Start your research
Start your research by picking a topic and learning about scholarly articles
Tutorial: Successful research papers
After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Use strategies to pick a research paper topic
- Develop a research question or thesis statement
- Brainstorm keywords to build an effective search
- Find high-quality sources using library search tools like databases
- Evaluate search results and sources for your research papers and projects
Tutorial: Academic Integrity: What is a scholar?
What does it mean to be a good scholar at the University of Minnesota? In this tutorial, learn the specifics of what is means to have academic integrity vs. scholastic dishonesty.
Tutorial: Choosing a research paper topic
After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Find ideas and language on a topic using online tools and techniques
- Use techniques like mind mapping, the 5W’s, and freeform writing to narrow a large topic
Tutorial: What does it mean to be a scholarly source?
After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Recognize a scholarly (versus a popular) source
- Understand how a scholarly source differs from other types of sources
Tutorial: How scholarly research gets published in peer-reviewed journals and where to find it all
After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Recognize how scholarly research articles come to be published in peer-reviewed journals
- Use a library database to access it all
Tutorial: Creating an effective search strategy
After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Use meaningful keywords to find the best sources
- Apply search strategies like AND and OR to connect keywords
Tutorial: Database search tips
Improve your searches! This guide will help you:
- Apply search modifiers AND, OR, and NOT to your database searches
- Recognize phrase searching and other advanced search techniques
Tutorial: What is a library database and why should I use one?
After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Identify what a library database is
- Recognize the two main types of library databases
- Know why you should use them
- Understand why searching a library database is different than searching the general internet
Tutorial: Exploring a scholarly research article
After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Identify the components, or sections, common to scholarly research articles
- Recognize the importance of the information within each section
Tutorial: How to read and comprehend scientific research articles
After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Read scientific research articles
- Find the main points of articles
- Engage with articles by taking effective notes
Tutorial: What are citations?
After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Understand what citations are
- Recognize why they are important
- Create and use citations in your papers and other scholarly work
Tutorial: Using citations to find journal articles and books
In this tutorial you will learn:
- Journal articles include citations you can use to identify other relevant articles and books
- To use Libraries Search to find articles and books
- To contact the Libraries if you need help
Last Updated: Jun 24, 2025 12:51 PM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/tutorials