Monthly Archives: December 2010

When researching, remember some golden tokens of information:

1) Keep your research relevant to your thesis/Research question

2) Research using different tricks such as the asterisk, and/or function, etc.

3) Make sure that your research can be put into one of the BEAM categories.

4) When quoting, introduce the quotations before using them.

5) Remember that the sources are to be analyzed, and not just thrown in to make your paragraphs look lengthy.

6) Do not try researching everything in one day!

7) Your professors give you their emails for a reason.. contact them if you need any help/feedback. Most professors (That I’ve encountered so far) will help you.

8) Make sure your clear about your research question.. try to specify it as much as possible and stick to arguing your point about it.

9) Databases allow for numerous categories. Practice with researching topics using the different databases and what works best for your research.

10) DO NOT PLAGIARIZE!

10 Pieces of Advice to Freshman about Research

1. Google is your best friend.
2. Academic Search Complete is your second best friend.
3. Don’t plagiarize, but if you do do it well.
4. If you get sources make sure its from reliable people.
5. Field searching, its pretty good.
6. “Ands” and “Ors” are very important
7. When you dont know if you should cite something, cite it anyway
8. Journals will normally be the best type of source you can get
9. Use controlled vocabulary.
10. If you want to use an old essay, it better be damn good.

10 Pieces of Advice

1. take advantage of the school’s paid subscription databases
2. wikipedia is great for background info
3. but never use wikipedia as a source
4. google scholar is very useful for determining how cited and scholarly an author is
5. use boolean operators when searching
6. learn how to vary your search terms and search fields
7. take advantage of controlled vocabularies when searching
8. be sure to do a little background research on authors to determine how reputable their work is
9. when doing research projects, be sure to make concept maps to organize your info
10. when doing research projects, use different types of sources and don’t forget to cite them

1) If you are searching for a term, make sure you use quotation marks. If not, the search engine will give you results for both words separately.

2) Make sure to use the Boolean search terms correctly (and, or, not).

3) Always find background information before coming up with a research question.

4) Wikipedia should not be looked down upon, you may use it in order to find the background reasearch.

5) Plagiarism is very big and you must always make sure to cite properly and give just credit to the author.

6) Make sure to look over the authority of the author to make sure that they have some knowledge in the field they are writing about.

7) It is important to identify how you will use certain sources. This can be done through the BEAM model (Background, Exhibit, Argument, Method).

8) The Baruch Bearcat Search allows you to search multiple databases at the same time in order to find information.

9) There are many private databases but there are also numerous public databases, like WolframAlpha, that is open for everyone without monthly fees.

10) Scholarly journal articles should be peer reviewed. A hint to know whether an article is peer reviewed or not is its length; 5 pages or more and it is probably peer reviewed.

In light of today’s class discussion about whether or not it was right for a student to submit a previously written paper in another class, I thought I’d note that Baruch’s academic honesty policy forbids this practice:

Cheating is the attempted or unauthorized use of materials, information, notes, study aids, devices or communication during an academic exercise. Examples include:

• Copying from another student during an examination or allowing another to copy your work.
• Unauthorized collaborating on a take home assignment or examination.
• Using unauthorized notes during a closed book examination.
• Taking an examination for another student.
• Asking or allowing another student to take an examination for you.
• Changing a corrected exam and returning it for more credit.
• Submitting substantial portions of the same paper to two classes without consulting the second instructor.
• Preparing answers or writing notes in a blue book (exam booklet) before an examination.
• Allowing others to research and write assigned papers including the use of commercial term paper services.

Read the full academic honesty policy here.

Baruch College. “Academic Honesty.” Baruch College. Baruch College, 2002. Web. 6 Dec. 2010.