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Regional Institute for Population Studies: Research Support

Regional Institute for Population Studies also known as RIPS is committed to training and development of the intellect, independence and character of the most competitive graduate students and faculty from across the continent and the globe and playing a

Useful Tips

The act of using someone else's words or ideas and passing them off as one's own is known as plagiarism. The UG's plagiarism policy, instructions for utilizing Turnitin, and a step-by-step advice on using Sakai to check for plagiarism are all provided below.

Services in the Library

Listed below are some services the library offers to support learning and research.

  • Printing: The Library provides printing service that enables users to print their personal documents. Charges are fairly cheap and neat work is always assured. Locate the unit in the Research Commons.
  • Reference Manager Software: To assist you in organizing your references, UG has subscriptions to two reference management systems: Mendeley Reference/Desktop edition and EndNote X21.

  • Tutorials on Reference Management Software provided by the Library (Mendeley Reference/Desktop edition and EndNote X21)

  • Library Instruction: The library organizes workshops on the UGCat, databases and other resources. Such workshops will be advertised to allow those interested to register for them. Contact your Subject Librarian or use the Ask-a-Librarian Live Chat for more information.

Basic Information on Research

Research Assistance

#1 Tip: Ask a librarian for assistance. We are here to help--in-person and online--throughout your research process.

Ways to contact us:

  • Use our Ask-a-librarian page
  • Provide your name and Email address
  • Then Click "Chat"
Crediting/Citing Sources

Citations serve as a way to acknowledge the use of borrowed content. This is something you must do each time you borrow information.

For what reason do you cite?

  • must provide due credit to the individual or people who created the material you are using.
  • to give your readers the opportunity to verify your interpretation of the source.
  • to make the source accessible to your readers on their own.
  • to showcase the investigation, you have conducted into your subject.
  • to support the stances, you adopt in your paper.
  • should refrain from plagiarism and utilize knowledge in an ethical manner.

Literature Review: Conducting & Writing

This guide will provide research and writing tips to help students complete a literature review assignment.

1. Choose a topic. Define your research question.
  • A main research question should serve as the basis for your literature review.
  • Make sure your research question is not too broad or too narrow. 
  • Begin writing down terms that are related to your question. 
  • If you have the opportunity, discuss your topic with your professor.

2. Decide on the scope of your review.

  • How many studies do you need to look at? How comprehensive should it be? How many years should it cover? 

    Tip: This may depend on your assignment.  How many sources does the assignment require?

3.  Select the databases you will use to conduct your searches.

Make a list of the databases you will search.  

Where to find databases:

4. Conduct your searches and find the literature. Keep track of your searches!
  • Review the abstracts of research studies carefully. This will save you time.
  • Write down the searches you conduct in each database so that you may duplicate them if you need to later.
  • Use bibliographies and references of research studies you find to locate others.
  • Ask your professor or a scholar in the field if you are missing any key works in the field.
  • Use Mendeley Reference Manager or EndNote to keep track of your research citations. See the Mendeley Desktop & EndNote Tutorials if you need help.

5. Review the literature.

Subject Librarian

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Sylvia Edem Amexo
Contact:
UGLS - Balme Library
+233244471319
Website
UG

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