Jane Long, MA, MLIS Periodicals and Government Documents Librarian Al Harris Library Health Statistics Where Do I Find the Right Resources?

Assignment Specifications: Your assignment involves locating five potential sources that will be used for your research project. Your sources must be from peer-reviewed journals and/or credible sources for statistical information. During this class session, you will search for appropriate articles and submit your source information the Canvas Dropbox.

These articles will be used to prepare an introduction and APA-style citations for your research project. Remember: Abstracts, popular press publications, and Wikipedia are NOT appropriate sources.

What Is an Abstract? The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary provides the following definition for the noun form of the word: “a summary of points (as of a writing) usually presented in skeletal form; also : something that summarizes or concentrates the essentials of a larger thing or several things.” An abstract is not an essay. Its purpose is to let the reader know what sort of information will be included in the complete article.

What Is a Summary Paper? A summary paper is an analysis written by someone after reading a piece of literature. The summary paper provides an overview of the literature in the words of the person writing the summary. This is basically a review of a scholarly article. A summary article can be used to lead you to scholarly references.

What Is a Scholarly Journal? What Is Peer Review?

Why Scholarly Rather Than Popular? Scholarly ArticlePopular Article Researchers & Experts AUTHOR Journalists, Non-experts Academic journals SOURCE Newspapers, popular magazines To share research findings PURPOSE General information Other researchers & scholars AUDIENCE General public Specialized vocabulary VOCABULARY Everyday language Provided for all sources CITATIONS Few or no citations provided

Evaluating Information Scholarly sources are concerned with academic study, especially research for individuals such as students, teachers, professors, or any other professionals who need current information to stay informed of changes in their profession or area of expertise. Many scholarly journals are peer reviewed or refereed, that is, these articles have been subjected to a rigorous approval and editing process by other scholars in that discipline. It is easy to search for scholarly resources by using library databases to find articles.

Keyword vs. Subject Natural language— words and phrases you use in everyday conversations Flexible terminology: Synonyms—words with the same or similar meanings can be substituted Less accurate when searching in article databases Use with Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) Predetermined terminology (created by the Library of Congress or NLM MeSH) Terms such as those found in a thesaurus More precise when searching (most article databases have their own predetermined terminology)

Why are sources important? To provide statistics (i.e., NIH estimate of % population who donate blood). Statistics establish a level of credibility regarding your subject. To provide specific information (i.e., coin composition, hand washing techniques, background on Staphylococcus). Looking at what others have done will aid you in understanding your subject better. To provide background and information about the problem from related studies (i.e., the article’s authors found ___% of their sample of college students are insured). Again, this detail aids you and your readers’ understanding of the subject. To help you to design your project (i.e., there is a questionnaire/protocol in the article). Good ideas will be found in the sources you examine.

APA Citation: Purpose for Documentation Need help with using APA? Use this link for assistance:

Why Use APA Style? To give credit to sources used Avoid plagiarism Assist others in finding these sources Minimize confusion in locating the sources by standardizing the format of the citations Provide consistency in the way a document’s Reference List and in-text citations are prepared

APA Citation Examples Huang, C., Ma, W., & Stack, S. (2012). The hygienic efficacy of different hand-drying methods: A review of the evidence. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 87(8), doi: /j.mayocp

APA Citation Examples Yang, Z.J. (2012). Too scared or too capable? Why do college students stay away from the H1N1 vaccine? Risk Analysis, 32(10), doi: /j x

What Is a DOI? The abbreviation stands for Digital Object Identifier OR Digital Identifier of an Object. What makes the DOI significant is the fact that it identifies an article permanently and persistently. A DOI will continue to point to the object it identifies even if the object is moved, updated or modified. This means there is platform independence that allows data from different sources to be easily shared using multiple output formats.

Check for a DOI If no DOI has been assigned to the content or the database record, enter the citation information using the DOI Lookup. By entering information about the article in the lookup search, you will be able to determine whether a DOI has been assigned to the article.DOI Lookup

APA Citation Examples Pham, M. T., Jones, A. Q., Dewey, C. E., Sargeant, J. M., & Marshall, B. J. (2012). Food safety issues and information needs: An online survey of public health inspectors. Journal of Environmental Health, 84(10), Retrieved from If there is no DOI assigned and the reference was retrieved online, use the URL for the journal’s home page.

It will be necessary for you to record information about the sources you find. (EBSCO databases make this information easily accessible.) Identify sources using the types listed above. Include the following appropriate information for each of your sources: Author(s) Year published Article Title Journal Title Volume (and issue—if available) for the journal Inclusive page number(s) DOI (Digital Object Identifier) OR URL for journal’s website when no DOI number has been assigned AbstractScholarly Articles Summary Paper Other = (Statistics & credible websites)

Searching for Articles Health & Medical CINAHL Complete Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition (EBSCOhost) Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition (EBSCOhost) MEDLINE with Full Text (EBSCOhost) SPORTDiscus with Full Text (EBSCOhost) SPORTDiscus with Full Text (EBSCOhost)

First Step: Setting up an EBSCO folderSetting up an EBSCO folder

Next Step: Create a New Account

Now you are ready to save documents as you begin searching for sources.

Questions  Contact me:  Jane Long To help us improve our instruction please take the following survey at the end of today's class—09/29/14: Click here to take the surveyClick here to take the survey