Research skills

How to Write a Research Proposal Paper

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 21:41:03 +0000

How to Write a Research Proposal Paper ana.lacerda@ma… Thu, 09/05/2024 - 17:41

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, Research skills

Skills Keywords:

Annotated bibliographies, Literature reviews, Proposals, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Learn what a research proposal paper is. 
Understand the importance of writing a research proposal paper.
Understand the steps in the planning stages of a research proposal paper. 
Identify the components of a research proposal paper.

What is a Research Proposal Paper?

A research proposal paper:  

includes sufficient information about a research study that you propose to conduct for your thesis (e.g., in an MT, MA, or Ph.D. program) or that you imagine conducting (e.g., in an MEd program). It should help your readers understand the scope, validity, and significance of your proposed study.
may be a stand-alone paper or one part of a larger research project, depending on the nature of your assignment.
typically follows the citation format of your field, which at OISE is APA.

Your instructor will provide you with assignment details that can help you determine how much information to include in your research proposal, so you should carefully check your course outline and assignment instructions. 

Why Write a Research Proposal Paper?

Writing a research proposal allows you to

develop skills in designing a comprehensive research study;
learn how to identify a research problem that can contribute to advancing knowledge in your field of interest;
further develop skills in finding foundational and relevant literature related to your topic;
critically review, examine, and consider the use of different methods for gathering and analyzing data related to the research problem;
see yourself as an active participant in conducting research in your field of study.

Writing a research proposal paper can help clarify questions you may have before designing your research study. It is helpful to get feedback on your research proposal and edit your work to be able to see what you may need to change in your proposal. The more diverse opinions you receive on your proposal, the better prepared you will be to design a comprehensive research study.

How to Plan your Research Proposal

Before starting your research proposal, you should clarify your ideas and make a plan. Ask yourself these questions and take notes:

What do I want to study?
Why is the topic important? Why is it important to me?
How is the topic significant within the subject areas covered in my class?
What problems will it help solve?
How does it build on research already conducted on the topic?
What exactly should I plan to do to conduct a study on the topic?

It may be helpful to write down your answers to these questions and use them to tell a story about your chosen topic to your classmates or instructor. As you tell your story, write down comments or questions from your listeners. This will help you refine your proposal and research questions.

Research Proposal (student's preliminary notes) (91.11 KB, PDF)

This is an example of how to start planning and thinking about your research proposal assignment. You will find a student’s notes and ideas about their research proposal topic - "Perspectives on Textual Production, Student Collaboration, and Social Networking Sites”.

Structure of a Research Proposal Paper

A research proposal paper typically includes:

Introduction

Start your introduction by giving the reader an overview of your study. Include:

the research context (in what educational settings do you plan to conduct this study?)
the research problem, purpose (What do you want to achieve by conducting this study?)
a brief overview of the literature on your topic and the gap your study hopes to fill
research questions and sub-questions
a brief mention of your research method (How do you plan to collect and analyze your data?)
your personal interest in the topic.

Conclude your introduction by giving your reader a roadmap of your proposal.

To learn more about paper introductions, check How to write Introductions.

Theoretical Framework

A theoretical framework refers to the theories that you will use to interpret both your own data and the literature that has come before. Think about theories as lenses that help you look at your data from different perspectives, beyond just your own personal perspective. Think about the theories that you have come across in your courses or readings that could apply to your research topic. When writing the theoretical framework, include

A description of where the theories come from (original thinkers), their key components, and how they have developed over time.
How you plan to use the theories in your study / how they apply to your topic.

Literature Review

The literature review section should help you identify topics or issues that will help contextualize what the research has/hasn’t found and discussed on the topic so far and convince your reader that your proposed study is important. This is where you can go into more detail on the gap that your study hopes to fill. Ultimately, a good literature review helps your reader learn more about the topic that you have chosen to study and what still needs to be researched

To learn more about literature reviews check What is a Literature Review.

Research Methodology

The methods section should briefly explain how you plan to conduct your study and why you have chosen a particular method. You may also include

your overall study design (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods) and the proposed stages
your proposed research instruments (e.g. surveys, interviews)
your proposed participant recruitment channels / document selection criteria
a description of your proposed study participants (age, gender, etc.).
how you plan to analyze the data.

You should cite relevant literature on research methods to support your choices.

Implications and Conclusion

The conclusion section should include a short summary about the implications and significance of your proposed study by explaining how the possible findings may change the ways educators and/or stakeholders address the issues identified in your introduction.

Depending on the assignment instructions, the conclusion can also highlight next steps and a timeline for the research process.

To learn more about paper conclusions, check How to write Conclusions.

References

List all references you used and format them according to APA style. Make sure that everything in your reference list is cited in the paper, and every citation in your paper is in your reference list.

To learn more about writing citations and references, check Citations & APA.

Research Proposal Examples

Quantitative Research Proposal (Instructor's Guidelines) (222.05 KB, PDF)

These are detailed guidelines on how to prepare a quantitative research proposal. Adapted from the course APD2293 “Interpretation of Educational Research”.

Research Proposal (Student Sample) (110.27 KB, PDF)

This is a research proposal paper written by an OISE student on the relationships between textual production, student collaboration and social networking sites. Hover over the highlighted parts to find annotations and comments about the structure and content of this research proposal.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

How to Read Academic Articles

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Wed, 29 May 2024 15:39:33 +0000

How to Read Academic Articles ana.lacerda@ma… Wed, 05/29/2024 - 11:39

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, Learning strategies, Reading skills, Research skills

Skills Keywords:

Critical thinking, Literature reviews, Note-taking, Reading critically

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand the purpose of reading academic articles
Familiarize with the general structure of research articles
Read articles effectively for different course assignments

Introduction

Critical reading is an essential skill for academic success, enabling you to engage deeply with course materials and scholarly articles.

This resource page offers different strategies for critical academic reading depending on your reading purposes — whether for class discussions, selecting literature for an assignment, or delving into selected readings for your paper writing— to maximize your understanding and insight.

What are the Purposes of Academic Reading?

You are required to engage in academic reading for various purposes:

Classwork / Homework

Purpose: get the gist (i.e., main points) of assigned readings to prepare yourself for class (e.g., class discussions) or homework (e.g., online posts and discussions).

Select sources for an assignment

Purpose: decide if a source is a match for your assignment topic and goal by quickly reading it.

Include ideas from selected sources into your assignment

Purpose: Once you have found appropriate sources, you need to read them more in detail to find and use the points that are relevant to your topic, and include them in your assignment.

What are Research Articles?

Research articles are a very common genre you are required to read in your courses. There are three main types of articles you may engage with:

Empirical Articles

These articles report original research studies, usually with primary data and results from experiments.

Example: Trenholm, S., Alcock, L., & Robinson, C. (2015). An investigation of assessment and feedback practices in fully asynchronous online undergraduate mathematics courses. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 46(8), 1197–1221. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2015.1036946

Theoretical Articles

These articles usually contain and describe new theories, principles, and concepts related to a specific field of knowledge. They normally do not present empirical or experimental data.

Example: Yazan, B. (2018). A conceptual framework to understand language teacher identities. Journal of Second Language Teacher Education, 1(1), 21–48.

Review Articles

These articles summarize and analyze published work on a certain topic to 1) synthesize the previous research, 2) provide a critical overview of the previous research, 3) evaluate the state of research, and 4) suggest gaps in knowledge and future research directions.

Example: Lapkin, S., Mady, C., & Arnott, S. (2009). Research perspectives on core French: A literature review. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 12 (2). Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/CJAL/article/view/19936

Empirical Articles

Empirical articles are perhaps the most common type of research articles you will read during your studies. They are also often called by different names, such as experimental reports and research reports. There are two important features of these articles that you should keep in mind when you read:

Predictable Structure. Empirical articles typically follow a structure called IMRD (Introduction – Methods – Results – Discussion)
Predictable Language. Empirical articles often employ standard vocabulary or phrases for certain purposes (e.g., to introduce the research objective and research questions).

Familiarizing with the structure and language of empirical articles will help you find the main points quickly and ultimately read more efficiently.

Below is the IMRD structure of a typical empirical article with the main sections:

Abstract

The summary of key information from the entire article.

Introduction

An introduction of an empirical article normally includes the following information:

Background information of the general topic
Relevance of topic
Rationale and purpose of the study
Literature review (which can often stand as a separate section)
Review of previous research on the topic
Gaps and unanswered questions
How the study addresses gaps or questions
Significance of the study
Research questions
Definition of key terms (which may sometimes be included in other sections or sub-sections, such as the literature review or conceptual framework)

Methods

This section describes the research methods employed. It often includes the following components:

Research design
Participants
Instruments used to collect data
Procedure for data collection and analysis

Results

This section reports the findings based on data analysis. The content in this section is often divided into various sub-sections.

Discussion & Conclusion

Authors summarize and interpret the research findings in this section. In some cases, you may see the Discussion and Conclusion separated into two sections. Normally, this section includes the following information:

Summary and interpretation of findings
Answers to the research questions
Limitations
Directions for future studies

References

This section lists all the sources cited in the article.

Example: Check the video below about annotating a journal article from minute 4.05

From: Excelsior OWL - https://owl.excelsior.edu/orc/what-to-do-while-reading/annotating/annotating-a-journal-article/

How to Read Research Articles?

Here is a step-by-step process to read research articles effectively:

Preview
Read in a Specific Order
Focus on Predictable Language, Commonly Used Phrases & Vocabulary
Active Reading & Questioning
Take Notes

1. Preview

Skim the Abstract, Intro, and Conclusion: Quickly read through the Abstract, Introduction, and Conclusion to grasp the main arguments and findings. This skimming practice allows you to identify the purpose of the text, the author's hypothesis, and the conclusions drawn, providing a framework for deeper understanding when you read in full.
Scan the whole text structure (titles, headings, sub-headings). Scanning helps you understand the main themes and organization of the document, allowing you to anticipate the kind of information that will be covered, and quickly find specific information (e.g., study aim, main results, etc.).
Note aids (e.g., tables, graphs, charts, bolded terms): These elements are designed to highlight key information and can serve as clues to important concepts and data within the text.

Skim

Purpose: to quickly get a general overview or main idea of a text without reading every word or detail.
Technique: When skimming, you glance over the text, focusing on headings, subheadings, specific sections, topic sentences, and keywords.
Use: Skimming is useful when previewing a text to determine its relevance or when trying to understand the main points of a lengthy passage quickly.

Scan

Purpose: to quickly locate specific information or details within a text.
Technique: When scanning, you move your eyes rapidly over the text, looking for particular words, phrases, or information that matches your specific search criteria. You do not read every word but instead focus on finding the target information.
Use: Scanning is helpful when searching for specific facts, names, dates, or keywords within a text, such as when looking up information in an index, table of contents, or search engine results.

2. Read in a Specific Order

While engaging in academic reading, we almost never read research articles from the beginning to the end like a book. Depending on your purposes, you should read the article sections in a specific order.

Classwork/Homework

If your reading goal is to get the gist (i.e., main points) of the article, this is the suggested reading order and the specific content you can expect to find in each section.

Note: your task type and instructions ultimately determine the reading order and focus. For example:

In a Research Methods class, tasks might require you to focus on the Methods and Results sections more than you would in other classes.
If the task is about leading a discussion on an article, you might need to focus on more sections and details than you would for an online post.

Select sources for an assignment

Abstract
(Conclusion)
(Discussion)

Note: if you have a clear idea of your assignment topic, reading the abstract might sometimes be enough at this stage.

Include ideas from selected sources into your assignment

Abstract
Introduction
Conclusion
Discussion
Results
Methods

Note: you might need to read some sections multiple times to find the points you need.

3. Focus on Predictable Language, Commonly Used Phrases & Vocabulary

Being familiar with phrases and vocabulary commonly used in academic articles will help you quickly find the information you’re looking for (e.g., study aim, research questions, and findings).

Check below some commonly used vocabulary and phrases, along with examples, for different purposes:

Research Aim & Objectives

The aim of this work/study is to...
Our research/study aims at...
The main objective/purpose is to...
In this paper, we will investigate...

Problem Statement

This seems to be a problem in...
One issue with...is that...
An emerging challenge in this area is that...

Gaps in the Literature

There is limited research discussing...
Little is known about...
As far as we know, few studies have investigated...

Findings

We found that...
Our research indicated that...
Based on the analysis, it is clear that...

Interpretation/Discussion of Findings

The findings suggest that...
A reasonable explanation of this result is that...
It may imply that...

Limitations

Because of the lack of..., we did not/could not...
One limitation of this study is that...

For more vocabulary and phrases used in academic articles, please check our Resource Page on Signposting and the information on Academic Phrasebank and Useful phrases and sentences for academic papers.

4. Active Reading & Questioning

By asking questions, you create a more interactive reading experience that promotes critical thinking, encourages curiosity, and helps clarify areas of uncertainty or ambiguity.

Use your instructor’s prompts to guide your reading: Incorporate your instructor's prompts or questions to guide your reading process.
Ask questions: As you read, generate your own questions to explore the text's implications, context, and arguments.

Below are some guiding questions you can ask for different purposes:

Classwork/homework

Note: If there are specific questions/instructions, read them first and keep them in mind as you read the article!

How is this article relevant to course content?
What is the main argument?
What are some interesting points /ideas/quotes?
Do I agree with the main argument(s)?
What are the findings and their implications?
What points /issues / questions can I use for my task (e.g., class/online discussion)?

Select sources for an assignment

What is the author’s argument and what evidence is presented to support it?
What is the authors’ research question?
Is this article a good match for my topic, research question and arguments?
How might this article be used in my assignment?

Include ideas from selected sources into your assignment

Does point X support my argument or is it in opposition to it?
Do I agree with the author’s findings and conclusion?
How will I use point X in my assignment? How can I connect it to the point I’m trying to make?
Where is the right place in my assignment to include point X from this article?

5. Take Notes

Paraphrase or summarize main points or things to remember

After reading a section, take a moment to paraphrase or summarize the key points in your own words. This practice not only reinforces your memory and comprehension of the material but also helps clarify the main ideas and how they connect to each other. This is especially helpful when you are reading for classroom discussions, in which you are often expected to have a comprehensive and deep understanding of the assigned reading.

Respond to what you read

Questions: Develop a habit of jotting down questions that arise as you read. This can include questions about the author's reasoning, the evidence provided, or their implications.

Comments or observations: Take notes on your thoughts, reactions, and observations while reading. This can be a reflection on how the text aligns or conflicts with your previous knowledge/experience, or critical comments about the strength of the arguments presented. This kind of response fosters a more active and personal connection to the reading material.

Save or export references and quotes

Use tools to digitally highlight, save, or export important quotes and references directly from the text. Keeping a collection of these key points can be invaluable for quick review, writing assignments, or future research, ensuring you have direct evidence and citations at your fingertips. You may also consider using citation management tools to help you manage the references. Refer to our Resource Page on How to Organize Literature and Citation management guide (University of Toronto) for details.

Notetaking Examples

Below are examples of how you can take notes about the same reading for different purposes:

Sample reading: Reju, C. O., & Jita, L. C. (2020). A comparative investigation of assessment practices in distance and online learning undergraduate mathematics in Nigeria. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 10(1), 90–103. https://doi.org/10.5590/JERAP.2020.10.1.06

Assigned reading for class or homework (e.g., presentation, discussion)

Purpose of reading: online discussion

Questions to discuss: What is your experience with assessment practices as a teacher or student in online or distance courses? How is your experience similar to or different from the findings?

What course topic is this reading connected with: assessment for online courses in higher education

Main argument(s) or main findings:

The student participants expressed that they are not receiving prompt feedback on their assessments, leading to unmet expectations.
The findings indicate that assessment practices, which both differ and align, have influenced open and distance learning approaches at these universities. This highlights the importance of thoroughly evaluating assessment strategies to enhance student engagement and learning, thereby enriching the learning experiences of undergraduate mathematics students.
For high-quality and adaptable assessment methods in higher education institutions, it is crucial to offer reliable internet connectivity and consistent, precise feedback to students. Additionally, it is important to develop robust practical and online interactive sessions that engage and draw in students studying mathematics in this format. Public institutions often rely on government financial support. Consequently, the challenge of scarce resources for student assessment could be addressed through collaboration between these institutions and the government to secure the necessary resources.

Points to raise in class: Experience with online biology courses

Similarity: the lack of interactive sessions made the general experience, including assessments, less engaging and connected with real life

Difference: the feedback on assessment is often quite prompt; knowing about what was not well understood immediately based on the results of each question (automatic grading system). However, there is often no rationale explained in detail, leading to unresolved confusion even after getting feedback.

Select sources for an assignment

My research focus: students’ perspectives and experiences with assessment practices in mathematics and statistics courses in the post-secondary education context.

Source	Reju, C. O., & Jita, L. C. (2020). A comparative investigation of assessment practices in distance and online learning undergraduate mathematics in Nigeria. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 10(1), 90–103. https://doi.org/10.5590/JERAP.2020.10.1.06
Research question or objective	What are the assessment practices and how are they related to the students learning of undergraduate mathematics in distance and online education?
Arguments & findings	1. The student participants expressed that they are not receiving prompt feedback on their assessments, leading to unmet expectations. 2. The findings indicate that assessment practices, which both differ and align, have influenced open and distance learning approaches at these universities. This highlights the importance of thoroughly evaluating assessment strategies to enhance student engagement and learning, thereby enriching the learning experiences of undergraduate mathematics students. 3. For high-quality and adaptable assessment methods in higher education institutions, it is crucial to offer reliable internet connectivity and consistent, precise feedback to students. Additionally, it is important to develop robust practical and online interactive sessions that engage and draw in students studying mathematics in this format. Public institutions often rely on government financial support. Consequently, the challenge of scarce resources for student assessment could be addressed through collaboration between these institutions and the government to secure the necessary resources.
Relevance to my research focus	Highly relevant, save for paper
Potential use in paper	Can be used to suggest 1) the challenging experiences students had with assessment practices in online math courses; 2) recommendations to improve assessment experiences in online math courses

Include ideas from selected sources into your assignment

Note: The following should be built upon the notes for determining a source for a paper

Relevant quotes:

Negative student experience, inadequate prompt feedback

“The DLI participants indicated that the prompt feedback on their assessment is lacking, resulting in their expectations not being met. One of them commented that “There is no feedback from the tutors when we do assignment online, it is so frustrating.” (p. 101)

Implication for online math education, provide interactive components for student engagement

“To ensure quality and flexible assessment practices in ODL institutions in Nigeria, it is therefore vital to provide viable Internet connectivity, alongside regular and exact feedback to the learners. There is also a need for creation of strong practical and online interactive sessions that will interest and attract students learning mathematics through this mode.” (p. 101)

My observations:

Highly relevant to focus on students' perspectives on assessment for online math learning;
Lack of instructors' or policymakers' perspectives on the same issue, even though the implications point to teaching and government funding --> Need to find if there is any paper filling this gap
The results contradict Tatira (2022), which indicated a general student satisfactory experience with assessment practices in online mathematics courses

For more information about notetaking, check our Resource Page on How to Take Notes of Readings.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

Academic Phrasebank | The University of Manchester

On Campus Services

How to Organize Literature

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 18:50:28 +0000

How to Organize Literature ana.lacerda@ma… Wed, 03/27/2024 - 14:50

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, Learning strategies, Research skills, Technology

Skills Keywords:

Literature reviews, Reference management software

This Resource Page will help you:

Find strategies to record basic information from sources to organize them and create a reference list
Find a system to organize your notes and key information from the sources you have read to develop the main ideas for your literature review

Roadmap presenting the fours steps to prepare a literature review or an academic paper and indicating you are currently in step 2, part 4, organizing the literature you selected.

Introduction

Once you have gathered the relevant literature for your assignment and read it in detail, you need to organize key information and notes systematically to compare and contrast study results, methods, etc. This organized system will prepare you to analyze the information and develop the main ideas for your assignment. In addition, it will help you determine whether additional literature search is needed or if you need to further refine your topic.

If you need help on how to find sources for your literature review, or how to read critically, please refer to How to Find Sources for Assignments resource page and How to Read Critically.

How can I Organize Basic Information?

For each source you read, first you need to record basic information such as authors’ names, title of the source, and publication year. This information can help you keep track of all the sources collected, but also prepare the reference list that will be featured at the end of your assignment.

In many cases, you need to record and organize the following basic information:

Authors’ name(s)
Publication year
Title of the source
Name of the “place” where the source is located (e.g., journal, book, website)
Volume and Issue number if applicable
Publisher

Method 1: Use a Spreadsheet

Organizing Bibliographic Information of Sources (template) (16.46 KB, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet)

Download this template spreadsheet and use it to record and organize the bibliographic information of the sources you found. It will help you keep track of the sources collected. At the top, you’ll find an example of how to use this spreadsheet.

Method 2: Use a Reference Management Software

RefWorks, Zotero, Endnote, and Mendeley are appropriate tools for automated reference organization. You can refer to UofT’s citation management software page for more information and links to the above tools.

Below are examples of how to organize basic information using RefWorks and Zotero:

Find a System to Organize your Notes and Key Information

Apart from the basic information of the literature you have read, you also need to record the key content and your notes of each source, which cannot be automatically captured by reference management tools. The aim of this stage is to form a literature review system (e.g., in a table format) that helps you ensure that the important information and ideas from all the sources are effectively recorded and can be visualized all together.

Here are some important components from the literature and your notes that you might want to record:

Focus and aim of study
Research questions / hypotheses
Field (e.g., psychology, language education)
Theoretical framework
Type of publication / study (e.g., empirical or theoretical study)
Methodology (e.g., type of methodology, quality of research design)

Participants
Type of setting (e.g., geographical context, professional and social context)
Findings & Discussion
Date of study / publication
How the study is related to your assignment topic
Other reflections and comments

Tip: The information to be included in your records should be based on what you believe is relevant to your assignment topic or research question. For instance, if your topic focuses on a specific population, it is important for you to record the details about the study participants of the sources you have read.

Here is an example of how you can create a literature review system on a spreadsheet to organize all the important information and find connections among sources:

Research question: What are the experiences and perspectives of undergraduate students and teaching staff on the assessment practices in online mathematics and statistics courses?

Organizing Notes about Sources (template) (17.25 KB, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet)

Download this template spreadsheet and use it to record and organize the key information of the sources you found + your notes about the relevant points from each source after reading them. It will help you when you analyze your sources and need to develop ideas for your assignment. At the top, you’ll find an example of how to use this spreadsheet.

Why Organize Key Information and Notes Systematically?

A systematic organization of key information and notes will equip you to perform a sound analysis of your sources. For instance, by looking at the columns in your table, you can identify patterns, similarities, differences, and gaps among the results of the studies you’ve read. Here are sample observations that might emerge from looking at your table:

Do all the studies reach similar results?
Why / Why not?
Are there any commons threads that might explain these similar /different findings?
E.g., studies with similar findings used similar methods or participant populations, etc. E.g., studies with different findings were conducted in different settings or different points in time, or they followed different theoretical frameworks, etc.

These observations will eventually become your main ideas and points in your assignment. Therefore, it is important to find a system that allows you to organize and visualize information from sources efficiently and originally.

Our Tips

In many cases, selecting what items to include in your table for organizing literature is not a one-time effort. You may need to add, remove, or re-order them in the process. For example, you can re-order “date of publication” to better understand how the focus of your topic has evolved over time.
If you need more help to get started with your literature review, please refer to our resource page on How to prepare a literature review, where you can find resources or relevant RPs to each step.

Next Steps

After you have organized the basic information and formed an effective literature review system for your source contents and notes, your next steps are analyzing the literature content and developing your main ideas for literature review writing. Please refer to our resource page on literature analysis and development of main ideas for details.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH:

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

How to Write an Annotated Bibliography

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 20:52:23 +0000

How to Write an Annotated Bibliography ana.lacerda@ma… Thu, 03/07/2024 - 15:52

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, Research skills

Skills Keywords:

Annotated bibliographies, Citations, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

learn the steps to write an annotated bibliography.

Introduction

While an annotated bibliography can be a standalone assignment, at its core it is a foundational research tool. It is not surprising then that the process of writing your annotated bibliography is rooted in critical and active reading. If you are unclear as to what an annotated bibliography is, we recommend that you read our Resource Page on What is an annotated bibliography?

The general steps to write an annotated bibliography are depicted in the roadmap below.

Step 1: Select a Topic

To effectively assess the relevance of the literature you are reading, you must begin by choosing and focusing your assignment or research topic.

To learn more about selecting your topic, see:

Understanding the Assignment Instructions and Planning

How to Select Assignment Topics

Step 2: Search for Literature

Once you have a good understanding on what your topic of interest will be, it is important to strategically look for relevant literature. This will involve using a range of search strategies and applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. The outcome of this step can help confirm if the scope of your topic is appropriate and if any adjustments are necessary.

To learn more about how to find literature, see:

How to Find Sources for Assignments

How to Evaluate and Select Literature

Step 3: Format Bibliographic Information

After you have selected your literature, you need to format the bibliographic information of each source. This requires having familiarity on your field’s citation style. Within OISE, we commonly use APA.

The following is an example of bibliographic information in APA. Please note that it corresponds to the citation format you use in reference lists at the end of your papers:

Blair, C. & Diamond, A. (2008). Biological processes in prevention and intervention: The promotion of self-regulation as a means of preventing school failure. Development and Psychopathology,. 20, 899-911. Doi:10.1017/S095457948000436

To learn more about APA format, check our resource page on Citations and APA Style.

Step 4: Read Literature Critically

If you have read the RP What is an annotated bibliography, you know that an annotated bibliography includes bibliographic information accompanied by an annotation for each source you selected. While the requirements of what to include in an annotation may vary based on your assignment instructions, an annotation generally includes the following elements:

A summary of the text (e.g., content, scope, main points, intended audience, research methodology, findings)  
Identified strengths and limitations  
Author(s)’s conclusions 
Your reflections on the relevance or usefulness of the text for your purposes 
Other reflections that may be of relevance to you or as outlined in your assignment instructions

When reading and evaluating a source, active and critical reading is necessary to not only identify the main elements of a text, but also assessing your selected literature for other purposes in your course or research process (e.g., discussions about reading contents, final papers).

Below is a list of questions to help in your understanding and assessment of your selected literature and in preparing your annotations. However, please note that the relevance of these questions to your work will be dependent on your assignment instructions, goals, and the type of literature you are reading (e.g., academic journal article v. a policy document).

What is the author(s)’s thesis statement and/or research question?

These often appear in the introduction and conclusion sections of an academic article.

What are the central themes being addressed?

Look for key terms and repetition of ideas, and follow them through the text to see how they are developed.

Is there a theoretical framework, and if so, what is it?

The theoretical framework refers to the theoretical foundation on which the research you’re reading about is built. You should consider how is theory used to present arguments, interpret evidence, or data, and how it relates to your own work.

What type of research methodology was employed?

Is it qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods? What data collection instruments were used? What is the setting of the study?

What are the findings?

Consider how findings are interpreted in the context of the thesis statement or research question(s).

What evidence is presented to support the thesis statement or to answer the research question(s)?

Consider the type of data being offered as evidence in light of the methodology, if it answers the research question(s) and if it supports or contradicts the thesis statement.

Were there any topics, concepts, theories, methods, or other elements of the text that stood out to you?

Why? How do you anticipate engaging with them?

Does the text identify any gaps in the literature or new areas of research on your selected topic?

How does your work relate to these gaps or areas?

What are your observations on the content of the text?

Consider how the text`s content relates to your topic and knowledge.

Our tip: To help keep track of your observations and reflections, we recommend notetaking as you read. Check this resource page to learn effective notetaking strategies.

Once you have actively and critically read the literature you collected, you are ready to write your annotations.

Step 5: Write Annotations

After actively reading your sources, we recommend referring to your notes to summarize and paraphrase your sources in your annotations. Summarizing and paraphrasing are key tools in academic writing and allow you to demonstrate your understanding of the content.

Summarizing allows you to communicate core ideas, key details, and significant arguments or findings of your source in a way that is both concise and digestible.

Paraphrasing involves expressing ideas, concepts, and arguments of your source in your own words while maintaining the original meaning.

Example of an Annotated Bibliography

See an example below of a critical annotation.

Annotated Bibliography (student sample) (54.13 KB, PDF)

These are two examples of annotated bibliographies with slightly different structures.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH:   

On Campus Services:   

How to Evaluate and Select Literature

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 19:12:11 +0000

How to Evaluate and Select Literature ana.lacerda@ma… Tue, 02/06/2024 - 14:12

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, Reading skills, Research skills

Skills Keywords:

Annotated bibliographies, Literature reviews, Reading critically, Searching for sources

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand the purpose of having inclusion and exclusion criteria for evaluating literature
Learn the main steps to form inclusion and exclusion criteria for source evaluation
Develop your own inclusion and exclusion criteria for selecting literature

Roadmap presenting the fours steps to prepare a literature review or an academic paper and indicating you are currently in step 2, part 3, evaluating and selecting literature.

Introduction

As you begin searching for sources for your assignment, you might notice that there are many available sources – sometimes too many. After doing an initial search, it is important to establish evaluation criteria to select only relevant and high-quality sources.

This page will provide you with practical strategies to develop inclusion and exclusion criteria and help you make informed decisions when selecting the sources for your assignments.

If you haven't yet started looking for sources or your search hasn't been satisfactory, please refer to our resource page on How to Find Sources for Assignments.

What are Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria?

Inclusion and exclusion criteria are parameters used to determine which sources are relevant for inclusion in a literature review or research project.

Inclusion criteria specify the characteristics that must be present in the studies for them to be considered, such as type of participants, interventions, outcomes, or study designs.

Exclusion criteria are the factors that disqualify studies from being included, like date of publication, language, or lack of peer review.

Why Do You Need Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria?

It is very important to have clear inclusion and exclusion criteria for your literature because they:

Ensure the quality of your selected literature
Reduce the number of sources you need to read during your source searching phase

Ensure that the literature is relevant to your research focus and appropriate in scope
Increase consistency in your search methodology

Using the RADAR Model and Other Criteria to Evaluate Literature

The RADAR model (Mandalios, 2013) is a framework used for evaluating sources. It provides a structured approach to help you assess important characteristics of a source, such as relevance to your research and accuracy of information. It's designed to help you make informed decisions on which sources to include or exclude. Below is what each component of the RADAR model stands for:

R: Relevance

A: Authority

D: Date

A: Accuracy

R: Rationale

In the following sub-sections, we will guide you to develop inclusion and exclusion criteria using the RADAR model and other elements to help you address these two crucial questions for source selection: 1) Can I trust this source? And 2) Is the source content relevant to my topic and scope?

Step 1: Can I Trust this Source?

The first step is to evaluate the reliability of your searched source. For this purpose, you can use the “Authority,” “Accuracy” and “Rationale” criteria from the RADAR model.

Authority

Assess the qualifications and expertise of the author or organization responsible for the source.
Evaluate the publishers to ensure the credibility of the source.

Guiding questions:

What type of work is this? (e.g., scholarly article, policy document, blog, news, etc.)
Where is this work published? (e.g., type of publication, credible publisher)
Is this work published in a peer-reviewed journal?
Who are the authors?
How is the author's expertise specifically relevant to the research topic? (Note: In certain fields or theoretical approaches, lived experience matters more than formal qualifications, and can be seen as a form of expertise.)
What other works does the publisher present?

Accuracy

Focus on the reliability and truthfulness of the information in the source.

Guiding questions:

Are the authors’ claims and arguments sufficiently supported by reliable evidence?
Is there any unverified and biased information included in the source?
How was the information gathered and presented?

Rationale

Determine the authors’ purposes and objectives.

Guiding questions:

What is the purpose of this publication? Why was it published?
To inform, teach, sell, entertain, or persuade?

Step 2: Is the Source Content Relevant to my Topic and Scope?

Once you have established that your source is reliable, you can determine the relevance of the source to your research topic and scope. For this purpose, you can use the “Relevance” and “Date” criteria from the RADAR model, along with other criteria listed below, to form your inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Relevance

Determine how well the source addresses your specific research needs.

Guiding questions:

Does the source have information relevant to my research topic?
To what extent does the source fit into the scope of my topic?

Date

Determine how current the source is for your topic.

Pay attention to the year when the source was published and set a timeframe (e.g., the most recent 10-20 years). IMPORTANT: Depending on your research topic, you might need to set different timeframes. For example:

If your topic is on a particularly current or recent issue (e.g., the use of Artificial Intelligence in the classroom; post-Covid issues in education), you may want to include more recent publications.
If your assignment is about a historical perspective on a topic (e.g., how the idea of critical pedagogy has evolved over time), you may want to include older works.

Guiding questions:

When was the source published?
In what way is this relevant for my topic?
Is the source up-to-date, or does it include outdated information?

Tip: Do not discard a source only because it’s from a few decades ago and regardless of your research topic. You may want to keep older sources if they have been very influential in the field. Many influential works in education and psychology aren’t recent, such as the works of renowned scholars Paulo Freire on critical pedagogy (1960s) or those of Jean Piaget on developmental psychology (1920s-1970s).

Language

Check what language the authors used for their work. For example, you may want to exclude sources written in languages for which it is difficult to arrange a reliable translation

Methodology

In some cases, you may want to include studies that employ a specific methodology (e.g., qualitative or quantitative studies only) or research designs (e.g., longitudinal studies).

Location & Setting

You may want to include only studies conducted in certain settings. This can refer to

geographical locations (e.g., North America)
specific contexts (e.g., universities).

Tip: When you find too many sources on your topic, you may need to narrow the scope of your topic (e.g., from schools in Canada to schools in Ontario). In the opposite case, you may need to expand the scope of your topic (e.g., from schools in Ontario to Canada).

Participants Profile

You may set criteria for participant demographics depending on the scope of your topic, such as

Education level (e.g., only participants from post-secondary institutions)
Gender
Age group
Cultural / geographical background
Other specific criteria (profession, family status, financial status, etc.)

Theoretical Framework

You may want to include works adopting a specific theoretical or conceptual framework. For instance, you may only include studies framed by sociocultural theories, a focus on gender, Indigenous perspectives, etc.

Next Step

For the next step after source evaluation, please refer to our resource page on How to Organize Literature.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 18:14:48 +0000

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism ana.lacerda@ma… Tue, 02/06/2024 - 13:14

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, Navigating OISE, Research skills

Skills Keywords:

Citations, Plagiarism

This Resource Page will help you:   

Understand what academic integrity is.
Understand what academic misconduct and plagiarism are
Learn how to avoid academic misconduct and plagiarism.

What is Academic Integrity?

The University of Toronto defines academic integrity as “acting in all academic matters with honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage”. Academic integrity is fundamental to UofT community’s intellectual life.

To maintain academic integrity, everyone at the University needs to correctly give credit for the information and ideas they use, produce original work in assignments, and follow the rules of their subject areas when working on and handing in projects.

What is Academic Misconduct?

When academic integrity is violated, we talk about academic misconduct. Misconduct is a broad category that includes academic offenses such as cheating, copying, using unauthorized aids, etc. A specific type of misconduct is plagiarism.

In the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters, the University has identified academic offences that run counter to the university’s values. Other policies deal with the general conduct of students (the Code of Student Conduct) and with research ethics.

Consequences vary depending on many factors, such as the type of academic misconduct, the context and seriousness of the academic offence, and the number of times an academic offence has been committed. The Key Consequences section of the UofT’s Academic Integrity website gives you a general idea of potential consequences.

What is Plagiarism?

You might have seen the term “plagiarism” in the course syllabus or heard it from your instructors. Plagiarism means using someone else’s ideas or work without giving them credit. At U of T, plagiarism is considered a serious academic offence, even if it is not done on purpose.

In many cases, your instructors can spot plagiarism in assignments if citations are missing or incorrect, or through their disciplinary knowledge in the subject area.

Plagiarism is a serious type of academic misconduct. The Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters (The Code) of UofT lists the suggested penalties for students in Appendix "C".

Other Types of Academic Misconduct

Academic misconduct covers many wrong actions, as noted in Sections B.I.1. and B.I.3. in the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters. Here are some types of academic misconduct that are commonly seen in graduate level studies:

Submit the same paper for different courses or resubmit a paper for different assignments. This is not allowed because each assignment should be unique work. Moreover, the similarity of two papers (especially when one of them was previously submitted) will be detected through plagiarism detection software.
Forge academic records or other documents. This means you change or make fake academic records or other important papers. For example, if you change the grade on your report card, that's forgery.
Concoct facts or references to sources. This is when you make up information or pretend you got information from a source that doesn't exist. For example, you write in your paper "according to Smith (2020)," when there is no such study by Smith.

Examples of Academic Misconduct and Plagiarism

There are many risky situations that might be considered academic offenses or plagiarism. Here, we provide some examples of academic misconduct and plagiarism with scenarios, consequences, and relevant sections of The Code.

Scenario 1: Forget to Cite

Tom is writing his final essay. While Tom explores his topic of interest, he locates a few journal articles to help him prepare for his paper. Finding it difficult to write his essay as English is not his first language, he decides to incorporate different sections of the journal articles into some of his written work without using citations. He also paraphrases some of the sources used but fails to appropriately cite the information.

The Issue: It is important to acknowledge the scholarly work of others who share valuable knowledge through their research. Students must keep in mind that instructors can easily identify pieces of literature which may not belong to a student, especially if it does not seem to align with written work previously submitted in the course. Instructors can identify their students’ different styles of writing when grading academic work.

Description/Relevant Section of The Code: Section B.i.1.(d):To represent as one’s own any idea or expression of an idea or work of another in any academic examination or term test or in connection with any other form of academic work, i.e. to commit plagiarism.

Range of Consequences: Potential sanction(s) may be:

A lower assignment mark
A lower course grade and/or
An annotation on your academic record and transcript.

For more information on this plagiarism issue and range of consequences, check Key Consequences.

Scenario 2: Unreferenced quotes and passages

You are asked to write about modern theories in language education and want to include ideas from Jim Cummins. As you read Cummins’ research, you find it difficult to grasp and rephrase his concepts. You also feel uncomfortable with the task of transforming Cummins' insights into your own language, as it feels disrespectful to assume you could convey the thoughts of such a respected figure in the field better than he did himself. You choose to use some of Cummins’ theories in your paper but fail to properly cite all of them. You think that just by stating you're discussing Cummins' work, you're giving him enough credit. However, this is not the correct way to acknowledge his influence on your work.

The issue: You have committed plagiarism by including direct passages without appropriate quotes or references. As a graduate student, you are still expected to meet referencing requirements and to seek assistance with preparing your paper as needed.

Description/Relevant Section of The Code: Section B.i.1.(d): To represent as one’s own any idea or expression of an idea or work of another in any academic examination or term test or in connection with any other form of academic work, i.e. to commit plagiarism

Range of Consequences: Potential sanction(s) may be:

A lower assignment mark
A lower course grade and/or
An annotation on your academic record and transcript.

For more information on this plagiarism issue and range of consequences, check Key Consequences.

Scenario 3: Resubmit a previous assignment

You are tasked with writing a research paper on a topic related to inclusive education. Recognizing that one of the eligible topics aligns with a paper you wrote for a different course, you choose to repurpose that paper. You enhance it by adding several new paragraphs. However, you don't consult your instructor about reusing your previous work. Confident in your proper citation of sources, you submit this revised paper through the same plagiarism detection software used in your previous course.

The Issue: Students are not allowed to submit assignments for which credit has been previously received unless approval is given by the instructor. The purpose of enrolling in a variety of courses is to learn more about a discipline through a range of perspectives. If you simply re-submit your old assignment, you are not “learning”, rather taking the easy way out of engaging in your studies. You will likely to be approached by the instructor since the similarity of this research paper to your previous assignment will be detected through plagiarism detection software programs.

Range of Consequences: Potential sanction(s) may be:

A lower assignment mark
A lower course grade and/or
An annotation on your academic record and transcript.

For more information on this plagiarism issue and range of consequences, check Key Consequences.

Scenario 4: Buy A Paper

You realize a 20-page paper is due in two days, mistaking the deadline for next week. With no research or topic chosen, you're stressed and looking for a way to submit on time. In this post rush, you find an essay service website and buy a paper that seems fitting. Without significant edits, you simply replace the author's name with yours and hand in your paper on time.

The Issue: Submitting purchased work is a serious offence at the University. You cannot take ownership of someone else’s work and express their ideas as your own. It is likely that your instructor will recognize a purchased paper if he/she suspects that it is not written in your own words. Often, students fail to realize that instructors are knowledgeable on the subject matter discussed in class. If an instructor suspects that the research is not your own, he/she can easily identify the exact paper online the same way you accessed it. If the instructor asks you to submit your paper through turnitin.com, you will also be approached with the issue.

Description/Relevant Section of The Code: Section B.i.1.(d): To represent as one’s own any idea or expression of an idea or work of another in any academic examination or term test or in connection with any other form of academic work, i.e. to commit plagiarism

Section B.i.3.(b): To engage in any form of cheating, academic dishonestly or misconduct, fraud or misrepresentation in order to obtain academic credit of other academic advantage of any kind.

Range of Consequences: According to Appendix “C” of The Code, for submitting purchased work, the sanction recommended shall be expulsion from the University. The minimum sanction shall be suspension from the University for a period of time and zero as the final grade where the offence occurred.

For more examples of academic misconduct and plagiarism, check the Risky Situations section on the UofT’s Academic Integrity website.

How to Maintain Academic Integrity and Avoid Plagiarism

First and foremost: Properly cite using APA style.

Even if you’ve paraphrased and summarized others’ sources and content, make sure you cite them properly using APA style. The Resource Page "Citations and APA Style" give you in-depth information on how to cite. You can also use citation management tools such as Zotero. Learn more about organizing your literature using citation management here.

Track your Research

Always keep track of what you learn from the sources and what you want to use for your writing assignments, such as the documents that include the original sources, your reference list, your own notes and assignment drafts. You can also use a Research Tracker for this task.

Paraphrase

Rephrase the source's content in your own words. You should maintain the original meaning while changing the sentence structure and vocabulary. Then, compare your paraphrased version with the original source to ensure accuracy. If you're uncertain, return to the source to clarify.  Remember: even if you paraphrase, you must cite appropriately. For more tips and examples of paraphrasing, check our resource page on how to paraphrase.

Summarize

Condense the main ideas of a source into a shorter version, capturing the essential points while omitting minor details. By summarizing the sources, you can have an overview of the source's key arguments. Remember: even if you summarize, you must cite appropriately. For more tips and examples of summarizing, check our resource page on how to summarize.

Your Turn!

Answer the questions below and identify (potential) plagiarism behaviors.

Can I Use ChatGPT for my Assignment at OISE/UT?

Generative AI Tools (e.g. ChatGPT) are currently a new issue for academic integrity. While clear and universal policies have not been developed yet, you should discuss AI policy with your individual course instructors and be honest about the intended uses. Even if you plan on using ChatGPT for research and/or editing purposes only, you must discuss with your instructor first. Check our resource page about the use of AI to learn more about using AI for your course assignments.

For the latest guidance on the appropriate use of Generative AI Tools at UofT School of Graduate Studies, please check Guidance on the Appropriate Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Graduate Theses

Our Tips

If you do not know how to cite properly, start here [citations RP]. If you still have questions, speak to your instructor and notify them of your situation. It is important to be open and honest with your instructor.
Be aware that at OISE many written assignments you submit via Quercus will be checked for originality on Turnitin.com, which is a plagiarism detection tool.
If you are truly interested in a topic you already explored in a previous assignment and would like to use the same topic for a new assignment, write the paper through a different perspective and approach the topic with new research questions to learn more about the subject matter.

If you believe you have committed unintentional plagiarism, do not wait: talk to your instructor. If you wait until you are approached by the instructor, your case may be forwarded to the Office of the Dean for resolution.
If you think you are misreported about academic integrity, you must talk to your course instructor and academic advisor. Depending on the severity of the case, you can consider reporting to the department chair, the School of Graduate Studies, or to the Research Oversight and Compliance Office.

Help & Additional Resources

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

What is an Annotated Bibliography?

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 01:41:14 +0000

What is an Annotated Bibliography?  ana.lacerda@ma… Tue, 01/16/2024 - 20:41

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, Research skills

Skills Keywords:

Annotated bibliographies, Citations, Literature reviews

This Resource Page will help you:   

Learn what an annotated bibliography is.
Understand the importance of writing an annotated bibliography and its practical applications.  
Identify the components of an annotated bibliography.

What is an Annotated Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is an alphabetical list of research sources that includes two components for each selected source:

bibliographic information about the source (which in most cases at OISE will be in APA format)
an annotation, which is a summary, assessment, and/or reflection of how the source you selected is significant to your field, assignment, or research project.

For the purposes of class assignments, your instructor will provide you with details that can help determine how much information to include in your annotations. Learn more about how to understand your assignment check our resource page on understanding assignment instructions and planning.

An annotated bibliography can be a standalone assignment or a foundational tool to help develop a larger research project or assignment. Sources used might include primary sources (e.g., poetry, novels, life writings), secondary sources (e.g., scholarly articles, books, book chapters), or both.

What are the Components of an Annotated Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography typically includes the following sections:

Introduction

Here you provide an overview of :

your research or assignment topic
your research question(s)
the criteria and key terms used to guide your source collection.

The requirements of what you include in your introduction will also be guided by your assignment instructions.

Bibliographic Information

The sources you collect are presented alphabetically in the reference list citation format of your field (to learn more about APA format, see Citations and APA Style).

Depending on the length and depth of your annotated bibliography, your sources can also be organized within identified subthemes. For instance, if your topic is about the expansion of higher education within Canada, a subtheme that you found may be “admission practices”.

Annotations

Below the bibliographic information of each source is the annotation, i.e., a paragraph or a few paragraphs about the source content. Annotations may include the following information:

A summary of the text (e.g., content, scope, main points, intended audience, research methodology, findings)  
Identified strengths and limitations  
Author(s)’s conclusions 
Your reflections on the relevance or usefulness of the text for your purposes 
Other reflections that may be of relevance to you or as outlined in your assignment instructions

See two examples of bibliographic information and annotations below.

Example 1

Example 2

These examples are also available as a PDF:

Annotated Bibliography (student sample) (54.13 KB, PDF)

These are two examples of annotated bibliographies with slightly different structures.

Why Write an Annotated Bibliography?

To explore your topic of interest: By reading multiple sources you will be able to get a sense of emerging themes, topics, and terms surrounding your topic of interest.

To practice your comprehension & synthesis skills: Writing effective annotations requires you to understand your source, identify the main points, and summarize your source in a way that allows new readers to understand the source broadly.

To practice your analytical & critical thinking skills: Your annotated bibliography assignment might require critical evaluation of each source in relation to how it fits with your research interest or assignment. This will require you to (1) assess the relevance of the source for your topic/question; (2) assess the quality of its arguments, findings, and methods; (3) assess how its argument(s) fit with your own understanding; and (4) express how this source helps deepen your understanding of your topic and/or how you plan on using said source in your paper/research project.

To lay your research foundations: As you know, an annotated bibliography provides specific information about each source you have collected. A complete and well-written annotated bibliography can therefore serve as a foundation for your classes, larger assignments (e.g., final paper) or as you pursue other projects within the area.

Now that you know what an annotated bibliography is, the next step is to learn how to write one.

Help & Additional Resources 

Additional Resources:

Writing an annotated bibliography (unimelb.edu.au)

On Campus Services:  

How to Find Sources for Assignments

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 20:01:25 +0000

How to Find Sources for Assignments ana.lacerda@ma… Fri, 11/17/2023 - 15:01

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, Research skills

Skills Keywords:

Library navigation, Literature reviews, Searching for sources

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand why you should search for sources through the library system .
Search for appropriate sources that fit your assignment requirements.
Learn strategies to make your search more efficient.

Before You Start

Most of the content on this page has been summarized based on a Quercus self-paced learning module developed by the University of Toronto Libraries titled Library Research Skills.

Roadmap presenting the fours steps to prepare a literature review and indicating you are currently in step 2, part 2, finding sources for your assignment.

What are Scholarly and Peer-reviewed Sources?

You may receive assignment instructions that require you to find sources labelled as “scholarly”, or “academic”, or “peer-reviewed”. You might wonder what these terms mean:

Scholarly or Academic Sources

Scholarly or academic sources are materials that have been created by experts in a particular field of study. They are characterized by their depth of research, rigorous analysis, and adherence to high academic standards. These resources contribute to scholarly discussions and are often published in journals, books, or conference proceedings. Examples include research articles, academic monographs, and conference papers.

Peer-reviewed Sources

Peer-reviewed sources are scholarly materials that have undergone a thorough evaluation process by experts in the same field before publication. This evaluation ensures the quality, accuracy, and credibility of the content. Peer-reviewed resources are essential for academic research as they provide reliable information that has been validated by peers with expertise in the subject area. For a deeper look at the peer review process check Peer Review from the University of Toronto Libraries .

Source Searching Roadmap

This resource is designed to guide you in efficiently locating the appropriate sources for your assignments. The roadmap below gives you an overview of the steps involved in searching for sources. Each step is then explained in detail in the individual sections of this resource page.

Illustrated roadmap for research with three steps: 1. Select search tools, 2. Choose keywords, 3. Find sources. Unsuccessful searches loop back with advanced strategies; successful ones move to source evaluation. A tip reminds to track searches.

1. Select Suitable Search Tools

You might wonder why Google isn`t a suitable search tool. Here are some reasons:

Although Google can help you start searching for information, you should follow the assignment instructions if they require you to search for scholarly sources.
There is no guarantee that the sources you find on Google are credible, or that they were written by actual experts in your field. Anyone can publish anything outside of scholarly books and articles!
As graduate students, you should be using multiple search tools in conjunction with each other, including databases and U of T’s Library search. You’ll find more information about this below.

Most scholarly sources you will be requested to search are journal articles and scholarly books. You can learn more about other types of sources here: Exploring sources: Library Research Skills (utoronto.ca)

Types of search tools

Library Search: The LibrarySearch is the main search box on the University of Toronto Libraries websites. You will need to log in with your UTORiD to view most sources you find. Watch this U of T Libraries video for basic instructions on how to search the general library online system.

Subject-specific databases: Databases help you search for articles more efficiently. Most databases specialize in a specific subject and have specific features that let you find the best sources for your discipline faster.

What are the Differences Between Search Tools?

Watch the OISE Library’s video below (2mins 45sec) to learn about it.

What is a database?

Databases are storehouses of articles that have been collected together in one place, often because of their common subject focus; for example, an education database such as ERIC will only index (i.e., contain records) from journals in the field of education. You'll find your results are -- hopefully! -- more relevant to your research interests, so there's less need to sift through a scattered, drawn-out results list. You can search databases by keywords, article title, journal title, and/or author, and use various limiters (e.g., date, language, topics).

The database hierarchy is similar to the Netflix hierarchy, with journals = TV series, volume/issue = season, and article = episode.

Taken from What are Articles & Databases? - Research Help Guide - Research Guides at Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries (torontomu.ca)

Which Databases Contain Education and Psychology Scholarly Articles?

The OISE library has created a page with several education and psychology databases. Starting from the OISE Library main page, you can click on Education Databases and use the filters to choose the database that better fits your topic. Watch this short video to learn more about Education Databases.

What about relevant databases for my department/program?

The OISE Library has created library research modules for each OISE department. The modules are designed to support self-directed learning on the fundamentals of library searching as well as specific databases and resources customized to the different research areas in each of OISE's four departments. These modules are hosted in Quercus on a self-enroll basis.

Library Resources for Applied Psychology and Human Development(APHD)
Library Resources for Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (CTL)
Library Resources for Leadership, Higher and Adult Education(LHAE)
Library Resources for Social Justice Education (SJE)
Library Resources for Master of Teaching (Research 1/CTL7006)

2. Select Search Keywords

What are “keywords”?

Keywords are individual words or concise phrases representing the core concepts of a research topic or document. In academia, they help categorize and locate information. Keyword searching is easy but imprecise.

For example, if you want to write an assignment on second language learning for adult learners, relevant keywords could be:

Second Language Acquisition; Adult Learners; Language Learning Strategies; Communicative Approach; Language Proficiency; Cultural Competence; Pedagogical Techniques, etc.

How to select appropriate keywords

Brainstorm synonyms and related terms to enhance your search strategy. Check out the video ‘How do I Brainstorm Synonyms and Related Terms to Enhance my Search Strategy? from the OISE Library.
Use a planning worksheet to brainstorm keywords for core concepts and related terms.

3. Search for Sources

Once you have identified a few appropriate keywords for your topic, start using them in the database of your choice and check your search results.

Use Database Filters: After performing an initial search, use filters available in the database to refine your results. Filtering by peer-reviewed status, publication date, or subject area can help you sift through results more effectively and find sources that are most relevant to your academic needs.

Adjust Search Scope: If your initial search yields too many irrelevant results, consider narrowing your search to specific fields within the database, such as the article title, abstract, or author keywords, rather than a full-text search. Conversely, if you're finding too few results, expanding your search to include full text might uncover hidden gems.

Keep Track of Your Searches: You will likely perform multiple searches with different keywords. Saving and tracking your searches will therefore be useful. You can use this worksheet.

4. Apply Advanced Search Strategies

Research is an iterative process. If your initial searches don't yield the desired results, revisit your search terms and strategies. See below advanced search strategies to help you find the sources you need.

Search phrases in quotations

Phrase searching is a type of search command that can be used to narrow search results. When your keyword is made of two or more words, search the phrase in quotations, e.g., “elementary school” or “post-secondary education” to search for separate words as an exact phrase.

Use Boolean operators

Read this page for a detailed explanation of Boolean operators

Use truncated words

Truncation allows you to expand your results by searching for multiple endings of the same root word using an asterisk*.

Example:  Search canad* to find Canada, Canadian, or Canadians.

Watch this video (external page) to learn more about truncation.

Still not sure what all of these strategies look like in practice? The video tutorial below shows you how to use search strategies to find sources in Education Source, one of the main education databases.

Education Source

5. Next Steps

Once you have found some potentially useful sources, you will need to take a closer look and and evaluate whether they are relevant to your topic, credible and useful for your arguments and ideas. To learn more about critical reading, check our resource page on How to Read Academic Articles. To learn more about evaluating sources, read our resource page How to Evaluate and Select Literature.

As you read, evaluate and go through your selection process, you will also need to save and organize your sources (i.e., the documents, their citations, and the relevant content) to easily and quickly retrieve the information you need. To learn more about organizing your sources, read our resource page on how to organize literature.

Help & Additional Resources

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How to Prepare a Literature Review

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 22:25:04 +0000

How to Prepare a Literature Review ana.lacerda@ma… Tue, 10/24/2023 - 18:25

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, Learning strategies, Research skills

Skills Keywords:

Literature reviews, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Navigate the process of preparing a literature review through a step-by-step guide
Find resources to support you in preparing your literature review in each step

Introduction

A literature review is no different from other written assignments (e.g., essays) that you are familiar with. When starting an assignment, the first thing you may think of doing is opening a word document and start writing. However, writing is the final stage of the process: pre-writing preparation is required to lay the foundations for your paper content and structure.

As shown in the roadmap below, this resource page divides literature review preparation into four stages: planning, researching, pre-writing, and writing.

Roadmap presenting the fours steps to prepare a literature review.

1. Plan

Planning is the first and pivotal stage of preparing a literature review. It helps you stay focused, efficiently allocate your time and resources, and ensure that your work aligns with the designated objectives and requirements of your writing assignments. The planning stage involves two steps: 1) understand your assignment and 2) make a plan. You can find more information about each step in the cards below.

Understand Your Assignment

A thorough understanding of the assignment can help you clarify the purpose of your literature review. By carefully checking the requirements, you gain insights into the expectations of your instructor or research project. This understanding is pivotal because it not only guides the scope and direction of your literature review but ensures that you align your efforts with the specific goals of the assignment, leading to a focused, relevant, and academically satisfying literature review.

For specific strategies and information, check our resource page on understanding assignment instructions and planning.

Make a Plan

Once you’ve established a clear understanding of the expectations and requirements of your literature review assignment, it is crucial to create a feasible work plan. In this plan, you establish strategies, approaches, and estimated time allocation for each step (i.e., conducting a literature search, conducting analysis, and drafting your literature review). This helps you stay focused and work efficiently on your assignment.

You can use an assignment planner to help divide your tasks according to your timeframe. Assignment Planner | Digital Scholarship Unit (utoronto.ca).

For specific strategies and information, check our resource page on understanding assignment instructions and planning.

2. Research

At this stage, you implement your plan and develop the content of your literature review. In many cases, you will begin with research, which typically involves the following steps:

Select and Refine your Topic

When initiating your plan, you often need to choose an appropriate topic for your literature review. Your topic, or a specific research question in some cases, shapes your choice of keywords for literature search and the amount and quality of literature you can find in the subsequent steps. However, you should know that topic selection and refinement is often not a one-time effort. It is an ongoing process where you might repeatedly test whether your topic is appropriate or needs revisions based on the results of your literature search and analysis. For example, your topic may sometimes yield an overwhelming volume of literature. In such cases, adjustments to your topic will be necessary to strike the right balance.

For specific strategies and information, check our resource page on how to select assignment topics.

Search for Sources

After you’ve chosen your literature review topic or research question, the next step is to search for appropriate sources using the library databases and effective search strategies. Learn more about this in our resource page on how to find sources for assignments.

Evaluate and Select Sources

As you search for sources, you need to establish evaluation criteria to select an appropriate amount of high-quality literature that aligns with your topic. The outcomes of this step can also help confirm whether the scope of your topic is appropriate and if any adjustments are necessary.

Learn more about evaluation criteria on our resource page on how to evaluate and select literature.

Organize Literature

Once you have gathered the relevant literature for your assignment and read it in detail, you need to organize key information and notes systematically to compare and contrast study results, methods, etc. This organized system will prepare you to analyze the information and develop the main ideas for your assignment. In addition, it will help you determine whether additional literature search is needed or if you need to further refine your topic. Learn more about organizing your literature on our resource page How to Organize Literature.

3. Pre-Write

When you have gathered and organized literature relevant to your research topic, you are ready to 1) analyze the content, 2) develop your main ideas and 3) produce an outline for your assignment.

Analyze Literature

Once you have organized the content of each source you have selected, you need to analyze it by summarizing relevant findings, evaluating arguments and implications, finding gaps and limitations, comparing and contrasting findings and methods, and finding connections among sources. Learn more in our resource page on how to analyze literature and develop ideas for your literature review.

Develop and Organize Ideas

While and after analyzing all the sources you have read, you will develop the main ideas you intend to write about. Analysis and idea development go hand in hand and don’t follow a perfectly linear process - go back and forth between the literature and the analysis you organized in the previous steps to confirm what supports your ideas, adjust and refine them. Learn more in our resource page on how to analyze literature and develop ideas for your literature review.

Create an Outline

Once you have confirmed the main ideas you intend to include in your literature review, create an outline where you list ideas, sub-points, and supporting evidence. This outline will be the skeleton for the structure of your paper. Learn more about outlines in our resource page on how to analyze literature and develop ideas for your literature review.

4. Write

Once you have established a solid outline, you are now ready for writing. This is the stage when you officially begin to write paragraphs for your literature review. It includes two steps: 1) Write a Draft and 2) Revise.

Write a Draft

At this stage, you produce your initial draft based on the outline you crafted in the previous stage. As introduced in "What is a Literature Review", a good literature review goes beyond a simple summary of findings in the existing literature; it involves your interpretation and critical evaluation of these findings. For this reason, you should include both descriptive and critical points instead of merely compiling descriptions of previous studies.

For specific strategies and information, check the following resource pages:

Revise

Good writing is never a one-time effort but involves multiple rounds of reviews and revisions. Therefore, it is often necessary to revisit your initial draft a couple of times and improve your writing. For example, you may want to review your instructor’s rubric to confirm whether you have fulfilled all the requirements (e.g., content, structure, and citation format) and ask for feedback from your peers, student advisors, and professors.

For specific strategies and information, check our resource page Revising, Editing & Proofreading and Citations and APA Style.

Literature Review Sample

Literature Review (student sample) (366.38 KB, PDF)

This is a full literature review paper written by an OISE student on the topic of Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) and Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) in Writing Centers (WC). Throughout the paper, you will find several annotations. Yellow annotations refer to the structure of the paper, its content and how ideas are developed. Purple annotations refer to writing elements and language elements (e.g., paragraphs, paraphrases, summaries, quotes, stance and voice, cohesion, etc.).

Help & Additional Resources

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How to Select Assignment Topics

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 22:17:53 +0000

How to Select Assignment Topics ana.lacerda@ma… Mon, 10/23/2023 - 18:17

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, Learning strategies, Research skills

Skills Keywords:

Annotated bibliographies, Library navigation, Literature reviews, Proposals, Searching for sources

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand the importance of selecting an appropriate assignment topic.
Learn effective strategies for selecting a topic.

Roadmap presenting the fours steps to prepare a literature review and indicating you are currently in step 2, part 1, selecting the assignment topic.

Introduction

Your course instructors might ask you to write a ‘midterm paper’ or ‘final paper’, and they will often require you to choose your own assignment topic.

For example, in a course about Second Language Teaching Methodologies, your instructor might provide the following guidelines:

“You can write a research-oriented position paper. From an educational researcher perspective, position yourself in relation to and critically discuss one of the fundamental methodologies, areas, concepts or issues presented in this course. Aim to support your position on this topic with scholarly research, examples, and any other resources you deem appropriate.”

Once you’ve understood the assignment instructions, the next thing to do is choose your paper topic.

What are the Features of an Appropriate Assignment Topic?

Selecting and developing your own topic helps you improve your thinking and research skills. As you think about topics, it is important to find a balance between what you want to explore and what your assignment instructions ask for.

A common challenge for students is finding topics that are focused. When your topic is too broad, the feedback you might receive from your instructor is “to narrow it down”.

Narrowing down a topic means defining

a specific focus of inquiry (e.g., a teaching strategy, a framework, a curriculum reform, an educational policy, a counselling approach)
a context (e.g., geographical context, education setting, target population)
a purpose (e.g., what is the impact of an approach, what are the causes of an issue, how was a policy decided, contrast/comparison of methodologies, solutions to a problem)

When you focus your topic (AKA “narrow it down”), you dig deeper into a specific part of it, which makes your research more detailed and doable. Focusing your topic is important to establish clear boundaries to what you will be reading and writing about.

If your topic is too broad: 

You may find too many sources and feel overwhelmed
You may struggle deciding what concepts to include or omit
The information you find will be too general
The result might be a general assignment that fails to respond to the specific assignment instructions.

Let's compare some broad and narrowed-down assignment topics to highlight the difference:

Strategies for Finding Your Topic

MUST DO!

Before you choose your assignment topic, review the assignment instructions.

Pay attention to any specific requirements or constraints outlined in the instructions, including the types and number of sources you are required to use. This can help you identify the boundaries and expectations for your topic. You can learn more about understanding assignment instructions here.

Draw from your Personal and Professional Experience

Our unique background can lead to fresh perspectives on existing topics or inspire entirely new research questions. Think about your personal or professional experience related to the theme of your course with an inquisitive eye. Ask yourself critical questions about these experiences in relation to what you are learning.

Here is some inspiration for you:

If you have teaching experience, think about how concepts you're learning in your course might apply to your teaching context.
Think about a problem / issue you have encountered in your personal /professional life. Can you seek information to better understand it or solve it?
Think about some behaviors / attitudes that you or people you know have. Can you find explanations for them through the concepts you’re learning?
Think about broader social issues or education-related issues in your culture. Can you find any relationships to your course contents?

Engage with the academic community

Talk about your assignment topic ideas with your peers and instructors in class.

Outside of class, unleash your curiosity and be proactive! Attend workshops, seminars, university events, and other academic activities. You might discover new areas of interest or research angles. You can also receive valuable guidance and suggest areas of research that align with our academic goals.

Keep a list

While taking your courses, keep a list of interesting topics and questions.

Inspiration can strike at any moment, so jot down your ideas whenever they come to you.
Where to find inspiration for ideas?

Review course outlines and topics and see what interests you
Take notes of interesting points made by your professors and colleagues in and outside of class
Think about your professional /personal experience and write down issues and questions that might align with course content

Brainstorming and Mind Mapping

Do Preliminary Literature Search

If you have a general idea about your topic and are in the process of refining it, you should do some preliminary research and find relevant literature that will help you narrow down and refine your topic.

If your topic is very broad (e.g., Constructivism and learning), start from general sources like

Specialized encyclopedias
State-of-the-art articles
Literature reviews
Meta-analysis articles

These are goldmines for identifying the main concepts, trends, research gaps and scholars around your topic of interest.

Look for recent literature, if possible, to learn about the most current knowledge and questions in your field of study.

Note that the literature you read and search can be relatively broader than the topic we will eventually choose. For example, our review might reveal that there is a growing body of literature on the “benefits of project-based learning in primary education”. This could inspire us to investigate the effectiveness of project-based learning specifically in science education.

For more information on how to search for appropriate sources check How to Find Sources for Assignments. To learn more about literature reviews, check What is a Literature Review and How to Prepare a Literature Review.

Our Tips

Find a topic that interests you! Graduate courses allow you to explore areas of study that are meaningful to you. Consider assignments as an opportunity to advance your own learning interests.

Start early! Finding the right assignment topic is often an iterative process and can take some time. This means that your first topic idea might not be your final topic as you go back and forth between your topic selection strategies, discussions with your instructor and literature search.

Be proactive! Discuss your ‘half-baked’ ideas and/or outline with your instructor, and ask for specific feedback and constructive advice. Show your instructor that you have done some preliminary work instead of asking them, “can you please help me find a topic?”

Next Steps

Once you finalize your assignment topic, it’s time to search for sources on the library databases using different combinations of keywords. Check our resource page on searching for sources.

Research skills

How to Write a Research Proposal Paper

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

What is a Research Proposal Paper?

Why Write a Research Proposal Paper?

How to Plan your Research Proposal

Structure of a Research Proposal Paper

Research Proposal Examples

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

How to Read Academic Articles

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

Introduction

What are the Purposes of Academic Reading?

What are Research Articles?

Empirical Articles

Theoretical Articles

Review Articles

Empirical Articles

How to Read Research Articles?

1. Preview

Skim

Scan

2. Read in a Specific Order

3. Focus on Predictable Language, Commonly Used Phrases & Vocabulary

4. Active Reading & Questioning

5. Take Notes

Paraphrase or summarize main points or things to remember

Respond to what you read

Save or export references and quotes

Notetaking Examples

Help & Additional Resources

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Additional Resources

On Campus Services

How to Organize Literature

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

Introduction

How can I Organize Basic Information?

Method 1: Use a Spreadsheet

Method 2: Use a Reference Management Software

Find a System to Organize your Notes and Key Information

Why Organize Key Information and Notes Systematically?

Our Tips

Next Steps

Help & Additional Resources

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Additional Resources

On Campus Services

How to Write an Annotated Bibliography

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

Introduction

Step 1: Select a Topic

Step 2: Search for Literature

Step 3: Format Bibliographic Information

Step 4: Read Literature Critically

Step 5: Write Annotations

Example of an Annotated Bibliography

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH:

On Campus Services:

How to Evaluate and Select Literature

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

Introduction

What are Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria?

Why Do You Need Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria?

Using the RADAR Model and Other Criteria to Evaluate Literature

Step 1: Can I Trust this Source?

Step 2: Is the Source Content Relevant to my Topic and Scope?

Next Step

Help & Additional Resources

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Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH:   

On Campus Services:   

This Resource Page will help you:   

This Resource Page will help you:   

Help & Additional Resources 

Related Topics on ASH:  

On Campus Services:  