Using the internet for research

Libraries are long-forgotten when it comes to research. Internet is everyone's preferred method because it's fast and accessible. But are you making optimum use of your favourite search engine?

Google Scholars

If you are writing a paper or making a presentation that requires citations and thorough articles by academicians, Google Scholars is your best bet for it. Go to the settings option of Google Scholar, click on 'Metrics' and find your preferred category. The top publications are arranged from order and number of credible citations. You can easily filter out click bait articles and save your time by using this as it directs its users to academic resources with reliable references.

Academic journals

For students and research associates who require journals for their thesis or term papers, sites like MSN Live Academic, InfoMine, Resource Discovery Network, SearchEdu.com are very useful. They store academic journals with specific research focus along with necessary instructions to follow through the research.

Check your references

If you are using the good old method of a quick Wikipedia page surfing, make sure to cross check the references cited.  Encyclopedia websites like Unclyclopedia, Investopedia (for business studies) are all websites that collect information from other sources. So it's best to check the original articles they collect the information from, which are usually listed below every page.

Using  minus (-) operation

The minus operation is extremely useful to filter unwanted websites and ads of companies that have the same name as your search tag but are irrelevant to your research. If you are looking for a study on the daily lives of jaguars and you don't want Google to return 10 results about Jaguar the car company, type in jaguar-car. Your search results will exclude any content that features the car company.

Noshin Saiyara is a student of  IUB studying environmental management, deluded into thinking that she can actually save the planet. Reach her at nsaiayar12@gmail.com to bring her back to reality.