Using Databases to Find Scholarly Articles
Databases are collections of scholarly articles or other resources. They are usually subject-specific, like Communication & Mass Media Complete, the premier database for all communication research. Alternatively, it has become more popular to search multiple databases at once using a generic EBSCO or Summon search. The advantages of this approach are that it's easy to get started and the number of search results is increased because of the interdisciplinary approach. The downside is if you want to ensure that your results are relevant to your area/discipline of study.
Usually, you want to start with a database when you are searching for a topic. If you are interested in browsing research to get ideas for topics or to just learn new developments in the field, you should start with the journals tab of this guide. Also, start with journals if you already have a citation for a specific article.
Key Communication Article Databases
- Communication & Mass Media CompleteIndexing, abstracts and full text for journals in communication studies, covering topics such as journalism, mass media, and communicative disorders.
- Film & Television Literature Index with Full TextBooks and articles covering research in television and film.
Related Subject Databases
- SocINDEX with Full TextIndex to scholarly publications in sociology, covering topics such as criminal justice, marriage and family, social work, substance abuse, and violence.
- PsycINFO 1887-CurrentThe premier index to journal articles and other scholarly publications in the field of psychology.
- LGBTQ+ SourceIndexing, abstracts and full text for journal, magazine, and newspaper articles on LGBTQ+ topics and issues.
- Gender Studies DatabaseIndex to articles, books and book chapters, conference proceedings, dissertations and more dealing with topics in women's studies, men's studies and sexual diversity issues.
- Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA)Index to articles, books, and other publications about the nature and use of language. Topics include phonetics, phonology, syntax, and semantics.
Books on Conducting Literature Reviews
Literature Reviews Made Easy by
This book is designed to help you achieve one specific goal. It's not designed to give you the philosophies of conducting research. It's not designed to give you a background in a specific academic discipline or a specific topic. It's not designed to give you theory. It's designed specifically to instruct you in the practicalities of the writing process used to create strong, thorough, and potentially bulletproof literature reviews. This book is the culmination of years of research experience. It's also the culmination of several years of teaching writing and critical thinking to doctoral students. Although it began as a tool for doctoral students, it has been expanded to be useful for everyone from senior high school students through doctoral candidates working on developing their first literature review or a larger literature review than they normally develop. It has been created for everyone from academics to new business entrepreneurs with good ideas who are trying to write their first reviews to support the new idea they're proposing.
Call Number: ebookISBN: 9781617351914Publication Date: 2010-10-01
Writing Literature Reviews by
* Guides students in the preparation of literature reviews for term projects, theses, and dissertations. * Most chapters are conveniently divided into easy-to-follow guidelines, sequential steps, or checklists. Numerous examples throughout the book show students what should and should not be done when writing reviews. * Emphasizes critical analysis of reports of empirical research in academic journals--making it ideal as a supplement for research methods courses. This book makes it possible for students to work independently on a critical literature review as a term project. * Nine model literature reviews at the end of the book provide the stimulus for homework assignments and classroom discussions. * The activities at the end of each chapter keep students moving toward their goal of writing a polished, professional review of academic literature. * Most examples include material from recently published research. Includes nine model literature reviews for discussion and evaluation.
Call Number: H62 .G35 2004ISBN: 1884585507Publication Date: 2004-01-01
Preparing Literature Reviews by
* Illustrates all the steps in preparing qualitative and quantitative literature reviews. * Emphasizes topic selection, locating literature, and avoiding major pitfalls in evaluating and synthesizing literature. * Shows how to improve literature reviews through the judicious inclusion of statistical results found in the literature. * Provides easy-to-follow advice on how to avoid misrepresenting the results of published research in literature reviews. * The numerous examples throughout the text and the nine model literature reviews clarify the process of following the guidelines for writing solid, state-of-the-art literature reviews. * Shows students how to blend qualitative and quantitative approaches to preparing literature reviews without being overly mathematical.
Call Number: Q180.55.E9 P36 2013ISBN: 9781936523115Publication Date: 2013-03-01
Literature Review Basics
Define the research question
- You may need to some exploratory searching of the literature to get a sense of scope, to determine whether you need to narrow or broaden your focus
- Identify databases that provide the most relevant sources, and identify relevant terms (keywords and controlled vocabularies) to add to your search strategy
- Finalize your research question
- Consider meeting with your subject librarian for a one-on-one consult during this or the next two stages
Determine inclusion/exclusion criteria
- Think about relevant dates, geographies (and languages), methods, and conflicting points of view
Choose databases and conduct the search
- Conduct searches in the published literature via the identified databases
- Check to see if this topic has been covered in other discipline's databases
- Examine the citations of on-point articles for keywords, authors, and previous research (via references) and cited reference searching.
Review your results
- Save your search results in a citation management tool (such as Refworks)
- De-duplicate your search results (you can do this in RefWorks)
- Make sure that you've found the seminal pieces -- they have been cited many times, and their work is considered foundational
- Check with your professor or a librarian to make sure your search has been comprehensive
Synthesize the information gathered
- Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of individual sources and evaluate for bias, methodologies, and thoroughness
- Group your results in to an organizational structure that will support why your research needs to be done, or that provides the answer to your research question
- Develop your conclusions
Analyze the information gathered
- Are there gaps in the literature?
- Where has significant research taken place, and who has done it?
- Is there consensus or debate on this topic?
- Which methodological approaches work best?
Write the literature review
- Pick an organizational structure, i.e., themes, approaches, concepts, methodologies.
- For example: Background, Current Practices, Critics and Proponents, Where/How this study will fit in
- Organize your citations and focus on your research question and pertinent studies
- Compile your bibliography
Note: This list was modified from a guide from the University of Texas libraries. The full guide has many additional details.