COM 101: Concepts of Communication: Articles/Databases
Communications databases
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Communication Source This link opens in a new windowJournal articles & more on all aspects of communication fields/majors.
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ProQuest Social Science Journals This link opens in a new windowjournal articles on all aspects of communication
Search tips for finding articles
- use "quotation marks" around phrases
- truncate - shorten a word to its trunk or root to get alternate endings - with an asterisk * (shift 8), e.g., truncat* finds truncate, truncated, truncation
- apply Boolean connector AND to combine unlike ideas, e.g., dance AND promotion
- apply Boolean connector OR to connect synonyms, e.g., advertisements OR campaigns
Put it all together:
- "hip hop dance" in one box
- AND (promot* OR advertis* OR campaigns) in the next box
- use parentheses in single-box searching - when you don't have another set of boxes, e.g.,:
- "hip hop dance" AND (promot* OR advertis* OR campaigns)
Use the left or right menus to narrow your results, e.g., by language, date, subject, etc.
Databases have a citation (information about an article such as the title, author, name of the journal or magazine, volume and issue (which correspond to the date), date, and pages) and sometimes they will also contain an abstract, or summary, of the article.
Databases also often cite multiple types of resources - books, essays or chapters, government documents, etc.
Some databases will also have the complete item (called the full text): you should see a link to an HTML or PDF document. Or click on - this will check the other library databases for the full text of the article.
About articles: types, parts, publication process, evaluating
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A video on the process of picking and refining a topic, from the North Carolina State University Libraries.
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From Idea To Library (article creation & publication process)
What is an article vs a journal?
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Academic Research & Publishing Processby Kathryn Everson: her hand-drawn images show the research, submitting, review, and revision processes that apply to all types of research, not just scientific!
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Are your information sources scholarly, peer-reviewed, academic, trade, popular? Definitions and examples of the differences.
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Evaluating Information by Fact CheckingDesigned for Communication Studies students, this tutorial will have you find a source of information in Communication Source database, refine your keywords, and evaluate the source.
The guide is live and you can click on any of the tabs and links.
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Infographic gives critical thinking guidelines from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
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Your topic seemed so great! So why can't you find any information on it? If you're looking for an all-in-one source that addresses your topic perfectly, you might need a different approach.
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Anatomy of a Scholarly Article
A guide on how to identify scholarly articles & their parts
NCSU Libraries. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial - Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Contact the author: andreas_orphanides@ncsu.edu
What kind of journal is this?
When researching, you will come across a variety of different types of journals. Most journals and magazines fall into one of the following three categories: scholarly, popular, and trade publications. This table will show you how to find out how to tell the difference between these types of journals.
Scholarly Journals | Popular Journals | Trade Journals | |
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Purpose | Informs/reports on original research done by scholars and experts in the field. | Entertains and informs a general audience without providing in-depth analysis. | Reports on industry trends, new products or techniques useful to people in a trade or business. |
Authors | Articles are written by subject specialists and experts in the field. | Articles are written by journalists, freelance writers, or an editorial staff. | Articles are written by specialists in a certain field or industry. |
Audience | Intended for a limited audience - mainly researchers, scholars, and experts. | Appeals to a broad segment of the population. | Intended for people in a particular profession, business, or industry. |
Appearance | Simple cover design, few images or ads. May include charts, graphs, data. | Glossy, colorful, many images and lots of advertising. | Often glossy paper; images/advertisements relate to specific field or profession. |
Article length | Tend to be lengthy, may include original research, in-depth analysis, very specific focus. | Typically brief, from less than 1 page to several pages. | Short to medium length articles. |
Content | Original research, literary criticism and theory, literature review, in-depth analysis of topic. | Short, feature-length articles, news and general interest topics. | Articles about professional trends, new products or techniques, industry-related news. |
Writing style | Use terminology, language and jargon relevant to the discipline. | Simple language used, written for general public. | Technical, field-specific language used, assumes reader familiar with industry. |
References | Articles typically include references, notes, works cited. | Articles typically do not have references. | Articles sometimes have references. |
Examples |
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- Last Updated: Jun 14, 2022 1:03 PM
- URL: https://libguides.gvsu.edu/com101