K. Tuamsuk et al. (Eds.): ICADL 2014, LNCS 8839, pp. 344–353, 2014. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014 Information Retrieval Skills of Research Scholars of Social Sciences: A Study M.R. Murali Prasad Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India mrmp2k8@yahoo.com Abstract. The main purpose of the study is to examine the information retrieval skills of social science scholars in Hyderabad, India. The data is collected through a questionnaire from 210 research scholars of social sciences to determine the preferred communication channels to search research information along with preferred search terms, concept understanding, key word searches, usage of Boolean operators for a given title, and identification of appropriate references. Keywords: Information search, social sciences, information literacy, information seeking behavior. 1 Introduction Social sciences are becoming indispensable to the functioning of society. Social policy has now-a-days to be ‘evidence-based’ and that evidence is the product of social science research. Social science research output provides information for the work and policies of governmental and non-governmental organizations. The policy and decision makers of different fields such as media, advertising and market researchers, etc. rely on the results of social science research. In all these areas, the contributions of social scientists are of dire need. Obviously, it is very vital that all scientists develop high level information retrieval skills early on in the life of a research programme. Information search or Literature search is the backbone of a research. Effective information searches would highlight the gaps in the existing research, which will enable the scientists to construct an original research problem. Comprehensive and up-to-date retrieval of information will also add to the overall quality of research output. Information retrieval/search skills are the stepping stones of all research projects. The importance of research students having an in-depth knowledge of Literature Search Techniques and associated skills is acknowledged by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)[1]. In its guidelines on research training for PG students it stated that at a suitable early stage in the student’s research career, departments will be expected to include training for all students in certain basic skills. These are likely to include the identification of library resources and how to use them; training in other bibliographic sources and methods; methods for keeping track of literature;