Step 1 - Go Library Homepage and click on button for NoodleTools.
Step 2 - After signing in with SU credentials, click on Create a Personal ID to set up a NoodleTools account.
Step 3 - Under Create a New Project, choose APA and Advanced and give your project a name (ie, NURS520 Literature Review).
Step 4 - Use the aids provided to focus your research, if desired.
Step 5 - Click on Sources.
Step 6 - Begin adding references (journal, web site, etc) by clicking Create a Citation.
How to create a source reference
1. Click Sources in the navigation bar at the top of the screen to begin adding references to a new project.
2. Click Create new citation.
3. When you create a new citation, you will be prompted to select where the source is and what type it is. The content of the list will vary depending on what project level you selected.
Once you select what the source is, a new citation form will appear in the next screen (below).
4. On the form, fill in as many details about your source as possible. Help text pops up with tips as you move from field to field.
5. A Guide at the top-right of the screen displays a formatting template. Click the blue tab (APA Guide in the screenshot below) to open the guide. As you enter information in the form, the corresponding element is highlighted in the template.
By the end of this course you will be writing a literature review and a research proposal on a topic of your choosing. The topic you choose now should address a question that ought to be answerable by quantitative research. As you brainstorm topics, delve into the literature to see how well your topic is covered. Based on your preliminary review of the literature, broaden or narrow your topic accordingly to make it focused and manageable. You may get some ideas for new or more manageable topics.
Delving into the literature means becoming familiar with the tools used for nursing research. It also means reading background information found in journals, magazines and books. "Going to the literature" is something that is done throughout the research process, and exploring your topic broadly is where research begins.
Brainstorm topics that reflect your clinical experience, but are also related to the reading you are doing. Look for a review article that sums up the research in your area of interest. For your literature review, the articles should be primary research, but at this exploratory stage anything that sparks ideas is useful. Go to the Finding Quantitative Research page to see suggested databases.
When you have decided on a preliminary topic, write your topic sentence.
