ACCT 2700 - Honors Contract Paper

For your chosen topic:

1. Identify the major concepts in your chosen paper and topic. These will become keywords that you will search on.
   1. Example: Topic 6
   2. Major concepts include: a) social media companies; b) content creators; and c) liability
2. If you are having trouble finding preliminary sources, try searching synonyms.
   1. Example: Topic 7
   2. Synonyms or the keyword corporation include: company, organization, business, firm, establishment, business, institution, or enterprise
3. Search on combinations of keywords
   1. Example: Topic 1
   2. An initial search might look like: (company OR employer) AND monitoring AND (ethics OR ethical) AND ("social media" OR Facebook OR LinkedIn)

Start your search here:

Advanced keyword searching uses three connectors:

AND    -restricts results; says each keyword MUST be present in each record

OR      -expands results; says keyword OR synonym(s) are in each record

NOT    -excludes keywords; says keyword(s) must NOT be in each record

This logic allows for detailed search strategies that may involve many keywords (synonyms)!

Keyword OR Synonym OR Synonym 

AND

Keyword OR Synonym OR Synonym

AND

Keyword OR Synonym OR Synonym

For this project, the process of outlining includes:

• Brainstorming - Using a single page, list the main points you learned when initially exploring your chosen legal issue
• Organizing - Start to group and organize these points into the IRAC (Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion) structure
• Identify - Look for places where you will need sources to support your analysis. Remember to approach your issue from different sides.

For additional tips on creating an outline, see this tutorial created by Indiana University:

Identify key stakeholders for the argument & include them in your outline:

• Are certain categories of individuals more likely to be impacted by the issue (e.g., teens, low-income families, construction workers, etc.)?
• Do certain companies or organizations have a vested interest in the outcome of regulations, laws, or judicial decisions (e.g., financial institutions, small businesses, nonprofit agencies, etc.)?
• How does the issue impact society overall (e.g., consumer spending power declines, workers are more educated, etc.)?

Knowing who the key stakeholders are will help to focus your search for sources. Key terms that represent stakeholders will become part of your search strategy.