Access to HE Science: Finding Journal Articles

• Your tutor will expect you to use academic journals when researching and writing your assignments. 
• Journals are published more frequently than books, so they are the best way of keeping up to date with the latest research in your subject area. 
• Academic journals contain articles written by specialists in that subject area.  You may come across the terms 'refereed' or 'peer reviewed'. This means that the journal has been approved by other specialists in the field.
• Journals can provide more in-depth or specialised information on a subject than books.
• Journals can provide recent statistics.

• Use DISCOVER to find academic articles
• Use the project or assignment title to pick out keywords. Keywords are words that describe the information you are searching for. They are also known as search terms.
• Combine different keywords or search terms in a single search, by using operators. The three most commonly used operators are AND, OR, NOT. These are known as Boolean operators. They can be used to broaden or narrow a search.
• Search for a phrase by using quote marks, eg. "health inequalities". 
• Think of synonyms such as NHS or "national health service"
• Too many results - Be more specific.  Narrow by looking for recent issues, areas of interest or developments, eg "health policy", "food banks", poverty. Add terms such as gender, class, "young people" or adults to search for particular groups.
• Too few results - try using more general terms for your keywords.

How do you evaluate what articles are most appropriate for your research?  

Use the CRAAP test to help you assess each article:

Currency

When was the article published? Does it matter for your topic?

Are there more recent articles you could use?

Relevance

Does the information help in answering your question? 

Is it at the right level? Is it too basic or too advanced? 

Does it add to your understanding?

Authority

Does the author work for a particular organisation such as a University?

Is the author appropriately qualified to provide the information?

Has the information been peer-reviewed? If an article has been peer reviewed it will have been evaluated or edited by other experts in the same field.

Accuracy

Where does the information come from?

Is it supported by evidence?

Can you verify the information from another source?

Purpose

What is the purpose or reason of the article?

Is the article objective? Does it give a balanced view? Is there hidden bias? Does the author use emotive language?

Has the author provided supporting evidence?

Does the article include references?