• Need help with planning? Use the Assignment Planner to create a suggested timeline for each step of your assignment
• Do some background reading using things like Google, Wikipedia, and books from the library catalogue so you understand your topic
• Check out the list of key resources for your subject area

Step 1: Brainstorm keywords that represent aspects of your topic.

Step 2: Select appropriate databases for your research topic.

Step 3: Build your search using search terms and Boolean operators. 

Step 4: Review your results. 

Step 5: Evaluate the quality of your sources.

Step 6: Get the full-text of relevant articles.

While doing your research, it's a good idea to look in more than one place for your articles. Why, you may ask?

• Databases contain different content: You may notice some overlap between the search results of different databases (for example, Web of Science and Scopus); however, each database also contains unique results. By searching one and not the other, you a) risk missing out on valuable information, and b) bias your search by excluding relevant materials.
   
• Databases operate differently: Not all databases search the same way, and so you may need to tweak your search strategy to match the requirements of a specific database. Check out the database-specific search pages in the left menu for general tips and tricks when designing a search.