# Summary

### Purpose and structure of the module

- Aimed at first-year students who are independently searching for academic literature in the social sciences for the first time and will be using this literature in an assignment.
- The module takes approximately 60 minutes.
- In five clear steps, students are guided through the process of literature research.

### Step 1 – Orientation on the subject

- Choosing a subject: how to find a suitable subject for an academic paper.
- Mind mapping: a visual technique for mapping ideas and connections.
- Formulating a research question: converting interest into a concrete question.
- Examples of poor research questions: to learn where things can go wrong.

### Step 2 – Formulating a search strategy

- Keywords versus natural language: different approaches to finding literature.
- Synonyms and related terms: finding all relevant publications with a single search query.
- Creating a search query: techniques for targeted and effective searching.

### Step 3 – Where to search?

- Google Scholar: general and free search engine for scientific literature.
- LibSearch: search system of the university library, recommended for finding ebooks.
- Scopus: multidisciplinary literature database for peer-reviewed scientific articles.
- IBSS: International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, specifically for social sciences.
- AI tools: advantages and disadvantages of using AI tools to find literature.

### Step 4 – Evaluating search results

- Assessing search results: how to determine which search results are relevant.
- Strategy for too many results: narrow your focus.
- Solution for too few results: broaden your search, make your search query less specific.
- Finding additional literature: via references and citations in the relevant articles you have found.

### Step 5 – Using literature in your work

- Paraphrasing and summarising: reproducing sources in your own words.
- Quoting: when and how to use quotations.
- Output from AI tools: how to deal with AI-generated texts.
- Plagiarism: avoid accusations of plagiarism by citing your sources properly.
- Referencing in text & bibliography: make it clear in your paper where you have used which source.
- Secondary sources: how to refer to a secondary source in your paper.
- Disclosure of AI use: always be transparent when using AI.
- Reference styles and reference managers: each citation style has its own rules for how to refer to the literature you have used in your paper in the text and bibliography.