ID 340: Diversity and Discrimination (Yamashita)

In college, you are often required to use scholarly (aka academic, peer-reviewed) sources.

CHECK:

• Was it written by experts? They're affiliated with a university or provide their educational background (e.g. PhD).
• Is it based on research? The findings are based on a study conducted or on a review of other expert literature. There MUST be a bibliography or works cited list.
• Who is the intended audience? Scholarly sources will use complex, expert language and be fairly lengthy. Most academic research is published in peer-reviewed journals or books, not freely available thru Google.

Find out more about scholarly research with this quick video. Learn more about the publication cycle.

A literature review is not just a summary, but a conceptually organized synthesis of the results of your research. What are the major authors, patterns, themes, debates, gaps in the research on your topic

Work with group to review source. Briefly present answers to class.

1. Identify if the source is scholarly or popular. How can you tell? List 3 reasons.
2. Skim source. What is the major point or argument? What is the author trying to prove?
3. Where did their information come from? Sources, methodology, statistics?
4. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of source.

The following research databases mostly non-scholarly popular press, typically newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, San Diego Union Tribune, Newsweek, and USA Today.

• ProQuest Newspapers
• Lexis Nexis Academic 
• Factiva 
• Ethnic NewsWatch

The following research databases have mostly scholarly journal articles:

See an article you want in one of these databases?

1. Look for "Full Text" in PDF, HTML, Linked or  
2. Fill out an Interlibrary Loan article request form-- free, takes 5-10 days.
3. Any time you need help, ask a librarian.

Find a book on Amazon then get it for free from The Circuit (Searches our library and local libraries. Delivers books to our check out desk in 1-2 days)

          Map to find materials in Kellogg Library.

Search strategies to get better results when searching a database:

1. Identify key concepts and synonyms
2. Use "quotes" around phrases
3. Use AND between different concepts
4. Use OR between similar concepts
5. Use an asterisk* to find word variations

Bonus: Use NOT to exclude concepts

Take this quick tutorial on searching and see a sample search strategy

Every time you use someone else's ideas (even if you explain the idea in your own words), give credit in your bibliography AND in the text of your paper.

To format your bibliography