MPA 7000: Research Methods - Searching Tips
You can use these searching tips for your other classes too.
- Article databases and the catalog don't do natural language searching as well as Google, so break your topic into the main keywords or concepts. For example, if your topic is the role of food pantries in a community, don't type "what was the role of food pantries in the community" in the search box. Instead, type in "food pantries" AND communities or something similarly structured.
- Try to think of as many different ways to describe your topic as you can.
- When you find a good article, look at their footnotes or endnotes to see what articles the author read--you might find a few good ones that you can use. See box below for how to find articles when you have a citation.
- Use truncation to expand your search results, for example, if you type in "polit*" it will capture politics, political, politicize, etc. Some databases do this automatically, but many do not.
- Click on linked author names, subject headings, or any other descriptive terms in book and article descriptions.
Articles: best bets
There is no "perfect" source or article database. If possible, try your searches in each article database. You may only get one or two resources from some but they may be a resource you can use in your paper. Remember to "remove and replace" keywords -- recombine various terms or subjects. And remember to use synonyms for your search terms whenever possible!
- QuickSearch This link opens in a new window
QuickSearch combines results from many search tools for you to review in one list. Results come from the Wright State catalog and hundreds of library databases including all of our Ebscohost databases, JSTOR, the Web of Science, and others.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Get full-text access to magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals in the sciences, social sciences, business, education, and the humanities. Full-text may be available via Find-It. Useful place to begin broad searches for general topics.
- Public Affairs Index This link opens in a new windowFocus on national and global public policy issues such as human rights, public health, the environment, housing, international commerce and conflict. Articles from scholarly journals, conference papers, trade publications and government documents provide up-to-date information on a broad range of worldwide contemporary topics.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Search full-text journal literature in all areas of business, economics, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing. Includes company SWOT analyses, industry and country reports.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR contains the complete digitized backfile of core scholarly journals from a broad range of academic disciplines.
- Social Sciences Citation Index This link opens in a new window
This multidisciplinary resource indexes journal literature of the social sciences. Represented disciplines include anthropology, business, communication, criminology, demography, ethnic and racial studies, gender studies, history, law, political science, psychology, religion, social psychology, sociology, social work, and urban studies. Search by topic, keyword, or author. Identify articles that cited a previous work. Links to full-text occur when available. Also known as SSCI.
- Political Science Complete This link opens in a new window
Search the full-text of reference books, monographs, and conference papers including publications of the International Political Science Association.
- Factiva This link opens in a new windowContains full-text business information including trade publications and newswires (Dow Jones, Reuters, AP), company reports, and market data. Includes the full-text of the Wall Street Journal.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Indexes research literature across a wide range of disciplines and formats. Use the library connection to gScholar to get more attached full-text articles.
Evaluating Journals
- Cabells Scholarly Analytics This link opens in a new windowFind publishing opportunities in many academic disciplines. Each entry includes submission guidelines, circulation data, review method, and contact information. The database provides both journalytics and predatory lists of journals. The humanities are poorly represented.
- Journal Citation Reports This link opens in a new window
Evaluate and compare journals using Web of Science social science and science citation data calculated as impact factors.
- Open Access Journal Quality Indicators - Grand Valley State UniversityThe open access landscape is complex. There are thousands of peer-reviewed open access journals, with new titles emerging rapidly using a variety of models. While there are many high-quality, peer-reviewed open access publications, there are also journals/publishers that engage in unprofessional or unethical practices. The following guidelines are intended to help you evaluate open access publications as you consider appropriate publication venues, or invitations to serve as reviewers or editors.
Finding the full text of an article when you have the citation
How would you find the full text for the following citation? This happens most frequently when you look in the footnotes or bibliography of an article--this is a great way to find primary sources on your topic as well.
Ginsburg, Zoë A., et al. "Unreliable and Difficult-to-Access Food for those in Need: A Qualitative and Quantitative Study of Urban Food Pantries." Journal of Community Health 44, no. 1 (February 2019): 16-31.
Method 1
- Go to the Library's EJournals Publications search.
- From the search box, type in the title of the journal (Journal of Community Health).
- Do not type your article title in the box.
- If WSU owns the rights to the journal, see if we have the year, volume, and issue number you need.
- If WSU doesn’t have the journal you want or doesn’t have the year/volume/issue you need, use Interlibrary Loan.
Method 2
- From the home page of the University Libraries, use the Quick Search box.
- In quotations, type in the title of your article ("Unreliable and Difficult-to-Access Food for those in Need: A Qualitative and Quantitative Study of Urban Food Pantries.")
- In the results, if the article is available, you will see either the citation or a link out to the full-text
- If you do not see a full-text link out, be sure to select the yellow "Find-It" button. You may find a full-text link to either another service we subscribe to or a link to InterLibrary Loan.
Books
If you need to search for books, there are three options at your disposal: the University Libraries, OhioLINK and WorldCAT catalogs. If you're having trouble finding a book's availability, be sure to contact me.
You find books in catalogs or databases. You can begin with the Wright State catalog. If you're having trouble finding books on your topic in the Wright State University catalog, try using the OhioLINK catalog. If you're searching in the OhioLINK catalog, remember to look under Library Holdings to see if Wright State owns the book before you request it.
You can also find books in a database called WorldCat. WorldCat has all the stuff--books, journals, archives, sound recordings and more!--from most university libraries in the US and others around the world. If you're looking for a book, be sure to put a check here:
When you get your list of results, check to see if the book is in the Wright State library (the green symbol will be there); if you want to see if it's in OhioLINK or if you can request it via Interlibrary Loan, click the "Find It" link.
You will see your options here (click the Find It! button to see if it's in OhioLINK):
Local resources
- Gale Directory Library This link opens in a new window
Search a collection of Gale published directories including the Market Share Reporter, the Encyclopedia of Associations, Brands and Their Companies and many more.
- The Foundation Directory byCall Number: AS911.A2 F65Publication Date: 2014Foundation Directory is a research tool to help in finding the grantmakers most likely to fund projects. 90% of foundations do not have websites.
- United Way of Greater DaytonLook for the "Grant Program Descriptions" for more information. Staff and board members contacts can also be found on the page.
- Ohio Association of Nonprofit OrganizationsOANO's mission is to enhance the ability of Ohio's nonprofits to serve their communities and to provide the latest and most current information available to assist nonprofit organizations.
- Candid; formerly The Foundation Center and GuideStarMerger of The Foundation Center and GuideStar, Candid is the online universe for information about funding and foundations. Includes the Literature of the Nonprofit Sector and many other resources.
Ask Us
Questions? Ask a librarian!
