Master's Resources
Find and Evaluate Articles
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Basic Search Limiters
One of the reasons the Library databases are so useful is because they allow you to limit your results to just the type of content you need.
For example, if you need peer-reviewed articles, you can limit your search results so that you only see peer-reviewed articles. Generally, you can find the limiters below the search boxes in a database.
LEARN MORE ABOUT BASIC SEARCH LIMITERS
Quick Tips
- Don't use limiters excessively. Only use the ones that are most important to your search. Otherwise, you might limit yourself out of any results.
- Some limiters may be available only on a database's advanced search page. Look for a link to advanced search options if you don't see the limiters you need.
Break a Topic Into Keywords
Learn how to identify main concepts in complex research topics, use main concepts to identify synonyms or related words to be used as keywords, and employ advanced database searching.
Finding Articles: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find articles on my topic? How do I find databases by subject? How do I find and search in Thoreau, the multiple database search tool? Is there a way to automatically connect the Walden Library to Google Scholar? Why am I not finding any results or articles? How do I find scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles?Identify and Evaluate Sources
Locate Resources
Discover strategies to search for and locate different types of resources through the Walden Library databases, identify relevant publication information for articles found, and cite and reference articles using APA.
Publication Types
In a physical library, it is fairly easy to tell if what you are holding is a book, a journal article, a dissertation, etc. However, in an online library, you don't have those physical clues to help you with identifying a resource. If you don't know what type of resource you are looking at, it will be hard to tell if it is appropriate for your assignment or research. On the following pages you will find information about these publication types.
After you've reviewed all of these pages, you can test your knowledge by taking our quiz:
Selecting the Right Resource
After identifying the various types of publications, consider when use of each type might be appropriate.
Please Note: These are general guidelines. Please refer to your discussion, assignment, or capstone rubric for specific requirements.
Primary and Secondary Resources
A question to ask yourself when trying to identify primary or secondary sources is:
Did the person writing the thing do the thing?
- Primary and secondary sources can be different publication types. Articles can be primary or secondary, just as books can be.
- Primary and secondary sources are not related to peer review in any way. Peer-reviewed articles can be either primary or secondary sources.
- There is no perfect database limiter for primary or secondary, either. There are no check boxes like there are with with peer review.
- Primary and secondary sources don't self identify as such. Nowhere in a primary source will it say, "this is a primary source." You need to evaluate the resource to figure it out.
Primary Resources
In primary source documents, the person writing the piece actually did the research, or witnessed the event, or created something entirely new. These are some examples of primary sources:
- original research studies
- An author completes original research and then writes about it.
- first-hand accounts of events
- An author writes about his or her experience of an event.
- books with original theories or ideas or philosophies
- An author creates an original theory or philosophy, and then writes about it.
- creative works like novels
- An author writes an original novel.
Primary source example
For example, in the article, "School counselors' strategies for social justice change: A grounded theory of what works in the real world," these are some of the key elements from the abstract that indicate that it is a primary, research article:
- qualitative study
- grounded theory methodology
- explore the strategies that 16 school counselors
- Findings included seven overarching themes
The primary source authors actually talked to 16 school counselors, using grounded methodology, to come up with their findings based on the research that the authors actually did. Here, the authors did the research themselves and then reported on it.
Singh, A. A., Urbano, A., Haston, M., & McMahon, E. (2010). School counselors' strategies for social justice change: A grounded theory of what works in the real world. Professional School Counseling, 13(3), 135-145. https://doi.org/10.5330/PSC.n.2010-13.135
Abstract of School counselors' strategies for social justice change: A grounded theory of what works in the real world (PDF)Secondary Resources
Secondary sources evaluate or analyze what others have done or witnessed or created. The authors didn't go out and do it, they just analyzed it or wrote about it. These are some examples of secondary sources:
- systematic reviews or meta analysis
- Authors gather together a lot of primary research studies and then analyze them.
- Authors gather together a lot of primary research studies and then analyze them.
- literature reviews
- An author chooses a topic, finds a lot of articles on that topic, and writes about the topic based on other authors' research.
- An author chooses a topic, finds a lot of articles on that topic, and writes about the topic based on other authors' research.
- literary criticism
- An author analyzes an original creative work.
This is an example of an article that is a secondary source, with some of the key elements highlighted:
In the article abstract, "Advocacy for health equity: A synthesis review," these are some of the key elements that indicate it is a secondary source article:
- aim of this review is to synthesize the evidence in the academic and gray literature
- systematic review of the academic literature and a fixed-length systematic search of the gray literature
- anaylzed our findings
- synthesized our findings
- made a critical appraisal of the literature
- brings together for the first time evidence from the academic and the gray literature and provides a building block for efforts to advocate for health equity
What makes the secondary source secondary is that the authors used other authors' research, analyzing and synthesizing the information to come up with their conclusions, or findings.
Farrer, L., Marinetti, C., Cavaco, Y. K., & Costongs, C. (2015). Advocacy for health equity: A synthesis review. Milbank Quarterly, 93(2), 392-437. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12112
Identifying Primary and Secondary Resources
When looking at a resource to determine whether it is primary or secondary, words that describe the action of the author can be helpful. For example, words like these can indicate actual research carried out:
- examined
- predicted
- experimented
- tested
- investigated
- explored
In secondary resources, since the focus is on analyzing or discussion of a primary source, you would look for words that describe the action of the author indicating that this is an analysis or discussion, such as:
- analysis
- synthesis
- overview
- appraisal
- reported on
You will need to examine the abstract and/or the article to determine if the resource is primary or secondary. While the words above can help indicate the type of resource, this is not a cut and dried process where if you see a particular word, that means the resource is always primary.
Locating a findings section in an article doesn't mean the source is either primary or secondary. Check to see whether the authors did the research themselves, or whether they analyzed research done by others.
Evaluating Websites
The term website might be used to refer to anything you find on the Internet. People often use the word in this general way.
However, there is a distinction between online resources available through a Library database, and websites that anyone can find on the World Wide Web with a search engine.
However, there is a distinction between online resources available through a Library database, and websites that anyone can find on the World Wide Web with a search engine.