Finding Related Sources: Home

Finding sources related to your topic and research can be difficult. Watch the video to learn how to find related sources. 

How to Find a Related Source

1. The first strategy for finding a related source is to investigate the research that has influenced an article you are reading. As you read an article on your topic, pay close attention to the sources the authors cite.

2. Researching the articles’ introduction and/or literature review sections are great places to look at the sources cited by the author as they introduce research previously published on the topic. As you read through the article, take note of research that sounds relevant, then scroll down to the article’s reference list to find the full citation.

3. Once you’ve found the citation, copy the entire citation. Then, open Google Scholar in a new tab, paste the citation you found, and click search. If you haven’t synced your Google Scholar account with USU, go to this libguide to ensure you get free access to articles USU subscribes to.

4. You can also simply scan the article’s reference list to see if an article’s title sounds relevant and interesting. Again, you copy and paste a citation in Google Scholar to get quick access.

5. Another strategy you can use is investigating articles that were influenced by an article you found useful. Paste the article’s citation in Google Scholar. However, instead of accessing the article’s PDF, click the “Cited By” link beneath the article’s abstract. This pulls up a list of sources that have cited that article. You can scroll the results to find relevant articles to read.