Step 1: Write down your research question or statement (this may be your thesis)
Step 2: Identify the 2-3 nouns that are the most important from that research question or statement
Step 3: Search in a library database (suggestions below) using the 2-3 nouns you have identified. Combine keywords and phrases to search for the specific aspects of your question
Step 4: Read the title and abstracts of the articles that sound relevant
Step 5: Get the entire article
Step 6: Make an Interlibrary Loan Request if the article is not available by clicking on "Make A Request"
Use a combination of keywords and phrases to search for the specific aspects of your question.
REMEMBER: A primary source of literature will generally have a "methods" section.
ALSO HELPFUL: Learn how to read a scientific paper (especially as a beginner) and use this worksheet to help you take notes to understand the article and to avoid plagiarism.
Scholarly literature search engine. Set your library preferences: On the Google Scholar homepage, go to Scholar Preferences. At Library Links, locate San Jose State University. Add those links, then save the preferences.
Full-text articles and ebooks in science, technology and medicine (STM), arts, humanities and social sciences. Click on "Journals and Books" link on the website to filter by subscribed, open access and complimentary access to know what is available to you. Note: You may see a screen from Elsevier asking: “Are you a Human”. It's okay to click on the box. It's a verification process to prevent automated traffic (BOTS) from abusing excessive downloads of PDFs.
This abstract and citation database covers thousands of scholarly journals, books, and conference proceedings. Covering a broad range of disciplines, Scopus enables one to track, analyze, and visualize research. Output data at the institutional and author levels are available. Authors will find h-index, Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP), and citation counts helpful in demonstrating the impact of their work.
Web of Science is a citation database that covers three major tools: Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. The complete database covers thousands of scholarly journals from 1975 to the present across a broad range of disciplines. Included in the subscription: Journal Citation Reports and Essential Science Indicators (ESI). Use the ESI Help Guide and JCR Help Guide to learn more. Also included is the Grants Index which is found under the Web of Science core collection drop down menu.