Research Guides: HIST 276: U.S. Women's History to 1877: Project #2

Reading a Scholarly, History Journal Article

When reading and evaluating a scholarly, history journal article, asking the following questions can help guide your reading and understanding.

Who is the author? A historian? Why is the author an expert on this topic? Look for a few sentences at the beginning or end of the article that tell of the author's background or do an internet search for the author.
Why did the author write this article? This information will usually be found at the beginning of an article.
How is the article organized? Are there headings and sub-headings?
What evidence does the author cite to back up his argument? In the case of history articles, this evidence will likely include primary sources.
What is the author's thesis or main argument?
Do you agree with the author's argument? Why or why not?
What did you learn by reading this article?

Using Scholarly Articles - Academic Search Ultimate

Scholarly articles? Peer-review?

You will be expected to know these terms and use these materials as part of your academic coursework, but what do they mean and how are you expected to use them?

Librarians from Wayne State University have created an excellent "crash course" to explain these concepts, which are key to completing successful academic research.

Peer Review in Three Minutes (Wayne State University Libraries)

Created by librarians at Wilfrid Laurier University Library, this video explains:

The benefits of turning a topic into a research question
How to narrow a general topic into an inquiry of appropriate scope
How to isolate important variables using the questions: Who? What? Why? When? How?

Elements from a strong research question can be used as search terms in later steps in this process.

Developing a Research Question (Laurier Library)

Academic Search Ultimate is a database we subscribe to from EBSCO, and we strongly recommend the use of this database for academic research.

Created by librarians at Clovis Community College Library, this video explains:

How to search in Academic Search Ultimate
Options for accessing articles within the databases

For additional information on how to find what you need quickly, run an advanced search (even if you don't feel like an advanced user!), and save and organize your searches from EBSCOhost: How to Search EBSCO Databases

Search EBSCOhost Academic Search Ultimate (CCC Library)

Created by librarians at Santiago Canyon College Libraries, this video explains:

How to select promising articles from a results list
How to identify when articles are both on-topic and relevant to the project at hand
How to evaluate articles for information important to your research

Selecting Relevant Articles (Santiago Canyon College Libraries)

Created by librarians at Johns Hopkins' Sheridan Libraries, this video explains:

(at 3:18) Structure and sections of scholarly articles in social sciences and sciences
(at 6:28) Structure and sections of scholarly articles in the humanities
(at 7:09) Strategies for reading scholarly articles
(at 8:03) Reading and note-taking tips for scholarly articles

How to Read a Scholarly Article (JHU Sheridan Libraries)

A student might meet with a librarian to discuss:

Finding Resources: To get help locating books, articles, and other materials relevant to their research topic.
Research Strategies: To learn effective search techniques and strategies for navigating databases and online resources.
Citation Assistance: To receive guidance on properly citing sources and citation management strategies.
Evaluating Sources: To get tips on assessing the credibility and relevance of sources.
Narrowing Topics: To refine or narrow down a broad research topic into a more manageable scope.
Developing Research Questions: To get help formulating strong, researchable questions.
Using Library Services: To learn how to use specific library services, such as interlibrary loan.

Reading Tips

Read the abstract. The abstract will give you an overview of what the article is about.
Takes notes, underline, write thoughts in the margins of the article as you read.
Keep your research topic in mind as you read.
It's ok if you may need to reread parts of the article or the entire article to fully understand the author's argument.
Check the author's references. Those sources might also be helpful to your research.