BI 211: Southeast, Fall 2024, McKee: Peer-Reviewed Articles
Reading and making sense of peer-reviewed articles
This guide will help you find peer-reviewed articles, but often reading them is even more challenging!
- Science Buddieshas a simple guide to reading a scientific paper, a/k/a a journal article.
- Jennifer Raff, of Violent Metaphorsoffers a much more detailed look at reading research articles, with attention to each section. At the end of the post linked here, she links to a very detailed, step-by-step reading of a research article.
Find Articles in Library Databases
This assignment requires you to find and read two kinds of peer-reviewed articles: research articles, which communicate the findings of research the authors have carried out, and review articles, which gather the findings of many research projects and articles.
- Biological Science Database This link opens in a new windowFull text articles from 280 biology journals, many of them peer-reviewed.
- ScienceDirect This link opens in a new windowFull text for more than 1,000 peer-reviewed life sciences, Health Science, physical sciences, and engineering journals with citation information for thousands more. Look for the "Full-text available" indicators to view articles online. View the Science Direct handout.
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new windowFull text for more than 4,500 scholarly social sciences, humanities, general science, education and multi-cultural journals. 3,700 are peer-reviewed.
What is Peer Review?
- Alt Text for What is Peer Review Infographic PCC LibGuidesThis is longform alt text for the "What is Peer Review?" Infographic.
Find Articles with Google Scholar
Before searching, be sure to set PCC as your library in your browser by:
- Visiting the link to set "Library Links" settings for Google Scholar,
- using the search box to search for "Portland Community College",
- checking the check box that appears underneath the search to select “Portland Community College – Find it @ PCC”,
- 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.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowGoogle Scholar searches the web for scholarly articles, reports, books, and other materials. If using Google Scholar from a PCC campus, you can access full text articles. If PCC has access to an article, a "Find it @ PCC" link will appear to the right of the search result. Click “Find it @ PCC” to go to the library catalog where you will be offered a choice to view the article. From home, you will need to set your Google Scholar preferences to access PCC Library resources. See How to Search PCC Library on Google Scholar for directions on how to set your Google Scholar preferences at home.
CSE (Council of Science Editors) citation style
- MyBib citation makerFree citation maker -- you'll need to set the style to Council of Science Editors, Name-Year. Fill out the form and this site will create citations.
- Citation BuilderNorth Carolina State University provides a citation builder for CSE name-year citations. Just select your source type and CSE/CBE, fill out the form!
- CSE Quick GuideSample references and in-text citations from the Council of Science Editors -- make sure you're using the Name-Year tab.
- Guide to CSE Name-Year citation styleThe University of Wisconsin-Madison's Writing Center provides a clear, simple guide to CSE style.
- CSE Documentation -- Name-Year MethodAnother guide from Austin Community College that includes an example of a completed CSE bibliography at the end.