You'll want to use at least two databases as you begin your searching for research articles. These tips will help you as you go.
- Pay attention to the language being used and incorporate the terms into your search. For instance, are they referring to a group as "children" or "youth"?
- Don't read the full article at first. Start with the Abstract, then move to the Conclusion, then to Methodology, and finally the Literature Review and full paper.
- Keep track of the articles you read in a Google Doc, Word Doc, or even a citation management tool like Zotero (video tutorial). The last thing you want is to recall a paper you read but not be able to find it again!
- After you read the article, write your own brief summary of the article, including who the researchers are, what demographic or other community they are studying, what data they collected, and what their results concluded. Finally, add a sentence or two on how the article relates to your topic area and the other articles you've read.
- As you find relevant articles, pay attention to how the researchers write their own Literature Review section and use that as a model.
- Also, pay attention to what other research the authors are citing, and which articles are citing them (video tutorial on this).