Develop a Search Strategy

You may have been told at some point that using Google for academic research is forbidden. And while it can have its drawbacks, it can have a place in your research. Google can help you:

• Find keywords associated with a topic.
• Find alternative words and phrases to expand your search.
• Develop or focus your research topic.
• Further educate you on your topic or find nuances or issues you may not have thought of otherwise.
• Find pop culture information (i.e., sports scores, the history of Blake Lively's dresses at the Met Gala, which films have won best picture at the Oscar Awards, etc.).

For research related to your assignments, we often recommend using Google Scholar, which helps focus your research on items of a scholarly nature. We've created an entire toolkit that covers how to use Google efficiently. See our Google Scholar Toolkit.

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