LibGuides: Organizing Your Research: Home

Guidance and Strategies

OUTLINE
The Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) is a good place to start for a general introduction to outlining and different types of outlines.
SYNTHESIS MATRIX
This guide from the University of Michigan libraries provides a simple template to start a synthesis matrix, as well as an example and walk-through of the process.
Social Science Research
From Trinity Librarian Alex Gallin-Parisi, this guide is full of additional resources and tips specifically for social science research.

A Note About Bibliographies and Annotated Bibliographies

Chances are, your instructor will give you guidance via your assignment about how your bibliography, reference list, and/or annotated bibliography should look. If you are working on your own or want to explore options, here are some suggestions:

Working Bibliography
Why you'd create one and what it is, from Indiana Wesleyan University.
Bibliography vs. Reference List
Yes, technically there is a difference! A short explanation from the University of Reading (UK).
Annotated Bibliographies
Guidance for these varies considerably and there are many types. This TU guide introduces you to a few options.

Helpful Tools/Software

Zotero Guide
A citation management tool helps you keep track of and organize various references for a paper or project. It also helps you to quickly create citations for your resources in a selected format (APA, MLA, Turabian, etc.)
Trello Guide
Trello is a project management tool that is entirely cloud-based. It's basic structure is comprised of boards, lists and cards.