Refine your search

Well done! Now you have a list of results.

If these look useful you can start reading and evaluating what you have found. Otherwise, there are several ways to refine or expand your search.

Advanced searching

Advanced searching is a matter of following tracks and changing direction if you are not finding good results. Use some of the techniques below to improve your searches.

Use the features of the databases to enhance results and increase relevancy:

• Subject headings: If you have found a relevant reference on a database look at the record. It will usually include subject headings - searching using these subject headings should help find other papers on the same topic.
• Keywords: Words used in the text of the paper, or provided by the author, may be useful search terms to find similar papers.
• Author names: A researcher who has written a paper on a topic may have written other papers on related topics. Use the author name as a starting point.
• References: The list of references at the end of your starting paper may include papers on the same topic. These papers are older than your starting paper so looking at them involves moving backward through the literature.
• Citations: Many databases will provide lists of papers that cite your starting paper and include it in their list of references. These may be on the same or related topics. Citing papers are more recent than your starting paper so looking at them involves moving forward through the literature.

Think about some other sources which you might not have considered:

• Theses can be a rich source of references and methodologies. To find theses from the University of Auckland or from overseas universities, see Finding theses and dissertations.
• Multidisciplinary databases. Try a database which covers a number of disciplines.
• Google Scholar is a scholarly collection, with citations and author affiliations to help you identify key writers and organisations in your interest field. Use Google Scholar through the Library's website to get articles to which the library already subscribes.
• Open access resources and repositories make it easy to search and locate full-text articles. The guide to Open Access information will help you find search engines and freely available material, which is usually academic in nature.

Other techniques

• Use Advanced search options in search engines. They will improve relevancy.
• If you can get a list of key journals in the discipline use this as a starting point.

Obtaining, recording and citing your search results

Database results

Your search results will often be displayed as a list of citations. A citation should provide enough information for someone to be able to locate the original publication. For example, a citation for a journal article normally includes: author(s), article title, journal/newspaper title, volume, issue, publication date, and page that the article appeared on.

Obtaining the articles

In many cases the article will be in the database you are searching. But if the database has only got a citation but not the full-text article, there are several options to get the full text.

Keeping records of your research

When searching it is important to keep careful note of the information you find. Make sure you record where you have found the references and record details such as the author, title, source, and in the case of internet resources the URL and the date you have accessed the sites. You will need these details for your reference list.

Referencing

If you are using other people's writing or ideas, whether you paraphrase in your own words or quote directly within your assignment or essay, you need to cite the source. The reader can then track the source down if they are interested in looking at it.

This is called referencing, and to reference, you follow a particular style. The style determines how the references are to be presented. Academics and students are expected to use a recognised, consistent style for citing work.

If you do not acknowledge your sources of information, you are guilty of plagiarism.

This is dealt with in more depth in Module 6.

Reference styles

The Business School uses the APA referencing style.

If you are also doing courses in other faculties, they might use another style such as MLA, Harvard, Chicago or NZLSG (New Zealand Law Style).

APA Style

APA style, from the American Psychological Association, consists of citing within the body of written work (referred to as in-text citation) and creating a reference list. APA has rules for citing all types of materials; books, journal articles, web sites, TV programmes and other media.

ReferenCite is the University's central academic referencing resource. Quickcite is a tool to preview how your reference should be cited according to APA style.

Tip: See the comprehensive guide, APA Referencing: A guide for business students. It includes help with citing lecturers' notes, and online course material.

Summary

Test yourself

Well done! You have now completed Module Four on refining your search and managing your information. Have a go at the quick quiz to see how much you have learnt.

Some questions may have more than one correct answer.