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NUR 3200 - Health, Wellness, and Diversity Within Families: Google Scholar

Librarian-recommended resources to help you with your assignments for NUR 3200.

Google Scholar

Google    Scholar

Ratchet-up the quality of your Google search.  Search Google Scholar to find journal articles, conferences papers, and patents.  Google Scholar may offer you a link to the paper -- but it is more likely to point to a publisher - who will ask you to pay.  The Wright State University Libraries may be able to get you the paper you need.

Use the Settings option:

Tip #1: Add the OhioLINK "library link" to integrate Wright State access options into your results.

 

Tip#2: If you are off-campus and see a reCAPTCHA error message "invalid domain for site key," go directly to google scholar; open the menu; choose Settings; Library Links; find and select "Wright State University - Full Text - Wright State."

Setting Up Your Google Scholar Library Links & Searching Google Scholar

This video was created by Medical Librarian Joanna Anderson. 

Determining if a journal is peer-reviewed and evaluating credibility

Many (but not all) scholarly journals have a peer review process.  Often, library databases will have a "scholarly/peer-reviewed" check box that will allow you to limit your results to peer-reviewed journals.  If they do not, the journal (publisher) web site usually describes the journal as either peer-reviewed or refereed in its "About" or "Instructions to Authors" section. If you still aren't sure if the journal is considered to be peer-reviewed, ask a librarian.

Note: Peer review generally considered to indicate some level of quality assurance, more so than other publications or postings you might find online.   However, some online  journals claim to be peer-reviewed, but have deceptive or predatory publishing practices and actually undergo little to no peer review.  If you are not familiar with a journal's reputation, ask a librarian or your professors for help.

Even if a journal  generally has a good reputation, it's always a good idea to do some basic evaluation of your sources. You don't have to be an expert in the field to perform some basic evaluation, but you should do a quick internet search to learn more about the authors and their affiliations. Some questions that help with basic evaluation are:

  • Have the authors published other scholarly work on this topic (or related topics) or are they generally accepted as being experts on the topic?
  • What are the authors affiliations? Are they transparent about any potential conflicts of interest (motives) they or their sponsors may have in presenting the information?
  • Is the writing coherent?  Does it follow a logical pattern?
  • Do the arguments and/or findings seem to make sense based on what you are learning about the topic from other sources?

For tips on how to evaluate potential sources, take a look at some of the other links on this guide.