Research requires selecting credible sources for conducting a literature review and for providing a balanced account of previous studies. Incorporating previous studies lends credibility to the research and reflects academic honesty and scholarship. But selecting credible sources is not an easy task for novice researchers. The Internet is fraught with information overload, and students often cite untrustworthy sources and make wrong interpretations. It is essential to select the best Research resources for adding substance and credibility to the research. This article will provide tips for selecting the best Research resources for your dissertation.
How should you select the Research resources?
Step 1: Identify the relevant sources using keywords
First, it is important to identify the relevant research sources directly related to your research. You can do this by doing preliminary research over the Internet. You must use keywords that are reflective of your research topic. Relevant sources must be identified using the keyword search on Google Scholar. You can also use Semantic Scholar; however, many researchers prefer to use Google Scholar to find Research resources.
Enter the relevant keywords in the search bar, and the search results will yield the relevant sources. You can set a parameter to narrow down the scope of your research by selecting the relevance according to the time and year of publication. It helps you identify the latest studies and aids in identifying the contemporary debates and issues in your field. Download all the sources to your computer in a separate folder and name them according to their relevance. You can also make an excel sheet and enter the names of the sources to rank them according to their relevance.
Step 2: Trace the sources from one research paper
It usually happens that a single research paper is directly relevant to the research topic. Researchers can use the model research paper to trace the relevant sources. You can go to the references section of the research paper and note down the sources that are relevant to your research. Several computer tools help you find relevant sources by plugging in the model research paper. The search algorithm of these programs maps the sources relevant to the study topic. It helps you track sources easily, thus saving time and fatigue of searching manually for the sources.
Step 3: Use Credible Search Engines and Databases
It is important to use credible search engines and databases to find and choose the Research resources. You can use the following search engines and databases to find credible sources:
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is the most preferred search engine to find relevant Research resources. The search engine contains millions of research papers collected from several research databases. It helps you find relevant research articles and papers that are credible. Sometimes Google Scholar does not provide complete access to the research paper. Many research papers require a paid subscription to access the complete text of the research paper. In such a scenario, you can use the following search engines to access the full research papers:
Sci-Hub
SciHub is a very helpful source for accessing full-text research papers and is completely free. You must copy the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and paste it into the search bar to retrieve the relevant Research resources. You do not have to pay anything. It is completely free and easy to use.
LibGen
In some cases, Scihub does not contain some research papers in its database. In this case, you can use libgen to access and retrieve the relevant research papers. Libgen is an awesome tool that makes the job of researchers easier and helps them access and download the latest books and research papers for free. Libgen does not require any paid subscriptions, and all you have to do is to enter the relevant keywords in the search bar and access the relevant books and articles. You can also use the advanced feature of Libgen to narrow down the scope of your search and find relevant sources.
Mendeley
Mendeley helps you find the relevant Research resources quickly and helps you even cite the sources automatically in the desired format, such as APA, MLA, Harvard and Chicago. You can install the Mendeley plug-in for MS Word and integrate it for efficient use. You can do the literature search by entering the keywords, and Mendeley will help you find the relevant sources. Unfortunately, the new version of Mendeley is a paid version, but if you can find the old free version on the Internet, your job will become quite easy.
Step 4: Read the Abstract
The most important step in choosing relevant research sources for your dissertation is to read the abstract. An abstract is a synopsis of the entire research in which the author states the topic, rationale, research problem, methodology, findings, interpretations and recommendations in 250-300 words. A quick reading of the abstract helps you determine the relevance of the research paper to your research. It is imperative to read the abstract first to select the most relevant sources for your research. It saves time and helps you identify and select as many sources as possible for your research. Expert researchers employ smart strategies for identifying and choosing Research resources. They do not waste time reading the entire research paper; therefore, if you do not have enough time to find the best research sources, you can always get help from expert researchers at Dissertation Writing Service.
Step 5: Evaluate the Sources
Once you identify the sources, the next step is to evaluate the sources and assess their credibility. You must examine the sources thoroughly and look out for any red flags. First of all, it is important to check the author’s credibility and to do that; you can check the author’s affiliations, research credibility and years of experience. Also, it is important to see whether the research was published in a reputable or ordinary journal. Research published in reputable journals is scrutinized thoroughly through a peer-review process, and if the research is authentic, it gets permission to be published and disseminated. Moreover, you must check the citation count of the research paper and the higher the citation count, the more credible it is.
Conclusion
Choosing the best research resources requires using authentic search engines and databases for receiving research papers. It requires employing smart strategies and determining the relevance of the research by just reading the abstract. Evaluation of the sources is imperative for selecting authentic sources for your dissertation.
