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Melanie Gagich's ENG 102: Finding Scholarly Sources

Why Use Articles?

Articles provide:

  • Breaking news
  • Current, up-to-date information
  • Narrow focus on one aspect of a topic
  • Original research
  • Bibliography of additional sources

Off-Campus Access

When you want to use the research databases or electronic book collections from an off-campus location, you will be asked to: 

  1. Enter your name
  2. Enter your CSU student number
  3. Enter your Library PIN

Research Database Tutorials and Guides

Open Access Journals

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) provides free access to full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals, covering all subjects and many languages.

Google Scholar

Before purchasing an article you findon the Internet, check with a librarian to see if the library has access to it at no extra charge. 

Google Scholar Search

Using the Research Databases to Find Articles

What is a Research Database?

Research databases are the online tools you should use to search for articles on your topic. These databases include information about articles that have been published in journals, magazines, and newspapers.

Some research databases even provide access to book reviews, film reviews, dramas, financial reports, and many other sources of information.

Many of the articles listed in the databases are available in full-text format. Full-text means the entire text of the article is available online. You can read, print, or email the article directly from the computer.

From Ohio Dominican University

Recommended Databases for ENG 102:

Popular, Trade or Scholarly?

Not all articles are created equal. There are specific qualities that distinguish articles published in popular magazines and newspapers, trade journals, and scholarly journals.  Be sure that the type of article you are using matches your professor's expectations and your research needs.

What does peer reviewed or refereed mean?

Peer Review is a process that journals use to ensure the articles they publish represent the best scholarship currently available. When an article is submitted to a peer reviewed journal, the editors send it out to other scholars in the same field (the author's peers) to get their opinion on the quality of the scholarship, its relevance to the field, its appropriateness for the journal, etc.

Publications that don't use peer review (Time, Newsweek, Salon) just rely on the judgement of the editors. That's why you can't count on them for solid, scientific scholarship.

CRITERIAPOPULARTRADESCHOLARLY
Appearance eye-catching cover; glossy paper; color pictures and illustrations; each issue starts with page number 1 cover depicts industrial setting; glossy paper; color pictures and illustrations; each issue starts with page number 1 plain cover; plain paper; black and white graphics and illustrations; consecutive pagination throughout each volume
Audience nonprofessionals members of a specific business, industry, or organization researchers and professionals
Content personalities, news and general interest articles; articles written by staff, may be unsigned industry trends, new products or techniques, and organizational news; articles written by staff and contributing authors research projects, methodology, and theory; article written by contributing authors; authors are professionals and researchers in the field
Accountability editorial review editorial review; may have short bibliographies peer reviewed, refereed; extensive bibliographies
Advertisements

 heavy

moderate; all or most are trade related few or none
Examples Gourmet
Newsweek
Psychology Today
Time
Chilton's Food Engineering
Public Management
APA Monitor
Advertising Age

Journal of Food Science
Urban Studies
Journal of Applied Psychology
Journal of Extension

Peer Reviewed Articles

Peer reviewed articles are also called scholarly, refereed, or juried.

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