For recommendations on discipline specific scholarly resources click on the tabs relevant to your discipline or subject.
Understand your assessment topic. Do some background reading. Use reference sources such as Credo (citable academic source) and Wikipedia (not academic source but good for understanding and keywords on the topic). Read the marking rubric for the assessment in your subject outline and familiarise yourself with what you are required to demonstrate.
Develop a mindmap to help you explore the topic, find alternate terms and synonyms; then decide on your approach to answering the quesiton.
Develop some effective search strategies. Use some of the terms you discovered in your background reading and your mindmap.
Do some searches in the recommended databases, One Search and the web if appropriate. If your results don't match what you are looking for, try different search terms. Use the advanced search features of the database.
Evaluate your sources, particularly if you are using non-academic web sources.
Read your journal articles, book chapters and other web sources and take notes.
Write your assessment.
Rewrite and proof read - several times until you are sure you have answered the question, not just discussed the topic.
Ensure you have satisfied the marking rubric requirements for the assessment. Check your subject outline for marking rubrics.
The standard referencing style for business is APA 7th edition.
If doing longer assignments with over 15 references you may like to use referencing software. JCU library supports EndNote, a reference manager that enables click of a button in text referencing and the creation of a correctly formatted reference list. To get the most out of using EndNote it is best to start using the application at the beginning of your research rather than the beginning of your writing.
You will find everything you need to study online, but there are other services you can make use of as an off-campus student.
If you find yourself near a campus you can visit and use our libraries, remember your photo id.
We acknowledge the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and acknowledge Traditional Owners of the lands where our staff and students, live, learn and work.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International License, unless otherwise noted. Content from this Guide should be attributed to James Cook University Library. This does not apply to images, third party material (seek permission from the original owner) or any logos or insignia belonging to JCU or other bodies, which remain All Rights Reserved.