How Do I Choose ... ?

How do I know if a journal is scholarly?

In EBSCO, ProQuest or Gale databases, limit your database search results to Scholarly or Peer-Reviewed Journals. For Gale databases, this is a default setting.
In ProQuest databases, you can also click on Top Journals tab
Search your journal title in our E-Journal Portal; clickthrough to read publication description
Review journal's entry in Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory
Review description on journal’s website

How can I identify high-impact or influential journals?

Journal impact factors can be found on a journal’s website or in subject rankings.
Recent rankings include: psychiatry/psychology, neuroscience/behavior, gerontology, substance abuse, sociology and social sciences.
See how your journal ranks (SCImago)
Your journal title might appear on a Top list like ...
Top 100 Journals in Biology and Medicine
Brandon/Hill core list (143 health sciences journals)

What Makes a Search Engine Good?
Basic Search Tools Comparison Chart

Use critical evaluation to assess websites
Rely on authoritative, unbiased and up-to-date sources
Tips on evaluating sources (dianahacker.com)
How to evaluate web pages and web page checklist (UC Berkeley Library)
How to use 5 criteria to evaluate web pages (Cornell University Library)

There are many ways to choose a database(s) to search for articles in journals, magazines and newspapers on a particular topic. We have listed below one possible method.

Search specialized resources first

You may need to search specialized resources first for best results. See How Do I Find page for more information. For example ...
To find test-related materials, visit our Test Resources page
To find case law, visit our Law/Legal Resources page
Otherwise, proceed to the next step.

Identify the various subject disciplines associated with your topic.

The most common subject disciplines will be psychology and health sciences/medicine. You will want to search databases related to these disciplines. Please see Resources by Subject/Track page.
Other special or niche subject areas of psychology may apply. Using the topic of post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans as an example ...
The PILOTS Database is a specialized psychology database. It indexes the literature associated with PTSD and traumatic stress disorders.
Other non-psychology or non-medical discplines may apply. Using the topic of post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans as an example ...
The Gale Military & Intelligence database is a database that focuses on another discipline (military science). You would use this database to search for articles associated with veterans' health issues.

Search library databases in priority order: EBSCO, ProQuest, Gale and NewsBank.

EBSCO

Click EBSCO link on Library home page.
Browse all database descriptions.
Be picky. Checkmark databases in related disciplines as well as any general databases (like Academic Search Elite).
Search all combined databases ...
OR
OPTIMAL. Search key databases like PsycINFO and MEDLINE with Full Text separately. Then return to the Choose Databases screen. Checkmark any remaining databases related to your topic. Search the combined databases using subject or keyword terms.
Proceed to ProQuest databases.

PROQUEST

Click ProQuest custom link on Library home page.
The custom link will search both the Psychology Journals and the Social Science Journals databases together.
Proceed to Gale databases.

GALE

Click Gale custom link on Library home page.
The custom link will automatically search ALL relevant Gale databases and will limit your results to peer-reviewed articles. It does exclude K-12 and other databases which can't be cross-file searched.
Search combined databases.
After you have reviewed your search results, you can now search the stand-alone Gale databases. These files can't be combined with the databases you just searched.
From the search results screen, click on the More Results tab. This action will execute your current search in the Health & Wellness Resource Center with Alternative Health Module, Business and Company Resource Center and Small Business Resource Center databases
OR
You can also select a file to search by clicking on the Choose Databases link at the top of the screen and checkmarking only the database(s) you want to search. The Additional Products are located at the bottom of the screen.
Review the results from the stand-alone databases.
Proceed ONLY to NewsBank databases if you need popular magazine or newspaper articles.

NEWSBANK

Click NewsBank link on Library home page.
Click on links to search America's Magazines and America's Newspapers databases.

Identify other subject web resources (including publicly available databases).

Examples include: Cochrane Library, ERIC, Medline Plus, NCJRS Abstracts Database, PEP Psychoanalytic Literature Search, PILOTS Database: An Electronic Index to the Traumatic Stress Literature and PubMed.