CIE 100: Introduction to Civil Engineering

To search for information, there are two important things to do before you start:

1. determine what academic disciplines are likely to cover the information you need
2. determine possible keywords you can use for your search

Here's an example:

• Topic - solid waste management
• Academic Disciplines - Engineering, Ecology, Environmental Sciences, Soil Science
• Possible Keywords - reuse, recycling, storage, treatment, energy recovery, disposal, pollution, hazardous waste

Choose tools that cover the academic areas you have identified, to search for journal articles. (Tip: Ask a librarian if you are not sure which databases to use!)

Citing the sources we use to provide information for our research is a vital and expected practice of all researchers, including all engineers.

There are many different types of citation formats, such MLA, APA, and CSE.

Some of the databases provide ways to get a pre-formatted citation, but some do not.  If you cannot find a pre-formatted citation, here are some guides to help you put the information into the correct format:

• CSE (Council of Science Editors)
• APA (American Psychological Association), 7th edition
• MLA (Modern Language Association) 

Whichever citation style you use, the important thing is to be consistent throughout your work.

Tools to help you get past Paywalls and to the full text of an article.