WR 122 Robillard & Fierman: Find Articles

Library databases are great places to find published articles, but the results pages can be confusing, so this video will give you some tips to help you find useful results.

There are many different types of articles. The chart below can help you figure out which type(s) you're looking for or identify an article you've already found:

	News articles provide the most current information. Certain newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, are also known for thoughtful, in-depth analyses of important topics and events.
	Popular magazine articles can help you generate ideas about issues, controversies, or unanswered questions about a topic, which you might want to explore further. They sometimes refer to studies or scholarly work that you can track down for more information.
	Trade publications are written by and for professionals within an industry. These are an excellent source of very specific information from inside the field.
	Scholarly journal articles go through a process of peer review before they are published. They are written by experts in the field (the people with letters after their name!) and their purpose is to advance the ongoing body of work within the discipline. These articles might present original research data and findings, or take a position on a key question within the field. They can be difficult to read, because their intended audience is other experts and academics, but they are at the top of the line when it comes to authoritative information.

A scholarly source (such as a research article) is a source that presents the findings of a study, research or experimentation. Scholarly sources are written by experts in a discipline for other experts in the discipline. Scholarly sources are considered more reliable than most other sources because the results are based on research not conjecture or opinion.

While journals publish many scholarly sources (and these sources have gone through peer review), not all scholarly sources are published in journals. Scholarly sources may also be published by government agencies, by non-governmental organizations, or by non-profit organizations. These scholarly sources do not go through traditional peer review but may go through a process of internal review before publication.

Below are a few examples of scholarly sources that have not gone through traditional peer review.

• What happens after the war? How refugee camp peace programmes contribute to post-conflict peacebuilding strategies. (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)
• Effects of groundwater flow on the distribution of biogenic gas in parts of the Northern Great Plains of Canada and United States (U.S. Geological Survey)
• Social media and the “spiral of silence” (Pew Research Center)

Scholarly sources like these will generally not be found in library databases, but check your subject or course guide for recommended websites where scholarly sources like these can be found.

Peer reviewed or scholarly articles can be a helpful part of your research, especially in combination with other types of sources. 

It is important to remember that peer reviewed articles are often very specialized, and not a good starting place for most topics. They are written BY subject experts FOR subject experts, so they can be challenging reading. That said, they offer a high level of credibility and authority! 

Peer reviewed articles are typically found using a library database or Google Scholar, and they may come up in a web search. Remember not to pay for access to articles while you're a student! Get in touch with the library to see if we can find a copy of the article for you. 

Before searching, be sure to set PCC as your library in your browser by:

1. Visiting the link to set "Library Links" settings for Google Scholar, 
2. using the search box to search for "Portland Community College",
3. checking the check box that appears underneath the search to select “Portland Community College – Find it @ PCC”, 
4. and then selecting the Save button.

This will ensure that when you search Google Scholar in your browser, you will see Find It @ PCC links to full text if we have the article (Google Scholar sometimes also provides links to other free sources for full text).

You can learn more about setting Google Scholar preferences on the PCC Library Website.