LAES 9913 - Soil Chemistry (Fiola)

If a book or article you want is not available, use Interlibrary Loan (ILL). The Library can order books and articles from other libraries. This process takes few days but is completely free for DelVal students, faculty, and staff.

Before you submit an ILL, check Google Scholar or Summon to see if we have immediate access or if it is freely available online.

If you have answered "yes" to these five questions you have probably located a scientific article.

Research articles are also often known as scientific or peer-reviewed articles. If the article is NOT written by the person or group who did the research, it is NOT a peer-reviewed or scientific article. Research articles are important for knowing what new discoveries have been made. This is why it is important to use recent articles, since they will be the first things published on a new scientific development. 

Here's a quick overview of how to identify these journal articles:

• written by the scientist(s) who actually did the research
• follows a specific format 
  • abstract
  • introduction
  • materials & methods
  • results
  • conclusions
  • references 
• assumes reader already knows background information about the topic has been evaluated by experts
• Tip:  Look for a statement about when the article was accepted for publication. Most peer-reviewed articles will include one.

• current state of knowledge in the field
• recent developments 
• limitations of previous research
• suggestions for future research

 

Popular press articles are also often known as non-scientific articles. They are most useful for very current or general information. 

Here's a quick overview of how to identify these articles:

• about current events, opinions, and general information
• include color photos and everyday product advertisements
• written by journalists/reporters, staff or freelance writers
• easy to understand writing

Popular press articles are often published as a reaction to a research article, making the information available to the general public.

Impact Factors are used to measure the importance of a journal by calculating the number of times selected articles are cited within the last few years. The higher the impact factor, the more highly ranked the journal. It is one tool you can use to compare journals in a subject category.

Impact Factors are useful, but they should not be the only consideration when judging quality. Not all journals are tracked in the JCR database and, as a result, do not have impact factors. New journals must wait until they have a record of citations before even being considered for inclusion. The scientific worth of an individual article has nothing to do with the impact factor of a journal.

There is no one standard definition of what constitutes a predatory publisher but generally they are those publishers who charge a fee for the publication of material without providing the publication services an author would expect such as peer review and editing.

• Publisher aggressively spams researchers
• “Owner” of publishing doubles as editor for all journals
• No formal editorial or review board identified
• No academic information about editors, nor evidence of expertise
• Journal title misleading and unrelated to true journal origin (or no clear subject focus for a publication

Subramanyam R. Art of reading a journal article: Methodically and effectively. J Oral Maxillofac Pathol. 2013 Jan;17(1):65-70. doi: 10.4103/0973-029X.110733. PMID: 23798833; PMCID: PMC3687192.

RefWorks is a new way to collect, manage, and organize research.  You can read, annotate, organize, and cite your research as well as collaborate by sharing collections.

From simple bibliographies to papers formatted with in-text citations or footnotes, RefWorks handles it all. ​To learn more about RefWorks, use our RefWorks research guide.