Research skills develop over time, but they develop if and when we put in efforts to develop them in the first place. Many believe that research is all about entering the right keywords in Google and finding the right article. No. There are so many things to be done for good research. If you truly wish to learn, then you will have to take research more seriously than this.
University education stresses a great deal on the importance of good research skills. Time and again, you will be asked to conduct research and make assignments based on it. While it is expected that you will be given basic training in research work at university, you should put effort into improving your knowledge and skills. There are a handful of things that you should consider for honing research abilities and producing excellent research works.
Be ready to acquaint yourself with a few tips that can do wonders for you.
- Wikipedia is not credible
The insurmountable importance that Wikipedia has in our lives is inexplicable. I cannot deny how much information is freely available to us and how much it has helped in forming impressions about the world. However, there is one unsettling aspect of Wikipedia which makes it a dubious source of information. Wikipedia content is not necessarily written by experts, which means anyone can add information to the same. While references are offered for the information offered, there are chances that they have been selectively picked up. If you are into serious research work, avoid the temptation to base your research on what you find on Wikipedia. - Read Books
The digitalization of information has resulted in a major shift. This shift concerns the way people process information. More often than not, we end up starting with blog articles or journal articles that are very specific and do not offer exhaustive and elaborative information about the subject matter. Anyone who wishes to read about something in great detail must consider starting with books. I always advise people to start with books. Read through relevant chapters and form a rather well-informed impression on the topic of concern. - Read from multiple sources
Do not form an opinion after having read one or two articles. A good researcher reads a lot of related literature before forming a solid opinion on the subject matter. You might like an article and want to use it as the foundation of your own research work but that does not mean that there would not be better alternatives. Only after you have read enough and from multiple sources should you consider writing down your draft. The purpose of research—good research—is to enhance the critical analytical skills of the researcher, and that cannot happen unless time is given to research. - Choose Journal Articles Carefully
Today, there are thousands of journals out there that promise to assure quality publications. Some are paid and some are not, but either way, all of them are not genuine in terms of quality and reputation. Before picking any journal article, make sure you have done a background check on the journal. Make sure the journal has an ISSN, has been in print for a number of years (or has just started from a credible institution, is a peer and blind reviewed, and is recognized by local authorities. Also, there is nothing wrong per se in getting your article published in a paid journal so long as you can confirm its authenticity. Note that many journals, especially digital journals, charge processing fees because they provide content for free to the public. But, that is a small price to pay for engaging people in quality discourse and amassing recognition. - Organize Your Data
Every time you read you will have something additional to add to what you already know. Data collection and organization, therefore, require the utmost attention. Most likely, you will be saving your data digitally. There is a number of good software available that are specially designed for assisting research work such as Zotero. They have been crafted to allow orderly arrangement of data into various categories, sharing content with others, accessing data from anywhere in the world, and generating bibliographies among many other things.
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