Find Research and Theory on your Education Topic 

Search in library databases to find scholarly articles. This is the same tool you used to find magazine and newspaper articles.

• Limit to peer-reviewed or scholarly journal articles to find scholarly sources. By the way, be sure to still assess if it's a scholarly article. (For example, scholarly journals contain book reviews of scholarly texts. These are not scholarly articles.)

• To find the most relevant articles, you will need to consider many more. Try multiple keywords and search different databases.

• Focus primarily on the introduction and discussion/conclusion sections of a scholarly article. That's where they will layout where the scholarship in the field stands, what the article will set out to do, and what the authors learned and didn't learn. 

Type in relevant keywords to find useful sources. Try a range of words!

• Example: cultural values AND education

One Search - of all Library Databases

Education Databases

Sample Search in ERIC: International Students AND support

Sample Source: "Navigating a Third Space to Support International Students in the U.S."

Abstract:

The present article explores the experiences of two international graduate students who studied in the United States and how they dealt with the challenges of living in a new country. The researcher was inspired by Bhabha's (1994) third space theory and aimed to investigate how these students tried to create a space for themselves in the classroom to overcome cultural differences. The data has been collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed using Gee's (2011) discourse analysis method. The study concluded that providing international students with a designated space in the classroom to address their cultural challenges could greatly benefit them, and teachers can actively facilitate this space.

Multidisciplinary Library Databases

Sample Search Limited to Scholarly Journal Articles in Academic Search Complete

Limiting to academic journals in Ebsco's Academic Search Complete database

(click on image to enlarge)

Why Use Scholarly Literature? 

Scholarly literature advances our knowledge in a field of study.

Features of journals

• written by scholars and subject experts
• written for other scholars and also read by student researchers
• dedicated to a specific discipline, like sociology, history, women's studies, etc.
• offer original research or analysis – or may provide a review of existing research
• long articles, often 5-15 pages or more, engage with issues at a more substantial level than magazine articles
• articles almost always include an extensive list of sources at the end (Works Cited, References, Sources, or Bibliography) and comprehensive in-text citations for all claims made in the body of the article
• published by organizations or associations to advance the body of knowledge

Content adapted from IRIS tutorial, Clark College Library

Search Tips

1. AND / OR / NOT help you broaden or narrow your search results:

• AND narrows and focuses your search - you get fewer results

  • "medical care" AND teen* find information on medical care specific to teens

• TRUNCATION *: Use an asterisk with the root of a search term to find multiple forms of the word.

  • Teen* = teen, teenaged, teenagers

• OR broadens your search - you get more results

  • (teens OR youth) searches for both words

• NOT omits results

  • this can be useful for excluding irrelevant results

2.  Add one search term at a time, so you understand what works and what doesn't.
3. Keep searches simple using keywords to capture core ideas. Search on ethics AND medical care AND immigrants rather than: Do immigrant communities receive an adequate standard of health care?
4. Use a variety of search words to find different results