The Monsignor William Barry Memorial Library has several Librarians who are available to help.
Here are some of the ways your Librarian can assist with your library needs:
|
Librarians |
|
Merlene Nembhard, M.S. |
|
Eduardo Porben, M.S. Julian Perez, M.S.
|
Remember! We are here to help. If you need any assistance with using the library and its resources, contact us for assistance.
Email: libraryhelp@barry.edu
Phone: 305-899-3760
Browse our subject guides: eguides.barry.edu
Check out our knowledge base: Library FAQs
Stop by! Campus Map
The Research Paper Process
Consider the following:
When in doubt, consult with your instructor.
The easiest way to search for information electronically is to enter a couple of keywords into the search box of the resource and see what type of results you get. This strategy, however, will often result in too few, too many, or irrelevant results.
In order to retrieve the most relevant results, you will need to construct a search string. A search string is a combination of keywords, truncation symbols, and boolean operators you enter into the search box of an electronic library resource or an Internet search engine.
Boolean searching is the traditional way to search for information in most online databases and on the Internet. Boolean operators are connector words (AND, OR, and NOT) used to create phrases and concepts based on specific rules of search logic.
| " " (quotations) | Use quotation marks around two or more words to find words or word variants in an exact order. | "social justice" |
| + (plus sign) | Use before a search term to find results containing that term. | +education |
| ( ) (parenthesis) | Use around search terms to group items when using AND, OR, NOT. | (disaster OR emergency) AND (funding OR appropriations) |
| ~ (tilde) | Use with a number after two or more words enclosed in quotation marks to find results containing all words (or word variants) within the specified distance from each other. | "social justice"~10 |
| ? (question mark) | Use in the middle or end of a word to indicate a single character ‘wildcard’. Finds results that include the search term with a single character variant. | wom?n |
| * (asterisk) | Use in the middle or end of a word to indicate a multiple character ‘wildcard’. Finds results that include the search term with zero or more character variants. | educa* |
There is a vast amount of information available on the Internet. However, the Internet is not regulated by any agency, so anyone can post information that may not be reliable. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the information before using it as a source.
Peer-reviewed (or refereed): Refers to articles that have undergone a rigorous review process, often including revisions to the original manuscript, by peers in their discipline, before publication in a scholarly journal. This can include empirical studies, review articles, meta-analyses among others.
Empirical study (or primary article): An empirical study is one that aims to gain new knowledge on a topic through direct or indirect observation and research. These include quantitative or qualitative data and analysis. In science, an empirical article will often include the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion.
Review article: In the scientific literature, this is a type of article that provides a synthesis of existing research on a particular topic. These are useful when you want to get an idea of a body of research that you are not yet familiar with. It differs from a systematic review in that it does not aim to capture ALL of the research on a particular topic.
Systematic review: This is a methodical and thorough literature review focused on a particular research question. It's aim is to identify and synthesize all of the scholarly research on a particular topic in an unbiased, reproducible way to provide evidence for practice and policy-making. It may involve a meta-analysis (see below).
Meta-analysis: This is a type of research study that combines or contrasts data from different independent studies in a new analysis in order to strengthen the understanding of a particular topic. There are many methods, some complex, applied to performing this type of analysis.
North Carolina State University Library. (2014, May 1). Peer Review in 3 Minutes [Video]. Youtube.
A literature review is a critical summary of what the scientific literature says about your specific topic or question. Often student research in APA fields falls into this category. Your professor might ask you to write this kind of paper to demonstrate your familiarity with work in the field pertinent to the research you hope to conduct.
While the APA Publication Manual does not require a specific order for a literature review, a good literature review typically contains the following components:
Some instructors may also want you to write an abstract for a literature review, so be sure to check with them when given an assignment. Also, the length of a literature review and the required number of sources will vary based on course and instructor preferences.
NOTE: A literature review and an annotated bibliography are not synonymous. While both types of writing involve examining sources, the literature review seeks to synthesize the information and draw connections between sources. If you are asked to write an annotated bibliography, you should consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association for the APA Format for Annotated Bibliographies.
Scribbr. (2020, April 3). How to Write a Literature Review: 3 Minute Step-by-step Guide [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/u0KVJ0lj8rw
Scribbr. (2021, March 14). LITERATURE REVIEW: Step by step guide for writing an effective literature review [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/Vc_Yu_61Ymg
Health Sciences Literature Review Made Easy by 
Succeeding with Your Literature Review: a Handbook for Students by 
Preparing Literature Reviews-3rd Ed by 