Content last reviewed:
Use reference materials for background information for your topic, or to find good keywords to use when searching databases. These are dictionaries, encyclopedias, guides, bibliographies, indexes, and abstracts.
To find reference materials, use the OMNI Library Search. For example, use the keywords personnel management and dictionaries to find related subject headings.
Reference Materials
- Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management - Provides definitions, articles, and short bibliographies on all aspects of business and management.
- Oxford Scholarship Online
- The human resources glossary
- SAGE Knowledge Encyclopedias
- SAGE Research Methods
- International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences
Guides to literature reviews from universities
- Conducting a Literature Review - Carleton University
- The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting It - University of Toronto
- Academic writing: What is a literature review? - Simon Fraser University
- Literature Review - Deakin University Library
- Learn to Write a Review of Literature - University of Wisconsin - Madison
- Guidelines for Writing a Literature Review - University of Minnesota, Duluth
Sample titles from Carleton's book collection
- Writing literature reviews [electronic resource]: a guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences 2017
- 7 steps to a comprehensive literature review: a multimodal & cultural approach
- Doing your literature review: traditional and systematic techniques 2011
- The literature review: six steps to success 2016
- Systematic approaches to a successful literature review 2016
What is an Annotated Bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is an alphabetic list of research resources that includes an annotation (a description and/or brief critique) for each item. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the substance, relevance and quality of each source. Annotations appear after each item in the bibliography.
Annotations do not affect the citation style. Therefore, use APA, MLA, Chicago, or another citation style of your choice in the same way you would when preparing a normal bibliography.
What should each annotation include?
An annotation is a paragraph which may contain the following points:
- information about the author, his/her qualifications
- main arguments and purpose of the work
- intended audience and level of difficulty
- the work's main recommendations or conclusions
- your critique/assessment of the work (describing biases, integrity, and usefulness of the work for your essay)
- your instructor may also request that specific information be included/excluded, so check with him/her or your TA if you are unsure
Example:
McNab, David T. "Who is on Trial? Teme-Augama Anishnabai Land Rights and George Ironside, Junior: Re-Considering Oral Tradition." Canadian Journal of Native Studies [Canada] 18.1 (1998): pp. 117-33.
This research note is an examination of significant documents that were presented during the litigation of the Temagami court case concerning land rights, the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850 and annuities. McNab argues that the oral tradition of the Teme-Augama Anishnabai is accurate, showing that they never participated in the treaty. He provides a good narrative about aboriginal oral history tradition which is intended to generate historical debate on this issue. The endnotes and list of references are both informative and especially useful for further research.
Useful Web Guides
Writing an Annotated Bibliography (University of Toronto)
How to Write an Annotated Bibliography (Simon Fraser University)
How to Write Annotated Bibliographies (Memorial University)
Grey literature is defined as "information produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing" ie. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body." — ICGL Luxembourg definition, 1997. Expanded in New York, 2004
Types of Grey Literature
- Government Information
- Dissertations and Theses
- Conference Proceedings (select Conference Proceedings Citation Index)
- Newspapers and Magazines
- Think Tanks
Resources
- Alternative Press Index - Indexes over 300 periodicals, newspapers and magazines which report and analyze the practices and theories of cultural, economic, political, and social change. 90% of the publications indexed in API are unique.
- Canadian Research Index (Provides detailed citations to monographs and serial publications in the Microlog microfiche collection located in MADGIC)
- GreySource - directory of organizations
- Searching Grey Literature - University of Toronto
Policy Reports and Working Papers
- Brookings Institute
- Canadian Public Documents Collection
- Conference Board of Canada e-Library In addition to the e-Library, look to particular Centres for research on specific topics. Go to Conference Board of Canada and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Select Sitemap. Under Special Projects, you will see Centre for Business Innovation, Compensation Research Centre, Global Commerce Centre, etc.
- National Bureau of Economics Research (NBER) Working Papers
- PolicyFile (U.S.)
- Social Research and Demonstration Corporation A non-profit research organization, created specifically to develop, field test, and rigorously evaluate new programs.
Think Tanks
- Harvard Kennedy School provides a searchable database of more than 590 think tanks and research centres.
Explore Subject Guides available from the library website.
- Business - includes links to Accounting, Management, Finance, Marketing, etc.
- Data Science
- Economics
- Entrepreneurship
- Global Studies
- Information Technology
- International Business
- Organizational Behaviour & Management
- Public Policy and Administration
- Social Media
- Sociology
- Technology Innovation Management
How RSS feeds can be useful - use them to stay current on your topic.
Key Databases:
Business Source Complete
Canadian Business and Current Affairs
Emerald Management eJournals
PAIS International
EconLit
Google Scholar For seamless access to the fulltext of articles that are part of the library's collection, take the link from the library page. If you run into difficulty, the instructions for a workaround are on the details page.
Additional Databases:
Asia-Studies Full-Text Online
Columbia International Affairs Online
CPI-Q (Canadian Periodical Index)
EI Engineering Village
Factiva
IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Sociological Abstracts
World Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Abstracts
Good to know:
- Within a database, limit your search to scholarly articles when it is appropriate to disregard other resources.
- Never limit to full-text only as we may subscribe to the journal you find from another vendor. Use the Get it! icon to search for the full text when it is not immediately available.
- Use available options to search more than one database at a time.
- Look for the option to set up an RSS feed or to Create an Alert. You are then notified when a new entry is added to the database that meets your search criteria.
- Use the Interlibrary Loans RACER form to request items not held at Carleton’s library.
Use citation databases to find if a particular author and/or paper has been cited by other authors.
Examples:
Web of Science
Select Cited Reference Search from top tool bar.
You have the article
Dyke L.S., Murphy S.A., How we define success: A qualitative study of what matters most to women and men (2006) Sex Roles, 55 (5-6) , pp. 357-371.
Enter one author in cited author box
Dyke L* (use surname, first initial and truncation symbol)
Retrieve abbreviation of journal name from list provided, and enter year of publication. SEX ROLES 2006
Deselect disciplines not relevant from listing under Citation Databases
From the list, select the article and click on Finish Search at the top of the list.
Results show the article has been cited 45 times - the most recent in 2017.
Note the option Create Citation Alert to be notified of any future citings of this article.
Scopus
Choose Author Seach from top tool bar.
Enter author's name and affiliation if known
Neilson L*
Select displayed result. On right hand side all published articles by the author will be listed. Click on article for citing references.
Remember to see if an citing article has itself been cited.
-
ABDC Journal Quality List from the Australian Business Deans Council
- Journal Citation Reports - Provides evaluation of journals by the impact factor within a given discipline.
Dissertations and Theses Global Dates covered: indexing 1743-; full-text 1997-- Provides citations and abstracts to Master's and Ph.D theses from North American universities
Theses Canada/Thèses Canada Provides free full-text access to a growing number of Canadian theses starting from 1998 as well as bibliographic information on older theses dating back to 1965.
For a full list of databases see: Theses & Dissertations : Databases
Data Centre at Carleton
- Statistical Consulting
- The library provides a statistical consulting service for the software Stata and SPSS. Researchers may book an appointment with a consultant.
- Data Services
TIP: Search NAICS 2012 to get the NAICS code for an industry
Global (also includes Canadian data)
- Bloomberg
- WRDS Wharton Research Data Services
- Mergent Online (includes Mergent Industry Reports)
- Factiva
- Passport
Tips
Look for a SWOT analysis:
- Go to Business Source Complete and search for your company name. Scroll down and limit by SWOT Analysis.
- Try Passport. Select Companies from the top tab and key in your company name. Select the relevant segment and open the profile. Look in the table of contents for a SWOT analysis.
Also:
- Look to the company's website for valuable information: Read the Management Discussion and Analysis - (MD&A) section of the Annual Report or 10k. Read the letter to the shareholders from the CEO in the company's annual report.
Industry Data & Reports
- Bloomberg - go to BI for industry data. Use command ANR for analyst recommendations.
- Business Source Complete - search your topic, product, company or industry. Under Refine your results choose Industry Overview and Industry Profile.
- Mergent Online - when connected, select the Report Search tab from the menu. Select industry of interest and then geographical region.
- Factiva - mouse over Companies/Markets from menu bar at top of page, select Industry. Select industry from the list provided. Published profiles are found under Analysis and Profiles from menu on left.
- Passport - Select Industries from the menu tab and narrow by country.
- Conference Board of Canada e-Library - Browse by topic -> Industry Sector Economics for industry profiles or enter industry name in the search box.
- HighBeam Business: Industry Reports Free industry reports from The Gale Group on US industries.
Look for valuable information and data from trade associations
Google the industry + country + associations to find trade associations
For example:
Retail Council of Canada
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA)
Getting Started
- Look for a PESTLE report in Business Source Complete.
- Select Country Reports from contents on the right-hand side.
- Type country name in the search box.
- Explore resulting reports.
- The World Economic Forum publishes global annual reports including
Key Resources
- EIU Economist Intelligence Unit - Provides excellent coverage for all countries.
- IMD World Competitiveness Online
- globalEDGE - Site from Michigan State University providing country and industry profiles.
- Doing Business - Provides objective measures of business regulations for local firms in 183 economies and selected cities
- World dataBank
- Human Development Reports
- Maddison Project Database 2020 provides information on comparative economic growth and income levels over the very long run. The 2020 version of this database covers 169 countries and the period up to 2018.
- Bloomberg News
- PressReader PDFs to more than 2300 newspapers from 97 countries in over 55 languages.
- Ottawa Business Journal
- includes the Ottawa Book of Lists
- Canadian Business & Current Affairs Provides full text to Canadian business journals and magazines.
- Canadian Newsstream Access to over 280 Canadian news sources
- Eureka Fulltext Canadian French and English newspapers from Alberta, the Atlantic provinces, Québec and aboriginal communities. Includes full-text transcripts of radio and television broadcasts from CBC, CTV and SRC.
- Factiva (Globe and Mail, the Financial Times (London) and the Wall Street Journal live here)
- Wire Report The leading news service covering Canada's rapidly converging telecom and media sectors.
- Journalist's resource: research on today's news topics
For Historical Canadian & Other Newspapers:
- The Globe and Mail: Canada's Heritage from 1844
- New York Times Archives1851-2005
- Toronto Star: Pages of the Past (Toronto Star)
- Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
For Global Sources:
News Monitoring Services:
Global Economic Monitor (World Bank)
SAGE Research Methods supports beginning and advanced researchers throughout a research project, from writing a research question, choosing a method, gathering and analyzing data, to writing up and publishing the findings.
NVivo is just one of many software packages available that can help you with qualitative data analysis. Keep track of all data associated with your project, code your data, create models to help organize your research, run queries on your coded data, create charts and reports for sharing with others. You can attend the NVivo Workshops to learn more about how NVivo works.
-
Qualitative Research
-
Dictionary of qualitative inquiry by Thomas A Schwandt
-
Encyclopedia of evaluation edited by Sandra Mathison
-
Doing qualitative research: a comprehensive guide by David Silverman and Amir Marvasti
Visit the Scholarly Communications page for news and information on open access and Carleton University Open Access Policy.
Also explore:
- Writing for Publication
- Writing for Scholarly Journals
- Open Access Publishing This video gives an overview of open access publishing – what it is and how it works – and outlines the open access requirements created by the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications.
- Curve An open access repository which holds academic research output and creative work voluntarily deposited by Carleton faculty, staff and students, as well as all dissertations and theses produced at Carleton
- Open Access Support - including funding opportunties.
- Directory of Open Access Journals A multidisciplinary database of 5125 open access journals. Currently 2117 journals are searchable at the article level.
- Grad Navigate: workshops and services that will provide you with advice and practical skills necessary for success in today’s highly competitive job market.
- Borrowing and Renewing: Use your Campus Card to borrow up to 100 items for 120 days with one renewal, subject to recall.
- Interlibrary Loans: Our interlibrary loan system, called RACER, is used to place orders for items not held in the library's collection.
- Visiting other Libraries: Your Campus Card can be used to borrow books at almost all academic libraries in Canada.
- ORCID - what is ORCID and do I need one?
- Graduate Study Spaces: Study carrels, study rooms, and lockers are available to graduate students. They are located on the 5th floor of the library. Students must fill out an application form to reserve space.
- Professional Development Event and Workshop Calendar: The Library offers a slate of professional research skills workshops. Events are co-sponsored by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs.
- Citation Management: Explore some of the many available tools that help you manage and organize the references you gather during your research.
- NVivo: Introduction to a qualitative data analysis tool. See how NVivo can help you keep your research project organized. Learn how to create projects and import a wide variety of data types (text, audio, video, social media).
Writing the dissertations
- Research methods for business & management: a guide to writing your dissertation
- A dictionary of business research methods
- Mapping your thesis: the comprehensive manual of theory and techniques for masters and doctoral research LB2369.W49 2011
- Mastering your business dissertation: how to conceive, research, and write a good business dissertation HD30.4.L65 2011
- Principles of writing research papers LB2369.L393 2011
- Revising your dissertation: advice from leading editors LB2369.R49 2008
- Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process. 3rd ed. LB2369.R83 2007
- Demystifying Dissertation Writing: A Streamlined Process from Choice of Topic to Final Text. LB2369.S55 2010
- Completing your qualitative dissertation: a road map from beginning to end H62.B58555 2016
Citation Help
- Citation Management - book an appointment for yourself, your class, or a small group at citation@carleton.ca. Note the help guide for Zotero and the workshop presentation. Mendeley guides are also available.
- Cite Your Sources - Links pointing to resources on all the main styles.
- Citation Guide - Guide to citing business sources in Chicago Style from Harvard Business School
- The Chicago Manual of Style
- Citing Government Information
- Citing Data & Statistics
