This guide brings together resources to support you at every stage of your acaemic research — from developing your topic and understanding the ethics of your work, through searching, evaluating, and organizing sources, to reading, writing, and reviewing the literature. Use the links above to jump to the section you need, or work through the guide in order as your project develops.

Research and Writing Guide

 

Topic Development  |  Ethics  |  Academic Integrity  |  Methodologies  |  Searching  |  Buddhist Studies and Tibetan Language Resources  |  Evaluating Resources  |  Organizing Your Research  |  Reading  |  Writing  |  Literature Review

Topic Development

  • Develop a Thesis: What makes a strong thesis and how to craft a thesis PDF
    Libraries, Indiana University Bloomington 
  • Five Types of Thesis Statements learningcommons
    Digital Learning Commons, University of Guelph 
  • Four Steps to Narrow Your Research Topic learningcommons (video)
    Digital Learning Commons, University of Guelph 
  • From Topic to Research Question PDF
    Libraries, Indiana University Bloomington 
  • One Perfect Source: Broaden your scope to find articles to support your topic lib.ncsu.edu (video) 
    Anne Burke, NC State University Libraries
  • Picking Your Topic Is Research lib.ncsu.edu (video)
    Your topic will likely evolve as you begin to research. Choosing and revising your topic is part of the research process.
    Anne Burke, NC State University Libraries 

Ethics

Your Action Research Project (ARP) is classified as a student project rather than federally regulated human subjects research, so Institutional Review Board (IRB) review does not apply. Even so, ARP coursework addresses research ethics directly: the history and purpose of human subjects protections, the Belmont Report’s ethical principles, informed consent, and confidentiality. As you design your project, think carefully about whether your methods touch on human subjects as technically defined, and consult your advisor if you’re unsure how your project’s ethics should be handled.

  • The Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research
     — U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1979 (hhs.gov)

 

Academic Integrity

  • Avoiding Plagiarism: Using & Citing Sources guides.library.harvard
    — Harvard Kennedy School Library
  • Avoiding and Detecting Plagiarism: A Guide for Graduate Students and Faculty PDF
    — CUNY Graduate Center 

Methodologies

  • Brinkman, Svend, Steinar Kvale. 2015. InterViews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing. Third Edition. Sage. JABL
  • Charmaz, Kathy. 2012. Constructing Grounded Theory. 2nd edition. Sage. 
  • Creswell John W and Cheryl N Poth. 2018. Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches. 4th ed. SAGE. JABL
  • Gajaweera, Nalika and Andrew Johnson. Studying Faith: Qualitative Methodologies for Studying Religious Communities. University of Southern California. Free online resource
  • Janesick, Valerie J. 2016. Contemplative Qualitative Inquiry: Practicing the Zen of Research. Routledge. JABL
  • McNiff Jean. 2013. Action Research: Principles and Practice. 3rd ed. Routledge. JABL
  • Moschella, Mary Clark. 2008. Ethnography As a Pastoral Practice: An Introduction. Pilgrim Press. JABL
  • Moschella, Mary Clark and Susan Willhauck. 2018. Qualitative Research in Theological Education: Pedagogy in Practice. SCM Press. JABL
  • Payne Richard K Scott A Mitchell, and Natalie E. F Quli. 2021. Methods in Buddhist Studies: Essays in Honor of Richard K. Payne. Bloomsbury Academic. JABL
  • Strega, Suan and Leslie Brown (eds.) 2015. Research as Resistance: Revisiting Critical, Indigenous, and Anti-Oppressive Approaches. Canadian Scholar’s Press Women’s Press. JABL
  • Wertz Frederick J. 2011. Five Ways of Doing Qualitative Analysis: Phenomenological Psychology, Grounded Theory, Discourse Analysis, Narrative Research, and Intuitive Inquiry. Guilford Press. JABL

Searching – Online Databases

JSTOR

  • “Login in With Google” – with your @maitripa.org account
  • Set up your workspace with a folder for each topic
  • Expand search to All Content if results are few (email librarian citations for access to articles)
  • View References and Related Texts in relevant articles
  • Narrow results by Subject
  • Use Text Analyzer

Gale Databases

  • Subject Guide search with Subdivisions
  • Advanced Search with proximity, nesting
  • Limit Results to Academic Journals
  • Refine Results by Subject, Publication Title, Date
  • Use More Like This and Related Subjects in relevant articles
  • Check References for deep dive

Buddhist Studies and Tibetan-Language Resources

Evaluating Resources

  • Evaluating Internet Resources — Georgetown University Library (georgetown.edu)
  • Evaluating Sources — UC Berkeley Library (lib.berkeley.edu)
  • Know Your Sources — Portland Community College Library (edu)
  • Evaluating Sources Rhetorically (PDF)
  • Evaluating Wikipedia (PDF)

Organizing Your Research

Decide how you will store and organize your research before you begin:

  • Print articles, organize in physical folders, using index cards for each source
  • Download articles to your computer, organize in digital folders by topic/search  
  • Use bibliographic management software to store articles with features for organizing and creating citations

Keep track of your searches – when, where, what worked, what terms you used, how many results, were the results relevant?

  • Create your own log, or download this one 
  • Email articles and citations to yourself as you search 
  • Create bookmark folders to save links by topic/search
  • Keep a physical notebook for each research assignment for taking notes
  • Print web pages you cite; websites are often updated and may not be the same at a later date when your faculty checks your source.

Use bibliographic management software to store articles with features for organizing and generating citations. Choose one and learn it before you begin your research — some are more advanced or complicated than others.

  • Comparison of Reference Management Software — Wikipedia
  • How to Use Zotero (A Complete Beginner’s Guide) — YouTube
  • Using MyBib for Citations — YouTube
  • Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition (Author-Date) — Citation Samples — chicagomanualofstyle.org
  • Maitripa Style Guide — PDF 

Reading

  • How to Read a Scholarly Article, NC State University Libraries — lib.ncsu.edu (video)
    Three NC State faculty members respond to the questions: What is your process for reading a scholarly article? How long does it take you to read a scholarly article? Does your reading process change when you read articles from different disciplines? What is one piece of advice you would give to a student who was attempting to read a scholarly article? 
  • Reading Scholarly Articles: Joining the Conversation — download pdf
    Strategies to help you read and use scholarly materials effectively. You may find that many academic texts offer meaningful ways to explore your and others’ ideas and perspectives.
  • Peer Review in 3 Minutes, NC State University Libraries — lib.ncsu.edu (video)
    Articles are evaluated by asking questions to judge the quality and significance of the research: What is this research about? Is it interesting? Is it important? Is the methodology sound? Are the conclusions logical? and Are the findings original? 

Writing

Literature Review

  • AI Tools for Literature Reviews, Graduate Theological Union Library — YouTube
  • AI Tools for Research and Writing, Graduate Theological Union Library — libguides.gtu.edu
  • Literature Reviews, Writing Center, UN Chapel Hilll — writingcenter.unc.edu, 
    What are they, how to prepare, strategies for writing.
  • Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students, NC State University Libraries — lib.ncsu.edu (video)

 

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