Advanced Search Reminders
- Use AND to combine different keywords.
- For example, minorities AND coaching
- Use OR to combine synonyms or related terms
- race OR ethnicity OR minorit*
- To look for a phrase use “quotation marks” around your terms:
- “human resource management” will find those words next to each other, instead of anywhere on the page.
- To look for variations of a word, or to look for the singular and plural, use the
- Minor* will find minority or minorities, but it will also find anything about minor or minors.
- Use Parentheses: separate synonyms from others.
- (race OR ethnicity) and coaching
Did you know?
Did you know that you can search multiple EBSCO databases at the same time?
To do this, click on "Choose Databases" link above the search boxes. The database in which you are seaching will already be checked (eg. Academic Search Complete).
Using the check boxes, select:
- Humanities Source
Once you've selected all the databases you would like to search, scroll down the screen and click OK.
At this point your screen will refresh and the name of your original database will be followed by "Show all." You are now searching multiple databases at once.
What is a primary article?
A primary source is ALWAYS:
-original
-written/recorded first-hand by somebody who was there at the time of the event (or experiment)
i.e. Your grandmother's diary from when she was a child is a primary source. The paper you wrote about it is a secondary source.
A good example of a primary article in the field of psychology:
For more information about Primary vs. Secondary (or even Tertiary) articles, please see this page from the University of Toronto.
Typical characteristics of a Psychology primary article?
- Presents original data and ideas from a scientific investigation reported by scientist and written for others in the field.
- Reports the results of experiments, observations, and other scientific investigation.
- The body of the article usually contains the following sections:
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Methods (or Materials and Methods)
- Results
- Discussion
- Acknowledgements, and Literature Cited (or References)
Examples of Journals: Science, Nature, Ecology (although they may have some secondary articles such as reviews or brief news items). Most of the journals from the American Society for Microbiology will include
Characteristics of a secondary article
- Synthesizes and summarizes results of original research.
- Describes, interprets, analyzes and evaluates the original research.
- Comments on and discusses the evidence provided by primary sources.
- Written for a scientific audience or for a non-scientific audience.
- Written by experts (scientists) or general writers.
- Published in science magazines and may be published in some science journals.
Examples of Journals: Scientific American, Science News, Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics.
What is a peer-reviewed article and how do I find it?
A peer-reviewed article is one that has been reviewed by a body of “peers:” experts in the same field as the writer.
They are sometimes called “refereed” and are published in scholarly or academic journals.
To limit to scholarly or peer-reviewed articles, look for a checkbox to LIMIT your search in the main search screen of most databases.
For additional ways to determine if an article is scholarly, see the scholarly articles help page.
See below for a quick checklist.
In order to tell if an online article is peer-reviewed, see the Find Articles -- Peer-reviewed webpage.
Is this article peer-reviewed?
Peer-reviewed articles are usually found in scholarly journals while popular or general articles often are found in popular magazines.
| Scholarly Journals | Criteria | Popular Magazines |
|---|---|---|
  |
Type of source |
  |
|
Lengthy, in depth. Often includes tables, graphs, statistics. Serious appearance, not heavily graphic. Generally includes abstract and citation list. Advertisements aimed at the scholarly audience it serves. Purpose of the articles is usually to present original research or experiments. |
Length and appearance of articles |
Shorter, overview-type articles. Popular style. Glossy format. Attractive covers. Lots of photographs. Does not usually include abstract or citation list. Includes many advertisements aimed at a general audience. Purpose of the articles is to entertain the reader. |
|
Scholars, experts. Credentials always included. Peer reviewed, refereed or juried: critically evaluated by a knowledge panel of experts. Usually published by a scholarly or university press. |
Authorship/Editorial |
Reporters, staff writers. Credentials not usually included. Reviewed by the editorial staff, not subject experts. Articles are sometimes unsigned. Usually published by a commercial publisher. |
| Includes words like: review, journal, research, quarterly, studies, transactions, proceedings, archives. | Title | Often included the word magazine |
| Technical, likely to include the jargon of the field. Assumes some background knowledge from the reader. | Language | Non-technical, accessible by broad audience |
| Traditional structure usually requires: abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, references | Article structure | No specific structure. |
| Published bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. | Frequency | Published daily, weekly or monthly. |
| Professors, researchers, professionals, experts, students; people who are already interested in the topic. | Audience | General public, trying to attract an audience. |
URL: https://library.brockport.edu/psychology
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