Some essays are easy and fun to write and some are tedious because they require extra dull work. For instance, sometimes in college or university, you will have to write essays that demand source-searching.
Sure thing, looking for sources for your essay isn’t impossible when you know how to do it effectively. It might not be a challenge for you even. But if it is, here are some ways to make your work on sources efficient!
Option 1: Use Specialized Search Engines and Systems
The first thing that pops up in mind is Google Scholar. It’s a completely free library of scientific research. If you need a particular author, the search engine will give their works to you. If you don’t know what you need, type in some keywords (for instance, from your topic or title). You will find issues of scientific journals from different periods. Of course, there is no restriction on subjects, formats, and topics.
Another system like that is BASE (that stands for Bielefeld Academic Search Engine) and Refseek. They are equally good, completely free, and contain only valid scientific works.
Option 2: Look at Bibliographies of Valid Research Papers or Essay Templates
When you find a good article or a well-written exemplary essay, you will see that there is a list of sources. You can also read them and cite them in your essay. Moreover, the links to those sources will be in a proper format already.
Option 3: Scan Wikipedia Pages for Proper Sources
Don’t copy any information from Wikipedia itself though. This is one of the best hubs of information on the Internet but still data there is unstable. This information changes every day because every user can add something from them. But some pages on Wikipedia have References, and there you can find some trustworthy scientific works or books.
Option 4: Go to Your College/University Library and at Least Take a Look at Catalogue
Not many students will do that. Searching for sources on the Internet is more convenient and also, it’s much faster. But if you have an opportunity, spare some time to go to the library.
Undoubtedly, your faculty has its small library too. You can go to the offices of your department and ask professors if there is something that might be useful for your essay. This method is more time-consuming but your mentors will highly appreciate your interest in their research.
Option 5: Scan Some News Too!
If your essay topic has a connection to contemporaneity, you can use mass media as your source as well! Sure thing, not every medium will follow journalistic standards as it should. Also, pay attention to what a medium specializes in. But you can cite their materials, statistics, and interviews with scientists!
Of course, it’s better to read some popular journals or newspapers that follow journalism rules. But you can also pay attention to local newspapers and journals. But note, that exclusive materials have to mention authors at the bottom of an article. If there is no author or you can see that a (nameless) journalist rewrote a text, it’s better to search for the original piece of news.
Option 6: Use an Essay Writing Service
If you don’t know how to search for good sources alone, you can use the help of pro writers. Usually, those specialists are former professors or tutors. Of course, a professional essay writer will have a degree (or multiple degrees). So, they have already gone through all the difficulties of college essay writing. Now it’s an automatic process for them, and they can see what your essay needs instantly.
If you hire a writer, that means:
- getting the best essay with proper formatting;
- obtaining a profoundly written academic paper with trustworthy sources to back its thesis up;
- getting an essay that your writer composes according to your requirements;
- getting a 100% original text material that is worth the best mark;
- gaining essay writing experience (if you want to supervise your essay writer);
- growing your essay writing skill passively;
- getting only the best grades for essays from now on.
Sure thing, you will have to pay for professional essay writing help. But if you have never used an essay writing service before, you will get a first-time use discount. Also, a subscription gives you promo codes. Thus, getting occasional essay writing help will always be cheap enough for every student. Also such websites provides help with narrow specialization services, e. g. argumentative essay proofreading service for PhD.
Conclusion
There are many ways to find good sources for your academic paper. If you combine the listed tools and ways, you will write a perfect essay in terms of support for your thesis. Of course, you can choose only one way and use most of it. Whatever your choice is, it will affect your essay positively!