Post on 05-Jan-2016
description
Using Magazines and Journals
Scholarly and Popular
Many types of periodicals
Periodicals is a broad term for publications that are published “periodically”
Include magazines, journals, newspapers, annuals and more
Like all information sources, periodicals can be very unreliable or very reliable
Types of Periodicals
Scholarly peer reviewed reliable primary research
Trade Reports of research and news for members of a
specific business, industry or organization Secondary reports of research
Types of Periodicals
Popular Summaries for the layperson; possible
inaccuracies or a very abbreviated explanation due to writer’s lack of knowledge.
Sensational / Tabloid Exploitive, inflammatory, or erroneous
information
Popular Scholarly
Authors are journalists Written for general
audience Often printed on glossy
paper, many ads/photos
Shorter length
Written by expert in content field
Has bibliography, charts, graphs
Content may be the result of research
Lacks ads, photos in most cases
“Peer Reviewed” or not?
If an article has been “peer reviewed”, it has been judged valuable by other experts in the field.
“Peer reviewed” articles are often scholarly. You can often restrict your search for articles
to only those articles which have been peer-reviewed.
Primary vs. Secondary Sources
Primary Sources Present new data or new theories based on
experiments, field work, etc. “Eyewitness” accounts are also primary
research because the author(s) actually were present at an event/discovery.
Secondary Sources Present a summary of known data. Reference and textbooks are secondary or
even tertiary sources.
Research Articles
Not all articles in Scholarly journals are research articles.
May also include: Book reviews Letters to the editor Introductions to the issue Literature reviews of a topic Theory articles not reflecting actual research
Characteristics of a Research Article
Format of a Research article Introduction Literature review Method /Data **A quick way to identify
research articles Results Discussion /conclusion Bibliography /References
Other Characteristics
Multiple authors Authors have higher educational degrees Length of article (at least 6+ pages and may
run to 20+ pages) Charts and tables Long list of References Not every article will have all the
characteristics
Recommended RVC Resources
For Overviews: Print materials found in Reference
Encyclopedia of Sociology International Encyclopedia of Marriage and
Family Electronic versions of the same resources
found in the Gale Virtual Reference database
Recommended RVC Resources
Sources for Research Articles Academic Search Premier Database** Proquest Wilson Select
** Recommended for your first choice
Questions
Unsure about your article Check with your instructor Check with a Librarian
Unsure about the database searching process Check with a librarian
815 921-4605 Stop in the Library for in-person help