Research Tips & Guidelines

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Browse Within your Subject
Do I know what I am looking for?  What terms, names, dates, and locations are relevant or specific to my topic?

Generate Questions
What do I want to know?  What do I want to explore more in depth?  What are opposing viewpoints?  Should I focus on a specific issue or cover a broader topic or range of issues?

Define Your Topic
What's my guiding question or thesis statement?

Search Reliable Sources
Gauge a source for reliability according to whether the publishing entity is known and well- regarded in the field, the text is objective and unbiased, the facts are current (except historical data), and the publication data is provided.  Web sites should have a “last updated” date or a copyright date.


Track ALL sources used so you can cite them in your finished work.  You need to know titles of sites, pages, or articles; names of authors or publishing organizations; dates of publication; location of info, such as web site URL, magazine or journal volume & issue number.

MLA Guidelines for In-text Citations

PURDUE ONLINE WRITING LAB

Austin Community College Libraries

Links to research resources available through ACC.

ACC online tutorial, helps with evaluating websites and beginning the research process.

Tools to Create Citations and Bibliographies

Create bibliographies in MLA format.

Create citations in MLA, APA, and Chicago formats

Create citations in MLA, ALA, Turabian, and Chicago formats; also includes social media sources (e.g. blogs, podcasts) and options for images (e.g. infographics)

Educational Video Sites