DKS: First Year Experience (Salem & East Liverpool Campuses): Finding Articles
Getting Started
- To find articles on a specific topic, use one of the Research Databases available from Library Web page.
- Begin with a general-interest or multidisciplinary database such as Academic Search Complete if you don't know where to start. Select the Academic Search tab below this page for more information.
- Consult the subject list of databases to identify the subject that best fits your topic.
Effective Searching
Searching the Research Databases effectively may require new, specialized search skills.
Need help? Try one of these tutorials:
In this tutorial learn how to right size your paper topic, chose effective keywords, and combine those terms for efficient search strategies.
Discover@KentState Tutorial #3: Finding the Full Text of Articles
In this tutorial learn how to find the full text of articles in the library's databases.
Finding Articles
Articles are important sources of current information for college level research. Many assignments will require you to use articles that are written by researchers and experts for others in their field and that include references and lists of works cited.
It is important that you understand the differences between scholarly journals and popular magazines so that you can use the appropriate sources and succeed with your assignments. To learn more, watch the What are Scholarly Articles? video to the right. .
The Effective Searching box to the left includes links to two tutorials that will help you learn how to use the Library's research databases to find the articles you need.
Research Databases
Research databases are online tools (indexes) you can use to search for articles on a topic. They include information about articles published in journals, magazines, and newspapers. Many provide full-text of the articles. You can read, download, print, or e-mail articles directly from the computer.
Getting the Articles
To find out whether full-text copies are available online, look for the HTML or PDF full-text links or use the Find It! link.
The FindIt! link also provides information about library print holdings and includes a link for requesting copies of articles not available online.
What are scholarly articles?
Faculty expect students to use scholarly articles for research.
This tutorial from the University of Tennessee at Chatanooga's Library explains what to look for: