Step 1: Start with Reference

Look up an academic field in the library's encyclopedia collection. You may need to strategize what keywords to use to find articles about an academic field of study rather than from it. Try:

• terms for the genre (ex: psychology)
• for participants in the genre (ex: psychologists)
• for subfields in the academic genre (ex: psychology AND fields).

Explore Reference Collections:

Type in a social science academic discipline, such as psychology or a narrower field within a discipline, such as social psychology.

• Browse the titles list for articles about the discipline.
• Click on a title to read.
• If you started with a general discipline, you may also find a more focused subfield within a broad discipline to study.
• Look at more than one article. Different sources will provide different information.

Step 2: Explore a Career Database 

Create an account in GRC's Career Planner and learn about what behaviors, traits and skills are valued by this community. 

Explore by Career Search, Career Cluster, or Career Personality Type

(Click on Images to Enlarge)

Step 3: Survey Scholarly Journals in this Discourse Community

Use the Holman Library One Search to explore scholarly journals in the field of study.

Click on a journal title to find the scope, a statement on the focus, range of topics, and types of research published by that journal.

Also check to see if the journal is peer reviewed and consider what that says about the values of that discourse community.

I also suggest doing a general web search to find other scholarly journals in a community.

Find Journals in Library Databases 

1. Start at the Holman Library All Journals List

2. Use the Journals by Category menu on the left to narrow in on an area of study within the discipline. 

• Select a relevant academic field to see a list of disciplinary-specific journals in that field. 

3. The genre/ academic field you are studying may not be on this list. You may also type the academic genre you are studying into the search bar. That will also populate the list with journals in that field.

Explore the Discourse Community of a Specific Journal

To explore a specific journal: 

• Click on a title. 
• Scroll down the page to the databases and click on a database to go to the journal. Which database should you try? Check the "available" dates listed under the database name and first try the database with the most current issues. 
• On the journal record page look for: 
  • A description of what topics and research the journal includes (its scope)
  • Years in publication
  • If it is peer reviewed
  • The journal web URL to dig deeper into its mission and publishing rules
  • A Search Within link to search for a specific topic in the journal
  • A list of years the journal was published to browse through current issues for a survey of the discourse

(Click on an image to enlarge it)

Explore the Journal Website

Learn more about a journal by going directly to its website. 

The image below for the Journal of Gender Studies includes:

• an About this Journal section with links to journal metrics, aims and scope, instructions for authors, journal information, editorial board, related websites, news and calls for papers, and editorial policies - ALL of which will be useful to you. 
• a Browse this Journal section with links to latest articles and the current issue, special issues - which will be focused on themes of importance to this journal, and most read and most cited articles - which points to the broader community reading the journal.