Accounting:  Accountancy Age

Entrepreneurship:    Entrepreneur.com

ExDM: Event Marketer

Finance: Bloomberg Businessweek

HR: HR Magazine

IS: Gartner

Marketing: Mintel

Strategy: Strategy+Business Magazine

Supply Chain: Supply Chain Brain

Sometimes choosing a topic is the hardest part of doing research; below a few ideas that will help you find an interesting subject. Click here to view an instructional video.

• Consider Your Interests - Look into things that you have been reading about or discussing in class or with friends or consider recent events and developments in your field of study.

• Find a database that relates to your field -  ProQuest One Business and Business Source Ultimate (EBSCO) are the best databases to start with for business research. Search these databases by using keywords or just browsing their Topics or Thesaurus.

• Browse recent newspapers - Some databases contain full text articles from top business news publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Business News, Newsweek and the Economist. Try searching in Factiva or ProQuest One Business.  Do a keyword search. When the results display, click NEWSPAPERS, or do a PUBLICATION search and type the publication you are looking for, such as Wall Street Journal.

• Choose a "hot topic" from the media or Congress - Go to CQ Researcher to find background information on topics being discussed in the media, such as debt, immigration, climate change, and healthcare, etc.  Or try Opposing Viewpoints in Context (Gale) for facts and arguments for each topic's proponents and detractors.

• Browse Popular Magazines - Recent issues of magazines and trade journals can give you ideas on current events and popular topics.

Now it is time to put all of the background information you've gathered together to give you a solid foundation for your research. You may find the following table helpful in organizing your data. Keep in mind that this is NOT your thesis statement, just a tool to narrow your research. If you can fill out this table, you most likely have a narrow enough topic with enough direction for some great research.

1)  I am researching ______________________________________ (topic)

2)  because I want to find out ______________________________(issue/question)

3)  in order to ________________________________ (application - So What? - Project/Audience/Purpose driven)

Examples:

I am researching ethanol as an alternative fuel (topic)
because I want to find out the pros and cons of its use and formulate my opinion (issue/question)
in order to persuade my readers that my position is correct (application - audience).

I am researching automation in the accounting field (topic)
because I want to find out what  are the top 5 technology skills necessary to succeed in accounting(issue/question)
 in order to better prepare for my career in Accounting. (application - project).

I am researching Talent Retention (topic)
because I want to find out the top 3 retention best practices (application - project)
in order to share them with business owners (application - audience).

(Adapted from:  Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G. & Williams, J. M. (2008). The Craft of Research (3rd ed.) Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, p. 51-65.)