Searching the literature
As part of your discussions, relevant literature may also be suggested. Sharp et al. (2002) discuss types of literature that are of particular use for generating research ideas. These include:
• articles in academic and professional journals; • reports;
• books.
Of particular use are academic review articles. These articles contain both a consid- ered review of the state of knowledge in that topic area and pointers towards areas where further research needs to be undertaken. In addition, you can browse recent publications, in particular journals, for possible research ideas (Section 3.5). For many subject areas your project tutor will be able to suggest possible recent review articles, or articles that contain recommendations for further work. Reports may also be of use. The most recently published are usually up to date and, again, often contain recommendations that may form the basis of your research idea. Books by contrast are less up to date than other writ- ten sources. They do, however, often contain a good overview of research that has been undertaken, which may suggest ideas to you.
Searching for publications is only possible when you have at least some idea of the area in which you wish to undertake your research. One way of obtaining this is to re- examine your lecture notes and course textbooks and to note those subjects that appear most interesting (discussed earlier in this section) and the names of relevant authors. This will give you a basis on which to undertake a preliminary search (using techniques outlined in Sections 3.4 and 3.5). When the articles, reports and other items have been obtained it is often helpful to look for unfounded assertions and statements on the absence of research (Raimond 1993), as these are likely to contain ideas that will enable you to provide fresh insights.