STEP 1:
Get access to the Alkek Library electronically. Click access
to find out how.
STEP 2: Begin your
search in Research Overviews. You can find these at Alkek Library. These give
you the terminology, major researchers, and major issues that have been already
found on your topic. These also help you form better search strategies.
- A useful Online Research Overview is ERIC Digests:
- Click on Search ERIC
- Enter your search term into the Keywords area
- Under Publication type select ERIC Digest
STEP 3: Once you understand the topic through the Research Overviews, some of the terminology, the major researchers, and the major issues, the next step is to find specific primary research articles on your topic. To look for primary sources, follow these steps:
- When logging in from off-campus, you will have to enter your NetID and password the first time you access the Electronic Databases;
- Click on the Choose Databases near the top of the screen;
- I have found selecting All databases is the best solution. It generates some duplicates, but finds many sources.
- Next, click on the Sign In link at the top. Logging into EBSCO will allow you to Save your searches, create Persistent Links to Searches, create RSS feeds for your searches through Search Alerts, and export your searches.
- The first time, click on I'm a new user link to create a Username and a Password (your NetID and password can be used if you don't want to remember more than one)
- Enter your search term into the Keywords areas making sure you add "research" and/or "study" and limit by grade level
- click on the title if you know the title of an article, etc.
- When the research studies appear, click on the hyperlink to view the abstract of the study
- Select those that seem to be research reviews rather than individual studies by clicking on the "Add to Folder" button at the end
- Also, download the article if it is avaiable by clicking on the "PDF Full Text"
- When you have finished reading the abstracts and saving to the folder, you will want to print, email, or save these sources within this folder. To do so:
- Click on the "Folder" tab next to where you signed in;
- Click on the Select: All link at the top of the list to select all sources
- You can print these sources if you are connected to a printer
- You can also e-mail these citations to yourself, if you are on an alternate computer. Simply, click on the E-mail icon at the top of the list of saved citations
- In the new window, enter your e-mail address, subject, and comments
- Click on the Citation Format popup list to the right and select APA (American Psychological Association)
- Note, the references will appear with almost correct APA formatting (more or less; check the APA manual Sec. 4.1.5, p. 231)
- Also, make sure all the boxes are checked except Remove these items from folder after e-mailing as you might want to return
HTML Full Text (when available)
- PDF as separate attachment (when available)
- Current Search History
- To send, click on the Send button
- Click on the Export icon at the top of the list of saved citations and see Step 4
- A new window will appear
- DO NOT select the box Remove these items from folder after saving
- If it isn't already selected, click on Direct Export to EndNote, ProCite, or Reference Manager
- To save, follow the instructions at the top (if you are using FireFox or Safari browsers as was recommended, the steps are close)
- a new window will appear with a file named "delivery"
- Save the file.
STEP 4: As you
gather your resources, enter them into a bibliographic database. I have found
EndNote to be particularly useful. Another more pragmatic and free for you as long as you are a Texas State student is RefWorks.
Others for you are users are NoodleBib, BiblioExpress, and RamRef or many more at Personal Bibliography Software.
- To export these records to your bibliographic database, follow these instructions as they are specific to which bibliographic database you are using:
- For RefWorks, follow these instructions:
- Open RefWorks in a new window and open the Last Imported folder
- Return to your saved folder in ERIC EBSCO
- Click on the Export icon to the right
- A new window will appear
- DO NOT select the box Remove these items from folder after saving
- Click on the Direct Export to RefWorks
- Remember, if you import these citations into your Last Imported folder it it will erase the others you have in there.
- The citations will be imported into your Last Imported folder but will have to be cleaned up (particularly the URL and the descriptors to represent what you understand it to be).
Click on the Edit button in the upper right hand corner to clean up
- Move to the appropriate folder
- For EndNote, follow these instructions:
- Click on the Export icon to the right
- A new window will appear
- DO NOT select the box Remove these items from folder after saving
- Click on the Direct Export to EndNote, ProCite, or Reference Manager
- A file will be saved where you are prompted named delivery
- Save that file to your desktop, so you can find it.
- Open your EndNote program and
- Select Import from the File menu
- When the new window appears, change
- the popup menu for Import Options: Reference Manager (RIS),
- the popup menu for Duplicates: Import all
- the popup menu for Text Translation: No Translation
- navigate around to find the delivery file you just saved above
- click on the Import button
- The citations will be imported but will have to be cleaned up (particularly the URL and the descriptors to represent what you understand it to be)
- Similar procedures should be followed for other bibliographic databases
STEP 5: Next, determine if some of these articles are full-text articles saving you a trip
to the library. While there are many full-text articles online, caution is warranted.
- Databases/indices like EBSCO and WILSON are incomplete providing only a few full-text references when considering all the possible sources. EBSCO, WILSON, etc. databases are commercial companies who are attempting to get copyright permission,
then scanning in the article, then making it available on their list. This
a slow process and they have only received permission and scanned some of
the research.
- Limiting your research to only full-text, online articles will give you a biased, shallow view of the research literature and will disappoint your professor thus reducing your grade. So, they are a good place to start, but only to start.
STEP 6: After you
found abstracts of primary sources in Step 3, but did not find the full-text version of the article in Step 5,
next you should check the Online
Catalog to see if Texas State subscribes to the journal. If not, check the
closest research university near you:
- Look up the title to confirm
that Texas State or other research libraries have the volume and issue you need. If
not, and it is important, consider Inter-library loan (ILLIAD) though realize that it can take
up to 3 weeks to get your article.
STEP 7: Once you
find useful articles that begin to answer your research question, look at
their bibliography or reference list at the end of the article. It can be
a well-spring of additional resources you will be able to use in your paper.
Those cited often in the various articles you read ought to be cited in your paper
as well!!!
STEP 8: Cite the references following the bibliographic style you are expected to use. In education, most require APA 5th (American Psychological Association). Here are some explanations of APA style:
Texas State Alkek Library Writing Style Guides
Sample formats for book, journal, chapters in edited books, conference papers, in-text citing, reference list
Monash University:
Sample formats for book, journal, chapters in edited books, conference papers, in-text citing, reference list
Purdue OWL
Nice collection of how to use APA including General Format, Referring to the Works of Others in Your Text; Your Reference List; Examples; Notes ; Additional Resources
University of Minnesota APA 5th Crib Sheet
Examples of each type of reference
APA Citations for New Literacies
Examples of each references for blogs, wikis, video, TV shows, etc.