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FYCO-113-50: Diversity and Life through the World of Baseball and Film: Articles

Spotlighted Scholarly Journal

Journal Locator

Use Journal Locator to determine whether the MU Library has access to a specific journal or magazine. The article you want may not be available in a database, but could be available in print.  Print holdings of journals can be found on the Library's lower level.  These are shelved alphabetically by title. 

Wikipedia and Academic Research

Here is what Wikipedia itself has to say about using Wikipedia for academic research:

".... citation of Wikipedia in research papers may be considered unacceptable, because Wikipedia is not considered a credible or authoritative source.  This is especially true considering anyone can edit the information given at any time.

Follow two simple rules:

1)  Do your research properly.  Remember that any encyclopedia is a starting point for research, not an ending point.

2)  Use your judgment. Remember that all sources have to be evaluated."

For more on what Wikipedia says about Wikipedia and academic research, see:

Wikipedia: Researching with Wikipedia

You may also want to use the new Cite Unseen widget, which scrolls through citations in Wikipedia articles and inserts icons denoting the type/reliability of each source listed.

Suggested Databases

For information on topics for Mass Media & Popular Culture, you will need to consult our Research Databases for scholarly journal articles and other resources.  Below are some suggestions for databases that will be most helpful to you.

HawkFind

  
Scholarly & Peer Reviewed   Beyond Library Collection
  
Advanced Search
   

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.

Types of Magazines & Journals

 

                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 magazine

·  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 review by subject

    experts

·  Extensive bibliographies &

    references

 

 

 

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 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.

Google Scholar Search

Search Google Scholar for scholarly full-text materials available in addition to those you locate in HawkFind. Follow links to the right of search results to view full article when available. Check out the video below (created by Concordia University) for search tips!

Google Scholar Search