This guide will help nursing students work through the research process. There are links to nursing related journal article databases, our online catalog, and e-book sources. Helpful online tutorials dealing with keyword searching, using a database, PittCat, developing a research topic, scholarly information, surfing the Internet, and avoiding plagiarism are provided. There are links to websites that will be helpful when setting up research papers following APA format and constructing in-text citations and a reference list. The Nursing Portal link will provide quick access to selected nursing information resources. If you have any questions about the resources found in this guide, please do not hesitate to contact me or stop by the library to talk with a librarian.

The following steps outline a simple and effective way for finding information for a research paper and citing the sources you find. 

• Develop a topic that asks a question or poses a problem that interests you.
• State your topic/problem in the form of a question.
• Select appropriate search terms for your subject within your question. 
• Search subject oriented databases to locate journal articles.
• Revise your topic, if necessary.
• Determine how you will answer your question.
• Evaluate your journal articles carefully!
• Decide which articles to include in your research paper. 
• Cite the sources you find following MLA format.
• When in doubt, contact your librarian.

The link below will help you refine your research topic.