Welcome to Research Tools and Advice!
Come here for research and position paper writing tips as well as advice for how to become the delegate that you strive to be in Model United Nations! This page will have everything from how to write an award-winning research paper to the most efficient way to cite to how to keep yourself up to date with the latest news.
How to do proper research
Research is one of the most key parts of Model United Nations as without it, you have no idea of your stance on the issue, or really, what the issue is actually about. Unless you want to look like a fool in debate, I urge you to do good research to do good research on both the topic and your stance based on who you are representing. Yet the main question is what is good research?
Research can be divided into two types when you are in MUN: topic research and position research. These two areas are fairly straightforward; topic research is about the topic, and position research is about your position or stance. These two categories are equally important, but when you are under the pressure of time, it is essential that you do more topic research, since you can't know your stance without knowing what the topic is about. It's still crucial that you know what your country believes, what actions it has taken in the past and so on, but your understanding of the topic will be minimized infinitely if you fail to comprehend the origins of the problem, previous failed or successful solutions, or the historical background of each side.
You can do research in a variety of ways, but most of the time, you will get information that was not written by professionals, or is highly biased and therefore unreliable as a source. Most of the time, when you are looking at a scholarly article or a research paper, you want to use ones that are written by professors or students who are working on their PhD, as they are often seen as experts on their topic. Regarding experts, it is important that you check that the author is an expert on the field he or she is talking about. Computer scientists would be skilled in the art of coding and computing algorithms, but you shouldn't trust their statements on climate change without fact-checking. That's why its important to use databases as they usually only publish professional articles by credible people in that field, and they provide you with information by the experts on the subject.
Below, I will list some good research databases for research in general (doesn't necessarily have to pertain to MUN). Information from databases are always great for both in-depth topic research and position research. However, I will show a better and more effective way to do position research below the following information.
Research can be divided into two types when you are in MUN: topic research and position research. These two areas are fairly straightforward; topic research is about the topic, and position research is about your position or stance. These two categories are equally important, but when you are under the pressure of time, it is essential that you do more topic research, since you can't know your stance without knowing what the topic is about. It's still crucial that you know what your country believes, what actions it has taken in the past and so on, but your understanding of the topic will be minimized infinitely if you fail to comprehend the origins of the problem, previous failed or successful solutions, or the historical background of each side.
You can do research in a variety of ways, but most of the time, you will get information that was not written by professionals, or is highly biased and therefore unreliable as a source. Most of the time, when you are looking at a scholarly article or a research paper, you want to use ones that are written by professors or students who are working on their PhD, as they are often seen as experts on their topic. Regarding experts, it is important that you check that the author is an expert on the field he or she is talking about. Computer scientists would be skilled in the art of coding and computing algorithms, but you shouldn't trust their statements on climate change without fact-checking. That's why its important to use databases as they usually only publish professional articles by credible people in that field, and they provide you with information by the experts on the subject.
Below, I will list some good research databases for research in general (doesn't necessarily have to pertain to MUN). Information from databases are always great for both in-depth topic research and position research. However, I will show a better and more effective way to do position research below the following information.
Suggested List of Research Databases (note: some of these may cost money)
Academia.edu
JSTOR
Google Scholar
Encyclopedia Britannica
Lexis Nexis
SCOPUS
JSTOR
Google Scholar
Encyclopedia Britannica
Lexis Nexis
SCOPUS
Another Great Way to Get Access to Reliable Information
Go to the library! To be brutally honest, librarians are bored now as the majority of people who go there use the computers to play games or socialize with their friends, so no one talks to the librarians. Your local or school library will usually be subscribed to a few databases and the librarians will be more than willing to help you out. However, there is another, easier way to get information.
Ask the librarians! They know the library best and are well rehearsed in what books could potentially be beneficial for you. Once, I needed help finding statistics on the rate of railroad growth in Switzerland between the nineteenth and twentieth century. i had searched the library and internet for hours trying to find information, to no avail. However, I asked the librarian for books that could potentially be useful and she took one from the shelf, flipped it to a chapter, and lo and behold, there was the information I needed! Trust me, it might seem that they aren't approachable people but deep down, they just want to be able to provide assistance.
Ask the librarians! They know the library best and are well rehearsed in what books could potentially be beneficial for you. Once, I needed help finding statistics on the rate of railroad growth in Switzerland between the nineteenth and twentieth century. i had searched the library and internet for hours trying to find information, to no avail. However, I asked the librarian for books that could potentially be useful and she took one from the shelf, flipped it to a chapter, and lo and behold, there was the information I needed! Trust me, it might seem that they aren't approachable people but deep down, they just want to be able to provide assistance.
Doing good position research
Searching through databases is a great way to get information, but in reality, when it comes to position research, there are two key elements; the image that you want to portray to the world, and what is the goal of whoever you are representing. The first one is pretty basic; you look at the official government stance on that issue, which can usually be found on government pages or state-sponsored media articles. This is the impression that you want to give off, but keep in mind, sometimes, it is different from what the outside world perceives. For example. North Korea's government views itself as a champion of human rights, but the outside world views it as a violator of those rights. It is important that if you are representing North Korea, you stick to the stance of your government, not what people think of you, even if your government's position completely contradicts its action.
Regarding the second point, I normally look at two things; voting records and past government actions. Something that your government would support would probably be an action that it has already implemented and be against things that would require the dismantling of its current governmental structure. For example, the United States would likely vote against any law that prevents execution as that is one of the biggest forms of punishment in their government and it would require a lot of work to establish a new system. Voting records are pretty simple; based on whatever your country has voted for in the past, it is likely to go on the same path, unless some major war occurred or it became a signatory of some important treaty.
Both of the strategies mentioned above are good for specific research, but sometimes, looking at the basic facts can also help you get a broad sense of what is going on in the country you are representing, especially if it isn't the most well known country (eg: Djibouti, Eritrea). Below, I will list some great websites for broad information.
Regarding the second point, I normally look at two things; voting records and past government actions. Something that your government would support would probably be an action that it has already implemented and be against things that would require the dismantling of its current governmental structure. For example, the United States would likely vote against any law that prevents execution as that is one of the biggest forms of punishment in their government and it would require a lot of work to establish a new system. Voting records are pretty simple; based on whatever your country has voted for in the past, it is likely to go on the same path, unless some major war occurred or it became a signatory of some important treaty.
Both of the strategies mentioned above are good for specific research, but sometimes, looking at the basic facts can also help you get a broad sense of what is going on in the country you are representing, especially if it isn't the most well known country (eg: Djibouti, Eritrea). Below, I will list some great websites for broad information.
Great Websites for Basic Country Facts
CIA World Factbook Profiles (the name CIA may put people off, but you will be hard put to find a better resource)
Wikipedia Articles on Countries
Wikipedia Articles on Countries
Citing your sources
Citing is one of the most tedious, but also important parts of MUN. When you are doing research, it is often difficult to keep track of all your links, so I will share with you my strategy for citations.
First of all, there are things called "in-text citations", which are basically facts, such as a long list of countries or specific numbers. These are things that normally don't come off the top of your head, so you will have to add a footnote for these facts. Then, scroll down to the bottom of the page and insert the correct MLA citation for the source in the corresponding number with the footnote. All numbers or specific facts that you got from somewhere else have to be cited.
However, at the end of your paper, there will be a section for sources that you used for your general research. Whenever I do this, I always just look through my browsing history and put all the links that I clicked on in this section. There is nothing wrong with citing too much information, only too little as you might be accused of plagiarism. Then, I use online resources such as "easybib.com" or "citationmachine.net" and auto-cite most of these links in MLA format. However, when those websites cannot find all the information, it is important that you remember to search for missing things such as the publisher or date of publication as those elements are part of the citation. An incomplete citation is basically equivalent to having no citations.
Citing information might seem tedious, but it is worth it as a lot of the time, there are points awarded for having complete citations. Also, you don't want to be that one delegate who forgets to cite a piece of information and have their research award revoked and be disqualified from being eligible for other awards.
First of all, there are things called "in-text citations", which are basically facts, such as a long list of countries or specific numbers. These are things that normally don't come off the top of your head, so you will have to add a footnote for these facts. Then, scroll down to the bottom of the page and insert the correct MLA citation for the source in the corresponding number with the footnote. All numbers or specific facts that you got from somewhere else have to be cited.
However, at the end of your paper, there will be a section for sources that you used for your general research. Whenever I do this, I always just look through my browsing history and put all the links that I clicked on in this section. There is nothing wrong with citing too much information, only too little as you might be accused of plagiarism. Then, I use online resources such as "easybib.com" or "citationmachine.net" and auto-cite most of these links in MLA format. However, when those websites cannot find all the information, it is important that you remember to search for missing things such as the publisher or date of publication as those elements are part of the citation. An incomplete citation is basically equivalent to having no citations.
Citing information might seem tedious, but it is worth it as a lot of the time, there are points awarded for having complete citations. Also, you don't want to be that one delegate who forgets to cite a piece of information and have their research award revoked and be disqualified from being eligible for other awards.