Peer-Reviewed Journals   vs   Popular Magazines

Magazines and journals are published periodically and are often referred to as periodicals.

Magazines are usually issued once per week or once a month, research and current issues are broadly summarized, the articles are usually shorter and cover a wide range of topics, they contain many photographs, advertisements, and at times perfume and lotion samples. An example of a popular magazine is Time, Cosmopolitan, Essence, Motor Trend, and Ebony.

Peer reviewing, also known as refereeing is a process of subjecting an author's scholarly work to the scrutiny of their peers, and/or experts in the same field of study.

The process is aimed at getting the author to meet the standards of their particular discipline.

For example, a Scientist may publish an article in Science or Nature and an English College Professor may publish an article in Journal of Modern Literature or Annual Review of Language Acquisition.

Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed/Refereed Journals are geared toward scholars, researchers, or professionals. These journals are usually published on a quarterly (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall) basis or monthly basis, contain very few photographs or advertisements, or usually sponsored by an academic or professional organization and the research is usually very detailed and includes much research with charts and graphs.

To access the online databases at Butler Library click 'Find Articles' or 'Find An Article' on one of the Library Menus.

6 - Steps to finding a Peer-Reviewed/Refereed article in an Online Database:

1. Be sure to choose an online database which is subject specific, one which should be used for a particular field of study.
   Examples:
• Use the ProQuest Psychology database for articles on depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome, or group therapy.
• Use the Lexis/Nexis database for articles on legal issues, case studies, and business news.
• Use the Jstor database for articles about language, literature, mathematics, and general science.
• Use the Art Full Text database for articles about paintings, artists (Monet), antiques, etc.
• Use the Morningstar database for financial information.
• Use Education Full Text database concerning articles on education.
2. Use at least the basic Boolean operators, such as AND, OR, or NOT to connect your search terms.
3. Enter search terms or keywords in the search box to begin searching for articles pertaining to your topic.
4. Once you have typed in a search term or keyword into the search box, that term or keyword is searching through the index of that particular database.
5. Know that you may also use the source list or journal list of an online database to search for an article in a particular journal.
6. Remember, if you retrieve entirely too many results, you can narrow your search results by adding more terms, putting quotes around specific words, or using parentheses to link terms that are alike.

Results

• Citation - contains only bibliographic information about an article.
  Example: Title, Author(s), Source, Document type, Subject Terms, etc.
• Abstract - includes the citation plus a brief summary/paragraph about the article.
• Full-text - includes the citation, abstract and complete article.

Full-text Format

This means the entire article is available to you right at your fingertips! Simply click the print button.

• HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) - The article is simply a plain text file, which can be created using any text editor. If it contains tables, graphs, or images, they are imbedded within the text. It usually prints much quicker than the PDF format.
• PDF (Portable Document Format) - The article is formatted to look exactly like it would look if you had the periodical in your hand and copied it on a photocopier machine. You must have Acrobat Reader loaded onto your computer. It usually takes a while longer to load, but the final print out is usually worth it.
  
  Please note: You must use the printer icon on the Adobe toolbar line.

Interlibrary Loan
Use this service when you have not been able to locate an article in full-text via an online database, periodical or on microfilm/microfiche.

To access this service at Butler Library click 'Interlibrary Loan' on one of the Library Menus, and then "Article Request Form".

Downloading an Article
Decide on how you would like to retrieve the article.

• Print
• Email
• Save to a USB Flash Drive (Thumb Drive)
• Save to a 3 1/2" Floppy Disk

Online Databases vs. Internet
Online databases are a great tool! You no longer have to go to an index, such as the Reader's Guide to Periodicals Literature to look up a subject and locate the journal.

• Simply find the correct online database to use, either a general one, such as EBSCOhost or a subject specific one, such as the ProQuest Psychology Database (to look for articles pertaining to a psychological issue or topic).
  
  Once you type in your search terms or keywords, those words are quickly scanning through the index to find articles in the journals which happen to be indexed in that particular database.
• Internet - You need to have access to a browser, such as Netscape or Internet Explorer. The browser allows you to have access to the World Wide Web.
• Websites - When you access websites on the Internet, there is not a process that exists to find out if you are accessing a reputable site. So you will have to judge for yourself whether or not the information you retrieve is valuable to your research needs. It is good to check to see who the author is, when the page was created, how accurate the information appears to be, and whether or not you feel you should use it in your research.

Search Engines

• Search Engines - Searches its database for Webpages based on the search terms or keywords entered into the search box. Ex. Google, Yahoo, Alta Vista
• Metasearch Engines - Searches the databases of two or more search engines. Ex. DogPile.com, Clutsy.com, Surfwax.com, Copernic.com
• Federated Search Engines - Searches multiple databases and selected search engines. Ex. WebFEAT Express (Lindenwood)
• Visual Search - Allows you to click on shapes to search for pertinent information. Available in EBSCOhost (must have JAVA)

To access the online databases at Butler Library click 'Find Articles' or 'Find An Article' on one of the Library Menus.

For futher assistance locating articles for reasearch, Please call Butler Library at (636) 949-4820 or the Reference Desk at (636) 949-4144.

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