Peer Review
Finally, in most academic journals, before an article is published it first must undergo a rigorous process of peer review. During this process, the article is sent out (with the author's name and affiliations deleted) to a review board of experts in the specific discipline area for which the article is written. This board of peer experts (who remain anonymous to the original author) provide criticism, corrections, and suggestions to the article that must be made before it is published. This review board can also deny an article's publication. This process helps to insure that only the most credible and important information sees publication. In contrast, magazine articles are usually reviewed only during a fact-checking process.
How to Find Sources Using UMGC Library OneSearch
The UMGC Library provides a helpful research tool: OneSearch. It allows you to find scholarly articles, books, and/or other research resources via a single search engine. You can simultaneously search most of the databases to which the UMGC Library subscribes, either directly or as additional resources.
Different from Google
Although UMGC Library OneSearch is a single search engine, it does not search for information in the same way that Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc., do. In popular search engines, it is typical, though not necessary, to ask a question.
Example: What country won the most gold medals at Sochi 2014?
Academic search engines work differently. They require that you search them using key terms separated by the Boolean Operators known as "AND," "OR," and "NOT."
How Do I Use Boolean Operators?
To make the research process easier, the UMGC Library has created a video to explain how to use the operators AND, OR, and NOT.
You can research using any of the following word combinations if you wanted to learn about the number of gold medals won at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games:
- Sochi 2014 AND gold medals
- Sochi AND 2014 AND medals AND gold
If I was interested in all the medals, I could expand my search in the following ways:
- Sochi 2014 AND medals
- Sochi 2014 AND gold medals OR silver medals OR bronze medals
Also, I could customize my search to include or not to include certain countries:
- Sochi 2014 AND medals AND United States AND Russia
- Sochi 2014 AND medals NOT United States
More Information
For additional information, the UMGC Library has created their own Simple Strategies for Effective Database Searches.