CMNS 110: Term paper research Sylvia Roberts, CMNS librarian: sroberts@sfu.ca

What are scholary / academic resources? Facilitate scholarly communication between members of a particular academic discipline and/or the public Written by scholars (such as your professors) who’ve developed disciplinary expertise through years of study and specialized research – PhD usually minimum academic qualification

Scholarly publications: Results can be published as conference proceedings, articles, as chapters in books or entire books BOOKS JOURNAL ARTICLES CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

Scholarly publications: Characteristics Author(s) is an expert in the field, affiliated with university or research institution Extensive research and analysis written in formal academic style Starts with a literature review of relevant research and theory to provide a context and rationale for their research Relevant literature is cited in in-text citations and reference list (APA style) or footnotes/endnote and bibliography Plain looking: charts, graphs, and illustrations that add meaning to the text rather than photographs and advertising

Scholarly publications: Characteristics Academic articles are published in peer-reviewed journals E.G.: New Media & Society, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Children & Media Often includes an abstract that summarizes research methodology and findings Scholarly books are published by specialized academic publishers E.G.: Oxford University Press, Sage Publications, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Can be one topic or a collection of chapters on related topics (anthology) Peer-reviewed or refereed journals have an editorial board of subject experts who review and evaluate submitted articles before accepting them for publication. A journal may be a scholarly journal but not a peer-reviewed journal. Also known as scholarly journal, or academic journal, or refereed journal. Publishes only original research articles that are subjected to a rigorous evaluation through the peer-review process. The majority of scholarly journals go through the peer-review process Peer review is a central concept for most academic publishing; other scholars in a field must find a work sufficiently high in quality for it to merit publication

How to recognize a scholarly journal

How to recognize a scholarly journal The main purpose of a scholarly journal is to report on original research or experimentation in order to make such information available to the rest of the scholarly world. Articles are written by a scholar in the field, usually with a PhD. Author affiliations are listed, usually at the bottom of the first page or at the end of the article--universities, research institutions, think tanks, and the like. Often have an abstract and generally have a sober, serious look. Often contain many graphs and charts but few pictures that don’t add meaning. ALWAYS cite their sources in the form of footnotes or bibliographies, generally lengthy and cite other scholarly writings. The language of scholarly journals is that of the discipline covered. It assumes some technical background on the part of the reader.

Written communication TOPIC example: Written communication RESEARCH QUESTION example: How will removing cursive handwriting from primary school curriculum affect communication in the future? THESIS STATEMENT?

How to find scholarly sources? FASTSearch : Books, electronic journal articles Library catalogue Article databases ***Communication & Mass Media Complete***

Term paper research help: Ask a Librarian Contact Sylvia for an appointment: sroberts@sfu.ca Term paper writing: Student Learning Commons consultations