Find Background Information
Need topic ideas? Make sure you pick something that is interesting to you! Browsing these websites and databases can be a great way to uncover potential topic ideas. These sources will provide background information and keywords for further research.
Websites
- The ConversationShort articles written by academics on timely topics related to their research.
- JSTOR DailyBrief articles grounded in peer-reviewed research. Click the three-line icon in the top left for an index of topics to browse.
- Nature NewsCurrent news and analysis about science and technology from the journal Nature.
Databases
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
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A weekly publication that covers current and controversial issues with complete summaries, timelines and bibliographies. - Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
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A collection of digital reference titles. Content includes a wide range of general reference titles together with a large collection of subject-specific books. - Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
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A database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. - In Context: Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
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Viewpoint articles, topic overviews, full-text magazine, academic journal, and newspaper articles, primary source documents, statistics, images, and more.
- In Context: Science This link opens in a new window
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Contextual information on hundreds of today's most significant science topics. Includes reference content along with full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, experiments, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites.
Researching with Wikipedia (the Scholarly Way)
Wikipedia can be great for starting the research process with a quick overview of a topic, but it's important to understand its limitations as a research tool.
- Researching with WikipediaLearn when to use Wikipedia for research, how to judge article quality, and more
Brainstorm Keywords
Draft a Thesis Statement
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