Getting started with your fire and emergency services research project

This guide is designed to help Executive Fire Officer (EFO) and Managing Officer students find the resources they need to research and write their applied research and capstone projects.

Need help researching a topic? We can help!

We’ll provide a brief, immediate response to ready-reference questions.

Or, for more in-depth research needs we'll prepare a customized bibliography for you spanning a wide variety of media formats. We prepare most of these to send out via email. They’ll include items available online as well as citations to others that we may be able to help you obtain via interlibrary Loan if you are not on the National Emergency Training Center campus.

Get results now!

Check out our list of frequently requested research topics.

Call or email the library to let us know how we can help. Our toll-free number is 800-638-1821. You can also schedule a research consultation.

The Library offers a rotating schedule of research classes on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons while EFO and Managing Officer students are on campus.

See the class schedule

The research process

You might think that settling on a topic is the beginning of your research, while typing up your reference list is the end — but research seldom works like that. You may start out with one idea but end up in an entirely different place with an entirely different topic.

Select a link below for information on how the NETC Library can assist you along the way as you work on your National Fire Academy research project.

Develop
your research topic

Search
for topic information

Evaluate
scholarly vs. trade sources

Cite
project references

diagram displaying the four parts of the research process: develop, search, evaluate, cite

Need help with your writing?

See these online guides and tips to learn how to best organize your writing, structure a paragraph, include evidence from your research into your writing, and much more.

Guide to Grammar and Writing. This site provides guidance on the principles of organization, paragraph development, transitions, tense, voice, and the writing process. Supporting quizzes and frequently asked questions are also offered.
Purdue Online Writing Lab. Includes resources to help you with prewriting, the writing process, paragraphs, outlines, research, quoting, summarizing, transitions and more.
The Writing Center. Tips and tools for thesis statements, paragraph development, introductions, conclusions, argument, brainstorming, evidence and more from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Program-specific content

Executive Fire Officer

Managing Officer

Master Exercise Practitioner

More information

Executive Fire Officer Program overview – Description of the EFO Program and information on how to apply.
Managing Officer Program overview – Description of the Managing Officer Program and information on how to apply.
NETC Library catalog – This online catalog and periodical index allows you to explore the full range of all-hazards topics in all publication formats. It’s the single best tool for discovering articles published in scholarly and trade journals serving the emergency management, fire, EMS and homeland security communities.