Use research databases to search for articles. Most databases allow you to limit to scholarly or peer reviewed articles. Some databases will return full text articles, and abstracts or summaries of articles.
Use the GET ARTICLE link to see if an article is available in another database. Most databases allow you to limit to full text. If an article is unavailable through Monmouth University Library it may be requested through
Subscription databases are available to Monmouth University students, faculty and staff. For remote log in, use your university username and password.
Use these multi-subject databases to search for articles in academic journals, newspapers, magazines and other resources.
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 truncation "*" 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.
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:
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.
NOTE: Monmouth University now has access to the New York Times via its desktop platform. Click here to set up your free account. You must have MU login credentials to access.
In the below example, the black and white “ref jersey” icon in the second column indicates that American Anthropologist is refereed (peer-reviewed).
Use library databases to locate credible sources, including articles in newspapers and trade/scholarly journals.
