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During your studies

Being able to search for information is an important part of your studies. You need to be able to base your own texts on relevant research.

On this page, we have compiled the library’s videos and suggestions for how you can get started searching for information, including which search services you can use and how you can use search terms to get best results. If you would like more help, you are welcome to book a search consultation.

Search consultation

As a student at Stockholm University you can get help with information seeking from the library. You can book an appointent for a search conultation via Zoom and at the Library. 

We offer the following:

  • Guidance in information seeking and source evaluation
  • Advice in setting up your search strategy for your degree project
  • Tips on choice of search terms in Swedish and English
  • Support in searching in relevant databases  
  • Support in using reference management software to cite your sources

 

Do you want to contact us, e-mail bokabibliotekarie@su.se

Online course: Basic information seeking

For students at SU, there is a self-study course in information seeking in Athena. The aim of the course is to give you effective strategies for searching and finding scholarly texts. We also give tips on how to assess whether or not a text is scholarly, and how to cite your sources when writing a scholarly paper yourself. Expect the course to take about 45 minutes to complete in full.

How to search for the library's self-study course in Athena

Search for material for your thesis

When writing a thesis, you must search for previous research. You can find a large number of databases to search in through the library. Below, we have compiled tips on where and how you can begin your information seeking.

Searching in the search box on the library's home page gives you access to almost all material available through the library. Here you search simultaneously among the library's printed books, e-books, articles, theses, journals, reports and databases.

Serch box on the library website

Read more about the library search service here.

Search for dissertations from Swedish universities

In both DiVA and SwePub you can search for publications from Swedish universities including dissertations.
Search in DiVA
Search in SwePub

Search for international dissertations

Networked digital library of theses and dissertations
ProQuest dissertations & theses
 

When searching for information, it is important to consider which search terms to use. By combining search terms in different ways, you can both reduce and increase the number of search results you get in the databases. The most common way to do this is by using so called Boolean operators. You can learn how to do a Boolean search in this video from John M. Pfau Library (California State University).

To find relevant terms, you can start from your thesis question. Choose the most relevant keywords from your question and use these as search words. Here is a video from University of Houston Libraries with tips on what to think of when choosing your keywords.

Keenious is a search tool for academic articles available for all students and staff at Stockholm University. Instead of searching using individual search terms, Keenious analyses articles or your own written text using AI and presents search results based on the topic of the text. 

Read more about how Keenious works and how to get started using it

Keenious logo


When you search for information for your thesis, you need to evaluate if the sources you find are relevant and reliable. For example, how do you know if an article is a scholarly article? These six questions help you evaluate the information you find.

  • Who is the author(s)? Is the information within their area of expertise? Do they belong to a university, organisation, government agency etc.? What have they published before?
  • Who has published the information? What publisher, journal, organisation or institution is behind the publication? Do they have knowledge in this field?
  • Who is the target group? Why is the information published here? 
  • When was the information published or updated? Is the information still up to date?
  • Are there citations and references to previous research? Is this research up to date and relevant?
  • Is the information reviewed? Through a peer review process? Or another editorial process?
     

Referencing styles and reference management software

When writing texts based on the work of others, it is important that you give clear references to your sources. The format of your references is determined by your chosen referencing style. With a reference management software, you can collect, organise and create automatic references according to your chosen style.  

When referencing your sources, it is important that you consistently use the same referencing style. The style determines both how in-text citations and references in the bibliography should appear. Some common styles are APA, MLA, Harvard, Vancouver and Oxford. Check with your department if they want you to use a specific referencing style.

Below we link to guides for some different referencing styles:

APA 7 (guide from Karolinska Institutet University Library)

Harvard (guide from Uppsala University Library)

MLA (guide from Monash University Library)

Oxford (guide from Umeå University Library)

Vancouver (guide from Karolinska Institutet University Library)

With help of a reference management software, you can organise your references and insert references and bibliography, according to any chosen reference style when you are writing. Using reference management software can facilitate your work when writing a thesis or assignment.

In this film we show you what reference management software can help you with.

(Video in Swedish with English subtitles.)

More information about different reference management software

Writing tools and publishing support

As a student at Stockholm University, you can use Overleaf for free when writing in LaTex or Rich Text. The library can also offer support if you want to publish your thesis in DiVA or in a scholarly journal.  

Overleaf is a LaTeX/Rich Text editing and publishing tool. Stockholm University pays for a license so that you as a researcher, employee or student can use this for free.

More about Overleaf

Students who wish to publish their thesis in full-text, or who have questions on registering or publishing in DiVA, should always contact their department. Not all departments approve that student theses are published online.

Log in to the DiVA registration form.

The cost of publication for a research article based on a Master/Bachelor thesis might be covered by one of the University Library’s publishing agreements.

Please contact us, openaccess@su.se, if you are considering submitting your thesis to a scientific journal. On the staff pages the Publication agreements of Stockholm University Library is listed.

Publication agreements of Stockholm University Library

Contact

Book a librarian

bokabibliotekarie@su.se

Last updated: 2025-11-27

Source: Stockholm University Library