BEHL 2005: Introductory Research Methods
Assessment details
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This page is designed to support completion of your APA style research report. Refer to your course outline and course site for the full assessment details. |
Plan your search
Step 1: Identify main concepts and think of any relevant synonyms (similar terms)
| Example assignment question: How does delayed gratification in early childhood relate to academic ability in adolescence? |
| Main concepts | Synonyms or similar terms |
| Delayed gratification |
delayed gratification, delay of gratification, marshmallow experiment, delay discounting |
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Adolescence |
Teenage, adolescent, youth |
| Academic ability | academic performance, academic competence |
Tip: As you search you may find more alternative words to include in searches.
Step 2: Connect your words using AND and OR
Use the following operator words, which most search tools will have, to indicate how you want the tool to search for your keywords:
- OR: Combines similar keywords
- AND: Combines different keywords
- Double quotations “...” to keep any words together that are phrases
For example:
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(“delayed gratification” OR “Delay of Gratification” OR “marshmallow experiment” OR “Delay Discounting”) AND (teenage OR adolescence OR adolescent OR youth) AND (“academic performance” OR “academic competence”) |
Want to know more?
Peer reviewed journals
What are peer reviewed/scholarly sources?
Scholarly or Academic is a term used for different kinds of authoritative and credible sources including articles from journals (including peer reviewed journals), academic books, government reports etc.
Peer reviewed (refereed) journals are of high quality. Each article has gone through an evaluation process with experts in the field before being published.
Want to know more?
Scholarly or Academic is a term used for different kinds of authoritative and credible sources including articles from journals (including peer reviewed journals), academic books, government reports etc.
Peer reviewed (refereed) journals are of high quality. Each article has gone through an evaluation process with experts in the field before being published.
Want to know more?
APA Style
The Academic Writer Tutorial: Basics of Seventh Edition APA Style provides an introduction to the seventh edition APA style and is designed for writers new to the style.
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Massey University APA referencing toolAPA Interactive creates customised examples of APA references and in-text citations.
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APA StyleAcademic Writer, formerly known as APA Style CENTRAL®, is APA's complete digital environment for teaching and conducting the process of scholarly writing.
Learn about referencing using the seventh edition APA style in this interactive tutorial from JCU Library. Create a reference for a book, a journal article and and a webpage. 
Searching
Where should you search?
Watch the Choosing where to search video (2:30) to help you to understand why and when to use different search tools.
Library Collection
Use the Library Collection to find eBooks, journal articles, reports, videos and more.
Tip: Use the example search in step 2.
Tip: Use the filters under 'Tweak my Results' to find exactly what you need.
- Narrow by Format type: Book or Articles or Media
- Find scholarly journal articles by selecting: Show Only > Peer-reviewed journals
- Narrow your search by a Date range
Google Scholar
Google Scholar searches only within academic or scholarly sites, rather than the whole internet. Search Google Scholar directly from the Library homepage to access fulltext of resources.
Tip: Use the example search in step 2.
Want to know more?
Evaluate your sources
It is important to evaluate the information you find. Watch this short video (3:17) and, for more information, view the Evaluate page.
Study help
The Student Engagement Unit has created a suite of resources called Study Help that can help you understand different assignment types.
Take a look at:
- Writing and Academic LanguageResources to help you structure, format and write your assignment.
- Writing essaysThis page contains an essay overview and examples from different subject areas
- Report writing (UniSA Study Help)Overview of report writing, with a psychology example.
- Reading and note-takingA guide from UniSA's Learning Advisers.
PASS sessions are free and informal study sessions run by students who excelled in the course. Designed to help you better understand the course. Click on the link to view the timetable.