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College Reading and Writing

A guide to help hone your writing skills. Offers useful content for English 0399, 1301 & 1302, 2311, and 305.

General Research Databases

Start with the following databases to locate scholarly articles for your research and remember to use the following search tips:

  • Limit results to full-text.
  • Choose to view academic peer-reviewed journals.
  • Select PDF format over HTML format.
  • Use folders to save selected articles.
  • Check reference lists and/or bibliographies at the end of a work for further research/information.
  • When you find an article you like, look at the subject terms used to classify it and perform a subject search in the same database using those EXACT terms (spelling, grammar + punctuation must be the same in a subject search). 
  • You can also start your research in a different database using a previous database's subject terms as keywords.  Every database uses different subject terms so you cannot interchange these terms between databases--not unless you see an article use that same subject heading.  However, using a previous database's subject terms as keywords will still increase your chance of retrieving relevant articles because these terms are more frequent in scholarly/academic circles.  

NOTE:  Searching using keywords will retrieve ANY document that mentions/uses that keyword at least once, regardless of whether or not that document is actually about that keyword. 

Searching using a database provided "subject term" guarantees that any article you retrieve will have that term as the "subject/topic" of discussion. However, only the "words/phrases" a database provides as a "subject term" can be used in a subject search.    

 

DATABASES to start with:

Difference between "Scholarly", "Popular", & "Trade"

Scholarly Journals:

  • Written by and for faculty, researchers and/or scholars
  • Present original research studies and reviews of relevant books in the industry/field
  • Reviewed by other experts or peers (i.e. "peer reviewed") before publication
  • Use technical and/or scholarly language associated with the subject
  • Use citations (footnotes, endnotes, or bibliography/references)
  • Share a similar format including: abstract, literature review, methodology, results and conclusion.  May also have tables, graphs or illustrations to support arguments made
  • Examples: American Journal of Nursing, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, etc.

Technical/Trade Journals:

  • Written by professionals and/or experts in the field
  • Present practical information for professionals in the field, including news, trends, job opportunities, and other updates 
  • Articles are generally brief and the language is straightforward; may contain professional jargon
  • May not have a specific format
  • Articles are sometimes unsigned or will display the author's credentials
  • Reviewed by general editors of the journal
  • Advertising is used to appeal to those in the field
  • Examples: Adweek, The Lawyer, Nursing Times, etc.

Popular Magazines:

  • Written for the general public with easy to understand language and subject appeal
  • Glossy cover and photographs
  • Many advertisements in the publication
  • Articles are edited by magazine editors 
  • May not have a discernable format
  • Authors are usually professional journalists, but may not have any experience/knowledge in the field about which they are writing 
  • May not have citations or may provide informal citations (even when there are tables, graphs and/or illustrations)
  • Examples:  TIME, Rollingstone, Newsweek, Psychology Today, People, etc.
  • YOU CAN STILL USE POPULAR PERIODICALS FOR YOUR RESEARCH(unless stated by your instructor and these do NOT count as scholarly peer-reviewed articles)! Just make sure to support your use of these articles with scholarly articles, which will have original research and in-depth citations to ensure your information is relevant, accurate and up-to-date  

Hunter Library has a great comparison of these types of articlesavailable for more information: http://researchguides.wcu.edu/scholarly

OR watch the following quick, fun video from Kimbel Library about popular vs. scholarly sources (there are sock puppets involved!): http://vimeo.com/13186317

Periodical Databases

The library subscribes to several databases that have various newspaper and magazine collections.  Some of our most popular and general periodical databases are featured below.