ENGL 103 Research Guide

Here's a basic approach to creating a good search strategy to find sources for your research assignments.

1. (Re-)Define your information needs
2. (Re-)Define your topic
3. (Re-)Design your search strategy 
4. Access & retrieve information 
5. (Re-)Evaluate gathered information 

Think of the sources you're finding as pieces of evidence that support your argument.

Research writing is "recursive," meaning drafts can be opportunities to swap weaker sources for stronger ones, so this cycle can repeat as you get deeper into searching and refine your information sources.

Questions to consider in each of these stages: 

1. (Re-)Define your information needs
   What do you already know about the assignment requirements? What topic ideas do you have so far?
   Does my current idea fit all areas of the assignment?
2. (Re-)Define your topic
   What synonyms and related terms can you come up with? Keep track of what connections you find with a possible keyword list!
   Do you recognize any areas that are a bit weaker in your current understanding of the topic?
   What makes the most sense to include from now and what do you want to know more about?
3. (Re-)Design your search strategy 
   How much background information do you already have from sources?
   Are there specific kinds of sources your assignment requires? (Peer-reviewed journals, news articles, data points, etc.)
   Where can you find those sources? (Library databases, SURF, Open Access, etc.)
4. Access & retrieve information 
   Execute that search strategy, and update it as you go!
   Try different terms in searches across platforms and use critical reading skills to evaluate whether a source is relevant to your research.
   Save sources via permalink / stable link or through a citation management system like Zotero.
5. (Re-)Evaluate gathered information 
   Take time to review what you've found and read them more completely to confirm if these sources are the most suitable for your research assignment.
   You may find it good practice to save many sources and use this stage to decide what is most appropriate to use as your final sources.
   If you've decided on final sources, be sure they're properly cited per your professor's instructions!