Essay Assessments
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This assignment help will assist you in finding information for your essays.
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Searching for literature: plan your search
Planning your search helps you find information more efficiently.
Start by:
- Identifying the main concepts in your research question
- Thinking of any alternative concepts or synonyms for each concept
- Connecting your concepts together using boolean (AND and OR) to form a search
A table or mindmap can be a useful strategy for doing this.
For example, if your topic is 'Analyse three examples of the lasting impact of Ancient Greek society and culture on the evolution of human civilisation', you could do:
| Main concepts |
Concept 1 |
Concept 2 |
Concept 3 |
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Synonyms (similar concepts) |
influence effect |
Greece Hellenic Hellenistic |
civilization culture custom society |
This search can serve as a starting point in your research and help you find relevant resources. However, you may notice that you are finding a large volume of irrelevant results.
If this is the case, including a phrase such as ‘influence of Greek’ (which you may have come across in relevant results within your first search), will yield fewer results, but they will likely be more relevant. You can include the area of civilisation that has been influenced by Ancient Greek culture and society as your second concept, for example:
| Main concepts |
Concept 1 |
Concept 2 |
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Synonyms (similar concepts) |
"influence of Greece" "influence of Hellenic" |
painting sculpture |
Tip: As you search, you may come across more concepts or synonyms you can incorporate. Don't be afraid to change or modify your search as you go.
Watch or read the below for more information on how to put together a search using operators:
More help
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Watch Plan your search (2 min 26) |
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Read: How to plan your search (pdf) |
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View the Writing your assignment page for more info on interpreting your topic and planning your search |
Searching for literature: understanding boolean operators
Boolean operators (connectors) are what you use to connect your search concepts together to form different search strategies.
The below table summarises how they work:
| Boolean operator | What it does | Example |
| AND |
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Impact AND Greek |
| OR |
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Greek OR Greece OR Hellenic OR Hellenistic |
| Search strategy: (Historical OR History) AND (Cloth OR Jeans OR shoes) AND (race OR class) | ||
Choose where to search
 Where should you search? |
Knowing where to search is just as important as knowing how to search. The following video will help you to understand why and when to use different search tools.
Video Length: 2 minutes 14 seconds
- Not all search tools will give you access to the same information.
- Understanding why and when to use different search tools will save you time.
- The Library Collection:
- is a good place to search for scholarly material.
- provides free access to a variety of resources types across a range of subject areas.
- Databases:
- help focus your search and have more advanced searching options.
- Google Scholar:
- provides access to a wide range of resources, but not all of it is scholarly.
- use the Google Scholar link from the Library website for best access to full-text references.
- Some types of specific information are best found using a search engine or specific website.
- All resources need to be evaluated before using them.
Searching for literature: where to search
Once you've built a search strategy, you can apply it in search tools. Check out this video on Choosing where to search and the example searches below.
 Library catalogue |
The Library catalogue can be a useful starting point in locating information.
Put your search in the basic search box, group your alternative keywords inside brackets
Alternatively, use the advanced search to split your concepts on to different rows
Use Refine my results on the left hand side to narrow your results. Here are some examples:
- Show Only - Peer-reviewed journals
- Resource Type - Book chapters
- Publication Date - limit to the last 10 years
| Databases |
Databases are searching tools for finding articles, papers, reports and more. Some databases are subject-specific, whilst others may cover multiple subject areas. See the In Focus: History page for a summary of history databases and other relevant history resources.
| Google Scholar |
Google Scholar searches within academic or scholarly sites, rather than the whole internet. Access via the Library for full text at UniSA links to resources held in the collection.
Want to Know More?
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Practice using Google Scholar with our Interactive Tutorial (10 min.) |
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| Citation tracking |
When you've found a really useful article or book chapter, look at the reference list and who has cited (referenced) it to find further relevant literature.
Key databases and search tools which track citations include: Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and the Library Collection.
In the Library Collection, look for 
or 
.
For more information, watch the video on Citation Tracking.
Peer reviewed resources
Peer reviewed (refereed) journals are of a high quality and must go through an evaluation process with experts in the field before being published. The terms scholarly and academic are sometimes used instead.
When searching the Library Collection, peer reviewed articles are indicated with a purple icon. You can also use the "Refine my Search" menu to show only Peer Reviewed articles in your search results.
Want to Know More?
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View the 'How To' guide Find Scholarly Sources (PDF) |
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Write your essay
This short video goes through the process of writing an essay.
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 LanguagePrintable resources and videos to help you structure, format and write your assignment using appropriate language.
- Writing essaysThis page contains an essay overview and examples from different subject areas
Studiosity offers assistance with academic writing, referencing, maths, business studies and more. Use the online chat or submit work for feedback.
Referencing
You must appropriately cite (‘acknowledge’) all references used in your assignment to avoid plagiarism.
- Referencing RoadmapHelp with the Harvard UniSA referencing style. Find in text-citations and reference examples, from different sources such as articles, books & chapters, websites, and more.
- Referencing WebpageThis Referencing website is designed and monitored by the Learning Advisers at UniSA. It provides a suite of resources to help guide you on how to display your references correctly within your assignments using UniSA Harvard Referencing style.
