WRPR 101: Finding a Voice (HC)

People usually start a research project with a topic- healthcare system inequities or contemporary Japanese novels.

Exploring the research on that topic allows you to focus your interest and find a specific question to investigate.

Watch this video from Joanne Oud at Wilfred Laurier University   License: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

1) Use research guides created by Haverford librarians to access authoritative and up-to-date resources.  

• Look for your course (WRPR 101) to find a course research guide. 
• Look for an area of study (Economics) for  a subject research guide with recommended databases, other resources and the Haverford subject librarian to contact for advice.

2) Use encyclopedias, handbooks and annotated bibliographies from Oxford to learn more about your topic

• Look for encyclopedias and handbooks in the Tripod library catalog using the search examples from this page.
• Look for articles and books about your topic in Oxford Bibliographies Online.   Search example: neuroscience OR neuroscientists  Resulting entries include broader topics: Cognitive Neuroscience, Social Neuroscience and more specific ones: Neuroscience of Emotion Regulation

3) Use journal databases to find peer-reviewed articles that reflect current scholarship. Use those articles to further shape your topic into a research question

• Search in a journal database that covers many subject areas like Proquest Research Library, Web of Science or JSTOR  Search example in JSTOR:  economics  AND "economic justice"  AND "united states"  Limited to journal articles in English from 2010-2023
• Have a particular topic interest?  Use the database for that subject area as listed in the tabs in this guide for Humanities through Social Sciences.

4) Use the Tripod library catalog to look for books that deal with your topic or research question.  Go to the Advanced Search and choose the Books+ Media channel.

             Search example:  "creative writing" [Subject] AND study [Subject]  Limited to books published from 2000 to the present