Nursing Thesis: How To Choose Bibliography Sources

Nursing thesis: hints for selecting bibliography sources

Finding your sources is one of the most important tasks you will complete as you compile and create your nursing thesis. Like any important writing assignment, you have to find the right sources to support your paper’s point. Otherwise, there is none.

When you select bibliography and works cited sources, it is important that each item meets some set standards for academic research.

Scholarly Sources

Finding scholarly sources isn’t hard – but it can be a bit challenging to determine which sources don’t fit the bill. In general, you can never go wrong with the following:

Books: Books are a great resource option. And most are scholarly resources because of the nature of a published book. Make sure to cite properly and have a variety of hard-copy sources on hand.
Journals: Academic journals are another great option. Journals that focus on a specific field of study are even better. Published as peer-reviewed sources of information, these most often offer some of the most up-to-date information on your subject.
Magazines: While gossip rags obviously won’t fit the bill, magazines published to help a specific profession are most often considered scholarly items. If it’s a magazine that is frequently read by doctors and nurses, you can pretty much bet it is going to be a good option.
Education Websites: When scouring the internet for your sources, a good place to start is websites run by schools and colleges. If it ends in “.edu”, the odds are that it is a quality source.
Professional Websites: Websites that are run by professionals in the medical field are also a good source for material. Though you should always make sure they offer quality information and don’t appear to be promoting a specific product, professional websites are a great tool.
Online Educational Databases: Databases that host a wealth of scholarly articles, papers, books, essays and thesis arguments are extremely effective. Most schools offer a free membership to their preferred site, but if yours doesn’t you may have to pay. In the interest of time, this can be well worth the fee to find all of your sources in one place.

Know What You Need

The most important part of finding the best sources is knowing exactly what you are looking for. Once you have decided on the point you will make, you can begin searching for scholarly information to support it.

As you search, review source information to make sure it is scholarly – and jot down citation information to keep on hand for when you create your bibliography and works cited pages.