1. Use tools in the left column to limit by Source Type (you want only Scholarly Journals) and Publication Date. There are also limiters for Education Levels in ERIC or for Age Levels in PsycINFO--you may need to choose More filters to see these options.
2. Use numbers at bottom of page to explore more results
3. Use check boxes to add items to your folder
(using the back button can delete checks, use back to results instead)
4. Reading the abstract will save you time by helping you quickly rule out some articles.
5. Use the Cite feature (see below) to help you get started formatting your citation. Remember that it may need editing.
6. If you need a stable link to send the article to your professor, the URL at the top of your browser won't work. On the Abstract/Details page you can find a Document URL (way down near bottom of the page).
For this assignment you will want to choose articles based on relevance, format, readability, and personal interest. You will be spending a lot of time reading and analyzing the articles, so it is worth taking time to find articles that will work well for you.
Relevancy – Ask yourself “How strongly is this about my topic?”
Clues for relevancy:
title, journal name, abstract, subject words, full article
Is it primarily about students in the U.S.? Is it focused on your variable? Is it strongly about academic achievement or the classroom environment?
Format – Is it a research article?
Clues for format on the list page:
Is there a journal name? If not, it may be a dissertation, report, book, or other document not a journal article.
Are there authors listed? If not, it’s likely not a scholarly journal article
Words to note in titles and abstracts:
Probably not a research article
review, literature review
commentary, editorial, opinion, viewpoint
“In this special issue”
More likely a research article
“this study,” survey, experiment, data, control group, method, qualitative, mixed methods, longitudinal
Not strictly a research article, but accepted for this assignment by some instructors:
case study, systematic review
When looking at the full article:
Probably not a research article
Is there no list of cited sources or only a very short list of sources?
More likely a research article
Is there a section labelled Methods or Methodology?
Readability
Length of the article is less important than other factors.
Is the article from the perspective of another discipline such as economics, anthropology, etc? The journal title can be a clue to this. You may be more familiar with the vocabulary used in articles from the education discipline.
Is the article so full of specialized vocabulary that it would be difficult to read?
The Methods and Literature Review sections will often be more difficult to read than the rest of the article. Use this technique to read a scholarly article
1. Read abstract
2. Scan headings and explore charts/graphs/figures
3. Read Conclusion and Discussion sections first, then go back and read entire article.
