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ENGL 1010 McCrary

How To Read a Scholarly Article Video

Narrow Topic Focus

Read This Before Narrowing Your Topic

Steps for Reaching the Databases: 

  1. Go to the Library Main Page: https://www.pstcc.edu/library/ 
  2. Click on “Databases” above the “OneSearch” tool.
  3. From this page you can see an alphabetical list of the databases, which you can use based off of the best databases for subjects I have listed below.  Click on a letter to quickly find a specific database. You can also see a dropdown menu for subjects—you can see subject-specific databases listed when you choose one of the subjects from the drop down menu. 
  4. When you click on a database, you should be asked to log in—use your PSCC username and password.

This video was originally intended for APA citation courses.
Make sure that you choose MLA 8th for citations in an English course!

​All EBSCOhost databases will have similar search windows and if you click “Choose databases” above the three search boxes pictured below, you can select multiple EBSCOhost databases to search simultaneously.

Avoid typing full sentences into the search boxes. Use Boolean terms (and, or, not) between words/search boxes to establish the relationship between terms. (PTSD in first responders AND effects will search for both of the terms together in articles but including the word OR—for example, effects OR impact OR consequences will search for all three of those terms whether they appear together or separately).  
Scroll down the page to see more limitations to improve your search results. I recommend limiting to full text, peer reviewed articles, and no book reviews to weed out more frustrating and less credible sources. 
When you get results, always use the PDF if available as you can see the original page numbers to work them into your in-text citations. 
When you click into the PDF full text (or HTML), you will see some icons on the right hand side of the page. You can hover your cursor over these icons to see what they do. One will let you email the article to yourself. Another will provide you with a citation that will be useful for your works cited page. 
Do email the article to yourself so that you can find it again. Also, make sure you choose MLA 8th edition and double check the format after you copy and paste the citation into your works cited page—a journal article from a database is what entry in your LSH you should use as a guide. Most commonly, students forget that copying and pasting doesn’t always keep italics in place. 
This is an EBSCOhost database; it will work the same way as PsycArticles pictured above. 
If you already know your topic, go straight to the Advanced Search Window. 
Use keywords connected by Boolean search terms (AND, OR, NOT—in dropdown menus beside the search boxes) to search for your term.  Try to limit to full text and peer reviewed articles. 
If your search doesn’t yield much, consider changing your search terms up a bit. You can also use the topic finder which should appear on the right hand side of the results list if you aren’t finding useful articles. When you click on an article from your search results, you’ll see a number of icons across the top of the screen on the right hand side—choose “Cite” for citations and “send to” to email articles to yourself.
If you only have a basic focus, like one particular mental illness you’re interested in, use the topic finder to help you narrow your scope. 
If you already know your topic, go straight to the Advanced Search Window. 
Use keywords connected by Boolean search terms (AND, OR, NOT—in dropdown menus beside the search boxes) to search for your term.  Try to limit to full text and peer reviewed articles. 
If your search doesn’t yield much, consider changing your search terms up a bit. You can also use the topic finder which should appear on the right hand side of the results list if you aren’t finding useful articles. When you click on an article from your search results, you’ll see a number of icons across the top of the screen on the right hand side—choose “Cite” for citations and “send to” to email articles to yourself.
If you need to narrow your focus, use the topic finder to help you. 
This is an Gale database; it will work the same way as Science in Context shown above. 
Avoid typing full sentences into the search boxes. Use Boolean terms (AND, OR, NOT) between words/search boxes to establish the relationship between terms (AND is the default & will get you the most-focused results).
Scroll down the page to see more limitations to improve your search results. I recommend limiting to full text, peer reviewed articles, and no book reviews to weed out more frustrating and less credible sources. 
When you get results, always use the PDF if available as you can see the original page numbers to work them into your in-text citations. 
When you click into the PDF full text (or HTML), you will see some icons on the right hand side of the page. You can hover your cursor over these icons to see what they do. One will let you email the article to yourself. Another will provide you with a citation that will be useful for your works cited page. 
Do email the article to yourself so that you can find it again. Also, make sure you choose MLA 8th edition and double check the format after you copy and paste the citation into your works cited page—a journal article from a database is what entry in your LSH you should use as a guide. Most commonly, students forget that copying and pasting doesn’t always keep italics in place. 
Select the Advanced Search Option and use key words in the search boxes. Make sure the Boolean search terms (AND, OR, and NOT) between the boxes establish the relationship you intend (AND is the default & will get the most results). 
When you see the search results, pay attention to the options on the right side of the screen. Always download PDFs when you can to get the most specific page number references for your in-text citations.  Also, make use of citation tools for your works cited entries. 
When you use the citation tool, make sure you choose MLA for our class.  
Type your key word search terms into the single search bar to see what results you can find.  
Use the limiter options listed down the left-hand side of the screen to refine your search results.
Make sure to uncheck the "Preview-Only Content" box so that you don’t have to deal with results the library hasn’t subscribed to.
When you click on the results, you have the option to download the PDF of a book chapter. This will let you see the page numbers, but it may take up too much space on your device, so be careful with your choice here.  Also, you will have to work through the citation format using your Little Seagull Handbook for an eBook from a database on p. 144. The citation generator uses only one format and it is not MLA (Using the citation it generates will lose you format points but prevent plagiarism if you’re unwilling to walk through the steps to create an MLA citation. Follow the examples in your LSH for proper MLA style)