Finding and Reading Journal Articles

Research projects here at Harvard will often require you to look close up at a body of inquiry produced by scholars in a particular academic field. We call these subject databases -- or by the shorthand "library databases."

Essentially, any library database is a collection of information that's been brought together, described and codified in some way, and then made searchable by a user like you.

The key point to remember about any library database -- and Harvard has hundreds -- is that it is constructed intentionally.

Decisions are deliberately made about what to include and exclude (you're never searching "everything") but you can always be sure there's some principle of similarity among the information a database contains. 

Whatever your concentration turns out to be, you can expect to use at least one subject database that's considered the disciplinary gold standard: a reliable, (relatively) comprehensive, and accurate record of the books that scholars are publishing, and the ideas they're debating and discussing in important and influential journals.

Librarians and course instructors will always know the premier research database in a field, so ask them for recommendations when you're not sure.

Subject databases function like lenses: they can change what you see in research and how you see it -- and they offer you easy and efficient ways to bring your questions into sharper focus.

Databases can have radically different interfaces or radical differences in what they cover. More and more, however, research databases, follow certain design conventions. A lot of searching is about pattern recognition.

Expect to see features like these:

 

TWO TYPES OF SEARCH SCREENS: BASIC AND ADVANCED

• Basic search screens are Google-like single boxes, a straightforward invitation to string words together and see where a search goes.  These are great for initial explorations.
• Advanced search screens are typically a set of stacked search boxes, joined by a default AND. They're great when you already know the parameters of a search and want to optimize your result lists from the start. 

 

TWO TYPES OF SEARCH LANGUAGE: KEYWORDS AND SUBJECTS

• Keywords are the concepts you think up to describe your topic or information need.

• Subject terms, by contrast, come from a standardized vocabulary list and are chosen by catalogers or database creators to describe the intellectual content or emphasis of an item in precise and commonly understood ways. 

Subject terms add value to a search by helping you find additional items that are related in emphasis, that cover similar content, or that have the same purpose.

Subject terms are what ensure that you get to all the relevant information on a given topic, regardless of the keywords with which you start. You might see them called descriptors  in certain databases.  In science literature, and in a database like PubMed, you'll encounter a version of them called  MESH (medical subject headings). 

Whatever the nomenclature, their usefulness is in helping  you get around the fact that we have multiple words for things, that language is slippery and that without someway to get around this reality, we might miss important research if their words and ours don't match.

SEARCH CONVENTIONS TO HELP YOU STRUCTURE AND DEFINE YOUR SEARCHES

 

OPTIONS TO FILTER, MODIFY, REFINE, AND RE-SORT RESULTS

Most databases will present you with ways you can drill down into your initial search results to get better or just more targeted information to surface closer to the top.

Always ask yourself; "Why am i seeing these results this way?" and then, "Can i see them other ways?"

Limiting to English (or another language), by resource type, to peer reviewed/academic journals, or to a range of dates are pretty standard ways of customizing your search results. Sometimes, there are really robust filters (see image, right). 

Most databases will rank results algorithmically by relevance, as Google does.

If you prefer to see the results in chronological order, you should be able to resort your results by earliest date or have them display in reverse chronological order. You can also choose to rank by relevance if that's not the default.

 

LINKS TO INFORMATION ABOUT ONLINE (OR PRINT) AVAILABILITY

Many journal databases now provide complete full-text of the materials they contain.  But just as many offer full-text more selectively. 

When full-text links don't appear, however, you’ll almost always see a button that looks like this: 

Clicking on it will initiate a search through Harvard's other library databases in search of full-text.

If full-text isn't available, the software will prompt  you to put in a Scan and Deliver request. That's a free service. Set up your profile, if you're not in the system yet,  and then follow the directions that follow.

We'll get you a PDF of the article quickly, sometimes within a few hours of the request, and usually, no more than 4 days after you ask us for it.  We'll notify you that it's ready by email. 

LINKS TO RELATED RESOURCES

Good researchers develop the habit of looking around a page, for embedded clues to what else, where else, and how else to push your searching forward. Bibliographies and footnotes are the most obvious ways you can do so.  

But screen real estate is super important and these days, you're smart to focus not just on what's directly in front of you on the computer screen, but also on what's hiding in plain sight -- off to one side.

Cited by links are one way databases might help you trace the evolution of an idea or the effects of scholarly discovery or research breakthrough on what came after it. Not all databases included this information, but when they do, they can be a treasure trove to how a conversation is unfolding in time. 

Lots of subject databases serve up related research automatically -- algorithmically-generated suggestion lists. They can be hit or miss or dead on -- it all depends on the algorithm, and what you yourself are really after. 

Some even offer you options to browse what other users also read  after they landed on the article you've found.That's like the suggestive sell made famous by Amazon: it's designed to add some serendipity to the discovery process and sometimes, you might find something useful that way. 

At times, databases will also point you toward  foundational research related to a topic, or even primary sources (e.g., newspaper articles that might .