IPK 207, Introduction to Canadian Indian Residential Schools: Journal Articles

Not all journals are created equal, and not all will be appropriate for every research need. These are the most common types of journals you are likely to encounter in your research, presented in order from most to least academic or scholarly:

• Scholarly Journals: reports of original research, theoretical, experimental or applied; many are refereed/peer-reviewed
• Trade/Professional Journals: current trends, news & events in a particular field; some are peer-reviewed
• Journals of Commentary or Opinion: commentary on political & social issues; often source of specific political viewpoint, e.g., conservative, liberal, or specific interest group
• Newspapers: current information, news stories; local & regional focus
• Popular Magazines: current events & news; primary source for popular culture

Not all journals are created equal, and not all will be appropriate for every research need. Here are some characteristics of scholarly journals:

• the authors are researchers or scholars - articles will typically include the author's institutional affiliation;
• the articles reflect an-depth analysis of topics or report original research (theoretical, experimental or applied);
• articles are often lengthy, and book reviews, if included, are substantial;
• the language used reflects the technical vocabulary of the discipline (i.e., jargon); and
• many are refereed or peer-reviewed.

For more information and additional characteristics, see Types of Periodicals.

Books are rarely peer-reviewed, which can make it more challenging to determine scholarly status. However, the following are common characteristics of scholarly books:

• the authors or editors are researchers or scholars (you might need to look inside the book for information about the author, or you can try a Google search);
• the publisher is often a university press (e.g., Oxford University Press, University of California Press) or an academic society (e.g., American Anthropological Association); and/or
• the language used reflects the technical vocabulary of the discipline (i.e., jargon).

Instead of searching lots of subjects at once in Find It! you can search database from a particular subject/discipline by using find a research database

Here are some suggested databases based on the general topics for your assignment:

1. Start with one or two keywords describing your topic.
2. Use the limiting options within the database to focus (i.e., refine) your results:
   • academic/peer-reviewed journals
   • date of publication (you might want more recent articles for some topics)
3. Look for subjects (aka descriptors) that can help you define your topic more narrowly.
4. Once you determine an angle or perspective you'd like to explore, try adding additional terms to your search.
5. Look for a "full text" link to view the article; if no full text link is available, try "Full Text Finder" to locate a copy of the article.
   • If no copy of the article is available online or in print, you can still request a copy from another library; there is no fee for this service, and articles take about 3 days (often fewer) to arrive.
6. Use the tools within the databases to mark, email, and print your articles:
   • You may be able to email the entire article to yourself, or at least the article information and abstract.
   • You may also be able to send yourself an MLA-formatting reference.
   • Articles in PDF format will have page numbers; articles in HTML format might not.

The following strategies can be useful in helping you identify an empirical research article:

1. Analyse your topic statement for search terms
   • Change any question into a statement.
   • Identify the important ideas or concepts within your topic statement - these are usually nouns (or short phrases containing a noun)
   • Nouns make the best search words, so turn any important verbs into nouns first


2. Connect different concepts with "and"; connect similar (or synonymous) concepts with "or." You also need to use quotation marks to search complete phrases.
   
   


3. Be sure to read the abstracts - they will often reveal enough "clues" to tell you if the article is relevant or not.
4. If you do not find articles that interest you, look at your results. See if there are new words or new search terms that you can use that will help you improve your search.