Although not scholarly, the internet will more than likely be your initial starting point for topic ideas and information. Informal channels of information, such as blogs and alert services, are invaluable resources that help you stay current and informed about your research area, and will provide assistance in directing you to the resources that are appropriate to use in your research.
Research news websites are also good sources for the latest information in research. This is a great way to keep up with current research, learn about potentially interesting topics, and understand where the research in a particular field is heading. Headlines for recently published research can be found by searching by the keywords ‘research news’.
EurekAlert!, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, is a service that gathers and posts press releases from research organizations (universities, medical centers, government agencies, publishers). Science Daily is a website that provides top headlines in recent research and discoveries in key topic areas like Health and Medicine, Education & Learning, Computers & Mathematics and more.
Popular news sources and magazines can also be useful for finding out about the latest trends or research. News sources, like New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, The Chronicle of Higher Education and more, will regularly report on research of interest to a general audience.
Use the links provided in online articles or the informal in-text citation within the article to locate the original research publication. These resources can be found by conducting an internet search, or using PubFinder tool to search for specific publications by title.
You may also want to learn more about the differences between Academic and Popular Sources to better understand the use of these resources in your academic research.
Why search when articles can come to you? News feeds or alerts locate recently published research in a subject area. Subscribing to news feeds helps you stay up-to-date on the research that is being done in a specific field.
Many websites offer ways to subscribe to their feeds. Tools like Feedly allow you to keep websites and news sources all in one place. A simple way to organize and streamline information is to use an RSS feed reader.
It is important to keep in mind that with so many resources out there, you could quickly become overwhelmed with information being delivered daily. It is probably best to skim blogs and newsgroups until you settle on a specific idea, and then limit yourself to one or two key groups, newsfeeds, etc.
Open Access Resources can be invaluable for exploring your topic. These resources are freely available 'open access’ documents from professional and trade associations, government agencies, non-profit organizations, research institutes, universities and other entities. They are good places to explore for statistics, reports, conference abstracts and proceedings, white papers, association newsletters, industry news and more.
The TSTC library maintains a collection of open access resources through CloudSource Plus.