Best Bets for Scholarly Sources
Multidisciplinary Databases
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Academic Search PremierAcademic Search Premier is an interdisciplinary database, covering a broad range of subjects. It contains indexing for 8,172 publications, with full text for nearly 4,700 of those titles.
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Web of Science This link opens in a new windowAuthoritative, multidisciplinary content covering more than 15,000 journals is available through this search of Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Science Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Covers 1900 - Present.
Business & Economic Databases
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EconLitCorresponds to Journal of Economic Literature and the Index of Economic Articles, and covers journal articles, dissertations, chapters in books, conference proceedings and entire books.
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Business Source UltimateBusiness Source Ultimate contains the full text of periodicals and other sources, including: peer-reviewed journals, trade journals & general business magazines, monographs, country economic reports, industry reports & yearbooks, and market research reports. The database covers a variety of disciplines related to all areas of business.
Social Science Databases
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Sociological AbstractsSociological Abstracts abstracts and indexes literature in the field of sociology, as well as related literature in the social and behavioral sciences. The database includes abstracts of journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers, as well as citations to book reviews.
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Social Sciences Full TextThis source indexes a wide variety of sources related to the social sciences including sociology, family studies, public administration, social work, etc.
Biology & Environmental Studies Databases
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Biological SciencesIndexes 6,000 biology journals, conference proceedings, technical reports, and other sources for students and faculty who need in-depth, advanced information for biological research.
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GreenFileGreenFile offers information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles includes content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more.
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GeoRefGeoRef is produced by the American Geological Institute. It indexes journal articles, book chapters, maps, conference papers, and dissertations in the geosciences. Fields covered included crystallography, geochemistry, marine geology, oceanography and paleontology among others.
Verifying Peer Review
Need to be absolutely certain that an article has been peer-reviewed? Use UlrichsWeb! This database provides a range of information about a journal from publisher to title history. Peer-reviewed journals are indicated by a symbol that resembles a sports referee's jersey on them.
**Tip: Remember to search by the name of the journal, not the title of the journal article.**
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UlrichsWebDetailed information on more 300,000 periodicals.
Primary VS. Secondary Sources
Which is which?
You may be familiar with the distinction between primary and secondary sources in the humanities. There, a primary source is an account from someone who experienced the event - a first-person account. A secondary source is written by someone who was not there.
Likewise, a science primary source is written by someone who experienced the event first hand. Just, in this case, the event was the experiment or the gathering of data. A secondary source is written by someone who has read about the research, usually from the primary source.
So how can you tell if an article is primary or secondary?
Primary Sources:
- Report new data, research, or theories
- Include a methodology section that details how the data was gathered
- Present new data and results
Secondary Sources:
- Compile and/or evaluate existing research
- May not include a methodology section. If it does, it will detail how studies were selected for review.
- Evaluate or discuss data from many sources
Other things to look for include:
- the title "Review" or "Review Article", which are only on secondary sources
- extensive reference lists on secondary sources
Which should you use?
There are good reasons to use either primary or secondary sources. Secondary sources can catch you up on most of the important research in a specific field, as well as providing over-arching themes and trends in the research. Primary sources give you much more detail on the research, including raw data. A single source may illuminate differences or problems with trends in the larger research body.
In the end you will need to consider both your level of knowledge and background in a field, as well as the specific requirements of your assignment. You may find yourself reading both types of sources to get a deep, comprehensive understanding of your topic.