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CIE 602: Research on Learning in Curriculum and Instruction

This guide provides resources for students enrolled in CIE 602.

Overview

This page will show you how to use tools like MyEBSCO to save your searches and sources as then organize them using a citation manager.

You can choose to watch the video or follow the steps below to learn more about research organization.

Saving & Organizing Your Sources (Education Research Series)

This video will explore how to utilize the MyEBSCO account and the citation manager, Zotero to save and organize searches and sources. 

Transcript

Organizing Your Research Using a Citation Manager

Citation management software helps you collect, organize, and reflect on what sources you find. There are four main citation management software programs: Refworks, End Note, Mendeley, and Zotero. All of them do essentially the same things. The biggest difference between them is the amount of storage available, the user interfaces, and whether they operate online, on your computer, or both.

To take a closer look at each one and compare their similarities and differences, visit our Citation Research Guide.

How Citation Management Software Helps with Your Research

  • Easily collect and save both the citation and full text of the articles you find in databases, in Scout, or on the web.
  • Organize your saved articles into folders or collections.
  • Tag and annotate each source with notes, methods, or themes.
  • Connect the software to MS Word to easily generate in-text citations and bibliographies.

Zotero Library Example

Screenshot of a Zotero desktop library titled “Curriculum Mapping.” The left sidebar shows organized folders such as Action Research Methods, AI, APA Psych, Curriculum Mapping (highlighted in blue), Digital Learning Objects, and others. The main panel lists citations within the selected “Curriculum Mapping” folder, including titles like Curriculum Mapping as a Strategic Planning Tool, Mapping Integrative Learning, and Evidence-based instruction integration: a syllabus analysis project. The list displays authors and the note “41 items in this view.” This image illustrates how Zotero can be used to organize and manage research references by topic or project.

Using Citation Management Software

  • As you find relevant sources for your topic within databases or across the web, simply export the sources' citation information into your citation management software. This might be done through an extension (like the Zotero or RefWorks connectors) or by choosing "Export citation" and selecting the name of your software to send it to.
  • Once you have saved sources, organize them into collections/folders that correspond to their topic/project/assignment, etc.
  • Open each article and assign tags to them to help organize them further. These tags could represent specific methodologies, theoretical frameworks, population, etc.
  • Use the built-in features to digitally annotate each of your articles.
  • When you begin writing your literature review, utilize the MS Word connectors to quickly import the citation into your document.