This document outlines a 7-step process for conducting research: 1) Formulate a research question, 2) Gather background information, 3) Find past and current research in books, 4) Find past and current research in articles, 5) Find government research and open access articles, 6) Collect, read, evaluate, and write research materials, and 7) Cite research sources properly. It provides guidance for each step, such as using general resources to gain familiarity with a topic, searching the library catalog and databases for books and articles, evaluating sources for accuracy and authority, and citing sources to avoid plagiarism.

1. Step 1 - What's the problem?
Step 1 - What's the problem?
The first step for any research project to formulate a question you want to answer. Being clear on the question makes it easier
to formulate a research strategy for finding the best information about this question.
Here are some examples of research questions:
•Is obesity in children a form of child abuse?
•What are the best inteventions for preventing youth violence in Asian urban communities?
•How can social workers best meet the needs of children of illegal immigrants?
•Are there proven ways to increase trust when urban communities become polarized?
When starting your research you may or may not have a clear question but by starting with an idea and formulating this idea
into a question you will be able to review the literature already written on this topic which will likely help you to refine and
narrow your questions or give you ideas for new research questions you may not have though about previously.

2. Step 2-What’s the background?
 Start your research with general background resources. This will help you to become familiar with the
research history in the area related to your problem/question.
 Reading general background also helps researchers become familiar with terminology and jargon used in
specific research areas. Knowing the words experts use will help you find to craft a better search when you
begin searching for information in books and scholarly journals.
 Examples of general resources to consider include:
•Subject Encyclopedias
•Textbooks
•Handbooks
•Newspapers

3. Step 3: Find the past and current
research—books.
 The simplest way to find books is to use the search box on our main library webpage. Just enter a keyword
(such as global warming) to search for books on that topic. You can also do a search based on author (enter
the author's last name first) or title by selecting the appropriate option from the dropdown menu. Typically
results will be displayed with the newest books first.
 For advanced search functions, click on the CCLINC Online Catalog link on the main library webpage and
then select Coastal Carolina Community College. The power search function will give you more control over
your search options, so be sure to use that if you are coming up with too many results.
 For more information about the search, please see our video tutorial.
 Think in broader terms when searching for books in the library catalog. The catalog is not searching the full
text of the book and there may not be an abstract describing the book content.
 Books take longer to publish compared with most journal articles. Journal articles, gray literature and
dissertations will likely contain the most current research.

4. Step 4: Find the past and current
research—articles.
When searching for articles, there are some useful tricks you can use to narrow down your search results to a
much more manageable number.
 Use a specific search. Searching "global warming" will produce a lot of results, but searching "global warming" and "fossil fuels" together
will narrow it down to articles only talking about the connection between global warming and fossil fuels.
 In NC Live, use the "Refine Results" tools on the lefthand side to narrow down your results.
 Make sure that "Full Text" is selected, which will ensure that you will be able to read the entire article.
 Select "Scholarly / Peer Reviewed" to ensure that the articles have undergone peer review and so you will know they are credible sources.
 Limit the results to recent years. Currency is important, particularly in the sciences, so try to limit results to the last 5 or 10 years.
 Select "Academic Journals" for source types, so that you will be getting articles from academic journals rather than newspapers or book
reviews.
 Use the "Subject" facet to pick out subjects that are most connected to your research topic
 After limiting the results, browse the results list. If you are still receiving too many results, or now have too few, consider tweaking your
search terms or the "Refine Results" options.

5. Step 5: Find government research and
open access articles.
 Our tax dollars pay for a great deal of research sponsored by government agencies. Because of this, laws
have been passed and continue to be drafted making the resulting research free to the general public.
 When full-text research articles are placed in PubMed Central or some other repository and are available
without cost to the public this is called open access. Open access articles can often be found by searching
Google.
 It is best to be skeptical when searching the open Internet for scholarly research, but if you are a careful
consumer of information the Internet can offer a wealth of research which can help you to answer your
research question/problem.
 Government web sites are especially rich sources for finding statistics and research on a wide range of topics.

6. Step 6: Collect, read, evaluate, and
write.
Evaluating Information: When we obtain information for use in research, whether it is from the Internet, a
magazine, a newspaper article, a journal, or any number of other sources, it is important that we look at the
quality of the information. Consider the following details:
Currency
• Is the information current and up to date?
•When was the document produced? When
was it last updated?
• If the page includes links, are they up to
date?
Accuracy
•Who provides the information? Is the
author of the source clearly stated?
• Does the author provide contact details (eg,
an email address) that you can use to ask
follow-up questions about the information?
• Does the author or publisher list their
credentials and affiliations, and can they be
verified?
Coverage
• Does the page require special software to
view information? If so, are you missing
some of the information?
• Is some information limited to fee-paying
customers?
• Is the information presented cited correctly?
Objectivity
•What is the purpose of the page? Is it
simply a marketing tool?
• Is there evidence of bias in the information?
• How detailed is the information?
Authority
• Does the URL indicate what type of
organization the information is coming from?
What, if anything, does this tell you about the
credibility of the information?
• Has the author provided any evidence or
other sources to back up their information?
Does the resource include sources or
references you can check?
• Can the information be verified elsewhere?
• Is there evidence the information has
undergone some peer review process?

7. Step 7: Cite what you found.
Tips for Minimizing Stress with Citations
 Make copies of your sources. That way you can write on them and refer to them easily.
 Use a highlighter to identify what you quoted.
 Write quotes that you think you will use on notecards with all the citation information as a handy reference
while writing.
 When using a quote or paraphrasing a source while writing your essay, always leave a sign/symbol which
identifies where you need a citation. I suggest () or [] as a way of reminding yourself that you need to cite
at that point. Be sure to include something that identifies which source you need to cite.
The LRC’s Citation Page

8. Resources Consulted
“7 Steps to the Research Process.” University of Michigan Library.
“English Subject Guide.” Coastal Carolina Community College LRC.