Choosing Your Topic

Identify Your Topic

Selecting a topic is the first step. If the choice is up to you, pick a topic that interests you. Do some preliminary background research by consulting subject encyclopedias, dictionaries or handbooks. These resources will help you focus your topic. You can also check appropriate current periodicals or browse shelves of books classed in subject areas to get ideas on research topics.

Develop Your Topic

Once you have identified your topic,

• State the topic in the form of a specific statement or question.

• Identify the main concepts, terms and keywords that describe your topic.

• Start making a list of words to describe your topic. Use dictionaries and thesauri to define other terms to build a useful list of terms. These terms will become the keywords for searching catalogues, indexes, and databases for information about your subject.

The next step once you have decided on a topic is to see what has already been written. Information is published in different types of resources - books, journals, newspapers, the web, government documents, etc. You need to be aware of the type and source of information you gather and who the intended audience is.

Resources you might consider besides books and articles:

Finding Background Information

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

A good way to begin research is to look at information sources that give you basic or a broad overview of a topic. The most common information sources are encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographical dictionaries and almanacs.

Refer to encyclopedias for an overview of a topic and for suggestions of additional sources to check for information. Stauffer Library has various general encyclopedias in the AE13 call number area.

Apart from the many print encyclopedias in the Library, we provide numerous electronic encyclopedias. For example, you can consult the Encyclopedia Britannica and the Canadian Encyclopedia online.

Encyclopedias may be general or subject-specific encyclopedias, which provide more detailed, scholarly articles with more comprehensive bibliographies.

To locate encyclopedias for specific subjects, do a subject heading search in QCAT for your subject followed by the word "encyclopedias" or the older subject heading "dictionaries".

Another method is to try a keyword search in QCAT:

  Keyword Search: (encyclopedias or dictionaries) and medieval [your topic]
  Keyword Search: (encyclopedias or dictionaries) and women
  Keyword Search: (encyclopedias or dictionaries) and "world war II"
  [quotations for phrases]

Check dictionaries, both general and subject-specific to familiarize yourself with unfamiliar terminology. Sometimes these dictionaries will also have bibliographical references.

For an overview of someone's life and career, check biographical dictionaries, which can either present just the bare facts of someone's life or present a more detailed portrayal with bibliographical references.

See the Biographical Resources guide for more detailed resources.

Bibliographies

Note any relevant citations to books, articles and other information in the bibliographies found at the end of encyclopedia articles or dictionary entries.

You should also check to see if there is a subject bibliography on your topic by searching QCAT the library catalogue. To locate bibliographies for specific subjects, do a subject-heading search in QCAT for your subject, followed by the word "bibliography".

World War, 1914-1918 Bibliography

To see if there is a subject guide to information resources in your discipline, check Resources by Subject on the main Library web page and then click on the desired subject guide. For bibliographies listed by country check out the Bibliographies by Country guide.

Finding Books

Basic QCAT Help

Advanced QCAT Help

Finding Books Handout (pdf)

QCAT is the Queen's University Library's online catalogue. It is a searchable database that lists materials found in the six libraries.

Search QCAT to find books (as well as journals, videos, newspapers, government documents, etc.) on your topic in the Queen's University libraries. For help searching our library catalogue, go to our QCAT guides.

You can search QCAT in several different ways: by author, title, subject heading, and keyword.

To find books on a topic (when you do not have an author or title), you can either do a subject search (you will need to know what the Library of congress subject heading is if you do this type of search) or a keyword Boolean search (our recommendation).

After performing your search and retrieving some materials, click on desired titles. You will be presented with a brief record. Click on Full Details to see more information. Subject headings will provide another search method and give ideas for other keyword searches.

Write down the call numbers in order to find the books. Books on similar topics will be shelved together. Scan the shelves for additional books on your topic.

If you cannot find what you need in QCAT, you can either search Other Library Catalogues to check out books yourself (see Reciprocal Borrowing Agreements) or get the material through our Interlibrary Loan service.

Finding Articles

Finding Journal Articles Handout

Articles are important in your research. They are excellent for detailed and current information on a topic. These articles are from publications that are printed "periodically" in daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or irregular intervals. Types of periodicals include journals, magazines, yearbooks, and newspapers.

Use periodical/article indexes to find citations to articles in periodical publications. They are often subject-oriented and list author, title, name of periodical, volume, pages and date of publication in entries called bibliographic citations.

Choose appropriate indexes or databases by checking Browse Databases by Subject or Research by Subject for a guide as to what indexes would be best for your field of study. If you are unsure as to what index you should use for your particular topic, ask at the Research Help Desk.

Apply the same keyword strategies in electronic indexes that were successful in finding books. For an overview of searching electronic databases, go to the guide Using Boolean Operators.

Before searching, note the time coverage and the content of the electronic index (some are full text, others have only citations and some have citations and abstracts).

Print indexes are still valuable resources. They often cover more years than electronic indexes, some going back to the 19th century. Note time coverage and content of the print index and other information such as a guide to any abbreviations used in the index.

Remember to record the complete article citation:

• Author
• Article title
• Journal or magazine title
• Volume number of the journal or magazine
• Date of publication
• Page numbers
• Section or column number (for newspaper citations)

Search QCAT to see if Queen's Library has a specific journal. After typing in the title in the search box, select Journal Exact in the drop-down menu.

Make sure that Queen's has the issue that you need. Periodicals are available in many different formats: loose issues, bound paper volumes, microfilm, and/or electronic.

Finding Websites

The Web is another resource that one might consider when researching a topic, especially for current events.

Finding the Best Websites

To see a listing of websites recommended by Queen's librarians, choose your subject from the Research by Subject page. You may also find useful sites by searching research-oriented websites such as:

• Infomine
• BUBL
• ipl2

Searching the Web

Use directories or search engines to locate materials on the web. Since searching the Web often results in tens of thousands of hits, it is recommended that you use search terms that uniquely define your topic and use the online help to further narrow your search.

Go to Search the Web for suggested search engines, subject directories and meta-engines and for more information about searching the Web.

Evaluating Websites

Anyone can create a webpage so it is particularly important to analyze and assess information that you find on the Web before using it in a research paper. Go to Evaluating Web Sources for a checklist of things to consider when analyzing a web page.

Evaluating Sources

Evaluating your sources is a crucial step of the research process. You need to evaluate carefully each source to determine its appropriateness and quality.

Check our Evaluating Sources Checklist for criteria used to judge information sources and our Scholarly and Popular Resources page to distinguish between scholarly and popular publications.

It is particularly important to evaluation information that you find on the Web. Because there are no rules and anyone can post a page on the Web, you will have to determine whether the web site is of value. Go to Evaluating Web Sources for specific criteria used to analyze websites.

Check our Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals page in order to evaluate periodicals by looking at their content, purpose, and intended audience.

Citing Sources

Citing sources is an important part of your research. It documents what sources you have used in writing your paper and gives credit to the author's work that you have. It also gives information to identify and retrieve the cited sources.

They are many citation styles available and certain disciplines at Queen's have a particular style of referencing that they want their students to use. Two of the more popular styles used are APA (American Psychological Association) and MLA (Modern Language Association).

You should always ask your professor or teaching assistant whether a particular citation style is required for research papers.

Check our Find and Use Citation and Style Guides page for assistance in using various citation styles. The Library also has print copies of the various citation styles:

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
REF LB2369 .G53 2009

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
(APA Style Guide)
REF BF76.7 .P83 2010

Style Guide / American Sociological Association
REF HM569.A54 2007

For a summary and comparison of four standard citation styles, go to Duke University's page, Assembling a List of Works Cited in Your Paper.

Plagiarism

You need to document your sources in order to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is "the unauthorized use of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own" (New Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, 1997). Plagiarism is a serious offense. For information on Queen's policy, go to Policy on Academic Dishonesty.

Interactive tutorial: You Quote It, You Note It! (created by Vaughan Memorial Library, Acadia University)

How to Avoid Plagiarism

Check the following guides for guidelines on avoiding plagiarism:

UNVL Writing Center - Writing Tips: Plagiarism (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

Avoiding Plagiarism (Glendale College Library)

Other Helpful Resources

The Writing Centre at Queen's

Writing Your Paper

A selected list of books designed to help you write a research paper follows:

Chicago Manual of Style
REF Z253 .U69 2010 (and SL books)

The 16th edition by the University of Chicago Press for authors, editors, and copywriters. Includes detailed examples of all elements of style from punctuation, preparing tables, footnotes, and bibliographies, to design and typography.

A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
REF LB2369 .T8 1996

Kate Turabian's standard guide for student writers. Coverage in fourteen chapters includes: parts of the paper; abbreviations and numbers; spelling and punctuation; quotations; tables; illustrations; how to cite sources of all types; and sample layouts.

The Research Essay: A Briefing for Students
REF LB2369 .R62 1985t

A simplified and concise guide to the research process including: selecting a topic; collecting information; essay structure; techniques for creating a draft paper; and examples of quoting sources, preparing endnotes, and making a bibliography.

Social Sciences Style (SSS) by Margot Northey et al

Making Sense : a Student's Guide to Research and Writing : Social Sciences
H61.8 N67 2009
Making Sense : a Student's Guide to Research and Writing
LB2369 .N67 2009 (Education); 2007 (SL)
Making Sense in the Humanities: A Student's Guide to Writing and Style
REF LB2369 .N675 1990u

Writing Essays: A Short Guide
REF PE1471 .N67 1987t

Published by the Queen's English Department in 1987, this short guide outlines:
a)specific writing techniques such as how to develop an effective thesis, organize your argument clearly, know what a paragraph is and does
b) common errors of grammar and basic principles of punctuation
c) general format of an essay and documentation such as citing works, using endnotes, and preparing a bibliography.

The following works focus on how to format and document a research paper:

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
REF LB2369 .G53 2009

This handbook is intended as an aid for university students, especially beginning researchers. It includes information on selecting and researching a topic; note taking; and writing footnotes and bibliographies. Sample research pages are presented.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
REF BF76.7 .P83 2010

The authoritative style manual for anyone writing in the field of psychology. Chapters discuss the content and organization of a manuscript, writing style, the American Psychological Association style, proofreading, and examples of citing references. The final chapter describes the journals of the American Psychological Association.