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DHS 3000 Dr. Kopf

Exploring Peer-Reviewed Articles in Library Databases

1. Develop a search strategy.

  • Identify 2-4 keywords that describe the main concepts that should be represented in the article
  • Combine each concept with AND
  • Use the handout linked below (Generating and Combining Keywords) to learn more about identifying synonyms and related terms for a more thorough and efficient search.

2. Enter the search strategy you created in step 1 into the EBSCO suite of databases (linked below) to search for the scholarly conversation related to your research question.

  • Pro tip: You can also access the EBSCO suite of databases from our library home page (bgsu.edu/library). Click on "EBSCO" under the Library Search search box.

3. Filter your results

  • Click on "academic journals" under the search box(es). Pro tip: The "academic journals" limiter does not guarantee that every article in your list will be original research. There are several types of articles published in academic journals.
  • Use the "all time" dropdown box (date filter) under the search box(es) to look for the most recent articles.

4. Determine whether or not the article is an original research article

  • Look for the research method used in the title of the article
  • Click on an article title and read through the abstract (overview) of the article (you'll need to scroll down a bit to find it). If it is an original research article, it should mention the research methods the authors used to collect data.

Steps for following the citation chain backward

Backward Chaining: look for sources cited in the source you already have

The "shortcut" is to search for the article title in Library Search on the library home page [bgsu.edu/library].

If that doesn't work, the way to identify if BGSU has access to a specific journal title requires several steps.

1.Begin at the BGSU Libraries home page (bgsu.edu/library)

2. Locate the "Find and borrow" menu near the top of the page.

3. Select "Journal list"

4. Search for the title of the journal in which the article was published.

5. If BGSU has a subscription, the title of the journal will appear in your results list. Click on the title of the journal.

6. Skip past the "available online" option until you see the "search inside" section.

7. Search for the first 5-7 words of the title of the article. If this doesn't work, go back to step 6 and click on the "available online" option. You should be presented with another option for searching within the publication for a specific article title.

Steps for following the citation chain forward

Forward chaining: look for sources that cite the source you already have

Google Scholar

1. To begin, search for your item in Google Scholar using words from the title, the author, etc.

2. Beneath each result, you will see a link that says 'Cited by ...' and a number.  Look carefully, as there may be more than one result matching your search.

3. Clicking on "Cited by ..." will bring up a list of citing documents in Google Scholar. These are arranged with the most highly cited works at the top. To locate a copy of these works, you can look for [PDF] links on the right, or links to Find it @ BGSU to the right or below each citation.