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Project...Research Paper Option

Research Paper Tutorial

Peer-Reviewed Articles

This is a topic that many find a bit confusing...but in reality, it is very simply. When professionals in a field publish their writing they publish in a number of places (on the web, in letters, in the newspapers, in magazines, and in professional journals).

When a professional wants to publish in a Professional Journal they need to send their writing to the Review Board for that particular journal and they need to review it. Now, every publication has an editorial/review board, but this one is different because it is usually made up of experts in the field that the Journal pertains to.

Journals are like magazines, but their target audience is actually other professionals so they cater to their audience. The articles are complex, specific, and are written in the "native language" of the field. They also report the most accurate, balanced, and professionally designed work and opinion on the subject.

This is not to say that it is ALWAYS accurate, balanced, and professional...it is simply the MOST accurate, balanced, and professional!

Finding Peer-Reviewed Articles

Now comes the easy part...finding Peer-Reviewed articles is actually very easy.

KVCC subscribes to an online database of literally millions of items through a service called EBSCO.

To use the KVCC library from on campus or from home, simply go to the KVCC main page and click the library link that is located at the very top right hand corner of the page.

This will bring you to a main screen like this...

Notice under the Research bar there is a link for EBSCO.

Under the Help bar there is also a link for EBSCO...Click on this link to access on online video tutorial on how to use the Basic and Advanced features of EBSCO, including searching for "Full Text" and "Peer Reviewed" articles.

How do I search names and topics?

Once you are in the EBSCO database select "Advanced Search" from the tabs at the top.

Now we can search for the names, topics, titles, etc. so we can get some good articles on this topic.

In my example I entered in "Egley" in a search by Author with an additional criteria of "gang" in a Subject Terms search.

I got two articles that MAY be of interest:

Facilitating Violence: A comparison of Gang-motivated, Gang-affiliated, and Nongang Youth Homicides
Gang Involvement and Delinquency in Middle School Population

If I click on the title of the article it will take me to a page where I can read the ABSTRACT or a summary of the article to determine if it is a good article or not.

If I like the article and think I want to read the whole thing I can click the "Add" button and it will save the article for me. (Keep in mind that if you log out of EBSCO you will lose this list).

Getting a Copy of the Article

I have a personal preference that I would like a copy of the actual article so I can review it off line. Here is a way to get both the article and an APA formatted reference (which you can paste into the References section of your paper if you use the article.)

Click on the article title
At the top of the window there are options to "Print", "Email", "Save", "Export", and "Add to Folder"
Select the "Email" option
Fill out the form, make sure the PDF attachment box is checked, and check the Citation Format box and select APA from the pull down menu
Press the "Send" button and a copy of the article will be sent to your email account with a citation in the actual email.

Once you get the article in your email you can download the file (PDF) and you can copy the APA citation for later use.

I copied this right out of my KVCC email:

Additional Searches

Now that you are in EBSCO you can begin to do other searches on your topic. I would try the following for my example:

Search the topics "Female-gang" and "Pregnancy" both in the "All Text" category
Search the topics "Gang" and "Pregnancy" both in the "All Text" category

Depending on your reading you might come up with other terms. With the first one I got 22 hits with some really good titles...my research is likely done with this one search! Consider these in light of my question "What happens when a member of an all-female gang becomes pregnant?"

Life course events, social networks. and the emergence of violence among female gang members
The association of consensual sexual intercourse during childhood
The Girls in the Gang
Homegirls in the Public Sphere
A different approach: Applying wellness paradigm to adolescent female delinquents and offenders

Not bad for a single hit!

How much do I need?

This is actually kind of difficult to answer because it depends on how much information is in each article. You measure is "Can I answer my research question with these articles?" If the answer is "Yes", you likely have enough.

Now you have to read them, take notes, and begin to Outline your paper and organize what you want to say!

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