Helpful Writing and Research Tools

Google Scholar Walden Search
Google Scholar is a great tool for finding scholarly resources about various subjects. The service allows users to search topics and discover digital articles and libraries that provide the article for either free or paid through preprint and reprint servers (Jacsó, 2005). Google Scholar also offers advance services that allow for users to filter search results based on their institution. If you would like to search articles specific to University, you could set this filter up from the Google Scholar home page. To do this, you need to click on the settings link at the top and then under the library links, type in the schools name. The next time that you search Google Scholar and if the source in within the school’s Library, Google Scholar will provide a direct link to that article by showing a “Find in School” link on the right of found articles.

Reference Indent
An additional trick that I have learned to use is with the reference section to get the reference indent required in APA. The trick is to highlight the entire reference in Microsoft Word and then click the buttons Control and T simultaneously. For Mac users, the buttons are Command and T.

DOI search
The next helpful tool that I use is crossref for getting citation DOI’s. However, instead of having to search and use filters, you can simply bookmark this link to go right to the box where you can input the reference: http://search.crossref.org/references.

Note Taking
Another tool that I often like to use is an online annotator called Diigo. This tool allows you to search the web, highlight text, and paste sticky notes all throughout a website. Once you have done this, you can easily go to Diigo.com, login, and find all of your notes in addition to categorize and export them. This tool is great for keeping track of articles, referencing websites, annual reports, and organizing content.

Additional Readings

Jacsó, P. (2005). Google Scholar: the pros and the cons. Online information review, 29(2), 208-214. doi:10.1108/14684520510598066

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Dr. Elijah Clark

Elijah is a business and growth advisor. He writes about business, marketing, sales, development, branding, technology, and how to develop effective business strategies.

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