Find an Article

To find an article, search the article title in HOLLIS.

Finding Articles by Topic: Using the Best Search Terms

Tips:

  • Search the title of a great article you've already read in one of resources on the right, and then look at words used to describe it in the "Subjects" list. Search those words to find more articles like this one.
  • Select "Title" in the dropdown and search your key word or phrase there. Check the "Subjects" listed under a couple of the best articles in your results, and then use these words in a search (Don't forget to change the dropdown to "Subjects") 
  •  Your Research Librarians are experts at finding the best search terms. Just Ask Us!

 

 

Education (3-in-1)

3-in-1 Education Articles Search (ERIC, Education Source and Academic Search Premier) - Journals in all areas of education, and core journals in other disciplines

Tips:

  • To find research focusing on schools as organizations, change dropdown for one search box to "Subject Terms" and add: management OR organization*
  • To make better selections, take a moment to read the abstracts (hover over the magnifying glass icon to the right of each title)

Business Source Complete

Business Source Complete - Academic journals in business and management, and business-related magazines and trade publications

Tips:

  • To find business or management research focusing on schools, change dropdown for one search box to "Subject Terms" and add: school* or education or educator* or principal* or teacher*
  • Not finding enough? Replace the education words above with broader terms: "public institutions" or "public sector"
  • To make better selections, take a moment to read the abstracts (hover over the magnifying glass icon to the right of each title)

JSTOR

JSTOR - An archive of core scholarly journals, primarily in the humanities and social sciences.

JSTOR does not include the most recent years of some journals, so be sure to supplement your JSTOR search with searches in one or more of the other resources on this page.

Tips:

  • Use Advanced Search for better focus
  • To focus large results, change one dropdown from "full text" to "item title," or change the "AND" dropdown to require your keywords to be "NEAR 10" of each other  

Web of Science

Web of Science / Citation Indexes - A multidisciplinary source covering journals in all areas of the sciences, social sciences and arts

Tips:

  • To get additional search boxes so that you can unpack your topic, click "+ Add another field"
  • To make better selections, take a moment to "View abstract"
  • To identify the most frequently cited articles in your results list, change the "Sort by" order from "Publication date - newest to oldest" to "Times Cited - highest to lowest"
  • Click the arrow near "Basic Search" and select "Cited Reference Search" to find more recent articles that cite a key article on your topic

Sociological Abstracts

Sociological Abstracts - Journals in sociology and related social and behavioral sciences

Tips:

  • Check for "Suggested subjects" at the top of your results list to find alternative keywords for your topic 
  • To make better selections, take a moment to read the abstracts (hover over the Preview icon to the right of each title)

PsycINFO

PsycINFO - Journals in all areas of psychology; also includes some books, book chapters, and dissertations

Tips:

  • To find research focusing on schools, change dropdown for one search box to "Subject Terms" and add: school* or education or educator* or principal* or teacher*
  • To find research focusing schools as organizations, add another search box, change dropdown to "Subject Terms" and add: management OR organization*
  • To make better selections, take a moment to read the abstracts (hover over the magnifying glass icon to the right of each title)
  • PsycINFO includes dissertations, which are considered "unpublished" research, but they have valuable reference lists that you can mine. Use the Find It @ Harvard button to link to the full text of most.

Searching Smarter with Library Search Engines

Searching is an iterative process! Expect to search, learn from your results, and then adjust your keywords and search again.

Library search engines work differently than single box search engines. Take a minute to read these tips, and you'll search more effectively.   

Tips:

  • Unpack your research question (e.g., Principals' impact on resistance to change) into its key components and put them in separate boxes: principals AND resistance to change
  • Use quotation marks around phrases ("resistance to change")
  • Add an asterisk (*) to the root of a word to find all forms of the word

Scan several pages of your results for relevance.

Results too large and unfocused?

  • Change one or more dropdown to search major words as "Subject Terms"
  • Limit the publication date range to more recent research
  • Still too large? You may need to narrow your research question by adding another aspect.Focusing your search

 Results too small?

  • Think of other words for each part of your topic and add them to the appropriate box using the word "OR" (principal* OR administrator* or educator*)
  • Scope one of your concepts more broadly (Instead of "resistance to change," search the broader concept, "change")
  • Search a different body of literature by choosing another of the resources on the right