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Research Tool Box

Librarians are available to help with your research!

Librarians help student find and evaluate appropriate resources and prepare citations for articles, books, websites, statistics, and more. Ask a Librarian for a helping hand with any part of the research process.

Want to get started on your own? For guidance through the research process, check out the following tutorial links.

The Research Skills Glossary below will help you with key terms and definitions. 

 

How do I?
Try one of these:
Learn about the research process
  • Lay out the research process

Research is Like Cooking

Research Strategy Chart

  • Do background research on my topic

Doing Background Research 

Learn about research questions
  • Select a research topic

Mind Mapping Your Topic

Picking Your Topic Is Research

  • Create a thesis statement

Thesis Statements (Purdue Owl)

Writing a Persuasive or Argumentative Thesis

  • Identify keywords

From Question to Keyword

Learn about scholarly and popular sources
  • Tell the difference

Anatomy of a Research Article

How to read a scholarly journal article

  • Understand peer review

Peer Review in three Minutes

Learn about primary and secondary sources
  • Tell the difference between the two

What is a primary source?

  • Identify a primary source

Where to Find Primary Sources

Learn about information and Information Literacy
  • Understand the importance of Information literacy 

Information Literacy: Why Is It Important

Information Literacy: What is it?

5 Tips to Improve Your Critical Thinking Skills

  • Understand a variety of sources

Information Cycle

Information Timeline

Know Your Sources Infographic

Learn about search techniques and strategies
  • Search library databases
What are library databases?
  • Search effectively
Online Research
  • Search smarter
Open Web Search Tips
Learn about evaluating sources
  • Check for credibility
Evaluating Sources for Credibility
  • Check for bias
Identifying Bias
  • Evaluate your sources
Using the SIFT method
Learn about citing sources
 
  • Know when to cite and why
Citation: A Brief Introduction
Learn about writing research papers
 
  • Synthesize information
Synthesizing Information
  • Write a research paper
Steps for Writing a Research Paper
Learn about academic integrity, plagiarism, and copyright
  • Avoid plagiarizing
Plagiarism
  • Understand copyright and fair use
Copyright and Fair Use
  • Understand academic integrity
What is Academic Integrity?