WR 327: Technical Writing (Peters)

Electronic Journals

OSU Libraries subscribes to over 20,000 electronic journals (e-journals). It's easiest to search the e-journals if you have a specific journal or citation to locate. Always note the date range available for each journal subscription.

Search for a specific e-journal title
Search for a specific article by citation
Search for a print journal (if we don't have an online version)

Remember that if we don't have a journal online, we can still get a copy of an article for you via Interlibrary Loan.

Browsing Journals

Sometimes you will want to see what has been published in a specific journal or magazine or just browse the table of contents of a current issue. You have a couple of options:

Search for the journal or magazine on Google. Most journals or magazines have a web page that will lst the table of contents. You may not, however, be able to access the actual article
Use the online databases to get to the journal or magazine content. You can use our online databases or E-journals list to see what has been published in a journal.

Scholarly Journals, Trade & Popular Magazines

Scholarly Journals

Authors are authorities in their fields.
Authors cite their sources in endnotes, footnotes, or bibliographies.
Individual issues have little or no advertising.
Articles must go through a peer-review process.
Articles are usually reports on scholarly research.
Illustrations usually take the form of charts and graphs.
Articles use jargon of the discipline.

Popular Magazines

Authors are magazine staff members or free lance writers.
Authors may mention sources, but rarely formally cite them in bibliographies. Individual issues contain numerous advertisements.
There is no peer review process.
Articles are meant to inform and entertain.
Illustrations are numerous and colorful.
Language is geared to the general audience (no specialized knowledge of jargon needed).

Trade Publications

Authors are specialists in a certain field or industry.
Authors often mention sources, but rarely formally cite them in bibliographies.
Intended audience includes people in the industry.
There may or may not be a peer review process.
Articles tend to give practical information regarding the industry.
Some illustrations are included, usually charts, graphs, etc.
Authors use jargon of the industry.

Source: http://berkeley.peralta.edu/apps/pub.asp?Q=72

Identifying Peer Reviewed Sources

Using research that has been evaluated by other experts in the field (peer reviewed or refereed) is an efficient way of finding research of value. Some ways to identify if the research is peer-reviewed:

Use the database: some databases consist entirely (or almost entirely) of peer-reviewed literature (for example: Sociological Abstracts, Abstracts in Anthropology, ERIC, PsycInfo)
Many databases allow you to LIMIT your search to peer-reviewed or scholarly literature (the EBSCOhost databases like Academic Search Premier for example)
Check the journal's editorial policy statement for an explicit statement (generally small print at the front of the issue, or visit the journal's web page). Look for a list of editors, which can be an implicit indication of peer review.
Ask a librarian for assistance

Google Scholar

You do allow embedded content.

With Google Scholar you can search broadly (across several disciplines) with one search. You can use Google Scholar to find peer-reviewed articles, but you will also find pre-print copies of articles, conference papers, white papers, patents, legal opinions and more.

Before you start -- go to Scholar Preferences (click the gear icon in the upper right corner) and enter Oregon State University in the Library Links field. Save your preferences.
Enter your keywords in the search box.
Browse results, making sure to use the library's subscriptions to get access the text of the articles where you can.Use the Get This Item at OSU link on the left to access the article.

Smart searching

When searching in catalogs and databases:

Be creative in the words you use; if one doesn't work, try something else. Think of words with related meaning, such as natural resource management or restoration or conservation.
Begin with keywords, and use the subjects found in the articles that come up to find more information
Use quotation marks around phrases, so they won't be searched as individual words.
Use advanced search features in catalogs and databases to limit by date, language, type of article, etc

For more in-depth information about developing advanced search strategies, check out a tutorial from Purdue University at http://gemini.lib.purdue.edu/core/files/strategies0.html

Selecting a database

A good place to start when you are searching for articles is one of the library online databases. The library subscribes to many databases which are like indexes to different journals, magazines and newspapers. You can search for articles by topic or, if you already know the information, by author or title. Many of the databases have the full text of the article available so you can just download or print a copy.

Go to the Library home page and click on Databases (under Find It). This will take you to an alphabetical list of all our databases.
To see a list of databases recommended for a specific discipline, use the Filter drop-down on the database page. Select a general topic area from the drop-down and click Search.
Mouse over the red information icon next to the name of the database. This tells you more about the database and the topics and time periods it covers.

Searching a database

The most effective way to search the online databases is to enter terms or keywords that effectively describe your topic.

Use broad, meaningful keywords when you search. Don't use sentences or phrases.
Use just a few keywords (1-3). You can always add keywords later if you need to refine your search.
Use the facets or limits to help refine you search. For example, you can narrow your search by date or by geographic region.
When you review your results, look at the abstracts or subject headings for other keywords you can use to improve your search.
Be prepared to do several searches. Research is a process that takes time.

Finding a scholarly article

College-level research often requires you to find scholarly journal articles (also referred to as peer-reviewed articles or research articles). Scholary articles are written to convey the results of original study, research or experimentation. They are written by experts in a discipline for other experts in the discipline. There are often specific sections in a scholarly article, such as an abstract, methods, results and references.

You can find scholarly articles in general databases like 1Search, in subject-specific databases or via Google Scholar. Some databases, such as 1Search and Academic Search Premier, have a check box that allows you to narrow your search to just scholarly articles. However, being able to recognize whether or not you have found a scholarly article is still ultimately your responsibility. Click Read more (below) to learn about some typical features that can help you recognize scholarly articles.

Two more tutorials you may find helpful:

Title: Each article starts off with a title, which is often long and very technical-sounding.

Author/Contact Info: Sometimes author names and contact information (usually email address) directly follows the title but other times this information will be at the bottom of the first page. This information is usually always located somewhere on the first page of the article.

Abstract: Next comes the abstract. This is usually a paragraph which provides an overview of the research problem, the method used to study the problem, major findings and major conclusions. The abstract is more than a summary - it presents all the major parts of the paper in very abbreviated form. Reading the abstract is very helpful to learn if the full article will be of interest.

Introduction: The introduction introduces the reader to the problem being studied. This section explains why is important to conduct the research being presented. It is often the easiest section to read and understand.

Literature Review: In this section, the author(s) present other research related to the problem being studied. This related research is cited, summarized and the author(s) explain how their research fits in with what has already been done and how their research contributes to solving a problem or furthering knowledge about some problem in the discipline. Often this section is combined with the introduction, so it may not appear as a separate section. Reading this section is a good way to learn about other researchers working in the same field or related fields.

Method: This section describes how the study or research was conducted. This section can be difficult to read if the reader does not understand the language or methodology used in the discipline.

Results: This section details the results of the study or research. But raw data is usually not presented here. The data presented has been turned into graphs or figures or tables or images that convey the information in a much clearer way.

Discussion: The discussion section, sometimes combined with the results section, analyzes and gives meaning to the data presented as results. Significant findings, or lack of findings, are explained in this section.

Conclusion: The conclusion is used to summarize the data and findings.

To see examples of what a typical journal article looks like, click here.

To learn more about what a scholarly journal article is and some tips for reading them, click here.

Title: Each article starts off with a title, which is often long and very technical-sounding.Author/Contact Info: Sometimes author names and contact information (usually email address) directly follows the title but other times this information will be at the bottom of the first page. This information is usually always located somewhere on the first page of the article.Abstract: Next comes the abstract. This is usually a paragraph which provides an overview of the research problem, the method used to study the problem, major findings and major conclusions. The abstract is more than a summary - it presents all the major parts of the paper in very abbreviated form. Reading the abstract is very helpful to learn if the full article will be of interest.Introduction: The introduction introduces the reader to the problem being studied. This section explains why is important to conduct the research being presented. It is often the easiest section to read and understand.Literature Review: In this section, the author(s) present other research related to the problem being studied. This related research is cited, summarized and the author(s) explain how their research fits in with what has already been done and how their research contributes to solving a problem or furthering knowledge about some problem in the discipline. Often this section is combined with the introduction, so it may not appear as a separate section. Reading this section is a good way to learn about other researchers working in the same field or related fields.Method: This section describes how the study or research was conducted. This section can be difficult to read if the reader does not understand the language or methodology used in the discipline.Results: This section details the results of the study or research. But raw data is usually not presented here. The data presented has been turned into graphs or figures or tables or images that convey the information in a much clearer way.Discussion: The discussion section, sometimes combined with the results section, analyzes and gives meaning to the data presented as results. Significant findings, or lack of findings, are explained in this section.Conclusion: The conclusion is used to summarize the data and findings. To see examples of what a typical journal article looks like, click here.To learn more about what a scholarly journal article is and some tips for reading them, click here.

Finding an article on a topic

You use the keywords from your research topic to search for journal articles on a topic - usually in a database.

Start your searches with broad searches (2-3 keywords, not too specific) in a general database like 1Search or Google Scholar. Google Scholar is simple to search in, but it does take some practice to learn how to get articles that are not freely available and to make sure you are choosing the best scholarly articles. <Learn More>

If your topic is more specialized, you may want to search in a subject database. Article databases are available through the library for almost every topic, from Anthropology to Zoology. Use the database subject filter to choose a database that matches your topic. <Learn More>

Finding the full text of an article

Locating articles: Once you find your citation, you will need to locate the journal to read the article. Some citations will have the full-text of the article available online. For others, click on this button: 360 link to full text to see if OSU subscribes to the electronic or the paper copy of the journal. 360 will open a new window and will display a link to full-text when available. If it's not, click the link to the library catalog to check for a paper copy. If neither is available, request the article from Interlibrary Loan: http://osulibrary.orst.edu/ill/.

Finding a specific article

If you have an article citation and want to find that specific article, you can find it several ways.

1Search - Use the article title. It is often useful to put quotes around the article title to find the exact title you want.
- Example: "Feasability of a Home-Delivered Internet Obesity Prevention Program for Fourth-Grade Students"
OSU Libraries catalog - Use the journal title, then navigate to the article using the date, volume, issue and page number information. <Learn More>
Google Scholar - Use the article title. Again, it is often useful to put quotes around the article title to find the exact title you want. If you find articles that are not freely available, be sure to set up your Google Scholar preferences to talk to the OSU Libraries, or search the e-journals or catalog to see if we have the article. <Learn More>

Techniques you can use to find more specific articles include author searching, cited reference searching and using the references at the end of a good article.

If you are unsure about how to read an article citation or how to tell the difference between article and journal titles and how to keep track of necessary information like the volume, issue and page numbers, read more in this tutorial. <Learn More>

Last Update: April 17, 2012 16:09