To write a thesis, for most majors you need to study the contribution of other researchers of the problem. Simply put, you need more than books and scientific journals (though now much of the information can be obtained in electronic form, which reduces the height of the barricades of books and photocopies on the Desk).

So how to find material for the thesis? How to do a literature search for less time?

The scientific Director will require, together with the plan of the thesis and a list of references, which will be the base graduate student. And rightly so, because the list becomes a reference point for the student, arranging chaotic in search of materials.

In addition, by studying the bibliography, the teacher can at this stage to provide serious help to recommend some important materials or to erase the excess. Draft list of references can be expanded, but overall, as a plan becomes the basis for the thoughtful and measured work on a degree.

Types of sources

Depending on the specialty, the list of references includes from several tens to several hundreds. Traditional recommendations for the compilation of this list are reduced to the strict command to work with library catalogues and bibliographic references. But we know 11 life hacks which will help you to make the process of researching literature for the thesis a little more easy, and will allow you to find the materials that facilitate the writing of the diploma.

As a support, take a list of literature review structure on the topic of your term papers (if they match on the problems with graduate study that often happens).

View a list of recommended literature on your topic in encyclopedias, reference books, textbooks. Since the thesis is usually narrow for the big catch cannot count, but some literature, especially of a General nature, to find succeed. You have, at least, formed the center for bibliographic spiral that you can gradually promote.

What is the purpose of a literature review?

You have in your hands a great tool the Internet. With it looking for publications on your topic. I think it’s Captain Obvious here crucified? Nope. As practice shows, many students somehow do not know that it is best to use for this purpose specialized search engines such as Google scholar, as well as specialized electronic library.

Burning chip: others diplomas and thesis will provide you with lists of suitable literature (already selected information from the churning of the ocean). This is perhaps the rare case when banks will be useful abstracts. Plus, this method that you can find the names of suitable articles, not burying binder scientific journals. Pay special attention not even on the list of references (students and graduate students love to poke all more or less related to the topic, anyhow more) and on links. You will have the page numbers in articles and monographs, where you can learn the right material.

How to organize a literature review

All the same applies to articles, books on your topic. Again, more attention is paid to the reference as lists of references, especially books, is very extensive. In fact minus a multi-page bibliography, they have a lot of books that you do not need. The obvious plus is that databases for research papers don’t cut corners with pages, like a graduate.

Look in the electronic dissertation hall and see if there’s something suitable for your topic. Open access dissertations are laid out, so you have a chance to neatly not only references, but any piece of work.

Still little material? Work with library catalogs. Now they are almost all electronic and even integrated with the Internet. Yeah, the Board on life hacking is not particularly drawn, but there is one caveat: almost any library can order recruitment materials for your topic. Well, Yes, money. But save time, especially when working in the hall of foreign theoretical literature at a mediocre language skills. Minus: there is a risk that the librarian is not deep enough understanding of your subject, skip the book or article that you’d taken in independent exploration.

Especially botany buried in the bibliographic reference. The majority of students is unlikely to accomplish such a feat. But there are issues on which, without such a reference is not enough. For example, if you need to find the diaries and memoirs of statesmen of the Empire, the easiest way is not to go through the catalogue and take a bibliography, which lists all memorizes of the period.

Foreign burgonet. Search for suitable materials in not an easy thing, especially for a person with a high school level foreign languages. But you can find the appropriate materials that have not been translated and therefore not be “read” by the system. You know what we mean? Using both paragraphs 5 and 9 of our list of life hacks can be very nice to simplify your life.

Don’t hesitate to ask for help to the teacher in order to facilitate their job search materials. Of course, not go empty handed: make a little list with paragraph 2, complain that can’t find anything. Probably will provide you multiple flagships, based on which you can write most of the work. And the rest will finish with hacking 4 and 5.

Oh and there is one way to make a quality list of references the easiest, maximum saves you time. To entrust this task. Usually the materials looking the same author that will write you a diploma, but you can also place a separate order for compiling the list of references. In the article “do I need to pay for the preparation of the list of references?” we’ll talk in detail about who, how and why gives such orders.