ATH 102 Intro to Archaeology: Find Articles

Search these online databases to find articles on topics on topics related to archaeology, field methods, ancient civilizations, ethical issues, and more. You can do a keyword search for the topic you're researching and each database will pull in matching articles. Try using keywords in various combinations and combine them using AND between different concepts and OR between words that mean roughly the same thing. See the example below from Academic Search Premier.

As you read about your topic, make a note of search terms that will be useful for finding articles on your topic. Sometimes, the words you naturally think of regarding your topic are not the terms that authors writing about that topic will use. 

Watch the 2 minute video from Portland State University below for some useful tips.  

You know you have to find them, but what are scholarly articles? This video explains!

If you're ever unsure whether a source is scholarly or not, a good way to check is to look up the journal it was published in via the Wikipedia. If it's scholarly, the Wikipedia entry will likely use words like scholarly, peer-reviewed, academic, or refereed. Here's an example from the description of the journal Nature.

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.