Gather elements for your citation from the print or digital journal:
- Author(s)
- Title
- Section
- Pages
- Journal Name
- Volume
- Issue
- Year
Gather elements for your citation from the print or digital journal:
Articles in traditional peer-reviewed journals are only published after they have been evaluated for rigor and importance by scholars in the same field.
Open access databases (e.g., PLoS ONE) publish “technically sound papers” and help readers judge the paper’s importance to the profession by using article-level metrics:
Corroborate:Compare information from different media (e.g., magazines, reports, newspapers, blogs) to gather diverse viewpoints.
In a paper with original research, does the data support or refute the hypothesis?
Read the abstract, discussion and conclusion to understand the author’s objectives and conclusions.
Read the introduction and literature review to understanding the importance of this research.
Articles that report research studies (e.g., science and social science) are often organized according to this standard format.
A contributor’s expertise and credentials should relate to your subject. A credible journal author might:
Every author has opinions and a worldview that shape his or her treatment of a subject. As you read the journal, ask yourself how the author’s views and affiliations might affect the presentation or omission of information.
Am I using a journal-only database?
Am I using an academic search engine (opens in new window)?