Discussion Forum

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Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter, you should be able to

1.1 Define information literacy and defend the importance of becoming information literate.

1.2 Compare and contrast the four skill sets needed for information literacy.

1.3 Identify and discuss the six steps of the research process.

1.4 Explain how and why researchers use APA Style.

Chapter 1 introduces you to the concept of information literacy and to the Association of College and Research Libraries’ information literacy framework. After defining information literacy, the chapter explains how improving

1Introduction to Information Literacy

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your own information literacy can enrich your personal, professional, and academic life. The chapter also describes the skills needed to become information literate. It then provides an overview of the research process and, lastly, introduces a set of guidelines—called APA Style—that researchers commonly use to format their work.

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Our level of digital informational literacy is determined by how we think about, evaluate, and utilize the information we encounter every day from channels such as email, social media messages, news on the Internet or television, or print ads.

1.1 What Is Information Literacy, and Why Does It Matter?

Your Road Map to Success: Section 1.1

Learning Outcome 1.1: Define information literacy and defend the importance of becoming information literate.

Why is this important?

An ability to define information literacy will give you a critical foundation for academic success and help you understand information literacy in a way that is relevant and meaningful to you. As an example of this outcome’s importance, consider Marisa, a college freshman. When she first encountered the term “information literacy,” she guessed that it referred to an ability to locate and understand information, skills she was confident she already possessed. Now that she’s learned the complete definition of information literacy, however, she recognizes how the skills it encompasses can contribute to her success as a student, a professional in her field, a mother, and a community member. For example, becoming information literate has helped her discover new resources to assist her son, who has learning disabilities. She also got an A on her first quiz, which asked her to define information literacy!

How does this relate to your success in this course?

Mastering this learning outcome is essential to your success as a student; it is the foundation to your successful completion of discussions, assignments, and quizzes throughout this course. Beyond that, the application of this concept will directly impact how you locate, understand, and apply information in your academic, personal, and professional life.

Before we begin, take a moment to think about the information you have encountered in just the past few hours. For example, you’ve likely come across nutrition labels as you prepared a meal. As you sat down to eat, you may have picked up a magazine filled with glossy advertisements and articles. Glancing at your smartphone, you might have seen a list of emails, each subject line vying for your attention. If you turned on the television, you may have watched several commercials and perhaps a local or national news report. The point of this brief exercise is for you to notice the amount and variety of information around you. Some of it may be in print, and much of it is likely digital. The way you understand, evaluate, and use the information around you determines your level of information literacy.

Defining Information Literacy

Information literacy is the ability to recognize a need for information and address that need by finding, evaluating, and using information ethically and legally. Notice that this is not the same as digital literacy, although there is often confusion between the two. Digital literacy is the fluent use of technology over a range of platforms. In contrast, information literacy is the fluent use of information over a range of environments. It’s quite possible you may be an

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expert in using computers and a novice in using information. Although a certain level of computer skill is mandatory for accessing information online, information literacy is a much broader competency.

For this course we’ll primarily focus on information literacy regarding your research papers for school. However, information literacy is important in all aspects of life. Being information literate can help you research schools to find the one that’s best for your child, find the right sources to determine whether a folk remedy is a valid treatment for illness, and compare new or used cars to find the best value. Developing these skills will help you determine whether a political post on social media is false or misleading and know where to turn for accurate information on a candidate. Professionally, you will draw on these skills to develop a proposal that presents credible evidence and explores the issue from various angles. Finally, these skills will assist you in developing your own creative solutions to new and unexpected problems.

Recently, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), developed an information literacy framework that expands on this definition (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1: Information literacy framework

From Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, by Association of College and Research Libraries, 2014 (http://acrl.ala.org/ilstandards/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Framework- MW15-Board-Docs.pdf (http://acrl.ala.org/ilstandards/wp- content/uploads/2015/01/Framework-MW15-Board-Docs.pdf) ).

The framework identifies six threshold concepts meant to guide you in becoming a lifelong learner through the acquisition of information literacy skills (ACRL, 2015). A threshold concept is a main idea within a specific subject that can transform your perception of that subject as it becomes integrated into your way of thinking (Booth & Mathews, 2012). The ACRL’s six threshold concepts are as follows.

1. Research as inquiry: The research process is all about asking questions. Curiosity and open-mindedness are central, as is the ability to adapt and remain flexible throughout the process. Good research questions are dynamic—researchers often change their question to reflect what they discover once their research is

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underway. You will explore this concept in more depth later in the chapter, where you will learn how to develop a research question and conduct background research. You will also explore the steps you will take to help answer your research question.

2. Searching as strategic exploration: The one perfect sou rce that answers all aspects of your research question most likely does not exist. Instead, you will need to gather bits and pieces of information from various types of sources in many different formats using a variety of search methods. This could mean, for example, changing your search terms or seeking out help from a librarian. Chapter 3 provides more information about this concept and introduces you to strategic searching in a digital library.

3. Information creation as a process: Information is presented in different formats—a textbook, for example, or a social media post—that reflect the purpose of its creation, such as to teach or to attract followers. Considering the creation process of information types and their purposes will help you select appropriate sources. Chapter 3 will reveal more about this concept and introduce you to various resource formats.

4. Authority is constructed and contextual: All information sources are not created equal. Reliable sources come from authors with experience and expertise, also known as authority, in the subject area they are writing about. Authority is also dependent on the context or situation, since an authority figure in one field may lack authority in another. It’s important that researchers—including student researchers—consider authority when selecting sources and remain open-minded to new and diverse ideas. This concept is further discussed in Chapter 2, which explores bias, and Chapter 4, which covers what gives an author the authority to write on a particular topic and introduces a set of criteria that you can use to evaluate sources.

5. Scholarship as conversation: Experts within a field communicate to share information, debate their ideas, and gain understanding through scholarly publications, such as journal articles, and academic and professional conferences. Most often, the conversation concerning a given topic is ongoing, with new research and interpretations emerging that call previous work into question. A first step in conducting research is to get a sense of the conversation surrounding a topic. Likewise, it’s useful to consider how you might contribute to the conversation. This concept will be discussed further in Chapters 3 and 4, where you will learn the differences between scholarly and popular sources and how—or whether—these sources are reviewed by experts. In Chapter 5 you will learn how to make your own contributions to the conversation.

6. Information has value: Information has value for various parties, including the author, the publisher, the field of study, and society. In many ways it can be considered a commodity; that is, it can have a monetary value, an educational value, and a transformation value, since new information can influence the way we see and interact with the world. Throughout each chapter of this text, we will explore the importance of correctly crediting your sources. We will also explore the meaning and importance of copyright in Chapter 5.

As you master these six threshold concepts, your information literacy skills will improve, along with your effectiveness as a student and working professional.

Review the ACRL framework and explore an example application in the following activity.

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The Importance of Information Literacy

Information Literacy lies at the core of lifelong learning. It empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals. It is a basic human right in a digital world and promotes social inclusion of all nations. (Breivik et al., 2006, p. 3)

We often hear about “fake news.” And rightly so: Information literacy requires us to be skeptical about the information we encounter. But you might be surprised to learn that the question of accuracy and the dangers of misleading information were considered urgent more than 3 decades ago. In 1989 the ALA Presidential Committee on Information Literacy convened to define information literacy and develop models for teaching these skills in various settings. The committee observed the following:

People are daily subjected to statistics about health, the economy, national defense, and countless products. One person arranges the information to prove his point, another arranges it to prove hers. One political party says the social indicators are encouraging, another calls them frightening. One drug company states most doctors prefer its product, another “proves” doctors favor its product. In such an environment,

The ACRL’s Information

Literacy Framework

Start

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information literacy provides insight into the manifold ways in which people can all be deceived and misled. (ALA, 1989, para. 17)

If you consider that the World Wide Web was only invented in 1989, you should be able to appreciate why now more than ever we are surrounded by information produced by various parties with competing and at times hidden interests, much of it without any verification or vetting process. The volume of this information contributes to our feelings of information overload and the need to make quick decisions about what sources of information to use. As the Presidential Committee on Information Literacy asserted:

Information literacy, therefore, is a means of personal empowerment. It allows people to verify or refute expert opinion and to become independent seekers of truth. It provides them with the ability to build their own arguments and to experience the excitement of the search for knowledge. (ALA, 1989, para. 6)

When you are information literate, you have the skills to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to efficiently locate this information. Once you’ve located the information, you are able to analyze, evaluate, and have confidence in your ability to use this information creatively, ethically, and effectively.

Another benefit of developing information literacy is that it places you on the path toward becoming a lifelong learner. This is the deliberate act of choosing to learn new ideas and concepts throughout your life, an exciting prospect. Lifelong learners embrace the process and challenges associated with acquiring new knowledge. They have a growth mindset in that they seek out opportunities to learn new things and put forth the effort to do so. Reflect on the following quotation from the ALA (1989):

Ultimately, information literate people are those who have learned how to learn. They know how to learn because they know how knowledge is organized, how to find information, and how to use information in such a way that others can learn from them. They are people prepared for lifelong learning, because they can always find the information needed for any task or decision at hand. (para. 3)

Here are some additional benefits to developing your information literacy skills:

knowing when information is needed and locating it efficiently and effectively critically evaluating whether the information you consume is reliable and accurate using advanced search techniques to find the most relevant information making informed opinions and judgments based on quality information organizing and presenting information in an effective way understanding the legal and ethical issues related to using information (ACRL, 2000)

The World Economic Forum, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to understanding and predicting changes in the global economy, asserts that we are experiencing a fourth industrial revolution (Schwab, 2016). The rapid development of technologies is changing and reshaping how we do business, how we engage with our governments, and how we interact with each other. Klaus Schwab (2016), founder and executive chair of the World Economic Forum, points out that “the possibilities of billions of people connected by mobile devices, with unprecedented processing power, storage capacity, and access to knowledge, are unlimited” (para. 4). This instant access to information of all kinds requires that we rely on our information literacy skills so that we can understand and use the information we encounter effectively.

Section 1.1 Knowledge Check Quiz

1. __________ is the fluent use of technology over a range of platforms. A. Information literacy

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B. Computer literacy C. Digital Literacy

2. Which of the following is a part of the ACRL’s information literacy framework? A. Knowledge is power. B. Information has value. C. Research as conversation.

3. Lifelong learners __________. A. go to school their whole lives B. study a lot C. have a growth mindset

Answers 1 (C), 2 (B), 3 (C)

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1.2 What Skills Do I Need to Be Information Literate?

Your Road Map to Success: Section 1.2

Learning Outcome 1.2: Compare and contrast the four skill sets needed for information literacy.

Why is this important?

Mastering this learning outcome will help you evaluate your own information literacy skills and identify your personal strengths and weaknesses. Consider James, for example. Without much talent for art or music, he never thought of himself as being very creative. He now understands that creative thinking (one of the skills needed for information literacy) involves having an open mind and exploring different possibilities in all situations. He sees himself as very creative when it comes to innovating work processes while on the job and coming up with ways to balance school and work.

How does this relate to your success in this course?

Mastering this learning outcome is essential to your success as a student; knowing how to apply these skill sets as you prepare for and complete your assignments will position you for greater success in your coursework and in your professional work beyond the classroom.

To become information literate, you need to develop a certain set of skills, including critical thinking, creative thinking, reflective thinking, and problem solving. Once you’ve developed these skills, you’ll be able to apply them to many other areas of your life.

Critical Thinking

Individuals who are information literate use critical thinking skills to determine the value of an information source. This set of skills includes inference, analysis, evaluation, interpretation, and explanation. Given the amount of information we are exposed to on a daily basis, we need to be able to distinguish fact from fiction. This is where critical thinking comes in. Critical thinkers are skeptical and do not simply accept all the arguments and conclusions they encounter. Instead, they question these arguments and conclusions, seeking the evidence behind them (Facione, 2011). Let’s take a closer look at each of the critical thinking skills and see how Sherry, a business administration student and customer service associate with a car rental company, uses them to apply for a management internship with her employer.

Inference Inference is the process of integrating new information with one’s existing knowledge to better understand the information and how it can be applied to a given problem. Given what we know so far, what conclusions can we draw? What can be ruled out? What additional information do we need in order to resolve this question?

As part of her application for the management internship, Sherry must prepare a proposal that identifies her ideas for improving customer satisfaction and employee morale at a struggling branch. Sherry begins by considering what she already knows about this branch. She has heard rumors, and her boss has given her access to various reports, including customer satisfaction surveys and employee retention numbers. He has also suggested that she read

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Smolaw11/iStock/Getty Images Plus

When analyzing and examining various pieces of information, be sure to ask yourself what arguments and conclusions each is making and whether you need more context before accepting those conclusions.

customer reviews posted on the branch’s social media pages. After reviewing this information, Sherry decides that she still could use feedback from current customer service associates. She decides to interview some of them.

Analysis Analysis is the process of examining pieces of information in parts and as a whole to determine the intended meaning of the information and what it represents in order to draw a conclusion. What are the arguments for and against? What components of each argument have led to each conclusion? What assumptions must we make to accept that conclusion?

The reports Sherry’s boss provided reveal a pattern of customer dissatisfaction: Customers calling in to reserve a vehicle are often left on hold for too long. Walk-ins complain that associates are often flustered and helping several customers at a time. One suggestion might be to increase the number of representatives working the busiest shift, but several employees Sherry speaks to report that most associates dislike that shift because the manager is difficult. Various customer reviews on social media also complain about the manager’s short temper toward employees. Sherry realizes that she may need more information on leadership styles, and she studies articles on the subject from various academic journals. If she accepts that the shift manager might be contributing to the problem, various interventions and trainings might help improve working conditions.

Evaluation Evaluation is the process of assessing a source’s credibility, argument, supporting evidence, and purpose to determine the legitimacy of the information being presented. How well is each claim supported by evidence? How comprehensively does the evidence represent the research? In other words, is it complete? What goal might underlie a bias or unfair assumption found within the source? Are there conflicts of interest?

Sherry organizes her information, referring to the notes she took when she spoke to customer service associates, as well as the sections she highlighted from reports and journal articles. One journal article offers suggestions for improving employee morale but lacks real-world evidence, so she decides to leave it out. She also realizes that one employee expressed greater dissatisfaction with the manager than others. She revisits some of the customer reviews across social media platforms and notices that several of the most negative reviews about the manager repeat the associate’s criticisms and were all posted on the same day, calling their credibility into question. She soon discovers that the employee was recently turned down for a promotion. This employee’s potential lack of objectivity causes Sherry to reconsider the employee’s input, as well as the questionable social media reviews.

Determining Credibility of Sources

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Critical-Thinking Questions 1. Which types of websites and authors should you look

for while researching? 2. What are three types of non-credible sources?

Interpretation Interpretation is the process of understanding the information and what it implies. It involves considering all of the information, even information that may be unfavorable in some way. Likewise, it involves noting any gaps in information. What does this information mean? How should we understand that information? In this context, what was intended by a statement or claim?

Sherry considers what her recommendations would be for improving customer service in the branch with and without the input from the employee in conflict with the manager. She realizes that her recommended changes are nearly identical either way. To improve both customer satisfaction and employee morale, she recommends a variety of actions, confident that she’s weighed all of the information available to her and filled in all information gaps.

Explanation Explanation is the process of restating and clarifying information so that it can be understood by anyone you are sharing it with. Key to explanation is understanding the audience and the information they may or may not need. Someone new to the topic may need definitions of technical terms, whereas experts in the field would not. Likewise, relaying all relevant information is essential. What were the specific findings of the investigation? How did you come to that interpretation? How did you conduct that analysis? Why do you think this was the right answer?

With Sherry’s research complete, she is ready to apply for the internship. When she consults one of her professors for guidance, they ask Sherry to present her proposal to the class for credit. This means she’ll need to present her findings in two different ways: one to the director of internships and one to her classmates. Sherry expects the director will want concise and specific plans, whereas her classmates may need some background on the nature of the business and the struggling branch. Sherry’s ability to clearly explain her ideas while keeping her audience in mind is critical for making sure her presentation is understood and well received.

Determining Credibility of Internet Sources From Title:

Introduction to Information Literacy (https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx? wID=100753&xtid=116779)

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Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is a way of engaging with information imaginatively and coming up with ideas. It requires that you keep an open mind as you explore a range of possibilities. Creative thinking is associated with “thinking outside the box,” since it often prompts unexpected and perhaps unconventional ideas that break away from established rules and procedures. For example, a creative approach may consider a problem in one area, such as health care, by drawing on information from another area, such as philosophy. Although you may still employ evaluation, analysis, and other critical thinking skills, this openness to imaginative exploration invites innovation.

Table 1.1 compares critical and creative thinking. When engaging in research, you will most likely move back and forth between thinking critically and creatively. Neither type of thinking occurs in isolation. Instead, these skills support each other.

Table 1.1: Critical and creative thinking

Critical thinking Creative thinking

Analyzes ideas Generates ideas

Tests a hypothesis Forms a hypothesis or several hypotheses

Thinks in terms of what’s probable Thinks in terms of what’s possible

Tends to think verbally, in terms of words Tends to think visually, in terms of images

Thinks linearly, as in an outline Makes associations, as in a concept map

Relies on logic Relies on intuition

Identifies Imagines

Describes Speculates

Categorizes and classifies Tolerates ambiguity

Makes judgments Suspends judgment

Thinks in terms of the objective Thinks in terms of the subjective

Considers the right answer Considers many possible answers

Embraces standardized methods Rejects standardized methods

Consider this example of creative thinking. The staff of a preschool needs to make better use of the current space, which is often disorganized, leaving students distracted and instructors overwhelmed. Monique, a lead instructor, recently read about a software development firm that improved productivity by eliminating its office cubicles and redesigning its space as a mini city. She raises the idea, which parents, instructors, and administrators all agree is risky but exciting. They believe that although children are not software developers, such an approach could inspire them and help them focus. After some creative brainstorming, instructors, administrators, and parents plan to redesign two of the largest classrooms, each of which currently is separated by large bookshelves, bulky bins, and student desks. The goal is to inspire students to engage with their environment rather than simply sit at their desks or flock to the carpet for reading time. To make this happen, the new design resembles a small village. Each classroom has its own village square and café, where students are encouraged to gather and play, taking turns holding various jobs with clear responsibilities. Although this classroom renovation goes against some of the established norms of classroom design, it results in increased student focus, comprehension, and achievement in various areas.

You may find that creative thinking sometimes does not come easily. When you get stuck, try brainstorming a list of ideas and then talking through them with a friend, another student, or a coworker. Alternatively, try sketching images

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of your ideas in a sketchbook. As you work, try to suspend judgment, since this would stifle ideas. Instead, allow yourself to explore the possibilities that emerge, no matter how far-fetched they may seem.

Reflective Thinking

Reflective thinking involves developing an awareness of your own thoughts, feelings, and decisions as you encounter new information and consider it in light of your existing knowledge. Put another way, it is “the conscious consideration of one’s experiences, often in the interests of establishing relationships between ideas or actions” (Hamers et al., 1999, p. 200). The terms “self-monitoring” or “self-regulation” are also associated with reflective thinking.

Applying reflective thinking to research can involve a number of steps and questions you may ask yourself as you move through the process of choosing a topic and gathering research, as well as applying that research to the problem in question.

Planning Before beginning your research, think about the approach you plan to take. Why have you chosen this approach? Did you consider other approaches? How well has this approach worked in the past?

It’s also helpful to consider how your choices may be influenced by emotion. Is there fear associated with trying a new approach? What other emotions might be influencing the direction you choose to take?

Self-Regulation Once a project is underway and you begin to make choices to focus your research, try to maintain self-awareness. How well is your process working? If something is not working, what lessons can you learn from your mistakes? What additional preparation might be needed to ensure your success in this project?

As you work, monitor your emotions and self-talk. Frustration and other negative feelings and thoughts are common when progressing through challenging work, and it’s important to accept them. If you try to suppress or ignore them, they might derail you. How might you reframe how you feel about the project? What steps can you take to improve your outcome?

Evaluation After a project is complete, take time to reflect on it. What process did you follow? How did you make decisions? How did your thoughts and feelings influence your work? How satisfied are you with the completed project? What are you particularly proud of and why? What areas need improvement, and how might you do things differently next time?

Let’s return to Sherry’s application for the management internship and see how she engages in reflective thinking.

After presenting her proposal to her classmates, Sherry reflects on their constructive feedback. One thing several classmates pointed out was her failure to identify the sources of some of her claims. Sherry understands the importance of giving credit to her sources but realizes that, in her desire to offer an engaging presentation, she overlooked this important element. Also, because she didn’t keep clear records of her sources, she has to spend a fair amount of time retracing her steps. Though this mistake causes some frustration, it teaches her a valuable lesson about keeping careful records of her research and crediting her sources.

Problem Solving

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Problem solving is the process of effectively working through an issue or question to find a solution. Individuals who are information literate are able to successfully apply information to solve problems. The problem-solving process consists of six steps: understand the problem, identify the cause of the problem, brainstorm a list of solutions, evaluate the solutions, apply the best solution, and evaluate and measure the outcome. Figure 1.2 illustrates the problem-solving process. At any step in the process, you may decide to go back and repeat an earlier step. For example, once you begin brainstorming a list of solutions, you may find that you still do not have a good understanding of the problem and will need to revisit Step 1 to gather more information about the problem. Let’s explore each step in the problem-solving process.

Figure 1.2: The steps in the problem-solving process

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1. Understand the problem. Before a problem can be solved, it must be understood. To understand the problem, ask yourself questions such as Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Using this step is like putting the pieces of a puzzle together.

For example, Mike is overweight and recently learned that he is suffering from high blood pressure. His doctor has recommended weight loss, which could improve his blood pressure without Mike needing prescription medication. However, Mike’s doctor gave him only vague suggestions on how he might lose weight, such as to eat better and to exercise.

Mike has a problem. He needs to lose weight. Realizing that his first step is to understand the problem, he begins to gather information on weight loss. He remembers his cousin’s Instagram posts on her own weight loss several months prior. When he visits her page, he reads that she was taking weight loss supplements. Being able to lose weight by simply taking a few supplements each day sounds appealing, but Mike is skeptical. When he googles the supplements, he finds several websites posting negative reviews, including complaints about the company’s deceptive advertisements. The company’s official webpage has no information reporting the findings of research studies into the long-term results. A quick phone call to his cousin also reveals that she has regained the weight she lost—and more. Mike realizes he must educate himself about sustainable weight loss, so he seeks out articles written by experts and backed by verifiable evidence.

2. Identify the cause of the problem. Once you understand the details of the problem, you can begin to determine the root cause. This will prevent you from reacting to superficial aspects of the problem.

Mike wants to know what caused his weight gain so that he can figure out how to address it. Upon deeper reflection, Mike realizes his weight gain coincides with his recent move from a third-floor apartment in the city to a one-story home several miles outside the city. Whereas he was previously walking and climbing stairs throughout the day, including to and from work, now he spends much of his time driving. Aside from this significant lifestyle change, his eating habits have remained mostly the same.

3. Brainstorm a list of solutions. Once you’ve identified the cause of the problem, take time to brainstorm a list of possible solutions. Avoid going with your first idea, and instead use creative thinking skills to explore multiple options. Consulting with others will also yield a greater variety of ideas.

Mike’s initial idea is to purchase a gym membership, but he quickly discovers that the gym is expensive and so far from both home and work that he’s unlikely to get there regularly. He then begins brainstorming solutions by developing a mind map (Figure 1.3). His goal is to incorporate more exercise that is both enjoyable and sustainable into his daily routine. A mind map allows him to see how his ideas are related, since one idea can lead to another.

Figure 1.3: Mike’s mind map

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4. Evaluate the solutions. Using a set of criteria that varies according to the nature of the problem, you need to evaluate each solution. Which are feasible? If others are involved in implementing the solutions, which are acceptable to them? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each solution?

Mike begins evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each solution. He focuses only on the options that would make increasing his physical activity enjoyable while remaining affordable. If he’s doing something he can afford and enjoys, he is more likely to continue the activity in the long run. This leaves two possible options: long-distance running and swimming, both sports he enjoyed in high school. As he evaluates each option, he realizes that swimming would be enjoyable during the summer months in the lake near his home, but during the cooler months he would have to drive several miles in order to access the public pool. On the other hand, he enjoys a brisk run. Plus, there are running trails near his home and his workplace. He decides to focus on swimming during warm weather and running when the weather cools.

5. Apply the best solution. Once a solution is selected, there must be careful planning to ensure it is implemented effectively.

It’s autumn—too cool to swim in the lake—so Mike must now decide how to make running part of his daily routine. He hasn’t run long distances since high school, so how far should he push himself? He checks in with his doctor once more to make sure that running is a safe option and consults with his old high school coach for advice on getting started.

6. Evaluate and measure. The solution must be monitored and evaluated to confirm its success. How well does the solution address the problem and the goals initially set? What, if any, modifications are needed?

With his new running routine in place, Mike evaluates the results by collecting data. If the problem is not resolved, he will need to determine what is and is not effective.

After coming up with a running schedule, Mike tracks his progress. He keeps a log of how many miles he runs each day, as well as his time. He also weighs himself weekly, as his doctor suggested. Finally, he jots down notes on how he feels each day. Mike soon finds that he prefers morning runs to evening runs. He also finds that increasing his distance rather than his speed results in less soreness the next day. As he makes these adjustments, he finds that in 3 months, he is halfway to his goal weight. He shares his success on Instagram and soon convinces his cousin to start running with him on the weekends.

Section 1.2 Knowledge Check Quiz

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1. The use of a specific set of analytical skills to determine the value of information is called __________.

A. creative thinking B. critical thinking C. problem solving

2. When trying to solve a problem, what is the first step you should take? A. Test your hypothesis. B. Brainstorm solutions. C. Understand the problem.

3. The terms “self-monitoring” and “self-regulation” are associated with which of the following? A. reflective thinking B. problem solving C. self-knowledge

Answers 1 (B), 2 (C), 3 (A)

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1.3 What Are the Steps of the Research Process?

Your Road Map to Success: Section 1.3

Learning Outcome 1.3: Identify and discuss the six steps of the research process.

Why is this important?

Mastering this learning outcome will familiarize you with a process that will help you identify viable research topics and successfully complete research assignments in all of your courses. Consider Camila, for example. A new student, she hadn’t been in an academic setting since graduating from high school over 15 years ago, so she was feeling anxious about completing her first research assignment. Learning the six steps of the research process helped ease her mind. A health and wellness major, she knew she wanted to research basketball, one of her passions. She realized the topic was too broad, however. Learning how to develop a research question helped Camila narrow down her topic by formulating a clear question related to her course of study. With her knowledge of the research process, Camila realized she could conquer her assignment one step at a time.

How does this relate to your success in this course?

Mastering the steps of the research process will help you locate and use needed information efficiently and ethically, help you maintain your integrity and reputation, and protect you from disciplinary action and other negative consequences both within and outside of school.

The remainder of this chapter and Chapters 2 through 5 focus on the research process. This section will introduce the six steps of the research process, which are as follows.

1. Define the need and the audience. 2. Gather background information. 3. Narrow the scope and define the research question. 4. Locate and evaluate information. 5. Organize and synthesize information. 6. Review and communicate information.

Here, we include a full discussion of the first three steps of the research process. Later chapters cover the remaining steps in more depth.

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Along with varying sources of information and types of research, there are also different audiences. Before starting the research process, think about who you’re presenting to and the best way to present your final research and conclusions.

Step 1: Define the Need and the Audience

The first step in the research process is acknowledging a need for information and defining the audience to whom you will be presenting the information. In your academic life, the need for information can come from a research assignment given to you by your instructor, as it has for Irwin. His digital literacy professor has asked students to write about the impact of a specific technology on society. Irwin looks closely at the list of approved topics and chooses social networking. He’s been using different social networking sites for about a decade, is comfortable using them, and feels he knows all there is to know about the topic.

Your instructor may assign a research topic, ask you to select a topic from a given list, or allow you to pick your own topic. At your workplace, the need for information may come from a presentation you are required to make or research your boss would like you to conduct on a competing company. In your personal life, you may need to research a pediatrician for your children or gather information on a big purchase and present your findings to other family members. Use the following questions to define your need for information.

What types of information do I need? Facts? Opinions? Both sides of an argument? Statistics? Case studies? How much information do I need? Detailed and in depth or broad in scope? Targeted examples or overview? Is there a category I should include or exclude? Age? Gender? Time frame? Era? Location? Who is the audience for this information? Boss? Coworkers? The public? Professor? Classmates? Family and friends?

At this stage of the research process, consider who will make up your audience, what information is most relevant to them, and what writing style would be most appropriate. In your workplace, your audience may be your boss, coworkers, clients, and department heads, or perhaps you are researching information that will be presented to the public through your company’s website. At school, your audience will almost always be your instructor and classmates; however, as an upper level student, you may be called on to present your research to other scholars in your field in a conference or an academic journal. In your everyday life, your family and friends will be your audience, making your research presentation much less formal.

Step 2: Gather Background Information

After you identify what information you need and who your audience will be, it’s time to develop your working knowledge of your topic. Although you may feel confident, like Irwin, that you know quite a bit about your topic, it’s important that you conduct background research to gain a clearer understanding of the questions you need to answer or problems you need to solve with your research. In this preliminary stage, you may use encyclopedias and various websites, even Wikipedia. Keep in mind that the research process is recursive, meaning that although it has a beginning and an end, you might have to go back and repeat a step to achieve the best results. Your research can also lead you in unexpected directions. When you begin exploring a topic, you usually hold preconceived notions and beliefs. With background research, those preconceptions change, and you begin to ask different, more informed questions. This alters the direction of your initial path and helps guide you toward a more focused research question.

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That’s why it’s important to always conduct some background research before finalizing your research question and to keep your mind open to other ideas or perspectives on your topic that you may not have considered previously.

Background research will help you develop a basic idea of current happenings or conversation within the field you are studying. This will also help you understand specialized vocabulary. You might encounter technical terms or jargon specific to your topic that are new to you, and that’s okay. As you learn more about the topic, you will build a better understanding of its specialized language. It’s also important to learn about the sticking points between experts in the field. Try searching for leading scholars or experts who could point you toward key publications. The information you gather here has the power to positively influence the direction of your research. Additionally, it can also lead you to notice gaps in your knowledge of the topic.

Let’s check in with Irwin. As he sits down to begin writing his paper, he’s confident in his knowledge and expects to finish quickly. He’s not concerned about meeting the five- to seven-page requirement, because he has plenty to say on this topic. He begins his paper by sharing how he uses social networking to stay in touch with his family and friends, play games with others, and keep up with his personal interests. He then lists which social networking sites he uses and why. When he finishes, Irwin has only written three pages and has already exhausted all he knows about the topic. He realizes he might need to actually conduct some research.

Irwin decides to create a KWHL chart (Table 1.2) to help gather his thoughts. He fills in what he knows about social networking (K), brainstorms ideas for what he wants to know (W), and lists how he could get those answers (H). As he conducts background research using Wikipedia and other reference sites, he fills in what he has learned (L). He can’t believe how much he did not know about social networking and its impact on society. He even adds to his chart more topics he’d like to learn about.

Table 1.2: Irwin’s KWHL chart

K W H L

What do I know?

What do I want to know? How do I find out? What have I learned?

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K W H L

What do I know?

What do I want to know? How do I find out? What have I learned?

Social networking has been around for at least 15 years.

It’s useful for staying in touch with friends and family.

It helps me keep up with groups and organizations I’m interested in.

Some of the gaming systems I use have social networks built in.

How do others use social networking?

Has it been around for longer than 15 years?

Does it impact my life the same way as it does others in society?

Has social networking had any negative effects on society?

Has social networking evolved with the needs of society?

What are popular social networking tools in the workplace?

How are companies using social networks to enhance their organizations?

Social networking service. (2020, October 6). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking _service#History (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking_service #History)

Wiltshire, E. (2020). Social media marketing on Reddit, Twitch, and Quora. Social Media Today. https://www.socialmedia.com/news/social-media- marketing-on-reddit-twitch-and-quora/586447/ (https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/social-media- marketing-on-reddit-twitch-and-quora/586447/)

Pew Research Center. (2018). Teens, social media & technology. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/3 1/teens-social-media-technology-2018/ (https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/31/teens- social-media-technology-2018/)

Some early social networking sites were developed in the late 1990s, such as GeoCities and SixDegrees.

Social media use has been linked to anxiety and depression. It also exposes young people to cyberbullying.

Social networks are used by businesses for everything from recruiting employees to sales and marketing.

There are several tools businesses can use to manage their social media accounts and schedule and analyze posts, like Google Analytics and TweetDeck.

As you conduct background research, consider using a KWHL chart. It can help you organize your thoughts and figure out whether you’ve located a sufficient amount of background research. Give yourself time to complete it; if you feel your KWHL chart is incomplete, try conducting more background research.

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Step 3: Narrow the Scope and Define the Research Question

Notice how many social networking topics Irwin wants to explore. His chart explores the history of social networking, its effects on adolescents, and its business applications. For a single essay that is focused and coherent, he can’t address them all. He needs to narrow the scope of his research and turn his topic into a focused research question. By narrowing his focus, he’ll be able to explore one area with more depth instead of just scratching the surface of several areas.

Narrow the Scope Once you have gathered background research, you are ready to narrow your focus. Earlier in this chapter, we explored the ACRL’s threshold concept of research as inquiry. This concept acknowledges that the process of research can be repetitive, requiring you to revisit different stages and ask questions about your topic that increase in complexity. Asking—and trying to answer—these questions will help you narrow the scope of your research to what you really need or want to know.

It is also important to revisit the need and audience defined in Step 1. In the case of a research paper, consider the length of the assignment and the number of required sources. If the assignment is relatively brief, perhaps a five-page essay with no more than five sources, the scope of the research should be appropriately narrow.

Here are some ways to narrow the scope of your research.

Type: Choose one example or type of the topic that you want to know more about. Instead of attempting to research the effectiveness of herbal remedies, for example, choose a single herb. Place: Some topics lend themselves to narrowing by geography. In such cases, you may narrow your scope by focusing on a specific geographic region. Time: Limit your research to a specific time period. For example, limit your sources to the previous 5 years or limit a historic time period you’re researching to a decade instead of a century. Combination: Combine two or more of the above elements to further support targeted research.

Think back to Irwin’s assignment. Irwin quickly realizes that he cannot explore all aspects of social networking— from gaming systems, to connections to family and friends, to workplace tools—in a single essay. He instead decides to narrow his scope to a type of societal impact: business. Narrowing further to a type of business operation, he chooses to focus on marketing, since that is his major. As his research progresses, he may also choose to narrow further by restricting his sources to findings in the United States within the past 5 years. Figure 1.4 maps Irwin’s process for narrowing the scope of his research.

Figure 1.4: Irwin’s topic tree chart

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Define the Research Question Once you are confident you have narrowed the focus of your research, it’s time to turn your topic into a research question—that is, the fundamental question that your research will try to answer. This is one of the most important steps in the research process, because this question will guide your research and help you know when it is going off track. A successful research question is clear, concise, and open-ended. It effectively defines the topic you are investigating and invites an objective answer based on facts. Unsuccessful research questions are vague and aim to explore everything about a topic or ask about settled fact and can be answered by a single source (Booth et al., 2016). Avoid writing research questions that elicit a “yes” or “no” answer or an opinion. Also watch for loaded questions or questions that have built-in assumptions about your topic. Instead, aim for questions that remain objective, eliciting research from various viewpoints. Finally, strive to develop a question “whose answers might make you (and, ideally, your readers) think about your topic in a new way” (Booth et al., 2016, p. 49). Think of your research as a process of discovery for you and your audience.

The task of defining your research question directly relates to the threshold concept of research as inquiry. Notice that developing a successful research question requires you to

“formulate questions for research based on information gaps . . . value intellectual curiosity in developing questions and learning new investigative methods” (ACRL, 2015, pp. 18–19).

Practice taking the information from your KWHL chart and writing three or four questions that address different subtopics of your question. Table 1.3 lists examples of some unsuccessful and successful research questions.

Table 1.3: Unsuccessful and successful research questions

Unsuccessful research questions Successful research questions

Vague, broad questions that tend to generate “yes” or “no,” opinion-based answers or answers that are settled fact and answered by a single source.

Clear, concise, and specific questions that tend to generate objective answers based on facts.

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Unsuccessful research questions Successful research questions

Who is Abraham Lincoln? This question is too broad and vague. Exploring a historical figure in this way could yield a book-length biography.

What events led to Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863? This question is clear, concise, and specific and can be answered with facts but is complex enough to require a look at several sources and perspectives.

Why is social media harmful? Is it? This is an example of a loaded question based on a predetermined opinion. Remember to approach your topic objectively, leaving any prejudice you may have out of your questions.

How are online users addressing privacy issues on social networking sites like Facebook? This question is clear and concise, and it expands on an issue that can be answered with data from Facebook users.

Is homeschooling effective? This is a closed question with a “yes” or “no” answer. This type of question would work only if you were tasked with exploring both sides of the issue.

How do homeschooled students’ scores on college admissions tests compare to those of other students? This question is open-ended and can be answered by factual research.

What is bipolar disorder? This question asks for a definition of mental illness. This type of question has a well-established answer that can be obtained from a single source.

How can cognitive behavioral therapy be used to treat bipolar disorder? This question requires a look at several sources, since the answer is not settled fact but is still under investigation.

Remember, research is a process. Conducting background research on your topic will help you construct your research question; however, as you move forward in the research process, you may find that your research question still needs some work. Fortunately, your question is not set in stone. Its purpose is to guide your research, so feel free to adjust it as needed by adapting to your findings.

Let’s check back in with Irwin. When we left him, he had decided to focus on the impact of social networking on business and on marketing in particular. He knows his question must be precise, objective, and open-ended. He structures his question as follows.

“How has social networking changed the way marketers advertise new products?”

Once Irwin begins his research, he can narrow his question further if he finds that his search results still contain several subtopics worth focusing on.

Step 4: Locate and Evaluate Information

In this step of the research process, you will critically reflect on your research question and brainstorm the types of resources you will need to answer that question. This is part of your research plan, and it should include accessing information from libraries and the Internet. Use this plan as your guide for incorporating a variety of sources into your paper. If you are required to use a certain type of resource, such as an article from an academic journal, make a note of it.

Irwin’s instructor requires that he use his course textbook, two scholarly sources, and one source of his choice in developing his paper. This means that he needs to locate three sources on his own. Irwin jots down this information on his research plan and begins considering what types of sources he could use.

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One way to store and organize your research is to email yourself links and create subfolders in your inbox or to download articles and save them in folders on your computer.

In Chapter 3 you will be introduced to different types and formats of information that you can use to help answer your research question. Chapter 3 will also instruct you on how to improve your researching using libraries and the Internet. You will learn to use the following questions to locate the information you need.

What types of sources should I use? Books? Journals? Encyclopedias? Magazines? Newspapers? Where can I locate these information types? Library? Internet? Stores? People? How can I access this information once I locate it? Borrowed? Downloaded? Printed? Photocopied? How should I organize the information I access? Digital folders? Physical folders?

As you search for information, you will discover no shortage of possible resources. However, much of what you’ll find may not be useful or reliable. You’ll need to evaluate the resources you find to make sure they are current, relevant, authoritative, accurate, aligned with your research goals, and objective. Chapter 4 will teach you how to evaluate potential sources and examine how information is created.

Step 5: Organize and Synthesize Information

In the fifth step of the research process, you’ll organize the information you’ve gathered and determine what that information has to say about your topic as a whole. Doing so will help you present the information from those resources in an organized manner. To help you organize your information effectively, consider the following questions.

How do I organize the key pieces of information from each of my resources? By main ideas? By viewpoints? By key issues? How do I save sources for easy retrieval and reference later? Should I download complete articles in PDF form? Should I email myself links to online sources? How should I keep track of important pieces of evidence and quotations? What is the best way for me to organize large amounts of information? How do I organize information for presentation? Chronologically? By problem versus solution? By priority of ideas?

Many different systems, both traditional and technological, are available to help organize the information you collect. Appendix B identifies some of them.

Once you have gathered credible sources and organized your information, it is time to synthesize all that you have gathered into a coherent whole. Think about how all the elements of your research come together to create a big picture. This is the time to consider your own contribution to the conversation surrounding your topic.

At this stage, you can also ask yourself whether your question has been sufficiently answered. Is there still a gap in the information you have gathered? You might find that you need to revisit a previous step to ensure that your

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information is complete. Chapter 5 provides detailed information on organizing and synthesizing information.

Step 6: Review and Communicate Information

The final step of the research process (Figure 1.5) is to review and effectively communicate the information you’ve gathered and synthesized. The communication style you’ll use should be appropriate to your audience, whether the mode of communication is print, image, audio, video, or a combination of these. As discussed in Chapter 5, answering the following questions will help you communicate your information effectively.

Figure 1.5: The research process

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Who is my audience? Is the setting casual or formal?

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What method is best for communicating my research results? Written? Audio? Visual? Digital? Multimedia? For the selected method, what type of presentation best meets my communication need? Report? Narrative? Proposal? Slide presentation? Image? How do I properly acknowledge the sources I use?

Section 1.3 Knowledge Check Quiz

1. In a KWHL organizational chart, what does the “L” stand for? A. How do I list what I need to know? B. What have I learned? C. What is my topic like?

2. “Is the setting casual or formal?” and “What method is best to present my research?” are questions you ask before you __________.

A. define the topic of your research B. access your research C. communicate your research

3. A strong research question should be which of the following? A. broad and vague B. open-ended and well-focused C. as long and detailed as possible

Answers 1 (B), 2 (C), 3 (B)

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1.4 What Is APA Style, and Why Is It Important to Researchers?

Your Road Map to Success: Section 1.4

Learning Outcome 1.4: Explain how and why researchers use APA Style.

Why is this important?

Understanding how to format your work using APA Style will allow you to develop evidence-based work that is consistent with professional research. Following a standardized style for formatting your work results in a presentation that is clear and easily verifiable as well as academically honest. When Darryl, a health care administration student, first encountered APA Style, he felt frustrated and confused, in part because in high school he had used MLA style. After mastering this learning outcome, he understood that all other research in his field would be formatted using APA Style. Darryl is now in graduate school. He is glad he learned how to use APA Style as a college freshman because he’s still using it today as he works on his master’s thesis.

How does this relate to your success in this course?

Mastering this learning outcome will help you present your research honestly and ethically. Using APA Style to cite and reference your sources will help you avoid plagiarism and adhere to a formatting style consistent with scholarly work.

Why Using a Style Guide Matters

A style guide is a set of rules for formatting written work and crediting sources that writers and editors of a given field or profession follow. Using a style guide ensures that work shared within the field is presented in a uniform way. Researchers can quickly glance at the author’s references to learn how to trace the evidence back to its source. Looking back at the ACRL’s framework for information literacy, following a style guide supports both scholarship as conversation and information has value. We can better focus on the substance of the conversation when technical elements, such as how a table is formatted or how references are listed, are settled and agreed on. Moreover, crediting our sources is not only an ethical obligation, it is an acknowledgment of those who worked hard to produce the information.

Popular Style Guides

There are numerous style guides in use for different purposes. The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) is the standard for all journalists. The Modern Language Association’s MLA style is commonly used by scholars in the humanities. Many publishers follow the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS). Countless companies have their own style guides for internal use, also known as house styles. For example, The New York Times maintains its own manual of style for its writers and editors. The style covers everything from grammar and punctuation to formatting references. Many writers outside of The New York Times refer to the style for editing guidance. There are also other styles associated with specific fields, such as the American Medical Association style for medical research. The style guide you need to use will depend on the purpose of and audience for your writing.

APA Style refers to the set of rules and guidelines developed by the American Psychological Association (APA), one of the largest scientific and professional associations in the United States, to ensure a professional and academic

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standard of scholarly writing, formatting, and citing. It is commonly used not only in psychology but throughout the social sciences and is the style you will learn to use in this text.

Table 1.4 compares the most commonly used styles, their associated fields of study, and some notable characteristics. In addition to these four, remember that some organizations and institutions may follow a house style.

Keeping a copy of the latest style manual is a good idea, since it provides instruction in punctuation, word choice, sentence structure, and formatting.

Table 1.4: Four popular style guides

Style and website Common fields of study Key features

APA Style https://apastyle.apa.org/ (https://apastyle.apa.org/)

Business, criminal justice, economics, education, psychology, and sociology

In-text citations emphasize author last name and publication year: (Smith, 2020).

References also pair author with publication year and typically only the first initial of the author’s first name:

Smith, A. (2020). Book title. Publisher.

AP style https://www.apstylebook. com/ (https://www.apstylebook.com /)

Communications and journalism

This style focuses on questions of grammar and mechanics, such as concision, abbreviations, and capitalization.

CMOS https://www.chicagoman ualofstyle.org/home.html (https://www.chicagomanualo fstyle.org/home.html)

Art history, English, and history

Citations can include numbered notations with corresponding footnotes that list the reference at the bottom of the page. For example: According to Smith, “a quotation will be followed by a number in superscript.”1

Alexander Smith, “Title of Article,” Journal Title, no. 1 (2020): 123–24.

MLA style https://style.mla.org/ (https://style.mla.org/)

Foreign language studies, literature, and theater

In-text citations emphasize author and page number: (Smith 123).

References are listed on a “Works Cited” page that also emphasizes author’s full name:

Smith, Anne. Book title. Publisher, Year.

Benefits of Understanding and Using APA Style

Once you have a strong grasp of APA Style’s defining features, you can feel confident in developing research-based assignments. You will know, for example, how to indicate that the information you are sharing came from a journal article, documentary film, or webpage. You will also understand how to incorporate a quotation, statistics, or images that support your argument without worrying about plagiarism. As a result, the work you develop will appear professional and be clear to your readers.

Learning to use APA Style will benefit you enormously in your academic career and your profession. Some of the benefits include the following.

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You will more quickly recognize the information you need when you are looking at a paper formatted in APA. This will increase your effectiveness as a researcher. Carefully adhering to APA Style will help you practice the habits of research, which involve the ability to read and create references and to locate pertinent information. Facility with APA Style will help you as you pursue graduate study. Even if your degree program requires that you use a different style, learning one style will enable you to adapt quickly to a new one. Even if graduate study is not on the horizon for you, your understanding of APA Style will help you in your career, because companies generally require their employees to adhere to a particular style guide for all writing done on the job. Again, even if your employer requires that you use a different style, mastering APA Style now will give you the skills to adapt to any and all style guides in the future.

In-Text Citations in APA Style

Citing in APA Style is twofold: It includes in-text citations and a corresponding reference list. Let’s begin by discussing in-text citations.

As you’re writing your paper, you’ll frequently include material that originated from others. Perhaps you’ll summarize a medical study or directly quote from a memoir. You might also rephrase key ideas in your own words, also known as paraphrasing. In all such cases, you are required to include a notation identifying the source of the material at the point you use it in your text. These notations are called in-text citations. In APA Style, in-text citations include at least two components: the author’s last name and the publication year. When directly quoting, you need a third component: the page or paragraph number where the quotation is found. As opposed to some other style guides, APA requires the year of publication when citing a source, emphasizing rapidly changing and evolving fields of study. This is how a basic in-text citation for a quoted passage looks: (Author’s last name, Year, p. #). Notice that each element inside the in-text citation is separated by a comma. The in-text citation immediately follows the borrowed material.

Let’s look at a few examples of in-text citations in APA Style. Notice that you should allow the period to follow the citation so that the citation remains inside of the sentence.

“Good writing is often about letting go of affectation and fear. Affectation itself, beginning with the need to define some sorts of writing as ‘good’ and others as ‘bad,’ is fearful behavior” (King, 2000, p. 128).

If the citation does not list a publication year, the letters “n.d.” (for “no date”) are used.

“The writer’s job is to find the argument, the approach, the angle, the wording that will take the reader with him” (Roberts, n.d., p. 2).

If the author’s name is introduced in the sentence, using a so-called signal phrase, the year of publication belongs alongside the name, and page numbers go at the end of the passage.

As E. B. White (1976) once reflected, “all writing is both a masking and an unveiling, and the question of honesty is uppermost, particularly in the case of the essayist” (p. 516).

Reference List in APA Style

The second component of citing in APA Style is the complete list of the sources you cited in your paper. This is your reference list. APA Style requires that any writing assignment involving outside research include a reference list. Moreover, any source cited in your work must include a corresponding reference. This is essential not

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Following APA Style can be crucial to the success of your research paper. As you write your academic paper, format your references based on the most recent publication manual’s guidelines.

only for acknowledging the work of others but also for providing readers the information they need to locate that work. According to the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA, 2020), each entry in your reference list must identify general publication information, including but not limited to the author’s name, title, publication or publisher, and year of publication. Because so many sources appear online and do not have publication dates or even authors, additional information may be required, including retrieval data and corporate author information.

Different types of sources have unique formatting rules that govern their citation. Here are key rules for compiling your reference page.

Center the word “References” at the top of a new page following the conclusion of your paper. No boldface, no italic, no quotation marks. Just this word: References. Double space every line. No additional spacing is required. Alphabetize entries by authors’ last names. This includes corporate authors, such as the U.S. Department of Education. In that situation, you would alphabetize the entry under the letter “U.” Create a hanging indent for every line after the first in your citation. This means the first line of each reference is aligned with the left margin, and subsequent lines from the same reference are indented a half inch. Follow APA rules for punctuation, italics, and capitalization. For instance, APA Style has very specific capitalization rules for titles, and whereas printed source citations end in a period, online source citations that include web addresses do not.

Here are a few examples.

A reference for an article from an academic journal will include the title of the article, name of the journal, and volume number.

Patwa, N., Seetharaman, A., Arora, A., Agrawal, R., & Mandalia, H. (2021). Circular economy: Bridging the gap in sustainable manufacturing. Journal of Developing Areas, 55(1), 151–166.

References for sources with a corporate or organizational author will list the organization first. Also note that this reference is an online source and includes a URL.

McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning. (2014). Oral presentations. Princeton University. http://www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/library/for-students/pres-questions/ (http://www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/library/for-students/pres-questions/)

The reference for a printed book will identify the publisher.

King, S. (2000). On writing: A memoir of the craft. Scribner.

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As you create your reference list, you can use citation generators, software programs that create a citation in your chosen style when you enter certain publication information. For example, you may consult RefWorks, a citation generator associated with many academic libraries, here: https://www.refworks.com/refworks2/ (https://www.refworks.com/refworks2/) . Sometimes, too, the library you are using to search will provide you with APA citations of the sources you research. However, we advise that you consider these generators and provided entries only as a starting point for citation creation. They are often outdated, incorrect, or not properly formatted, so it’s important to double-check their accuracy. But if you start with these entries, you can easily edit them to the proper APA format discussed here.

Annotated Bibliography in APA Style

In some of your college courses, you may be asked to develop an annotated bibliography as you begin researching a topic. Like a reference list, an annotated bibliography is a list of the sources you used in researching your project. But for each citation, you include notes in which you comment on or summarize the main points of each source and relate them to your research question. This is the annotation (to “annotate” something means to “take notes”). Therefore, an annotated bibliography has two elements, the citations and annotations, whereas a reference list has only one, the citations.

Benefits of the Annotated Bibliography One benefit of compiling an annotated bibliography is that doing so helps you begin formulating and refining your ideas for your paper. Through researching, analyzing, and summarizing sources, you develop a sense of the academic conversation that exists around your topic. You begin to understand the overall direction of arguments or hypotheses and the development of concepts or theories, as well as which details and findings are relevant to your work.

Additionally, as you create your annotated bibliography, you develop your critical reading skills by evaluating the quality of the source data, argument, or study design. This evaluation in turn might lead you to explore new studies, reconsider the scope of your research, or define your research question more precisely. As you can see, an annotated bibliography is not only a good practice for academic integrity but also a practical tool that positions you on solid ground to begin your paper.

Content of the Annotations You may begin your annotated bibliography as soon as you begin research. Each time you find a source, you’ll create an APA Style reference citation as explained earlier and then write your annotation below the reference entry in paragraph form.

Although there is no APA rule governing the content of annotations, they are always written in complete sentences and generally are only one or two paragraphs long (approximately 150–200 words). The content will often be specified by your instructor and may vary from one course to the next. However, each annotation typically includes three elements: a brief summary of the source, its thesis (that is, its position or main claim), and its relevance to your own assignment. You may also include any additional critical analysis that will support your project, such as your analysis of how well the source’s thesis is supported by evidence or whether it makes an important contribution to the existing academic conversation. Avoid quoting directly from the source in the annotation. Although mentioning key terms and concepts that you may want to discuss in your own work is a good idea, you should summarize the annotation in your own words.

Each annotation will include a paragraph or more; however, instead of using traditional paragraph indentations, indent the entire paragraph a half inch.

The following is an example of an annotated bibliography entry.

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Donaldson, J. F., Graham, S. W., Martindill, W., & Bradley, S. (2000). Adult undergraduate students: How do they define their experiences and their success? Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 48(2), 2–11.

This small study confirms current thinking that adults return to school for primarily external reasons; e.g., a major life event or career advancement. One key finding reveals that adult students define success in learning and success in college differently. The research further illustrates that actual success in learning comes from an internal locus of control that includes life experience, maturity, motivation, and self-monitoring. Adult student success can be a result of better time management and well-developed learning strategies connecting to life experiences.

The article is well supported by evidence from the study, involving interviews with 13 students over age 27, as well as a brief literature review. Although the study is more than 20 years old, the results will be compared to other, more current sources. This study will also help answer my research question on whether adults are more likely to return to school for self-fulfillment or for career advancement.

More details on how to format your annotated bibliography can be found in Appendix A.

Section 1.4 Knowledge Check Quiz

1. Which of the following style guides is used by all journalists? A. AP style B. APA Style C. MLA style

2. According to APA Style, an in-text citation always __________. A. identifies the page and paragraph number from which the information was drawn B. Identifies the year in which the source was published C. appears in a footnote at the bottom of the page on which the information appears

3. According to APA Style, each entry of an annotated bibliography typically includes __________. A. a brief summary of the source and relevant quotations to cite in your assignment B. a brief summary of the source, its thesis, and its relevance to your own assignment C. only the source’s author, title, publisher, issue and/or year, and relevant pages

Answers 1 (A), 2 (B), 3 (B)

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Summary & Resources

Key Concepts Information literacy is the ability to recognize a need for information, find it, and evaluate it so that you can use it ethically and legally in various situations. Information literacy is a critical skill you will need to develop to be successful in school, in your career, and throughout your life. Developing information literacy will set you on the path to becoming a lifelong learner. The four main skills needed to be information literate are critical thinking, creative thinking, reflective thinking, and problem solving. The research process has six steps. The first step is recognizing what information is needed and understanding the audience to whom you will be presenting the information. The second step is gathering background information and developing a basic understanding of your topic and related subtopics. The third step involves narrowing your focus and defining your research question. The fourth step is finding and evaluating the information you need in order to answer your research question. The fifth step is organizing the information you’ve gathered and synthesizing that information. The final step is reviewing your research and effectively communicating the information to your audience. A style guide is a set of rules for formatting written work and citing sources that writers and editors of a given field or profession follow. In-text citations are brief notations identifying the source of the material at the point you use it in your text. A reference list is a complete list of the sources you cited in your paper. An annotated bibliography is a list of sources you will use in your research, along with annotations that summarize each source and relate it to your project.

Key Terms

annotated bibliography A list of the sources you used in researching your project, along with summaries of each source.

creative thinking Thinking that engages with information imaginatively, exploring a wide range of possibilities and coming up with ideas.

critical thinking Thinking that requires the use of a specific set of skills to determine the value of an information source: inference, analysis, evaluation, interpretation, and explanation.

growth mindset The ability to seek out opportunities to learn new things and put forth the effort to do so.

information literacy The ability to recognize a need for information and address that need by finding, evaluating, and using information ethically and legally.

in-text citation A brief notation within the body of a text that identifies the source for a piece of information.

lifelong learner A person who deliberately chooses to learn new ideas and concepts throughout their life.

problem solving

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The process of effectively working through an issue or question to find a solution: understand the problem, identify the problem cause, brainstorm solutions, evaluate solutions, apply the best solution, and evaluate the outcome.

reference list A compilation of the sources used in a work; entries provide complete source information and typically appear at the end of a work.

reflective thinking Thinking characterized by an awareness of your thoughts, feelings, and decisions as you encounter new information and consider it in light of existing knowledge.

research question The fundamental question a research project strives to answer.

style guide A set of rules for formatting written work and citing sources that writers and editors of a given field or profession follow.