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Find Research Studies

Review your Assignment

Identify any study limitations like:

  • Date (last 5 years?)
  • Type of study: quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, or pilot study?
  • Study location: country? state/region?
  • Researcher/author: RN? NP? PA? OT? Ph.D.?
  • Methods: retrospective? controlled? Double-blind? experimental?

Search for Studies

Create a search string that includes your topic and required study characteristics:

“elementary education” AND “literacy” AND “teaching methods” AND “quantitative”

screen shot of an advanced database search using Eric
Advanced Search in ERIC database

Assess Your Results

  • Are the results on the topic?
  • Should you add to or change your search terms?
  • What filters do you need: date? scholarly journal? grade or age? research? peer-reviewed? Check the advanced search for all options.

Adjust your search until you find relevant results. Need help? Ask a Librarian.

Review the Article Information

  • Click on the article title and read the abstract, subjects/descriptors, and publication type.
  • Look for clues about the study location, type of study or methods, and age of participants.
  • The author’s affliation (where the author works) is often the same city and sometimes same location where the research took place

Find Full-Text

  • Inside the article, look for PDF full-text or HTML full-text options.
  • Click on Link to Full-text to see if the article is available in Primo.
  • If you still cannot access full-text, request the article via Inter-library loan. Most requests are filled in within 3 days via email.

Cite the Research Study

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