LBSU 302: Information Fluency and Academic Integrity

Selecting a Research Topic

Watch the video below for a quick overview of choosing your topic or read below for a description.

Picking Your Topic IS Research by North Carolina State University Libraries.

Video courtesy of North Carolina State University Libraries

When choosing a topic, it is important to choose a topic that you are interested in. Writing a paper on a topic that you find boring or uninteresting can be difficult so pick a topic that will keep you excited as you go through the research process.

Before choosing a topic, make sure that you know what the final project should look like. Each class or instructor may require a different format or style of research project. For example, your instructor may ask you to use scholarly journal articles or may allow you to choose from pre-selected topics. 

Keep in mind that selecting a good topic may not be easy. It must be narrow and focused enough to be interesting, yet broad enough to find adequate information. You can use Who, What, Where, and When to help focus your topic. 

Using Who, What, Where, When: 

• Who: older adults, women, children, adults with depression
• What: Major depression, situational depression, postpartum depression
• Where: United States 
• When: 1990s, 2000s, 2010s

Topic examples: 

• Depression in countries from around the world would be too broad. There is too much information that could be reasonably used in a research paper. 
• Depression in adolescents with learning disabilities from Southeast Missouri during the Vietnam War would be too narrow. The topic is too specific and there may not be enough information that could be used to write a research paper. 

Try to find a topic that falls somewhere between these two extremes:

• Example: Depression in adolescents in the United States during the 1990s and 2000s. 

After choosing a topic, it may be helpful to list and define some key terms relating to your topic. You can use a general or subject-specific dictionary to look up terms and how they're used in specific contexts. 

Scholarly and Popular Periodicals

For a quick overview of the differences between scholarly and popular periodicals, watch this short video or read the description below:

What are Popular and Scholarly Sources? by University of Houston Libraries.

Video courtesy of University of of Houston Libraries

Popular Magazines

General interest or popular magazines do not undergo peer review. They usually have an attractive format with photos and illustrations. Articles in popular magazines rarely have a reference page. They are frequently written for a general audience by a staff or freelance writer. The language is simple and easy to understand. The purpose of these publications is to provide general information, to entertain, and sometimes to sell products. They are published by commercial enterprises for profit. Popular magazines are useful if you require general information about a topic or you're trying to incorporate a unique perspective into your research.

Scholarly Journals

Scholarly journals are often referred to as peer reviewed or refereed journals. They contain articles that have undergone a review process by selected experts in the field before being accepted for publication. They usually have charts, graphs, and tables to illustrate concepts. All of the sources are cited with footnotes and/or a bibliography. Scholars or researchers in a specific discipline or field write the articles. The material uses the terminology and language of the discipline, and the reader is expected to have a similar background. The purpose of these journals is to report or make research available to other scholars and researchers. Many of these journals are published by a professional organization. Use scholarly journals if you need verifiable and highly credible information. Scholarly journals often feature primary research with detailed analysis.

Examples of Different Types of Periodicals

Publication Process for Peer-Reviewed Journals

This is a simplified overview of how articles are reviewed for publication in a scholarly periodical. The publication process may not always follow the steps below.

1. Author conducts and writes a research-based article. 
2. Author submits the article manuscript to a journal. 
3. The journal editor forwards the article to a panel of experts for further review.
4. The panel may accept the article for publication, suggest revisions, or reject it.
5. The author makes the suggested revisions, and the article is published.

This process can take from 30 days to well over a year.

Finding Scholarly / Peer-Reviewed Journals Using Library Databases

Many databases provide ways for you to limit your search to just scholarly/peer reviewed sources. This option is often available on the Advanced Search screen. When searching in a database, look for a box to check that reads "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals," "Peer Reviewed," or something similar to limit your search. Be sure to check this box before beginning your search.

Reference Sources

Encyclopedias can be used to find background information about a topic, including important works and researchers. General and subject-specific dictionaries can help define and provide context for terminology. Below are links to databases that contain general reference materials available through the library.