SLS 1106 Life Skills Collection: College Success

RESEARCH PROCESS IN 5 STEPS

1. Identify and develop your topic

• State your topic as a question: _______________________________
• What type of paper is it? Persuasive    Informative   Narrative    Other:_____
• Identify main concepts and develop a list of keywords from your topic statement :

_____________________________________________________

·Thesis statement: ______________________________________

2. Identify the search tools you will need to find information on your topic

• MDC Libraries Catalog for books, media, and other physical resources owned by the MDC Libraries
• MDC Library Databases that best suit your subject or topic: __________________
• Use specialized Google services such as Google Scholar to locate specialized reports and research materials on your topic: ________________________________________________________

3. Develop a list of keywords and concepts

• _________________________________________________________

4. Evaluate what you find

• Carefully look at author credentials, date of publication, editor and publisher to determine authority and credibility of source.
• Carefully examine the intended audience of the source to determine if it is the appropriate source for your needs.
• Examine the content for obvious errors, objectivity, support documentation, and coverage of topic.
• Understand the difference between scholarly journals, professional literature, and popular sources so you know how to use them

5. Manage what you find by using the appropriate citation format and/or citation manager and avoid plagiarism

• Understand how the basic elements of the format style such as MLA citation format (Purdue Owl)