Writing & Publishing Research

Library Research & Resources

Learning Objectives• The researcher will know how to evaluate quality

advanced resources worthy of publication.

• The researcher will be able to list advanced searching tools and utilize in their own research.

• The researcher will be able to list key databases that support high level research such as JCR and SCOPUS

• The researcher will be able to apply these tools to understand and identify the major publishers, authors, and fields that may impact your publishing goals

Information Literacy for Advanced Research

• Evaluating sources

o What are the author's credentials?o What is the purpose of the source?o What is the scope of the source?o Who published the source?o How current is the source?

• Vet the Journal

• Discipline Specifico Search discipline journals and sources.

Online Searching Tricks• Footnote Chasing

• Truncation & Wildcard

• Phrase & Proximity

Footnote Chasing

Truncation & Wildcard• Truncation is used to expand results by instructing the

computer to look for the root of the word and all alternate word endings.

• Nurs* searches for nurse, nurses, nursing.• Truncation symbols may differ depending on the database or

engine you are using. Common truncation symbols are: • * (an asterisk) • ? (a question mark) • # (the pound sign) • Wildcard Symbol: Allows for multiple spellings of a word...• Example: sul*ur • Finds sulphur and sulfur • Example: orthop*dic • Finds orthopedic and orthopaedic

Phrase & Proximity• Phrase searching• Most of the databases and search engines will AND the words of a phrase

together. If you wish to search the term as a phrase, put quotation marks around it to refine your search.

• Nursing Theory= Nursing AND Theory• “Nursing Theory” keeps the words of the phrase together• (this will make your search much more precise and relevant when you have

chosen your keywords carefully)

• Proximity Searching• Proximity operators: Proximity (or adjacency) operators allow you to search by

phrase or with two or more words in relation to one another. Use the database's Help tab for to verify what symbol to use since they can vary between databases

• Near (n): if it does not matter which word appears first.• Example: Prozac n3 adverse effects• Finds Prozac within three words of adverse effects• With (w): if your terms must be in the same order in which they are entered. • Example: physical w1 therapy• Finds records where the word physical is listed first, followed by the word

therapy, and where no more than one word separates the two terms.

Quality Open Web Research• Government Websites & Statistical

Accesso U.S. Census.govo Data.govo USA.govo Congress.govo GPO.govo FDLP.gov

• Think Tankso RANDo Brookings

Beyond Research

• Popularity, Prestige, and Impact Factors

Best of the Best• Wealth of content at your disposal can be overwhelming;

necessary to be capable of sifting good from great resources•

Bibliometrics can aid in raising your information literacy skillso Application of statistical analysis to bibliography

•We live in a “database” world now, providing sophisticated interfaces for us to interact with data; not just searching, but evaluating

•Quantitative metrics can be applied to aid in defining a sense of quality

• What does most relevant or important mean to me?

Prestige, Popularity, and Impact

• Metrics such as Impact Factors are calculated to illustrate a given publication’s impact/influence within a fieldo Many factors (size of journal, number of authors per paper, frequency, subject

area, number of scientists working in this field, etc.)

• Impact Factor: an industry standard implemented by Thompson Reuters’ JCR; basically, a measure of the way a journal receives citations to its articles over timeo Common for citations to rise and peak within 2-6 years post-publicationo # of current citations to a journal in a time period / # of articles

published by that journal in that same time period

• These metrics paint a picture of relevance over a few years, a specific year, or even how long articles continue to be referenced post-publication

Citation Counting: Why It Matters

• Tools like JCR and Scopus are built on powerful indices such as the Science Citation Index, specifically built to measure influence, patterns o For journals AND people

• Scopus: you can use this massive resource to track journal and author level metrics; analyze, visualizeo Relevant articles/topics in your literature review phaseo Discover where to publish (top authors/journals in your discipline)o Who is citing you?o Identify potential collaboratorso Editors often check citations, h-index and compare to others

Questions?

Seth Porter Michael Manasco

smp0024@uah.edu mdm0027@uah.edu

256-824-6130 (256) 824-6965

Instructional & Reference Librarian

Electronic Resources Librarian