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English Writing 300 - College Composition (Oliver)

Research strategies and links to information resources useful in doing research for ENGWR 300.

Peer Reviewed Journals

These are types of periodicals that include original research articles written by researchers and experts in a particular academic discipline. We also talked about peer-review.
 

Peer-Reviewed or Refereed Journals

Many of the following traits indicate that an article is peer-reviewed:

  • Research from a professional field
  • Published by a professional organization or society
  • Articles typically long – charts, diagrams, notes, works cited
  • Numerous citations: these may appear in-text, and/or as footnotes, endnotes, works cited, reference list, bibliography
  • Author(s) easily identified
  • Reviewed or approved by an outside board of scholars in the field

Types of Research Articles

Review Articles - Compilation or synthesis of various ideas and data from original research
Summary Articles - Synopsis of research
Original Research - Data and ideas that come directly from the research. Typically organized by the following:

  • Abstract
  • Introduction/Background
  • Methods (Material and Methods)
  • Results
  • Discussion/Conclusions
  • References

 

Understanding Periodicals

Periodicals

When doing research, it is useful to understand the different types of periodicals and the kind of information they contain.

Journals (Scholarly/Professional)

  • Contain original research articles written by the scholars themselves.
  • Also contain news articles related to the field.
  • Are published by professional societies for those working in that discipline.
  • Are the most scholarly source available as most articles are reviewed by experts in the subject.
  • Aritcles are usually longer and contain citations.

Magazines (not Scholarly/Professional)

  • Shorter articles written for more general audience.
  • Typically written by journalists.

Newspapers (not Scholarly/Professional)

  • Newspaper articles contain the most current news about a topic.
  • Not usually scholarly or professional, but may be only source of information on newer topics.

The Peer Review Process

*undsci.berkeley.edu