How to find information for your academic work, research project

In order to get a high grade in your assignments or project work or dissertation, it is important for you to find excellent quality information which is relevant, accurate, up to date and objective. Here’s how to find information for your research project or for other academic work such as assignments and projects.

What information to use?

The information that you will require for your assignments include facts, figures, images, ideas and arguments.

Where will you find the information?

You will find this information for your academic work through various sources such as books, e-books, journals, ejournals, internet sites and government reports.

Most universities have an online catalogue or database on various subject areas, where you can begin searching for the information you need.

Lecturers usually provide a recommended reading list which is a good starting point to collect relevant and good quality information.

The best place to start is the subject guide and the ‘Essential reading references’ where you can find lots of relevant and useful information for your research project.

Unless otherwise stated, all cross-references should be to the latest version of the subject guide.

You should always attempt to use the most recent edition of any Essential reading resources (textbooks), even if the commentary and/or online reading list and/or subject guide refers to an earlier edition.

You should also check in your virtual learning environment/moodle/study area for reading supplements.

How to search for information?

While searching for information yourself, use keywords or subject words that best describe the topic you are researching. There are several ways to identify keywords:

• Read your assignment title and pick out the keywords
• Identify the keywords from the titles of items on your reading list
• Think of synonyms (words with similar meanings), e.g. World Wide Web for the Internet.
• Consider alternative spellings and word endings, e.g. organisation / organization

Tips for Searching

• Think of a list of keywords before you search will ensure your search finds relevant information quickly. Also, databases work best with keywords; avoid entering the whole of your assignment question as it is likely to miss several useful keywords.
• If you find too few items, use more general keywords or just look for one keyword
• If you find too many items, try using more or more specific keywords
• Be methodical about recording your searching. Keeping a note of which keywords you have used will help avoid duplication.
• You can search on author as well; when doing an author search just use the surname don’t worry about the initials.
• Search based on titles of titles of books and journal articles from your reading list.
• Check if your professor has asked you to use recent resources. Does the date of the information matter or do you only want information from journals?

References

You need to cite resources properly. You can go through the referencing guides.