Gone are the days when you were limited to academic research in your college library. The internet has opened up new possibilities for searching acceptable academic sources, from peer-reviewed articles in online journals to e-books and research databases. Even social media platforms that were previously widely rejected by teachers have become useful sources of research.
The downside to the incredible amount of acceptable academic sources available with just a few clicks is the sheer volume of information. Knowing where to start without reliable resources up your sleeve can be daunting. That’s exactly what we’ve put together: four suggestions from solid sources you can use to jumpstart your academic research online.
NB: Acceptable sources for academic research may vary depending on the teacher. It is therefore a good idea to review your program and/or consult with your instructor before beginning the research to ensure that the guidelines are followed.
Google academic
There are thousands of scientific journals online covering a wide range of disciplines. Google Scholar is a good place to start. With this free tool, you can search for peer-reviewed articles in professional journals and other sources including books, abstracts, and judgments, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and others. Web sites. Google Scholar even offers a list of places where a particular article is cited in the literature. This is useful for further research while reading related content. However, it’s important to note that you can only access articles that you find through Google Scholar if they are available for free online. In most cases, you can read the summary. However, to access the full text, you may need to subscribe to the corresponding journal, which may be available through your university’s library, but not directly from Google Scholar.
Data published by government agencies
The US Census Bureau website should be an integral part of your survey toolkit. In addition to its primary role of conducting the U.S. Census every 10 years, the office annually conducts more than 100 household and business surveys nationwide. These surveys go far beyond demographic and demographic information. Only a selection of the areas in which the Census Bureau collects detailed data include employment, housing, crime, consumer spending and health. The office makes its large amount of information publicly available and can be easily categorized, analyzed, and viewed using free tools and applications on its website.
Another website you’ll want to frequently bookmark and reference in your research is the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the United States Department of Labor. The BLS website has dozens of up-to-date maps, tables, databases, and calculators you can use to find and rate hundreds of records relating to consumer prices, national and regional employment, labor productivity, and working conditions.
Other agencies that collect and publish valuable statistical data for academic research are:
Office of Justice Statistics (crime data)
Traffic Statistics Office (data on the country’s traffic systems)
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (data on research and development, STEM training, and science and technology)
National Center for Education Statistics
Department of Policy Research and Development Office of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (data on housing needs, market conditions, and community development issues).
Search for databases in your school library
University libraries often subscribe to research databases such as ProQuest, EBSCO, and LexisNexis Academic. These powerful tools allow students to search and access billions of documents, exams, eBooks, and other premium resources on topics such as news, law, medicine, business, etc., even when these documents were behind a wall. paid when accessing through Google or another search engine. These research databases are extremely useful (and extremely expensive).