Introduction to Psychology (Wayne College): Information Literacy Project

While reading the popular article, look for “clues” to a specific research study. Keep in mind that some popular articles discuss several scholarly studies. Look for:

• The specific name of a journal (journal title)
• The author’s or lead researcher’s name
• The specific name/title of the study
• Keywords describing the study

Try to answer the following questions about the original research study based on your highlighted clues.

• What was the study about? You might need to use some keywords describing the research to locate the scholarly article.
• Who conducted the scholarly research? They would be listed as an author for the scholarly article.
• When was the research completed? This may help eliminate other articles written by the researcher.
• Where was the research conducted? This may also be worked into your keyword search strategy if you are getting too many results.

Next, search a scholarly​ research database to locate the full-text of the original scholarly study cited in your popular article.

On the database search screen, locate drop-down menus ↓ or click on "Advanced Search" to search specific fields and keywords. (Your clues should match at least one, if not several, of these fields.) Insert your key terms in the boxes as shown here and submit the search.

• Journal Title / Publication Name: Journal of Business and Psychology
• Author: Stoker, Janka
  • Remember to enter the author's name as last name, followed by first name. You may need to truncate the author's first name if they publish with only initials: Stoker, J*
• Keyword: gender
  • This is optional and only needed if the author has a very common name or if the author has published extensively in that journal.

  Scan through the list of results keeping in mind that:

• The scholarly study you’re looking for must have been published PRIOR TO the popular article.
• The author or lead researcher is probably an expert in the field and has most likely had several studies published on the topic. Try to select the study that most closely matches your popular article.
• Confirm that details discussed in the popular article match the study in the scholarly article (date, author affiliations, population studied, etc.)

• Plan ahead and start early
• Complete the Library Information Literacy Modules 1,3,5,6,9,10
• Understand the difference between popular and scholarly literature (See handout below)
• You may need to request the scholarly article through Interlibrary Loan. Allow 3-5 days. It’s free!

*You may need to search several databases to locate the correct scholarly article.