CSS 330: World Food Crops

Anatomy of a Scholarly Article

Reading a scholarly article can seem daunting at first. Scholarly articles are long and have a lot of data. If you break down the article into components, it will make it easier to read and understand.

For a quick overview, click on the link below to see an example of a scholarly article and its parts.

Anatomy of a Scholarly Article (NCSU Libraries)

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

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>

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 Articles

Many college-level assignments ask you to find articles. You are in luck! The library provides free access to many, many different kinds of articles, from international newspaper articles to popular magazines to scholarly journal articles. Whether you are starting with an idea for a topic or the citation for a specific article, the library can get you the article you need.

Use this page to figure out what type of article works best for your situation and how to find articles.

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.

Anthropology Databases

The anthropological databases are good places to look for information about different types of food gathering techniques around the world.

Anthrosource
Full text access to 32 AAA journals.
Coverage Dates: 1972 - present
AGRICOLA (EBSCOhost)
This database contains bibliographic records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library. Coverage for AGRICOLA dates back to 1970 and includes more than 2.5 million citations. The citations are comprised of journal articles, monographs, theses, patents, software, audiovisual materials, and technical reports related to agriculture. Links to over 300 journals in Academic Search Premier.
Coverage Dates: 1970 - present

Agriculture Databases

AGRICOLA is the major databases for locating articles related to agricultre and crop sciences. Some other recommended databases are listed below.

When searching the databases, use key phrases such as potato, farming or cultivation, and the name of the country you are investigating.

AGRICOLA (EBSCOhost)
This database contains bibliographic records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library. Coverage for AGRICOLA dates back to 1970 and includes more than 2.5 million citations. The citations are comprised of journal articles, monographs, theses, patents, software, audiovisual materials, and technical reports related to agriculture. Links to over 300 journals in Academic Search Premier.
Coverage Dates: 1970 - present
AgEcon Search
AgEcon Search is a free, open access repository of full-text scholarly literature in agricultural and applied economics, including working papers, conference papers, and journal articles.
Coverage Dates: 1932 - present
Agriculture Collection
With a strong emphasis on titles covered in the Agricola database, this collection of more than 400 titles is focused on agriculture and its related fields: from practical aspects of farming to cutting edge scientific research in horticulture. Over 20 Delmar titles provide in-depth coverage on agricultural related topics.
Coverage Dates: 1980 - present
JSTOR Plant Science
JSTOR Plant Science offers access to botanical and other resources from around the world including: The world’s largest database of plant type specimens representing the botanical diversity of the planet. More than 600,000 specimens are available today. When complete, there will be an estimated 2.2 million. Over 175,000 scientific research articles and other content dating back hundreds of years from leading academic journals including Kew Bulletin, Mycologia, International Journal of Plant Sciences, Science, PNAS, and others. Foundational reference works and books such as The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa, Flowering Plants of South Africa, and illustrations from Curtis’s Botanical Magazine.A significant set of correspondence, including Kew’s Directors’ Correspondence which included hand-written letters and memorandum from the senior staff of Kew from 1841 to 1928. More than 20,000 paintings, photographs, drawings, and other images.
Coverage Dates: 1816 -
Web of Science
The web version of Science Citation Index (SCI) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI). The Web of Science accesses a multidisciplinary database of bibliographic information gathered from thousands of scholarly journals. The databases are indexed so you can search for specific articles by subject, author, journal, and/or author address. Because the information stored about each article includes the article's cited reference list (often called its bibliography), you can also search the databases for articles that cite a known author or work.
Science Citation Index 1970-present
Social Science Citation Index 1970-present

Concurrent Users: unlimited
Coverage Dates: 1970 - present

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.

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Last Update: March 26, 2012 23:06