Use the research databases listed here to find articles and other information from sources like newspapers, magazines, and reference materials. See the in-class learning objectives.
Use these resources during the early stages of a research project to help you identify a topic and start gathering background information.
Credo is an excellent all-around reference database that can provide excellent background information to help get your research started.
CCAC students, faculty, and staff can setup a free account for virtually unlimited access to The New York Times. With the CCAC Library's Group Pass, you can get access to extensive breaking news, world news, and multimedia of The New York Times without needing to pay for a personal subscription.
Want to see even more databases? Check out our A-Z list where you can see all of our databases and sort them by subject area.
What's the difference? This presentation compares articles from academic journals and magazines.
Ultimately, it's your responsibility to evaluate the quality of any information before using it it a paper, presentation, or another project.
The steps of the SIFT model* described below can be used to help researchers identify key elements to be on the lookout for when assessing a source. Check out the explanations and questions for each section and start using them to evaluate sources such as books, articles, and websites.
Before using or sharing a source (website, article, book, etc.), do a quick evaluation of it
to ensure it's legitimate and reliable.
Next steps
Take a few minutes to quickly examine a source's author/publisher before using it to help
you avoid inaccurate or misleading information. Google and Wikipedia can be great tools for
this step.
Next steps
Most topics are usually well-covered by multiple sources, which means you don't have to rely
on the first source that you find. A better quality source is likely available to confirm
any claims in any questionable sources you may have encountered.
Next steps
Information can be distorted or misinterpreted when it is shared outside of
its original context. If you encounter quotes, statistics, or other information that is
attributed to another source, finding the original source of that information will allow you
to verify its accuracy.
Next steps
*Adapted from Caulfield, Mike. "SIFT (The Four Moves)." Hapgood, 19 June 2019. CC-BY. Also see this online mini-course on SIFT by the same author for additional detail and examples.
Our concise APA Style handout includes example citations for common sources students are likely to use in a research project (i.e., books, journals, websites, etc.) and examples on how to do in-text citations for those sources.
This citation management tool can help students generate precise citations and create properly-formatted bibliographies in MLA and APA styles. Students can create an unlimited number of projects to keep different research assignments separate and organized. Provided by NoodleTools. PDF Guide
Not sure if your paper is formatted properly? Check out these sample papers provided by the publishers of APA.
This blog is maintained by the editors of the APA manual and includes additional guidance on using APA Style for research projects. It's an excellent resource for anyone who has questions about APA Style.
Includes resources to help you learn about formatting references, writing in-text citations, creating title pages, and more.
