To write a good academic paper, you need to find relevant academic literature and sources* that you can rely on and reference – for example, in the theory and discussion sections. You can search for literature in Oria and various academic databases.

Before you start searching, it is wise to prepare yourself so that you know what to search for and where. By planning your search, you will spend less time on the search itself and achieve better results. Planning a search helps identify which sources* you will need when writing your paper and addressing your research question, if you have one.

In your subject area, there is likely a specialized language with its own terms. You should familiarize yourself with these before you start writing, as they can be key search terms even in the literature search phase.

Warning: Do not use ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini to "retrieve"/find references!

AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini can provide you with references that look genuine but are actually fabricated. Using such false references is considered serious cheating in academia.

You can use these AI tools to:

Understand academic topics and concepts
Get help with structure, language, and phrasing

If you receive references from an AI tool, you must always:

Check if the source actually exists in the library system Oria or in academic databases.
Read the original source yourself before you reference it. Even if AI provides author names, titles, and page numbers, there is no guarantee that the information is accurate. There is a greater chance that it is not! You are responsible for verifying everything you reference.

Useful links

Plan your search, Search & Write (sokogskriv.no)