Finding Articles

The information on this page covers the following topics: 

1. Identifying Types of Periodicals - so you can be sure you are using a scholarly article.
2. How to read a citation from the library's database when you are searching for an article.
3. Locating the Author's Credentials to be sure the author(s) is/are truly experts in the topic on which they are writing.
4. Reading an abstract - so you can determine whether the article is suitable for your research.
5. Identifying the Hypothesis or Thesis in an article to determine the author's purpose. 
6. Additional Parts of a scholarly article:

• Literature Review
• Research Methods
• Results
• Discussion/Conclusion
• References

Here is a citation for a journal article from a library database:

Here is the first page of that article as it appears in the journal:

The first few paragraphs of a journal article serve to introduce the topic, to provide the author's hypothesis or thesis, and to indicate why the research was done.  A thesis or hypothesis is not always clearly labled; you may need to read through the introductory paragraphs to determine what the authors are proposing.

This section of the article describes the procedures, or methods, that were used to carry out the research study.  The methodology the authors follow will vary according to the discipline, or field of study, the research relates to.  Types of methodology include case studies, scientific experiments, field studies, focus groups, and surveys.

This section gives discussion, conclusions, or implications, of the research.  Here, the authors summarize what the results of the research might mean to the field, how the research addresses the original hypothesis, weaknesses of the study, and recommendations for future research about the topic.

Typically, the names of the academic or research institutions the authors are affiliated with will be stated on the first page of the journal article, either near the author's names, or lower on the page. 

Abstracts are often written by the author or authors of the article.  The abstract provides a concise summary of the research, including its purpose, significant results, and implications of the results.  Reading the abstract can be a good way to determine whether the article is suitable for your needs.  The abstract appears on the first page of the journal article, and may or may not be labeled. As a general rule, you only will find abstracts on papers of five or more pages in length. 

A literature review describes previous research or discussion that has been published on the topic. This review of the literature can provide a good overview of the topic and will outline what other researchers have found. The passage below shows references to the work of other researchers throughout the text, with their names and the year their research was published in parenthetical citations.

This section gives all of the data that was collected as a result of the research.  Typically, results are reported in statistical terms, often in the form of tables, charts, and graphs.

The list of references, or works cited, provides publication information for all of the materials the authors used in the article.  The references list can be a good way to identify additional sources of information on the topic.

The information contained on this page comes from a Research Guide entitled, "How to Read an Article in a Scholarly Journal" from Cuyuga Community College's library: http://libguides.cayuga-cc.edu/c.php?g=172035&p=1134040