MU LibraryFINDGET HELPSERVICESABOUT Skip to Main Content

EN 101: College Composition

This guide is designed to help you locate resources for topics discussed in EN 101, College Composition

HawkFind

  
Scholarly & Peer Reviewed   Beyond Library Collection
  
Advanced Search
   

Video: Why Not Google?

What is a Scholarly Article?

Scholarly and peer-reviewed articles report on new research. They are published in discipline-specific academic journals in order to make such information available to other scholars and academics. 

  • Scholarly journals are authored by academics, geared to a specific audience and usually published by organizations with an academic focus.
  • Authors are typically experts or scholars in their field. The author's credentials and affiliations are usually listed.
  • The language of scholarly journals is that of the discipline covered. It assumes subject matter knowledge on the part of the reader.
  • Scholarly articles always cite information sources using footnotes, endnotes, and/or bibliographies.
  • Scholarly articles are usually lengthy, and can include charts, graphs, and collected data.
  • A scholarly article may also be peer-reviewed; this type of article must be reviewed and approved for publication by a panel of experts in the field.

Suggested Databases

Use these to continue research and target more resources specific to topics explored in this course.

Search Tips

  • Use the word "AND" to combine your keywords to make your search more specific, e.g. "substance abuse" AND "domestic violence."
  • Use synonyms and alternative or related terms - broader or narrower - to expand your relevant results, e.g. "teenagers" | "adolescents" | "youth"
  • Use the truncation "*" (star) symbol to search for words with common roots without entering them individually, e.g. searching for teen* retrieves "teen," "teens", "teenaged", "teenagers." Use the "star" symbol (hit "shift" key + 8) to add truncation to your search term.
  • You can limit search results in many databases to academic/peer-reviewed journals, by publication date, or full-text only.

Types of Magazines & Journals

  • All three types of periodicals may appear online or in print.
  • If you are not sure whether your article is appropriate, ask your instructor.
  •  Start from Advanced Search screen and use database filters to select your source type. 
Popular Trade Scholarly
  • Colorful covers
  • Glossy paper
  • Ads
  • Articles on current events
  • General interest
  • Short articles
  • Written by general staff
  • Reviewed by general editor
  • No bibliographies or footnotes
  • Usually called magazines
  • Glossy
  • Ads
  • Articles on industry trends
  • Short articles
  • Written for members of specific industry
  • Written by staff or experts in the field
  • Short or no bibliographies
  • Plain cover, plain paper
  • No ads
  • Primary research, theories, methodologies
  • Lengthy, in-depth articles
  • Written for researchers & professionals
  • Written by experts in the field & researchers
  • Peer reviewed by subject experts
  • Extensive bibliographies & references

 

Saving Your Work

There are several ways you can save your research work as you move through your project:

Create an account within a database (JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, Credo, etc.) and save articles to folders.

Send individual articles to yourself, print them, save to a thumb drive or upload to Google Drive using the database widgets provided. These will look slightly different depending on the database, and are typically found when you open up individual articles. You can also download a PDF if it's available. Here's what the widgets look like in the Ebsco databases: 

Ebsco database tools: cite, save, export, download

Create an account in Zotero or NoodleTools. Not only will you be able to save articles here, but you can keep lists of search terms, book titles and other resources types, and there are templates that help you create your paper and/or bibliography. There are tools to create documents for all major styles/formats (MLA, APA, Chicago Style, etc.).

Create an account within MLA Style Center or Academic Writer (APA Style). There are tutorials and templates to help you create your paper and/or bibliography using MLA/APA style. Use Chicago Style Online for Chicago Style format.