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Tips and tricks for getting the most out of your Internet research:

Constructing a Successful Search | Evaluating Web Pages | Writing a Research Paper | Citations and Avoiding Plagiarism

As you head back to school and are faced with your first research assignments of the year, you'll probably look to the Internet as a resource for finding information. With the number of Web sites increasing daily, trying to find information that is relevant to your particular assignment and then being able to use it in an effective manner can seem like an overwhelming task. But there are ways to become a more efficient researcher and cut down on the amount of time you spend online.

Search engines use different technologies to find and display results, so the results you get for a particular term will vary depending on which engine you use. Instead of visiting multiple engines separately, start your research with a search on Dogpile where you can view results from all the leading search engines in one place in a matter of seconds. The results you find can be from a variety of Web sites, from government agencies and corporations to knowledgeable individuals and non-profit organizations. Finding the information is easy with Dogpile, but knowing what to do with the information, how to cite it properly, and how to avoid plagiarism are other important considerations.

The folks at Dogpile have compiled tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your Internet research from the very beginning. You can read all the way through from the top, or click on the topics above to be taken to the section you're most interested in.

Tips for Constructing a Successful Search Query

1. Choose Your Terms Carefully
The words you enter in the search box will have the most direct impact on the results you receive. For that reason, we suggest that you use the most direct words you can. For example, if you're looking for information about the First Amendment (Free Speech), enter First Amendment or Free Speech First Amendment and NOT free speech, which may bring back many results on speeches you can find for free on the Internet.

2. Use Appropriate Spacing
Dogpile recognizes any spaces that you enter in the search box, so search with the correct spaces included. If you search Civil War you will most likely receive a list of various Web sites containing historical information. Searching civilwar will probably return similar results, but may also include a specific site (if there is a civilwar.com), sites selling civil war products (such as movies or books), or any other exact match for civilwar without a space.

3. Refine Your Results
Dogpile's automatic categorization technology, called "Refine Your Results," automatically categorizes results into sub-categories based on words and phrases contained in the results. If you do a search, and get too many vague results, you can refine the results using this feature, which is found on the left-hand side of the screen when results are displayed.

Example:
If you searched the term chemistry, Dogpile would sort the results into various categories, like Resources, Books, Software, History, etc. By clicking on any of the category links, you would then view the results for that specific category.

4. Use Search Categories
If you're looking for a specific kind of result, use the category radio buttons located near the search box. Want pictures of famous paintings? Search images. Looking for a certain song from a famous jazz musician? Try Audio/MP3. Using the category radio buttons provides another way to target the exact results you're looking for.

5. Use Advanced Search
Dogpile has a special Advanced Search page that allows you to increase the accuracy of a particular search. Options include:

Qualify Your Search - Create a very specific search. You can look for pages that contain an exact phrase (such as 'four score and seven years ago'), or exclude pages containing certain words.
Domain Filter - Search for Web site with a .edu or .gov domain. This can be helpful when looking for government or educational resources.
Language Filter - Include only results written in the selected language. This may be especially helpful for foreign language classes.
Date - Limit your search to find results before, after or between certain dates. This can be useful when you are searching for a specific article or to weed out any out of date information.
Boolean Searches - If you're overwhelmed with the number of results you receive from a simple term search, you can use words and, or, and andnot to search for your keyword(s) in a more advanced manner.

Examples:
roman and history - results will contain both terms "roman" and "history"
roman or history - results will contain either the term "roman" or the term "history"
roman andnot history - results will contain the term "roman" but not the term "history"

Each of the Boolean Terms can be used in conjunction with another and with parentheses, allowing you to make complex Boolean queries for more precise searching.

Example:
astronomy and planets andnot stars - results will contain the term "astronomy" and the term "planets" but not the phrase "stars"

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Evaluating Web Pages

When using the Internet as a source for research, it's important to evaluate the Web page you are viewing. Some Web sites are created to be spoofs, jokes or provide misinformation, so before relying on the information you find as fact, you should ask yourself these important questions:

1. What is the URL?
Determine if the Web site is a personal page, what type the domain is (.com, .gov, .org, etc.) and who has published the page. Not everything posted on someone's personal page may be factual.

2. Look for "About Us," "Background" or "Philosophy" links
This section can help you determine what the person's or organization's viewpoints or biases are.

3. Who is the Web site targeted to?
Determining who the audience is can help identify the relevance or truth of the information, as well as any bias it may present. You can look at the "About Us" section of a Web site for clues about the intended audience. The domain can also be an indication of the audience. For example, .org sites are often trying to build awareness and support for a cause; .gov belongs to the government; .ca, .au. and .uk are written for a foreign audience. A site dedicated to selling a product may include factual statements but likely presents a biased viewpoint for a particular product and/or company.

4. Look for links to additional sites
Other links should support the information on the page. Some links will represent a different viewpoint while others will provide more information. A link that doesn't work could be a sign that the original page is not kept up-to-date and the information may no longer be valid.

5. What has this Web page told you?
If you have doubts about the validity of the information, ask your instructor for advice.

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Writing a Research Paper

A research paper represents hours of your time spent pouring over material, uncovering facts, and writing and re-writing the paper. While the end result is as easy as printing or e-mailing it to an instructor, the start of the project can seem very daunting, especially if you're not familiar with the topic. These tips can help you from start to finish.

1. Gather information
One of the best ways to start research is at a metasearch engine such as Dogpile because it searches as much as 50% more of the Web than any single search engine and returns only the most relevant sites. Think about what you are looking for. The more detailed you can be in your topic, the better results you will receive. Dogpile's "Refine Your Results" feature can help you narrow your topic from the very start.

2. Take notes as you read
Highlight key facts you want to refer to later. The highlight function on the Dogpile toolbar will highlight your topic search keywords on the screen to easily identify relevant sources.

3. Draft an outline of the paper's structure
This is like a road map to keep you on topic and gives the paper organization.

4. Write your first draft
Be sure to document your sources as you go so you don't scramble later to remember what fact was from what source.

5. Review your first draft
Read what you've written with a critical eye. Does your structure logically follow your thoughts? Do your sources support your statements? Have you used the correct grammar, spelling and punctuation? Make notes as you read and re-type your paper based on your corrections.

6. Give your final draft to someone else to review
Ask for critical feedback about structure, sources, grammar, spelling and punctuation. Allow the reviewer to make notes on your copy, too. Re-type the paper based on the corrections.

7. Review your final draft one more time
You might find an incorrectly quoted source or be inspired by a brilliant idea to include.

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Plagiarism 101

There is a big gray area, particularly at the college level, about what constitutes plagiarism. According to Don McCabe, founder of the Center for Academic Integrity and professor at Rutgers University, in this age of universities recruiting U.S. and international students of different backgrounds and origins, schools should go out of their way to communicate rules of academic integrity more clearly to students. Students who have grown up with the Internet may have a different view of information than people who went through school before the advent of the Internet. Today's students sometimes view material on the Internet as public information that doesn't need to be cited.

Plagiarism Defined
The definition of plagiarism can be viewed on a continuum from intentional to inadvertent and from mild to severe. Simply put, plagiarism is using a chunk of text (some think it's three words, others think it's five) and intentionally or unintentionally representing it as the original work of the person completing the assignment.

Plagiarism can include:

Failing to cite a source
Copying and citing text from an original document, but failing to put it in quotes.
Incorrectly citing a source
Copying all or part of a paper from a source and representing it as the original work of the person completing the assignment
Having someone else write a paper and passing it off as the original work of the person completing the assignment
Purchasing a paper from an online term paper source

What Universities Are Doing to Crack Down on Plagiarism

Preventative measures

Clearly defining plagiarism and cheating and communicating it to students
Developing policies for handling instances of plagiarism
Providing guidelines for citing sources
Warning that services, such as Turnitin, will be used to determine the originality of students' work

Technologies for detecting plagiarism

Some schools use services, such as Turnitin, to which professors submit their students' papers to be compared to three different databases: 1) a copy of the Internet that is constantly updated by about 40 millions pages per day; 2) a database of books and journals including all of the classics; and 3) every paper ever submitted to Turnitin. Then Turnitin generates an "originality report," an exact duplicate of submitted papers, with copied or paraphrased text underlined, color-coded, and linked to its original source.
Professors also simply type large bodies of text into search engines, such as Dogpile, to see if it returns any Websites housing the same content.
Some professors have created their own software programs that are customized for detecting plagiarism in their classrooms. University of Virginia physics professor Louis Bloomfield's program turned up 100 papers he suspected were plagiarized. St. John's University professor Benjamin Johnson developed a program that scans documents and detects strings of six or more words of copied language in papers he feeds into it. (source: http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb02/tools.html)

Other tactics

Some professors change assignments every year to prevent students from recycling other students' past papers.
Some put disciplinary procedures in place to deter plagiarism. For example, some professors threaten an 'F' for any student caught plagiarizing.
"Cloze procedure" - the professor types out a questionable section from a student's paper, with every fifth word blank, and hands the paper back to the student. The student then has to fill in the blanks with the correct word. The theory is if the paper is truly the student's original work, there will be no problem knowing what the word is to complete the sentence.

While the Internet has made it easier for students to include un-cited material in their research papers, it has also made it easier for professors to detect plagiarism. In short, it's not worth it.

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Dogpile would like to thank the following individuals for their valuable input and assistance in the creation of this guide:

Don McCabe, founder of the Center for Academic Integrity and professor at Rutgers University

Debbie Abilock, co-founder and director of content and products at NoodleTools, assistant head of the San Francisco School, and editor of the American Association of School Librarians' Knowledge Quest

Dr. Joseph Janes assistant professor at University of Washington, who has conducted extensive research on models of practice in digital reference

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