Article: The types of sources you'll use for your research depend on your grade level or education level. Generally, you can use short journal articles or webpages for a shorter paper. For a longer paper, you'll likely need to look at books and longer scholarly articles. While the requirements differ based on your assignment and the topic you're researching, you may find these guidelines helpful: 1- to 2-page paper: 2 to 3 webpages or short journal articles 3- to 5-page paper: 4 to 8 journal or scholarly articles, webpages, or books 5- to 10-page paper: 6 to 15 journal or scholarly articles, webpages, or books 10- to 15-page paper: 12 to 20 journal or scholarly articles, webpages, or books The success of your research depends on searching the right keywords, especially in its initial stages. Brainstorm a list of keywords, including synonyms. For example, if you're researching the prevalence of vaping among teenagers, you might also include "adolescents" and "youth" as synonyms for teenagers, along with "tobacco use" or "e-cigarettes" as synonyms for vaping. Take advantage of academic databases available online through your school in addition to the internet. The letters stand for Currency, Reliability, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose/Point of view. This method provides you an easy way to quickly and uniformly evaluate the quality of potential sources you find by asking specific questions about the source: Currency: How recent is the information? When was the source last updated? Reliability: Are there references for facts and data? Is the content mostly opinion? Authority: Who is the creator of the content? Who is the publisher? Are they biased in any way? Does the creator have academic credentials in the field? Accuracy: Has the content been peer-reviewed or edited by a third party? Is information supported by evidence? Can you easily verify facts in another source? Purpose/Point of view: Is the content intended to teach you something or to sell you something? Is the information presented biased? When you find a good source for your topic, chances are that source cites other valuable sources that you can look up. The biggest benefit of this is that you don't have to do as much work evaluating the quality of these sources the author of the source that cited them has already done that for you. If an author mentions a particular source more than once, you definitely want to read that material. The reference list typically contains enough information for you to find the source on your own. If you find that you can't access the source, for example, because it's behind a paywall, talk to your school or a public librarian about it. They may be able to get you access. Using a set of index cards enables you to place each note on a separate card, which will make it easier for you to organize your notes later. There are also computer apps, such as Evernote, Microsoft OneNote, or Scrivener, that will allow you to do this digitally. Some of these apps are free, while others require you to purchase a subscription. List the citation information for the source at the top of the card, then take notes in your own words. Include the page numbers (if applicable) that you would use in your citation. If you copy something directly from the source, put quote marks around those words and write the page number (if applicable) where that quote appears. You may also want to distinguish quotes even further, for example, by having quotes in a different color text than your own words. This will help protect you against accidental plagiarism.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Identify the types of sources you'll likely need. Use topical keywords to find your initial sources. Evaluate potential sources using the CRAAP method. Mine reference lists to find additional sources you can use. Take notes about each resource you find.