Finding Scholarly Articles

Read the title

• Does the title make sense?
• Does the title catch your interest?
• Is the title relevant to your assignment?

If you answer "yes" to these questions, then . . .

Look at the citation information/metadata

• Does the article meet your assignment guidelines?
• Is the article current enough, if applicable?
• Is the article peer reviewed, if applicable? 

If you answer "yes" to these questions, if applicable, then . . .

Read the abstract

• Does the abstract make sense?
• Does the abstract catch your interest?
• If it is a study, are the findings relevant to your assignment?
• If it is an informational article, does the information pertain to what you are researching?

If you answer "yes" to these questions, then . . .

Read the entire article

• Does the article address specific points that you plan to write about?
• If you are working on a position/argumentative paper, does the article support or provide a counter argument?
• If you are working on an informative paper, does the article contain enough information on your topic?

If you answer "yes" to these questions, then this is probably a good article to use. 

What to do if you are not finding any useful articles 

• Skim more titles to see if any catch your interest. Go beyond the first page of results. 
• As you skim, look for additional search terms or ways to describe your topic. Write these down. 
• Connect additional terms for your topic with OR. For example, affordable housing OR low-income housing
• Try a new search with the new search terms you found 
• Go to a different database and try your search 
• Use Ask a Librarian for assistance.