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Where Do I Start My Research?

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This is one of the most common questions that students often ask. There is so much information and so many resources it is hard to know where to start. Google is usually the fall back for many, but is not always the most effective place to start scholarly research. It is hard to evaluate resources you find on Google; websites might be managed by people with deep biases. Google is part of what is called the open or surface web and only 4% of all internet material that is free to all. Library databases, however, are part of what is called the invisible or deep web, which password protected and database driven. The invisible web accounts for 96% of all internet material where there is more information and higher quality material protected by passwords. There is also a thing called the 'dark web' where illegal internet activity can take place ... I am not going to go there in this FAQ answer. When doing scholarly research the deep web is where many of the scholarly databases are located and cost money to use. The library/university pays for that access so that you can have access to that material during your time at the U of U. You can begin your research in the surface web but you need to go deeper into the invisible web too!
Image url: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/DeepWebDiagram.png Links to an external site.

Here are 3 strategies for starting your research project:

  1. Use a broad topic database like Academic Search Ultimate (from the vendor EBSCOhost and under "A" in the research database), to find reputable resources on your topic. You can also use Scopus and Web of Science as a broader database when searching for more scientific topics. EBSCOhost  Databases (under "E"  in the Research Databases) has a wide range of topics and types of resources so you can search and find materials on many different topics. If you do not find enough resources on your topic in the Academic Search Ultimate, you can add additional EBSCOhost databases to your search by clicking on the CHOOSE DATABASES link at the top of the search screen (see image below where to click). You check boxes to add more databases and then click OK and then re-search to find even more articles, periodicals, and newspapers.

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  2. Another great place to start is Google Scholar Links to an external site.. It looks like Google and acts like Google, but is MUCH better than Google. Google Scholar is limited to more scholarly research articles and books and will help you find materials like journal articles, books, conference proceedings, dissertations, etc.). See the next FAQ question and answer for more info about Google Scholar (one of my favorite starting places).
  3. If you are researching a current topic: Google Links to an external site. is a good place to start. You can see how the conversation around that topic is unfolding, but then you should look to the library proprietary resources for more scholarly resources to support or refute what you read on Google. For example if you were researching social media and cell phones, Google will present more ads than relevant research about cell phone use. When using Google or Google Scholar use quotes around phrases (ex. "climate change") and the search engine will find the phrase "climate change" instead pulling up sites with just climate and just change. You can combine keywords with AND or OR to limit the search (ex. "climate change" AND policy). Here is a great website Links to an external site. to show you 20 tips for using Google more efficiently. My favorite one is the use of the colon ":". If you are looking for statistics about a topic, use these search terms statistics:gender +"social media" - in a google search field. If you click on the Google Images sub-menu you will see charts and diagrams about gender and social media statistics that will lead you into the webpage. You can use this technique to find only PDFs or only Powerpoints too (example: PDF:gender +"social media" or PowerPoint:gender +"social media"). You can use the search terms - New York Times:"russian hacking" and find newspaper information on your topic. Use information you glean from Google to identify keywords to find information in other places. But remember you must be more skeptical of open or surface web resources and explore the accuracy, authority, purpose and relevance of the material (tool to help you evaluate web material Links to an external site.).


Why would I want to use Google Scholar over just Google for research?

Google Scholar will yield more scholarly articles than Google and less material to wade through, and this will save you time. You will see the author associated with the article (often not the case in Google), as well as, the date it was published and the name of the journal. It will also show you the number of scholars who cited that article or book and other related articles. All of this info can help you dig down deeper into your topic. For example in the screenshot below of a Google Scholar result you can see the journal and the year that this article was published, which is Computers in Human Behavior, the number of times this article has been cited by other scholars (925), the three article authors and a link to related articles. On the right of the screenshot you will also see 2 links to download the full text PDF of this article; one from researchgate.net which is a social media site for authors where they post their work and share with other scholars,, and a Get it @ UU link (because I am logged into the Marriott Library). If you click on that UU link it will take you directly into the library databases so you can get the full text of this article. If the authors names are underlined, this means the author has set up a Google Scholar Profile. If you click on their name, it shows you other articles that author has published. Often, scholars publish on the same topics so you can find even more articles on your topic! Here is the Google Profile Links to an external site. for Teresa Correa, the first author of this paper.

Note: You can set up your home computer or laptop to connect to the University resources by following the directions under the HOW DO I ...? FAQ

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By clicking on Get it @ UU you will see what database the U of U owns where you can get a full text copy of the article, In this case, click on the Elsevier database link (see screenshot below) to go to the abstract page for this article. If it says there is no full text you can click on Request an Article to go into Interlibrary Loan and request a fee copy of the article.

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Here is a tutorial and some additional information on how to use Google Scholar as also how to set up your computer at home to see the Get it at the UofU link after you login to the computer.


Now that I have started my research, where do I put all of these PDFs I have downloaded that I will use for my research paper? How do I keep track of them?
The University of Utah provides a cloud storage service called UBOX Links to an external site., where you can store full text articles and weblinks you are using for your research. It works like Google Drive or or Drop Box, but it is connected to UNID login (one less password to remember ...yeah!). Since files are stored in the 'cloud' you can access them from any computer with an internet access, so that as you do research from different computers and in different locations you can store all files in one location in the cloud. Once you register for an account at http://box.utah.edu Links to an external site. you are in the system and you can share box folders with others and even message through the system. So for example if you are working on a group project or paper, all group members can share one Box folder and store all the research articles you all find in one location. It is also encrypted and much more secure location that a google docs folder. You can also add weblinks to webpages here, not just PDFs, word files, excel files, and Powerpoint files. It has an embedded box note feature so you can keep a research log or journal and track keywords or your research progress, right there with your files. You can set up sub-folders and stay organized just like on your hard drive. In addition, if you install the Box Edit Links to an external site. application on your laptop or computer you can also open and work directly on the box version of your paper and when you save it, Box automatically saves a new version of your paper back into Box. When you leave the U of U you can continue to use Box, although with less storage space. Check it out!!


Where do I start to use software to manage my citations for my Works Cited list or my Reference List in my research papers?
There are several FREE tools available to help you manage citations for your research papers and projects. Select a product that is best for your discipline and purpose, because all the tools do the similar things but each one has unique advantages over the other. For example I use Endnote Basic Links to an external site.(web-based) that works well with Google Scholar, the Library catalog Usearch and all of the Ebscohost databases and other databases that I use most often. But there is a product called Mendeley that works better with the science databases. Zotero is a great free option that has a free desktop application that links with an online version so you can store PDFs on your computer. There is also a citation management software called NoodleTools to help you learn how to do citations. So think about your personal needs and use the one that works best for you. Check out all of these resources below and see which one might work best for you!

So how does it work? You export article/book citations you find in the databases or search engines you are working in into a citation management software, and then when you are writing your paper you can pull the whole bibliography or references out of the citation management software in one click, and in many different formats such as MLA, APA or Chicago - a HUGE time saver. However, a disclaimer here, there are always small issues with formats (due to how the article was entered into the database in the first place) so you will need to tweak your final list.