specified terms.
Advantages
+ Results will be about your topic
+ No need to think of other synonyms
Disadvantages
- If you don’t use the correct term, you could miss some or all pertinent information