Define "scholarly article."
Identify article databases available at Ivy Tech.
Search for articles using online tools.
Evaluate and refine your search results.
Select the best sources.
Module Checklist:
Organizes information for rapid retrieval online
Contains, articles, citations, reference entries, descriptions of book in the library catalog, and more relevant sources
Houses information not freely accessible on the internet. Libraries pay for students to use databases.
What is a database aggregator?
Allows user to search multiple databases with one interface, like a database "supermarket" with many products under one roof
Incorporates advanced searching features such as selecting a set of databases, combining key words through Boolean searching, and limiting by full text options, date ranges, and type of publication
Popular database aggregators available through Ivy Tech libraries includeEBSCOhost, JSTOR, LexisNexis, and ProQuest, among others.
Discover! is an embedded quick search tool, or discovery service, available on the homepage for all Ivy Tech regional campus libraries.
Simply type in your research topic to pull books, articles, videos, and other related items.
Explore the Discover! tool on your regional campus library website:
LibGuides
Library Guides are an excellent tool for finding scholarly resources on a specific subject area. Ivy Tech librarians develop these custom research guides for many of the most common courses the College offers. LibGuides contain comprehensive and up-to-date information and are reviewed by the College instructors for relevancy each semester. Review the LibGuides for your regional campus to make your research project easier!
A-Z Lists
Ivy Tech libraries give you access to many general article databases, as well as subject specific databases.
Online academic databases link you to thousands of periodicals and provide citation information, abstracts or summaries, and often the full text of scholarly articles. Some academic databases also house images, audio files, and videos related to your topic.
Explore the A-Z list on your regional campus library website:
Publication Finder lists and links periodicals available through the online databases provided by your Ivy Tech library.
Browse by Discipline or enter your own search terms into Publication Finder:
Plagiarism is presenting the words or ideas of someone else as your own. If you don’t credit the author, you are committing a type of theft called plagiarism. Whether you quote directly or paraphrase ideas, you must acknowledge the original author. It is plagiarism when you:
For more information about recognizing and avoiding plagiarism, check out this helpful brochure.
Plagiarism ranges from copying word-for-word to paraphrasing a passage without credit. Below is a sentence from a book. The original source is followed by its use in three student papers. As you read, try to identify which of the students have committed plagiarism.
Original Passage: "Still, the telephone was only a convenience, permitting Americans to do more casually and with less effort what they had already been doing before." (Boorstin, Daniel J. The Americans: The Democratic Experience. New York: Random House, 1973.)
Meg: The telephone was a convenience, enabling Americans to do more casually and with less effort what they had already been doing before.
Brian: Daniel J. Boorstin argues that the telephone was only a convenience, permitting Americans to do more casually and with less effort what they had already been doing before.
Peter: Daniel J. Boorstin has noted that most Americans considered the telephone as simply "a convenience," an instrument that allowed them "to do more casually and with less effort what they had already been doing before" (Boorstin 390).
In these examples, both Meg and Brian have committed plagiarism. Meg doesn’t acknowledge that the words and ideas she uses belong to Boorstin, leaving her readers to think they are hers. Although Brian acknowledges his source, he has copied Boorstin’s original text word for word but has not supplied quotation marks to indicate direct quotation.
Note how Peter's use of Boorstin's words and ideas differs. By naming the author, he has established the authority of his source at the beginning of his sentence. Peter has also provided an in-text citation giving the author and page number (MLA citation style). He has paraphrased some of the author’s words and directly quoted others. His use of quotation marks makes it clear to the reader which words are his and which belong to the author.
A copyright is a set of legal rights that an author has over his or her work for a limited period of time. Images found on the web, sound or music files, text in print or online--all of these created works might have restrictions on their use by anyone other than the copyright holder.
Copyright ensures that the person who created something (a book, a song, a painting, an idea, etc.) is reimbursed for his or her intellectual work. If there were no copyright protection, there would be no economic incentive to create these works. Most information is protected by copyright. The exception is “public domain” work, which is work that can be reproduced or used by anyone. The use of public domain resources still requires giving credit to the author.
Here are some examples of public domain sources:
Publications of the U.S. Government:
Copyright that has been waived by the author:
Works on which the copyright has expired:
Fair Use
Copyrighted works can be used, copied, or displayed without permission or paying of fees under certain circumstances. To determine if you have a “fair use”, you must analyze and weigh four factors to balance the rights of the copyright holder and user.
Disclaimer: The information provided here is not meant to be legal advice. If you are not sure if your use is covered by the Fair Use doctrine please consult an attorney.
As we wrap up Citing Sources, let’s look at some helpful definitions:
Now that you've reviewed source citation, can you: