Library and Research Skills Micro-Course

Explore search results

• There are a variety of powerful "Limit" options on database results pages (usually on the left side). The specifics will vary, but library databases often have options for "scholarly/peer-reviewed," publication type, date, and often under or next to each result, links or icons for getting a permalink, a machine-generated citation (proofread if you use this!), and a way to mark the item for saving to a shelf for later use (the latter usually requires you to login with a free personal account to that specific tool). Example limit options: OneSearch results page options.

Getting Full-Text

• Most results will include some form of a full-text link under it on the results page in order to view it. Examples include: View Online, View PDF, Read Article, and in the discipline-specific databases, usually some variation of "Full-Text."
• In OneSearch, you may instead see a greyed-out "Get It" or "Check for Available Services" link. This usually means we don't have that item in our collections. HOWEVER, if you are signed into OneSearch (use the Sign In link in the top right of OneSearch and use your Empire login credentials), you can click that Get or Check link to request that item through Inter-library Loan. This is a free service and takes 1-2 days on average to fulfill if the item is available. More details can be found on the Inter-library loan web page (this is also where can check on the status of your requests and even request articles not found in OneSearch at all).

Scholarly/peer-reviewed sources

• What are scholarly sources? Those journal articles (also called academic or peer-reviewed articles: example) and books (called 'scholarly monographs': example) written by experts whose target audience is other experts in that field.  They usually contain lots of discipline-specific jargon, in-text citations, and labeled sections like Introduction, Methodology, Conclusion, etc.
• Why can't I find scholarly sources on my topic? Most articles in the library are scholarly. In order for them to get published they need to contain original research, which means they are usually very narrow in scope, covering just a small aspect of typical student assignment topics. This means you will not likely find scholarly articles that exactly fit your broad topic and may instead need to access multiple narrower articles to get a fuller picture of your topic.
  • Example: If my research question is: What impact does smartphone use have on adolescent behavior? - Two examples of articles I might want to look at are “A smartphone made my life easier”: An exploratory study on age of adolescent smartphone acquisition and well-being" and Smartphone Usage Patterns and Dietary Risk Factors in Adolescents.
• What is a peer-reviewed article? Most scholarly articles are peer-reviewed, though not all. Before it is published, submitted articles are sent out to other experts in the field (the authors' peers) to read and make comments and suggestions for revision. The process often takes many months to complete but ensures a higher level of quality and reliability. These publications form the backbone of knowledge in most areas of study. This is why your instructors assign such readings and often want you to use them as sources in your own academic writing.
• What are professional/trade organization sources? While these are not usually scholarly/peer-reviewed, they are written by and aimed at an audience of people working in a specific profession or trade. They can be a journal, magazine, e-newsletter (sometimes these show up in library search results), or website published by government or professional association. These types of sources can be reliable and important sources of information for a variety of topics, so don't discount them! But, always critically evaluate any information sources you use from the open web!
• How do I find scholarly/peer-reviewed journal articles? The Online Library's OneSearch (the search box in the upper left of the library home page) has a limit option, on the left side of the results page after you do a search, for "in Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed journal only." Many of the library's discipline-specific databases contain a similar limit option. In addition, the OneSearch includes a "Peer-Reviewed" tag under relevant results to help you identify such articles.
• How can I effectively read and understand scholarly sources?
  1. Many scholarly articles can be hard to read and understand, with lots of jargon; this is something all students experience (but it gets easier the more you do it and the better your note-taking habits are). A good note-taking habit is the key to understanding any scholarly source. This means more than just highlighting text. Instead, or in addition, write down notes in your own words summarizing key passages or ideas. This can be done in the margins of a printout or on a separate piece of paper or Word document (make sure you include the citation info of the article it goes with!).
  2. Scan key sections of the article first: the abstract, introduction, and conclusion. These sections will contain summaries of key points of the article. You can then read the full article armed with this overview.