Here they are - some tips and tricks from the research professionals - your Framingham State University Reference Librarians!  

All will help you complete your research quickly and effectively.  Of all tips, if you only follow one, talk to the Reference Librarians - the most important tip of all!

Take some simple steps to save yourself time researching.

• Keep a simple research journal

Whether you take screen shots, copy and paste to a Word document, or use another method, keep track of which databases you have used.  As well as which search terms.  You can add notes and thoughts about the materials here as well.  All will help when you are organizing and getting ready to write your paper.

• Develop a system to organize material located

Set up an electronic folder or document, a paper folder, an email folder, Zotero folder or anything which works for you to keep all the article or other sources you uncover in your research.  Even if you are not sure you will use a source, keep track of it.

• Be mindful of dates on sources

How old is too old?  Depends on your topic, but be aware of the publication dates of the material you locate.

• Have a stop date for research

Make sure you leave time after you research to organize the materials you have located, read the materials and write the paper.

Save time and effort with this simple step. Use citation management software, such as RefWorks or Zotero, to keep a running bibliography.  Add sources to your bibliography as you locate and use them.  Then, when your research paper is complete, you have already compiled a bibliography.  

Once you locate an article, read it.  Check those footnotes, endnotes and bibliographies.  These can be a fantastic source of additional materials on your topic. Plus, the author of the article has already vetted these sources.  When using an article database, look at the subjects assigned to the article.  You can easily link to more articles on the same subject with a click.  Take advantage of this easy shortcut to more articles.

Adding limits can help you focus your search, but be cautious when limiting your search results. 

• Full-text: If you limit to full-text you may miss out on key papers. Additionally just because the full text isn't available in CINAHL doesn't mean the library doesn't have access to it through a different resource. If you are running a comprehensive search for an integrative review, do NOT limit your search to full-text only. 
• Date: For some projects, you may want only recent research. For comprehensive projects, like an integrative review, understanding the full historical context of your topic is important, and by limiting your search by date you may miss critical early research.

Remember, you can always exclude papers as you refine your search, but if you limit and exclude results, you cannot add them back into your search unless you start over.

No, Google is not going to be where you find the reliable scholarly sources you need.  But it can be very a very useful tool on your way to those scholarly articles.  Use Google (or another search engine, Wikipedia, etc.) to:

• find synonyms for your search terms
• locate names of prominent authors in your area of inquiry
• check spelling of specific search terms
• read background information on your topic, to get up to speed before doing a deep dive 
• find and refine your research topic

Humans are here to help!  

• Contact the Library Reference staff.  
• Talk to your professors.  
• Confer with classmates.

Please stop by and talk to a reference librarian early in your research.  Come get some expert research advice from the Reference Librarians BEFORE you get frustrated.  Additionally, Reference Librarians can help you track down articles not available online through Inter Library Loan (ILL).  ILL articles can take a week or more to arrive at FSU. So, stop by the reference desk, call (508-626-4654) or email.  Don't wait - get your free consultation with the FSU research experts.