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SA 2110 - Introduction to Zoo Keeping (Lengel)

Identifying Peer-Reviewed Literature

Research Articles

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.
 
Example of a Research Article

 

Checklist for Peer-Reviewed Research Article

  Did the author(s) of the article do the actual research?
  Can you find a statement about when the article was accepted for publication?
  Is there a sizable list of references?
  Do the authors assume you are familiar with their topic?
  Is it challenging to read?

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

Finding Research

Finding Resources

If you are on campus, Google Scholar will automatically recognize that you are part of the DelVal community. If you live off-campus, click the more... button for directions to connect. 

Other Animal Databases

Interlibrary Loan

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.

Online Resources

When looking for online sources, stick to well-known organizations like zoos or professional animal groups.

Citing in Chicago Scientific

In-Text Citations

Paraphrasing
When the author's name appears in the sentence, it does not need to be repeated in the citation.

Example:
Recent literature has examined long-run price drifts following initial public offerings and other factors (Ritter 1991). Fisher (2009) reaches more or less the same conclusion.


Quotations

Example:
Several studies have shown that "F. oxysporum isolates collected as nonpathogenic or pathogenic to other hosts that have very similar or identical elongation factor 1α and mitochondrial small subunit genotypes as banana pathogens were shown to cause little or no disease on banana" (O'Donnell 1998, 2044).

More than one author 
(Smith and Johnson 1998, 14) 
(Smith, Johnson, and White 2001, 42)

More than three authors
(Smith et al. 1998, 203)

No author
(Plagiarism and You 2002, 142) 

Journal Articles

Last name, first name. Year. "Article Title." Journal volume (issue, if available): pages. URL or DOI. 

Example:
Novak, William J. 2008. "The Myth of the 'Weak' American State." American Historical Review 113:752-72. doi:10.1086/ahr.113.3.752

Journal article with multiple authors
Include all authors, regardless of number, in the References List.

Last name, first name, and First name Last name. Year. "Article Title." Journal volume (issue, if available): pages. URL, if no DOI available. 

Example:
Choi, Stephen J., and G. Mitu Gulati. 2008. "Bias in Judicial Citations: A Window into the Behavior of Judges?" Journal of Legal Studies 37 (1): 87-129. doi:10.1086/588263.

Websites

Organization or author name. Year. "Webpage title." Owner of webpage. Access date, if last modified date is not available. URL. 

Examples:

Microsoft Corporation. 2006. "WD2000: Visual Basic Macro to Assign Clipboard Text to a String Variable." Microsoft Help and Support. Last modified November 23, 2006. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/212730.

Evanston Public Library Board of Trustees. 2008. “Evanston Public Library Strategic Plan, 2000-2010: A Decade of Outreach.” Evanston Public Library. Accessed July 19, 2016. http://epl.org/library /strategic-plan-00.html. 

RefWorks

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.

To create a RefWorks account:

  1. Go to the link below and click Create account
  2. Fill in your information, making sure to use your DelVal email address.  
  3. Go to your inbox and click the email link to complete the activation process. 

Already have an account? Just go to the link below and click "Log In"

RefWorks: In More Detail

Creating an account in RefWorks

How to add an article to RefWorks and get citation

Getting Help