4. Scholarly (peer-reviewed)
articles
Peer-reviewed
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.
Purpose of a scholarly article is to inform
and report on original research
Reader is assumed to have a similar
scholarly background – reading level is
advanced
Peer review in 5
minutes – a short video
explanation
5. How can you tell if an
article is peer-reviewed?
Look for trademark characteristics – see handout Typical
parts of a scholarly (peer-reviewed) article
Google the website for the journal and read the “About this
Journal” statement (click for example)
Locate the article using the NLU library databases. You can
limit your search to only “scholarly (peer-reviewed) articles”
Ask for assistance from an NLU Librarian or your professor
6. NLU Library Databases
What are some differences between
Databases and Search Engines?
Databases Search Engines
Academic Search Complete
Business Search Premier
LexisNexis
PsycINFO
JSTOR
ABI INFORM - Business
Interfaces
EBSCOHost
ProQuest
Google
Bing
Yahoo! Search
AltaVista
7.
8. Database Introduction
EBSCOHost – all databases LexisNexis Academic
Multidisciplinary
•Business
•Psychology
•Education
•Health Sciences
Excellent for research on traditional
academic topics and peer-reviewed
articles
Newspapers
Legal Information – Case information
by topic
Business – Company record
information
Public Figures
Country information
•Socioeconomic profiles
•International newspapers
Excellent for news, business and legal
research
9. Searching Databases
Different than Google. Databases understand Keywords not
full sentences.
What is your research question?
EXAMPLE “What are best practices for school counseling in
high schools?”
What are the main keywords that describe your topic? Can
you think of some synonyms for these words?
School counseling Educational counseling
Best practices Techniques, strategies
High school Secondary school
11. In-Class Activity
Use an EBSCOhost database to locate a peer-reviewed
article on your topic. Record the citation information in
your Google Doc (Author, Title, Journal title, Year,
Issue, Page span)
Use one of the library databases or an internet search
engine (Google, Bing) to locate a recent newspaper
article that explains how a business, school, or a social
agency is using social media, a Web 2.0 tool, or new
information technology (for example, electronic
books) to enhance their services/teaching. This is part
of your homework for next Wednesday. More
information is in the Week 4 module.
Notas do Editor
Past – how technology has changed how we receive information
Now – Different types of resources you might encounter while doing research
Make links to the short readings you had for this week
To understand different resources you need to understand something called the Information Cycle and how different types of resources are created after an event occurs
Columbine Massacre – school shooting in 1999
You had a reading on Primary, Secondary and Tertiary sources. How might those categories align with this chart?
Primary source – oral account from a survivor
Secondary – scholarly articles written about columbine, book written about what led to Columbine
Tertiary – account of Columbine in an encyclopedia, textbook
A lot of times there is overlap and some of the categories can get fuzzy
Tertiary sources usually not credited to any specific author
Questions
Oprah’s autobiography – what type of source? primary
Encyclopedia britannica ? tertiary
Biography about royal family in England? Secondary
Excerpts from the Declaration of Independence? Primary
Wikipedia? Tertiary
Scientific data from an original research experiment? primary
Focus on a specific category of Secondary source – Scholarly peer-reviewed article
Has anyone had an assignment where you have to use peer-reviewed articles?
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, Cosmo, Salon) just rely on the judgment of the editors whether an article is up to snuff or not. That's why you can't count on them for solid, scientific scholarship.
Easy if you have the print journal in hand – a bit more difficult to tell online
Handout - Distinguishing Scholarly articles
Ask the class
Handout – Databases vs Search engines
Focus on two different types of databases today – most useful during your time at NLU
Stop and DEMO LEXISNEXIS
Demo Newspaper “electronic textbooks” – change geography
Legal cases “landmark cases”
Companies “Google”
Not for scholarly peer-reviewed articles
Have everyone take out piece of paper and do this for their topic
Have a few people share – and class adds suggestions
Demo EBSCOHOst now
Demo EBSCOhost use school counseling example
How to find EBSCOHost
Initial limiters “Full text” “Scholarly article”
Search “school counseling” – too many results
Search “school counseling” “high schools” “best practices” – too few
Search “school counseling” “High schools OR secondary schools” “best practices”
Demo limiters
Go into a record – how to find citation information, print, email