Michael Schwartz Library
Michael Schwartz Library
216.687.2478
Search for books, journal articles, conference papers, videos, and more -- all at once! This is a good starting place to locate or narrow down a topic.
After searching in Journal List, if the article or paper you need is not available at CSU, you may request it through Interlibrary Loan.
+ Think of synonyms or similar words that convey the same meaning
+ Look at related terms that are displayed when searching a database to see which words are most commonly used for that topic/concept
+ If you don't get many relevant results in one database, try a different one
+ When you locate a very relevant article, use the terms from that article and its references
+ Use AND, OR, & NOT to connect search terms
+ To be more specific, search only in the TITLE field
Peer-reviewed articles are also known as "scholarly" or "refereed" articles. Before being accepted for publication in a journal, they have been reviewed by a panel of experts in that field or on that topic. Peer-reviewed articles are the best available.
A search in Academic Search Complete and other select research databases can be limited to peer-reviewed journal articles by checking off the "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" box under "Limit your results."
Another way to determine if an article is peer-reviewed is by checking the journal, not article, title in Ulrich's International Periodical Directory. Enter the journal title and if a referee shirt 
is shown in the listing, it is refereed or peer-reviewed.