Documenting Research

In this section you will learn about documenting your research.

Keep a Systematic Record of Your Research Sources that you Consulted

The researcher should keep an accurate list of sources examined with full bibliographic citations and search terms used. If during your research you decide to change the focus of your topic to something you have previously consulted, it may be very difficult to find that material again unless you documented the article, book or newspaper article where you originally located the information. This practice also applies to search terms you may have used in searching databases. It can be very difficult to retrace your steps if you were using different search terms in different databases (Donnelly, 1998).

In your overall search plan you need to take the following factors into consideration when obtaining materials and gathering information.

When appropriate allow additional time for interviews

When appropriate allow additional time for correspondence.

Please allow time for interlibrary loans.

"Now that you have completed, Documenting Research, let's move onto the next section. To proceed, click on the, Analyzing Information Sources, link below."