Finding and Accessing Scholarly Sources
PROGRAM: "IN A WORD"
EPISODE: FINDING AND ACCESSING SCHOLARLY SOURCES
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
[FADE MUSIC]
I’m Mary Beth Schaefer with “In a Word,” your weekly communication tip.
When preparing a writing project or presentation, we usually start by doing some research on the topic that we’re writing or presenting on. But with the overwhelming amount of information available to us, it can be hard to know where to look first or what information to trust. And if you don’t work for a university or another academic institution, it might be difficult or expensive to access certain sources.
The most obvious place to begin your search is the library, either your town’s public library or maybe your university’s library. You probably know that books are great resources for gathering background knowledge on a subject. If you’re looking for current research on a particular topic, you might also check whether you’re library provides online access to databases with scholarly articles. The Bryan/College Station public library system gives patrons access to several online databases which you can even use outside of the library.
Another easy place to start your research is Google, and more specifically, Google Scholar. If you search for a topic on Google Scholar, you can see how many times a source has been sited. That’s a good way of identifying influential sources.
Or maybe you’re trying to find some reliable statistics to include in your paper or presentation. The government collects data on a host of issues and makes this information available to the public, so the websites of government organizations are good places to identify relevant facts and statistics on many topics. For example, if you’re interested in learning more about the prevalence of certain illnesses in the US, you might visit the websites for the Center of Disease Control and Prevention or the National Institutes of Health.
If you’re having trouble following technical books, papers, or reports on a specific topic, look for relevant articles from news papers and magazines, which are typically written for the general public, as starting points. These popular articles sometimes site and explain studies on various topics, so they can point you in the direction of reliable sources you can use. For instance, many of the articles in the magazine Science News plainly summarize recently published scientific research.
Another good starting point is the online site, Wikipedia. Although Wikipedia is generally not considered a scholarly source, it can be a helpful place to get background information. And if you look at the bottom of a Wikipedia entry you can see what sources were used to compile the information on that page. Reference lists are like trails of breadcrumbs for research on a certain topic. So if you get stuck and are having trouble finding relevant sources of information look at the reference lists of books, articles, and reports you’ve found.
But although there’s a wealth of information out there on different topics, not all sources are easily accessible. One option is to look for articles in open access journals. For instance the Directory of Open Access Journals, allows you to search for and download peer-reviewed articles that are free to the public.
You can also join professional organizations in your field that give you access to journals as part of the organization’s membership fees.
And remember: if you get stuck anywhere in the process of finding or accessing sources, you can always ask a librarian for help.
This has been “In a Word,” a program made possible by the Texas A&M University Writing Center and a production of KAMU FM on the campus of Texas A&M University. For more writing and speaking tips, visit our website at writingcenter.tamu.edu. I’m Mary Beth Schaefer, helping you make every word count.
[5 TO 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
EPISODE: FINDING AND ACCESSING SCHOLARLY SOURCES
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
[FADE MUSIC]
I’m Mary Beth Schaefer with “In a Word,” your weekly communication tip.
When preparing a writing project or presentation, we usually start by doing some research on the topic that we’re writing or presenting on. But with the overwhelming amount of information available to us, it can be hard to know where to look first or what information to trust. And if you don’t work for a university or another academic institution, it might be difficult or expensive to access certain sources.
The most obvious place to begin your search is the library, either your town’s public library or maybe your university’s library. You probably know that books are great resources for gathering background knowledge on a subject. If you’re looking for current research on a particular topic, you might also check whether you’re library provides online access to databases with scholarly articles. The Bryan/College Station public library system gives patrons access to several online databases which you can even use outside of the library.
Another easy place to start your research is Google, and more specifically, Google Scholar. If you search for a topic on Google Scholar, you can see how many times a source has been sited. That’s a good way of identifying influential sources.
Or maybe you’re trying to find some reliable statistics to include in your paper or presentation. The government collects data on a host of issues and makes this information available to the public, so the websites of government organizations are good places to identify relevant facts and statistics on many topics. For example, if you’re interested in learning more about the prevalence of certain illnesses in the US, you might visit the websites for the Center of Disease Control and Prevention or the National Institutes of Health.
If you’re having trouble following technical books, papers, or reports on a specific topic, look for relevant articles from news papers and magazines, which are typically written for the general public, as starting points. These popular articles sometimes site and explain studies on various topics, so they can point you in the direction of reliable sources you can use. For instance, many of the articles in the magazine Science News plainly summarize recently published scientific research.
Another good starting point is the online site, Wikipedia. Although Wikipedia is generally not considered a scholarly source, it can be a helpful place to get background information. And if you look at the bottom of a Wikipedia entry you can see what sources were used to compile the information on that page. Reference lists are like trails of breadcrumbs for research on a certain topic. So if you get stuck and are having trouble finding relevant sources of information look at the reference lists of books, articles, and reports you’ve found.
But although there’s a wealth of information out there on different topics, not all sources are easily accessible. One option is to look for articles in open access journals. For instance the Directory of Open Access Journals, allows you to search for and download peer-reviewed articles that are free to the public.
You can also join professional organizations in your field that give you access to journals as part of the organization’s membership fees.
And remember: if you get stuck anywhere in the process of finding or accessing sources, you can always ask a librarian for help.
This has been “In a Word,” a program made possible by the Texas A&M University Writing Center and a production of KAMU FM on the campus of Texas A&M University. For more writing and speaking tips, visit our website at writingcenter.tamu.edu. I’m Mary Beth Schaefer, helping you make every word count.
[5 TO 10 SEC OF MUSIC]