English as an Additional Language

From your assignment instructions:

• a minimum of three references
  • at least one must be a peer-reviewed scholarly article
• a maximum of six references
• APA reference page

Four steps to choosing your topic and research question

1. Choose a more general question or topic
2. Do some background research to find out a bit more and see how others have discussed that topic.
3. Develop some more focused questions that you might want to focus on
4. Further define your topic - avoid being too broad (or you will never be able to cover it all) or too narrow (you may not find enough information)
5. Not sure if your topic is too broad or too narrow? You might have to do a bit more searching and reading to find out. 

Some ways to narrow a topic:

• Place (geography, location, setting, etc.)

• Population (Age, demographic, etc.)

• Timeframe (year, decade, etc.)

• Relevant issue or challenge (eg. difficulty finding work, learning disability, etc.)

Google News is a great tool to find recent news articles for your research essay. Here are some simple steps to help you use Google News effectively.

https://news.google.com/

Tips for Using Google News

    •    Use different keywords if you don’t find what you need the first time.
    •    Check multiple sources to get a balanced view on your topic.
    •    Be careful with opinion pieces. They might be biased.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Go to Google News: Open your web browser and go to news.google.com.
2. Search for Your Topic: In the search bar at the top, type in your research topic or keywords. Press Enter.
3. Filter Your Results: You can filter the results to get the most relevant articles. Click on the “Tools” button below the search bar. Choose the time range you need (e.g., past 24 hours, past week, past month).
4. Read the Headlines and Summaries: Look through the list of articles. Read the headlines and short summaries to find the most relevant articles for your topic.
5. Open and Read Articles: Click on the articles that seem useful. Read them carefully to see if they have the information you need.
6. Evaluate the Sources Using RADAR
7. Save Your Sources: If you find a good article, save the link or print the page. You can also take notes on the important points.
8. Cite Your Sources: Remember to cite the articles in your essay. Include the author, title, date, and where you found it (Google News).

You can search for newspaper articles at MRU Library using the Newspaper Search tool.

You can use Google Search to search for a particular type of website (eg. not for profit organization), or within a known website (eg. Government of Canada), by using the following function: site:sitedomain

Example: If you are interested in Alberta's education system, you could use Google to search the Government of Alberta website. "site:alberta.ca education"

• site:gc.ca this searches the government of Canada websites
• site:alberta.ca searches only Alberta government sites
• site:org searches non-profit organization sites
• site:ca searches websites with the domain .ca for Canada
• site:.edu searches websites from most universities and colleges in the United States

(Source: Adapted from Thompson Rivers University Library)

Activity: Check the Political Bias of an Online Newspaper

1. Choose a newspaper website (for example, CNN, Fox News, or BBC).
2. Visit the website and look at a few headlines or articles.
3. Open a new tab and go to AllSides.com or MediaBiasFactCheck.com.
4. Type the newspaper’s name into the search box.
5. Look for a “bias rating” (for example, “Left,” “Center,” or “Right”) for that publication. In AllSides you have to go the "news sources" tab.
6. Is the media bias what you expected? How does this change your view of the publication?

MRUnderstanding Misinformation, developed by Brooks DeCillia at Mount Royal University, teaches you how to recognize and fight misinformation, including fake news, disinformation, and malinformation.

Website: https://www.mrumisinfo.ca/home

Websites for checking facts and claims made in news articles

• PolitiFact
• FactCheck.org
• OpenSecrets
• Snopes
• Google Fact Check Explorer

Academic Publications

• Often referred to as academic, peer-reviewed, or refereed 
• Written by experts in a particular field
• Keep others interested in that field up to date on the most recent research and findings. 

What is peer review?

• When a source has been peer-reviewed it has undergone the review and scrutiny of a review other experts in the field. Tof colleagues in the author's field.  They evaluate this source and make recommendations regarding its publication in a journal, revisions before publication, or, in some cases, reject its publication.

General Characteristics

1. Author: Expert in the field
2. Review: Reviewed by other experts (peers)
3. Audience / Language: Written for scholars and students; uses academic language
4. Content: Original research and criticism; uses previous research literature for background
5. Citations: Always

Examples:

1. Peer-reviewed articles
2. Scholarly books (can be challenging to identify)
3. Literature reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analysis
4. Thesis and dissertations

Using LibrarySearch

1. Type of Sources
   • Book, article, video
2. Search Filters
   • Use the "padlock" to lock your filters
3. Description
   • Often a summary or table of contents
4. Access Options
   • Physical location
   • Online access
   • Request a copy
5. Tools
   • Citation
   • Permalink

To search phrases, put phrases in quotation marks.

• "post-secondary education"
• very useful when you have a specific phrase containing common words

Search different spellings: Use an asterisk * to find different endings to your keywords

• colleg* = college, colleges, collegiate
• smok* = smoke, smoking, smokes, smoked, smokers

Use limits: These refine (narrow) your search using different restrictions

• Date (last 10 years)
• Peer-reviewed (for articles)

You can combine all the above in your search:

• "post-secondary education" alberta advantag*