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S.U.R.E. Resources

Starting to think about your topic.

Identify Keywords

The keywords you use can have a profound impact on the results of your research. Using the “right” words will speed up the research process, while the “wrong” words can bring to it to a halt.

Before you can begin searching for information, you need to identify keywords related to your topic. Key terminology can be easily be found by scanning:

  • Your research questions
  • Articles found from background research 
  • Bibliographies found at the end of books and articles

If you are still struggling:

  • Use a thesaurus to identify synonyms -- try the thesaurus search on this page.
  • Brainstorm keywords with a librarian, your instructor, or a friend.

Use a Keyword Vocabulary!

Scholarly vs. Popular Sources

Your professor says you must use scholarly sources for your research. What does that mean? Watch this short video to find out how to identify scholarly sources.

Primary vs Secondary Sources in Science

Primary Sources

  • Written by scientists who perform the experiments
  • These articles include original research data and a methods section explaining how experiments were done
  • Examples: journal articles, theses, conferences, (governmental) reports, patents

Secondary Sources

  • Summarize or compare lots of research in a particular area (e.g., a review)
  • In a review article, graphs, tables, or figures containing actual data will contain citations in the figure legend to the primary research papers that originally reported the findings
  • Examples: review journals, literature/article reviews, data compilations