Researching and

academic skills
Joanne Farmer and Helena Beeson
Session outline

• Library and Learning Services (LLS) 

• Researching your assignments 
– Keywords
– NELSON and key databases
• Academic and report writing
• Harvard referencing
• How to get further help 
Library and Learning
Services (LLS)
Based in the Learning Hub, LLS provides:
•Access to library resources, including
print and e-books
•Online tools, including NELSON, NILE
and reading lists
•General help on using the library
•1-1 guidance from specialist teams 
Specialist teams
Academic Librarians help with:
• Researching skills
• Referencing skills

Learning Development tutors help with:

• Academic skills, for example, structure, academic writing,
critical thinking, reflection, time management
• Maths & Statistics

Language Development Centre

Book tutorials 
What sources
do you use for
research?
What are the different
sources you currently use?
Types of information sources – examples
Books and e-books
Journals
Newspapers
Company reports
Conference papers
Government documents
Legal documents
Data and statistics
Websites 
Are they good
quality sources?
How do you know if they are
credible sources?
Evaluating sources
Who has produced the information, e.g. an academic?​
What are they saying?​
Where is the information from, is it reliable?​
When was it created, is it up-to-date?​
Why was it created, do they have an agenda?​
How did they do it? If it’s research, what did they do?
Academic and trade journals
Academic journals
Theory & research
Written by academics/researchers
Articles at least 5 pages
Mostly text, rarely images
Serves an academic/ informational
purpose
References
Example: European Journal of
Marketing, Services Marketing Quarterly Marketing Week
Trade/Practitioner journals
Current practice and thinking
Written by practitioners/professionals
Less than 5 pages
Often images, photos
Shows what is happening in practice
Few if any references
Example: Marketing, Campaign,
Keywords for
searching
Synonyms – global / international
Abbreviations – WoM, SME, B2B
Phrases – “digital marketing” “social
media”
Singular and plural – strategy/strategies
Alternative spellings – behaviour/
behavior

Keyword activity – join in with Menti!

Assignment planning
Global marketing strategies in relation to
sportswear brands
What keywords and phrases could you use? 
[Examples only]

Global marketing Sportswear brands Strategies

Assignment planning
Global marketing strategies in relation to
sportswear brands
What keywords and phrases could you use? 
[Examples only]

Global marketing Sportswear brands Strategies

International Sports branding Strategy

marketing
Sports marketing Sports brands Competitive
positioning
International Nike Market entry
markets
Meaningful search strategies
For example:

Sportswear AND “global marketing”

Sports brands AND global marketing AND strateg*
Nike AND international marketing strategies

• As you search, note any new keywords that are given by the database
• Be flexible with your search words and read the clues
NELSON
https://nelson.northampton.ac.uk
Organise your references in
NELSON by pinning and labeling
Searching for marketing information 
Key databases for Marketing
MarketLine​ Company and industry database
Mintel UK consumer market reports database
ABI Global​ Journal databases. Includes other content, for
example, news​(Filter to Scholarly content)
Business Source Premier​ (Filter to Scholarly/Academic content)
Emerald​ Academic journal databases​​
Sage​
ScienceDirect
Taylor and Francis Online
Wiley Online
 MarketLine

• Company and industry information,

for example, company SWOT, case
studies

• Global data and information

• Databases link (at top of NELSON)

 Academic
writing
Learning Development

• Paragraphs
• Structure
• Getting the high marks!

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

 PEEL

Point Evidence Evaluate Link

Make your point Support your point Why does the evidence Summarise your
support your point? point
 Paragraph taken from: Lashitew, A.A., (2021) Corporate uptake of the
Activity Sustainable Development Goals: Mere greenwashing or an advent of
institutional change? Journal of International Business Policy, 4(1), pp. 184-200

Point Evidence Explain/Evaluate Link

a) About 75% of the largest 100 stock-listed firms around the world released sustainability
reports as of 2017, up from only 12% in 1993 (Serafeim et al., 2020). Since their introduction in
2015, the SDGs have been used as a communication framework by the majority of the world’s
largest companies.

b) Very few companies, however, report their performance with respect to specific targets:
PWC (2019) found that only 25% of companies included the SDGs in their published business
strategies and an even smaller share (14%) identified specific targets.

c) This suggests that relatively few companies actively integrate SDGs into their core activities
and evaluate the efficacy of these undertakings.

d) Corporations are increasingly using sustainability disclosure to communicate the

philosophies, strategies, and outcomes of their social and environmental engagement.
Answers Paragraph taken from Lashitew (2021)

Point
d) Corporations are increasingly using sustainability disclosure to communicate the
philosophies, strategies, and outcomes of their social and environmental engagement.
Evidence
a) About 75% of the largest 100 stock-listed firms around the world released sustainability
reports as of 2017, up from only 12% in 1993 (Serafeim et al., 2020). Since their introduction in
2015, the SDGs have been used as a communication framework by the majority of the world’s
largest companies.
Explain/Evaluate
b) Very few companies, however, report their performance with respect to specific targets:
PWC (2019) found that only 25% of companies included the SDGs in their published business
strategies and an even smaller share (14%) identified specific targets.
Link
c) This suggests that relatively few companies actively integrate SDGs into their core activities
and evaluate the efficacy of these undertakings.
Sections of a report

1.Cover page 6. Discussion

2.Executive summary 7. Conclusion
3.Table of contents 8. Recommendations
4.Introduction 9. Reference list
5.Literature Review 10. Appendices
Critical and analytical writing
So what?
What if?
What next?

What’s the
significance?
Who?
How? What’s the impact?
What?
Where? Why?
When?
Evaluate
Analyse
Describe
High grades come from:

1. Quality sources 1. Logical argument 1. Logical and clear

structure
2. Multiple sources per 2. Critical writing
paragraph 2. Table of contents

3. Clear reference list 3. Most significant

models

4. Relevant appendices

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Harvard
Referencing

F O R U N D E R G R A D UAT E S
Learning Objectives 

• Why we cite and reference 

• What is Harvard referencing?

• How to cite and reference your work

• Where to get further help

Tell us about your experiences with
referencing

A. I have never referenced before

B. I have referenced using a different referencing system, but not Harvard

C. I have used another version of Harvard referencing

D. I have used the University of Northampton Harvard system of
referencing before
Why do we cite and
reference? 
• To avoid losing marks
• To support an argument, to make a claim or to
provide evidence
• To show the breadth and depth of your reading
• To acknowledge others' ideas or work
• To avoid plagiarism
• To allow the reader to locate the sources you
have used and so evaluate your interpretations
 In text citations 
Two parts to
Harvard
referencing References list
In-text citations

(Author, Year, p.XX)

Examples 
(Cameron, 2021, p.230)
(Howieson and Semple, 2013, p.290)
(MarketLine, 2021)
(CIPD, 2022)

Use et al. for 3 or more authors e.g. (Smith et al., 2019, p.10)
 Harvard Book Reference 

Author Year Title of book

Cameron, S. (2021) The business student's handbook : skills for study and
employment. 7th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education.

Edition Place of Publisher

publication
Harvard Journal Reference 
Author(s) Year Title of article

Howieson, C. and Semple, S. (2013) The impact of career websites: what’s

the evidence? British Journal of Guidance & Counselling. 41(3), pp.287-301.

Journal title Volume Page

& issue numbers
number
MarketLine Reference
Author Year Title of report

MarketLine (2021) Hybrid & electric cars in Sweden. London: MarketLine.

Place of publication Publisher

 Harvard Website Reference 

Author Year Title Source

CIPD (2022) Career options in the people profession. CIPD [online]. Available

from: https://www.cipd.co.uk/careers/career-options [Accessed 21 September 2020].

Website/URL Accessed date

References
Cameron, S. (2021) The business student's handbook : skills for study
and employment. 7th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education.

CIPD (2022) Career options in the people profession. CIPD [online].

Available from: https://www.cipd.co.uk/careers/career-options [Accessed 21 September
2022].

Howieson, C. and Semple, S. (2013) The impact of career websites: what’s the

evidence? British Journal of Guidance & Counselling. 41(3), pp.287-301.

MarketLine (2021) Hybrid & electric cars in Sweden. London: MarketLine.

Tools to help with referencing

Free tools, for example: Cite this for me, NELSON citation tool (“) and others.
These DO NOT exactly follow the UON style for Harvard Referencing - Cross-check
these against the UON guide

Try RefWorks software
• https://libguides.northampton.ac.uk/refworks 

• Follow the UoN Harvard Referencing Guide linked on the library pages 
• Decide what it is you need to reference (for example, book, journal article) and
use the A-Z source examples
Referencing guides

Referencing guides available on the Library web pages and

from the Skills Hub
Questions?
Further help
Skills Hub Tutorials and Guides For example: Using
NELSON, Evaluating sources, Time
management.
Online support Literature Searching Support Guides to help you with researching
and guides RefWorks LibGuide and using RefWorks.

One to one Monday – Friday Online 

appointments Book online Face to face

LD Drop-ins: 12 noon – 1pm  Weekdays 10 minutes

Login details on website Quick questions

Email librarians@northampton.ac.uk Referencing and literature searching

questions.
Learningdevelopment@northampton.ac.uk Academic skills queries.
LLS Appointments

Learning Language
Academic Librarians Development Development Centre

Finding information Academic writing English for Academic

Using NELSON Referencing Using sources Academic Purposes (EAP)
Essay skills skills
Search techniques Grammar
Evaluating sources Time management Vocabulary

Maths and statistics